Human crowd surrounding an injectable measles vaccine bottle on purple background. Horizontal composition with copy space. ( MicroStockHub/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Measles cases in the United States have surpassed 2,000 for the second year in a row, according to data updated Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
So far in 2026, 2,030 confirmed cases have been recorded in 39 states and the District of Columbia, CDC data shows.
Cases have been confirmed in: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Just 10 measles cases were reported among international travelers so far this year, according to CDC data.
Last year, 2,288 confirmed measles cases were reported for all of 2025. Prior to this, measles cases had not surpassed 2,000 in the U.S. since 1992.
The majority of measles cases have been confirmed among children and teenagers aged 19 and younger, according to the CDC.
About 92% of cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, CDC data shows.
Meanwhile, 4% of cases are among those who have received just one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and 4% of cases are among those who received the recommended two doses, according to the CDC.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The Hammond Police Department is searching for gunmen who shot and killed an innocent 50-year-old woman at a Chevron gas station in Hammond, Louisiana, June 4, 2026. (Hammond Police Department)
(HAMMOND, La.) — An innocent woman was killed when gunmen fired 70 to 80 bullets into a car at a Louisiana gas station, apparently believing that their target was in the car, according to police.
Hammond police said the gunmen’s alleged target had been in the car before the shooting, but not at the time of the shooting.
Before the gunfire erupted early Thursday, the suspects were stalking a car at a farm, Hammond Police Chief Edwin Bergeron Jr. said at a news conference.
“At some point [the alleged target] was in the vehicle, and then exited the vehicle to ride with someone else,” Bergeron said.
The victim’s car then left the farm and went to a Chevron gas station, the chief said, and the suspects followed.
When the driver of the victim’s car got out and went inside the gas station, the suspects’ car “pulled up next to it … and began shooting,” Bergeron said.
The suspects fired between 70 and 80 shots, taking the life of 50-year-old Patricia Shepard, who was sitting in the car, Bergeron said.
She was an “absolute innocent victim,” the chief said. “She was not involved.”
Bergeron said investigators are searching for at least two or three suspects.
“We will not rest until the scumbags like this go to jail … for them to roll up and kill an innocent woman in a car because they thought it was somebody else,” he said.
The suspects were driving a car that was stolen in Mississippi earlier in the week, police said.
Authorities urge anyone with information to call the Hammond Police Department at 985-277-5755 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at 1-800-554-5245.
e HR recruitment manager holding resume in hands while having an interview in a modern office. (Xavier Lorenzo/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Hiring blew past expectations in May, registering at a blockbuster clip despite a continued rise in inflation set off by the Iran War.
The U.S. added 172,000 jobs in May, according to the report, which marked an acceleration from 115,000 jobs added in April. The reading for April exceeded economists’ expectations. The reading amounted to a slight downshift from March, when the U.S. economy gained 185,000 jobs.
Still, the job gains in May indicated a robust expansion of the labor market, defying concern about a potential economic downturn. Hiring has proven unexpectedly resilient in recent months, despite a rise in costs borne by businesses and shoppers.
The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3% in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said. Unemployment remains low by historical standards.
The leisure and hospitality sector added 70,000 jobs in May, far exceeding an average of 14,000 jobs added each month over the past year. Job gains also came in local government and healthcare.
The Middle East conflict, which began on Feb. 28, prompted the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of global oil supply. The standoff triggered one of the largest oil shocks ever recorded.
The U.S. is a net exporter of petroleum, meaning the country produces more oil than it consumes. But since oil prices are set on a global market, U.S. prices move in response to swings in worldwide supply and demand.
The price of an average gallon of gas stood at $4.24 as of Thursday, AAA data showed – an increase of $1.26 per gallon since the war began on Feb. 28. That amounts to a roughly 42% price jump in about three months.
Grocery prices have also climbed as a result of higher diesel costs borne by suppliers.
A persistent increase in consumer prices may put pressure on the Fed to raise interest rates as a means of dialing back inflation. The choice to raise interest rates could slow price increases, but it risks a cooldown in economic performance.
For now, the U.S. economy appears robust. The economy grew at a solid pace over the first three months of 2026, rebounding from sluggish performance at the end of last year.
Futures markets overwhelmingly expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady when policymakers meet next month, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of investor sentiment.
