International

US: Health Secretary criticizes judge’s abortion ruling

Photo: AP

April 10 |

The top U.S. health official said Sunday that a court ruling threatening the availability of an abortion pill is “not America” and did not rule out challenging the judge’s orders if necessary.

“We want the courts to overturn this irresponsible ruling,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“We do want women to continue to have access to a drug that has been proven safe. Millions of women have used this drug around the world,” he added.

He emphasized that for now, women do have access to mifepristone after a federal judge in Texas appointed by then-President Donald Trump, Matthew Kacsmaryk, on Friday put his ruling on hold for a week so the federal government could file a motion against it. The drug was approved in 2000 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, which Becerra heads.

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President Joe Biden has stated that his administration will oppose the Texas ruling. Kacsmaryk’s 67-page ruling gives the government seven days to appeal.

“Our intention is to do everything we can to keep the drug accessible, not just a week from now but ultimately going forward, because mifepristone is one of the safest and most effective drugs we’ve seen in the last 20 years to help women in their health care, especially in care related to an abortion,” Becerra said.

Asked whether he might recommend that the FDA ignore a court ruling, Becerra replied, “Everything is on the table.”

There is uncertainty about the abortion pill, the most common method of abortion in the United States, because of two conflicting court rulings – one in Texas and one in Washington – on the legality of mifepristone.

The Kacsmaryk decision, ordering a pause to official approval of mifepristone, contradicted decades of scientific recommendations. But a near-simultaneous ruling by Judge Thomas O. Rice in Washington, a Barack Obama appointee, orders authorities not to make any changes that would restrict access to the drug in at least 17 states where Democrats filed lawsuits to ensure such access.

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Becerra said Kacsmaryk’s ruling could have dire repercussions for the legality of any FDA-approved drug – such as insulin or Alzheimer’s drugs – as it seeks to “turn upside down” the entire FDA approval process.

Becerra acknowledged that there is “a good chance” that the case will end up being decided in the Supreme Court, which last year overturned Roe v. Wade, which gave women the right to decide about their pregnancy.

“If a judge decides to place his or her judgment or preference over the opinion of health professionals, what drug will be exempt from any court challenge? That is why we have to go to court,” Becerra said.

In an appearance after Becerra on CNN, Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, stated that “it’s important that we take care of women” and “have real discussions about women’s health care” but “you have to get out of this abortion conversation. Women have a lot of other issues that have nothing to do with abortion. … Let’s talk about other things that are going on in this world.”

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International

FBI Warns of Possible Iranian Drone Attack on U.S. West Coast

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned police departments in California about a possible Iranian plan to carry out a drone attack against the west coast of the United States, according to a report published Wednesday by ABC News.

The warning was issued through a memorandum sent to agencies participating in a Joint Terrorism Task Force, outlining the possibility of a surprise attack involving unmanned aerial vehicles launched from a vessel off the U.S. coastline.

According to the document, intelligence suggested that in early February 2026 Iran may have considered an attack against unspecified targets in California if the United States carried out airstrikes on Iranian territory.

However, the memo also noted that authorities lack additional details about the timing, method, specific targets, or individuals responsible for the alleged plan.

Reports cited by U.S. media indicate that the alert coincided with the start of a military offensive by the administration of Donald Trump against the Iran, a development that has heightened tensions across the Middle East.

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Law enforcement sources with counterterrorism experience told the Los Angeles Times that the warning is part of a routine precautionary advisory based on information from the U.S. Coast Guard.

The sources emphasized that there is no credible indication of an imminent attack and no evidence that Iran currently has the capability to successfully carry out such an operation.

California is home to the largest Iranian community in the United States. According to the Migration Policy Institute, more than half of Iranian immigrants in the country lived in the state in 2019, including around 140,000 people in Los Angeles County alone.

The city also hosts a neighborhood widely known as “Tehrangeles,” where a large Iranian community began settling in the 1960s and continued to grow following the Iranian Revolution.

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International

Trump Says Iran Is Welcome at 2026 World Cup but Warns of Security Concerns

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said Thursday that the national football team of Iran is “welcome” to participate in the 2026 World Cup, although he suggested it might be safer for the team not to take part in the tournament.

“The Iranian national soccer team is welcome at the World Cup, but I really don’t think it’s appropriate for them to be there, for their own safety,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

His comments came a day after Iran’s sports minister, Ahman Donyamali, said that there are currently no conditions for the country to participate in the tournament following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, during a military offensive launched on February 28 by Israel and the United States.

“After the corrupt government killed our leader, there are no conditions that allow us to take part in the World Cup,” the Iranian official said. He added that the country has faced two wars in the past eight or nine months, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths, making participation in the tournament unlikely.

On Tuesday, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, met with Trump at the White House.

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Following the meeting, Infantino said that Trump reiterated that Iran’s national team would be allowed to compete in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

“We discussed the current situation in Iran and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026. During the conversation, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino wrote on Instagram.

International

Iran issues threat to Trump as conflict escalates over Strait of Hormuz

The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, threatened U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, warning him to “beware of being eliminated.”

The Republican president had warned on Monday that he would strike Iran “very hard” if the Islamic Republic blocked oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed since the war began eleven days ago.

“Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Others more powerful than you tried to destroy the Iranian nation and failed. Beware that you are not eliminated,” Larijani wrote on X.

Earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards — the ideological military force of the Islamic Republic — also said their forces would move to block oil exports from the Gulf.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military offensive against Iran is far from over.

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“Our aspiration is that the Iranian people free themselves from the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, that depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the measures taken so far we are breaking their bones, and we are not finished yet,” Netanyahu said in a statement.