Urgent search for young woman with autism
Police released footage of Noemi Bolivar, 21, getting on a bus in Broward County, Florida, on the day of her disappearance.
Police released footage of Noemi Bolivar, 21, getting on a bus in Broward County, Florida, on the day of her disappearance.
A teenage girl has died after saving her brother when they both fell into a frozen lake in Ohio, officials said. An officer who responded to the drowning incident also died, authorities said. The 16-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy fell through the ice near boat docks at Rocky Fork State Park in Hillsboro on Tuesday evening, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
President Joe Biden signed a new executive order Wednesday mandating a 100-day review of critical product supply chains in the U.S., focused on those for computer chips, large capacity batteries, active pharmaceutical ingredients and critical minerals and strategic materials, including rare-earth minerals. The order is part of the administration's effort to secure domestic supply chains in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that highlighted vulnerabilities that currently exist. "The bottom line is simple: The American people should never face shortages in the goods and services they rely on, whether that's their car or their prescription medicines or the food at the local grocery store," Biden said in remarks prior to signing the order.
According to a Gallup poll released Wednesday, 5.6% of United States adults identify as LGBT. For the first time, Gallup also asked respondents to indicate their precise sexual orientation, as opposed to responding "yes" or "no" to whether they identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The poll found that more than half of LGBT adults (54.6%) identify as bisexual, about a quarter (24.5%) as gay, 11.7% as lesbian and 11.3% as transgender.
For millions of Americans like 27-year-old Edvonte Copeland, stimulus checks from the federal government have provided a financial lifeline. A special education assistant and assistant athletic director at a high school in Minneapolis, Copeland’s work became unpredictable as the pandemic forced classrooms to go virtual. When the most recent $600 check arrived in the mail, Copeland immediately used it to help pay his bills.
Nearly a week after the South Dakota attorney general was charged with three misdemeanors for fatally striking a pedestrian on a highway last year, the South Dakota governor has called on him to resign and released investigation interviews that detail the incident, and state lawmakers have begun impeachment proceedings against him. Jason Ravnsborg, 44, was charged with operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile device, lane driving violation and careless driving stemming from the Sept. 12 crash. Ravnsborg was not on his cell phone at the time of the impact but was outside the lanes of travel, state attorneys said, when he hit the 55-year-old victim, Joseph Boever, on U.S. Highway 14, about a mile west of Highmore, South Dakota.
As many struggle to get a vaccine appointment, two neighbors who met online found a way to help each other. Grandmother Emily Johnson of Austin, Texas, was in need of open-heart surgery, but her doctor said she had to have one vaccination before the operation. After spending hours on the phone to set up a vaccination appointment, she reached out to her neighbors on the website Nextdoor.
NASA released an immersive new panoramic image with 360-degree views of Mars on Wednesday that was taken by its Perseverance rover. The photo is the latest in a series being sent back by the rover, which arrived at the red planet last week. The rover, nicknamed "Percy," snapped the image by rotating its head 360 degrees to allow its Mastcam-Z instrument to capture Mars' Jezero Crater from all angles.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging people to stop ignoring face covering and social distancing rules when they hit the gym after two new studies confirmed they are strong spreader locations. The agency released findings Wednesday on research it undertook at gyms located in Chicago and Hawaii that saw a high "attack rate" associated with outbreaks last summer. In Hawaii, 21 people contracted the virus in July from a cycling fitness instructor who had the disease and taught classes for three days.
Moderna, which produces one of two coronavirus vaccines authorized for use in the U.S., announced on Wednesday that it has shipped a vaccine modified to fight the variant first discovered in South Africa to the National Institutes of Health for testing in humans. The company said the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the NIH, will conduct a phase one trial to determine if the modified vaccine boosts immunity against the variant, which has caused concerns due to being more resistant to the current vaccines. "We look forward to beginning the clinical study of our variant booster and are grateful for the NIH's continued collaboration to combat this pandemic," Stéphane Bancel, Moderna's chief executive officer, said in a statement.
People who test positive for antibodies after being sick with the virus that causes COVID-19 may have protection against reinfection for at least a few months, according to a new study. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health analyzed 3 million antibody test results, also known as serology tests, from five commercial labs and two health care data analytics companies between January and August of 2020. The researchers found that people with positive antibody tests were only about one-tenth as likely as those who didn't have antibodies to test positive for the virus 90 days after their initial antibody test.
