INTERNACIONAL
RFK Jr attributes rise in autism to environmental factors, while CDC points to improved diagnostic practices
While autism experts claim that the rise in cases stems from greater awareness and improved diagnostic testing, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shut down that idea Wednesday and, instead, attributed the rise in cases to environmental factors.
Those who discount that environmental exposure is a factor in rising autism cases are engaging in «epidemic denial,» Kennedy told reporters Wednesday.
Kennedy appeared at HHS’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to discuss the latest findings on autism included in a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey released Tuesday.
«This is coming from an environmental toxin, and somebody made a profit by putting that environmental toxin into our air, our water, our medicines, our food,» Kennedy said. «And it’s to their benefit to say ‘Oh, to normalize it, to say all this is all normal, it’s always been here.’ That’s not good for our country.»
RFK JR. CALLS FOR REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE FROM DRINKING WATER, SPARKING DEBATE
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference on the autism report by the CDC at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, April 16, 2025. (Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press)
Even so, the CDC’s own new survey Kennedy addressed found that autism prevalence is on the rise and said the increase «might be due to differences in availability of services for early detection and evaluation and diagnostic practices.»
Specifically, the survey found that one in 31 8-year-old children were diagnosed with autism in 2022 – up from one in 36 in 2000.
Additionally, the survey determined that autism rates were far more common for boys than girls. While one in 20 boys is diagnosed with autism, those numbers go down to one in 70 for girls.
While Kennedy acknowledged Wednesday there may be some genetic vulnerabilities that could contribute to increased odds of an autism diagnosis, he said the autism rates spiked starting in 1989 and that some new environmental toxin must have been introduced around that time.
«Why are we not seeing it in older people? Why is this only happening in young people?» Kennedy said. «Have you ever seen anybody our age – I’m 71 years old – with full blown autism? Head-banging, non-verbal, non-toilet-trained.»
As a result, Kennedy said HHS’ studies would examine toxins including mold, pesticides, air, water, different medications, as well as the age and obesity rates of parents, among other things.
«We’re going to look at all the potential culprits,» Kennedy said.
HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital regarding the apparent discrepancy between Kennedy’s remarks and the CDC survey.
UTAH BANS FLUORIDE FROM PUBLIC DRINKING WATER, ALIGNING WITH MAHA MOVEMENT
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signaled Thursday that the administration would kick off a massive research initiative to understand the cause of autism by September. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Kennedy signaled Thursday in a Cabinet meeting at the White House that the administration would kick off a massive research initiative to understand the cause of autism by September.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to policy and legal advocacy on behalf of those with autism, pushed back against Kennedy’s statements in the Cabinet meeting and claimed Kennedy refused to acknowledge studies that point to genes as the underlying cause of autism.
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«There is no evidence that autism is actually becoming more common (rather, we as a society are getting better at identifying it, and diagnostic standards have appropriately been widened),» the network said in a Thursday statement. «Even if it were, however, autistic and other disabled people belong in our society. To claim otherwise, and to speak as though our existence is some kind of calamity that must be eliminated, is a form of eugenics.»
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,MAHA,Health,Trump’s First 100 Days,Donald Trump
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.
Here’s what’s happening…
-Gabbard announces RFK files released months after Trump’s order: ‘Light on the truth’
-Top Dem asks Noem how TSA will prevent ‘major disruptions’ as many travelers still lack REAL ID
-Biden’s vax-focused COVID-19 website obliterated by White House, replaced with ‘true origins’ virus guide
‘We are not the same’
The White House released a splitscreen image overnight to underscore the stark contrast between where Republicans and Democrats stand on illegal immigration.
One image featured distraught Angel Mom Patty Morin being comforted by President Trump in the Oval Office. Morin’s daughter, Rachel Morin, was savagely beaten, raped and killed in Maryland by an illegal migrant from El Salvador in 2023.
