A U.S. Customs and Border Protection logo is displayed on the side of a patrol boat on September 26, 2025, in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A Customs and Border Protection official on Friday told a federal judge that the agency does not have the technology or manpower to immediately process $166 billion in tariff refunds, arguing the process would distract from its role addressing “imminent threats to national security.”
In a sworn filing, the official said that CBP needs an additional 45 days to create a system to process refunds for the more than 53 million entries related to the unlawful tariffs.
“CBP has never been ordered to, nor has it attempted to, process a volume of refunds anywhere near the volume of total entries and Entry Summary lines on which IEEPA duties have been deposited,” wrote Brandon Lord, the executive director of CBP’s Trade Programs Directorate.
The disclosure comes two days after a judge from the Court of International Trade initially ordered the Trump administration to remove the tariffs from its backlog of import paperwork. Even though the liquidation process — when the agency finalizes a tariff payment after goods enter the country — is largely automated and the Supreme Court overturned the tariffs two weeks ago, Lord said that Customs and Border Protection “is not able to comply” with the court’s order.
“CBP is now facing an unprecedented volume of refunds. Its existing administrative procedures and technology are not well suited to a task of this scale and will require manual work that will prevent personnel from fully carrying out the agency’s trade enforcement mission,” Lord said.
According to Lord, the current system used to process tariffs cannot handle the volume of refund requests, and that doing so manually would take resources away from “responsibilities that serve to mitigate imminent threats to national security and economic security.”
Following a hearing on Friday related to the refund process, which was closed to the public, Judge Richard Eaton of the Court of International Trade suspended his earlier order to immediately begin recalculating tariffs dues.
By lifting his initial order, the judge appears to be making room for the refund process to play out, though the exact timeline of refunds remains unclear.
During previous hearings, the judge had expressed skepticism that the refund process would be a “mess” or that the government lacked the resources to issue refunds.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 450 points on Friday as the Iran war continued to spike oil prices.
The Dow fell 453 points, or 0.9%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 1.5%.
In a post on social media on Friday morning, President Donald Trump appeared to rule out a compromise with Iran.
Trump said there would be “no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
Oil prices soared as traders feared a prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global oil supply.
U.S. crude oil prices topped $90 on Friday, marking a staggering 35% increase from a week earlier.
The stock selloff on Friday extended losses from a day earlier, when the Dow closed down 785 points.
Alongside fallout from the Middle East conflict, a jobs report on Friday showed the U.S. economy unexpectedly lost jobs in February, marking a reversal of fortunes for the labor market.
The unemployment rate ticked up from 4.3% in January to 4.4% in February, the BLS said. Unemployment remains low by historical standards.
The Iran war threatens to slow U.S. economic growth since oil-driven price increases could weigh on consumers and businesses, analysts previously told ABC News.
The potential combination of higher inflation and slower growth could also pose a challenge for the Fed, putting pressure on both sides of its dual mandate to manage prices and maintain maximum employment.
The central bank held interest rates steady at its most recent meeting in January, ending a string of three consecutive quarter-point rate cuts.
Tylenol (Acetaminophen) tablets are sold in a drugstore in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 17, 2026. (Photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Acetaminophen orders in emergency rooms for pregnant patients fell in the weeks after a White House briefing last year linked its use during pregnancy to an increased risk of autism, a new analysis finds.
Researchers at Harvard and Brown University looked at data from an electronic health records system with more than 294 million patient records from more than 1,600 hospitals and 37,000 clinics across the United States.
They found that orders for acetaminophen, also known by the brand name Tylenol, fell 10% between the briefing on Sept. 22, 2025 and Dec. 7, 2025, according to the analysis, published on Thursday in The Lancet.
The drop in acetaminophen fell 16% in the first month after the White House news conference and reached a low of 20% in the third week after the announcement, according to the analysis. Over subsequent weeks, prescriptions appeared to trend back to baseline by early December.
This analysis did not track over-the-counter use of acetaminophen sales, which is the most common way people purchase the medication.
Meanwhile, as acetaminophen orders fell, new outpatient prescriptions for a drug called leucovorin increased sharply for children between ages 5 and 17, the analysis found.
Leucovorin is a form of folic acid used to reduce side effects from some chemotherapy drugs and treat folate deficiency.
