World

(MEXICO CITY) — There is only one gun store in the entire country of Mexico, yet America’s southern neighbor is awash in violent crimes perpetrated with millions of firearms made in the United States.

In a historic case on Tuesday, the Supreme Court will consider whether American gun manufacturers, including Smith & Wesson, Glock, Beretta and Colt, can be held liable for allegedly “aiding and abetting” the illicit flow of weapons across the border.

The high court has never before taken up the issue of the sweeping gunmaker immunity found in a 2005 federal law aimed at protecting the industry. Its decision could have a significant impact on firearm companies and the victims of gun violence pursuing accountability.

The government of Mexico is seeking $10 billion in damages and court-mandated safety mechanisms and sales restrictions for U.S.-made guns. The justices will decide whether the case can move forward under an exception in the law.

“Between 70-90% of the crime guns in Mexico are illegally trafficked from the U.S.,” said Jonathan Lowy, an attorney representing the Mexican government. “Essentially, Mexico’s gun problem and the problem of armed cartel violence is almost entirely a result of this crime — a gun pipeline from the U.S. gun manufacturers ultimately to the cartels.”

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005 broadly bars lawsuits against any gun manufacturer over the illegal acts of a person using one of a manufacturer’s guns. But it does create an exception for claims involving a gun company’s alleged violation of rules governing the sale and marketing of firearms.

Mexico alleges the manufacturers have for years knowingly marketed and distributed their weapons to border community dealers who participate in illegal gun trafficking into Mexico.

“The law is clear that any person or company can be responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their actions and, in this case, of their deliberate actions,” Lowy said.

The gun companies, which declined ABC News’ request for an interview, said in court documents that the exception does not apply and the case should be dismissed, in part, because the alleged link to crimes in Mexico is too diffuse and far removed.

“Mexico’s alleged injuries all stem from the unlawful acts of foreign criminals,” the gun companies argued in their Supreme Court brief.

The court has “repeatedly held that it requires a direct connection between a defendant’s conduct and the plaintiff’s injury,” the companies claimed. “Thus, the general rule is that a company that makes or sells a lawful product is not a proximate cause of harms resulting from the independent criminal misuse of that product.”

More than 160,000 people in Mexico were killed by guns between 2015 and 2022, according to an analysis by Everytown for Gun Safety.

A large majority of guns involved in the shootings came from U.S. border states. More than 40% of illegal guns seized in Mexico over a five-year period came from Texas, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report.

In 2023 alone, more than 2,600 firearms were seized going south into Mexico, up 65% from the year before, according to the Department of Homeland Security, and 115,000 rounds of ammunition were captured headed the same direction, up 19% from 2022.

“In its zeal to attack the firearms industry, Mexico seeks to raze bedrock principles of American law that safeguard the whole economy,” the companies wrote in their brief. “It is the criminal who is responsible for his actions, not the company that made or sold the product.”

A federal district court dismissed Mexico’s case in 2022 citing the PLCAA protections. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision in early 2024, saying Mexico had made a plausible case for liability under the law’s exception.

The Supreme Court will decide whether to affirm that judgment and allow the case to continue toward what would be a first-of-its-kind trial.

Mexico, in the meantime, announced it will expand its lawsuit after the Trump administration designated six Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

“You will also see an expansion of this lawsuit for the complicity of those who sell weapons, which are [then] introduced into our country,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters last month.

In essence, Mexico will argue that American gun manufacturers aren’t just enabling ordinary gun crime but terrorism, by the U.S. government’s own characterization.

The Supreme Court is expected to deliver an opinion in the case, Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, by the end of June.

ABC News’ Matt Rivers and Patty See contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SEOUL) — A former sergeant in the North Korean military says that few of Pyongyang’s soldiers have been captured fighting against Ukraine because they’re told their families will be executed if they are caught alive.

“Most soldiers will kill themselves before they’re killed by the enemy, it’s the biggest shame to be captured,” the former soldier, Ryu Seong-hyeon, told ABC News.

Ryu defected to South Korea in 2019, running across a minefield in the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas.

Pyongyang has deployed more than 12,000 soldiers to Russia to fight in the Ukraine war, according to US estimates, with experts claiming Russian forces have also used North Korean weapons.

An estimated 300 North Korean soldiers have died in the fighting, and over 2,700 have been wounded, Seoul’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a closed briefing last week.