: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) heads for the Senate Chamber in between votes at the U.S. Capitol on June 04, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Senate began a marathon session of amendment votes on the $70 billion immigration enforcement bill. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate voted early Friday morning to approve a $70 billion immigration enforcement package that includes nothing to rein in the “anti-weaponization” fund by a vote of 52-47.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to join all Democrats in voting against the bill. All other Senate Republicans voted for it, giving the legislation enough support to be narrowly approved. Republicans applauded as the bill was gaveled down early this morning.
The bill now heads to House of Representatives, which is not expected to take it up for consideration until next week.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The judge’s gavel and scales as a symbol of the judiciary and justice. (SimpleImages/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Virginia man found guilty of killing his wife and a stranger lured to their home in an elaborate plot to get rid of his spouse so he could be with his au pair is set to be sentenced on Friday.
Brendan Banfield was convicted in the 2023 murders of his wife and a man prosecutors said he “catfished” on a fetish website. Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield pretended to be his wife to lure the man to their Fairfax County home for what was believed to be a consensual fake rape scenario in order to frame that stranger for his wife’s murder.
A jury found him guilty of two counts of aggravated murder in February. He faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
The former IRS agent was charged with two counts of aggravated murder in 2024 following a monthslong investigation into the deaths of his wife, 37-year-old nurse Christine Banfield, and the stranger, 39-year-old Joseph Ryan.
Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield plotted the murders with the family’s au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, with whom he was having an affair.
Police responded to a 911 call from the home in Reston on Feb. 24, 2023, and found Ryan dead in an upstairs bedroom with gunshot wounds to his head and chest. Christine Banfield had been stabbed seven times in the neck, prosecutors said.
At the time, Magalhães and Banfield told police they came home to find Ryan stabbing Christine Banfield to death. Banfield and Magalhães each shot Ryan, they said in their 911 call and to responding officers at the scene.
Magalhães was arrested first and initially charged with second-degree murder for the death of Ryan. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2024 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the maximum, in February. Prosecutors said she admitted to shooting Ryan at Brendan Banfield’s direction.
Brendan Banfield was arrested several months after Magalhães and charged with two counts of aggravated murder for the deaths of his wife and Ryan.
Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield stabbed his wife with a kitchen knife that Ryan had been instructed to bring, and, before calling 911, altered the crime scene to make it look as though Ryan stabbed her — including by transferring some of his wife’s blood onto Ryan’s hands.
Magalhães testified against Brendan Banfield during his trial, telling the court that he expressed his desire to “get rid of” his wife in October 2022. She said he told her he wanted to marry her and have children with her, and that he didn’t want to divorce his wife because “she would have more money than he would” and because he wanted custody of the couple’s daughter.
She prayed for forgiveness from the victims’ families during her sentencing hearing.
“There is nothing I could possibly do to make it up to you, for your loss. There are so many regrets, this is my biggest. It’s a tragedy I have been carrying with me, and I know I can never take back the devastation of what I have done,” she said.
Following Magalhães’ sentencing, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said the au pair’s testimony was “invaluable in helping the jury understand the convoluted double-murder plot orchestrated by Brendan Banfield.”
During his three-week-long trial, Brendan Banfield testified in his own defense. He admitted to the affair though maintained his innocence.
He said he came home on Feb. 24, 2023, after the au pair called to alert him about a stranger in the home. He said he went up to his bedroom with his gun drawn and found his wife naked with Ryan and that she called out, “Brendan, he has a knife!”
“I was extremely terrified,” Brendan Banfield told the jury. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more panicked in my life.”
He said he fired his government-issued firearm, striking Ryan in the head, after he said the man appeared to stab his wife.
The couple’s then-4-year-old daughter was in the basement of the house at the time of the killings. Brendan Banfield was additionally found guilty of child endangerment, as well as using a firearm while committing or attempting to commit murder.
ABC News’ Sophie Sonnenfeld contributed to this report.
A 31-page report on the White House ballroom submitted to the panels reviewing the project show the proposed addition to the White House from additional angles and features new renderings of the project. Commission of Fine Arts
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s plans to build a White House ballroom are in the hands of three appellate judges who will hear oral arguments Friday over whether construction should be allowed to continue.
The panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will weigh the Trump administration’s request to throw out a lower court judge’s order halting the construction, in a lawsuit brought by historic preservationists.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled in late March that Trump has gone beyond his authority in building the ballroom, given that it has not been authorized by Congress. Leon’s order was administratively stayed by the appellate panel on April 17, a move that has allowed construction to continue since then.
