Secret Service ‘dismantles imminent telecommunications threat’ in New York area
The Secret Service said on Tuesday that it had uncovered and dismantled a covert, high-tech operation in the New York area, which had the capability to disrupt cellular networks.
The discovery came as international leaders were preparing to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly nearby, the New York Times reported.
Authorities revealed that the hidden communications system included over 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers.
It was designed to allow anonymous, encrypted messaging and had the potential to interfere with emergency communication services.
“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated,” said US Secret Service director Sean Curran.
“The US Secret Service’s protective mission is all about prevention and this investigation makes it clear to potential bad actors that imminent threats to our protectees will be immediately investigated, tracked down and dismantled.”
According to one official, the network could send up to 30 million text messages per minute without revealing the sender’s identity – an operation of unprecedented scale, the official noted.
While investigators have not found any direct evidence linking the system to a threat against the UN event, Secret Service representatives, who spoke anonymously due to the ongoing nature of the case, confirmed that the network is no longer active.
Key events
While the Secret Service hasn’t confirmed that the telecommunications threat was targeting the United Nations general assembly, the agency said that the devices were “concentrated within 35 miles of the global meeting” and the investigation is ongoing.
The Secret Service added that early forensic analysis of the deviced indicates “cellular communications between nation-state threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement”.
Following the news that the Secret Service intercepted a threat to distrupt cellular networks in New York, in just over an hour Donald Trump will addresses the United Nations general assembly in the city.
We’ll bring you the latest lines, and be keeping an ear out for a number of topics: the chorus of allies across the world formally recognizing Palestinian statehood, the call for more severe sanctions on Russia as the war in Ukraine rages on, and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that in his speech, the president will “touch upon how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order” before articulating his “his straightforward and constructive vision for the world”.
After his speech, Trump has several high stakes bilateral meetings, including with Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelesnkyy and Argentinian leader Javier Milei – a fierce ally of the president. For context, the treasury department said this week that it was prepared to help Argentina’s struggling economy. “Argentina is a systemically important U.S. ally in Latin America,” said secretary Scott Bessent. “Argentina will be Great Again.”
Here are a couple more photos that were released by the Secret Service:
Secret Service ‘dismantles imminent telecommunications threat’ in New York area
The Secret Service said on Tuesday that it had uncovered and dismantled a covert, high-tech operation in the New York area, which had the capability to disrupt cellular networks.
The discovery came as international leaders were preparing to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly nearby, the New York Times reported.
Authorities revealed that the hidden communications system included over 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers.
It was designed to allow anonymous, encrypted messaging and had the potential to interfere with emergency communication services.
“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated,” said US Secret Service director Sean Curran.
“The US Secret Service’s protective mission is all about prevention and this investigation makes it clear to potential bad actors that imminent threats to our protectees will be immediately investigated, tracked down and dismantled.”
According to one official, the network could send up to 30 million text messages per minute without revealing the sender’s identity – an operation of unprecedented scale, the official noted.
While investigators have not found any direct evidence linking the system to a threat against the UN event, Secret Service representatives, who spoke anonymously due to the ongoing nature of the case, confirmed that the network is no longer active.
Peter Stone
As the Trump administration has fired federal employees and top officials for political reasons, blocked millions of dollars Congress appropriated and flouted legal norms, several legal outfits are providing crucial pro bono and other help to many individuals hurt by Donald Trump’s authoritarian actions, say lawyers involved and ex-prosecutors.
Lowell & Associates, Democracy Defenders Fund and the Washington Litigation Group, are among the leading legal groups with clients battling to get their jobs back, avoid prosecutions, or recoup millions of dollars that have been illegally blocked, say attorneys with the trio and experts.
Veteran white-collar lawyers, ex-justice department (DoJ) prosecutors and other legal talent at these firms are representing prominent figures Trump’s administration has fired to settle political scores, ex-officials his administration has launched investigations into, and scores of other officials ousted without cause, say lawyers.
Former DoJ prosecutors credit these smaller legal outfits for challenging administration moves that jeopardize the rule of law
“The creation of these new entities reflects a broad-based professional revulsion at the ongoing efforts to undermine the rule of law by the Trump administration, including turning the DoJ into an extension of the White House rather than a department that is faithful to the facts and the law,” said ex-DoJ inspector general Michael Bromwich.
Chad Mizelle, the Department of Justice chief of staff and a close ally of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, will step down in the coming weeks to return to his family in Tampa, Axios reported on Tuesday.
Mizelle told Axios he will continue to support the Trump administration and focus on exposing left-wing groups responsible for violence across America.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.
