Trump floats renaming Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America,’ denies claim he’d interfere with Canadians speaking French
President Donald Trump greets Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney during a world leaders’ summit on Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. (Evan Vucci – Pool/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced Tuesday morning that he is giving “serious consideration” to renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” — mirroring his move to rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America early in his second term.
Trump later posted on his social media platform an altered map of the lake and surrounding area.
The map posted by Trump depicts the great lake with the official “Lake Ontario” label crossed out. In its place is a “Lake America” label in a larger, gold-colored font and a graphic of an American flag.
Just like the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Ontario is a shared international waterway and multiple international, federal and regional agencies oversee it.
Split along the U.S.-Canada border, New York state and Ontario each govern their own portion of the lakebed and shoreline. The U.S. and Canada jointly manage it through the International Joint Commission and Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
And just like the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, Trump can unilaterally change a geographic name for official U.S. federal government use, like his action via executive order in that case — but he doesn’t have the authority to dictate what other countries or international bodies call it.
Trump on Tuesday also rejected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s claims that the U.S. was making threats on Canada’s use of the French language, as opposed to English, as part of the ongoing trade war. Trump said on social media that he would “never interfere with Canadians speaking French.”
“I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. I love French Canadians!” Trump posted on his social media platform.
During a press conference on Saturday, Carney claimed that one of the reasons the trade talks with the U.S. collapsed is because the Trump administration wanted Canada to make changes to their use of the French language.
“This was not our choice. We were ready and close to having a comprehensive agreement that would be fair to both countries. But they made changes, including threats on the French language and Quebec culture and Canadian culture. That is not acceptable. That would never be acceptable,” Carney said.
People inspect the aftermath of a Russian missile strike on Aug. 20, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Apartment blocks and warehouses were hit across the city overnight following a large barrage of missiles, with a children’s hospital and school also damaged. (Diego Fedele/Getty Images)
LONDON — A “massive” Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv on Wednesday night killed at least 15 people and injured more than 40 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post to social media on Thursday.
“Throughout the night, our emergency services have been working at the sites of Russian strikes,” Zelenskyy wrote. “The attack was massive — the Russians prepared for a long time and combined different types of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones to inflict as much damage as possible on civilian infrastructure.”
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched an unspecified number of ballistic missiles into the country overnight as well as 46 cruise or air-to-ground missiles of various types. Russia also launched 168 drones, the air force said.
“The main direction of the attack was the Kyiv region,” the air force wrote in a post to Telegram. It added that 41 cruise missiles of various types and 145 drones were shot down or otherwise suppressed, with munitions reported impacting across 28 locations.
The air force did not say whether any ballistic missiles were shot down. Earlier this month, the air force stopped publishing the number of ballistic missiles fired or intercepted in Russia’s nightly barrages.
Around the capital, Zelenskyy said that residential buildings, a children’s hospital and school were among the sites damaged. The president also reported overnight Russian attacks in the southern Odesa and northern Chernihiv regions.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in posts to Telegram that damage was reported in the Sviatoshynskyi, Solomianskyi and Darnitskyi areas of the city, including fires at warehouses and residential buildings.
Recent months have seen an expansion of Russian missile attacks all across Ukraine, as officials in Kyiv warn that Ukrainian stocks of anti-missile interceptor munitions are dangerously low and, in some cases, exhausted.
Ukraine is working on its own ballistic missile interceptor program — the FREYJA — but officials in Kyiv have said they do not expect the weapon to be operational until 2027.
Zelenskyy on Thursday again appealed to foreign partners to route more ammunition to Kyiv. “Unfortunately, while Moscow is investing in ballistics and escalation, there isn’t always the necessary response from the world to such attacks,” he wrote.
“As long as Ukraine lacks sufficient anti-ballistic defenses, Russia will not seriously consider peace. We are doing everything we can to ensure protection, and work on the FREYJA program continues every day. However, interceptors for ‘Patriot’ systems are not yet available, and they are needed every day,” Zelenskyy wrote.
In a later post, the Ukrainian leader said that the country’s defense against ballistic missiles is “entirely dependent on the supply of missiles for ‘Patriot’ systems to Ukraine, and therefore, it depends on our partners.”
“We cannot simply stand by idly and watch as the Russians destroy lives with ballistic missiles. Ukrainian soldiers can operate effectively when the courage and professionalism of our people are supported by the appropriate assistance from our partners,” Zelenskyy added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha reported a “horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv,” in a post to X. “This was one of the most brutal Russian attacks to date, with ballistic missiles raining down on our capital one after another,” he wrote.
Russia’s Defense Ministry described the overnight attack as having targeted “military industrial enterprises, a transport and logistics hub and warehouses in Kyiv and the Kyiv region.”
The Defense Ministry also said that it shot down at least 726 Ukrainian drones over 18 Russian regions plus Crimea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. At least 28 drones were shot down over the Moscow region, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Telegram.
(GERMANY) — The American doctor who contracted Ebola and was transferred to Germany is starting to feel better and is able to eat, according to his colleague.
Dr. Peter Stafford is currently hospitalized in Berlin’s Charite University Hospital after testing positive for the disease due to his work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
His colleague, Matt Allison — the executive director of Serge, the Christian missionary group Stafford works for — told ABC News that the doctor has been receiving monoclonal antibodies during his hospitalization.