The Trump administration has argued in court papers that beyond the president’s desire to build a large, permanent event space to host future inaugurations and state dinners, the ballroom — part of a broader “East Wing Modernization Project” — is essential to national security.
The Justice Department points to recent shootings that have occurred in relatively close proximity to the president, including at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April and on Pennsylvania Avenue in May, as examples of why the ballroom is needed for security reasons. Both of those incidents had gunmen allegedly exchanging fire with Secret Service police officers.
The government’s filings in the case have described the ballroom project as a fortification of the entire White House complex, saying that with its “deeply ensconced bunker, and its attendant bomb shelters, hospitals, medical facilities, and other National Security functions, to the highly sophisticated Drone Port and Sniper Nests atop the Ballroom, the complex is a highly knitted, unified whole.”
The administration also argues that the group that has sued, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lacks the standing necessary to bring a case.
Lawyers for the National Trust say that it’s Congress, not the president, that controls the grounds of the White House, and that Leon was correct to determine in his ruling that no statute “comes close” to giving Trump the authority he claims to construct a large edifice next to the executive mansion.
“The public’s interest in its government following the law, and the maintenance of the President’s proper role in our system of separated powers, underscore that the district court did not abuse its discretion,” they write in a brief, urging the appeals court judges to let Judge Leon’s injunction stand.
Prior to beginning consideration this week of an immigration enforcement funding bill, Senate Republicans removed a $1 billion provision, drafted in response to a request from the Secret Service, that officials said a portion of which would have gone toward security-related aspects of the ballroom project.
Arguments in the case will be heard by Obama-appointee Patricia Millett, Trump-appointee Neomi Rao and Biden-appointee Brad Garcia.
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
(MIAMI) — A man, woman and two girls were found stabbed to death in what investigators believe is a murder-suicide in Miami.
Investigators said they believe 42-year-old Ryan Charles Whiten killed 46-year-old Melanie Lauren Hyer, 11-year-old Savannah Whiten and 8-year-old Sienna Whiten before taking his own life, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Ryan Charles Whiten was the biological father of Savannah Whiten and Sienna Whiten, and Hyer was the girls’ mother, according to the sheriff’s office.
Doral Police Officers responded to a residence in Miami-Dade for a welfare check on Tuesday at around 7:30 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office.
Officers entered the residence when they arrived on the scene to find a woman, man and two girls all unresponsive, according to the sheriff’s office. All four individuals suffered stab wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene.
“The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau investigation is currently leading detectives to believe this incident was a murder-suicide. Investigators are continuing to work closely with the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office as the investigation remains active,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
A composite posted to the Department of Justice’s X account, June 4, 2026. (Department of Justice)
(WASHINGTON) — Senior Justice Department leaders on Thursday announced a number of cases against those who they say perpetrated fraud in Ohio.
Four people, including two state of Ohio employees, were charged with a $30 million fraud scheme targeting the state’s behavioral health department.
Two of the defendants owned businesses which claimed to provide behavioral health services for young adults that attend summer camps, church groups and recreational programs, according to the Justice Department.
The Justice Department alleges the two businesses submitted fraudulent claims for services that were never rendered. After the claims were not submitted because one of the behavioral health organizations’ accreditation was invalid, the two allegedly conspired with another individual to submit claims.
The funds were used to fund a lavish lifestyle, according to DOJ, including purchasing 14 vehicles worth $800,000.
“The days of the brazen theft that we’ve seen of taxpayer dollars, abusing the generosity of the American taxpayer is over,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference in Columbus, Ohio. “Our message to fraudsters is simple: With our state and local partners, the Department of Justice will be working day and night to identify you, arrest you and imprison you.”
Blanche and other federal leaders, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, were in Ohio to not only announce charges against alleged fraudsters, but to also announce a Top 10 fraudsters list and tout the cooperation between Ohio authorities and the federal government on fraud issues.
“Our best form of information is the American public,” Patel said. “Take a look at this Top 10 most wanted. Let us know any information. There is no bad piece of information. The only bad piece of information is the one you don’t give us.”
Earlier this week, the Justice Department charged five individuals with scamming older Americans in romance fraud schemes totaling $15 million. The five — mostly from Ghana — allegedly used AI to create false stories and indicate to people they were interested in them romantically to get them to send them money.
