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Friday March 28, 2025
(AMSTERDAM) -- Five people were injured, including two Americans, in a "serious" stabbing attack that occurred in broad daylight in Amsterdam's city center on Thursday, police said.
The suspected assailant is in custody and a motive remains under investigation into what authorities are considering might have been a random attack, police said.
The incident was reported shortly before 3:30 p.m. Thursday, with emergency services receiving multiple reports of a stabbing, police said.
The victims were located at various locations near Amsterdam's central Dam Square, according to police.
"Police are considering the possibility that the suspect may have randomly targeted victims, but the exact motive remains unknown," Amsterdam police said in a statement.
The victims include two Americans -- a 67-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man -- police said.
A 19-year-old woman from Amsterdam, a 26-year-old man from Poland and a 73-year-old woman from Belgium were also injured in the stabbing, police said.
Police did not release any details on their conditions.
Officers apprehended the suspect near Dam Square with the help of bystanders shortly after the incident, police said.
The suspect was transported to a hospital with a leg injury and officers are investigating his identity, police said.
“The police investigation is in full swing and is currently the highest priority," Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said in a statement. "We hope to gain clarity soon about the background of this horrific stabbing incident. Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and loved ones.”
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(WASHINGTON) -- A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to preserve the contents of the chat in which top national security officials used the Signal app to discuss military strikes in Yemen as they were taking place earlier this month.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the top cabinet officials named in a lawsuit by the government transparency group American Oversight to retain any messages sent and received over Signal between March 11 and March 15.
Benjamin Sparks, a lawyer representing American Oversight, raised concerns that "these messages are imminent danger of destruction" due to settings within Signal that can be set to delete messages automatically -- prompting Judge Boasberg to order the Trump administration file a sworn declaration by this Monday to ensure the messages are preserved.
The lawsuit -- which names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the National Archives as defendants -- asked a federal judge to declare the use of Signal unlawful and order the cabinet members to preserve the records immediately, as Signal's deleting of messages violates governmental record-keeping requirements.
The use of the Signal group chat was revealed Monday by The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who said he was inadvertently added to the chat as top national security officials, including Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, were discussing the military operation.
According to screenshots of the Signal messages published by The Atlantic, the messages were set to disappear after a certain timeframe. Originally, the messages were set to disappear after one week. Then, according to screenshots of the messages published by the magazine, on March 15 -- after Hegseth sent the first operational update -- the messages were set to disappear after four weeks.
Judge Boasberg declined, for now, to order administration officials to disclose if Signal had been used by the Trump administration in a wider context.
"I don't think at this point that that's something that I would be prepared to order," he said.
On the heels of Trump early Thursday accusing Boasberg on social media of "grabbing the 'Trump Cases' all to himself," the judge began the hearing by providing a detailed description of the D.C. District Court's automated system for assigning cases, including how each judge is allotted "electronic cards" to ensure cases are fairly distributed.
"That's how it works, and that's how all cases continue to be assigned in this course," Judge Boasberg said.
Boasberg earlier this month temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport more than 200 alleged gang members to El Salvador without due process, leading the White House to call for his impeachment and publicly attack him as a "Democrat activist" and a "radical left lunatic."
Lawyers for the Department of Defense, prior to Thursday's hearing, filed a declaration stating that they have requested that a copy of the Signal messages in question be forwarded to an official DOD account so they can be preserved.
A second declaration, from a lawyer for the Treasury Department, stated that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, along with Bessent's chief of staff, has retained all messages beginning with Mike Waltz's messages on March 15.
Trump and other top administration officials have downplayed the use of the Signal to discuss the attack, saying classified information was not shared in the chat, despite the exchange including information on the weapons systems being used and the timing of the strikes.
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(WASHINGTON) -- The search for four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during a scheduled training exercise near Pabrad?, Lithuania, has shifted from rescue to recovery mission, according to Lithuania's minister of defense.
The soldiers, who are all based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, went missing on Tuesday, the Army said, and the M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the soldiers were operating at the time was found submerged in water in a training area on Wednesday.
