(NEW YORK) — The World Health Organization announced Monday that it has launched an initiative to help accelerate the development of a human bird flu vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.
The project, which will be led by Argentinian pharmaceutical company Sinergium Biotech, will aim to identify vaccine candidates for manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries, the WHO said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has previously said the risk of bird flu, also known as avian influenza, to the general public is low and there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Federal health officials have also prepared millions of vials of an available non-mRNA bird flu vaccine as a precautionary measure, just in case it becomes necessary.
mRNA technology is the same type that was used in the development of COVID vaccines. Most vaccines use a weakened or inactive virus to stimulate an immune response, but mRNA vaccines teach the body how to make proteins that can trigger an immune response and fight off an infection.
Researchers can often design mRNA vaccines more quickly than they can produce the live or weakened pathogens needed for a traditional vaccine.
The initiative is part of the WHO’s mRNA Technology Transfer Program, which has a goal of building capacity in low- and middle-income countries to produce mRNA vaccines.
Sinergium Biotech has already developed candidates for H5N1 vaccines, according to the WHO. The company is looking to perform proof-of-concept studies, in which researchers decide whether to continue studying the product based on its efficacy.
If the proof-of-concept study is successful, Sinergium said it plans to share the “technology, materials and expertise” with other manufacturing partners so they can develop the vaccine themselves.
“This initiative exemplifies why WHO established the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme — to foster greater research, development and production in low- and middle-income countries, so that when the next pandemic arrives, the world will be better prepared to mount a more effective and more equitable response,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
The WHO says that avian influenza viruses are a “significant public health risk” because they spread widely in animals and have the potential to cause a future pandemic. However, the global health agency indicated that its preparedness efforts are an example of being proactive, rather than reactive, by increasing access to vaccines.
In the United States, there have been 13 human cases of bird flu since April of this year, according to an update last week from the CDC. All the human patients either came into contact with sick dairy cows or infected poultry, according to the CDC.
U.S. Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to attendees during his campaign rally at the Bojangles Coliseum on July 24, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Fred Trump III, the nephew of former President Donald Trump, said his uncle is “atomic crazy,” that he witnessed him using racial slurs decades ago — and that he plans to vote for Kamala Harris.
The Trump way was to be “complex and sometimes cruel,” Fred Trump said in an interview with ABC News’ Aaron Katersky.
“And within every family — people know this — families are complicated. Every family has their crazy uncle. My Uncle Donald is atomic crazy. And … he has put his mark on the family history,” he said, as he promoted his new book, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way.
Pressed to explain further, Fred Trump said it “means he does things that, even as much as I know him when he’s out there now, I sort of shudder and say, ‘Is this the same guy I knew? What’s making him change? … What got him this way?’ But that all being said, I’ve always had a good relationship.”
He added, “But he’s done really horrific things to me, which some people will say, ‘How could you still want to have a relationship with him?’ He’s my uncle. He’s family, and that means a lot.”
Fred Trump, the son of the former president’s late older brother Fred Trump II, who died in 1981 at 43, says he wrote the book in part to advocate for people with severe developmental disabilities, like his adult son William. He says this latest Trump family tell-all is not a political hit job, but rather the “full-on truth” about his uncle, who is the Republican nominee for president.
In a statement to ABC News, Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung denied the claims about the former president.
“This is completely fabricated and total fake news of the highest order,” he said. “It is appalling a lie so blatantly disgusting can be printed in media. Anyone who knows President Trump knows he would never use such language, and false stories like this have been thoroughly debunked.”
The younger Trump’s new book includes a chapter titled, “The Race Card.” In that chapter, he details his uncle using a racial slur, he said.
“I was about 10 years old, and I was at my grandparents’ house, like I was a lot,” Fred Trump said. “And Donald — I could hear him screaming. And I went down to the driveway of my grandparents’ house, and there was his white El Dorado convertible with two slashes. Still remember it. And he had electrical tape, because the roof was black. And he used the word — the N-word — twice just saying who he thought probably had done this.”
The former president has consistently denied using the racial slur. Fred Trump said that despite being young when the incident occurred, he “absolutely” remembered the moment as it happened.
“OK. He did twice that day,” Fred Trump said when ABC News brought up Donald Trump’s repeated denials.
