ABC News’ Mona Kosar Abdi spoke with award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller about the new season of the National Geographic docu-series “Trafficked” going inside the world’s black markets.
A 4-year-old girl was killed and four members of her family injured after two gunmen unloaded a barrage of bullets into a residence in Texas in a targeted shooting, authorities said Thursday. The shooting occurred Wednesday evening at a residence in San Antonio and was captured on neighbors' surveillance cameras, authorities said. A man and woman in their mid-20s and their three children were shot at the residence, according to Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.
Two skiers were killed and a third was hospitalized following an avalanche on Utah's Lone Peak, according to the Unified Police Department of Salt Lake City. The skiers are believed to have been buried by an avalanche in the backcountry, according to police. The deceased victims were described as two men who were 32- and 23-years-old, Sgt. Aymee Race told reporters.
Stormy Daniels on Thursday concluded nearly seven hours of dramatic testimony centered around her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Donald Trump, oscillating between defiance and vulnerability under intense questioning from Donald Trump's defense counsel. In a fraught cross-examination, Daniels denied allegations that she ginned up a false narrative to enrich herself, telling jurors that her interaction with Trump and subsequent notoriety had a "negative" impact on her life. Trump has steadfastly denied that any encounter took place.
One nurse is trying to break that stigma, taking to TikTok to talk frankly about death, from what a person feels while dying to how loved ones can best support a person in their final days. "The death rattle is the most normal thing and to be expected at the end of life, however if you're not used to hearing it, it feels like the scariest thing you've ever heard," Julie McFadden, known as @hospicenursejulie on TikTok, says in one video with nearly 2 million views. McFadden, a California-based hospice nurse and online educator, goes onto explain in the video how the so-called "death rattle" is a normal process caused by a buildup of saliva in the mouth.
A mom of two recently shared what she thinks many fellow moms really want for Mother's Day, and her unfiltered take has quickly gone viral. Barbosa's video clip has already been viewed over 128,000 times and has garnered more than 10,000 likes and over 6,000 shares. The 30-year-old told "Good Morning America" her post was inspired by her own experience and stories from other mom friends who said their husbands didn't realize what they really wanted to do on the annual holiday.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday a proposed change to the process for those seeking asylum in the United States that would streamline security assessments. The new proposal would allow asylum officers to determine earlier in the process whether an asylum-seeker is a national security risk and therefore ineligible to stay in the United States, the agency said. The new rule aims to allow that determination to be made during the initial screening phase over a number of reasons including "terrorism, national security or criminal bar," the agency said.
The Miss USA pageant named the new 2023 titleholder as Savannah Gankiewicz, Miss Hawaii USA and the first runner-up in the 2023 Miss USA competition on Thursday, according to the pageant's Instagram page. The announcement comes after former Miss USA Noelia Voigt announced that she would resign the title on Monday, citing mental health. Miss USA also announced Gankiewicz will be officially crowned in her home state of Hawaii next week.
Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election. Judge Juan Merchan dismissed court for the day following the late hearing.
Priyanka Chopra is proud of her husband, Nick Jonas. On Thursday, the actress shared a sweet message to Jonas on Instagram and praised his work ethic as he embarks on a new project. "So happy to be reunited as he starts filming Power Ballad," Chopra continued.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Sweden on Thursday to oppose the participation of an Israeli contestant in the semifinals of the massively popular Eurovision Song Contest. Protesters in Malmo, Sweden -- where the competition is being held after the country won the 2023 contest -- could be seen waving Palestinian flags and chanting "boycott Israel." Controversy has surrounded the song "Hurricane" by 20-year-old Eden Golan, Israel's contestant, with many demanding she be excluded from the competition over Israel's war in Gaza.
This Mother's Day will be a special one for Senior Master Sgt. Jennifer DeCou, who is currently deployed in Japan with her daughter, Senior Airman Jenaka DeCou. Although the 44-year-old mother of three has been in the U.S. Air Force for the past 26 years, it's the first time she is serving on deployment alongside her 21-year-old daughter, who followed her mom's footsteps into the military. The DeCous come from a military family, and Jennifer DeCou said her grandfathers, who served in the Army and Air Force, inspired her to enlist.
