ABC News Live: Wildfire at Yosemite National Park threatens grove of Sequoia trees
Plus, Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister to step down following protests amid economic struggles, and the latest on the Uvalde elementary school shooting.
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ABC NewsTeen births in US fall to record low, as overall total drops by 2%: CDC
The overall number of births in the United States dropped in 2023 as teenage births reached a record low, according to new provisional federal data published early Thursday. In 2023, there were 3.59 million births recorded, a 2% decline from the 3.66 million recorded in 2022, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
- ABC News
Giuliani, Meadows indicted in Arizona fake elector scheme; Trump unindicted co-conspirator
Several former and current key aides to former President Donald Trump appear to be among those charged by the Arizona State Attorney General over their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes also announced charges against 11 named alleged fake electors and seven people whose names are redacted in the filing for their alleged role in efforts to subvert Joe Biden's 2020 victory in the state.
- Good Morning America
Billie Eilish opens up about sexuality, effects of fame and more
Eilish, 22, who released "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" in 2019, said working on "Hit Me Hard and Soft" has felt like "coming back to the girl that I was." "I've been grieving her," she said in a cover interview with Rolling Stone published Wednesday. Eilish spoke to Rolling Stone about how one song on the album in particular -- titled "Lunch" -- helped her open up about her sexuality.
- ABC News
Expanded so-called 'Don't Say Gay' education restrictions advance in Alabama
A bill aimed at furthering restrictions on discussions of "gender identity or sexual orientation" in public schools is progressing in the Alabama legislature, passing the state House on Tuesday. Current law states that classrooms in kindergarten through the fifth grade "shall not engage in classroom discussion or provide classroom instruction regarding sexual orientation or gender identity in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards." The bill would expand this restriction to eighth grade and prohibit flags symbolizing sexual orientations or gender identities in K-12 schools.
- ABC News
US secretly sent long-range missiles to Ukraine to use against Russian invaders: Officials
The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday the U.S. had secretly provided Ukraine with a long-range Army Tactical Missile System that can reach deep into Russian-occupied areas -- or even strike more deeply into Russia itself, potentially provoking a response from the Kremlin, though America intends them only for use in occupied territory. The missiles, also known as ATACMS, have a maximum range of 186 miles. Ukraine first used them over the past week, two U.S. officials said.
- ABC News
College protests live updates: 93 arrested at USC
The student protests -- some of which have turned into around-the-clock encampments -- have erupted throughout the nation following arrests and student removals at Columbia University in New York City. Students at schools including Yale University, New York University, Harvard University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Southern California and more have launched protests. Police arrested 93 people on and around the University of Southern California campus, mostly on misdemeanor trespass Wednesday night.
- ABC News
At Columbia, Speaker Johnson calls on its president to resign if she can't 'bring order' to protests
During a visit to Columbia University on Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson joined his New York House Republican colleagues in calling on the school's president, Minouche Shafik, to resign unless she can improve what he called her failure to handle the anti-Israel protests on campus. In a news conference on the university's campus, Johnson said Shafik should step down "if she can't immediately bring order to this chaos." "As speaker of the House, I am committing today that the Congress will not be silent as Jewish students are expected to run for their lives and stay home from their classes -- fighting in fear," Johnson said.
- Good Morning America
Victoria Monét speaks out about gaining weight amid PCOS battle
Singer Victoria Monét is opening up about the changes to her body that she says are due to polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS. In text shared above the photo, Monét wrote that she had "gained a lot of weight," adding, in part, "PCOS has me really messed up." Monét, 34, is not alone in battling the condition.
- ABC News
Arizona House votes to repeal controversial 1864 abortion ban, with help of 3 Republicans
Three Republicans on Wednesday joined Democrats in the Arizona House to vote to repeal the state's controversial 1864 ban on nearly all abortions, which was revived by a court ruling earlier this month and which only includes exceptions to save the life of the pregnant woman. "I've known for a while that the votes were there, it just takes a lot of fortitude, a lot of spine," Democratic state Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, who sponsored the bill, told ABC News' Jaclyn Lee. Hamilton said she had several phone conversations with Republicans the night before the vote and while she would not divulge the details of those conversations, she said it made her cautiously optimistic.
- Good Morning America
Former college and NFL star Reggie Bush's 2005 Heisman Trophy reinstated
Former standout college football player and NFL running back Reggie Bush will have his 2005 Heisman Trophy reinstated, according to Bush's attorneys and a statement posted on the Heisman website Wednesday. Bush posted a photo on Instagram with the trophy captioned, "No one can take from you what God has for you." Bush voluntarily forfeited the Heisman Trophy in 2010 following separate NCAA sanctions against his former school, the University of Southern California.
