(NEW YORK) — Daniel Penny “used far too much force for far too long” and though he may be an “honorable veteran” and “nice young man,” he was reckless with Jordan Neely’s life because “he didn’t recognize his humanity,” Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said in her opening statement Friday during the trial over the fatal chokehold.
“He was aware of the risk his actions would kill Mr. Neely and did it anyway,” Yoran said.
Penny is charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide in the May 2023 death of Neely, a homeless man who was acting erratically on a New York City subway car.
“Jordan Neely took his last breaths on the dirty floor of an uptown F train,” Yoran told a rapt jury.
Neely entered a moderately crowded subway car at the Second Avenue stop and began making threats about hurting people, scaring many of the passengers, Yoran said.
She pointed at Penny as she told the jury, “This man, took it upon himself to take down Jordan Neely. To neutralize him.”
Thirty seconds later, the train arrived at the next station and all the passengers left the train car, except two men who were helping Penny restrain Neely. The prosecutor said Penny hung onto Neely for 51 seconds after Neely’s body went limp.
“By doing so, he pushed Mr. Neely to the point of no return,” Yoran said. “He left Mr. Neely lying on the floor unconscious and didn’t look back.”
Penny has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Neely’s death. His attorneys have said Neely was “insanely threatening,” but Yoran said Penny’s actions were unnecessarily reckless because he continued the chokehold for 5 minutes and 53 seconds after the subway car was empty of passengers. “A grasp that never changed,” Yoran called it.
“The defendant did not intend to kill him. His initial intent was even laudable,” Yoran said. “But under the law, deadly physical force such as a chokehold is permitted only when it is absolutely necessary and for only as long as is absolutely necessary. And here, the defendant went way too far.”
The prosecutor told jurors they would see video of the chokehold.
“You will see Mr. Neely’s life being sucked out before your very eyes,” Yoran said, appearing to upset one of the jurors who grimaced and briefly shut his eyes.
She also said jurors would see body camera video of Penny’s initial encounter with police, four and a half minutes after letting go of Neely.
When the officer asked Penny what happened, the prosecutor said Penny replied that Neely had been threatening. “Then he said, ‘I just put him out,'” Yoran told the jury.
The defense is set to give its opening statement on Friday following a break.
Protest audible from courtroom
The sounds of a sidewalk protest over the death of Neely were audible in the 13th-floor courtroom ahead of opening statements. Protesters were heard calling Penny a “subway strangler.”
Judge Max Wiley said he would instruct jurors to ignore “noise outside the courthouse.”
Penny, in a slate blue suit, strode confidently into the courtroom and took his seat at the defense table ahead of opening statements.
The jury of seven women and five men, four of whom are people of color, will be asked to do something prosecutors concede is difficult: convict someone of an unintentional crime.
To convict, prosecutors must prove Penny’s use of lethal force was unjustifiable and that Penny acted recklessly and consciously disregarded the substantial risk of putting Neely in the chokehold for so long. Prosecutors do not have to prove Penny intended to kill Neely, which defense attorneys have said Neely did not intend to do.
Wiley denied Penny’s bid to dismiss his involuntary manslaughter case in January.
The case has fueled political narratives about urban crime and captivated a city in which the subway is indispensable.
Differing accounts of the incident
While there is no doubt that Penny’s actions led to Neely’s death on May 1, 2023, witness accounts differ regarding the events that led up to Penny applying the fatal chokehold, according to various sources.
Many witnesses reported that Neely, 30, who was homeless at the time of his death and was known to perform as a Michael Jackson impersonator, had expressed that he was homeless, hungry and thirsty, according to prosecutors. Most of the witnesses also recounted that Neely indicated a willingness to go to jail or prison.
Some witnesses also reported that Neely threatened to hurt people on the train, while others did not report hearing those threats, according to police sources.
Additionally, some witnesses told police that Neely was yelling and harassing passengers on the train. However, others have said that while Neely had exhibited erratic behavior, he had not been threatening anyone in particular and had not become violent, according to police sources who spoke with ABC News following the incident.
According to prosecution court filings, some passengers on the train that day said they didn’t feel threatened. One said they weren’t “really worried about what was going on,” while another called it “like another day typically in New York. That’s what I’m used to seeing. I wasn’t really looking at it if I was going to be threatened or anything to that nature, but it was a little different because, you know, you don’t really hear anybody saying anything like that.”
Other passengers, however, described being fearful, according to court filings. One said they “have encountered many things, but nothing that put fear into me like that,” while another said Neely was making “half-lunge movements” and coming within a “half a foot of people.”
Neely had a documented history of mental health issues and arrests, including alleged instances of disorderly conduct, fare evasion and assault, according to police sources.
Less than 30 seconds after Penny allegedly put Neely into a chokehold, the train arrived at the Broadway-Lafayette Station, according to court records.
“Passengers who had felt fearful on account of being trapped on the train were now free to exit the train. The defendant continued holding Mr. Neely around the neck,” said prosecutor Joshua Steinglass in a court filing objecting to Penny’s dismissal request.
According to prosecutors, footage of the interaction, which began about two minutes after the incident started, captures Penny holding Neely in the chokehold for about four minutes and 57 seconds on a relatively empty train, with a couple of passengers nearby.
Prosecutors said that about three minutes and 10 seconds into the video, Neely ceases all purposeful movement.
“After that moment, Mr. Neely’s movements are best described as ‘twitching and the kind of agonal movement that you see around death,'” prosecutors said.
The case is expected to feature testimony of passengers who were aboard the subway at the time, as well as a roughly six-minute video of the chokehold.
Jury to hear eyewitness statements
Before opening statements on Friday, Wiley granted a defense request to allow some of the statements that eyewitnesses to the chokehold made to police that were captured on body-worn cameras.
One witness, a Ms. Rosario, was captured on body-worn camera 15 minutes after the incident aboard the F train.
“I can see most of that statement coming in as an excited utterance,” Wiley said.
The judge declined to allow a part of her statement in which an officer is heard asking whether she thought Neely was on drugs.
A Mr. Latimer is captured a minute later and Wiley said his statement is “well within the immediacy of the event” and could be admitted.
