(WASHINGTON) — One of the preeminent U.S. attorney’s offices in the country is facing mounting turmoil in the wake of the move last week by a Trump-installed prosecutor to indict former FBI Director James Comey.
Two top attorneys in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia have been fired from their jobs in recent days, sources told ABC, and lawyers in the office believe their removals were driven by political vengeance on behalf of President Donald Trump.
The office’s top national security official, Michael Ben-Ary, was informed Wednesday of his termination just hours after a MAGA-aligned activist posted on social media about his past work in the office of former Biden-era Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, sources told ABC News.
Ben-Ary, who had risen through ranks of federal law enforcement over the past 20 years, was the lead attorney on the case of Mohammad Sharifullah — an alleged plotter who is accused of assisting ISIS-K in the bombing of Abbey Gate whose case and extradition to the U.S. was announced by Trump in a joint address to Congress earlier this year. Sharifullah is set to stand trial in early December.
Another prosecutor, Maya Song, the former deputy to Erik Siebert — who was ousted two weeks ago under pressure from Trump — was fired last Friday by Siebert’s replacement Lindsey Halligan, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Song had opted to accept a demotion as a line prosecutor in the wake of Siebert’s resignation after he resisted pressure to bring charges against both Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, sources previously told ABC News.
It’s not immediately clear whether Song was given a specific rationale for her removal, but it followed a torrent of criticism from right-wing influencers who had similarly highlighted her previous service during the Biden administration under Monaco.
In a Truth Social post last week, Trump demanded Microsoft immediately fire Monaco from her recently announced role as the company’s president of global affairs, citing what he alleged was her direct involvement in the prosecutions he faced after leaving his first term in office.
Ben-Ary and Song’s removals are likely to further sink morale inside the already embattled office, sources told ABC. The office, considered among the most important prosecutorial offices in the country, handles the bulk of the federal government’s most sensitive national security cases.
ABC News has reached out to the DOJ, Ben-Ary and Song for comment.
Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(NEW YORK)– Sarah Manasrah has received aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — commonly known as WIC — since her first child was born six years ago.
The 37-year-old mother who lives with her husband and two girls, who are 6 and 3 years old, in Brooklyn, New York, told ABC News in an interview on Wednesday that she didn’t even know that the federal government shutdown could possibly affect WIC benefits — which supplements nutritious foods for low-income families — for her and her children.
“They do not care about families. They say they do to push through their political agenda,” Manasrah said of Republican and Democratic members of Congress, who failed to reach an agreement to fund the government, effectively shutting it down on Wednesday.
Manasrah said she uses WIC benefits to provide about $27 for fresh fruits and vegetables, and allowances for a certain amount of specified nutritious foods like eggs, whole-wheat bread, milk and baby formula free of charge using a government-provided expense card that replenishes once a month.
The mother of two also used WIC’s breast-feeding support program through a peer counselor who assisted her with her first child.
How will the shutdown impact WIC? Experts told ABC News that they were unsure of the exact impacts a shutdown will have on WIC beneficiaries, since individual states will each have to decide if they can supplement the funds, and the amounts can vary depending on the state.
Ali Hard, director of public policy for the National WIC Association, told ABC News on Tuesday that WIC recipients may start to see their benefits impacted after the first or second week of the shutdown.
She said that WIC has $150 million in contingency funding in the event of a shutdown and $135 million in monthly baby formula rebate checks that would help the program run smoothly for about a week or two.
After that, both new and current WIC beneficiaries will start to see their benefits impacted, especially those in areas without state funds to supplement the loss of federal dollars, Hard said.
“The timing of this shutdown at the start of the new fiscal year puts WIC at risk of rapidly running out of funds,” Hard’s group said in a statement released on Tuesday. “This failure needlessly jeopardizes the health and nutrition of millions of pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and young children who rely on WIC. … Every day of inaction brings us closer to a crisis. Failure to rapidly reopen the government could result in State WIC directors being put in the horrible position of trying to manage their programs with insufficient funds.”
