The local electoral court ordered the immediate restoration of 100% of the bus fleet and ordered the arrest of the municipal transport secretary, Pablo Souza, on suspicion of an electoral offence and disobeying court orders. The arrest warrant could not be carried out, however, because he is in Paris on what the city government described as an “official mission”, and is not expected to return to Brazil until Monday.
Late in the afternoon, Flávio Bolsonaro also filed requests for voting to be extended by two hours in cities in the states of São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina, but because of heavy rain that he said had prevented voters from turning out.
Vučić’s 12-year reign looks to have been ended by record turnout of voters in election provoked by student-led protests
The long-serving leader of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has conceded defeat, ushering in a seismic political shift after a historic election that saw the increasingly authoritarian leader pitted against a student-led movement that had spent two years protesting against his government.
Vučić pointed to preliminary results that suggested voters had overwhelmingly backed the students, potentially giving them a majority in the country’s 250-seat parliament.
The latest turnout projection by Ipsos/Cesid suggests a turnout of 60.8% by 5pm local time (4pm UK), with three hours still to go until the polling stations close.
That’s more than 13 percentage points higher than in 2023, and would be the highest turnout since mid-2000s.
“What hasn’t motivated me? There isn’t a single reason I could give that would keep me from showing upat my polling station at 6:20 in the morning.”
President Trump went to extraordinary lengths for Tina Peters, a former election official convicted of helping to breach the very voting system she swore to protect.
Australia placed restrictions on social media for under-16s. But the government says Big Tech is dragging its feet on compliance — and many teens are still on the platforms.
When immigrants can't be deported to their home countries, the U.S. sometimes sends them to other countries. But some deportees end up in places where U.S. judges have ruled they will likely be persecuted.
A Texas dad was deported to Ghana, where he says local officials forced him onto a flight to Mali. The problem? A U.S. judge had ruled he couldn't be sent to Mali because the country is unsafe for him.
Tina Peters, an election conspiracy theorist who supported President Trump's voting fraud claims, had her Colorado prison sentence commuted by Gov. Jared Polis after a White House pressure campaign.
Australia, concerned over social media's impact on kids, placed restrictions for children under 16 on many major platforms. It's too soon to say if the law's working, but it's now a global test case.
Trump again congratulated Ohio senator’s rear end before his cheeky comment about rapper being ‘hard to miss’
Donald Trump reiterated his apparent love for buxom bums during a rally in Michigan on Sunday where he encouraged the crowd to compliment rapper Nicki Minaj’s behind.
Trump’s cheeky comments about Minaj’s derriere came as he explained his recent observation on the Republican Ohio senator Jon Husted’s rear end. Earlier in October, Trump said of the former college football player: “I don’t do this with men very often. I started examining his body, because I didn’t know he was a great athlete. And I looked and I watched up and down. I looked at his ass and I looked at the whole – and then I looked at his hands. Look at his hands. He’s got these, like, claws.
Downing Street will allocate a further £432m in this week’s budget, bringing total funding for finding a ‘lasting solution’ to nearly £900m
Andy Burnham is to double spending on ending rough sleeping to almost £900m by the end of the current parliament, as he steps up efforts to get people off the streets by Christmas.
The prime minister has pledged to offer every rough sleeper in England a safe route off the streets or wider support as a central part of his premiership.
Man aged 60 and another in his 20s killed by falling trees in Scotland and London as Met Office reports gusts of up to 84mph
Two people have been killed and more than 160,000 properties have been left without power as Storm Boelo continues to batter the UK.
Two men, one aged 60 and the other in his 20s, were killed by falling trees on Sunday, police said. The 60-year-old died in south-west Scotland while the man in his 20s was killed in London.
After a shock defeat in the first round, the incumbent Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,is seeking a new term in a runoff with Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of his convicted predecessor
Polls were originally due to close at 17.00BRT, 20.00GMT, but voting was extended for two hours; the full count is now under way. Full coverage here
Aleksandar Vucic, who denounced the oppositional student movement as a foreign-led attempt to unseat him, led with virtually absolute power for 14 years.
Michael Penix Jr threw three touchdown passes, Atlanta scored 13 points off four turnovers and the Falcons handed the San Francisco 49ers their first loss, 29-20. San Francisco were already thin at wide receiver before its offense faced additional limitations when running back Christian McCaffrey missed much of the first half with a thigh injury. Brock Purdy threw two interceptions, one of them by rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels. Daniels also recovered a fumble by George Kittle. Penix threw scoring passes to Nick Muse, Kyle Pitts and Drake London as the Falcons snapped a two-game skid.
