(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) — Arizona officials are searching for a large coyote who they say injured two toddlers in separate attacks in Scottsdale this week.
Both toddlers were treated for minor injuries and released following the incidents on Saturday and Wednesday, according to Arizona’s Game and Fish Department.
“The coyote shows little fear of people and may have been illegally fed in the past,” the department said in a statement on Thursday. “Parents of toddlers in the area should keep their children close when outdoors and be vigilant.”
The Game and Fish Department said it’s patrolling the area with help from Scottsdale police.
The department asks anyone who spots a coyote to immediately call 623-236-7201.
(NEW YORK) — From the iconic Egg McMuffin at McDonald’s to French Toast Sticks at Wendy’s, the competition among fast food chains to serve Americans breakfast has registered another entry.
Dunkin’ launched its latest menu offering, Breakfast Tacos, on Wednesday to capitalize on consumers’ love of on-the-go options to start the day.
The tacos are made with a flour tortilla, scrambled eggs, melted sharp white cheddar cheese, fire-roasted corn and a drizzle of lime crema. Customers can enjoy the tacos as they come or order them topped with crumbled bacon.
The quick service coffee and doughnut chain noted in a press release that the tacos have “spring-forward ingredients” including the fire-roasted corn, though it wasn’t clear whether those ingredients are fresh, frozen or canned. According to the Seasonal Food Guide, corn is at its peak from May through September, so whatever the case, Dunkin’ seems to be getting a head start.
Jill McVicar Nelson, Dunkin’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement that the culinary team developed the tacos with “the vibrancy of Spring in mind” and hailed them as “undoubtedly one of the tastiest savory items we’ve launched.”
The Massachusetts-based chain’s tacos differ in ingredients and flavors from that of the beloved Tex-Mex breakfast item.
Breakfast tacos have a long history as a beloved favorite across Texas, from San Antonio to Austin, where chains like Veracruz All Natural and Torchy’s offer a variety of fresh, locally made tortillas filled with flavorful fillings, such as the classic Migas taco — made with eggs, tortilla chips, tomatoes, onion and peppers or chiles, cheese and, most times, avocado.
Dunkin’s new offering leans more towards Southwestern flavors, treating the corn like a traditional Mexican street food, esquites, which are charred kernels with white cheese, spices, mayonnaise and lime.
With its new Breakfast Tacos, Dunkin’ is going up against the likes of Taco Bell, which offers an array of breakfast burritos and breakfast quesadillas, McDonald’s, which offers sausage breakfast burritos and more traditional breakfast sandwiches, Burger King’s eggnormous burrito, Carl’s Jr.’s Big Country Breakfast Burrito and even more from regional chains.
The new menu item is slated to be served any time of day as breakfast, a midday snack or late night bite and can be purchased for $2.59 without bacon or $2.99 with the crispy crumbled bacon topping.
(NEW YORK) — Simply search the hashtag #facetaping on social media and you’ll get tens of thousands of posts about this beauty trend that promises to help prevent wrinkles and smooth fine lines.
Face taping, as the trend is known, involves placing tape on the areas of the face where a person wants to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, like the forehead and cheeks.
The type of tape people use includes everything from regular clear, sticky tape to the kinesiology tape normally used to treat injuries to newer brands of tape marketed just for face taping.
To see whether this viral trend is one that is safe to try at home, ABC News’ Good Morning America spoke with Dr. Jennifer Ashton, a board-certified OB-GYN and ABC News’ chief medical correspondent.
Here are her answers on whether face taping is safe and, importantly, whether it actually works:
1. Does face taping have any real, physical benefits?
Possibly, according to Ashton, but any benefit would be temporary.
“Very superficially and very temporarily, it can smooth out those superficial wrinkles,” Ashton said. “It depends on the age of the person, how much sun damage there is, how much elasticity or collagen there is in their skin, how much volume they’ve lost with age. All of those things can contribute to the appearance of wrinkles.”
Ashton emphasized that a person’s wrinkles could return within “minutes” of face taping.
“It’s possible that when you remove the tape, those wrinkles can re-form in minutes to hours,” she said. “So it’s going to be a very transient effect.”
2. Does face taping help deep wrinkles?
No, said Ashton.