Allison said it appears Stafford’s condition has improved since landing in Germany and that he has been able to text his colleagues.
“He needed assistance to walk. He was very weak. He was discouraged … he was talking about just being almost unable to think,” Allison said. “I mean [it] was the combination of the isolation, the uncertainty, feeling really sick. It was a lot to carry. And so I’m so glad that he’s responding quickly to us.”
Allison went on, “He feels good. He’s eating. You know, one of the symptoms of Ebola is nausea and gastrointestinal issues, and so we’re so grateful that he’s able to eat now and we’re really encouraged by where he’s at right now.”
Stafford, a 39-year-old board-certified general surgeon with a specialization in burn care, tested positive for Ebola after caring for patients in Bunia, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, before an outbreak was identified.
His wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, 38, and Dr. Peter LaRochelle, 46, a fellow missionary doctor, were potentially exposed to Ebola through their work at hospitals in the DRC, Serge said.
Peter Stafford’s family will join him in Germany while LaRochelle is on his way to Prague.
“The complex, coordinated efforts of many government agencies and international health authorities resulted in Peter Stafford’s safe transport and the protection of those involved in his transfer,” Dr. Scott Myhre, Serge area director for East and Central Africa, said in a press release on Wednesday. “Serge leadership extends their deepest gratitude to all involved in Peter’s care and is praying for all involved in the fight to end this ebolavirus outbreak for the good of the people of the DRC.”
The Ebola outbreak in the eastern DRC had caused 139 suspected deaths with nearly 600 suspected cases as of Wednesday, according to the latest update from World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“We expect those numbers to keep increasing, given the amount of time the virus was circulating before the outbreak was detected,” Tedros said during a press briefing in Geneva.
Anais Legand, the WHO’s technical officer for viral hemorrhagic fevers, said on Wednesday that the Ebola outbreak may have started a couple of months ago and that investigations are ongoing.
“Our priority is really to cut the transmission chain by implementing contact tracing, isolating and caring for all suspects and confirmed cases,” she said
The WHO convened an emergency committee on Tuesday night, following Tedros’ declaration of a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday — one level below a pandemic in the United Nations agency’s alert system.
It was the first time a WHO chief had declared such an emergency before convening the emergency committee. After the meeting, the committee agreed that the outbreak did not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency, which was applied to the global COVID-19 outbreak.
The outbreak was first detected in the DRC’s northeastern province of Ituri, with cases officially confirmed by the health ministry on May 15. It marked the 17th outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the DRC, which is Africa’s second-largest country and its fourth-most populous nation.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of Ebola for which there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics and which requires different diagnostics than other variants. Case fatality rates for previous Bundibugyo outbreaks have ranged from 30% to 50%, according to the WHO.
Tedros said cases of Ebola have been reported in several urban areas of the eastern DRC amid the ongoing outbreak, including the major cities of Goma and Bunia, and that at least two cases and one death have been recorded in neighboring Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Cases have also been reported among health workers, according to Tedros.
At least 51 cases have so far been confirmed in the ongoing outbreak.
The WHO chief warned that significant population movement in the region, which includes a high-traffic mining area, along with insecurity and intensified conflict in recent months increase the risk of further spread. The risks are high at the national and regional levels, but remain low globally, according to Tedros.
Dr. Satish K. Pillai, incident manager for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Ebola response, confirmed at a CDC press conference on Tuesday that genetic testing from this outbreak shows it is similar to the “genetic fingerprints” from outbreaks in 2007 and 2012, meaning there are diagnostic tools available that can detect this strain of Ebola.
Pillai said on Monday that the agency had activated its Emergency Operations Center through its country offices in the DRC and in Uganda, and is deploying technical experts that have been requested from Atlanta headquarters.
The CDC said Monday that it is preparing to restrict entry for travelers arriving from parts of central Africa where an Ebola outbreak has been declared, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.
The risk to the U.S. general public remains low, Pillai said.
ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss contributed to this report.
A burnt-out van is covered in crime-scene tape where a series of explosions occurred on July 7, 2026 in Damascus, Syria.. (Photo by Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — At least two explosions were reported in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, as French President Emmanuel Macron was visiting the city to meet with the country’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The Syrian Arab News Agency said that the explosions occurred near the Ministry of Tourism building and that at least 18 people — including four security personnel — were injured.
Syrian authorities did not immediately comment on the report. The cause of the explosions was not immediately clear.
Writing on X after the explosions but without explicitly mentioning the blasts, Macron said, “Nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic and united Syria. This morning I met Syria in all its diversity. I saw dignity, courage and determination. My visit continues.”
Macron is the first major Western leader to visit Syria since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Assad was forced to flee the country after government forces collapsed in the face of a surprise offensive launched by a coalition of rebel groups, led by Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday. “I have come to express France’s commitment to the Syrian people. For a sovereign Syria, united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbors. Together, let us open a new chapter of stability and peace,” he wrote in a post to X.
Last week, a device exploded in a cafe near the Justice Palace in Damascus, killing at least 10 people and wounding 20.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