Fred Trump wrote in his book that some people have labeled the former president as racist, and some say he is not. But what does he believe?
“He, at time[s], espouses things that people who I believe are racist espouses. That’s the best I can answer that question,” he said.
“I don’t believe he’s a racist,” Fred Trump added when pressed on the question. “I just think that he uses people, whether they’re Black or they’re — whoever can help him he will use them. And, you know, call it racist or not, I don’t believe in that. He uses them as props. And when he gets what he needs out of them — votes — he’ll cast them aside.”
After his uncle was elected president in 2016, Fred Trump saw an opportunity to advocate for the disabled, he said.
“I was in the Oval Office 12 times about. And that was our mission: to advocate for people with complex disabilities,” he said.
He added, “It culminated in May of 2020 in the Oval Office. Donald was there, and he was very gracious. Several other folks were there, including the group that we brought down. We dispersed. I was asked to go back and see Donald. He greeted me with his familiar, ‘Hey, pal. How’s it going?'”
He says he “sat down for a bit” with his uncle.
“And he just came out with, ‘These people, all the expenses. They should just die,'” Fred Trump recalled. “He’s talking about human beings who have complex issues, and the first thing he could say was they should just die.”
Fred Trump said the comment wasn’t an isolated incident. He described a phone call to alert his uncle that the medical fund set up by the family for his son William was running low, a fund he says his uncle consistently replenished.
“A couple of years ago … I called him. I said, ‘Donald, the fund’s running out.’ And without hesitation, he said, ‘Your son doesn’t recognize you. Let him die and move to Florida,'” Fred Trump said.
Asked if he was surprised by the comment, Fred Trump said he was. He said he told his uncle that his son did recognize him.
“Was I surprised? I don’t think you could hear something like that and not be surprised,” Fred Trump said. “But that is what he has become. It’s sad.”
“You describe your uncle as incredibly cruel. Why would you want a relationship with him?” ABC News asked.
“I’m not gonna change him I don’t think there’s anybody that could change him,” Fred Trump said. “But I’ve always enjoyed time with him. And I would hope if he’s not elected that he’ll calm down. I don’t know if that’s possible. But my guess is I may not be welcome to any of the golf courses anymore. I’ll find others. But I do thank him for the entree to those courses. I’m a heck of a golfer.”
Fred Trump said he planned to vote for Harris, but would attend the inauguration if his uncle wins and if he’s invited.
Tune into “Good Morning America” Tuesday at 7 a.m. ET to watch more of Aaron Katersky’s interview with Fred Trump III.
Police officers and forensic personnel put up a fence on Hart Street in Southport, northwest England, on July 29, 2024, following a knife attack. (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Police investigating the deadly attack on a children’s music event in a seaside town of Southport, United Kingdom, said they would interview the 17-year-old suspect as they searched for a motive.
“The investigation is in its early stages and the motivation for the incident remains unclear,” Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said on Monday.
Officers responded just before noon local time to reports of a stabbing at a property on Hart Street in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool, according to Merseyside Police.
Two children were killed and nine others were injured in a stabbing attack at an event at a dance school in the seaside town, police said. Six of the wounded children were in critical condition, along with two adults, who were also stabbed, police said.
“We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked,” Kennedy said Monday.
Merseyside Police said the children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school. A flyer for the two-hour event called it a “Taylor Swift Yoga and Dance Workshop.” The event was for children between 6 and 11 years old, according to post on the organizer’s Instagram.
The “horror” of the attack was “washing over me continuously,” Swift said in a post on Instagram. She said she was “completely in shock.”
“The loss of life and innocent, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders,” she said. These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to even convey my sympathies to these families.”
A 17-year-old boy from Banks, a coastal village in Lancashire, just outside Southport, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, police said.
The suspect, whose name was not released, was born in Cardiff, Wales, police said.
The “full circumstances” were still being investigated, police said, adding that the attack wasn’t being investigated as terror-related. Police were not searching for additional suspects, they said.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during The Rocket Foundation Summit on Gun Violence Prevention at The Carter Presidential Center on June 18, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Julia Beverly/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is holding a rally in Atlanta on Tuesday, marking her 15th trip to Georgia since taking office and her first trip to the battleground state since launching her own presidential bid.