“This person displays emotion, excitement as he’s describing what happened. It’s narrative,” Wiley said.
Most of the passengers who were aboard the train and who witnessed the event are expected to testify at trial.
Jury will see evidence that Neely did not have a weapon
The judge also previously ruled that the jury will see evidence that shows Neely was unarmed.
Penny’s defense had sought to preclude evidence or testimony about the lack of a weapon recovered from a search of Neely’s body but in a written opinion issued Thursday, Wiley said such evidence and testimony is relevant to the case.
“The fact that Mr. Neely was unarmed provides additional relevant information to aid the jury, namely, it clarifies what could have been perceived by someone in the defendant’s position,” Wiley wrote. “The possibility that a person in the defendant’s situation could have been reasonable in mistakenly believing that Mr. Neely had been armed is appropriate for consideration by the jury and well within their capability.”
The defense worried that including evidence that Neely was unarmed could bolster sympathy for the victim but Wiley said it would help the jury decide whether Penny’s actions were justified.
Penny’s lawyers and Neely’s family speak ahead of the trial
Members of Neely’s family were seated with the spectators for opening statements Friday.
“I loved Jordan. And I want justice for Jordan Neely. I want it today. I want justice for everybody and I want justice for Jordan Neely,” his uncle, Christopher Neely, said before entering court.
Prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office are expected to concede that Neely may have seemed scary to some subway riders, but will argue Penny continued the chokehold well past the point where Neely stopped moving and posed any kind of threat.
Penny’s attorneys have said that they were “saddened at the loss of human life,” but that Penny saw “a genuine threat and took action to protect the lives of others,” arguing that Neely was “insanely threatening” to passengers aboard the subway train.
While Penny’s defense will argue that he had no intent to kill Neely, prosecutor Steinglass has noted that the second-degree manslaughter charge only requires prosecutors to prove Penny acted recklessly, not intentionally.
“We are confident that a jury, aware of Danny’s actions in putting aside his own safety to protect the lives of his fellow riders, will deliver a just verdict,” Penny’s lawyers, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, said earlier this year, after Penny’s request to dismiss the charge was denied.
“This case is simple. Someone got on a train and was screaming so someone else choked them to death,” Neely family attorney Donte Mills said in a past statement to ABC News. “Those two things do not and will never balance. There is no justification.”
“Jordan had the right to take up his own space. He was allowed to be on that train and even to scream. He did not touch anyone. He was not a visitor on that train, in New York, or in this country,” Mills added.
Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Another box office hit is getting the stage treatment.
Producer Ken Davenport announced Friday he’s developing Slumdog Millionaire, the Oscar-winning film that proved to be a breakout role for Dev Patel, into a musical with help from the film’s composer, A.R. Rahman.
Slumdog Millionaire is based on the Indian novel Q&A, and followed Patel’s Jamal and his brother as they struggled to survive on the streets of Mumbai. The movie also starred Freida Pinto as Jamal’s love interest in her first major film role.
In announcing the new production, Davenport said he was inspired to bring the story to the stage as a way to honor his father, who grew up in India.
“My father … never talked much about growing up in India, until I took him to see Slumdog Millionaire. Immediately after the credits rolled, the stories, the love, and the pride of where he was from poured out of him,” he said. “Right then and there, I vowed to one day find a way to bring our Indian culture to the stage, as a way to honor him, and people of Indian descent all over the world.”
The stage production will reportedly feature new music, as well as the film’s famous “Jai Ho,” for which Rahman won a Best Original Song Oscar.
The English-language single “Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny),” sung by Rahman and The PussycatDolls, became a top-20 Billboard hit in the U.S.
More details about Slumdog Millionaire: The Musical will be announced in the coming months.
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces conducted what it called “precise strikes on military targets” in Iran on Friday in response to the Iranian missile strikes earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and ground fighting continued in Gaza — particularly in the north of the strip — and in Lebanon, with renewed Israeli attacks on Beirut.
Polio vaccination campaign to resume in northern Gaza, UN says
The third phase of the polio vaccination campaign is set to begin in part of the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. It had been postponed from Oct. 23 due to lack of humanitarian pauses and intense bombardment of the strip.
“These conditions made it impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination and for vaccination teams to perform their duties. The humanitarian pause necessary to conduct the campaign has been assured, however, the area of the pause has been substantially reduced compared to the first round of vaccination in northern Gaza, conducted in September 2024,” UNICEF and the World Health Organization said in a statement.
But, WHO and UNICEF warned that it will be difficult to interrupt poliovirus transmission because “at least 90% of all children in every community and neighborhood must be vaccinated, which will be challenging to achieve given the situation.”
“The campaign in northern Gaza follows the successful implementation of the first two phases of the second round in central and southern Gaza, which reached 451,216 children — 96% of the target in these areas. A total of 364,306 children aged between 2 and 10 years old have received vitamin A so far in this round,” the WHO and UNICEF said.
-ABC News’ Nadine Shubailat
IDF issues evacuation order for areas in southern Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces released an evacuation warning for areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, early Friday morning local time.
The areas under the evacuation order include Haret Hreik and the pond enclosure, according to the IDF.
Israeli Forces said the areas are suspected of being “near Hezbollah facilities and interests” and that the IDF plans to “operate against them” in the near future.
“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate these buildings and those adjacent to them immediately and stay away from them for a distance of no less than 500 meters,” the IDF said.
US defense secretary speaks to Israeli counterpart about regional de-escalation
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Thursday to discuss opportunities for regional de-escalation, according to a statement from the Pentagon.
In the call, Austin reaffirmed that the United States remains fully prepared to defend U.S. personnel, Israel and partners across the region against threats from Iran and Iran-backed proxy groups, the Pentagon confirmed.
Austin reiterated the commitment to a diplomatic arrangement in Lebanon that allows both Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border, according to the statement.
He also reviewed steps Israel is taking — and should continue to advance — to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, as well as prospects for a hostage release and cease-fire deal, the statement said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Iranian general says Israel should expect an ‘unimaginable response’
Israel “made a mistake” in attacking Iran over the weekend and will now “taste the response, an unimaginable response,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander-in-Chief Gen. Hossein Salami said on Iranian state TV on Thursday.