“You have to ask yourself whether you’re dealing with fine wrinkles and lines or deep wrinkles,” Ashton said. “Taping your face at night for several hours is very unlikely to do anything significant for deeper wrinkles.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, fine lines are the first stage of wrinkles. They look like small creases on the skin and are closer to the skin’s surface.
Fine lines are most likely to be in places where you make repetitive movements, like around your eyes and mouth. As a person ages, those fine lines become wrinkles.
Wrinkles, according to the Cleveland Clinic, are “deeper creases” within the skin and can form anywhere on the body, not just the face.
3. Is there a risk to trying face taping?
Ashton said the main risks associated with face typing would be a reaction to the type of tape that is used, which would vary person to person.
A person could be allergic to a specific type of tape, according to Ashton, who recommends trying a small patch of skin first.
“We see all the time allergic reactions to tape on the skin in surgery,” Ashton said. “I would suggest if you’re going to try this, try it on a part of your body that the whole world doesn’t see in case you have an allergic reaction.”
Ashton said caution also needs to be taken when a person removes tape so that it doesn’t cause a burn.
“In some cases there can be tape burns,” Ashton said. “You can actually remove the superficial level of the epidermis, and obviously that would be a big problem.”
4. What are other options for reducing fine lines and wrinkles?
Ashton said injections like Botox and fillers performed by a certified professional are the “gold standard” when it comes to the prevention or improvement of wrinkles.
“Obviously there’s cost involved and that result is also temporary,” she said of injections, which can cost hundreds of dollars per session. “It’s just that instead of lasting a few hours, [injections] last a couple of months — three to four months in some cases, even six months.”
The American Academy of Dermatology notes that lifestyle changes can make a difference when it comes to wrinkles and fine lines.
Among the group’s recommendations are to wear sunscreen every day, moisturize the skin, avoid getting a tan from the sun or a tanning bed, testing facial products before using and using products as directed.
(WASHINGTON) — Kamala Harris, the first Black U.S. vice president, on Saturday begins a historic first trip while in office to Africa, with stops scheduled in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia during her weeklong tour.
She continues the Biden administration’s outreach to African countries amid competition from China and their growing influence on the continent, where countries have forged trade and other ties with Beijing.
Previewing the vice president’s agenda on a call with reporters on Thursday evening, senior administration officials said Harris will be asking the leaders not to “choose” between the U.S. and China but to “expand” their options.
“We can’t ignore the current geopolitical moment. It’s no secret that we are engaged in competition with China. And we’ve said very clearly we intend to out-compete China in the long term,” the officials said.
In a show of how much Tanzania values their relationship with China, President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s first state visit outside of Africa last November was to meet President Xi Jinping in Beijing where their meeting focused on areas of cooperation such as agriculture trade and infrastructure.
Harris, in her own visit to Africa, will hold bilateral meetings in each country that will involve “wide-ranging discussions” on regional security, democracy, strengthening business ties, debt relief and restructuring and the impact on Africa from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said.
“Russia’s war is not only hurting the people of Ukraine and Europe, but it’s hurting Africans and others around the world by generating rising food and commodity prices that are actually having a disproportional impact on African countries,” the administration officials told reporters Thursday.
Two notable moments to watch for during Harris’ trip will be in Ghana and Zambia. The administration officials said that on Monday Harris will tour Cape Coast Castle, a former slave-trade outpost and location of the so-called “Door of No Return,” and deliver remarks on the “brutality of slavery and the African diaspora.”
And Harris’ time in Zambia will be notable as it marks her return to the country for the first time since she was a young girl. In the 1960s, she traveled there to visit her maternal grandfather, who was a civil servant in India and worked for several years in the Zambian government on refugee resettlement issues.
“The vice president is very much looking forward to returning to Lusaka [the Zambian capital], which is a part of her family’s story and a source of pride,” the senior administration officials said Thursday, suggesting there would be “more to say” about this portion of the trip as that day nears and that Harris would “have much more to say about this herself throughout the trip.”
Harris departs Washington on Saturday evening and arrives in Ghana on Sunday afternoon, though her first engagements will take place on Monday, beginning with a bilateral meeting with President Nana Akufo-Addo, followed by a visit to a local recording studio in Accra.
On Tuesday she is set to deliver a “major speech to an audience of young people,” tour Cape Coast Castle and “speak about the brutality of slavery and the African Diaspora” from that location as well.