"Most likely, the M88 drove into the swamp," Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC News via phone on Thursday. "It has the capacity to swallow large objects ... this vehicle, weighing up to 70 tons, may have just gone diagonally to the bottom."
The vehicle may be 5 meters below the surface, Sakaliene said.
Crews are pushing through "a mix of muddy water and sludge" amid the "complicated" recovery, Sakaliene said.
"Hundreds of people are working around the clock -- American armed forces, our rescue services and private companies," Sakaliene said. "We have helicopters in the air, divers, firefighters, canal excavation machines -- hundreds and hundreds of people."
"Our Army divers are there, but even they are struggling," Sakaliene said.
"We’ve narrowed the location down ... but we still have to keep digging,” she said. "We brought a huge, long-range excavation machine and a canal cleaner to move the mud and water. Then we have to hook the vehicle, drag it out and see if there are bodies or materials inside."
The search is also taking longer because the area is dangerous; a high-pressure gas pipeline runs under the ground where the Army vehicle sunk, Sakaliene said.
"We had to depressurize it before bringing in heavy equipment," Sakaliene said. "We had to build a kind of alley, so the heavy machines could come through safely."
Sakaliene said the Lithuanians will remain dedicated to the recovery.
"Working with American soldiers has always been close to our hearts," she said. "They are not just allies -- they are family to us."
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(WASHINGTON) -- The White House has pulled Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be United Nations ambassador, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.
"Elise will stay in Congress, rejoin the House Leadership Team, and continue to fight for our amazing American People," Trump posted on his social media platform.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(WASHINGTON) -- The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Thursday that about 10,000 full-time employees will soon lose their jobs, on top of the nearly 10,000 who have already left the agency in the last few months through buyout offers or early retirements.
That puts the total employees at around 62,000 people -- down from 82,000 at the start of the Trump administration. The agency oversees the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services -- among other divisions.
"We aren't just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement on Thursday.
"This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves. That's the entire American public, because our goal is to Make America Healthy Again," Kennedy said.
Kennedy claimed the latest cuts will save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year. The cuts will reduce the number of regional offices -- from 10 down to five. It will also combine the current 28 divisions at HHS into 15 divisions, including a new one focused on Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" movement, to be named the Administration for a Healthy America.
"We're going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies, while preserving their core functions by merging them into a new organization called the Administration for a Healthy America," Kennedy said in a video out Thursday explaining the cuts.
Despite cutting nearly one-quarter of the agency, the department maintains that the restructuring won't impact "critical services."
The real-world impact of the newest round of cuts, however, remains to be seen. Already, cuts have hit top researchers at the National Institute of Health's Alzheimer's research center and disease detectives who identify new infectious diseases.
Some Republican on Capitol Hill had differing views on the cuts.
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said she is "concerned about rash decisions being made" when asked about the cuts to the Health and Human Services Department.
Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds brushed off any concerns about cuts to HHS.
"We're a very bloated federal government. Spending is an addiction in this town. We have to find ways to be lean and efficient with people's money and this is the start of a process in the federal government that is frankly going to be able to be lean and efficient for the future of our nation," he said.
Democrats meanwhile said they were still waiting for more information about the cuts.
Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper decried what he assessed as a lack of a clear plan on how to make cuts that actually work.
"I think a little more planning and more focus on making sure that we do continue to deliver the services -- Health and Human Services," Hickenlooper said. "We are talking about Medicaid. We're talking about, you know, all the research we do to create the miracle of vaccines all that stuff. You can't just willy nilly [cut] these thousands and thousands of people. It doesn't make sense."
ABC News' Will McDuffie, Allison Pecorin, Arthur Jones II and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
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(NEW YORK) -- U.S. stocks ticked higher on Thursday in the first trading since President Donald Trump announced 25% auto tariffs.
The tariffs have escalated a global trade war and prompted forecasts of higher car prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 20 points, or 0.05%, while the S&P 500 increased 0.25% on Thursday morning. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 0.25%.
