Pope Francis meets with church leaders in Vatican City amid retirement rumors
Among the invited leaders is a new American cardinal who is known for his liberal views on issues like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
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ABC NewsPresidential debate commission sticks to schedule despite Trump's urging
The Commission on Presidential Debates is pushing back against suggestions from the Trump campaign that it move its general debate calendar up -- standing firm in its decision to hold the first broadcast on Sept. 16, 2024. In a statement released on Wednesday, a day after Trump senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles released their own statement urging earlier debates, the commission correctly noted that its September event is the earliest it's ever conducted a debate. The previous record was set in 1980, when Republican Ronald Reagan and Independent John Anderson went head-to-head on Sept. 21.
- ABC News
14-year-old suspect dead after active shooter reported outside Wisconsin middle school: Sources
A 14-year-old suspect is dead following a confrontation with police Wednesday after an active shooter was reported outside a Wisconsin middle school, sources told ABC News. The teen had approached Mount Horeb Middle School with what appeared to be a long gun, the sources said. The suspect was a male student in the Mount Horeb Area School District, according to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul.
- ABC News
Arizona Senate passes repeal of 1864 abortion ban, sending it to governor's desk
The Arizona Senate on Wednesday voted to repeal a strict, Civil War-era abortion ban that was recently ruled enforceable by the state Supreme Court. Two Republican senators, T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick, joined the 14 Democrats in the minority and the bill passed 16-14, over vocal GOP objection. Ahead of her vote, Bolick took a broadly anti-abortion position on the floor -- explaining in detail the three difficult pregnancies she had herself, including the story of her own miscarriage -- but she voted with Democrats, suggesting the repeal of the stricter ban might weaken support for a Democratic-led ballot initiative in November to broaden abortion access further.
- Good Morning America
Reality TV star shares battle with postpartum depression as a dad
A reality TV star's decision to talk about his experience as a new dad is shining a light on a lesser-known topic, paternal postpartum depression. Leroy Garrett, a competitor on "The Challenge: All Stars," shared in an episode that he struggled with his mental health after the birth of his son Kingston Lee nearly two years ago. Garrett and his fiancee Kam Williams, also a contestant on the Paramount+ show, share Kingston Lee, 23 months, and a 9-week-old daughter named Aria.
- ABC News
Biden faces pressure from Republicans to speak out on college protests
President Joe Biden is facing pressure from Republicans to more forcefully speak out on the college protests unfolding nationwide in connection to the Israel-Hamas war. The campus unrest has created a political opportunity for Republicans, typically fractured on a number of issues but united against university leaders and as staunch supporters of Israel, to hold Biden's feet to the fire as he navigates a divided Democratic caucus. "When will the president himself, not his mouthpieces, condemn these hate-filled little Gazas?" GOP Sen. Tom Cotton said on Wednesday alongside other Republican senators at a news conference on Capitol Hill.
- Good Morning America
Kamala Harris hammers Trump for Florida's 6-week abortion ban, warns it will be 'even worse' if he wins
Vice President Kamala Harris hammered rival Donald Trump in a speech in Jacksonville, Florida, on Wednesday, the day the state's six-week abortion ban took effect, blaming the former president for the new restriction and saying it would be "even worse" if he wins a second term. "Just this week, in an interview, he said states have the right to monitor pregnant women to enforce these bans and states have the right to punish pregnant women for seeking out abortion care," Harris said, citing Trump's comments in a recent Time magazine story. "So, Florida, the contrast in this election could not be more clear."
- ABC News
A look at the violent clashes at UCLA as college protests, counterprotests intensify
UCLA became a focal point of nationwide campus protests early Wednesday morning when violent clashes broke out between protesters and counterprotesters as police allegedly stood by. One video appears to show an apparent pro-Israel protester throwing objects at the student encampment, while a separate video captures apparent pro-Israel protesters using planks of wood to hit protesters. Other counterprotesters can be seen spraying substances and throwing fireworks toward and into the encampment.
- ABC News
Members of Congress demand answers on Mario Andretti's rejection from F1 races
A group of bipartisan members of Congress are demanding answers from Formula 1 owner Liberty Media over why a U.S.-based team backed by racing legend Mario Andretti was excluded from the most prestigious motor racing series in the world. The FIA, which is Formula 1's governing body, initially accepted Andretti Global's push to join the grid. F1 cited several competitive concerns, and stated that "the presence of an 11th team would not, in and of itself, provide value to the championship."
- ABC News
House passes GOP antisemitism bill amid college unrest
The House passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act on Wednesday amid unrest on college campuses. The bill, which was introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, passed 320-91. The measure was led by Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and had 15 Democratic co-sponsors.
- ABC News
'She killed her chances': Kristi Noem's odds dim of being Trump's VP pick, sources say
The negative headlines began in earnest in March, when a slickly produced video Noem released personally promoting an out-of-state dentist spurred a lawsuit claiming deceptive advertising -- and the scrutiny increased in recent days with the revelation in Noem's upcoming memoir that she chose to shoot one of her young dogs because she claimed it was "untrainable" and exhibited aggression. "To a person, everyone agrees she killed her chances, pun intended," said Sean Spicer, Trump's first White House press secretary, who remains in touch with the former president's team.