With the federal government shuttered, some states will have to dip into their own coffers to pay for WIC benefits.
Democratic Reps. Bobby Scott and Suzanne Bonamici sent a letter on Wednesday to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, whose department oversees the WIC program, urging the secretary to lay out a plan on how the department plans to replenish state funds used to supplement WIC benefits once the shutdown is over.
“The WIC program serves as a lifeline for families; the program’s caseload increased by 5 percent in Fiscal Year 2023 from 6.4 million participants to 6.7 million, underscoring the need to fully fund the program each year without delay or uncertainty,” the representatives stated in their letter.
In 2013, during a 16-day government shutdown, “states relied on their general funds to continue WIC services and were then reimbursed with federal funds once the shutdown was over; however, there is uncertainty over whether the federal government would take the same action this time,” the letter stated.
A spokesperson with the USDA sent ABC News a letter from the department, was dated Oct, 1, 2025, and addressed to directors of the Supplemental Nutrition Division in all regions saying that state agencies could pull funding from rebates, state-appropriated or general funds, and contingency funds. But they were not permitted to use any extra FY 2025 funds for FY 2026 costs, according to the letter.
“Nutrition programs will operate based on State choice and the length of a shutdown,” the USDA spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News Wednesday. “If Democrats do not fund the government, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) will run out of funding and States will have to make a choice.”
A spokesperson with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget also lay the blame on Democrats.
“By instigating a government shutdown, Democrats are turning their back on WIC recipients,” an OMB spokesperson said in a statement. “The program will run out of money in October and women and children could no longer receive benefits. The White House and Republicans in the House-passed CR added $600 million so there will be no loss of benefits–clearly Democrats are ok with women and children losing WIC benefits.”
Democrats have blamed Republicans for the shutdown, citing what they say is an unwillingness to negotiate over health care provisions.
President Donald Trump’s administration has made notable attempts to promote families and reiterated that more babies need to be born in the United States.
According to the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again Report, WIC provides exclusively nutritious foods for pregnant and breastfeeding women, women who recently had a baby, and infants and children up to 5 years old. WIC supplies nutrition education and support for approximately 6.7 million women and children nationwide, according to the MAHA Report.
“WIC has a proven track record of improving children’s health,” according to the MAHA Report. “Research has shown that recipients experience improved pregnancy outcomes, better birth weights, higher immunization rates, improved diet quality, and cognitive gains. … A study showed the 2009 WIC food package change may have helped reverse increasing childhood obesity rates.”
Manasrah, the Brooklyn mother of two, is a doula who supports pregnant women before birth and provides them post-partum assistance. She also works for the non-profit Bridge Project that gives money and assistance to low-income mothers during pregnancy, birth, and the earliest days of their babies’ lives.
She says a vast majority of the women she works with receive WIC benefits.
“Most families I know, rely on WIC for their formula, if they’re using formula, and that’s literally keeping babies alive,” Manasrah said. “So, it’s not an exaggeration to say that WIC is a lifesaving program for families.”
(LONDON) — A vehicle was driven toward a crowd of people and a man was stabbed near a synagogue in Manchester, a northern British city, police said.
“One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,” the Greater Manchester Police said on social media.
The incident occurred outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in a northern suburb of the city on Thursday morning, law enforcement said.
Police said at least four people had been injured, “with injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds.” A member of the public told responding officers “he had witnessed a car being driven towards members of the public,” along with a man being stabbed, police said.
Firearms officers responded to the call, police said.
Police said they had declared the major incident, along with a “PLATO” designation, a law enforcement shorthand that means the incident was being treated as a potential marauding terrorist attack.
Thursday is Yom Kippur, which is considered the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a post to X that he was “appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall.”
“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” the prime minister added.
“My thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services and all the first responders,” Starmer wrote.
The website of the synagogue where the incident occurred listed Yom Kippur-related events for both Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with European leaders in Copenhagen on Thursday, according to a press release from the Danish prime minister’s office, with the allied response to Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion set to top the agenda.
