(NEW ROADS, La.) — Two young girls were hospitalized after they were thrown from a Ferris wheel at a weekend harvest festival in Louisiana, authorities said.
The incident unfolded at around noon on Saturday at the Harvest Festival on False River in New Roads, about 40 miles northwest of Baton Rouge, according to Pointe Coupée Parish Sheriff Rene Thibodeaux.
Thibodeaux said both girls injured in the incident are under the age of 13. The sheriff said both were taken to hospitals, with one of them airlifted to a medical facility.
The conditions of the injured girls were not released.
“Our hearts go out to the families, and our prayers,” Thibodeaux said.
“The Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal is actively investigating an incident in which two riders fell from a Ferris wheel ride at the New Roads Harvest Festival Saturday,” the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal said in a statement.
Witness Madison Fields told ABC affiliate station WBRZ in Baton Rouge that it appeared the bucket in which the girls were riding tipped upside down and dumped the girls out.
“It caught on to the wires, and then it tilted over, and the two girls fell out,” said Fields. “I heard like a body, just like something falling. I heard a loud boom.”
Fields said one of the girls appeared to fall face-first to the ground.
Fields told WBRZ that she had been planning to ride the Ferris wheel prior to the accident.
“It was sad and upsetting, like, because, what if that could have been me?” Fields said.
(NEW YORK) — Beginning Saturday, some 42 million low-income Americans, including 16 million children, lost access to benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as the government shutdown continues.
The Department of Agriculture has said that funding for this month’s benefits, which it says comes to about $9.5 billion, has run dry.
A federal judge in Rhode Island temporarily ordered the Trump administration on Friday to continue SNAP funding, following a lawsuit by several states. Another judge in Boston ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to suspend SNAP funding is “unlawful,” but declined to immediately order that the program be funded.
Trump said Friday that his administration’s lawyers are not sure they have the legal authority to pay for SNAP during the government shutdown and said he has asked for clarity from the courts in the wake of two recent decisions.
“If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay,” Trump said in a social media post.
The administration has used funds for other services to fund military pay during the shutdown.
SNAP has traditionally been entirely federally funded, but is administered by states. That means the shutdown’s impact on SNAP and when benefits will start to become unavailable will vary by state.
Some states have initiated their own contingency plans, using their own funding in most cases, to keep their SNAPs running.
Here is a list of what states have announced so far:
Arizona On Oct. 29, Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs announced the state would be deploying $1.8 million in funds to offset the loss of SNAP.
Of that money, 1.5 million, she said, “will be allocated to food banks across the state to fill gaps for SNAP households seeking food,” while the remainder will be used by Food Bucks Now, an emergency fresh food program that provides vouchers for vegetables and produce.
California The state allocated $80 million to food banks across the state, according to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis sent a request last week to the state legislature to approve “$10 million in General Fund revenue to support food banks and pantries, and another to extend previously approved funding for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition access through November.”
Connecticut Three million dollars in emergency funding was given to Connecticut Foodshare, a nonprofit that helps food banks in the state, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said on Oct. 27.
Delaware Democratic Gov. Matt Meyer declared a state of emergency on Oct. 29 that “ordered that funds be identified and transferred to the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) for the continuation of SNAP payments.”
Payments will be made weekly.
Hawaii On Oct. 29, the state has launched the Hawaiʻi Relief Program which will provide “up to four months of TANF support for housing and utility payments for eligible families who have at least one dependent child in their household and are in financial crisis or have an episode of need.”
Residents who are not SNAP beneficiaries can apply, according to Gov. Josh Green.
The state also donated $2 million to food banks.
Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order on Oct. 30 that allocated $25 million in state funding to food banks.
Iowa The state was ordered by Gov. Kim Reynolds to match up to $1 million in donations to the state’s food banks.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency on Oct. 24 and ordered the state legislature to authorize stabilization funds to help residents in need.
As of Oct 31, the legislature has not given the authorization.
Maine One million dollars from Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’s office will be sent to food banks.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore issued a state of emergency on Oct. 30 and allocated $10 million to food banks
Massachusetts The Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance program, which provides food assistance, received an additional $4 million in state funding, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey announced Thursday.
Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz announced on Oct. 27 that he had allocated $4 million to food banks.
Missouri Five million dollars from the state has been delivered to food banks, Democratic Gov. Mike Kehoe said Oct. 29.
An additional $10.6 million fund transfer was sent to Missouri Area Agencies on Aging for programs to feed seniors.
New Mexico Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on Oct. 29 that the state would distribute $30 million in state-funded food benefits onto existing EBT cards for eligible New Mexicans.
New York A state of emergency was declared on Oct. 30 by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The governor announced that the state would provide $40 million in new funding for the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides emergency food relief, and $25 million to Nourish N.Y., which supplies surplus agricultural products to food banks.
North Carolina The state will offer $10 million to state food banks, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein said on Oct. 30. An additional $8 million will be funded by private organizations and charities in partnership with the state, the governor said.
North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong announced on Oct. 30 that he allocated $915,000 of state funds to food banks and $600,000 for the state’s (WIC) program.
Ohio Twenty-five million in state funding will be used to offset SNAP losses, GOP Gov. Mike DeWine said after he signed an executive order on Oct. 30.
As part of the order, as much as $18 million in emergency relief benefits will be given to Ohio residents who are at or below 50% of the federal poverty level. Seven million dollars will also be donated to food banks.
Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek declared a food emergency on Oct. 29 that will be in effect in November and December.
Kotek ordered that “$5 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) carryover funds,” be sent to food banks.
“TANF carryover is unspent federal TANF funding from prior years that remains available until used,” the governor’s office said in a news release.
Rhode Island A state of emergency was issued by Democratic Gov. Dan McGee on Oct. 28 and he allocated $6 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to 20,000 eligible families.
He also allocated “$200,000 of Social Services Block Grant funding to enhance capacity at the RI Community Food Bank,” according to the governor’s office.
Virginia GOP Gov. Glen Youngkin issued a state of emergency and launched the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA) initiative.
The program will provide residents with state funds weekly to be used in lieu of SNAP through November. A million dollars will also be allocated to food banks.
Washington The state will provide $2.2 million per week to food banks across Washington until SNAP funding is restored, according to Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson.
West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced on Oct. 28 that the state would be supporting a food drive and match up to $13 million in donations to food banks.
(NEW YORK) — Two people arrested in the investigation into the Louvre Museum robbery last month have been formally charged in connection with the case, according to the Paris Public Prosecutor’s office. Both denied their involvement in the robbery.
Two others were charged in connection with the heist this week.
French authorities identified the new suspects as a 37-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman. They were charged with organized robbery and conspiracy to commit organized robbery and remanded into custody.
Additionally, three of the five people arrested on Oct. 29 have been released from custody, prosecutors said.
On Oct. 19, four masked thieves stole eight pieces of jewelry from the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, that were valued at $102 million. The robbery, which authorities say took just seven minutes, sparked a national outcry and nationwide manhunt.
The stolen jewels remain missing, authorities say.
Last week, one suspect was arrested at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport while trying to board a plane bound for Algeria, police said, while the second suspect was detained as he was about to travel to Mali.
(NEW YORK) — Stacy Cox used one word repeatedly as she described how she felt after learning her ACA premium could jump over 300% without the enhanced tax credits: “devastating.”
“I don’t know if I’ve ever cried opening a letter from an insurance or before, but it happened this time,” she told ABC News.
Cox’s premium this year has been $495.32 for coverage for her and her husband. Without the credit in 2026, she was informed that it’s increasing to $2,168.68.
“It’s devastating because we can’t afford that,” she said. “Just that bill right there, that’s more than our mortgage, our insurance, most of our food. That’s what we’re paying per month to live. We can’t afford to double what it costs for us to live just to have health insurance.”
“This will devastate us if we tried to pay it,” she added.
Millions across the country are discovering just how much their plans will cost as open enrollment for Affordable Care Act insurance plans began on Nov. 1. Enrollment lasts through Jan. 15, 2026.
