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UN accuses US of breaching international law with deadly airstrikes on boats in Caribbean and Pacific

October 31, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The United Nations said Friday that U.S. airstrikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean violate international human rights law and must stop.

In a statement to ABC News, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that the attacks breach international law and called for an investigation into the strikes.

“These attacks – and their mounting human cost – are unacceptable. The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them,” Türk said.

“Under international human rights law, the intentional use of lethal force is only permissible as a last resort against individuals who pose an imminent threat to life,” he added. “Based on the very sparse information provided publicly by the U.S. authorities, none of the individuals on the targeted boats appeared to pose an imminent threat to the lives of others or otherwise justified the use of lethal armed force against them under international law.”

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told ABC News that President Donald Trump is working to eliminate threats to U.S. security.

“The UN has failed at everything from operating an escalator to ending wars — it’s ridiculous that they are now lecturing President Trump and running cover for evil narcoterrorists trying to murder Americans. The President acted in line with the laws of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring poison to our shores, and he is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from destroying lives,” Kelly said.

Since September, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have executed over a dozen military strikes against boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, arguing they are anti-drug and counter-terrorism measures.

Over 60 people have allegedly been killed in the strikes, according to U.S. officials.

In announcing the latest and most deadly strike Wednesday, Hegseth said the U.S. “carried out a lethal kinetic strike on yet another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization in the Eastern Pacific.”

“This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” he added.

This is the first time the U.N. has condemned the strikes.

“The United States should investigate and, if necessary, prosecute and punish individuals accused of serious crimes in accordance with the fundamental rule of law principles of due process and fair trial, for which the U.S. has long stood,” a statement from his office reads.

Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for Türk, mirrored this sentiment at a Friday U.N. briefing.

“These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable. The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats,” she said.

Judge orders administration to distribute SNAP contingency money amid shutdown

October 31, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Rhode Island has temporarily ordered the Trump administration to continue funding benefits for SNAP, the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“The court is orally at this time, ordering that USDA must distribute the contingency money timely, or as soon as possible, for the November 1 payments to be made,” said U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr.

After an hour-long emergency hearing, Judge McConnell ruled that the suspension of SNAP funding is arbitrary and likely to cause irreparable harm, citing the “terror” felt by Americans who are scrambling to meet their basic nutritional needs.

“There is no doubt, and it is beyond argument, that irreparable harm will begin to occur — if it hasn’t already occurred — in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food for their family,” he said.

The decision comes one day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the SNAP program, was scheduled to freeze SNAP payments due to the ongoing government shutdown. SNAP generally requires $8.6 billion in funding every month to provide 41 million Americans benefits and administer to the program.

In a filing late Friday, the Trump administration said it was “expeditiously attempting to comply” with Judge McConnell’s order.

Citing the lack of a public recording or transcript of Friday’s emergency hearing, DOJ lawyers asked McConnell to confirm the parameters of his decision to ensure they comply.

“Clarity as to the Court’s ruling is critical to ensure that Defendants can comply with the Court’s order while avoiding an operational collapse,” DOJ lawyers wrote.

Judge McConnell ordered the Trump administration to continue paying for the program using emergency funds, and to notify the court by Monday how SNAP will be funded.

Ruling that stopping SNAP funding violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the funding decision was arbitrary and capricious, Judge McConnell said, “There has been no explanation, legitimate or otherwise that’s consistent with the APA as to why the contingency funds should not be used.”

A coalition of local governments, nonprofits, small businesses, and workers’ rights organization filed suit Thursday to challenge the pause in funding, arguing that the Trump administration has “needlessly plunged SNAP into crisis” by suspending benefits beginning Friday, despite having emergency funds that could be tapped.

“Americans will not be able to feed their families, food pantries will be overwhelmed, organizations will be forced to divert resources from core programs to accommodate those in need of assistance, and small businesses will lose substantial revenue that is critical to maintaining their labor force and supplier relationships,” they wrote in their lawsuit.

The coalition has argued that the lapse of funding will cause irreparable harm and violates a federal law that prohibits arbitrary government actions.

The ruling came as a federal judge in Boston, in a separate case, ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to suspend SNAP funding is “unlawful,” but declined to immediately order that the program be funded.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani reserved judgment about whether to issue a temporary restraining order, instead asking the Trump administration to advise the court whether they would authorize reduced SNAP benefits for November.