Shares of major U.S. automakers dropped in early trading. General Motors dropped more than 6%, while Ford fell nearly 2%. Stellantis -- the parent company of Jeep and Chrysler -- declined 1%.
Tesla, the electric carmaker led by Trump-advisor Elon Musk, bucked the trend. Shares of Tesla climbed 5.5% in early trading on Thursday.
The 25% tariffs will be applied to imported passenger vehicles, including cars, SUVs, minivans, cargo vans and light trucks, according to a White House fact sheet released after Trump's Oval Office remarks on Wednesday. The tariffs will take effect on April 3.
The tariffs will also be applied to key imported auto parts, including engines, powertrain parts and electrical components.
The auto tariffs are set to target a sector that employs more than a million U.S. workers and relies on a supply chain intricately intertwined with Mexico and Canada. Tariffs placed on the auto industry risk raising car prices for U.S. consumers, experts previously told ABC News.
Ferrari may raise U.S. prices as much as 10% in response to the tariffs, the company said in a statement on Thursday. Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at the investment firm Wedbush, predicted general tariff-related price increases of between $5,000 and $10,000 per vehicle.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday called the measure "a direct attack on our workers." The Canadian government plans to review its trade options, Carney said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday expressed "regret" about the decision to impose auto tariffs. "We will now assess this announcement, together with other measures the US is envisaging in the next days," von der Leyen said in a statement.
Early Thursday morning, Trump warned of retaliatory tariffs if officials in Canada and Europe move forward with countermeasures.
"If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(LONDON) -- President Donald Trump said the U.S. will "go as far as we have to go" to get control of Greenland, ahead of a planned visit to the Arctic island by Vice President JD Vance that has prompted criticism from Greenland and Denmark.
Vance, second lady Usha Vance and Energy Secretary Chris Wright will lead the U.S. delegation to visit the Pituffik military space base in the northwest of the island, having scaled back plans for a broader and longer visit. The American group was originally planning to visit the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk, and a dog sled race.
Trump showed no indication of softening his ambition to take control of the island, which is an autonomous territory but part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
"We need Greenland for national security and international security," Trump said, taking reporters' questions in the Oval Office.
"So we'll, I think, we'll go as far as we have to go," he continued. "We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark. Denmark has to have us have Greenland. And, you know, we'll see what happens. But if we don't have Greenland, we can't have great international security."
Trump added, "I view it from a security standpoint, we have to be there."
Trump also said that he understood "JD might be going," referring to the vice president, but did not offer any details about the trip. Vance is expected to travel to Greenland on Friday.
Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede earlier this week called the upcoming visit by U.S. officials part of a "very aggressive American pressure against the Greenlandic community" and called for the international community to rebuke it.
After the U.S. announced that the visit would be pared back to only include the Pituffik base, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the decision was "wise."
Trump has repeatedly -- in both his first and second terms -- raised the prospect of the U.S. obtaining Greenland, whether through purchase or other means. During his March speech to a joint session of Congress, Trump said the U.S. would acquire the strategic territory "one way or the other."
Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede dismissed Trump's remarks. "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders," he wrote on social media.
"We are not Americans, we are not Danes because we are Greenlanders. This is what the Americans and their leaders need to understand, we cannot be bought and we cannot be ignored."
ABC News' Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
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(LONDON) -- Russian strikes injured five people, and damaged homes and a gas pipeline in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson overnight on Wednesday, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
One Russian strike drone was shot down over the Kherson region -- most of which is occupied by Russian forces, with the region bisected by the frontline marked by the Dnieper River -- and one woman was killed by a drone attack on Thursday morning, Prokudin added.
Ivan Fedorov, the governor of the southern Zaporizhzhia region -- which is also partially occupied by Russia -- said local frontline communities were left without electricity due to overnight shelling. More than 3,300 customers were affected, Fedorov said in a post to Telegram.
In the northwestern Kharkiv region, close to the front line, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said 11 people were injured in a "massive" drone attack. Several homes and industrial sites were damaged, he said.