“You think you can change the story of domination of a great power called Islam by firing a few missiles? In Operation True Promise 2, you saw how your sky was cracked open. You saw how your missile shield worked. Once again you made a mistake, you will taste the response, an unimaginable response,” Gen. Salami said.
By “Operation True Promise 2,” Gen. Salami is referring to Oct. 1, when Iran sent a barrage of about 200 missiles toward Israel.
“See the behavior of the Iranian nation in the war against its enemies,” he added.
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi and Ellie Kaufman
Injured patients in Gaza hospital lack medicine, food and water: Officials
The director of nursing at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip released a statement Thursday saying 120 patients and injured people are lacking medicine, food and water.
“We appeal to bring specialized medical delegations to restart the hospital and save people’s lives,” the nursing director said.
Doctors Without Borders received confirmation that one of their doctors has been detained by Israeli forces, along with “several other medical staff from Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza,” after an Israeli military operation at the hospital on Oct. 26, the organization said in a release Thursday.
“We are extremely alarmed by the detention of our colleague,” the release said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
6 paramedics killed in Lebanon on Thursday
Six paramedics were killed in Lebanon on Thursday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said in separate statements.
One paramedic was killed, and two were wounded in a strike on an ambulance in Zefta in southern Lebanon.
Additionally, one paramedic was killed and two were wounded in Deir al-Zahrani, and four paramedics were killed in Dardghaya, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
“The Ministry of Public Health reiterates its condemnation of the occupation forces’ continued targeting of ambulance crews and reiterates its appeal to the international community to put an end to this series of ongoing war crimes,” the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
On Wednesday, 45 people were killed, and 110 people were wounded from various Israeli attacks across the country, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said. Overall, 2,867 people have been killed, and 13,047 people have been injured since Israel’s increased attacks on Lebanon in mid-September.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Progress being made toward cease-fire in Lebanon, Israeli official says
Following several days of high-level meetings, there has been “significant progress” toward a cease-fire in Lebanon, a senior Israeli official with knowledge of the negotiations told ABC News.
Israeli “Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] made it clear that the main issue is not the paperwork of this or that agreement, but Israel’s ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any threat to its security from Lebanon, in a way that will return our residents safely to their homes,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
19 killed, 3 injured in Israeli strikes in Baalbeck
At least 19 people were killed and three were injured in Israeli strikes on Salibi and Badnayel in Baalbek on Wednesday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
The Israel Defense Forces issued another evacuation order on Thursday telling residents in Baalbek, Ain Bourday and Douris to “evacuate your homes immediately and move out of these areas.”
Bombing continues at Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza
Conditions are worsening for patients at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza as Israeli bombing continued to target the hospital’s surroundings through the night, the hospital director said Thursday.
“We had to let sick and wounded die due to the cessation of surgical operations,” the hospital director told ABC News.
Three members of the hospital’s staff sustained burns due to bombing that targeted the third floor of the hospital, the director said.
“The bombing of the hospital caused fires in departments containing wounded people and medical supplies. We demanded that ambulances be brought to the hospital to transport the wounded, to no avail. The situation is catastrophic in the hospital, we live in a disaster area, and we provide minimal treatment,” the hospital director said.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara
IDF issues further Baalbek airstrike warning in east Lebanon
For the second consecutive day, the Israel Defense Forces ordered residents of the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon to flee their homes ahead of imminent airstrikes.
“You are in a combat zone where the IDF intends to attack and target Hezbollah infrastructure, interests, installations and combat means and does not intend to harm you,” IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X.
“Staying in the red zone puts you and your family at risk,” he added, alongside a map on which most of the city was marked red.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said at least eight people were killed by Israeli strikes in Baalbek on Thursday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
Israeli bombs besiege Gaza hospital again
Israeli aircraft bombed the third floor of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza Thursday morning, destroying the hospital’s remaining medicines as well as medical supplies brought by the World Health Organization a few days ago, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital said that continuous bombing had targeted the hospital’s surroundings throughout the night.
The hospital, which was the last functioning medical center capable of performing surgeries in northern Gaza, has 120 patients and has been targeted several times by Israeli forces in the past 13 months.
Palestinian media, citing medical sources, reported that surgical operations have completely stopped at Kamal Adwan Hospital due to the ongoing Israeli aggression.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti
CIA chief in Egypt for cease-fire push
CIA Director William Burns and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi discussed efforts to push for progress on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal during a meeting in Cairo, the Egyptian presidency said Thursday.
The talks focused on “joint efforts to calm the situation in the Gaza Strip, ways to advance negotiations to reach a cease-fire and the exchange of detainees, as well as immediate and full access to humanitarian aid” in the territory, El-Sisi’s office said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy and Joe Simonetti
Israeli troops launch new West Bank operation
The Israel Defense Forces said it launched a “counter-terrorism” operation in the West Bank alongside Israel Border Police and the Israel Security Agency.
The operation focused on the area of Nur Shams, east of the city of Tulkarm, which has been a focus of intense and deadly Israeli security forces raids in recent months.
During the operation, the Israeli air force “struck an armed terrorist cell that fired at the forces,” the IDF said.
The IDF said the operation was launched hours after counter-terror and intelligence personnel killed Hussam Mallah, who the force described as a “significant” member of Hamas’ network in the area, “who was involved in the planning of terrorist attacks within an immediate time frame.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Israel to deploy forces along eastern border with Jordan, IDF says
Israel will deploy forces along its eastern border with Jordan to “protect the eastern border” — a border that was quiet for decades — the Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday.
Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approved the establishment of a regional division after they “examined the operational needs and defense capabilities in the region,” the IDF said in a statement.
“The division’s mission is to strengthen defense in the border area, Highway 90 and the settlements, and to respond to dealing with terrorist incidents and the smuggling of weapons, while maintaining a peaceful border and strengthening cooperation with the Jordanian army,” the IDF said in a statement.
UN reports over 30 ‘incidents’ from IDF against peacekeepers in Lebanon, some ‘deliberate’
The United Nations has documented over 30 incidents of attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, some of which were deliberate.