In prepared testimony she's set to deliver Thursday before the House Appropriations Committee, the acting U.S. Capitol Police chief defends the actions of her department on Jan. 6, but admits the force was "overwhelmed by thousands of insurrectionists" who made it inside the Capitol and had "internal challenges" as the assault was underway. It protected Congressional Leadership. Pittman, who was the assistant chief of police of the department’s Protective & Intelligence Operations on Jan. 6, says she was responsible for member details and the Department’s Intelligence and Interagency Coordination Division (IICD).
As lawmakers and investigators dig into the roots of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, the question of who funded one of the galvanizing forces behind pro-Trump efforts to challenge election results remains shrouded in mystery. The nationwide "Stop the Steal" movement represented one of the most vocal efforts to contest the outcome of the 2020 election. The name, coined in 2016 by Donald Trump's longtime political adviser, Roger Stone, resurfaced during the 2020 race in a new effort led by far-right activist Ali Alexander, who is now the self-proclaimed national organizer of the "Stop the Steal" movement.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he believes President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general could look into conspiracy charges surrounding former President Donald Trump's potential involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. “Certainly we know that the activities of this group, this mob, this insurrection are being held to account by the Department of Justice, over 200 have been arrested and 500 under investigation,” Durbin told Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl and Political Director Rick Klein on ABC’s “Powerhouse Politics” podcast Wednesday. In his Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing on Tuesday, attorney general nominee Merrick Garland told senators he plans to pursue leads “wherever the investigation takes us,” in response to a question from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., encouraging Garland to look “upstream” for connections.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Wednesday offered a sobering review of the mail agency’s finances and performance capabilities but reaffirmed his intention to overhaul the agency and remain at its helm, telling one Democratic lawmaker: "Get used to me." Tapped to lead the Postal Service last summer, DeJoy’s tumultuous tenure has been marked by intense partisan scrutiny and a reform effort that slowed mail deliveries across much of the country. DeJoy apologized Wednesday for "unacceptable" mail delays during the holiday season.
Former President Donald Trump and his future with the GOP was the subject of an awkward clash Wednesday between two House Republican leaders. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy was unequivocal when asked if Trump should be speaking this Sunday at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference -- the large gathering of GOP and conservative leaders.
Vivek Murthy, President Joe Biden's nominee to serve as U.S. Surgeon General, plans to tell Congress on Thursday that his top priority, if confirmed, will be ending the pandemic -- which has taken the lives of seven of his own family members in the U.S. and India. In January, Murthy lost his great uncle, who he was very close with, an aide said. As "America's doctor," the potential surgeon general would play a central role in crafting the public message on the coronavirus, which has claimed more than 500,000 American lives.
No charges are anticipated against Tiger Woods after he was seriously injured in a rollover vehicle crash in Southern California, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. "This is purely an accident," Villanueva said Wednesday via Facebook live, adding that there was no evidence of impairment. Woods was the driver and only occupant, and no other vehicles were involved.
At least 79 inmates have died in riots at four prisons across Ecuador, authorities said. Gen. Edmundo Moncayo, head of Ecuador's prison system, known by its Spanish acronym SNAI, told reporters that the violence erupted Tuesday between rival drug gangs trying "to seize the criminal leadership of the detention centers." The leader of Los Choneros was assassinated in December at a shopping mall in the port city of Manta in Manabi province.
Disneyland Resort announced more details for "A Touch of Disney," a limited-capacity ticketed experience opening at Disney California Adventure Park on March 18, one year after the park shut down due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. This experience will offer "some of the world-famous food and drinks from around the Disneyland Resort, plus a chance to see Disney characters, shop for the latest Disney merchandise and pop in at unique photo locations," according to a press release. Beginning March 4, guests will be able to buy tickets for the "A Touch of Disney" experience for select dates between March 18 and April 5.
As more people in the United States are able to get vaccinated for COVID-19, the vaccines are not believed to have any "significant impact" on fertility, according to Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News chief medical editor and a board-certified OBGYN. The myth that COVID-19 vaccines may negatively impact fertility has been spread largely on social media, according to Ashton. In the U.S., larger shares of women than men are concerned about the safety and possible side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a nonprofit organization focused on health issues.