Researchers have also studied it as a possible treatment for some children with autism who have cerebral folate deficiency, but it’s unclear if it has a role in treating children with autism more broadly, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
At the same September White House briefing, the Trump administration announced it was starting the approval process for leucovorin as a possible treatment for autism.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the drug as an “exciting therapy that may benefit large numbers of children who suffer from autism.”
The analysis found a 93% rise in leucovorin prescriptions in the first month after the briefing and a 113% spike in week two, meaning prescriptions more than doubled compared with expected levels. Overall, the analysis found that leucovorin prescriptions increased by about 71% from mid-September to early December.
“It is unknown whether the results reported reflect changes in patient demand or clinician decision making; nonetheless, they show the apparent power that public authority figures have to drive sudden changes in health care practices,” the researchers wrote.
Many health professionals and major medical organizations criticized the Trump administration’s assertion that pregnant women should avoid acetaminophen, claiming use during pregnancy may be linked to autism.
Studies on a potential link have not shown a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Some studies point to a possible association, but those associations often weaken or disappear once researchers adjust for other factors.
In January, a large meta-analysis of about 60 studies was published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health, finding no link to developmental disorders in children when expectant mothers used acetaminophen as directed.
In response to statements made by the White House, The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) strongly rejected the claim that acetaminophen in pregnancy causes autism, calling it “highly concerning,” “irresponsible” and “not backed by the full body of scientific evidence.”
The group emphasized that more than 20 years of research show no direct link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or intellectual disability, specifically pointing to two high-quality studies.
Acetaminophen is regarded as one of the safest non-opioid pain medication for pregnant women, according to ACOG. The group adds it’s an important drug to help treat fever in pregnancy that can have negative health impacts for both mom and baby if left untreated.
“The White House briefing was an extremely unusual mechanism to communicate medical information and bypassed many standard checks on ensuring accurate messaging,” Dr. Michael Barnett, a physician and professor of health services, policy and practice at Brown and one of the researchers, said in a press release.
“The results show just how much political leaders can steer health behavior even when there has been no change in the evidence for these therapies,” Barnett said.
In a statement, Kenvue Brands LLC, the maker of Tylenol, said it was “deeply concerned” about “unfounded claims” over its product.
“It is scientifically known that untreated high fevers pose potential serious risks to a pregnancy, such as miscarriage, pre-term labor and birth, and fetal malformations.” the statement read, in part. ‘As medical organizations have recognized, acetaminophen is the safest option for pain and fever relief for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy.”
Kenvue Brands added that there are multiple potential consequences as a result of pregnant women using acetaminophen less frequently, including higher rates of untreated fevers and use of medications that are less safe to use during pregnancy,
“Recent additional evidence has identified no increased rates of autism disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or intellectual disability among the offspring of those who used paracetamol during pregnancy,” the company stated.
Jade A. Cobern, MD, MPH, is a practicing physician, board-certified in pediatrics and general preventive medicine, and is a fellow of the ABC News Medical Unit.
American religious & Civil Rights leader and politician Reverend Jesse Jackson points as he speaks from a lectern at the headquarters of Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity), Chicago, Illinois, July 17, 1981. (Photo by Antonio Dickey/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Former President Barack Obama reflected on the late Rev. Jesse Jackson’s “legacy of hope” on Friday, telling thousands who gathered to celebrate the late civil rights leader’s life in Chicago that “we are living in a time when it can be hard to hope.”
“I’d always be grateful for that legacy of hope,” Obama said.
“We are living in a time when it can be hard to hope. Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency. Every day you wake up to things you just didn’t think you think were possible,” Obama said.
“Each day, we’re told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other, and that some Americans count more than others, and that some don’t even count at all,” Obama added.
“Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength; we see science and expertise denigrated while ignorance and dishonesty and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards every single day, we see that and it’s hard to hope,” Obama said.
Obama joined former Presidents Joe Biden and Bill Clinton, and former Vice President Kamala Harris, in delivering remarks at the House of Hope on Friday afternoon in Chicago to honor the legacy of the pioneering civil rights leader, politician and minister, who died on Feb. 17 at the age of 86. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former First Lady Jill Biden also attended the service, along with governors of the states of Illinois, Maryland, California and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Throughout his speech Obama characterized Jackson as a “messenger” of God, who repeatedly said, “send me,” as he faced and fought injustices thorough his life – from the Jim Crow South, to the modern civil rights movement.