The other image showed Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., sitting and talking with deported illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, in El Salvador…Read more
The White House released a splitscreen image overnight to underscore the stark contrast between where Republicans and Democrats stand on illegal immigration. (The White House, Sen. Van Hollen via X)
Abrego Garcia
HOMELAND SECURITY REPORT: Kilmar Abrego Garcia suspected of human, labor trafficking in Homeland Security report
‘LOOKED LIKE A FOOL’: Trump calls Sen. Van Hollen a ‘fool’ after meeting with deported MS-13 suspect in El Salvador
White House
POLL POSITION: How Trump’s approval rating compares to his presidential predecessors
PUT THAT ON HOLD: Federal judge bucks Trump admin, delays dismissal of of MS-13 leader’s case
CROWN OF THORNS: LGBTQ Christians crusade against Trump’s religiously ‘hostile’ policies during Holy Week
A group of LGBTQ+ Christian leaders gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to reject President Donald Trump’s «anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, with one religious leader telling Fox News Digital the Trump administration is «the most hostile administration to religion in recent memory.» (Fox News Digital)
‘BIG HONOR’: Trump announces a conservative media star, a GOP governor, and others for Homeland Security Advisory Council
CENTURY-OLD LAW: When did the US stop keeping up with the Joneses? The maritime law at the crux of US shipbuilding
‘YOU WANT PEOPLE TO BUY’: Trump says US ‘talking to China end may be in sight amid tariff hikes
World Stage
‘NEVER ALONE’: Huckabee visits iconic holy site in Israel, delivers Trump’s prayer for peace
HAMAS CASH CRISIS: Hamas terror group reportedly buckling under financial strain amid Israeli military gains and growing unrest
Palestinian Hamas militants gather at the site of the handing over of the bodies of four Israeli hostages in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza on February 20, 2025. (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)
‘UNACCEPTABLE’: Chinese firm aiding Houthi attacks on US vessels, as airstrikes kill 74
HOLY WEEK OUTREACH: Pope Francis visits Rome prison during Holy Week
‘MOVE ON’: Rubio says US ready to ‘move on’ within days if no progress on Russia-Ukraine peace deal
Capitol Hill
DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY: Confidence in Congressional Democrats hits all time low in new poll
The New York Times Editorial Board accused the Democratic Party’ of being in «denial’ over why it lost in 2024. (Getty Images)
PINK ALERT: Top GOP senator calls out Code Pink, The People’s Forum allegedly pushing CCP propaganda in US
Across America
UNMASKED: Anti-Israel agitator charged in violent hate crime attack on two Jewish college students
GLOVES ARE OFF: Top GOP lawmaker, Hochul trade barbs amid speculation Trump ally is jumping in gubernatorial race
‘SAFER TODAY’: ICE arrests over 200 illegal aliens in New York City’s ‘most crime-infested neighborhoods’
GATHERING INFO: ICE and DOGE seek sensitive data in crackdown on illegal immigration, waste: report
ICE agents in Los Angeles are frustrated with sanctuary city policies. (Fox News)
UNHEALTHY: HHS probing hospital over firing of nurse who blew whistle on minors getting gender treatments
‘WIDE FISSURE’: Federal judge temporarily restricts DOGE access to personalized Social Security data
Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Elections Newsletter
INTERNACIONAL
Three tourists among 4 killed after Italian cable car crashes to the ground near Naples
Three tourists were among four people who were killed when a cable car crashed south of Naples, an Italian official said Friday.
A British woman and an Israeli woman were among the three foreign victims identified since the accident on Thursday, said Marco De Rosa, the spokesperson for the mayor of Vico Equense. The fourth victim was the Italian driver of the cable car.
FSU STUDENT RECOUNTS MOMENTS SHOTS RANG OUT
Four are dead after a cable car crash in Italy. (Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico)
According to initial information, a traction cable snapped and one car crashed after both the upward and a downward-going cable cars came to a halt as they traversed Monte Faito, in the town of Castellammare di Stabia.
A fifth person, who is also believed to be a foreign tourist, was seriously injured and is being treated in hospital in Naples, officials said. Sixteen passengers were helped out of the other cable car that was stuck mid-air near the foot of the mountain following the incident.
The accident happened just a week after the cable car, popular for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season.
Local prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible manslaughter, which will involve an inspection of the cable stations, the pylons, the two cabins and the cable, local officials said Friday,
The emergency services, including Italy’s alpine rescue, more than 50 firefighters, police and civil protection personnel, worked into the evening in severe weather conditions, which made the rescue operations difficult.
«The traction cable broke. The emergency brake downstream worked, but evidently not the one on the cabin that was entering the station,» Luigi Vicinanza, the mayor of Castellammare di Stabia, said on Thursday. He added that there had been regular safety checks on the cable car line, which runs 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the town to the top of the mountain.
SCHOOL BUS FLIPS ON SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY
Rescue workers recover a body at the scene of a cable car crash in Italy. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)
The company running the service, the EAV public transport firm, stressed that the seasonal cable car had reopened with all the required safety conditions.
«The reopening had taken place a week ago after three months of tests every day, day and night,» said EAV President Umberto De Gregorio. «This is something inexplicable.»
De Gregorio said technical experts believed there was no connection between the severe weather and the cause of the crash. «There is an automatic system. When the wind exceeds a certain level, the cable car stops automatically,» he said.
The Monte Faito cable car opened in 1952. Four people died in 1960 when a pylon broke.
