Autism fears, measles spike among Minn. Somalis

Health officials struggling to contain a measles outbreak that's hit hard in Minneapolis' large Somali community are running into resistance from parents who fear the vaccine could give their children autism.

Fourteen confirmed measles cases have been reported in Minnesota since February. Half have been in Somali children, six of whom were not vaccinated and one who was not old enough for shots. State officials have linked all but one of the cases to an unvaccinated Somali infant who returned from a trip to Kenya in February. The state had reported zero or one case of measles a year for most of the past decade.

Amid the outbreak, a now-discredited British researcher who claimed there was a link between vaccines and autism has been meeting with local Somalis. Some worry Andrew Wakefield is stoking vaccination fears, but organizers say the meetings were merely a chance for parents to ask him questions.

"Unfortunately a lot of the media thinks he's saying 'Don't get vaccinated.' That's far from the truth. He's basically encouraging people to get vaccinated but do your homework and know the risks," said Wayne Rohde, a co-founder of the Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota, which says parents should have other options for immunizing their children.

Measles has been all but eradicated in the United States, but accounts for about 200,000 annual deaths worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. None of those infected in Minnesota have died, though eight have required hospitalization.

The infections come as autism concerns have surged over an apparent rise in cases in Minnesota's Somali community, the largest in the U.S. Officials, though, haven't determined if that's really happening.

The Minnesota Department of Public Health found in 2009 that young Somali children in Minneapolis public schools were over-represented in autism programs, but cautioned that alone didn't prove a higher rate of autism. The CDC and National Institutes of Health are working with the advocacy group Autism Speaks on a more systematic study.

Obama set to launch re-election bid

President Barack Obama is getting ready to make one of Washington's worst kept secrets official: He wants a second term.

Democratic officials familiar with the plan say Obama will file 2012 campaign papers with the Federal Election Commission as early as this coming week.

It's a long-anticipated but formal step that will allow him to start raising money for the campaign, which will be based in Chicago.

The fundraising effort has begun. Obama raised $1.5 million at a Democratic fundraiser in New York City this past week and he'll headline events in the coming weeks in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Obama raised an eye-catching $750 million for his 2008 campaign.

The officials asked not to be identified in order to speak before the re-election papers are filed.

Northern Ireland police: Bomb explodes under car

Northern Ireland police say a bomb has exploded under a car in the town of Omagh.

It was not immediately clear who may have been targeted or if there were any casualties in Saturday's blast.

Since 2007, Irish Republican Army dissidents have planted dozens of booby-trap bombs under the private cars of police officers. The bombs usually fail to detonate and have killed nobody. But two policemen have lost their legs in attacks in May 2008 and January 2010.

IRA dissidents committed the deadliest single bombing of the entire Northern Ireland conflict in Omagh on Aug. 15, 1998, when a car bomb detonated amid a crowd of evacuated shoppers and workers. Twenty-nine people, mostly women and children, were killed.

Libyan rebels say 13 killed in NATO airstrike

The main Libyan opposition spokesman says 13 rebels have accidentally been killed and seven injured in a NATO airstrike targeting Moammar Gadhafi's forces.

Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga said Saturday that the attack occurred as the rebels prepared to take over the oil city of Brega.

His comments are the first confirmation that the rebels were killed in an airstrike. NATO says it's looking into the report.

Calling it an "unfortunate accident," Ghoga says the rebels were killed as they moved forward while the NATO strike was in progress late Friday.

The Best April Fools' Day Hoaxes of 2011

When the Swiss spaghetti trees are once again in bloom and Antarctica's penguins have completed their annual migration from the rain forest, it can only mean one thing; it's April Fools' Day.


Some of the world's leading corporations and media outlets today unleashed a series of ambitious and hysterical pranks on a suspecting but still gullible public.


There are plenty of hoaxes circulating the Internet today but, as always, there's also plenty of real news too wacky to be fake.


So here's today's challenge from the honest people at ABCNews.com. One of the following stories out today is true, the other four are pranks.


Your mission: Read the following stories and vote for the one you believe is true.


To learn which of these stories is true, tune in tonight to World News with Diane Sawyer or check back here after 7 p.m. ET.


1. Child-Free Flights. Discount Irish airline Ryanair, known for its creative promotions and cost-cutting measures, including coin-operated toilets, is offering flights free of screaming babies and unruly children. For a small premium, travelers can buy a seat on "child-free flights."