“Since the 1st of October, UNIFIL has recorded over 30 incidents resulting in damage to U.N. property or premises or injury to peacekeepers. About 20 of those we could attribute to IDF fire or actions, with seven being clearly deliberate,” a spokesperson for UNIFIL said.
“In an incident yesterday, a rocket, likely fired by Hezbollah or affiliated group hit UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura and setting a vehicle workshop on fire with some peacekeepers suffering a minor injuries,” a spokesperson for UNIFIL said.
UNIFIL also said there are thousands of people stuck in villages without having access to the most basic needs.
Israel gave residents 4 hours to get out of Baalbek before beginning strikes
Baalbek’s 80,000 residents were given just under four hours to leave the city before Israeli strikes on the region began.
Residents received a message in Arabic telling them to evacuate their homes and move outside the city and villages “immediately.”
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck a fuel depot in Baalbek “located inside military compounds” belonging to Hezbollah.
“These fuel depots supplied fuel for Hezbollah’s military vehicles and were critical to the operation of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure. The fuel at these sites was supplied by Iran as part of its military support for Hezbollah,” the IDF said in a statement.
WHO evacuates more patients from Kamal Adwan
The World Health Organization has continued to evacuate patients from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, as the hospital continues to receive “a constant stream of trauma patients due to ongoing hostilities in the area,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, Wednesday.
There are now only two surgeons left at the hospital. The WHO has transferred 23 critical patients to Al-Shifa Hospital and 16 patients from Al-Shifa to Nasser Medical Complex in a multiday mission to north Gaza in the past two days.
The Kamal Adwan Hospital building and equipment sustained damage during the most recent siege and its four ambulances were destroyed.
“We have provided medical supplies, food and water for patients at Kamal Adwan Hospital — but much more is needed. Additionally, this week we have also provided 40,000 liters of fuel and medical supplies for six hospitals in Gaza City,” the director-general said.
Israel issues evacuation warning for entire city of Baalbek, in eastern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation warning for residents in the entire eastern Lebanese city of Baalbeck and the surrounding areas and key routes into the Bekaa Valley. This includes the ancient Roman temple complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The deliberate targeting of a World Heritage Site is a war crime under international law.
Residents have been told to evacuate their homes “immediately” and move outside the city and villages, according to the evacuation warning.
There are nearly 80,000 residents in the city, adding to the hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon who are already displaced.
Israeli official explains deadly strike in north Gaza
An airstrike on a residential building that killed at least 110 people in Beit Lahia in north Gaza on Tuesday — per figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health — was targeting a person acting suspiciously on its roof, an Israeli military official told ABC News.
The official said they did not know there were so many people in the building, as everyone in the area had already been told to leave.
The official added they were skeptical of the death toll provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health, a sentiment expressed by the Israel Defense Forces in a public statement regarding the incident.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Tuesday described the strike as a “horrifying incident with a horrifying result.”
Emergency responders said the airstrike hit a five-story building housing displaced people, with at least 25 children among the dead. Many more people are still missing, officials said.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
UNRWA not ‘darlings of Hamas,’ official says after Israel ban
Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s chief spokesperson, told ABC News the agency is “impossible to replace, especially in a place like Gaza,” following the Israeli parliament’s decision to ban the organization from operating in Israel.
UNRWA has warned that the move could severely curtail the aid agency’s ability to get desperately needed aid into Gaza. Israeli allies abroad — including in the U.S. — have also warned that the Israeli parliament’s move could exacerbate humanitarian concerns across Palestinian areas in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
“We have the logisticians, the humanitarian experts who know how to deliver humanitarian assistance and how to drive around and reach people in need. These are humanitarian experts who have been doing this for aid for many, many years,” Touma said.
Israel has alleged that UNRWA — which since 1950 has been responsible for supporting Palestinian refugees displaced during Israel’s independence war — is compromised by Palestinian militant groups.
A source from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office told ABC News, “UNRWA is tainted with terror and perpetuates the Palestinian problem. That is why the ban is due.”
Touma disputed the assertion. “It is not as if we are the darlings of Hamas,” she said. “We have continued to have a very, very bad relationship with Hamas. On a number of occasions throughout the war we have called out publicly against Hamas.”
Touma said Israel is under legal obligation “to provide for the services and welfare for the community it’s occupying.”
Israeli authorities say they will do so without UNRWA help. But Touma said she was skeptical.
“I’m not entirely sure that they know what they’re doing, practically speaking, in terms of the ability to cater and to provide humanitarian assistance to 2 million people in Gaza,” she said.
The ban on UNRWA, Touma added, will not address the need for an agency serving its role.
“UNRWA exists because of the failure of the international community to reach a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” she said.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett and Guy Davies
UN condemns deadly Israeli strike in Gaza’s Beit Lahia
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland called the Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza “another appalling incident” in a “deadly series of recent mass casualty incidents,” in a statement released by the U.N. Secretary-General spokesperson’s office Tuesday.
“I unequivocally condemn the widespread killing and injury of civilians in Gaza, and the endless displacement of the population in Gaza,” Wennesland said in the statement. “I call on all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law.”
US says Israel’s implementation of UNRWA ban could have ‘consequences’
The Biden administration is “deeply troubled” by the Israeli parliament’s vote to sharply restrict the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Tuesday.
“It could shutter UNRWA operations in the West Bank, in Gaza, in East Jerusalem. It poses risks for millions of Palestinians who rely on UNRWA for essential services, including health care and primary and secondary education,” Miller said.
“Particularly in Gaza, they play a role right now that, at least today, cannot be filled by anyone else. They are a key partner in delivering food, water and other humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza that wouldn’t have anyone else to get it from if UNRWA were to go away,” Miller said.
Miller said that the U.S. had “made clear our opposition to this bill” to Israeli authorities and said there could be “consequences under U.S. law and U.S. policy for the implementation of this legislation.”