She ordered the Trump administration to answer her question about reduced SNAP funding by Monday.

“For the reasons stated below, Plaintiffs have standing to bring this action and are likely to succeed on their claim that Defendants’ suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful,” she wrote.

“Where that suspension of benefits rested on an erroneous construction of the relevant statutory provisions, the court will allow Defendants to consider whether they will authorize at least reduced SNAP benefits for November, and report back to the court no later than Monday, November 3, 2025,” Judge Talwani said.

The Trump administration was expected to appeal both of Friday’s rulings.

Judge orders administration to distribute SNAP contingency money

October 31, 2025 by WDNY Radio

She ordered the Trump administration to answer her question about reduced SNAP funding by Monday.

“For the reasons stated below, Plaintiffs have standing to bring this action and are likely to succeed on their claim that Defendants’ suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful,” she wrote.

Trump says he hasn’t made a decision on whether to strike inside Venezuela

October 31, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Friday denied reports that he’s made a decision to strike inside Venezuela.

“There are reports that you are considering strikes within Venezuela. Is that true?” a reporter asked the president on Air Force One as he traveled to Florida for the weekend.

“No,” Trump said.

The Miami Herald reported on Friday that the administration had made a decision to attack Venezuelan military installations and that it could happen imminently.

The reporter followed up by asking him, “Have you made a decision on that?”

“No, it’s not true,” Trump said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

19 fatalities in Jamaica from Hurricane Melissa, death toll expected to rise

October 31, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Nineteen people are confirmed dead in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa tore through the island as a Category 5 hurricane this week — and that death toll is expected to rise, officials said.

Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information Dana Morris Dixon said there are credible reports of several other fatalities, but they won’t be counted in the official death toll until the bodies are retrieved.

“We are at 19 confirmed, but we do expect that that number will change today,” she said on Friday.

Melissa ripped across Jamaica with torrential rain and rough winds after making landfall on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane, one of the most powerful landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.

Thirteen cargo relief flights arrived on Thursday at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and more than 20 additional cargo flights are expected to arrive on Friday, according to Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Daryl Vaz.

Eight to 10 U.S. government helicopters that are capable of airlifting patients are also on the way, he said.

“The relief and the support we have gotten is overwhelming. And we thank our partners all across the world,” Vaz said.

As Jamaicans start their recovery, many remain in the dark.

Jamaica Public Service, the nation’s electric utility, reported that 462,000 customers — about 66% of customers — remained without power Friday morning.

ABC News’ Othon Leyva contributed to this report.

Aid worker in Gaza describes signs of alleged torture on bodies of dead Palestinians

October 31, 2025 by WDNY Radio

[Editor’s Note: This story includes graphic descriptions of alleged torture.]

(NEW YORK) — The bodies of some unidentified Palestinians handed over by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement showed severe signs of torture, according to an aid worker who inspected at least 10 bodies.

“People’s bodies were covered in scars and what looked like open wounds. … It was just horrific,” Moureen Kaki, a Palestinian American activist and aid worker with medical charity Glia, told ABC News.

The bodies had signs of binding the hands and feet, contortion of limbs, cut off fingertips and disfigured heads, according to Kaki. Their hands had “gone stiff” and were “fixed” in a contorted position “as if they’d been that way for a long time,” she noted.

Kaki told ABC News she has not yet formally reported the alleged torture to a government or humanitarian agency.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal that involved a hostage exchange earlier this month. All remaining living hostages held by Hamas have been turned over to Israel and Hamas said it is continuing to search for the bodies of some deceased hostages.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel also turned over living and dead Palestinians in its custody.

The Israel Defense Forces rejected the allegations of torture and told ABC News that it operates “strictly in accordance with international law,” in a statement last week.

The type of scarring on the unidentified Palestinian bodies was “pretty consistent across most of them” and several bodies had “what looked like gunshot wounds in their legs,” according to Kaki.

“Probably about six” of the corpses she looked at had fingers missing, she noted.

“Every single person that I looked at had their hands and feet bound, or like traces of their hands or feet were bound in some way,” Kaki said.