A recent analysis from KFF found that if the enhanced premium tax credits expire, as they are currently set to do on Dec. 31, ACA enrollees will see their monthly premiums more than double – rising by roughly 114% on average. An estimated 22 million out of 24 million ACA marketplace enrollees are currently receiving a tax credit to lower their monthly premiums. Even if those credits are extended, KFF found that the amount insurers charge for ACA premiums will rise by an average 26% in 2026.
The current government shutdown has hinged on Democrats and Republicans’ positions on ACA subsidies, or premium tax credits, which help lower or eliminate the out-of-pocket cost of monthly premiums for those who purchase insurance through the health insurance marketplace.
The subsidies are currently set to expire at the end of 2025. Democrats have been demanding Republicans pass extensions of the subsidies before the government is reopened, while the GOP says it won’t negotiate until a clean funding bill passes and the government reopens.
For Cox and her husband, who live in Kanab, Utah, even if the tax credit were to be extended, they’d still see the premium increase to $753.68. It would be a hit to their budget, but one they would take to keep insurance.
“It’s already going to be hard for us to have a 52% increase on our premium, and that’s if the credits are extended,” she said. “But we will do it so that we can have health coverage.”
Cox, 48, is at high risk for breast cancer, has a mammogram every year and a fast breast MRI yearly as well.
Cox is a professional photographer and she and her husband, 55, have been enrolled in “Obamacare” since 2022. Having access to health care through the ACA is what gave her the motivation to quit her previous job and pursue her passion of photography, she said.
For now, she’s holding on to hope that the tax credits are extended and will reenroll in her plan so she doesn’t miss open enrollment. But she is ready to cancel it before the start of the new year if they aren’t.
ACA enrollee left feeling ‘helpless’ after seeing premium quadruple Beth Dryer is realizing she is in a similar position. If the tax credit isn’t extended, she says she will have no other option than to cancel it altogether.
Dryer, from Norfolk, Virginia, is the executive director of 757 Creative ReUse Center, a nonprofit art supply store, and in 2015 she was paying just shy of $80 for her premium.
She hadn’t looked up her 2026 options until speaking to ABC News on Thursday, and the spike was shocking.
“This says I now have an advanced premium tax credit of $0 so it looks like I have no tax credit for this so far for next year,” she said, reading from the enrollment site. “OK, so it looks like the same plan that I have this year would now be $425.03 a month next year, which is completely out of my budget.”
“I thought maybe it would double, but this is more than quadrupled in cost for me,” she continued. “So it’s just straight out — there’s no way I would be able to afford this next year.”
Dryer, a Democrat, said she realizes lawmakers are “stuck between a rock and a hard place,” but her message to them is to “get your stuff together and look at what you’re doing to the people of this country.”
“The Republicans aren’t going to budge on the tax credits, and they’re happy to watch people die. I mean, that’s essentially what it is,” she said. “You cut these tax credits, people are dying. People are already dying because they don’t have quality health care. People are already dying because they have food insecurity.”
Covering costs on their own Cox said she and her husband will have to start their own savings account for medical costs if they cancel.
“We will just create our own health savings, which is we were able to cover $500 per month for our health premium and so we will take $500 and we will put it into savings every month, so that if something does occur, when we do need to go to the doctor, that there’s at least something, some sort of cushion, as we try to cover this on our own,” she said.
Cox said although the health system may not be great, “it’s actually a functioning system” that allows her family to at least have a health plan.
With these tax credits being a sticking point in this shutdown, Cox wants Congress to “extend the credits while you work on reform.”
“This system can absolutely be improved … but don’t make us suffer while you figure it out. That’s what I would say. Don’t make me live without health insurance, while you guys figure out a better plan,” she said. “We have a plan that’s not the greatest plan, but it is a functioning plan. Let us rely on this functioning plan until there is something better. Don’t take my house from me, just because you say you’re building me a new one.”
And she’d also tell lawmakers: “You have health care. Why not extend that to me?”
(NEW YORK) — The largest federal workers’ union this week threw its support behind a Republican government funding bill, ratcheting up pressure on Democrats.