Also in Accra on Wednesday, Harris will meet with women entrepreneurs and discuss the economic empowerment of women. During that meeting, senior administration officials said, Harris is expected to announce a “series of continent-wide, public and private sector investments to help close the digital gender divide and to empower women economically more broadly.”
Harris travels to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday she begins the day meeting with President Samia Suluhu Hassan. The vice president will also participate in a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy there, and she will meet with entrepreneurs at a tech incubator and coworking space.
Next Friday, March 31, Harris departs Tanzania for Lusaka where she will meet with President Hakainde Hichilema.
And on April 1, she will focus on climate adaptation and resilience and food security, along with a convening of “business and philanthropic leaders from both the continent and for the United States to discuss digital and financial inclusion on the continent,” administration officials said.
She arrives back in Washington on April 2.
It’s the latest high-profile international tour for Harris, who has been an administration lead on issues including immigration — on which she has sometimes drawn backlash — and, more recently, highlighting what the White House said is the importance of ensuring abortion access after Roe v. Wade was overruled.
The vice president’s trip is also the latest show of support from the administration amid President Joe Biden’s push to engage closer with the African continent.
At the U.S.-Africa summit in Washington last year, Biden said the United States was “all in on Africa and all in with Africa,” adding that the continent “belongs at the table in every room” where global challenges are being discussed. Biden announced then that he was “eager” to visit the continent himself, though the White House has not announced any official travel.
Harris’ visit also comes on the heels of a series of other notable trips by high-ranking figures in the administration.
Just over a week ago, Secretary of State Antony Blinken became the first person in his post to visit Niger and announced $150 million in new humanitarian assistance for Africa’s Sahel region. During the first stop of his tour, he also committed $331 million in new humanitarian aid for Ethiopia.
First lady Jill Biden was in Namibia and Kenya last month for a five-day visit focused on food insecurities in the Horn of Africa as well as challenges facing youth and women. In Kenya, she met with drought-affected communities and heard first-hand accounts of its devastating impacts in the region.
Following her visit, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced it was providing over $126 million in additional food assistance for Kenya.
And in January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen began the administration’s engagement with a 10-day tour to Senegal, South Africa and Zambia; and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield made stops in Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, FILE
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump’s election team is downplaying the impact of a possible indictment on his campaign, insisting it will not force him cut back, including on his travel.
At the same time, associates boast they’re ready to launch a full-throated response to what they cast as a partisan fishing expedition by a Democratic prosecutor.
“This is the new normal, the president has been battle-tested. This operation has been fine-tuned since 2016. Dealing with these types of news cycles, you learn to get good at it. We have a full-spectrum response operation on the campaign that can deal with anything that comes our way,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told ABC News.
Manhattan District Attorney Bragg’s office has been investigating a hush money payment sent to porn actress Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign to cover up an alleged affair. The possible indictment could center on whether the payment amounted to a violation of campaign finance law.
Trump denies any wrongdoing and says the two never had a relationship, though he has admitted Daniels was paid $130,000.
Operatives working on Trump’s campaign and in touch with his team said a sense of inevitability has crept into the former president’s orbit but that the prospect of an indictment is not viewed internally as a significant new challenge for someone who has spent his political career batting away a string of investigations.
“I haven’t spoken to him directly on this since it since it popped up, but I’ve been in touch with the key staff around him, and they treated it all along like it was going to happen,” said one GOP operative working on Trump’s campaign.
“The Trump mentality is, you always expect that the worst is going to happen. That’s just how they live,” added one former campaign staffer who is still in touch with Trump’s team but was not authorized to speak on the record. “So, is this a war footing? I think he’s been on war footing since 2015.”
As the impact of a possible indictment plays out in the long term, sources said Trump might have to stay flexible to ensure he can appear in court or address unforeseen circumstances.
“The only thing is, if he, for legal requirements, has to defend himself, I’m sure he’ll adjust his schedule appropriately,” said the operative working with the Trump campaign.
In the near-term, the ex-staffers and others who spoke to ABC News forecasted that Trump will maintain his travel schedule — including a rally this coming Saturday in Waco, Texas — while viewing the potential indictment as an opportunity to further rile up his base.
And, unlike his 2016 campaign, his 2024 bid is staffed by veteran politicos who allies say stand ready to spin an indictment, if issued.