“We are going to engage with the government of Israel in the days ahead about how they plan to implement it. We’re going to watch and see if there are legal challenges to the law, and if there’s any impact by those legal challenges, and then we’ll make our decisions after looking to all those facts,” Miller said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
5 killed, 33 injured in Israeli strike on Lebanon
At least five people were killed and 33 others were wounded after an Israeli strike in the Saida neighborhood of Sidon, Lebanon, on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
At least 82 people were killed and 180 were wounded in Israeli attacks across Lebanon Monday, bringing the total number of people killed since Israel’s increased attacks on Lebanon to 2,792, and 12,772 people wounded, the ministry said.
At least 138 airstrikes were recorded in various areas of Lebanon on Tuesday, “mostly concentrated in the south, Nabatiyeh and Baalbek-Hermel,” a situation report from the Lebanese Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Second phase of polio vaccine campaign still unable to continue in North Gaza
The second phase of the polio vaccination campaign has been unable to take place in northern Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, Director General of Field Hospitals in Gaza Marwan Al-Hams said Tuesday.
“About 110,000 children in northern Gaza need the second dose of the polio vaccine,” Al-Hams said.
-ABC News’ Sami Zyara
Israel will hit Iran harder if it launches more missiles, IDF chief says
Israel will hit Iran harder if it launches more missiles, Israel Defense Forces chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned Tuesday.
“If Iran makes the mistake of launching another missile barrage at Israel, we will once again know how to reach Iran, with capabilities that we did not even use this time,” Halevi said, speaking at the Ramon Airbase.
110 killed, dozens missing in Israeli strike in north Gaza, officials say
At least 110 people were killed with more still missing following Israeli strikes on a five-story building housing displaced families in north Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
At least 25 children were among the dead and missing, health officials said.
Local journalists reported that the strike hit a residential building in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Tuesday morning.
The only hospital still functioning in the area is Kamal Adwan Hospital, which in recent days has been the focus of Israeli strikes and raids.
Health officials said there are now no doctors capable of performing surgery left at the facility, dozens of medical staff having been detained by the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF is yet to comment on Tuesday morning’s strike.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies and Joe Simonetti
90% of Gaza residents face food insecurity, WFP warns
The United Nations World Food Program issued a warning that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza could soon become a famine unless action is taken.
“Restrictions on humanitarian aid coming into Gaza are severe. During the month of October, only 5,000 metric tons of food have been delivered into Gaza, amounting to just 20 percent of basic food assistance for the 1.1 million people who depend on WFP’s lifesaving support,” the WFP said in a statement.
“Meanwhile, Gaza’s food systems have largely collapsed due to the destruction of factories, croplands and shops. Markets are nearly empty as most commercial channels are no longer functioning,” WFP said.
The WFP warned that a large group of Gazans could soon be in an “emergency phase” of need, while others would face “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity.
1 killed in Israel as 200 rockets fired from Lebanon
One person was killed by a rocket in the northern Israeli town of Maalot on Tuesday, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services said.
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that at least 200 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel since Monday night.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
60 people killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon
Israeli warplanes killed at least 60 people and wounded 58 others in successive airstrikes on the Baalbek-Hermel governorate and the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon on Monday night, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
110 killed, dozens missing in Israeli strike in north Gaza, officials say
At least 110 people were killed with more still missing following Israeli strikes on a five-story building housing displaced families in north Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
At least 25 children were among the dead and missing, health officials said.
Local journalists reported that the strike hit a residential building in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Tuesday morning.
The only hospital still functioning in the area is Kamal Adwan Hospital, which in recent days has been the focus of Israeli strikes and raids.
Health officials said there are now no doctors capable of performing surgery left at the facility, dozens of medical staff having been detained by the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF is yet to comment on Tuesday morning’s strike.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies and Joe Simonetti
Hezbollah confirms new leader
Hezbollah said in a Tuesday morning statement posted to social media that Naim Qassem was elected as the group’s new secretary general in a vote by its decision-making Shura Council.
Qassem, 71, was born in the Lebanese capital Beirut. He was previously Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, serving in the role since 1991. Qassem has long been a prominent spokesperson for the Iran-backed militant organization.
His election followed Israel’s assassination of former Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in September and his presumed successor Hashem Safieddine in October.
Following Nasrallah’s killing in Beirut, Qassem gave a video address in which he vowed that Hezbollah would continue its fight against Israel despite its significant military setbacks.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
IDF claims strikes on 150 targets in Lebanon, Gaza in 24 hours
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday it attacked more than 110 targets in Lebanon and 40 targets in the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours.
Hezbollah targets in Lebanon included “launchers aimed at the rear of the state of Israel and weapons depots,” the force wrote in a post to X.
In Gaza, the IDF said it attacked “terrorist cells, military buildings and other terrorist infrastructures.”
UN Secretary-General ‘deeply concerned’ by Israel’s laws banning UN organization
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is “deeply concerned” by the two laws passed by the Israeli parliament Monday concerning the U.N. organization, UNRWA, he said in a statement Monday.
“UNRWA is the principal means by which essential assistance is supplied to Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. There is no alternative to UNRWA,” the UN Secretary-General said in the statement.
“The implementation of the laws could have devastating consequences for Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is unacceptable,” he added.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Netanyahu addresses humanitarian aid in Gaza after UNRWA ban
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement on X Monday after legislation banning the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), a main provider of aid to Gaza, passed the Israeli parliament.
Israel is “ready to work with our international partners to ensure Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel’s security,” Netanyahu said.
“UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable. Since avoiding a humanitarian crisis is also essential, sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza now and in the future,” the Prime Minister added.
The Israeli government has accused multiple UNRWA members of participating in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and having ties to Hamas. The UN conducted an investigation into the matter after the Israeli government’s initial allegations, and fired multiple UNRWA staffers after the probe, according to the Associated Press.
UNRWA initially fired 12 staffers and put seven on administrative leave without pay over the claims. The UN then fired an additional nine staffers, according to AP.
The laws passed by the Israeli parliament Monday will take effect in 90 days and will likely be challenged by Israel’s High Court.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Netanyahu says Israel would accept 48-hour cease-fire, hostage exchange proposal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would accept a 48-hour cease-fire agreement proposed by the president of Egypt for the release of four hostages, but said he has not received the offer yet.