Pyongyang has deployed more than 12,000 soldiers to Russia to fight in the Ukraine war, according to US estimates, with experts claiming Russian forces have also used North Korean weapons.

An estimated 300 North Korean soldiers have died in the fighting, and over 2,700 have been wounded, Seoul’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a closed briefing last week.

South Korea’s spy agency told journalists Thursday that an unknown number of additional North Korean soldiers have been sent to the frontlines in Russia’s western Kursk region since early February, after a near month-long lull in fighting against Ukrainian troops, who launched a surprise offensive across the border last August.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in January that his forces had captured two North Korean soldiers, marking the first time that Ukraine had captured Pyongyang’s troops alive.

In a nearly 3-minute video released by Ukraine following the capture of the two North Korean troops, one of the soldiers says he wants to remain in Ukraine when asked if he wishes to return home. The Korean translator asks, “Did you know you were fighting in a war against Ukraine?” The soldier shakes his head.

South Korean intelligence assessed that the two soldiers were with the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a key North Korean military intelligence agency.

“If the soldiers are captured and tell information to the enemy, their families will be punished, go to a political prison camp, or worse, they will be executed in front of the people,” said another North Korean defector, Pak Yusung.

‘They just die like a dog’

Pyongyang’s soldiers have struggled to adapt to the modern battlefield, the North Korean defectors suggested, as videos released by the Ukrainian military appear to show North Korean soldiers being chased down by attack drones.

Ryu and Pak defected long before the fighting that’s underway in Russia, but they said that, in their experience, most of the soldiers would not have seen a drone in their life.

“Before they go they don’t have any practice in how to defend against a drone or how to fight Ukrainians, that’s why they just die like a dog,” Ryu said. “They don’t have the skill, the language or the information.”

Pak and Ryu’s analysis lines up with information released by South Korean intelligence, which said North Korea has clearly instructed the soldiers to kill themselves to avoid being captured alive.

Seoul’s spy agency also said it attributes the “massive casualties” of North Korean soldiers to their “lack of understanding of modern warfare,” including their “useless” act of shooting at long-range drones, based on the agency’s analysis of a recent combat video.

Ryu, who was about 110 lbs. at the time of his defection, said if he were still a North Korean soldier, he would also want to go: “If I went to Ukraine, I could eat food, and I could see another country.” He said there are also big financial incentives, and the soldiers would have no idea that their chances of dying were so high.

Selling lies

Ryu and Pak said North Korean soldiers were being sold a lie. “From a young age they’re told to hate the American ‘wolves’, and now they are told they are finally killing Americans,” the defectors said.

Ryu said in his experience with the Korean air force, about 50% of the pilots were only trained in theory, and did not have experience flying a fighter jet.

Pak, who is a researcher at the North Korea Institute, said Kim would be receiving critical technology in exchange for the manpower, in what should be a deeply worrying sign for the world, Kim also gets more real combat experience in case of a war on the peninsula.

“If Russia wins the war, it will empower the dictator alliance,” Pak said.

“This is just the start. If the Ukraine war keeps going, Kim will keep sending soldiers. Inside North Korea more people will start knowing and that could be a threat to Kim.”

When asked what they could possibly do about it when living in a dictatorship controlled by fear, Pak said, “Think about it: your sons died on the battlefield and not for your own country.”

Ryu added, “You cannot send so many people to the labor camps.”

Pak and his team of four North Korean defectors, Voices of North Korean Youth, have been trying to push the international community to condemn Russia and North Korea with one voice, and also called for the International Criminal Court to hold Kim Jong Un accountable.

ABC News’ Karson Yiu contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ROME) — Pope Francis “slept all night” following Monday’s medical intervention amid two episodes of “acute respiratory failure,” the Vatican said Tuesday.

“The pope slept all night, now he continues his rest,” the Holy See, the Vatican’s press office, said in a brief update.

The episodes on Monday were caused by a “significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm,” the Vatican said.

According to doctors, acute respiratory failure indicates the pope was not responding to oxygen therapy. Endobronchial mucus means there is mucus and fluid in the deep parts of the lung or lungs, causing a bronchospasm, also known as a coughing attack, doctors said.

The pope’s prognosis “remains reserved,” the Vatican said in its Monday evening update.