“Russia’s war in Ukraine sets the tone for the meeting, and the road to a strong and secure Europe is top of the agenda,” the press release from Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s office said.
Zelenskyy will be “one of the keynote speakers” addressing the European Political Community summit, a gathering of more than 50 European heads of state or government as well as representatives from the European Union and international organizations.
The Ukrainian president will also hold a press conference with Frederiksen following the closing session, according to the press release.
“We have one task ahead of us. We have to make Europe as strong as possible,” Mette said in a statement included in the press release.
“That calls for unity. Rearmament. Political determination to find solutions across our continent. And a joint understanding of support to Ukraine as an investment in the defense of Europe,” she added.
“Russia’s war in Ukraine was never only about Ukraine,” Frederiksen said. “That has become increasingly evident over the last few weeks.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, the prime minister said, “will not stop his brutal attacks unless he is forced to.”
Zelenskyy said in a post to Telegram that “Russia is escalating,” citing “recent violations of the airspace of Denmark, Poland, Romania, Norway and Estonia.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to work with European partners on a “joint, integrated air defense system,” with “Ukrainian specialists and Ukrainian technologies” ready to contribute to the European Union’s proposed “drone wall” defensive system along the bloc’s eastern flank intended to repel Russian unmanned aircraft.
Ukrainian military personnel are already in Denmark to assist Copenhagen, Zelenskyy said. The president also thanked Denmark for its latest military aid package for Ukraine, which Zelenskyy said was worth more than $423 million.
Speaking to reporters Thursday morning ahead of the Copenhagen summit, Zelenskyy said he had discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump the possibility of Ukraine using “long-range weapons systems” to strike Russia.
“We talked with the U.S. We thank Trump very much for this dialogue,” Zelenskyy told reporters. “Last time we had a really productive, very fruitful dialogue. We talked about long-range weapons systems. We’ll see. Everything will depend on his decision. This is important.”
(NEW YORK) — Two Delta Air Lines regional jets collided at low speeds while taxiing Wednesday evening at LaGuardia Airport, according to the airline.
Endeavor flight 5155 was taxiing for departure when its wing made contact with the fuselage of Endeavor flight 5047 as it was taxiing to its gate after arriving, the airline said when releasing preliminary information.
“Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit we have damage to our windscreen and … some of our screens in here,” a pilot can be heard saying on the Air Traffic Control audio.
Delta said a flight attendant suffered a minor injury and no passenger injuries were reported. The flight attendant was transported to a nearby hospital out of precaution, according to Port Authority.
The collision took place around 9:56 p.m., and there was no impact to airport operations, according to the Port Authority.
“Delta teams at our New York-LaGuardia hub are working to ensure our customers are taken care of after two Delta Connection aircraft operated by Endeavor Air were involved in a low-speed collision during taxi. Delta will work with all relevant authorities to review what occurred as safety of our customers and people comes before all else. We apologize to our customers for the experience,” Delta said in a statement.
Delta said it will cooperate with the Port Authority, Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board in their investigations.
In this Aug. 25, 2025, file photo, Kilmar Abrego Garcia speaks during a rally and prayer vigil for him before he enters a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore, Maryland. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — An immigration judge on Wednesday denied a motion filed by Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys to reopen his immigration case, according to a copy of the decision obtained by ABC News.
In the emergency motion filed in August to reopen the case, attorneys for the wrongly deported Abrego Garcia argued that because he was deported to El Salvador and then brought back to the United States, he is now eligible to apply for asylum within one year of his last entry into the U.S.
But in the order filed on Wednesday, Regional Deputy Chief Immigration Judge Philip Taylor said that Abrego Garcia’s motion to reopen his motion to seek asylum is “untimely” because he filed the motion nearly six years after his immigration proceedings — beyond the 90-day deadline required.