On a call with reporters ahead of her trip, Harris’ campaign said Georgia, a formerly red state that voted blue in the last presidential election, is still “in play.”
“The vice president is energizing and mobilizing our base,” said Dan Kanninen, the campaign’s battleground states director. “Having a candidate who can mobilize our key Biden-Harris coalition, talking about the issues that resonate with Georgians … make that state in play.”
Since President Joe Biden announced earlier this month that he was leaving the 2024 race, Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
The trip comes as the campaign reported raising $200 million in less than a week since Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. The campaign is also boasting 170,000 new volunteers who have signed up to back Harris. This past weekend to commemorate the 100-day mark from November’s election, the campaign hosted 2,300 events across the battleground states with more than 29,000 volunteers participating.
Harris — who will be introduced by a graduate of Morehouse College, a historically Black university — will be joined by Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock as well as former Rep. Stacey Abrams along with several other special guests. One of those special guests will rapper Megan Thee Stallion, who is expected to give a special performance at the rally, a source confirmed to ABC News.
Harris’ remarks at the rally will follow a meeting with local reproductive rights leaders and activists.
Georgia played a crucial role in Biden’s 2020 victory, going blue for the first time since 1992 due, in significant part, to organizing efforts from Abrams, who spent years spearheading get-out-the-vote efforts in Black communities. Harris’ campaign will be looking to replicate success in Georgia by shoring up support among Black voters, a key group of voters that both Harris and former President Donald Trump will work to connect with as the November election approaches.
Biden only won the state by some 12,000 votes in 2020, a win heavily contested by Trump, who is currently in the midst of an election interference case in the state. Trump hasn’t held a campaign event in Georgia since his debate with Biden in June.
Kanninen said although the Harris campaign has achieved an impressive fundraising haul in a short amount of time, they are not getting “comfortable.”
“I continue to be very clear with our partners and with our own staff. This campaign will not get comfortable. We jumped in with just 100 days ago against an opponent who has shown he’s willing to do anything to win,” said Kannien. “This is going to be an incredibly close race just like it was in 2020. But just like four years ago, we are going to win this thing.”
The Harris campaign told reporters they expect the state to be just as “competitive” this election, claiming that their infrastructure in the state gives them an advantage.
“We expect it to be as close as competitive this year,” said Communications Director Michael Tyler. “That’s why we have the team and the operation in place to make sure that we can turn out every single Harris voter in the state of Georgia.”
According to the campaign, they have more than 170 coordinated staff and 24 offices across the state with three of those opening this past weekend. The Trump campaign only recently opened its first campaign office in the state in June.
“We’re making these investments across the entire map because the data is clear. We have multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes,” said Kanninen. “The vice president is strong in both the blue wall and in the Sun Belt and we are running hard in both.”
(GREENSBORO, N.C.) — A 19-year-old woman has been found dead on a picnic table under a pavilion at a park in North Carolina, police say.
The woman was found on Sunday at approximately 7:27 p.m. when officers from the Greensboro Police Department responded to the 2900 block of Haig Street after a caller expressed concern about “a person lying on a picnic table under a pavilion in the park at that location,” according to a statement from the Greensboro Police Department detailing the incident.
“The caller advised that the person was not moving. The caller said they had heard what they thought were fireworks about an hour earlier,” the statement said. “On closer inspection, the caller reported that the person was not breathing and had injuries that the caller described as gunshot wounds.”
Responding officers immediately went to the scene where they located the victim — later identified as 19-year-old Jakala Marie Goode — and pronounced her deceased at the scene.
Police are investigating Goode’s death as a homicide but did not disclose any potential motives or suspects in the case.
This is the 22nd homicide in Greensboro this year and police are asking for anybody with information to call Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000.
All tips to Crime Stoppers are completely anonymous and the investigation is currently ongoing.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper speaks before U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at a post-debate campaign rally on June 28, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement on Monday night signaling that he’s removed himself from contention as a vice presidential running mate for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President. I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said in a post on X.
“As l’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins,” he added.