Francis, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia. The 88-year-old pontiff had a bronchospasm attack on Friday, church officials said.

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

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

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump directed his administration to “pause” military aid to Ukraine after the contentious Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 28, two White House officials told ABC News.

A White House official said Trump has been clear that he is focused on peace and added, “We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”

The move came hours after Trump told ABC News that Zelenskyy needed to be “more appreciative.”

Senior Politics Correspondent Rachel Scott asked Trump on Tuesday: “What do you need to see from President Zelenskyy to restart these negotiations?”

“Well, I just think he should be more appreciative because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin,” the president responded.

It’s difficult to know exactly how the pause could impact the flow of previously granted aid.

In the last few months of former President Joe Biden’s administration, it announced four Presidential Drawdown Authority packages to Ukraine.

The packages totaled $3 billion in weapons from the Pentagon’s inventory, and they were meant to be provided to Ukraine as quickly as possible following the announcements in December and January.

About 90% of arms committed to Ukraine by past PDA packages have already been delivered to the country, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

That includes the vast majority of critical munitions and anti-armor systems, they say, adding that most of the what’s left to go through the pipeline are armored vehicles that take longer to refurbish, with all PDA equipment previously on track for delivery by August 2025.

However, a steady flow of arms is still set to move from the U.S. to Ukraine for at least the next several years due contracts Kyiv signed with private American companies for newly produced weapons. Many if not most of those contracts have been paid.

The Trump administration could still attempt to disrupt those shipments through the use of emergency authorities, but there’s no indication it is trying to do that at present.

Additionally, there is still a chance for negotiations to resume between the U.S. and Ukraine, as Vice President JD Vance implied during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Monday.

Vance was asked if the administration would welcome Zelenskyy back if he were willing to come back to the negotiating table. Vance said yes — if Zelenskyy were willing to “engage seriously.”

“I think that if he called and had a serious proposal for how he was going to engage in the process — look, there are details that really matter, that we’re already working on with the Russians,” Vance said.

“He needs to engage seriously on the details,” he added, though it was unclear if he was strictly referring to the raw minerals deal that the U.S. is pursuing with Ukraine, land concessions or other details that may be impacting negotiations.

“I think once that happens, then absolutely, we want to talk,” the vice president said.

Also in dispute is the amount of aid that the U.S. has already given Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly claimed, inaccurately, that the United States has spent some $350 billion toward Ukraine, while other sources put the figure well under $200 billion, including bilateral aid.

ABC News’ Shannon Kingston, Luis Martinez and T. Michelle Murphy contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BOSTON) — A passenger at Boston Logan was stung by a scorpion while retrieving her luggage in the baggage claim area of customs, according to police.

The incident occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Sunday evening while she was at Logan Airport Terminal E picking up her bags after flying back from Mexico when she was suddenly stung on her finger by a scorpion, according to statements from the Massachusetts State Police and Boston EMS.

She was taken to a nearby hospital for immediate treatment, according to the police and Boston EMS.

Authorities did not immediately disclose her condition following the sting and it is unclear how the scorpion ended up on her bag at the airport.

“While most scorpion stings are not serious, medical attention may be needed for pain management and wound care, including preventive tetanus vaccine,” according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. “Young children may be more likely to develop neurologic symptoms and need urgent treatment.”

Scorpions are not typically found in the Boston area but over 2,000 species of the predatory arachnids exist worldwide, according to the Mayo Clinic.

“Scorpions can be found on every continent except Antarctica but are most commonly seen in subtropical and tropical areas of the world,” the CDC says. “Scorpion stings often cause intense pain and redness, but venom from some species can cause severe illness, affecting the heart, nervous system, and other organs. Manifestations include agitation, arrhythmias, bleeding and other coagulation disorders, pancreatitis, uncontrollable muscle spasms, shock, and even death.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ROME) —  Pope Francis suffered two episodes of “acute respiratory failure” on Monday, the Vatican said.

The episodes were caused by a “significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm,” the Vatican’s press office said in a brief statement.

Two bronchoscopies were performed on the pontiff, with “the need to aspirate abundant secretions.” Non-invasive mechanical ventilation was resumed on Francis and he continues to be “alert, oriented and cooperative,” the Vatican said.

His prognosis “remains reserved,” the Vatican said.