- ABC News
'Belligerent' man ordered to pay United Airlines $20K for flight diversion: DOJ
A British man who wreaked havoc on a United Airlines flight, forcing the flight crew to divert their landing location, must pay over $20,000 to the airline, prosecutors announced. The charges stem from a March 1 flight that departed from London, when passenger Alexander Michael Dominic MacDonald, 30, "began arguing with his traveling companion and causing a disturbance," according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. "When flight attendants asked MacDonald to be quiet and attempted to calm him, he became belligerent, threatening and intimidating towards them," prosecutors said.
- Good Morning America
Charity Lawson, Dotun Olubeko mark 1 year together: 'We did it babe'
Charity Lawson and Dotun Olubeko are celebrating their one year anniversary. The couple, who met while on Lawson's season of "The Bachelorette" and got engaged on the show, shared sweet photos on Tuesday together to mark the milestone. In an Instagram post featuring an engagement photo, Lawson shared a sweet message and called Olubeko "the love that I didn't expect."
- Good Morning America
Harvey Weinstein's NYC sex crimes retrial set for after Labor Day
Harvey Weinstein is scheduled to be retried "sometime after Labor Day," a judge said Wednesday, as the disgraced film mogul appeared in a Manhattan courtroom for the first time since the New York Court of Appeals threw out his rape conviction. Court officers wheeled Weinstein's wheelchair into and out of the courtroom in Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday afternoon. "It was a strong case in 2020 when the defendant was convicted and remains a strong case in 2024," Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said.
- ABC News
Pennsylvania father seeks answers after son dies following alleged game of tag
A Pennsylvania father is seeking answers after his teen son died on Friday night after allegedly being chased by other teens who had come to his home and asked him to play a game of tag, the father told ABC News. Orville Johnson told ABC News that his son, Justin Johnson, had sickle cell disease and he understood that because of his condition, the teen could not run or exert too much energy because it could "cost him his life if he has to do anything like that." "He was so special," Johnson said of his son, who would have turned 17 on Tuesday.
- Good Morning America
Fed holds interest rates steady at highest level since 2001
The Federal Reserve decided to hold its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday, postponing highly anticipated rate cuts as elevated inflation continues to burden U.S. households. The slowdown has coincided with a months-long stretch of stubborn inflation, putting pressure on the Fed to keep interest rates high despite a risk of hindering economic activity with expensive borrowing costs. "The economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee remains highly attentive to inflation risks," the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's decision-making body on interest rates, said in a statement on Wednesday.
- ABC News
What to know about 'outside agitators' cops say are co-opting Columbia protests
Protests at Columbia University against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza have been allegedly "co-opted" by what New York City police officials described as professional outside agitators bent on sowing chaos and violence. Top police brass in New York said at a news conference Wednesday that protesters unaffiliated with Columbia University have been escalating violence. "These external actors are obviously not students and their presence on campus is a violation of Columbia's clearly stated policy," Adams said during a press briefing Tuesday.
- Good Morning America
No avian flu virus detected in sour cream, cottage cheese, powdered infant formula: FDA
Retail dairy samples recently tested for the avian flu virus, including cottage cheese and sour cream, did not detect any viable virus that would represent a risk to consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. In a joint press briefing with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dr. Donald Prater, acting director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition for the FDA, shared updates on ongoing bird flu investigations. A multi-state outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows was first reported in late March, according to the CDC.
- Good Morning America
*NSYNC's Lance Bass, Justin Timberlake hilariously take on yearly 'It's Gonna Be May' meme
It's May 1, so, of course, members of the boy band *NSYNC acknowledged what has now become a time-honored tradition: the "It's Gonna Be May" meme. As a bit of a refresher, when the group recorded their 2000 No. 1 hit "It's Gonna Be Me," Justin Timberlake pronounced "me" as "may." Lance Bass, meanwhile, posted a video of himself giving his husband, Michael Turchin, a card.
- Good Morning America
Martinelli's apple juice recalled over high arsenic levels, sold at Whole Foods, Kroger and more
Martinelli's has voluntarily recalled a single lot of its apple juice that was distributed to five major retailers after it tested for arsenic levels higher than U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards. S. Martinelli & Co. stated in a recall notice dated April 16, 2024, that the recall was initiated as "a result of sampling by the State of Maryland that found samples from one production lot of Martinelli's apple juice, sold in one-liter glass bottles, tested above the guidance action level for inorganic arsenic in apple juice set by the FDA in June 2023."
- ABC News
Some Republicans expected to join Arizona Democrats to pass repeal of 1864 abortion ban
Two Republican state senators are expected to join Democrats in Arizona on Wednesday to pass a bill to repeal the state's Civil War-era near-total abortion ban -- three weeks after the state Supreme Court ruled the law was enforceable and one week after the House passed its own legislation to roll back the restrictions that have stirred widespread controversy. T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick have both indicated they will support the Democratic-led repeal effort, giving Democrats the necessary votes in the chamber. Notably, Bolick is married to one of the state Supreme Court justices who voted to reinstate the 1864 law, which supersedes a 15-week abortion ban that was enacted in 2022 and which blocks all abortions except to save the life of the pregnant woman.