Robert F. Kennedy Jr has claimed the government will know what has caused “the autism epidemic” by September and will “eliminate those exposures.”

The US health secretary made the remarks during a cabinet meeting on Thursday, during which President Donald Trump leaned into the repeatedly debunked claim that vaccines cause autism, saying, “Maybe it’s a shot.”

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network has said there is “no evidence” that autism is “becoming more common”, but rather society is “getting better at identifying it” and “diagnostic standards have appropriately been widened”.

Multiple cabinet departments are part of the PR effort following years of President Donald Trump talking about wanting to acquire Greenland. The island’s economic and strategic value has increased as global warming leads to melting Arctic ice, opening up new sea routes and access to natural resources.

US bond markets erupted on Wednesday as panicked investors scrambled to cash them in in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs and the trade war that followed.

The yield, or interest rate, for US government 30-year bonds spiked – a possible indicator of economic downturn – forcing the US president to perform a dramatic U-turn that saw him announce a temporary pause on tariffs for all countries but China.

“The bond market is very tricky, I was watching it. But yeah, I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy,” said Mr Trump as he laid out a 90-day pause on retaliatory levies.

The humiliating backtrack has striking similarities with Liz Truss’s rapid downfall as prime minister – also prompted by the bond market response to her disastrous mini-budget.

Here The Independent looks at the financial turmoil caused by both and what it might mean for Mr Trump’s future in the White House.

“Absent evidence of specific directives to immigration officers to target plaintiffs’ places of worship, or a pattern of enforcement actions, the Court finds no credible threat of imminent enforcement,” according to District Judge Dabney Friedrich.

The plaintiffs, a group of 27 religious organizations representing thousands of congregants, did not show the court that reinstating ICE policy against enforcement actions in churches “would provide the reassurance necessary to redress the alleged declines in religious attendance,” according to Friday’s order.

Leavitt confirmed that Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, is in Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

“I can confirm that Mr. Witkoff is in Russia to have direct communications with the Kremlin and with Vladimir Putin,” said the press secretary. “This is another step in the negotiating process towards a ceasefire and an ultimate peace deal in Russia and Ukraine.”

“As these negotiations are ongoing, I obviously will not get ahead of the president or his team, but I think the president has been quite clear that he’s been continually frustrated with both sides of this conflict, and he wants to see this fighting end,” she added.

Sir Keir Starmer has been warned against sacrificing too much in an attempt to secure a trade deal with Donald Trump, as hopes of avoiding tariffs appear to be fading.

Meanwhile, UK ministers appear to be increasingly downbeat about the prospect of a US-UK deal, with health minister Stephen Kinnock admitting that it might take some time. It comes despite officials previously insisting that talks were at an “advanced stage”.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said there will be “direct talks” between the U.S. and Iran this weekend.

“I have spoken to both the President and also his national security team who will be engaged in these discussions, these will be direct talks with the Iranians, and I want to make that very clear,” said Leavitt Friday.

She added that Trump’s “ultimate goal and the ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.”

“The President believes in diplomacy, direct talks, talking directly in the same room in order to achieve that goal,” said the press secretary, dismissing the notion that the weekend’s talks will not be a case of shuttle diplomacy.

The hearing in Abrego Garcia’s case in Maryland has started.

We don’t have a dial-in number for this case, but reporters are sharing updates from the courthouse.

Judge Paula Xinis has asked where he is. Justice Department attorneys say they don’t know.

She asked what the administration is doing to “facilitate” his release, per the Supreme Court’s order.

Again, they can’t answer.

A number of Democratic Senators have called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to open an investigation into whether Trump and his allies engaged in insider trading or market manipulation.

“We urge the SEC to investigate whether the tariff announcements, which caused the market crash and subsequent partial recovery, enriched administration insiders and friends at the expense of the American public and whether any insiders, including the President’s family, had prior knowledge of the tariff pause that they abused to make stock trades ahead of the President’s announcement,” said the senators.