“It’s four paragraphs in every rally speech through the general election,” said a second former campaign aide still in touch with Trump’s team. “I think they’ll double down on his commitment to get out there.”
“While being arrested is a humbling experience, there’s probably no better way for the Trump campaign to move into overdrive,” the person added. “You couldn’t ask for a better gift if you understand how to take advantage of it. And he’s surrounded by people who know how to do it.”
Bragg Thursday indicated he would not give in to external pressure from Trump’s allies, lashing out at House Republicans’ demand he provide documents and testimony about his investigation.
Leslie Dubeck, Bragg’s general counsel, said in a response to House Republicans Thursday that their request marks “an unprecedented inquiry into a pending local prosecution” and came “only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene.”
“Neither fact is a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry,” Dubeck wrote.
And Trump’s detractors suggest an indictment could undercut his support, with former New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie, an ally-turned-critic, saying Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that any “profits” Trump gains from “chaos and turmoil” don’t negate the political downside.
“At the end, being indicted never helps anybody,” he added. “It’s not a help.”
Still, those in Trump’s orbit said they didn’t expect any pause in Trump’s well-worn playbook of lambasting his perceived enemies.
“It’s the same as it always been, as it was with Mueller, as with all these other investigations. It’s just attack,” the first former aide said. “Once you punch, you just don’t stop.”
More punches could be thrown as soon as Saturday in Texas, with Cheung saying Thursday, “I’d watch the Waco rally if I were you.”
In this July 11, 2022, file photo, Matthew Evan Corcoran, attorney for former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, arrives to federal court in Washington, D.C. — Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Special counsel investigators are expected to question Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran Friday in testimony that could prove key to their decision on whether to charge former President Donald Trump with mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Corcoran was expected to testify as soon as Friday, sources said, after an appeals court ruled Wednesday that Corcoran must testify in the special counsel’s probe into Trump’s handling of classified materials after leaving the White House.
The three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an effort by Trump’s attorneys to block Corcoran from having to testify and hand over records to special counsel Jack Smith’s team, according to court records.
The appeals court ruling came five days after D.C. district judge Beryl Howell ordered that Corcoran should comply with a grand jury subpoena for testimony on six separate lines of inquiry over which Corcoran had previously asserted attorney-client privilege, sources familiar with the filing told ABC News.
According to sources familiar with the filing, Smith wants information from Corcoran on whether Trump or anyone else in his employ was aware of the signed certification that was drafted by Corcoran and signed by Trump attorney Christina Bobb, which was submitted in response to a May 11 subpoena from the DOJ seeking all remaining documents with classified markings in Trump’s possession.
That certification was later discovered to be false, prompting the eventual court-authorized search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in which FBI investigators recovered more than 100 classified documents — including some located in Trump’s personal office, according to previously released court documents.
Smith’s investigators specifically want to ask Corcoran whether Trump was aware of the statements in the certification, which claimed a “diligent search” of Mar-a-Lago had been conducted, and if Trump approved of it being provided to the government, sources familiar with the filing said.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in his handling of classified documents.
“There is no factual or legal basis or substance to any case against President Trump,” a Trump spokesperson told ABC News Wednesday. “The deranged Democrats and their comrades in the mainstream media are corrupting the legal process and weaponizing the justice system in order to manipulate public opinion, because they are clearly losing the political battle. The real story here is that prosecutors only attack lawyers when they have no case whatsoever.”
Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November to oversee the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents as well as efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.
Katherine Faulders and Alexander Mallin, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — Special counsel investigators are expected to question Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran Friday in testimony that could prove key to their decision on whether to charge former President Donald Trump with mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Corcoran was expected to testify as soon as Friday, sources said, after an appeals court ruled Wednesday that Corcoran must testify in the special counsel’s probe into Trump’s handling of classified materials after leaving the White House.
The three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an effort by Trump’s attorneys to block Corcoran from having to testify and hand over records to special counsel Jack Smith’s team, according to court records.
The appeals court ruling came five days after D.C. district judge Beryl Howell ordered that Corcoran should comply with a grand jury subpoena for testimony on six separate lines of inquiry over which Corcoran had previously asserted attorney-client privilege, sources familiar with the filing told ABC News.
