ABC News' Elizabeth Schulze reports on why the U.S. government is close to default and the devastating effects facing Americans if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling.
Good news for airline travelers: the Department of Transportation on Wednesday announced it is rolling out new rules that will require airlines to automatically give cash refunds to passengers for canceled and significantly delayed flights. The delays covered would be more than three hours for domestic flights and more than six hours for international flights, the agency said. “This is a big day for America’s flying public,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at a Wednesday morning news conference.
Chaos and confusion have ensued after the Arizona Supreme Court issued a ruling April 9 that a near-total abortion ban from 1864 could go into effect, despite it predating Arizona becoming a state. Dr. Gabrielle Goodrick, the owner of Camelback Family Planning in Phoenix -- the state's busiest abortion provider -- says the clinic has not closed since the state Supreme Court's decision was issued.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, for the first time since overruling Roe v. Wade, is considering 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.
As federal agencies and state partners continue investigating outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) -- more commonly referred to as bird flu -- the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it discovered fragments of the virus in some samples of milk. In an update from the FDA, the agency said it tested milk samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and found the presence of fragments of the virus, which is not the same as infectious virus and currently poses no increased risk to human health.
Hoping for a break in the homicide investigation of Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca, investigators have released security video of a person of interest wanted in the killing. The Chicago Police Department posted a series of surveillance videos of an unidentified man wanted in the fatal shooting early Sunday, in which 30-year-old Huesca's gun and car were taken after he was gunned down while on his way home after work.
A single explosion resulting from an Israeli shelling in December destroyed more than 5,000 specimens in Gaza's largest and oldest IVF clinic, according to the director of the medical center. An estimate of 4,000 embryos and an additional 1,000 specimens of sperm and unfertilized eggs stored at the Al Basma center in Gaza City were lost, Dr. Bahaeldeen Ghalayini, the founder and director of the clinic, told ABC News. Among these were the embryos of 45-year-old Najwa Abu Hamada.
In a first-of-its-kind procedure, a terminally ill patient has become the first person in the world to undergo a gene-edited pig kidney transplant and also have a mechanical heart pump surgically implanted. Surgeons at NYU Langone Health, in New York City, performed the operation in two steps, the first being the implantation of the heart pump. The second took place days later, with the transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney and the pig's thymus gland -- which makes white blood cells to help the immune system fight disease -- to help prevent rejection.
As many as five horses -- and at least one of them soaked in blood -- have caused chaos across central London on Wednesday morning after breaking free in Westminster, police say. “We are aware of a number of horses that are currently loose in central London and are working with colleagues, including the Army, to locate them,” Westminster Police said in a statement on social media on Wednesday morning. Early reports indicate that the horses may have come from the Household Calvary, the ceremonial guard of the British monarch, in Westminster.
Columbia University has said they are making “important progress” with representatives of the student encampment on campus as protests calling for the divestment of college and university funds from Israeli military operations have continued to spread on campuses across the country. The student protests -- some of which have turned into around-the-clock encampments and have led to hundreds of arrests -- have erupted throughout the nation following arrests and student removals at Columbia University in New York City. “We are making important progress with representatives of the student encampment on the West lawn,” Columbia University said in a statement released early Wednesday, adding that student protesters have committed to dismantling and removing a significant number of tents and that protesters will ensure that those not affiliated with Columbia will leave.
Secret negotiations with federal prosecutors to hammer out a deal. A former federal judge who teaches law at the University of Utah, Cassell is hardly a household name. In particular, Cassell was instrumental in pulling back the curtain on sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein's non-prosecution agreement, by persuading a federal judge to order the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over its correspondence with defense lawyers that preceded Epstein's so-called "sweetheart deal" in 2007.
Against the backdrop of a divisive 2024 presidential campaign, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday will take up the monumental question of whether a former president turned presumptive GOP nominee can be criminally prosecuted for his efforts to stay in power after the last election. The case, Donald J. Trump v. United States, presents an unprecedented constitutional quandary for the court brought about by equally unprecedented actions by former President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden by a margin of 7 million popular votes. The outcome could determine whether Trump faces a federal trial this year on four felony counts pressed by special counsel Jack Smith, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of an official proceeding, for his attempts to overturn the electoral vote count certifying Biden's victory.
A juvenile bottlenose dolphin was found shot to death with bullets lodged in its brain, spinal cord and heart and now authorities are offering a handsome reward for information on who committed the gruesome act. Authorities from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) received a report on March 13 that a juvenile bottlenose dolphin was found washed ashore on West Mae’s Beach in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and that it had injuries consistent with being shot by a firearm. “A member of the public reported the stranding to the Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline,” read a statement from the NOAA released on Tuesday.
A former police officer suspected in the killings of his ex-wife and girlfriend has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, officials said Tuesday night. Oregon State Police Captain Kyle Kennedy said the suspect -- Elias Huizar -- led Troopers on a chase after a failed traffic stop on the I-5 in Eugene around 2:40 p.m. PT. No troopers were hurt in the incident, according to Kennedy.
The Senate on Tuesday night passed a package to deliver $95 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan -- a bipartisan win months in the making. Thirty-one Republicans joined with 48 Democrats to pass the legislation. Jeff Merkley and Peter Welch -- as well as independent Sen. Bernie Sanders voted against the legislation along with 15 Republicans.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has filed felony charges against the man accused of breaking into Mayor Karen Bass’ home on Sunday morning. The suspect – Ephraim Matthew Hunter, 29 – was charged with felony residential burglary with a person present charge, felony vandalism charge and one prior strike from a previous case in Massachusetts, Gascon said. Hunter was being arraigned Tuesday afternoon.
Disgraced former Rep. George Santos has suspended a long shot comeback bid to represent New York's 1st Congressional District, he said on Tuesday, insisting that his challenge to incumbent Republican Rep. Nick LaLota would "all but guarantee" a Democrat takes the seat in November. "I don't want my run to be portrayed as reprisal against Nick Lalota… Although Nick and I don't have the same voting record and I remain critical of his abysmal record, I don't want to split the ticket and be responsible for handing the house to Dems," Santos, who has said he was switching his party affiliation from Republican to independent, said in a statement on X. LaLota has been dismissive of Santos but not of Santos' challenge itself, previously calling his former colleague an "embarrassment" and "one of the most bizarre people I have ever met" but saying he would take the race "seriously."
Israel launched a retaliatory strike against Iran on Friday, a senior U.S. official told ABC News. The strike followed Iran's April 13 attack, when Tehran sent a volley of more than 300 drones and missiles toward targets in Israel, according to Israeli military officials. Iran's attack came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of Gaza.
Nine more couples are suing an in vitro fertilization provider saying it destroyed their embryos, but still implanted the nonviable embryos despite knowing they were not viable. In a joint lawsuit filed Tuesday, the couples allege that workers at Ovation Fertility in Newport Beach, California, exposed the embryos to lethal amounts of "poison." The couples underwent implantations of the nonviable embryos between Jan. 18, 2024, and Jan. 30.
Whenever Alyssia Marte needs a boost of joy, she goes to her best friend's house. There, her friend's toddler-aged daughter gets so excited to see her, she does a happy dance. Marte, who lives in New Jersey, shared a video on TikTok showing the dance the toddler does each time she sees her.
A woman is facing second-degree murder charges after she allegedly drove into a child's birthday party in Michigan, killing two children and injuring several others, officials said. Marshella Chidester, 66, allegedly struck a building at the Swan Creek Boat Club in Newport Saturday afternoon, and her car came to rest about 25 feet inside the building, according to the sheriff and prosecutors. An 8-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother were killed, Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffery Yorkey said.