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(WASHINGTON) — All imports of live cattle, horse and bison from the southern border have been banned due to the spread of a flesh-eating pest in Mexico, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Sunday.

“The protection of our animals and safety of our nation’s food supply is a national security issue of the utmost importance,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a press release.

The secretary cited New World Screwworm (NWS), a parasitic fly, as the reason for the suspension of imports. The name refers to the way in which maggots screw themselves into the tissue of animals with their sharp mouth hooks, causing extensive damage and often leading to death.

Panama saw NWS infections among livestock rise from an average of 25 cases annually to over 6,500 in 2023. Since then, the disease has spread further north, breaking a previously established barrier that contained the pest to South America for decades, the USDA said.

Infections have been detected in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Belize.

More recently, a case was reported in Mexico late last year, which also shut down the border for live animal trade. Imports resumed earlier this year after an agreement between the U.S. and Mexico to mitigate the threat of the disease.

The continued spread and threat of NWS led to the current shutdown, which will continue on a month-by-month basis, “until a significant window of containment is achieved,” the USDA said. The disease was recently detected in remote farms about 700 miles from the U.S. border.

Eradicating the disease is possible through a technique in which male screwworm flies are sterilized and then released into the environment to mate with females until the population dies out. This process was used to rid the U.S. of NWS in the 1960s.

The eradication efforts yielded estimated economic benefits of nearly $800 million annually for American livestock producers in 1996, with an estimated $2.8 billion for the wider economy, according to the USDA.

U.S. agriculture officials are working to release sterile flies by both air and ground along parts of Southern Mexico and in other regions in Central America.

“Once we see increased surveillance and eradication efforts, and the positive results of those actions, we remain committed to opening the border for livestock trade,” Rollins said. “This is not about politics or punishment of Mexico, rather it is about food and animal safety.”

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(LONDON) — Over a ton of cocaine worth close to nearly half a billion dollars has been seized from a boat off the coast of Australia, officials have confirmed.

Detectives from the Organised Crime Squad in Australia have charged five people following the seizure of the drugs from a vessel off the New South Wales coast after police there obtained potential intelligence to the drugs following a “suspicious purchase” of a 43-foot-long motor cruiser paid for by just cash in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire on April 28, according to a joint statement from the New South Wales Police Force and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

“On Friday (9 May 2025), as the vessel travelled back to shore – towards South West Rocks – it was intercepted by the Marine Area Command about 9.30am.,” the statement said. “Two men, aged 24 and 26, were arrested on board and escorted to shore by the police vessel. They were taken to Coffs Harbour Police Station.”

Approximately 1,110 blocks of cocaine, weighing 1.039 tons were located on the vessel, police confirmed.

“The seized cocaine equates to over a million individual hits, with an estimated potential street value of $623.4 million,” (more than $400 million U.S. dollars) police said.

Three other people – aged 28, 29 and 35 – were simultaneously arrested on shore after investigators stopped two vehicles attempting to leave the South West Rocks area and they were taken to Taree Police Station.

Forensic specialists are currently examining the seized drugs and will be conducting further testing to determine the exact weight and purity of the drugs.

“The two men at Coffs Harbour were charged with supply prohibited drug – large commercial quantity and participate in criminal group,” Australian officials said. “The three men at Taree were charged with take part in supply prohibited drug – large commercial quantity and participate in criminal group.”

All five of the suspects appeared at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday where they were all formally refused bail and mandated to appear at Coffs Harbour Local Court on July 15, authorities said.

“The AFP and NSW Police Force have a long history of disrupting criminal networks attempting to import drugs that destroy our community. Combining our resources and expertise allows us to get successful outcomes like the one we are announcing today,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dametto said. “Australia’s vast coastline is attractive to organised crime groups, who attempt to exploit this by trying to import drugs using boats. The bad news for them is the AFP will continue to work together with our partners to target organised crime syndicates who wrongly believe they can operate with impunity.

NSW Police State Crime Commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner Jason Weinstein said these arrests are testament to how rapidly our policing resources can coordinate and stop significant amounts of drug coming into NSW.

“Whether on land or sea, NSW Police have the investigative capability to disrupt and undermine criminal enterprise,” Weinstein said. “This seizure shows how our continuous monitoring of known organised crime methodologies with industry partners, can be actioned into a successful multi-agency operation with those involved immediately arrested to prevent illicit drugs entering NSW. Our ability to pivot and protect the community is evident in this week’s actions. Make no mistake these drugs, if allowed to enter our communities, would have had devastating impacts on people’s lives and social cohesion, particularly in regional townships.”

Investigations into the origin of the drugs and the group’s alleged associates remain ongoing.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration’s plan to accept a luxury jet donated by the Qatari government to use as Air Force One raises significant security concerns, intelligence experts and government officials say, as President Donald Trump said it would be “stupid” not to accept a free plane.