“But this man Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, inspires us to take a harder path, his voice calls on each of us to be heralds of change,” Obama said. “How fortunate we were that Jesse Jackson answered that call, what a great debt we owe to him. May God bless, Rev. Jackson. May he rest in eternal peace.”
Friday’s public “Celebration of Life” service will be followed by a private service on Saturday morning in Chicago. The services come after thousands paid their respects to Jackson as he lay in honor at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago last week. He was also honored in his birth state of South Carolina on Monday, where he laid in state at the state house in Columbia.
“Jesse Jackson, Sr. marched beside Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil rights for all people. He traveled the world fighting economic and gender inequity. Until his last days, he fought for better healthcare, education, and peace in Chicago, Illinois, the United States, and beyond,” the Jackson family said in a statement on Wednesday. “I hope everyone who joins us to honor his legacy will also continue to champion these causes. That would be the best possible tribute and celebration they could offer.”
“Jesse Jackson, Sr. changed the United States — and the world,” the Jackson family said. “We are deeply honored to know there are people from every walk of life who want to join us to pay their respects.”
During his speech Obama reflected on Jackson’s historic campaigns for president in 1984 and 1988 and the rainbow coalition that he formed, forging the path forward for the Democratic Party. “He paved the road for so many others to follow,” Obama said. “And it was because of that path that he had laid, because of his courage, his audacity, that two decades later, a young black senator from Chicago, South Side would even be taken seriously as a candidate for the presidential nomination,” Obama added.
Harris also credited Jackson with forming the “rainbow coalition,” which became a defining force for the Democratic Party.
“Jackson reminded us that the many fights for freedom are interconnected,” she said.
“As he once said, when a barrier falls for one of the locked out, it opens the doors for all, and that is what he told me, and what he taught me, and how he inspired me,” she added.
Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton, who awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000, said the late reverand made him a “better president.”
“We did not always agree, but I’ll tell you one thing, he made me a better president, because he was always pushing on things, and he knew that change came from the outside in, and sometimes from the inside out,” Clinton said. “so he knew how to keep pushing and nagging and wearing you up.”
Jackson died after experiencing health issues over the past several years, including a battle with Parkinson’s disease and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurological disorder.
During his remarks on Friday, Biden called for Jackson’s memory to inspire Americans. “Let us be what Jesse called us to be, a margin of hope. Sometimes it’s the margin [that can] change people’s lives, to change community lives; lift up this country and light the path to being the nation Jesse always believed we can be,” he said.
Several of Jackson’s children also honored their father’s legacy during the service, reflecting on his 1984 and 1988 presidential runs and how he dedicated his career to advancing economic justice and building political power for Black Americans.
Jackson’s son Yusef Jackson, who is also President of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition — the civil rights organization that Jackson founded in the 90s, said on Friday that his father’s legacy will continue in the work.
“This type of work does not pass by blood. It passes by spirit,” he said. “Thus it is in his name that we have committed ourselves, that the rainbow coalition will continue.”
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin, Tierra Cunningham and Jeana Fermi contributed to this report.
Lamorne Morris attends the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Feb. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Lasagna for dinner to celebrate?
A brand-new Garfield series, based on the original comic strip by Jim Davis, is coming to Paramount+.
The streaming service announced that the new show about the lasagna-loving orange cat will be created using 2D animation. It currently has the working title of Garfield.
Lamorne Morris will provide the voice of Garfield in this new series, which Paramount+ says will feature “the chonky feline at his finest, with each episode featuring the pop culture icon’s signature sarcasm and hilarious lackadaisy.”
Nickelodeon Animation Studios will produce the show, while Dave H. Johnson and John Trabbic III will serve as its executive producers.
According to Paramount+, Garfield has over 200 million daily comic readers and millions of social media followers. The brand has spanned over multiple generations since the comic’s debut in June 1978.
Janel Parrish as Margot, Anna Cathcart as Kitty and Lana Condor as Lara Jean in ‘To All the Boys: Always and Forever.’ (Juhan Noh/Netflix)
To all the sisters she’s visited before.
Lara Jean Song Covey, as portrayed by Lana Condor, will appear in season 3 of Netflix’s XO, Kitty.
Jenny Han announced the news on Instagram Friday. The video she posted finds Min Ho (Sang Heon Lee) walking down a path before looking ahead of himself and saying, “Covey?”