But many of the top labor unions told ABC News that they continue to back the strategy taken up by Democrats, breaking with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents hundreds of thousands of federal workers losing out on pay and staring down the threat of layoffs.
Many labor unions, a key bloc within the Democratic Party, support the push for an extension of Obamacare subsidies and remain eager to fight a president they view as an adversary of workers, some labor analysts and union officials said.
Jaime Contreras, an executive vice president at the 185,000-member Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, said he sympathized with the challenges faced by federal workers but he disagreed with AFGE’s approach.
“They have to do what they have to do for their members,” Contreras told ABC News.
But, he added: “It’s a false choice in my opinion to say we need to give up affordable healthcare for millions and millions of Americans in order to bring federal workers back to work.”
SEIU 32BJ represents about 2,400 federal contractors who work as security officers, food-services workers and other employees, meaning they run the risk of missing out on backpay when the government reopens, Contreras said.
“These workers are bearing the brunt of this shutdown,” Contreras said, later adding: “We’re urging our Democratic friends to hold the line.”
The stay-the-course approach maintained by key labor organizations has likely eased the pressure faced by Democratic lawmakers in the aftermath of the AFGE announcement, some labor analysts told ABC News.
“The federal unions aren’t the biggest players,” Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told ABC News.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, who leads the nation’s largest labor federation, made up of unions representing nearly 15 million members, faulted President Donald Trump for what she considers an attempt to divide workers.
“As federal workers miss paychecks and line up at food banks, President Trump is more focused on pitting workers against each other than ending the shutdown,” Shuler told ABC News in a statement. “It’s time to fund the government, fix the health care crisis, and put working people first.”
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed Democrats for the impasse, saying while most workers might be able to miss one paycheck, “none of them can get through two paychecks.”
“If Democrats don’t get their act together very quickly, you’re going to see huge problems,” Duffy said.
The National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s biggest labor union representing almost 3 million members, stands by a statement earlier this month that supports addressing healthcare and government funding, an NEA official told ABC News.
United Steelworkers International President David McCall told ABC News he supports a solution “both prioritizing affordable health care and funding the essential services our government provides.”
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the United Food and Commercial Workers referred ABC News to previous statements voicing similar sentiment.
“The Trump administration is putting huge, huge pressure on the federal unions,” John Logan, a professor of U.S. labor history at San Francisco State University, told ABC News. “Large parts of the rest of the labor movement are crying out for the Democrats to fight against the Trump administration and not give up.”
“Despite these cracks — which are understandable — the labor movement is fairly united in its position on the shutdown,” Logan added.
AFGE did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The union drew headlines on Monday when its president, Everett Kelley, called for a “clean continuing resolution,” a position in line with Republicans who have declined to negotiate with Democrats over healthcare and other topics until after lawmakers vote to reopen the government.
“Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight,” Kelley said in a statement. “Today I’m making mine: it’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today.”
To be sure, at least one major union has sided with AFGE. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien has urged lawmakers to pass a clean continuing resolution, reiterating his position on Thursday in remarks made alongside top Trump administration officials at the White House.
“Do not put working people in the middle of a problem. They should not be in there,” said O’Brien, who last year became the first Teamsters union president to speak at a Republican National Convention.
The Teamsters did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
For his part, Trump on Thursday night called on Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster to pass the Republican funding bill and reopen the government.
“It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!” Trump posted.
The government shutdown, which entered its 30th day on Friday, appears unlikely to end anytime soon. Senate Democrats have voted 13 times to reject a Republican funding bill, and the upper chamber is out on recess until next week.
(PATERSON, N.J.) — A rapid moving house fire claimed the lives of five people Friday night in Paterson, New Jersey, according to fire officials.
Paterson Fire Chief Alex Alicea said that the fire broke out in the home at around 9:54 p.m. and spread quickly from the lower floor to other parts of the building due to heavy winds in the area on Friday night.
“The fire was under heavy wind which contributed to the rapid spread of the fire onto the second floor where, eventually, five victims were found … two adults and three children,” Alicea told ABC News’ New York station WABC.
Alicea said that 11 other people who lived in the building survived but are now displaced due to the fire.