Chancellor is in favour of North Sea project, but energy secretary has said she is leaning towards rejecting it
A cabinet split has emerged over whether to approve drilling at the Rosebank oilfield, with the chancellor, John Healey, in favour of the controversial North Sea project.
Peltola and her family sustained minor injuries after a driver struck the car transporting group to campaign stop
Mary Peltola, a Democrat who is running for Alaska’s lone US Senate seat, and her family suffered minor injuries in a car crash while driving to a campaign stop on Saturday, her campaign said.
The family was on its way to the Alaska Federation of Natives annual banquet when another vehicle crashed into the one transporting Peltola and her family, her campaign said in a statement on Sunday. Peltola required medical attention after the collision.
(The Center Square) – Treasury screened $3.7 trillion in federal payments through its Do Not Pay system last fiscal year, across nearly every federal program. For all but 11, the law would not let it check a Social Security number.
PM’s plea supported by Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband and business leaders, while some ‘red wall’ MPs voice concern
Andy Burnham’s call for the UK to consider a return to free movement with Europe has been backed by senior cabinet ministers but risked a rift with “red wall” Labour MPs, who say it could jeopardise Brexit-voting seats.
The prime minister made his plea for an “honest discussion” about freedom of movement in an interview with the Sunday Times, making clear that staying out of it would no longer be a red line in talks with the EU.
Making innocent protesters liable for damage would be bad for rule of law and play into far-right hands, say opponents
Emmanuel Macron has been accused by trade unions of trying to curb the fundamental French right to protest as the government fast-tracks a bill to make protesters pay for damage caused by vandalism at street demonstrations even if they did not directly cause it themselves.
The French president, who leaves office next spring, has faced more than a month of protests in which high-school students have blockaded schools demanding a response to teacher absences, repairs to decrepit buildings and changes to the university applications platform.
Nobel peace prize winner’s return after almost a year in exile is unlikely to please interim president Delcy Rodríguez
The Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado, has announced she has returned to Venezuela almost a year after she left the country to receive the Nobel peace prize.
“I’m here. With you,” she wrote on X on Sunday lunchtime.
Chancellor was said to be worried about market-sensitive leaks, yet significant policies have been heavily trailed in the media
The public has been told repeatedly that John Healey is so concerned about budget leaks that he has set up defence-style “compartmentalisation” to prevent the Treasury’s financial secrets escaping.
The macho military analogies began in mid-August when Healey was said by the Telegraph to be “on a war footing” to stop the drip of information that he believed had beleaguered Rachel Reeves.
Man accused of shooting teen who was driving to a party is also linked to shooting of a vehicle days earlier, police say
A man accused in the shooting death of a Missouri teen has been charged in a second shooting incident – both of which involve firing into cars on the highway.
Alyssa Wilson, 17, was shot and killed as she drove down Interstate 170 in Overland, Missouri, on 14 October. The teen was on her way to a Halloween party at St Louis Zoo, called Boo at the Zoo, when a suspect fired a single shot into the back of Wilson’s Buick Encore.
More inclement weather forecast in rain-soaked Four Corners region after evacuations and rescues last week
Another round of heavy showers and thunderstorms were expected to hit the south-west US on Sunday after the region endured days of rain that forced evacuations, water rescues and multi-million-dollar damage.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for much of the Four Corners – the meeting point of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah – even as local officials forecast further receding of swollen rivers that surged since rains picked up on Wednesday.
Lana Nusseibeh has Palestine’s endorsement but faces criticism over UAE’s record on human rights and Sudan
An Emirati diplomat who as UAE ambassador to the UN helped secure the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza has entered the race as a late contender to succeed António Guterres as the world body’s secretary general.
Lana Nusseibeh, who is of Palestinian heritage, is widely noted for her advocacy of the Palestinian cause and the two-state solution and has won the endorsement of the state of Palestine.
On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, Attorney General Todd Blanche and Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa join Margaret Brennan.
Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democrat running for governor in Texas, said there's "deep disappointment in both political parties" in the Lone Star State.
Authentic Brands Group says AI company infringed on rights of songs by the King such as Can’t Help Falling in Love
The owners of Elvis Presley’s music catalogue are suing artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic for allegedly using Presley’s songs to train their models without permission.
Authentic Brands Group, the licensing organization that has ownership of both Presley’s music and likeness, is accusing Anthropic of infringing on the rights of 274 songs by Presley. The lawsuit, first reported by Billboard, was filed on Friday.
(The Center Square) – Financial markets expect the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged this week. That remains my expectation. But the case for another increase is getting harder to dismiss.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit last week to preemptively challenge the certification of Alaska's Senate race if the Republican incumbent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, loses.
The following is the transcript of the interview with Attorney General Todd Blance that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Oct. 25, 2026.