The camera then flips to find both Condor and the show’s star, Anna Cathcart, sitting in director’s chairs. “Yes?” Condor says in response.
“’I don’t have to be so afraid of good-bye, because good-bye doesn’t have to be forever.’ Our Lara Jean is back!!” Han’s video is captioned.
XO, Kitty is a spinoff series inspired by the popular To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before film trilogy, which itself is based on Han’s bestselling books. Season 3 will consist of eight 30-minute episodes. Valentina Garza serves as the showrunner, executive producer and writer, while Han executive produces.
Season 3 of XO, Kitty finds Kitty Song Covey (Cathcart) returning “for her final year at KISS with her perfect senior year mapped out. She’s going to make meaningful memories with her friends, grow closer to her relatives in Korea, and make big decisions about her future.”
“And she’s going to define her relationship with Min Ho. For real this time,” the synopsis continues. “But when surprise revelations throw her plans, and relationships, off course, Kitty will have to learn to embrace the unexpected.”
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams in ‘Heated Rivalry.’ (Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max)
Heated Rivalry and Stranger Things won big at the GLAAD Media Awards on Thursday night.
The popular Crave and HBO Max show Heated Rivalry won outstanding new TV series, while Netflix’s Stranger Things won outstanding drama series for its fifth and final season.
While Hudson Williams couldn’t make it to the awards ceremony, Heated Rivalry‘s other stars Connor Storrie, François Arnaud and Robbie Graham-Kuntz took to the stage to accept one of the evening’s top awards.
Other TV winners include The Traitors for outstanding reality competition program and Southern Hospitality for outstanding reality program.
On the film side of things, it was Kiss of the Spider Woman that took home the prize for outstanding wide theatrical release, while outstanding limited theatrical release was a tie between Nice Indian Boy and Plainclothes.
Additionally, Liza Minnelli made a surprise appearance at the end of the ceremony to accept the inaugural Liza Minnelli Storyteller Award. The crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to her ahead of her 80th birthday, which is on March 12.
“I’m so glad to be here with you, all of you. You make me so proud, ‘cause you’re strong, and you stand up for what you believe in,” Minnelli said.
Smoke rises from Dahieh as the Israeli Army bombs the area after issuing a forced evacuation order in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 5, 2026. (Photo by Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(BEIRUT) — Intense bombardments continue to hit the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, as Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah in a wave of attacks that began midnight local time Friday.
At least 217 people have been killed and 798 others have been wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon that began early Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Thursday.
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck Hezbollah command centers and multi-story structures in Beirut overnight. An ABC News crew on the ground observed nearly two dozen missile strikes hitting Dahiyeh alone.
A number of buildings were seen collapsing in this wave of strikes on Friday as the death toll continues to rise, an ABC News team in Lebanon observed.
The IDF said it attacked more than 500 targets in Lebanon, killing more than 70 Hezbollah members, IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said at a briefing on Friday.
“Hezbollah and the Iranian regime are one. They continue to destroy the state of Lebanon and harm the lives of Lebanese residents,” he said.
Hezbollah responded with several rockets headed south toward Israel overnight, an ABC News team in Lebanon observed.
The latest wave of strikes followed a warning by the IDF to anyone south of the Litani River in Lebanon to evacuate. The IDF warned everyone living in Dahiyeh on Thursday afternoon to evacuate the neighborhood ahead of pending military strikes.
Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee Dahiyeh, according to Lebanese officials.
Overnight, families who fled the neighborhood were seen lighting fires for warmth. Some had tents while others were forced to sleep on the streets with blankets, ABC News observed.
The Lebanese government is actively engaging with intermediaries, including the French and the American ambassador, to try and put pressure on the Israeli government to stop the bombardments, according to Lebanese officials.
Israeli forces have said that they are stepping up their military campaign against Hezbollah infrastructure and leadership in Dahiyeh.
Ahead of the attack on Iran, Israel launched strikes against targets in Baalbek, east Lebanon, in February, saying it killed “several” members of Hezbollah’s missile unit in three different locations.
This week’s strikes were the first time Israel struck Beirut, in central Lebanon, since June 2025.
The Israeli military warned Tuesday that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price” after the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group fired rockets into northern Israel overnight Monday into Tuesday.