Earlier Monday, the Vatican said the pope “rested well” overnight, his 17th night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.

“The pope rested well all night,” the Holy See, the Vatican’s press office, said in a brief statement.

The pope’s clinical condition had on Sunday remained “stable,” the church said. Vatican sources told ABC News on Sunday that the pope had eaten breakfast with coffee and continued his treatment. He read the daily newspapers, as usual, the sources said.

Francis, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.

The 88-year-old pontiff had been in stable condition on Saturday, church officials said, following a bronchospasm attack on Friday.

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

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — At least two people were killed and several others were injured when a car drove into a crowd in Mannheim, Germany, on Monday, during an annual carnival celebration, police said.

“A 40-year-old suspect drove a car into a group of people who were in the Planken area of Mannheim city center,” the police statement said. “Two people were killed and five seriously injured.”

A search of the area was immediately launched and a suspect was identified and arrested, according to the police statement.

Police said that all bridges and main roads were initially blocked off and authorities asked the public to stay away from the city center. Several hours later, police reopened the area after issuing an all-clear.

Video footage from Paradeplatz Square in the center of Mannheim showed shoppers standing outside an area cordoned off by police tape and strewn with debris, including a shoe. First responders could be seen tending to at least one injured person.

Mannheim has a population of 326,000 and is about 52 miles south of Frankfurt.

In addition to the two people killed, 10 people were injured, five seriously, Mannheim police said in a statement.

The incident unfolded around 12:15 p.m. local time in the Planken shopping district area near Paradeplatz Square, according to police.

Police have not said if the driver under arrest deliberately plowed into the crowd or whether it was accidental. The driver, whose name was not immediately released, is a German citizen from Rhineland-Palatinate, about 90 miles from Mannheim.

The incident occurred as people were gathering in central Mannheim for an annual German carnival celebration.

Witness Manu Brioso told ABC News that he was taking a class in a building in the Paradeplatz area when he saw the car involved in the incident pass by on the street before it struck a crowd of people.

“The school told us what had happened and that we couldn’t leave the school because police had cordoned off the area,” Brioso said.

When he was allowed to leave, Brioso said the street was full of police, firefighters and ambulances.

Security video obtained by ABC News showed the vehicle, a dark-colored compact hatchback car, appeared to be speeding down a street before the incident, drawing the attention of people seated at a sidewalk cafe and pedestrians, some rushing across the street to get out of the car’s path.

Officials at the Mannheim University Hospital said they received an emergency alert at 12:20 p.m. local time about a possible mass casualty incident in downtown Mannheim and activated the hospital’s emergency plan in preparation for treating the injured. The hospital reported receiving many injured patients, both adults and children, including some in critical condition.

The hospital said its intensive care unit was full due to the arrival of a high number of critical patients. According to the hospital, eight trauma teams were treating both adults and children.

As a security precaution, all of the hospital’s entrances were closed to the public.

The deadly incident comes in the wake of two intentional car-ramming attacks in Germany and at a time of heightened security across the country.

On Feb. 13, a 24-year-old suspect drove a car into a crowd in Munich gathered for a trade union demonstration, killing a 37-year-old mother and her 2-year-old daughter and injuring 37 people. The suspect, Fahad Noori, who is originally from Afghanistan, purportedly confessed to investigators that the act was deliberate. A prosecutor, Gabriele Tilman, said the suspect “gave an explanation I would summarize as religious motivation.”

On Dec. 20, a car-ramming attack occurred at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, that left five people dead and around 200 injured. A 50-year-old Saudi-born man, identified as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, was arrested in the incident, which police suspect was deliberate. Al-Abdulmohsen was charged with five counts of murder and multiple counts of both attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm.

The Mannheim incident comes at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and amid a threat environment that has prompted Western officials to issue warnings to law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the United States and Western Europe.

According to a notice issued by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center last week, an ISIS-aligned network released a poster called “Choose Your Next Target!” and lists four upcoming festivals and parades, mostly in Germany. The poster features images of a bloody knife and pistol, encouraging attacks.

Officials noted that last year during Ramadan, ISIS-Khorasan attacked Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia, killing 145 people.

“Following the attack, ISIS released a rare audio statement from its official spokesman — which supporters subsequently translated into over a dozen languages, including English — celebrating that attack and calling for more violence against Christian and Jewish communities during Ramadan,” officials said.