“The Red Cross is here on scene to assist with that,” said Alicea.
The identities of the five victims have not yet been identified, and the cause and origin of the fire is currently under investigation, officials said.
Vice President JD Vance sits with his wife Usha Vance prior to a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House on Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President JD Vance on Friday defended comments about his faith and marriage after critics accused him of throwing his wife’s Hindu religion “under a bus” during a Turning Point USA event earlier in the week.
Vance responded to a user on X who referenced the comments the vice president, who was raised Protestant but converted to Catholicism in 2019, on Wednesday. Vance spoke to the crowd about his faith and how it relates to his relationship with Usha Vance, who was raised Hindu.
“For us, it works out now most Sundays, Usha will come with me to church, as I’ve told her, and I’ve said publicly, and I’ll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends, do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church. Yeah, I honestly, I do wish that, because I believe in the Christian Gospel, and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way. But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn’t cause a problem for me,” the vice president said.
The comments have been met with extensive criticism.
“It’s weird to throw your wife’s religion under the bus, in public, for a moment’s acceptance by groypers,” the X user posted on Thursday.
Vance responded to and reposted to the comment, which he called “disgusting” and said he was being open when people were curious about his faith and family life.
“My Christian faith tells me the Gospel is true and is good for human beings. My wife — as I said at the TPUSA — is the most amazing blessing I have in my life. She herself encouraged me to reengage with my faith many years ago. She is not a Christian and has no plans to convert, but like many people in an interfaith marriage — or any interfaith relationship — I hope she may one day see things as I do. Regardless, I’ll continue to love and support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else, because she’s my wife,” he said.
The X post was deleted after Vance reshared it and made his response.
Vance argued the post was “anti-Christian bigotry.”
“Yes, Christians have beliefs. And yes, those beliefs have many consequences, one of which is that we want to share them with other people. That is a completely normal thing, and anyone who’s telling you otherwise has an agenda,” he contended.
The Vances were married in an interfaith Christian-Hindu ceremony in 2014 and he has talked openly about their interfaith relationship.
During an interview with the New York Times last year, JD Vance said his wife has been supportive of his faith and has attended church with their three children.
“No, she hasn’t,” the vice president told the Times when asked if Usha Vance had converted to Christianity.
“That’s why I feel bad about it. She’s got three kids. Obviously, I help with the kids, but because I’m kind of the one going to church, she feels more responsibility to keep the kids quiet in the church. And I just felt kind of bad. Like, oh, you didn’t sign up to marry a weekly churchgoer. Are you OK with this? And she was more than OK with it, and that was a big part of the confirmation that this was the right thing for me,” he added.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander attends the 2025 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre on July 16, 2025, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Savion Washington/FilmMagic)
(NICHOLS HILLS, Okla.) — NBA superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s home was broken into Thursday night in the upscale Oklahoma City suburb of Nichols Hills, police and sources confirmed to ABC News.
Officials received the call of a burglary on Thursday at approximately 7:45 p.m., while Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA MVP, was playing a game in Oklahoma City against the Washington Wizards. The suspects fled the area before police arrived and it appears nobody was in the home at the time.
No arrests have been made, police said.
Police said there is “no reason to believe the public is in any danger” and that there will be an increased police presence in the small town for Halloween on Friday and in the coming weeks.
The burglary of Gilgeous-Alexander’s home comes after seven purported members of a South American theft group were charged in February in connection to a string of robberies targeting the homes of Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and other professional athletes in the country, according to federal prosecutors
The defendants, who were charged with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, are accused of allegedly stealing valuables worth more than $2 million, federal prosecutors said.
In addition to the burglaries at the homes of Mahomes and Kelce, the FBI linked the theft group to an October 2024 burglary of a Tampa Bay Buccaneers player while the team was playing the Baltimore Ravens in Tampa, federal prosecutors said.
Three of the seven defendants also face state and federal charges in Ohio in connection with the December 2024 burglary targeting Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
The logo of the United Nations at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly in New York. Over 140 heads of state and government are expected to attend the world’s largest diplomatic event over several days. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa (Photo by Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(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.
(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.