“If such a proposal were made, the Prime Minister would accept it on the spot,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said in a statement Monday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Israeli parliament passes bills banning UN relief agency in Gaza
Israel’s legislative body, the Knesset, passed two bills ending the Israeli government’s ties to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East on Monday, effectively banning the organization from working inside of Israel or with any Israeli authorities.
The first bill bans UNRWA from operating in Israel, including in east Jerusalem. The bill passed with 92 members of the Knesset voting in favor and 10 voting against. This will also force UNRWA to close its bureau in Jerusalem.
The second bill prohibits any Israeli state or government agency from working with or “liaising” with UNRWA or anyone on its behalf. This applies to any Israeli agency working with UNRWA in Gaza and the West Bank. The bill passed with 87 members of the Knesset voting in favor, and nine voting against.
UNRWA is the main U.N. relief agency operating inside of Gaza. This second bill would ban COGAT, the Israeli agency that manages coordination with Gaza and the West Bank, from working with UNRWA to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Israel has accused many of the members of UNRWA on the ground as having ties to Hamas.
Both bills have a three-month waiting period before they take effect. It is expected that the bills will be challenged Israel’s high court.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called the two bills “unprecedented” and said they set a “dangerous precedent” in a post on X after they were both passed.
“These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell,” Lazzarini said. “These bills increase the suffering of the Palestinians & are nothing less than collective punishment.”
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Jordana Miller
Iran promises ‘bitter and unimaginable consequences’ for Israel retaliation
Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Israel’s strike on Iran will lead to “bitter and unimaginable consequences,” in comments Monday, according to Tasnim News Agency, an Iranian news agency close to the IRGC.
The IRGC chief also said the “illegitimate and unlawful” attack by Israel revealed Israel’s “miscalculation and its frustration in the battlefield in the war against the combatants of the great front of Islamic resistance, especially in Gaza and Lebanon.”
He also offered his condolences to the four Iranian service members killed in the attack.
Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Minister’s Office, said Iran “reserves the right to respond to Israeli aggression in accordance with international law,” IRNA, Iranian state media, reported.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
7 killed, 17 wounded in strikes on Tyre
At least seven people were killed and 17 wounded after Israeli strikes in Tyre, Lebanon, on Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
The Israeli air force struck “Hezbollah weapons and anti-tank missile storage facilities, terrorist infrastructure and observation posts in the area of Tyre in southern Lebanon,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a release.
The IDF’s spokesman to Arab media issued a warning on X for residents in the Tyre area, “specifically to those in the buildings between the streets: Dr. Ali Al-Khalil, Hiram, Muhammad Al-Zayat, Nabih Berri,” to evacuate.
There have been 179 airstrikes and shellings recorded in various areas of Lebanon over the past 48 hours, mostly in “the South and Nabatiyeh,” the Lebanese Prime Minister’s Office said Monday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Ghazi Balkiz
Israeli lawmakers look to stop UNRWA operations
Israeli lawmakers are set to discuss two bills intended to end all Israeli cooperation with UNRWA — the United Nations agency that provides assistance to Palestinian refugees.
If the bills pass, UNRWA could be evicted from premises it has held for over 70 years and have its immunities revoked, majorly restricting its ability to deliver health care, education and other resources to Palestinians.
An Oct. 13 letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli ministers warned that the proposed UNRWA legislation could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and restrict aid to Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Israel alleges that UNRWA is compromised by militants, with Israeli intelligence claiming that around 10% of UNRWA’s Gaza workforce — some 1,200 employees — are Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Israeli operation in Kamal Adwan Hospital concludes, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it completed its raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip where IDF troops have been waging a major campaign.
The IDF claimed that “a number of terrorists — including Hamas terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre — had barricaded themselves inside the hospital.”
The IDF said its troops arrested around 100 fighters from within the hospital compound, “including terrorists who attempted to escape during the evacuation of civilians.”
The IDF said it found “weapons, terror funds and intelligence documents” in the hospital and in the surrounding area.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Iran will not back off in the face of Israeli aggression, Iranian president says
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday his country would stand firm following Israel’s attack on Iran.
“Definitely the free people will not back off in the face of this criminal, blood-thirsty regime. We have always defended the rights of our people and will continue to do so,” Pezeshkian told cabinet members, according to The Associated Press.
Earlier, Iranian state TV reported that Pezeshkian said Iran would respond to Israel “appropriately.”
Israel attacked military targets in Iran on Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles Iran fired on Israel earlier this month, marking the first time the IDF has openly attacked Iran.
Pezeshkian also warned tensions will escalate if Israel’s aggressions and crimes continue.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Iran calls for UN Security Council meeting after Israel’s retaliatory attack
The U.N. Security Council will meet Monday at Iran’s request after Israel’s retaliatory attack against the country, a spokesperson for the Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. confirmed to ABC News.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Israel’s retaliatory attack a “serious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a flagrant breach of international law,” in a letter requesting the U.N. Security Council meeting.
The letter from Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was sent to the UNSC’s current president and U.N. Secretary General António Guterres.
(WASHNIGTON) — Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney is firing back at Donald Trump after the former president darkly suggested Cheney be put in the line of fire as he criticized her as a “war hawk.”
“This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death,” Cheney posted Friday on X. “We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”
Trump attacked Cheney at an event with Tucker Carlson in battleground Arizona on Thursday night.
“She’s a radical war hawk,” Trump said of the former Wyoming congresswoman as he went after her and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney.
“Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, okay?” Trump said. “Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face.”
Trump continued, “You know, they’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, ‘Oh, gee, well, let’s send a — let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.'”
The Harris campaign called Trump saying “nine barrels” a reference to a traditional nine-gun “firing squad.”
Cheney, a Republican but a vocal critic of Trump over his behavior after the 2020 election and on Jan. 6, 2021, has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
While campaigning alongside Harris, Cheney cast Trump as a danger to democracy and the Constitution.
“We see it on a daily basis, somebody who was willing to use violence in order to attempt to seize power, to stay in power, someone who represents unrecoverable catastrophe, frankly, in my view, and we have to do everything possible to ensure that he’s not reelected,” Cheney told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl on ABC’s “This Week” earlier this fall after publicly backing Harris.