In its statement rejecting allegations of torture, the IDF said it “did not tie any bodies prior to their release to the [Gaza] Strip.”

The bodies were returned by Israel without names and some had numbers “spray-painted” onto them, according to Kaki, who spoke from inside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. She has been based in Gaza non-stop since June 2024.

The corpses examined had possibly been held by Israel for as long as two years, Kaki noted.

The bodies had decomposed to some extent by the time she examined them, but medical professionals from Nasser Hospital believe that some sort of preservation process had been applied to the corpses while they were held by Israel, Kaki said.

Asked how confident she could be that the bodies had evidence of torture, Kaki said, “I would say 99% [sure] and the only 1% is that I didn’t see it [the alleged torture] with my own eyes.”

The Nasser Hospital medical professionals who inspected the bodies told her “that this was clearly torture and that most of it, if not all of it, was done while these people were still alive,” Kaki said.

ABC News has reviewed graphic images of corpses obtained by Kaki. The photos were taken from a Palestinian journalist whom Kaki said was present when she examined the bodies. The images appeared to back up her account.

More than 1,900 living Palestinian prisoners and detainees who were released by Israel under the ceasefire agreement. Kaki said she spoke to 35 former detainees who said they had experienced torture.

She also examined wounds on their bodies and, according to Kaki, their accounts “lined up very clearly with what their bodies showed.”

The IDF described the allegations as “false propaganda” and said “all of the [Palestinian] bodies returned [to Gaza] so far are from combatants within the Gaza Strip.”

A mass burial was held for 54 unidentified Palestinians in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza last week.

Kaki said she believed authorities in Gaza were ultimately unable to identify the bodies returned due to their deformities and injuries.

President Trump shows off White House’s Lincoln Bathroom renovated entirely in marble

October 31, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump isn’t just remaking the East Wing of the White House. On Friday, he showed off an entirely renovated Lincoln Bathroom on his social media platform.

“I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House,” Trump wrote on Truth Social alongside photos of the before and after. “It was renovated in the 1940s in an art deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era.”

He continued, “I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble. This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

FBI thwarts potential Halloween weekend terror attack in Michigan

October 31, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(DETROIT) — The FBI has thwarted a potential Halloween weekend terrorist attack in Michigan, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.

“Multiple subjects” have been arrested after “allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend,” Patel said Friday on social media.

White House Senior Director for Counterterrorism Seb Gorka said authorities stopped a “Jihadi terror plot in Detroit.”

The alleged attack was “timed for Halloween when innocent children should be enjoying themselves Trick or Treating,” Gorka said on social media.

A spokesperson for the FBI Detroit field office confirmed there was law enforcement activity in Dearborn and Inkster on Friday.

“There is no current threat to public safety,” the spokesperson added.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she was briefed by the FBI and thanked law enforcement for their involvement.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

2 dead after heavy rain brings intense flooding to New York City

October 31, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Two people died in flooded basements on Thursday after heavy rain overwhelmed streets and subway stations in New York City.

The New York Police Department confirmed the two deaths to ABC News.

A 39-year-old man was found unconscious and unresponsive in a flooded basement in Brooklyn, according to New York ABC station WABC. The FDNY Scuba Team recovered his body from the basement before he was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

In a separate incident in Washington Heights in northern Manhattan, police said a 43-year-old man was found dead in a flooded boiler room, WABC reported.

Police are investigating both incidents.

More than 2 inches of rain fell in Brooklyn and Queens on Thursday, sparking flash flood warnings in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

Video captured submerged cars, flooded streets and water gushing into some subway stations.

The rain also struck Philadelphia, where a third death was reported. A woman was killed on Thursday when a tree fell on her car, according to Philadelphia ABC station WPVI,.

More than 1,200 flights were canceled in the U.S. amid Thursday’s rainy weather, with New York City’s three airports hit the hardest.

Thursday’s rain and wind were not from Hurricane Melissa, which battered the Caribbean this week, but from an inland storm system moving throughout the Northeast. The storm was one of the factors keeping Melissa away from the U.S.

ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.

DOJ, in a first, brings terrorism charge against alleged member of 764 network

October 31, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has filed terrorism charges against an Arizona man for his alleged role in the growing network of online predators known as “764,” whose worldwide followers use social media platforms to target, groom and push young teens into harming themselves and others.