Trump on Monday defended the administration’s plans to receive a luxury jet donated by the Qatari government during remarks at the White House, calling the donation a “very nice gesture.”

“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But it was, I thought it was a great gesture,” he said.

Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed the move, arguing that using the plane as Air Force One would “pose immense counterintelligence risks by granting a foreign nation potential access to sensitive systems and communications.”

“This reckless disregard for national security and diplomatic propriety signals a dangerous willingness to barter American interests for personal gain,” Reed said in a statement Monday. “It is an affront to the office of the presidency and a betrayal of the trust placed in any U.S. leader to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty.”

Air Force One a ‘high-value target’

The primary aircraft used in the current Air Force One fleet includes two aging Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets that have been operational since 1990. Despite flying for more than 35 years, the current pair of Air Force One jets are considered some of the safest and secure aircraft in the world.

Many of the security features on the plane remain classified. It has anti-missile defenses or countermeasure systems to protect against surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles, and the communication devices can also withstand the pulse of a nuclear blast. It is also outfitted with sophisticated communications capability to allow the president to securely run the country from the plane and protect him from cyberattacks.

“It’s designed to transport the president in a safe way and be able to withstand physical attacks, but to also ensure that the president maintains communication with military, his cabinet, other government leaders in a safe and secure manner,” said John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and former acting Homeland Security official. “Any building or vehicle or airplane that the president is located is a high-value target for foreign intelligence services who want to gather as much information about the president.”

Air Force One can also remain in the air for several days due to its ability to refuel in midair. The plane also houses a small medical facility where doctors could perform surgery if needed.

All of these systems would likely need to be installed on the Boeing 747-8 that Trump would receive as a gift from Qatar.

A jet donated by Qatar would also be a “counterintelligence nightmare,” ABC News contributor Darrell Blocker, a former CIA field operative, said.

“If you go back to almost anything that is given by a foreign government, there are regulations and restrictions and guidelines for ensuring that they’re not being bugged, and a plane would be an absolute nightmare to be able to confirm that it’s not,” Blocker told ABC News Live on Monday. “From an intelligence perspective, it’s not the brightest move.”

Blocker cited that when the U.S. embassy was being built in Moscow in the 1980s, the U.S. had to “take it down to its bare bones” because the Russians “put bugs through every room, every facility.”

“I think the people of Troy, when they accepted that horse, regretted it after the fact also,” he said.

The complexity and time needed to retrofit and inspect the plane raise questions on cost and a timeline.

“Even under the best of circumstances, it’s going to take a significant effort for the military to be satisfied that the aircraft is constructed safely, that it’s not compromised from the standpoint of intelligence collection capabilities being planted on it, and that it is built in a way that it will be able to assimilate the sensitive communications and countermeasure capabilities that are that are present on any plane that’s Air Force One,” Cohen said. “To be done right, it’s not going to happen quickly.”

“In order to adequately ensure that this airplane — which was operated by a foreign government that happens to have a relationship with Iran and China and Russia — in order to ensure that that plane has not had collection capabilities introduced into it when it was constructed, they’re gonna have to basically tear it down to the airframe,” he added.

White House working on ‘legal details’

ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment on the security concerns and has not yet received a response.

Both the U.S. Air Force and the Department of Defense referred questions to the White House when asked about the possible transfer of the Qatari-owned Boeing 747 to the Department of Defense.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday he would not comment on Trump preparing to receive the jet from Qatar because he hasn’t seen the “details.”

The White House is working on the “legal details” of the Qatari government’s donation to the Defense Department, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday in an appearance on Fox News.

“But, of course, any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law. And we commit ourselves to the utmost transparency and we will continue to do that,” Leavitt added.

Trump said during remarks at the White House on Monday that he doesn’t plan to use the plane after he leaves office. Pressed by ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott on what he would say to people who view the luxury plane as a personal gift to him, Trump said it was not a gift to him but “a gift to the Department of Defense.”

Sources familiar with the proposed arrangement told ABC News that the plane would be a gift that is to be available for use by Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation.

If a private contractor were able to complete the modifications needed to the donated plane before the end of Trump’s presidency, many of the systems installed would then need to be removed should the Trump presidential library foundation take possession of the plane upon Trump leaving office due to the sensitive nature of the technology.

Ultimately, Cohen said he suspects that members of the intelligence community and the military will assess the risk to national security and “the level of effort to minimize the risk to national security.”

“If they’re doing their job, the president’s national security team will explain to him the level of risk that exists if a foreign intelligence service were able to introduce collection capabilities that could intercept face-to-face communications on the plane, electronic communications coming from the plane,” Cohen said. “They should also be explaining to him the level of effort that it will involve in order for that risk to be mitigated. And with that information, he can then make an informed decision on whether and under what conditions to accept the airplane.”

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