In the central city of Dnipro, the local military administration reported multiple fires caused by drone impacts. "Enterprises, educational and cultural institutions, more than a dozen high-rise buildings were damaged in the city," it said on Telegram. "More than 60 cars were damaged, several more were destroyed. Two trucks were also hit."
Overall, Ukraine's air force reported one missile and 86 drones launched into the country overnight. The force said on Telegram that 42 drones were shot down and 26 were lost in flight without causing damage. Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv regions were impacted, it said.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram that recent Russian strikes suggested the use of "swarms" of attack drones against specific cities to overwhelm local defenses.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the "swarms" targeted "densely populated residential areas in Ukraine's major cities."
"No military objectives -- only terror against civilians," he wrote in a post to X. "Dozens of them were injured, including children. Russia's actions show that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants to prolong the war rather than reciprocating Ukraine, U.S., and partners' effort to end it."
Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down one Ukrainian drone over the western Bryansk region. The ministry said the drone caused a power outage. It also said there was an attempt to attack ground equipment at the Glebovsky underground gas storage facility in occupied Crimea and shelling of a transformer substation in Bryansk.
Strikes continue after partial ceasefire reached
Cross-border strikes have continued despite progress on a U.S.-brokered partial ceasefire intended to freeze military action in the Black Sea and pause long-range attacks on energy infrastructure facilities in both countries.
Following talks in Saudi Arabia this week, the White House said the parties agreed to "develop measures to implement the agreement to ban strikes against energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine."
The Kremlin said its moratorium began on March 18, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's communications adviser said Russia has hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure eight times since that date.
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday there had been no attacks on energy infrastructure in either country since Tuesday, when Ukraine and Russia agreed to pause strikes following the latest round of talks in Riyadh.
French President Emmanuel Macron, during a press briefing Thursday at the end of a summit of 31 nations that focused on support for Ukraine and European security, accused Russia of "pretending to start negotiations" in order to weaken its opponent "whilst at the same time intensifying attacks."
Macron said President Donald Trump was now waiting for a clear response from Moscow on the idea of implementing an initial 30-day full ceasefire.
"Ukraine had the courage to accept a 30-day ceasefire. Since this Ukrainian decision, there has been no Russian response. There have been new conditions for more partial and hypothetical ceasefires and at the same time, every day, increasingly heavy strikes," Macron said.
Macron also doubled down on his ambition to create a "reassurance force" of European troops, led by the French and British, which could be deployed to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire in order to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.
In a recent interview, Trump Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff criticized the initiative, calling it a "posture."
Macron said Thursday that the U.K. and France were working with "several" other countries on the initiative for a force that would involve ground troops, stationed well away from the front lines, as well as the deployment of naval and air assets in Ukraine.
U.K. and French officials have previously indicated that a U.S. backstop or guarantee would be necessary for European troops to be deployed to Ukraine.
Asked whether the U.S. is behind the idea, Macron said he hoped the U.S. would be involved but said Europe must prepare for the possibility that the U.S. is not. He also said that if the U.S. does not get involved, then Europe must still act in its own interests.
Zelenskyy: 'We want the US to be on our side'
The White House framed the partial ceasefire as a victory in its broader push for peace in Ukraine. But concerns remain in Kyiv that Trump's administration is too aligned with Moscow's narrative on the conflict.
This week, Witkoff -- who has been central to talks with both Moscow and Kyiv -- echoed misleading Russian talking points, for example suggesting that Russia's claimed annexation of five Ukrainian territories -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea -- had the support of the local population.
During a press conference with reporters in Paris on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Witkoff "often cites the Kremlin narrative."
"I think that this does not get us close to peace, I think this sadly will weaken the pressure of the U.S. on the Russian Federation," he added. "I have spoken with President Trump more than once -- we are trying to share real and truthful information since Witkoff's declarations disturbs us a lot since we are fighting Putin and we do not want him to receive support."