Trump’s remarks against Cheney are the latest in a string of increasingly dark and violent campaign rhetoric.
The former president doubled down on his “enemy from within” language after he previously suggested Democrats are more of a threat to the U.S. than top foreign adversaries such as China and Russia when it comes to the 2024 election.
“We do have an enemy from within,” he told Carlson on Thursday. “We have some very bad people, and those people are also very dangerous. They would like to take down our country. They’d like to have our country be a nice communist country or a fascist in any way they can. And we have to be careful of that.”
Harris campaign senior adviser Ian Sams responded to Trump’s comments during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday, during which he called the former president “all-consumed by his grievances.”
“I mean, think about the contrast between these two candidates,” Sams said. “You have Donald Trump who is talking about sending a prominent Republican to the firing squad, and you have Vice President Harris talking about sending one to her Cabinet. This is the difference in this race.”
Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s spokesperson, claimed on Friday Trump’s words were being taken out of context.
“President Trump was CLEARLY explaining that warmongers like Liz Cheney are very quick to start wars and send other Americans to fight them, rather than go into combat themselves,” Leavitt wrote on X.
ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim, Kelsey Walsh and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
(WILLINGBORO, N.J.) — Police are searching for the gunman who shot and killed a mother and daughter during a home invasion in New Jersey.
Catherine Nunez, 33, and her mother, Marisol Nunez, 54. were found dead in an upstairs bedroom of their home in Willingboro early Wednesday, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said.
It appears the intruder broke a first-floor window to enter the home, prosecutors said.
No arrests have been made, prosecutors said.
Authorities said they believe the crime wasn’t random and don’t think other residents in the neighborhood are at risk.
Heidi Klum once again pulled out all the stops for her highly anticipated annual Halloween party, showing up as E.T. in a costume that has everyone talking.
The supermodel and TV host keeps her fans on their toes and eagerly awaiting her big costume reveal each year. This year, she took her signature extravagance to new heights with her nostalgic ’80s costume, a choice that underscores her reputation as the “Queen of Halloween.”
“HEIDI HALLOWEEN 2024 OUT OF THIS WORLD,” Klum shared in a post on Instagram Thursday night, showcasing the big reveal of her costume inspired by the hit 1982 film, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Her look stands out as one of the night’s highlights, with makeup elements and eye-catching details that look like they came straight out of Steven Spielberg‘s iconic film.
Klum’s party is always the season’s must-attend event, drawing celebrities in their best Halloween attire.
This isn’t Klum’s first time making a splash at her annual bash. Known for her elaborate, jaw-dropping costumes, the model has turned Halloween into her personal runway, transforming into otherworldly creatures and larger-than-life characters, such as a peacock and a giant worm in past years.
She’s also donned costumes such as Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as well as the werewolf from Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” music video.
(NEW YORK) — When Jordan Neely boarded the subway on May 1, 2023, he was homeless, ranting about having nothing to eat or drink and said he was willing to die, according to authorities. Perceptions of Neely’s final moments differ, but each account tells a similar story at its core: Neely appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis when Daniel Penny put him in the chokehold that ended his life.
Opening arguments are set to begin in Penny’s trial in Neely’s death Friday. Penny, a former Marine, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Neely’s death. He has pleaded not guilty. Jury selection began Monday.
Neely’s loved ones believe his story could have been different. To experts, Neely, who was known to city mental health professionals and law enforcement officials, has become a symbol of the need to look toward effective solutions to get homeless and mentally ill people off the streets and into care.
“Our system does not prioritize the seriously mentally ill,” Carolyn Gorman, a policy analyst at the public policy think tank Manhattan Institute, told ABC News. “Almost always, the individuals who are involved in these tragedies have a known mental illness, have been cycling through homelessness, through incarceration through the health care system. They’re known to authorities, and they haven’t fallen through the cracks. They’ve actually just been ignored by all of these systems.”
New York City’s clubhouses — member-run facilities that offer support to those with serious mental health conditions — are proving that recovery and rehabilitation are possible, with some lawmakers like Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., hoping to expand the availability and access to these institutions for more residents.
Fountain House, which touts itself as the pioneer of the modern clubhouse model, aims to put an end to the “punitive, ineffective and costly” approaches to those with mental illness, who cycle through jails, emergency rooms, shelters and the streets without proper care or support to lead healthy and happy lives, the organization said.
The goal is to give members a sense of stability and community. At the clubhouses, they get a helping hand to obtain an education, find work, achieve health goals while readily having access to clinical care, housing assistance and other supportive services.
“What we are looking to do is to help people truly recover, and so that means help them return to jobs, be neighbors, and live out in the community and to have meaningful relationships,” Ian Campbell, Fountain House’s Senior Director of Employment and Learning, told ABC News.
However, Gorman, of the Manhattan Institute, said that despite their effectiveness, clubhouses won’t be the solution for all people dealing with severe mental illnesses.
“Fountain House is definitely one model. And it’s a model that works well. But some patients just do need a higher level of oversight and intensive care than a place like the clubhouse model can provide. And that is inpatient treatment,” or hospitalization, said Gorman.
Clubhouses set an example for mental health care
What makes the clubhouse model so successful, Campbell said, is that they fill gaps not filled in a clinical setting. They support members with both economic barriers as well as the loneliness or isolation that patients are likely to also be experiencing.
“The U.S. has historically spent most of its mental health care dollars on clinical treatment, such as medication and therapy, with a fraction allocated to fund the community-based social supports people also need to manage their mental illness,” read a Fountain House report.
About 15% of people with severe mental illness successfully return to work, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness — but at Fountain House, 25 to 30% of their active membership has returned to work.
A New York University study on Fountain House found that its services save Medicaid costs by up to 21% by reducing hospitalizations and ER visits as well as increasing primary care visits, increased outpatient mental health visits, and increased pharmacy visits – “essentially a better adherence to other forms of treatment that can further support members’ recovery,” Fountain House said in a statement.
Researchers at Fountain House also found that the roughly 60,000 people clubhouses nationwide serve each year yield an estimated savings of over $11,000 per person — or at least $682 million total each year.