An indictment unsealed Thursday in Arizona charged 21-year-old Baron Martin of Tucson with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, marking the first time that the Justice Department has leveled such charges against an alleged member of 764.

The move does not mean that the U.S. government has formally designated 764 as a terrorist organization like ISIS or Al-Qaeda, but it does signify that the government believes members of 764 engage in “terrorist activity” under U.S. law.

Martin was first arrested in December and indicted on three counts of cyberstalking and producing sexually explicit material of children. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.

The indictment unsealed Thursday adds 26 more charges, alleging that he was deeply involved in a “sadistic and masochistic” conspiracy to “systematically and methodically target” vulnerable teenagers who can be pushed into cutting themselves with sharp objects, creating sexually explicit and gore-filled videos and photos, torturing animals, or even killing themselves — all while on camera.

According to the indictment, while using 15 different monikers, Martin hosted and ran “group chats” associated with 764 on social media platforms, controlling access to them and making demands of victims, some of whom were extorted into participating.

The indictment cites nine specific victims who were allegedly targeted by Martin, ranging in age from 11 to 18.

In 2022, he allegedly forced a 13-year-old girl overseas to carve one of his online monikers — “Convict” — and other symbols on her body, causing “permanent disfigurement.” And, live on a video call with 15 others, he allegedly forced the girl to let her family dog attack her family’s hamster, and then he and the others made the victim stomp on the hamster’s head and feed it to the dog, while also recording it to share with even more people, the indictment says.

Also in 2022, after Martin got into an online dispute with another 13-year-old girl, he allegedly threatened to kill her grandmother — vowing that it would “send a message” — and he offered to pay someone $3,000 to commit the murder, according to the indictment and other court documents. He also allegedly “conducted a live extortion” of an 18-year-old overseas, who, after being repeatedly told to kill herself, was forced to cut a symbol into her forehead — after which Martin then allegedly shared a photo online of the girl’s bloody face.

In other court proceedings, federal prosecutors said that Martin also “participated in bomb threats, swatting and doxing campaigns, and alleged kidnappings.”

“This man’s alleged crimes are unthinkably depraved and reflect the horrific danger of 764,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “I urge parents to remain vigilant about the threats their children face online.”

In addition to one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, the indictment unsealed Thursday charges Martin with conspiring to maim someone in a foreign country, seeking murder for hire, promoting and distributing animal torture material, and numerous child exploitation-related charges, including taking part in a child exploitation enterprise.

Authorities say that one of the main goals of 764 and similar networks is to sow chaos and bring down society.

They try to accomplish this by first befriending vulnerable teens online and then convincing them to share sexually explicit images or videos of themselves, experts say. That sexually explicit material is then used to blackmail victims into increasingly violent actions, and it escalates from there — with victims’ family members or pets threatened if victims stop complying.

Victims routinely end up being coerced into carving their tormentor’s online monikers into their own skin, mutilating themselves in other ways, attacking or threatening others, or torturing animals — all while capturing it on camera, so the videos or photos can be shared with others to boost one’s status within 764.

Predators also routinely promote neo-Nazi ideology, ISIS propaganda, and school shootings, desensitizing vulnerable teens to violence, authorities say.

Since the launch of the initial 764 group nearly five years ago — when the 15-year-old Texas boy who started it named it after the first three digits of his ZIP code — authorities say 764 has become a global movement, with an ever-expanding network of offshoots and subgroups that often rebrand and change their names to help keep social media companies and law enforcement from tracking them.

The FBI’s Counterterrorism Division and the Justice Department’s National Security Division are now looking at 764 and its offshoots as a potential form of domestic terrorism, even coining a new term to characterize the most heinous actors: “nihilistic violent extremists.”

Last month, FBI Director Kash Patel told a Senate panel that fighting 764 is now “a priority” within the FBI.

“We’re going after the new form of what I refer to as modern day terrorism in America, 764 crimes that involve harming our children by going after them online, causing self-mutilation, suicide, sexual abuse and steering them in the wrong direction,” Patel said before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

According to the FBI, federal authorities have now opened investigations into more than 300 people suspected of ties to 764 or its offshoots across the country, with each subject under investigation potentially having victimized multiple young teens.

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