Moments after Cooper issued his statement, he delivered remarks on a “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom call, but did not address withdrawing as a possible running mate. The governor instead took the time to boost Harris’ candidacy, saying, “We know that this country needs Kamala Harris more than ever right now, and we can hold the key now.”
Cooper previously announced his support for Harris’ presidential campaign. On July 21, he formally endorsed the vice president, writing, “Kamala Harris should be the next President. I’ve known @VP going back to our days as AGs, and she has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country thoughtfully and with integrity. I look forward to campaigning for her as we work to win NC up and down the ticket.”
Cooper, who is the former chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, was seen as a possible top contender for Harris’ 2024 election ticket to expand the Democratic Party’s reach into swing states.
If Cooper were to join Harris’ campaign, however, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson would become active governor while on the campaign trail, under constitutional law.
Robinson is the Republican party’s nominee for governor in the state, in the race to replace Cooper who is term-limited from running for a third time.
Other rumored contenders for Harris’ running mate include Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
Harris is expected to announce her VP nomination by Aug. 7, ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which will kick off in Chicago on Aug. 19.
General view of beaches along Cancun hotel zone in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Dec. 4, 2023. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A 12-year-old boy was killed on a beach in Cancun after gunmen on jet skis opened fire, allegedly targeting a rival drug dealer, according to Mexican officials.
The incident, which took place on Kukulcán Boulevard in the municipality of Benito Juárez on Sunday, is now under investigation by the Attorney General’s office.
Prosecutors said they believe “attackers arrived by sea, aboard a jet ski shooting at some people presumably in dispute for drug sales.”
The 12-year-old, who has not been publicly identified, is not believed to have been purposefully targeted by the shooters.
“The authorities arrived immediately and the minor was transferred to the hospital where, unfortunately, he lost his life,” prosecutors said.
The boy and his family, who were present at the time of the shooting, are Mexican and from the municipality.
(NEW YORK) — Police in Fort Lee, New Jersey, fatally shot a woman who was experiencing a mental health crisis on Sunday, the state attorney general’s office said.
The woman has not been publicly identified. The incident is now under investigation.
Fort Lee Police Department officers responded to a home at about 1:25 a.m. Sunday after a man called 911, saying his sister was having a mental health crisis and needed to go to the hospital, according to the attorney general’s office. The man said she was holding a knife, the attorney general’s office said.
In the hallway outside the apartment, the man who called 911 spoke to a responding police officer, at which point the officer opened the door to the unit and saw two women inside, according to the attorney general’s office.
The two women, one of whom was believed to be the 911 caller’s sister, “told the officer not to come in and shut the door,” the attorney general’s office said.
The officer knocked on the door, asking the women to open it, but they allegedly did not comply, the office said. More officers then arrived and breached the door.
The sister then “approached the officers in the hallway,” at which point one officer “fired a single shot, striking the female in the chest,” the attorney general’s office said.
It is unclear if the woman was holding a knife at the time she approached the officers, the attorney general’s office said.
Officers then began rendering medical aid to the woman, who was then transported to the hospital, officials said.
She was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1:58 a.m.
The attorney general’s office said a knife was recovered at the scene.
All deaths that take place during law enforcement encounters are required to be investigated by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump told the audience at a cryptocurrency conference in Nashville, Tennessee, over the weekend that he wants to turn the U.S. into the “crypto capital of the planet.”
The remarks thrust digital currency into the forefront of a presidential campaign in which both major candidates are seeking to draw contrasts on hot-button issues. The political attention comes during an upswing for bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, which has surged 60% in value this year.
Trump, who opposed crypto as president, has recently undertaken a campaign blitz in support of digital assets. By contrast, likely Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has remained quiet on the issue since President Biden ended his reelection bid more than a week ago and endorsed the vice president in his place.
“This is a really live issue,” Aaron Klein, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institute, told ABC News, pointing to key constituencies that disproportionately trade cryptocurrency, such as young voters.
In response to ABC News’ request for comment, the Trump campaign touted the candidate’s support for crypto and the wider tech industry.
“As the Bitcoin conference demonstrated, President Trump wants our nation to regain the global lead for technology, innovation, and manufacturing. That includes crypto and other sectors,” senior adviser Brian Hughes told ABC News in a statement. “Crypto innovators and others in the technology sector are under attack from Kamala Harris and the Democrats who’ve placed obstacles and unnecessary burdens in the way of our nation’s next generation of industry leaders.”