Judge Taylor also concluded there is “insufficient evidence” that the Department of Homeland Security has decided to remove Abrego Garcia to Uganda, Eswatini, or any other third country, after the DHS sent Abrego Garcia’s attorneys a notice in August saying the agency may deport their client to Uganda.
“The word ‘may’ is permissive and indicates to the Court that in sending this notification to Respondent’s counsel, the Department sought to convey that it reserved the right to remove him to Uganda, not necessarily that it intended to do so, that it had decided to do so, or that it would do so imminently,” Judge Taylor said.
The immigration judge also said that evidence Abrego Garcia provided in his motion arguing for protection due to his fear that he will be tortured or killed by the Salvadoran government because he’s been labeled an MS-13 gang member is “insufficient.”
Judge Taylor said that when Abrego Garcia was detained in El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison, he was not subjected to “the conditions described in his country conditions evidence,” and added that Abrego Garcia indicated that he was not “specifically singled out” by CECOT guards “before his mistreatment started or while it was taking place.”
“Respondent also does not indicate that the guards made any statements or otherwise indicated that they believed him or the other deportees to be gang members, so they do not appear to have imputed MS-13 gang membership to him,” Judge Taylor said. “Notably, while prison officials interrogated Respondent about his alleged gang membership and took pictures of his tattoos, they did not mistreat him during the interrogation.”
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March to CECOT, despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution. The Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.
He was brought back to the U.S. in June to face human trafficking charges in Tennessee, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
After being released into the custody of his brother in Maryland pending trial, he was again detained by immigration authorities, who have sought to deport him.
He was moved last month from a Virginia facility to a detention center in Pennsylvania.
Wednesday’s ruling came on the same day that the Department of Justice on Wednesday moved to postpone all the deadlines Abrego Garcia’s Maryland deportation case, due to the government shutdown.
An evidentiary hearing in the case had been scheduled for Monday.
“Absent an appropriation, Department of Justice attorneys and employees of the federal Defendants are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in very limited circumstances, including “emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said Wednesday in a court filing.
In the filing, the DOJ requested that if the motion for to stay the deadlines is granted, all current deadlines for the parties be extended “by the total number of days of the lapse in appropriations.”
The DOJ noted that Abrego Garcia “does not consent to the stay.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to the members of the media during a press conference, following Senate Democrats weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 30, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate on Wednesday — the first day of a government shutdown — once again failed to pass bills aimed at funding the government as congressional leaders continue to trade blame for the shutdown.
Negotiations appear to be underway, and Friday is the next opportunity for the Senate to vote on government funding — leaving many Americans to wonder what’s next with the shutdown.
The Senate held two votes on funding bills that mirrored the failed votes they took on Tuesday, resulting in a government shutdown that took effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Both failed — resulting in the government shutdown continuing.
What’s next?
After the failing of the bills Wednesday morning, the Senate is expected to take votes on other matters in the afternoon and then they’re expected to depart for Yom Kippur. Though things could always change if some sort of deal is struck.
The Senate is not expected to hold any additional votes on government funding until Friday at the earliest, all but assuring this shutdown stretches on at least until Friday.
Bipartisan path forward?
During Wednesday’s vote on whether to advance a seven-week stopgap funding bill, a large bipartisan huddle of senators gathered. The group included a number of closely watched moderates including Sens. Gary Peters, Jacky Rosen, Raphael Warnock, Ruben Gallego, Ben Ray Lujan and more.
Lawmakers who left that huddle told ABC News that the conversations they were having were preliminary. But it’s clear a bipartisan group is coming together that’s looking for some sort of shutdown off ramp.
“The Democrats who you saw there are trying to find a good faith way to move forward, get the ACA tax credits that we want, and also some of the appropriations that they are asking for,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, who was part of the group, told reporters.
One of the possibilities being floated among the group include trying to pass a shorter-term government funding bill to allow some additional breathing room for negotiations on the Affordable Care Act tax credit extensions that Democrats say they want, according to sources.