Fountain House also touts that members who enroll in degree or certificate-seeking educational programs have a 90% average semester completion rate.
For Torres, mental health care is personal.
“About 15 years ago, I found myself at the lowest point in my life. I had dropped out of college. I found myself struggling with depression. I even attempted suicide and underwent hospitalization for a period of time,” Torres told ABC News. “I felt as if the world around me had collapsed, and I never thought seven years later, I would become the youngest elected official in America’s largest city, and then seven years later, become a member of the United States Congress.”
He has called for more federal funding for community-based programs like Fountain House.
“The challenge of mental illness is often compounded by the problem of loneliness, and clubhouses represent the creation of a community,” he said. “It is an elegant solution to the problem of loneliness. It provides community where none exists. It fills the human gap that’s often left by isolation, and so I would love to see the proliferation of clubhouses across the country.”
And for those who may need more assistance than an outpatient resource can offer, Gorman believes the focus should be on the rehabilitative efforts, not punitive ones.
“Involuntary treatment and inpatient treatment are last resorts, they are only tried when everything else fails,” Gorman said. “I think if we do not consider those options, then we have to be ready to admit that we already are institutionalizing the mentally ill, but in jails and prisons. These are punitive settings, not therapeutic settings. So it’s hard to see how this is more humane.”
A clubhouse success story
Carmen Murray-Williams, now 65, had been homeless on-and-off since she was 14, when she left her home amid a “rough” and “uncomfortable” living situation with her family.
“There were times where I couldn’t find any help. I was so tired that I would get a cardboard box, flatten it down on the ground wherever I was, and sleep there. And once or twice, I woke up, and I found myself buried in snow,” Murray-Williams told ABC News. “I said, I really have to get out of the situation. And I kept knocking on doors … I prayed all the time. I mean, every chance I got, I prayed.”
She said she lived on the streets until she was about 17, when her grandmother found her, took her in, and convinced her to continue her education. She got her GED and was excited to start college, but her grandmother’s death left her both heartbroken and homeless once more.
“She’s my everything,” Murray-Williams said. “She got me to believe that life keeps going on and you don’t have to worry about your age and whatnot. Just keep on trying. I love my grandmother. I miss her.”
Life continued to present challenges for Murray-Williams, who had lost contact with the rest of her family. She recalls her past addiction to crack cocaine, an accidental fall from an apartment balcony that broke her back, and a boyfriend who opened credit cards from a joint bank account, putting her thousands of dollars in debt.
And one day, she said, “I absolutely lost my mind. I just started screaming and hollering or turn up things” and the police were called on her. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 42 following the outbursts.
After receiving inpatient treatment for her disorder, she was accepted as a member of Fountain House to get her back on her feet.
Fountain House members like Murray-Williams have access to supportive resources — including meals, job training, education, and housing assistance — while developing social supports to build relationships and reintegrate into their community.
“We’ll have a morning meeting and we decide who does what chores. After that, we start doing the chores that they give us. Chores could be putting data entry into the computer or could be cleaning up the front of the clubhouse,” Murray-Williams said. Clubhouse members help the organization function; they prepare meals, man the phones, and fundraise.
“If you’re in the horticulture unit, which is now ‘home and garden,’ you do the gardens. And we do a lot here. I go to the gym and wellness unit twice a week,” she said.
Murray-Williams has a jam-packed schedule, which includes running the Bingo gathering multiple times a week — “my favorite days of the week” — and helps lead a dance exercise group.
“Getting to 65 and still being here? I didn’t think I was gonna make it to 65,” Murray-Williams said. “But I’m just grateful for every day and every opportunity that I get.”
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. hiring slowed in October, but fallout from hurricanes and labor strikes likely caused an undercount of the nation’s workers.
A fresh jobs report marked the final piece of major economic data before Election Day. However, the data offers little more than a blurry snapshot of the U.S. economy due to the one-off disruptions last month.
Employers added 12,000 workers last month, falling short of economist expectations of 90,000 additional jobs, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data on Friday showed. The unemployment rate stands at 4.1%, which matches the previous month’s level and remains historically low.
The hiring in October amounted to a sharp slowdown from 254,000 jobs added in September, though it should be interpreted with a significant dose of caution, experts told ABC News prior to the data release.
“Workers who weren’t paid during the survey period due to work disruptions won’t be counted as employed, and workers and businesses may be too busy dealing with the aftermath of the storms to respond to surveys,” Martha Gimbel, executive director of the Budget Lab at Yale University and former director of economic research at Indeed, told ABC News in a statement.
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane on Oct. 9. It ultimately left millions without power and much of the state’s gas stations without fuel. In late September, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida, prompting recovery efforts that have continued for weeks afterward.
Additionally, roughly 33,000 Boeing workers walked off the job in mid-September, an action that’s expected to manifest as missing jobs for the first time on the October report.
In all, the combination of hurricanes and work stoppages is estimated to have pushed the level of hiring 50,000 jobs lower than where it otherwise would have stood, Bank of America Global Research said in a note to clients this week.
“This probably weighed on payrolls across the board, especially leisure and hospitality,” Bank of America Global Research said, pointing to Hurricane Milton. “There was also likely a minor drag from Helene,” the bank added.
Despite an overall slowdown this year, the job market has proven resilient. Hiring has continued at a solid pace; meanwhile, the unemployment rate has climbed but remains near a 50-year low.
The latest hiring data arrived at the end of a week in which new releases showed an economy growing at a robust pace while inflation returns to normal levels.
U.S. GDP grew at a 2.8% annualized rate over three months ending in September, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data on Wednesday showed. That figure fell slightly below economists’ expectations, but demonstrated brisk growth that was propelled by resilient consumer spending.
On Thursday, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge showed that prices rose 2.1% over the year ending in September. Inflation has slowed dramatically from a peak of about 9% in 2022, though it remains slightly higher than the Fed’s target of 2%.
The jobs report is set to arrive four days before Election Day. It also marks the last piece of significant economic data before the Fed announces its next interest rate decision on Nov. 7.
The Fed is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