Trevor Bickford was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison Thursday for a "brazen" 2022 New Year's Eve knife attack in Times Square that seriously injured three New York City Police Department officers, the Department of Justice said. Bickford, who was 19 at the time of the attack, came from Maine in December 2022 intending to carry out a jihadist attack on officers in uniform with a "machete-style knife," prosecutors said.
The threat for tornadoes continues Thursday following an outbreak of deadly storms throughout the Midwest and South over the past few days. As of Thursday afternoon, at least 17 tornadoes had been reported in the previous 24 hours across seven states. There have been nearly 100 reported or confirmed tornadoes across 18 states since Monday.
Witnesses testifying at a congressional hearing have accused the U.S. intelligence community of deliberately downplaying dozens of Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs) affecting U.S. personnel, often referred to as "Havana syndrome." "It is my view that the executive branch, particularly at the behest of and manipulation by officials within CIA, is not truthfully reporting what it knows," said Mark Zaid, an attorney representing more than two dozen victims of "Havana syndrome," citing U.S. intelligence that he says he's seen in his work but could not reveal in an unclassified setting. An assessment released last year by the U.S. intelligence community found it was "very unlikely" that a foreign adversary was behind the cases of the so-called "Havana syndrome" affecting U.S. diplomats, intelligence community members, and Defense Department officials.
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, are no longer working royals -- having stepped away from the role four years ago -- but for the next several days, the Sussexes will be on a trip that looks similar to their royal tours of the past. Harry and Meghan, who now live in California, on Friday will begin a three-day visit to Nigeria, a country in West Africa that they are both visiting for the first time. Harry and Meghan's visit has no affiliation with Britain's royal family, and is instead at the invitation of the country's Chief of Defense Staff, its highest-ranking military official.
For the thousands of people who survived the Maui fires last August, the trauma of what they lived through still lingers. Lahaina painter Kirk Boes and his wife Laura have lived on Lahaina together for more than 40 years. “There's the initial disbelief, just denial,” Boes told ABC News.
This Teacher Appreciation Week, Norwegian Cruise Line is extending an all-new year-round discount for teachers planning their next vacation. Educators and staff from the U.S. and Canada can now get an exclusive 5% discount off the regular fare, plus a $50 onboard credit once they register and verify their status through NCL. "We are proud of our history of thanking educators for their hard work and commitment to shaping the next generation of future leaders," Norwegian Cruise Line President David J. Herrera said in a statement with the newly announced promo.
With grocery store prices on everyday essentials steadily climbing, one retail giant is aiming to help alleviate sticker shock this summer by lowering prices on hundreds of products. Earlier this week, Aldi announced it will further drop its everyday low prices on more than 250 summer essentials from picnic necessities to barbecue basics, which the company says will pass along $100 million in savings through Labor Day. "ALDI is always looking for ways to help customers save money, but with more experts warning of persistent inflation, the time was right to deliver even greater discounts on our already low prices for the second year in a row," Dave Rinaldo, president at ALDI U.S., said in a statement.
President Joe Biden is taking heat from all sides as he faces what could be the most fraught moment in the Israel-Hamas war since fighting broke out seven months ago. A dizzying number of recent developments, both at home and abroad, have underscored the politically perilous path Biden finds himself on as he navigates criticism from Republicans and Democrats unhappy with his approach to the conflict. All this mixed up with his reelection campaign in which polls show voters say they trust Donald Trump to do a better job in the same tough situation.
Whole foods in their natural state -- such as fresh fruit and vegetables, grains and lean proteins -- are up against rapidly growing options for ready-to-eat, ultra-processed packaged bites that underdeliver on flavor and nutrition after being refined from what was once a nutrient-dense ingredient into an amalgamation of artificial laden products. A new 30-year correlation study published Wednesday in the British Medical Journal found that diets high in ultra-processed foods -- such as ready-to-eat meats and artificially sweetened beverages -- are associated with slightly increased risk of death. Ultra-processed commercial, packaged foods that are made mostly of industrial-generated colors and additives make up the majority of the average American daily intake in 2018 and are now linked to a modest increase in death.