Sen. Mike Rounds, who appeared to be among the key GOP negotiators in the huddle, said Republicans are trying to convince a group of Democrats that opening the government back up would create the best avenue to continue negotiations on health care.
“We’re trying to convince them this is the right thing to do: find the path forward, get the 10 votes or more to move forward with this, and then let’s go right to work on fixing the issues that they were concerned about,” Rounds said.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said that there’s “a lot of bipartisan hope” that the shutdown would be as “short and costless as possible” — adding that negotiations would be ongoing.
“There are real and significant glimmers of hope that we could have a meeting of the minds,” Blumenthal said.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has been leading Senate Democrats in their blockade against a short term funding bill unless health care needs or met, was not in the huddle. But he seemed encouraged by it.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Wednesday that he was aware of the bipartisan huddle and that he’s also engaged in discussions with members of both sides to come up with a solution to fund the government.
Wednesday’s votes
The first vote that failed in the Senate was, once again, a procedural vote on the Democrats’ government funding proposal that includes the health care provisions they’ve been seeking. It failed by a vote of 47-53. As was the case on Tuesday night, every Democrat voted for it and every Republican voted against it.
The second vote in the series was a procedural vote on the clean, House-backed Republican stop-gap funding bill that failed Tuesday night. Democrats continued to hold the line during Wednesday’s vote, leading it to fail with a vote of 55-45.
Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and John Fetterman, as well as independent Angus King, voted — as they had Tuesday — with Republicans to advance the GOP funding solution. But no additional Democrats broke ranks during the vote series. Republican Sen. Rand Paul voted no, so Republicans would have needed to pick up at least five more Democrats to advance this bill, which needed 60 votes to pass.
Thune said that Republicans are on the hunt for those few additional Democrats to support their clean, short term funding bill.
Senate leaders place blame on opposing party
In floor remarks ahead of the Wednesday votes, both leaders opened by blaming the other party.
“Here we are, Democrats have bowed to the far left and they’ve shut down the federal government,” Thune said on the floor. “As of this morning critical federal employees including members of the military, border patrol agents and air traffic controllers are working without pay and a number of government services are unavailable or at risk.”
Schumer, meanwhile, said “Donald Trump and Republicans have barreled us into a shutdown because they refuse to protect America’s health care.”
Schumer, in his speech, said Republicans won’t be able to “bully” Democrats into stepping down from their demands that health care be addressed as part of government funding.
At a press conference Wednesday morning, Thune said Democrats “have taken the American people hostage in a way that they think benefits them politically, at the consequence of the cost of what’s going to happen to the American families if this government shutdown continues.”
Speaker Mike Johnson slammed Democrats during the Wednesday morning press conference.
“Every single bit of this was entirely avoidable,” Johnson said, adding that Democrats should pass the clean CR as they did in the House.
“Democrats in Congress have dragged our country into another reckless shutdown to satisfy their far-left base,” Johnson said. “Whether or not the government remains open or reopens is entirely up to them.”
Democrats hit back during a press conference of their own Wednesday morning.
“Republicans control the Senate, the House and the White House. They need Democratic votes to fund the government, so it’s on them to talk with us,” House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Pete Aguilar said.
On Tuesday, Schumer urged Republicans to come to the negotiating table.
“So, we want to sit down and negotiate, but the Republicans can’t do it in their partisan way, where they just say ‘It’s our way or the highway,’” Schumer reiterated at a news conference following Senate votes Tuesday night.
Schumer rehashed the failed votes on the Senate floor — placing the blame on Republicans who “have failed to get enough votes to avoid a shutdown.”
ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
The Statue of Liberty stands in New York Harbor on April 03, 2025, in New York City. Markets worldwide have plunged following President Donald Trump’s latest announcement on tariffs. In a move that has caused controversy among both Republicans and Democrats, Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on major U.S. trade partners. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — As President Donald Trump calls for military intervention in cities across the nation, gun violence and major crime are at a record low in America’s largest city, the New York Police Department announced Wednesday.