"I have always said to President Trump that we want the U.S. to be on our side," Zelenskyy said. "And even if the U.S. has chosen to be in the middle, then they need to stay in the middle and not come closer to the Kremlin."
ABC News' Anna Sergeeva, Nataliia Popova, Oleksiy Pshemyskiy, Ellie Kaufman and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
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(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. has arrested a top MS-13 gang member, according to a post on X by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
"I'm proud to announce that early this morning our brave law enforcement officers conducted a successful operation that captured a top MS-13 national leader," Bondi posted. "DOJ will not rest until we make America safe again."
The photo shared on X by Bondi showed a major operation in northern Virginia with FBI officials, including Director Kash Patel, and dozens of officers.
At a press conference on site, Bondi, Patel and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin touted the arrest of a 24-year-old who was allegedly a top-3 MS-13 gang member.
Bondi touted the operation as a success, lauding the teamwork of the various agencies involved and said she personally witnessed the collaboration.
"America is safer today because of one of the top domestic terrorists in MS-13, he is off the streets," she said. "This guy was living in a neighborhood right around you. No longer. Thanks to the great men and women of law enforcement, this task force that we have created is remarkable, using incredible technology that we will not discuss, to catch and apprehend these horrible, violent, worst of the worst criminals."
Officials did not release the name of the individual they arrested.
President Donald Trump celebrated the arrest in a post on his social media platform, applaud his "border czar," Tom Homan.
"Just captured a major leader of MS13. Tom HOMAN is a superstar!," Trump wrote.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(LONDON) -- Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of northern Gaza on Tuesday in a rare protest against Hamas, with marchers calling for the terror group to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel and give up control of the strip to end the war.
Videos from the northern city of Beit Lahiya -- which has been devastated by a heavy Israeli bombardment and intense fighting by between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces over the past 17 months -- showed hundreds gathered on the streets, some chanting anti-Hamas slogans. Shouts of "Hamas out" could be heard in videos posted to social media.
The gathering followed an appeal for a demonstration spread on social media channels. ABC News is unable to verify its origin or the identity of the original poster.
Some marchers held signs displaying demands, including "Enough displacement and homelessness," "Stop the war" and "We refuse to die," as seen in videos circulating on social media.
Videos filmed by a local journalist and verified by ABC News showed Gazans chanting, "We want to live, we want to live," in Arabic as a man addressed the assembled crowd.
"We are here today to deliver a message to the entire nation," he said. "We are a peaceful people, a peaceful people, a peaceful people. We want to live. This is the least of life's demands."
"We want to live," he continued. "Deliver it to the entire nation and the leadership. We want to live. People don't have money to move -- meaning to move their things when evacuating -- there is no empty space in Gaza. Where will we go?"
The Associated Press reported that some videos appeared to show Hamas members dispersing the crowd.
A call across the Gaza Strip for more protests circulated on social media on Wednesday. In a video statement on Wednesday, speaking in Hebrew, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz addressed the protests.
"The IDF will soon operate forcefully in additional areas in Gaza and you will be required to evacuate and lose more and more territory," Katz said in the statement directed at residents of Gaza. "The plans are already prepared and approved. Learn from the residents of Beit Lahia: Demand the removal of Hamas from Gaza and the immediate release of all Israeli hostages -- this is the only way to stop the war."
Tuesday's protests came amid Israel's renewed offensive on the devastated strip, which began last week and ended a two-month ceasefire that began in January.
Israel is demanding the immediate release of all remaining hostages -- consisting of 59 people, 24 of whom are still believed to be alive -- taken in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack into Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign would resume with "full force," adding that further "negotiations will only be done under fire." Israel intends to fully dismantle Hamas and remove it from power in Gaza, Netanyahu has said.
As of Tuesday, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 792 people had been killed and 1,663 others injured since the resumption of Israeli military action last week.
The latest casualties bring the total death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, to 50,144, with another 113,704 wounded, the ministry said.
Around 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel during the Hamas attack, with 251 people taken back into Gaza as captives, according to the Israeli government.
ABC News' Guy Davies contributed to this report.
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