- ABC News
Michigan father 1st charged under new safe gun storage law after son shoots himself in the face
Michigan prosecutors charged a father for violating the state's newly enacted safe storage law after his son allegedly got a hold of a firearm and shot himself in the face in their home. Theo Nichols' 8-year-old son was in "extremely critical condition," at a Detroit hospital following the April 19 incident, police in Warren, Michigan, said at a news conference Wednesday. "In the wake of this tragic incident, we are reminded of the profound responsibility that comes with gun ownership," Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said in a statement.
- ABC News
'So appalled': What witnesses told special counsel about Trump's handling of classified info while still president
In the summer of 2019, only hours after an Iranian rocket accidentally exploded at one of Iran's own launch sites, senior U.S. officials met with then-president Donald Trump and shared a sharply detailed, highly classified image of the blast's catastrophic aftermath. Worried that the image becoming public could hurt national security efforts, intelligence officials urged Trump to hold off until more knowledgeable experts were able to weigh in, the sources said.
- Good Morning America
USDA announces changes coming to school meals: What to know
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a series of changes to nutrition standards for school meals, including one that is a historic first. Here are three things to know about the changes coming to breakfast and lunch meals served at school. The biggest change announced by the USDA is that, for the first time, there will be limits on added sugars in school meals.
- Good Morning America
Supreme Court fractured over Idaho ban and emergency abortion access
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, for the first time since overruling Roe v. Wade, considered the scope of a state abortion ban and whether a federal law governing emergency care protects access to abortion at hospitals when a woman's health is at risk. Idaho's Defense of Life Act, which took effect in August 2022, prohibits nearly all abortions, with exceptions for reported cases of rape or incest or when "necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman." The Biden administration sued the state, claiming its law conflicts with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) of 1986, which requires emergency room physicians at hospitals that receive Medicare funds to offer "stabilizing treatment" to all patients whose health is in jeopardy.
- ABC News
As Trump battles for 'absolute immunity,' question resurfaces about assassinating rivals
It was maybe the most memorable moment so far in Donald Trump's case for "absolute presidential immunity" -- and it could come up again at the U.S. Supreme Court in historic arguments on Thursday. The arresting question: Could a commander in chief order SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival and not face criminal prosecution? The exchange took place at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington in January, where Trump took his immunity fight after the theory was flatly rejected by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing his federal election subversion case.
- ABC News
Trump asks judge in Georgia election case to dismiss 2 more counts against him
Former President Donald Trump, in a court filing Wednesday, asked the judge overseeing his Georgia election interference case to dismiss two more counts against him. Trump's filing urges the judge to dismiss counts 15 and 27 of the indictment, which charge him with conspiracy to commit filing of false documents as well as the filing of false documents. The first charge relates to the so-called alternate elector plot, and accuses Trump and other defendants of mailing false documents related to that effort to the chief judge of U.S. district court in Georgia, as an alleged "substantial step."
- ABC News
Biden needles Trump over his hair and 'Mar-a-Lago values' as he addresses union
President Joe Biden on Wednesday needled rival Donald Trump, laying into the former president as he welcomed the North America's Building Trades Union's endorsement. … Because of you, in 2024 we're going to make Donald Trump a loser again! "So, it's either Scranton values or Mar-a-Lago values," Biden went on to say, drawing a contrast between his background and Trump's as he repeated an economic argument rolled out during campaign stops in Pennsylvania last week.
- ABC News
Trump, Giuliani, Meadows are unindicted co-conspirators in Michigan fake elector case, hearing reveals
Former President Donald Trump, his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Rudy Giuliani are unindicted co-conspirators in the Michigan attorney general's case against the state's so-called "fake electors" in the 2020 election, a state investigator revealed in court on Wednesday. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged 16 Republicans last year with forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery for allegedly attempting to replace Michigan's electoral votes for Joe Biden with electoral votes for Trump at the certification of the vote on Jan. 6, 2021.
- ABC News
Ramadan reimagined in 2024: Reporter's notebook
It was a very challenging time for many Americans, including Muslim Americans like me. The latter is what I saw this Ramadan, the Islamic holy month – but far louder and clearer than before. It was the first time I saw Muslim influencers, Muslim chefs, Muslim artists, Muslim business owners, Muslim entertainment industry employees, and Muslim community organizers enhancing and re-shaping celebrations, to meet a moment and an evolving Muslim American community.
- ABC News
Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi sentenced to death for songs critical of regime
An Iranian court sentenced outspoken rapper Toomaj Salehi to death after his arrest over songs that criticized the government, his lawyer said Wednesday. "The primary court sentenced Toomaj Salehi to the harshest punishment, death, on the charge of 'corruption on Earth,'" Salehi's lawyer, Amir Raesian, said in an interview with Iranian news outlet Shargh Daily. The sentence by the Islamic Republic Revolution Court of Isfahan contradicted an Iranian Supreme Court ruling that said Salehi's case qualified for amnesty, Raesian said.