There were fewer shootings in NYC during the first nine months of the year than in the same time period of any prior year, officials said in a press release sharing third-quarter crime data.
The record-low number of shootings coincided with a broader drop in crime, including in the subways, officials said.
“The NYPD’s precision policing has delivered record-low shooting incidents and victims over the last nine months, and the safest quarter ever on our subways,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement.
“This is not a coincidence — it’s the result of an unprecedented, data-driven deployment of thousands of officers to the areas they are needed most,” Tisch said.
The NYPD’s announcement comes amid Trump’s crackdown on crime in major American cities, deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Portland, with plans to expand to more “one by one.”
During an address to several hundred of the nation’s top military commanders on Tuesday, Trump reiterated his attacks on Democratic-led cities, alleging domestic crime is a “war from within.”
“What they’ve done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they’re very unsafe places. And we’re going to straighten them out one by one,” the president said. “That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within.”
Breaking down the crime data from the first nine months of 2025, the NYPD reported that citywide shooting incidents are down more than 20% (553 vs. 693) to their lowest level ever, and down 15.6% (216 vs. 256) for the third quarter.
This drops marks the fewest shootings in any third quarter in recorded history, the department said, attributing it, in part, to nightly foot patrols in high-crime precincts, public housing projects and the subways.
Murders are down citywide by more than 17.7% (241 vs. 293) year-to-date and 17.5% (85 vs. 103) for the quarter, bringing them both to their second-lowest levels ever.
Burglaries dropped 3.8% (9,410 vs. 9,783) for the year and more than 9% (3,100 vs. 3,419) in the third quarter, the second-lowest level in recorded history.
Robberies declined 9.8% (11,402 vs. 12,639) year-to-date and more than 5% (4,166 vs. 4,396) for the quarter.
The NYPD also announced a 13% drop in rape, even after New York changed a state law to broaden the definition of rape and sexual assault in January 2024.
Jane Goodall and her son Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick appearing on the ABC TV special ‘Jane Goodall and the World of Animal Behavior: The Lions of the Serengeti’ in Africa, 1976. Walt Disney Television Photo Archive/ABC via Getty Images
(CALIFORNIA) — Jane Goodall, the famed primatologist, anthropologist and conservationist, has died, according to the institute she founded. She was 91 years old.
Goodall died of natural causes while in California on a speaking tour of the United States, the institute said in a statement on social media on Wednesday.
The British primatologist’s “discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” according to the institute.
Goodall was only 26 years old when she first traveled to Tanzania and began her important research on chimpanzees in the wild. Throughout her study of the species, Goodall proved that primates display an array of similar behaviors to humans, such as the ability to develop individual personalities and make and use their own tools.
Among the most surprising discoveries Goodall made was “how like us” the chimpanzees are, she told ABC News in 2020.
“Their behavior, with their gestures, kissing, embracing, holding hands and patting on the back,” she said. “… The fact that they can actually be violent and brutal and have a kind of war, but also loving an altruistic.”
That discovery is considered one of the great achievements of 20th-century scholarship, according to the Jane Goodall Institute.
Goodall’s love of animals began practically at birth, she told ABC News. As a child growing up in London and Bournemouth, she dreamed of traveling to Africa and living among the wildlife. When she was 10, she read the books “Doctor Dolittle” and “Tarzan,” and the inspiration changed the trajectory of her life.
The initial arrival into Tanzania’s Gombe National Park proved to be challenging. The terrain was steep and mountainous, the forests were thick, and threats from buffalo and leopards lurked in the wilderness. But her lifelong ambition had finally been realized, and Goodall knew she was where she was meant to be.
“It was what I always dreamed of,” she told ABC News.
Goodall later earned a PhD in ethology, the study of animal behavior, from the University of Cambridge. Her thesis detailed the first five years of study at the Gombe reserve.
In 1977, Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute with Genevieve di San Faustino. Headquartered in Washington, D.C. with offices in 25 cities around the world, the organization aims to improve the treatment and understanding of primates through public education and legal representation.