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment on the issue.
Here’s what to know about where Trump and Harris stand on cryptocurrency:
Where does former President Donald Trump stand on cryptocurrency?
While in office, Trump sharply criticized crypto. In 2019, he derided digital assets in a post on X as “highly volatile and based on thin air.”
“Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade,” Trump added.
Lately, however, Trump has voiced full-throated support for crypto. Speaking at the annual Bitcoin Conference on Saturday, Trump vowed to ease regulation of cryptocurrency and establish the federal government’s first National Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Trump also said he would replace Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who many crypto proponents dislike for his robust approach to crypto regulation.
“Trump seems to have had a change of heart and is going all-in on crypto,” Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell University who studies digital assets, told ABC News.
In recent weeks, Trump has received endorsements from some major figures in Silicon Valley who back crypto, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a prominent crypto supporter. Other Trump supporters include Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, billionaire crypto entrepreneurs who gained prominence in the early 2000s after suing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
In a post on X on Monday, Cameron Winklevoss said, “We’re going to make America and Bitcoin greater than ever before.”
Prasad said Trump’s about-face on crypto aligns with his effort to appeal to Silicon Valley donors and signal a deregulatory approach toward business.
“He seems to view the crypto industry as a source of financing for this campaign and also as lining up with his anti-big government message,” Prasad said.
It remains difficult to discern exactly where Harris stands on crypto, experts told ABC News.
Where does Vice President Kamala Harris stand on cryptocurrency?
The Biden administration has been widely perceived as tough on crypto, they noted, citing the federal prosecution of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and cryptocurrency regulations enforced by Gensler. However, experts told ABC News, it isn’t clear how closely Harris intends to align herself with Biden on the issue.
Democrats are divided over crypto policy, said Klein, of the Brookings Institute. Progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has been a forceful critic of crypto, for instance, while tech entrepreneur and Harris supporter Mark Cuban has sought a friendlier stance on digital assets, Klein noted.
“The Democratic party has a split,” Klein said.
Harris ultimately may seek to soften the Biden administration’s position on cryptocurrency, experts said. The Harris campaign has contacted top crypto firms in an effort to “reset” relations between the industry and the Democratic Party, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
“I suspect Harris’s campaign will have some level of strategic ambiguity between the Biden administration’s line and what the cryptocurrency industry wants,” Klein told ABC News.
(WASHINGTON) — Mark Meadows, the one-time chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, is continuing his monthslong effort to move the Fulton County criminal case against him into federal court, asking the Supreme Court in a new appeal to intervene on a lower court’s ruling they claim was “dangerously” wrong.
In a filing, dated Friday, Meadows’ attorneys say the lower court erred when it rejected Meadows’ request to move his case out of state court and into federal court, in part by pointing to the court’s recent landmark ruling granting Trump some immunity for official acts
“Just as immunity protection for former officers is critical to ensuring that current and future officers are not deterred from enthusiastic service, so too is the promise of a federal forum in which to litigate that defense,” the 47-page filing states.
Meadows for months has sought to move his case into federal court based on a law that calls for the removal of criminal proceedings when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.
Both a lower court and appeals court have rejected that claim, with one judge writing that Meadows’ actions charged in the indictment “were taken on behalf of the Trump campaign” and not his official duties.
Now, Meadows has appealed the issue up to the Supreme Court, arguing the appeal court’s ruling that the statute does not apply to former officers “defies statutory text, context, history, and common sense.”
“The decision [of the lower court] is not just wrong, but dangerously so,” Meadows’ attorneys continued, again referencing Trump’s immunity ruling. “The Court should grant review, or at the very least vacate and remand in light of Trump.”
The Fulton County election interference case against Trump and 14 others is largely on pause pending an appeal of the disqualification issue. An appeals court has scheduled oral arguments for December.
Meadows has pleaded not guilty.
The historic Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity referenced by Meadows’ lawyers outlined the boundaries of presidential power, making clear for the first time that former presidents are entitled to absolute immunity for “core” official acts but have no immunity for “unofficial” acts.