World Health Organization rejects unproven autism-Tylenol link: ‘The evidence remains inconsistent’
A World Health Organization spokesperson said on Tuesday that evidence of a link between the use of paracetemol during pregnancy and autism remained inconsistent and that the value of life-saving vaccines should not be questioned.
US president Donald Trump on Monday linked autism to childhood vaccine use and the taking of popular pain medication Tylenol by women when pregnant, elevating claims not backed by scientific evidence to the forefront of US health policy.
“The evidence remains inconsistent,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told a Geneva press briefing when asked about a possible link between paracetemol use in pregnancy and autism.
“We know that vaccines do not cause autism. Vaccines, as I said, save countless lives. So this is something that science has proven, and these things should not be really questioned,” he added.
Former CDC official pushes back on unproven claim linking autism and Tylenol
Speaking on a call organized by Defend America Action, a campaign group, Debra Houry, a former chief medical officer and deputy director at the CDC, told journalists: “As of three weeks ago, we hadn’t seen evidence that acetaminophen was linked with autism, so it’s curious to know how quickly that was developed.”
“There are many studies which refute a link, but the most important was a Swedish study of 2.4m births published in 2024 which used actual sibling data and found no relationship between exposure to paracetamol [known in the US as acetaminophen] in utero and subsequent autism, ADHD or intellectual disability,” said Dr Monique Botha, associate professor in social and developmental psychology at Durham University
“The fearmongering will prevent women from accessing the appropriate care during pregnancy.
Alison Singer, president and founder of the Autism Science Foundation, voiced scathing criticism of the administration’s approach – specifically its assertions on Tylenol, which she called “not scientifically based”.
“Any association between Tylenol and autism is based on very limited, conflicting and inconsistent science, and it’s premature to make this kind of unsubstantiated claim and risk undermining public health,” she said.
“It’s misleading to families who deserve clear more factually based information.”
She also questioned the basis of the White House announcement. “We’re uncertain as to why this press conference is being held today. To our knowledge, there was no new data that were uncovered, no new studies published, no new presentations were made. There wasn’t a scientific conference or a medical conference,” Singer said.
Medical and autism experts decry Trump’s Tylenol claims
Good morning, and welcome to our coverage of US politics on a busy day for Donald Trump as he is due to address the UN general assembly at 9.50am EST with several meetings scheduled for later. We’ll be bringing you all the news through the day.
But first let’s cover some other developments, including the reaction to Monday’s press conference when the president linked autism to the taking of popular pain medication Tylenol, known as paracetamol elsewhere, by women when pregnant.
He delivered medical advice to pregnant women and parents of young children, repeatedly telling them not to use or administer the painkiller and suggesting that common vaccines not be taken together or so early in a child’s life.
“I want to say it like it is, don’t take Tylenol. Don’t take it,” Trump said. “Other things that we recommend, or certainly I do anyway, is … don’t let them pump your baby up with the largest pile of stuff you’ve ever seen in your life,” he said, referring to vaccines.
Trump’s team suggested leucovorin, a form of folic acid, as a treatment for autism symptoms.
Dozens of medical, research, and autism advocacy groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, decried the president’s announcement.
“The data cited do not support the claim that Tylenol causes autism and leucovorin is a cure, and only stoke fear and falsely suggest hope when there is no simple answer,” the Coalition of Autism Scientists said in a statement, reported Reuters.
New York University bioethicist Art Caplan told Associated Press it was “the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recycling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies, and dangerous advice I have ever witnessed by anyone in authority.”
You can read our report here:
In other news:
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Disney annoucned that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to television today. This comes after the late night show has spent almost a week off the air, after ABC suspended production.
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Donald Trump signed an executive order designating ‘antifa’ as a domestic terrorist organization. The news follows Trump’s announcement on Thursday that he was planning such an order following Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Antifa, short for “anti-fascists”, is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning activist groups and is not a single entity.
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As the president prepares to address the UN general assembly on Tuesday, the White House responded to several countries formally recognizing Palestinian statehood. “Frankly, he believes it’s a reward to Hamas,” the press secretary said yesterday. “He believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies. And I think you’ll hear him talk about that tomorrow at the UN.”
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Trump will meet with top Congressional Democrats Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries this week regarding healthcare spending and a spending bill to keep the government funded.
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Lindsey Halligan, a former Florida insurance lawyer who has been serving as a special assistant to the president, has been sworn in as interim US attorney, replacing Erik Siebert. Siebert, a longtime prosecutor who had been overseeing investigations into Letitia James, the New York attorney general, and James Comey, the former FBI director, resigned Friday amid pressure from the Trump administration.
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