Goodall’s research garnered both scientific honors and mainstream fame, and she was credited with paving the way for a rise in women pursuing careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) over the years. The number of women in STEM has increased from 7% to 26% in the six last decades, according to The Jane Goodall Institute, which cited census information from 1970 to 2011.
In 1991, she also founded Roots & Shoots, a global humanitarian and environmental program for young people.
She was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace in April 2002. The anthropologist continued to lend her voice to environmental causes well into her 80s and 90s.
In 2019, Goodall acknowledged the climate crisis and the importance of mitigating further warming, telling ABC News that the planet is “imperiled.”
“We are definitely at a point where we need to make something happen,” she said. “We are imperiled. We have a window of time. I’m fairly sure we do. But, we’ve got to take action.”
Goodall even partnered with Apple in 2022 to encourage customers to recycle their devices to reduce individual carbon footprint and cut down on unnecessary mineral mining around the world.
“Yes, people need to make money, but it is possible to make money without destroying the planet,” Goodall told ABC News at the time. “We’ve gone so far in destroying the planet that it’s shocking.”
Goodall emphasized in 2020 that there is still much to learn from “our closest-living relatives.”
“They’re still teaching us,” she said during the diamond jubilee anniversary of studying the species.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Goodall hypothesized that humans brought outbreak upon themselves, given that bats were the suspected driver of cross-species contraction of the virus.
“We have disrespected the natural world. We’ve disrespected animals, and we’ve been cutting down forests. Animals have been driven into closer contact with people. Animals have been hunted, killed and eaten. They’ve been trafficked,” she told ABC News in 2020. “So, animals of different species have been crowded together in the wild animal meat markets in Asia, bush meat markets in Africa, and this creates a fantastic environment for a virus or bacteria, virus in this case, to jump from an animal to a person.”
Goodall’s place in pop culture history was further cemented in 2022 when toymaker Mattel announced a special edition Barbie doll modeled after Goodall in honor of the 62nd anniversary of her first visit to Tanzania’s Gombe National Park.
“My entire career, I’ve wanted to help inspire kids to be curious and explore the world around them,” Goodall said in a statement at the time.
The doll is dressed in a khaki shirt and shorts, and holds a pair of binoculars and a notebook. The doll itself is also sustainable, made from ocean-bound plastic.
Goodall was the recipient of several honors throughout her life. In 1995, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for “services to zoology” and promoted to Dame Commander in 2003. Goodall’s other honors included the French Legion of Honor, Japan’s Kyoto Prize and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.
She is survived by a son, Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick, from her first marriage to Dutch nobleman and wild photographer Baron Hugo van Lawick, as well as three grandchildren. Her second husband, former Tanzanian parliament member Derek Bryceson, died of cancer in 1980.
(NEW YORK) — Stocks closed higher on Wednesday, just hours after a government shutdown began, defying fears among some observers about the economic risk posed by a potentially prolonged impasse.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 43 points, or 0.09%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.34%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 0.42%.
The Dow and S&P 500 each closed at record highs on Wednesday.
The uptick extended a period of resilient performance for markets, which shrugged off the looming impasse a day earlier. Each of the major indexes ticked up on Tuesday.
The shutdown coincides with a rough patch for the U.S. economy, at least by some key metrics. A recent hiring slowdown has stoked recession fears, while inflation has proven difficult to fully contain.
Fresh hiring data on Wednesday morning deepened concern about the labor market. Private sector employment declined by 32,000 jobs in September, registering well short of economists’ expectations of 45,000 jobs added, according to data firm ADP research.
A government shutdown typically risks only modest damage for the U.S. economy, stemming mainly from furloughed public workers, who temporarily lose out on pay and put a dent in U.S. consumer spending, analysts previously told ABC News.
The impact of a shutdown could be more significant this time around, however, since the wobbly economy may strain under the weight of a potentially prolonged interruption, while a halt in the release of key economic data could make it more difficult for policymakers to steer the economy, they added.