“Once they establish trust, they use false pretenses and stories about vast inheritances of money, gold, or diamonds, and then convince these elderly Americans to help finance bogus legal proceedings in the nation of Ghana,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio David M. Toepfer said at the press conference.
The scheme allegedly went on for almost two years and impacted more than 100 people.
“They then use this stolen money to buy a mansion in Ghana. Diamond-encrusted jewelry, a Lamborghini and other high-end luxury vehicles. All of those assets have now been seized and are going through the forfeiture proceedings so that they will not profit from their fraudulent efforts,” Toepfer said.
US Coast Guard dive team is shown in Hope Town in the Bahamas as the investigation into the disappearance of Lynette Hooker continues. (ABC)
(NEW YORK) — The daughter of Lynette Hooker, an American woman who went overboard in the Bahamas and vanished two months ago, is grateful a U.S. Coast Guard dive team is on the scene conducting new searches.
“She has to be somewhere, so all the help that we could get, it’s greatly appreciated,” Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, told ABC News.
The Coast Guard Investigative Service, which is leading the investigation, received permission from the Bahamas to send U.S divers to areas that were previously not searched, according to multiple U.S. officials.
This search comes after forensic evidence found on electronic devices belonging to Lynette Hooker’s husband, Brian Hooker, led investigators to new areas of interest, officials said.
A U.S. official told ABC News that what Brian Hooker told investigators does not match the GPS data recovered from his devices.
Aylesworth told ABC News she doubts her stepfather Brian Hooker’s story and said she’s not spoken with him since the day after her mother went missing.
Aylesworth said she’s hopeful the new search points investigators in the right direction.
“I’m happy they were able to get Brian’s location and discover new areas to look,” she said. “… I know they’re working very hard.”
Lynette Hooker has been missing since the evening of April 4. Brian Hooker told authorities that after the couple departed Hope Town on their dinghy to head to their yacht, called the “Soulmate,” bad weather caused her to go overboard.
Brian Hooker was arrested on April 8 and questioned by police. He was released on April 13 without charges.
On April 14, Brian Hooker told ABC News that he was staying in the Bahamas with a “sole focus” of finding his wife. But hours after that interview, Brian Hooker left the Bahamas, with his attorney saying he wanted to be with his terminally ill mother.
Aylesworth said of her missing mother, “I hope she’s just in Cuba or something, just needing a break from life, living it up. But I feel like at this time, she would have at least contacted my grandma and me. So I don’t, at this point, I don’t really have much faith that she’s out there still alive.”
She added that if she could speak to her mother now, she’d tell her, “I just hope you’re still out there. I have doubts with how long it’s been, but I love you and I hope I can see you again.”
(NEW YORK) — As residents of the Great Plains brace for more severe weather stretching into the weekend, summer-like temperatures are heating up the Northeast.
From New York City to Raleigh, North Carolina, temperatures are expected to be in the 90s on Friday and Saturday before a cold front arrives on Sunday.
The temperature in Raleigh is expected to hit 100 this weekend. Washington, D.C., is also forecast to see 90-degree temperatures through Saturday.
Humidity is not expected to be much of a factor in the Northeast as dew points remain low, meaning the “feels-like” temperatures will be nearly identical to the actual temperatures.
Some areas of the West are expected to see triple-digit temperatures. Phoenix, Arizona, could reach 110 degrees on Thursday.
Damaging winds and hail expected in the Great Plains
Severe weather is expected to continue in the Great Plains through the end of the week, with damaging winds and large hail forecast to be the main threats.
An isolated tornado or two and some instances of flash flooding are also possible on Thursday across the Great Plains, including South Dakota, southeast Montana, northeast Wyoming and northern Nebraska.
On Friday, severe weather, including damaging winds and large hail, is expected from Nebraska to Iowa and into southern Minnesota, including the cities of Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska; Rochester, Minnesota; and Des Moines, Iowa.
On Saturday, severe weather is expected to move into the Great Lakes region and bring rain to parts of the Northeast on Sunday.
The foul weather in the Great Plains comes after the region was hit by severe thunderstorms and damaging winds on Wednesday. Thunderstorms and wind gusts of more than 80 mph were reported in Frederick, South Dakota, on Wednesday, leaving buildings damaged, a radio tower and power lines toppled, and trees uprooted.