Italy has recorded two similar fatal accidents involving cable cars in recent years.
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A cable car crash in May 2021 in northern Italy killed 14 people, including six Israelis, among them a family of four. In 1998, a low-flying U.S. military jet cut through the cable of a ski lift in Cavalese, in the Dolomites, killing 20 people.
INTERNACIONAL
El líder del grupo terrorista Hezbollah rechazó el desarme y tensa la relación con el presidente del Líbano
El grupo terrorista Hezbollah “no dejará que nadie lo desarme”, declaró el viernes el líder de la milicia chiíta libanesa, Naim Qassem, mientras Washington presiona a Beirut para que obligue al movimiento respaldado por Irán a entregar sus armas.
Hezbollah, durante mucho tiempo una fuerza dominante en la política libanesa, quedó debilitado tras más de un año de hostilidades con Israel desencadenadas por la guerra de Gaza, incluida una incursión terrestre israelí y dos meses de intensos bombardeos que diezmaron la cúpula del grupo.
El alto el fuego de noviembre puso fin en gran medida a los combates, pero no antes de que el líder del grupo y predecesor de Qassem, Hassan Nasrallah, muriera en un ataque aéreo israelí.
“No dejaremos que nadie desarme a Hezbollah ni desarme la resistencia” contra Israel, declaró Qassem en declaraciones a un canal de televisión afiliado a Hezbollah. “Debemos eliminar esta idea de desarme del diccionario”.
El presidente libanés, Joseph Aoun, dijo esta semana que quería “hacer de 2025 el año de la restricción de armas al Estado”, y añadió que esperaba lograr ese objetivo mediante el “diálogo” con Hezbollah.
Qassem dijo que su grupo estaba dispuesto a dialogar sobre una “estrategia de defensa”, “pero no bajo la presión de la ocupación” de Israel.
“Israel debe retirarse (del sur de Líbano) y cesar su agresión, y el Estado libanés debe iniciar el proceso de reconstrucción”, añadió.
Sus comentarios se produjeron horas después de que otro funcionario de Hezbollah dijera que el grupo se negaba a discutir la entrega de sus armas hasta que Israel se retirara completamente del sur del Líbano.
“No se trata de desarmarse”, declaró Wafic Safa en una entrevista con la emisora de radio Al-Nur de Hezbollah.
Safa, que según los expertos pertenece a la facción más radical del movimiento, afirmó que Hezbollah había transmitido su postura a Aoun.
En su entrevista, Safa preguntó: “¿No sería lógico que Israel primero se retirara, luego liberara a los prisioneros, luego cesara su agresión… y luego discutiéramos una estrategia defensiva?
“La estrategia defensiva consiste en pensar en cómo proteger a Líbano, no en prepararse para que entregue sus armas”.
Analistas han afirmado que la idea, antaño impensable, del desarme de Hezbollah puede haber dejado de serlo e incluso resultar inevitable.
En virtud del alto el fuego de noviembre, Israel debía retirar todas sus fuerzas del sur del Líbano. Pero a pesar del acuerdo, tropas israelíes han permanecido en cinco posiciones del sur del Líbano que consideran “estratégicas”.
Israel también ha continuado llevando a cabo ataques casi diarios contra miembros de Hezbollah en el Líbano.
En virtud de la tregua, Hezbollah debía retirar a sus combatientes al norte del río Litani y desmantelar cualquier infraestructura militar restante en el sur.
El ejército libanés se ha ido desplegando en el sur a medida que las fuerzas israelíes se retiraban.
Hezbollah afirma que el alto el fuego no se aplica al resto del Líbano, a pesar de basarse en la Resolución 1701 del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU, que exige el desarme de los grupos no estatales.
Hezbollah fue el único grupo que conservó sus armas tras el fin de la guerra civil libanesa en 1990, que duró 15 años, alegando que eran para la “resistencia” contra Israel, que siguió ocupando el sur hasta el año 2000.
La enviada especial de Estados Unidos para Medio Oriente, Morgan Ortagus, que visitó Beirut este mes, declaró que Washington seguía presionando a Beirut “para que cumpla plenamente el cese de hostilidades, y eso incluye el desarme de Hezbollah y de todas las milicias”.
En sus declaraciones del viernes, Qassem afirmó que Hezbollah rechazaba “el control estadounidense sobre el Líbano”.
Safa afirmó que tanto Hezbollah como el ejército libanés estaban respetando los términos de la tregua. “El problema es Israel, que no lo ha hecho”, afirmó.
El sábado, una fuente cercana a Hezbollah declaró a la AFP que el grupo había cedido al ejército libanés alrededor de 190 de sus 265 posiciones militares al sur del Litani.
(Con información de AFP)
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