According to sources familiar with the filing, Smith wants information from Corcoran on whether Trump or anyone else in his employ was aware of the signed certification that was drafted by Corcoran and signed by Trump attorney Christina Bobb, which was submitted in response to a May 11 subpoena from the DOJ seeking all remaining documents with classified markings in Trump’s possession.
That certification was later discovered to be false, prompting the eventual court-authorized search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in which FBI investigators recovered more than 100 classified documents — including some located in Trump’s personal office, according to previously released court documents.
Smith’s investigators specifically want to ask Corcoran whether Trump was aware of the statements in the certification, which claimed a “diligent search” of Mar-a-Lago had been conducted, and if Trump approved of it being provided to the government, sources familiar with the filing said.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in his handling of classified documents.
“There is no factual or legal basis or substance to any case against President Trump,” a Trump spokesperson told ABC News Wednesday. “The deranged Democrats and their comrades in the mainstream media are corrupting the legal process and weaponizing the justice system in order to manipulate public opinion, because they are clearly losing the political battle. The real story here is that prosecutors only attack lawyers when they have no case whatsoever.”
Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November to oversee the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents as well as efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.
(NEW YORK) — Rates of mental health emergencies are increasing among teenagers around the world, according to a new study from the University of Calgary. It found an increase in pediatric emergency room visits for suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and self-harm during the first year of the pandemic.
It’s a particular concern because for teenagers, suicide can be contagious.
Teenagers with a friend or family member who died of suicide were at significantly higher risk of suicide than those without, according to a 2016 review published by the American Association of Suicidology.
“[Teenagers’] emotional development means that they experience trauma and tragedy in slightly different ways,” said Seth Abrutyn, Ph.D., and associate professor of sociology at University of British Columbia who has studied youth suicide contagion, in an email to ABC News. “Youth rarely are ready to make sense of a death – let alone something as confusing as a suicide.”
A growing crisis: ‘Perfect recipe for declining mental health’
Suicide rates were growing even before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to data from the Centers from the Disease Control (CDC), suicide rates in U.S. preteens increased by over 40% from 2009 to 2019.
“[This] crisis has been growing for many, many years,” Dr. Neha Chaudhary, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Chief Medical Officer at BeMe Health, told ABC News in an email. “Add to the social isolation, grief, and lack of structure an overwhelming sense of uncertainty and you have a perfect recipe for declining mental health.”
Per the CDC’s 2021 Youth Behavior Risk Survey, there are high levels of hopelessness across all ages and demographics. The data shows that one in three teenage girls and one in seven teenage boys “seriously” considered suicide.
Teens are particularly vulnerable to contagion because of constant exposure to their peers through school and social media, Abrutyn said. They see their peers as role models and are highly susceptible to their influence. In the case of a suicide, this can be extremely jarring to their developing sense of identity.
Having a friend or person in their peer group die by suicide or attempt suicide can also normalize something that drastic, according to a study from the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. Girls are more vulnerable to this contagion than boys, according to a review by the American Sociological Association. That review also found that friends’ suicide attempts can have more of an impact than family members’ if they were perceived as a role model.
“If adults do not step in to help make sense of the trauma in health and appropriate ways…the wrong sorts of stories about suicide may spread; stories that kids can identify with easily to make sense of their own problems,” Abrutyn said.
How parents can help
Hearing or talking about suicide isn’t inherently dangerous, experts say.
“The idea that talking about suicide causes suicide is unfortunately rampant among adults and not based in any evidence-based research” Abrutyn said. “It fosters a culture of stigma and repressed help seeking.”
But the discussion should be framed in a thoughtful way — like that it’s a disease that can be treated, Chaudhary said.
“Parents can explain that someone was struggling with a disease and died because of it, and that it is a very sad thing that happened,” she said. “It’s also important to let kids know that if they or someone they know has thoughts of suicide, that there are several ways to get help right away.”
An important way for parents to protect their kids from suicidality is to ask about it, Chaudhary said.
“If you’ve never talked about it before, it’s OK to say to an older kid, ‘Hey, I know this might seem out of nowhere, but I wanted to ask you— have you ever had thoughts of suicide before?,'” Chaudhary said.
With younger kids, you can phrase the conversation differently. “You might say something like: ‘Sometimes when kids are feeling sad or really upset they feel like they don’t want to be alive anymore. Have you ever had that feeling before? It’s OK if you have, I just want to know so we can figure out how to help you not feel like that again, or to know what to do if the feeling comes back.’”
The Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah has guides available for talking to children about suicide at various ages.
Parents can also encourage kids to stay physically active and exercise. Exercise can help protect against suicide, research shows. One study found that at least 5 hours of physical exercise per week was associated with less risk of suicidal ideation in college students.
Suicide prevention programs in middle and high schools can also be effective. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has a free toolkit available with information sheets, training tools, and screening protocols for high schools. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) has a list of recommended community programs for both students and teachers.
One program, Sources of Strength, has been implemented in thousands of schools across the U.S. and Canada. Research published in the American Journal of Public Health showed its approach improved help-seeking, connectedness with adults, and school engagement. These factors are protective against suicide, as well as school dropout, depression, and substance use problems.
“If we’re going to move the needle in a high school, we have to have high school students involved,” Sources of Strength CEO Scott LoMurray told ABC News. “We showed that you could use peer leaders to change population level health norms”
Resilience can also be contagious, he said.
“Positive things can spread through networks in really remarkably similar ways to [negative things],” LoMurray said. “We’re training students to… become patient zero in an epidemic of health.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide — free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call or text the national lifeline at 988. Even if you feel like it, you are not alone.
Nisarg Bakshi, DO is a pediatrics resident at University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. military conducted retaliatory airstrikes in eastern Syria on Thursday against Iranian-backed groups after a drone strike targeting a U.S. base in the region killed a U.S. contractor and injured six others, including five U.S. service members, the Pentagon said.
“Earlier today, a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and one additional U.S. contractor were wounded after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Two of the wounded service members were treated on site, while the other four Americans were medically evacuated to Coalition medical facilities in Iraq, officials said. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that both contractors were American.
U.S. intelligence assessed that the one-way attack drone that struck the base was Iranian in origin, according to the statement.
“At the direction of President [Joe] Biden, I authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in the statement, issued late Thursday.
“The airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack, as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC,” he added.
The U.S. has about 900 troops in eastern Syria providing assistance to Syrian Kurdish forces in preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State.
In recent months, some of the bases have been the target of drone attacks that had, in most instances, not led to injuries or physical damage. Iranian-backed groups in Syria are believed to have been responsible for these attacks.
“These precision strikes are intended to protect and defend U.S. personnel. The United States took proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties,” the Pentagon statement read.
“As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing,” Austin said. “No group will strike our troops with impunity.”
“Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the contractor who was killed and with those who were wounded in the attack earlier today,” the defense secretary added.
In a statement, U.S. Central Command leader Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla said, in part, that the U.S. “will always take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing. We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks.”
“Our troops remain in Syria to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, which benefits the security and stability of not only Syria, but the entire region,” he added.
During Thursday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing focused on the Middle East and Africa, Kurilla was asked by Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon about the frequency of Iranian proxy attacks on U.S. forces.
There have been 78 such attacks since the beginning of 2021, according to Kurilla.
“It is periodic. We see periods where they will do more,” he said
“So what Iran does to hide its hand is they use Iranian proxies — that’s under UAVs or rockets — to be able to attack our forces in Iraq or Syria,” Kurilla added.
ABC News analyst Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and retired CIA officer, said the U.S. “must strike back at the Iranian forces in Syria responsible for these attacks to such an extent that they know the consequences of killing and injuring Americans will not be worth the costs.”
(NEW YORK) — Four Florida families filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court against Florida’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, Board of Medicine, and Board of Osteopathic Medicine, over the state ban against gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
The ban prohibits puberty blockers, hormones, cross-hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery for people under the age of 18. The families behind the lawsuit have transgender youth who would be impacted by the restriction.
The families say they fear for their children’s mental and physical health as some studies have shown gender-affirming care has been found to improve mental health of transgender youth.
According to the press release regarding the suit, the Does are a military family who moved to Florida when John Doe was stationed there as a Senior Officer in the U.S. Navy. Jane Doe said she has concerns about her 11-year-old daughter receiving the care she needs.
“Like most parents, my husband and I want nothing more than for our daughter to be healthy, happy, and safe,” said Jane Doe, concerning her 11-year-old daughter, in the release. “Being able to consult with our team of doctors to understand what our daughter is experiencing and make the best, most informed decisions about her care has been critically important for our family.”