On New Year’s Day, 14 people were killed and numerous others were injured in a car ramming attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter. The suspect was 42-year-old Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who was killed in a gunfight with police officers. Investigators alleged that Jabbar, who was a U.S.-born citizen from Texas, was inspired by ISIS to commit the attack.

In recent days, the New York Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security have issued notices alerting law enforcement to terrorism fears associated with Ramadan. The notices, obtained by ABC News, warned that “malicious actors from across the ideological spectrum may view Ramadan as an ideal time to commit attacks.”

The assessment reflects prior targeted acts of violence, disrupted plots and recent violent extremist propaganda.

“The current dynamic threat environment necessitates elevated vigilance at mass gatherings, houses of worship, and Muslim/Jewish community events, especially during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan,” the NYPD document said.

The DHS document noted that messaging from foreign terrorist organizations calling for violence during Ramadan “adds to a heightened concern of homegrown violent extremist attacks following the 2025 New Year’s ISIS-inspired attack in New Orleans, likely raising the potential for violence from HVEs [homegrown violent extremists] during this year’s observance.”

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Josh Margolin, Joe Simonetti and Zoe Magee contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — At least one person was killed and several injured when a car drove into a crowd of people in Mannheim, southwestern Germany, on Monday, police said.

“According to current findings, a car drove into a group of people in Mannheim city center,” the force said in a statement. “According to the current status of the investigation, one person was killed and several people were injured.”

“No information can be given yet on the number and severity of the injuries,” the police added. “As part of the search measures that were immediately initiated, a suspect was identified and arrested. No further, reliable information can currently be released beyond the information published so far.”

Police said that all bridges and main roads were under their control. Police also appealed to the public to stay away from the city center.

Video footage from Paradeplatz in the center of Mannheim showed shoppers standing outside a police cordon with objects strewn across the road, including a shoe. First responders could be seen tending to at least one apparently injured person.

Mannheim has a population 326,000 and lies about 52 miles south of Frankfurt.

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

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Zoe Magee contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — Local emergency services in Ufa, in Russia’s Bashkortostan republic, reported a fire at one of the country’s largest oil refineries, with one Ukrainian official describing the incident as a drone attack.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Bashkortostan reported a fire on the territory of the Ufa oil refinery in the early hours of Monday morning, without specifying the cause. There were no reports of casualties, and the ministry said around seven hours later that the blaze had been extinguished.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported the downing of seven Ukrainian drones overnight — three over the Lipetsk region, two over the Rostov region and two over the Belgorod region — but made no reference to any attack in Ufa.

Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram that “unknown UAVs attacked the Ufa refinery.” ABC News could not immediately verify the claim.

Kovalenko described the facility as “one of the largest” in Russia, with a capacity of around 20 million tons of oil annually. “The refinery is of strategic importance for the Russian army, as it is part of the group of enterprises that provide fuel to the armed forces,” Kovalenko wrote.

“Its products include aviation fuel, diesel fuel for military equipment and lubricants necessary for the operation of armored vehicles, aviation and road transport,” he added.

Russia, meanwhile, continued its nightly tempo of cross-border drone strikes. Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 83 attack drones into the country, 46 of which were shot down and 31 lost in flight.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement to social media, “Ukraine is fighting for the normal and safe life it deserves, for a just and reliable peace. We want this war to end. But Russia does not, and continues its aerial terror.”

“Those who seek negotiations do not deliberately strike civilians with ballistic missiles,” Zelenskyy added, referring to Moscow’s regular use of missile strikes across the country.

“To force Russia to stop its attacks, we need greater collective strength from the world,” Zelenskyy said. “Strengthening our air defense, supporting our army, and ensuring effective security guarantees that will make the return of Russian aggression impossible — this is what we must focus on.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ROME) — Pope Francis “rested well” overnight, his 17th night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, the Vatican said on Monday.

“The pope rested well all night,” the Holy See, the Vatican’s press office, said in a brief statement.

The pope’s clinical condition had on Sunday remained “stable,” the church said. Vatican sources told ABC News on Sunday that the pope had eaten breakfast with coffee and continued his treatment. He read the daily newspapers, as usual, the sources said.

Francis, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.

The 88-year-old pontiff had been in stable condition on Saturday, church officials said, following a bronchospasm attack on Friday.

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

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.