Immediately after the rocket fire, the IDF “launched a large-scale attack against Hezbollah terrorist targets throughout Lebanon, including Beirut,” according to Defrin.
“We attacked dozens of the organization’s headquarters and launch sites,” Defrin said. “We attacked senior commanders. Some of the last surviving senior veterans of this organization. We are currently examining the results of the attack.”
Defrin noted that “forces are deployed along the border in front and are prepared to continue the defense and attack as long as they require.”
Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, speaks during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. economy lost jobs in February, marking a major reversal of fortunes for the labor market and nearly erasing all of the job gains delivered a month earlier, government data on Friday showed. The reading came in well below economists’ expectations.
The U.S. lost 92,000 jobs in February, according to the report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which marked a significant dropoff from 130,000 jobs added in the previous month.
The unemployment rate ticked up from 4.3% in January to 4.4% in February, the BLS said. Unemployment remains low by historical standards.
The new jobs report arrived as markets roil and gasoline prices surge in response to the war with Iran. The Middle East conflict cast fresh uncertainty over the economic outlook.
A hiring cooldown last year prompted interest rate cuts at the Federal Reserve and concern among some observers about the nation’s economic prospects. The U.S. added an average of about 15,000 jobs per month in 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.
Sluggish hiring has coincided with elevated inflation, threatening a period of “stagflation.”
Those economic headwinds helped set the conditions before the outbreak of war with Iran, which spiked oil prices and risked price increases for a host of diesel-fuel transported goods.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 785 points on Thursday as U.S. crude prices rose to their highest level since June.
Still, the overall economic picture remains mixed.
A government report in February on gross domestic product (GDP) showed the economy grew at a tepid annualized pace of 1.4% over the final three months of 2025. That reading indicated a dramatic cooldown from the strong annualized growth of 4.4% recorded in the previous quarter, U.S. Commerce Department data showed.
Price increases, meanwhile, have softened. In January, inflation fell to 2.4%, its lowest level in nine months. It remains slightly higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.
The Iran war threatens to slow U.S. economic growth since oil-driven price increases could weigh on consumers and businesses, analysts previously told ABC News.
The potential combination of higher inflation and slower growth could also pose a challenge for the Fed, putting pressure on both sides of its dual mandate to manage prices and maintain maximum employment.
If the Fed opts to lower borrowing costs, it could spur growth but risk higher inflation. On the other hand, the choice to raise interest rates may slow price increases but risks a cooldown of economic performance.
The central bank held interest rates steady at its most recent meeting in January, ending a string of three consecutive quarter-point rate cuts. Policymakers will make their next interest-rate decision on March 18.
Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton pose during the NYC screening for the film ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ at The Hudson Theatre on Dec. 1, 2025, in New York City. (Bruce Glikas/WireImage/Getty Images)
Blimey!
Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton reunited on Broadway in New York City this week, where the two actors are starring in separate productions.
The two previously shared the screen in all eight Harry Potter films, which were released between 2001 and 2011.
Radcliffe played the titular wizard Harry Potter in the beloved franchise, while Felton portrayed Potter’s nemesis Draco Malfoy.
Felton shared several snapshots of the pair’s reunion on Instagram, writing in the caption, “Broomsticks to Broadway @brilliantbway @cursedchildus,” adding tags for both his and Radcliffe’s respective shows, Every Brilliant Thing and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The Cursed Child show team also commented on Felton’s post: “The Slytherin and Gryffindor reunion we’ve all been waiting for,” referring to Malfoy’s and Potter’s houses in the fictional Hogwarts school, respectively.
The reunion is particularly meaningful, as Felton previously told Good Morning America he was inspired to reprise his role as Malfoy in the Broadway production of Cursed Child after seeing Radcliffe’s Broadway success in the years since they both wrapped the Harry Potter films.
“l’ve taken a few tips from Potter,” Felton said ahead of his Broadway debut last November. “He’s one of the early inspirations for me to come to Broadway.”
Radcliffe also appeared on GMA later that month and said he was blown away to have been able to give Felton, once considered the “cool kid” on the Harry Potter set, advice about being on Broadway.
Every Brilliant Thing, a one-man show, stars Daniel Radcliffe and is playing at the Hudson Theatre.
The ensemble play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is playing at the Lyric Theatre. Felton’s Cursed Child appearance will run until May 10.