She continued, “This ban takes away our right to provide her with the next step in her recommended treatment when she reaches puberty.”
Another family, called the Boes for anonymity, are also challenging the ban on behalf of their 14-year-old son.
“This ban puts me and other Florida parents in the nightmare position of not being able to help our child when they need us most,” said Brenda Boe. “My son has a right to receive appropriate, evidence-based medical care … That has been ripped away by this cruel and discriminatory rule.”
Gender-affirming care has been targeted across the country – with at least eight states with policies or laws that restrict it.
However, major national medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and over 20 more agree that gender-affirming care is safe, effective, beneficial, and medically necessary for transgender people.
In an email from the Department of Health to ABC News, a spokesperson responded with a gif of Gov. Ron DeSantis that stated “If you want to waste your time on a stunt, that’s fine. But I’m not wasting my time on your stunt.”
Ladapo, the Board of Medicine, and Board of Osteopathic Medicine have not yet responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
(PROVIDENCE, R.I.) — For autistic drivers, a police stop or emergency while driving can be a scary situation, according to Joanne G. Quinn, the executive director of the non-profit, The Autism Project.
Sirens, flashing lights, and a law enforcement member asking questions can be too much to handle for someone who is autistic, Quinn, who has an autistic son, told ABC News.
“There is no way to know how you’ll react in one of those encounters,” she said. “And sometimes individuals’ reactions or how they answer a question can get them into trouble with an officer who doesn’t know they’re autistic.”
A bill introduced in the Rhode Island House of Representatives this week would give autistic drivers an option to alert others about their disability with special designations on their license and vehicle.
Lawmakers said it would improve the safety of autistic drivers, however, some advocates argued that in its current form, the specialized license could lead to discrimination and harassment.
Rhode Island House Rep. Samuel Azzinaro introduced the bill that would allow the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to offer an optional driver’s license “that is clearly marked ‘autism,'” and decals that are “marked ‘autism'” that can be affixed to a vehicle in a “conspicuous place,” according to the legislation’s current language.
Drivers would also have the option of receiving blue envelopes that contain “information regarding ways to enhance effective communication between a police officer and a person with autism spectrum disorder,” the bill said.
Connecticut launched a similar blue envelope program for autistic drivers in 2020.
Quinn said she supported the bill’s purpose, because it would help resolve an ongoing issue affecting the autistic community, which is communication between them and law enforcement.
She said first responder academies have been improving their training to understand how to communicate with autistic individuals properly, and her group has made videos to educate those departments about the community.
However, Quinn said there is still work to be done, especially when it comes to emergencies, and a designated license and information card would go a long way.
“Either it’s a pullover or a crash, they see the [marker], hopefully, they are educated to know what it is, and in the glove compartment is information about the driver,” Quinn said. “The purpose for our community is if it’s a stop in the highway it gives the officer a heads up.”
During a hearing on the bill Wednesday, some autistic residents also expressed support. Toby Silva, a 17-year-old Rhode Island resident who spoke through an electronic device, told lawmakers that he researched the Connecticut law and said Rhode Island would benefit from similar options for drivers.
“The goal is to avoid misunderstanding between the officer and the driver,” he said.
Some advocates, however, warned that putting an autistic person’s disability in big letters on an official ID can lead to problems.
Mireille Sayaf, the executive director of the Ocean State Center For Independent Living, sent a letter to the House of Representatives’ Health & Human Services Committee Wednesday, noting that such a designation on an official identification document would “lead to stereotyping and breaches of the individual’s confidentiality.”
“While the intent behind the bill to improve interactions with law enforcement is good, we feel that there are less intrusive ways to accomplish this goal that would lead to less stigma for persons on the autism spectrum,” she wrote.
Quinn said she agreed that the wording or markings on those special licenses and car decals must be more discreet.
“There should be another way, like a blue dot, or strip that is subtle and law enforcement should be informed about it,” she said.
Azzinaro, who didn’t immediately return messages to ABC News’ request for comment, told the committee that the bill’s language is not final and he is open to tweaking it based on the community’s input.
He also told the committee that he would consider a recommendation for drivers to apply for a special placard on their dashboard.
Quinn said whatever comes of the bill, it is important that lawmakers hear more from autistic drivers and residents, and she encouraged the community to weigh in.
“We need the neurodivergent voice and we need them at the table to tell us what works best for them,” she said.