The following is the transcript of the interview with Sen. Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Oct. 25, 2026.
The FBI is examining a controversial job offer made by longtime New Castle County Recorder of Deeds Michael Kozikowski to County Councilman David Tackett shortly before Tackett entered the Democratic primary against him, according to a report Friday by WHYY News. image created on 10/24 using AI.
Karen Hartley-Nagle’s earlier investigation raised questions about whether the $76,295 position offered to David Tackett existed in county budgets, pay plans or legislation.
WILMINGTON — The FBI is examining a controversial job offer made by longtime New Castle County Recorder of Deeds Michael Kozikowski to County Councilman David Tackett shortly before Tackett entered the Democratic primary against him, according to a report Friday by WHYY News.
The federal inquiry brings renewed attention to a June 24 meeting between the two men and to questions previously raised by former New Castle County Council President Karen Hartley-Nagle about the county position Kozikowski offered Tackett.
WHYY reported that an FBI special agent in the bureau’s Wilmington office requested and received an audio recording Tackett made of the approximately 90-minute meeting. Emails reviewed by WHYY show the agent requested the recording Oct. 1 and that it was provided Oct. 8.
Federal authorities have not publicly described the scope of their review, and no criminal charges have been filed.
U.S. Attorney for Delaware Benjamin Wallace told WHYY that Justice Department policy prevented him from confirming the existence of an investigation. The Delaware Attorney General’s Office also declined to comment. Kozikowski did not respond to WHYY’s latest requests for comment about the FBI’s involvement.
The federal interest follows months of questions about exactly what Kozikowski offered Tackett and whether the proposed county job could legally or administratively have existed as described.
The lunch meeting
According to WHYY, Kozikowski invited Tackett to lunch June 24 at Cosmos Restaurant near Newport while Tackett was considering whether to challenge him for recorder of deeds.
Tackett recorded the conversation.
During the meeting, Kozikowski repeatedly discussed a position paying $76,295 annually and suggested Tackett would be well-suited for it because of his experience dealing with the public as a councilman.
WHYY reported in September that Kozikowski described the job as a constituent service outreach position that he said he created by upgrading a vacant legal aide position. Kozikowski acknowledged making the offer but disputed that he had done anything improper.
His position was that Tackett had not yet filed as a candidate and therefore remained free either to consider the job or enter the race.
“He still had that choice,” Kozikowski told WHYY in September.
Tackett ultimately did not accept the offer. Instead, he went to the county elections office after the meeting and filed to challenge Kozikowski.
He later submitted a complaint to the Delaware Department of Justice’s Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust, accompanied by the recording and a transcript. Copies were also provided to the Department of Elections and New Castle County Ethics Commission.
The Department of Elections said the issues raised were outside its jurisdiction.
What Hartley-Nagle found
While WHYY’s reporting revealed the recorded conversation and the complaint, Hartley-Nagle subsequently examined county budgets, pay schedules, vacancy records and legislation to determine whether the position described during the lunch could be found in the county’s official records.
Her Sept. 15 report, “The Job That Was Not There,” raised several questions about the offer.
Hartley-Nagle reported that the Recorder of Deeds Office had identified five vacancies in a May 4 presentation to County Council. Three were funded positions carrying salaries of $37,593, $38,533 and $47,979.
None carried a salary of $76,295.
The position Kozikowski later told WHYY had been upgraded was identified in county records as Position Control Number 102453, a Row Office Legal Aide position carrying an anticipated salary of $38,533.
According to Hartley-Nagle’s review of the county documents, that position had been vacant since May 2022 and the Recorder of Deeds Office told council in May that it planned to fill it during the second quarter of fiscal 2027 — beginning Oct. 1, months after the June lunch and after the September primary.
Hartley-Nagle also highlighted the unusually precise salary Kozikowski quoted.
The $76,295 figure did appear on a New Castle County pay schedule, she reported, but that schedule did not take effect until July 1 — seven days after the meeting.
On June 24, according to her review, the corresponding salary on the pay schedule then in effect was $74,434.
Hartley-Nagle also reported that she could find no county classification carrying the title Kozikowski described and no ordinance creating that position.
Those findings do not, by themselves, establish that a crime occurred. They do provide additional context for investigators examining what was offered, whether there was an authorized position behind the offer and whether the proposal complied with county and state law.
A legal complication
There was another significant issue with the proposal: Tackett was already an elected New Castle County councilman.
Delaware law prohibits a County Council member from simultaneously holding another county office. WHYY reported that Kozikowski was aware lawyers would have to examine whether Tackett could hold both positions.
Hartley-Nagle’s review went further, pointing to Delaware law providing for forfeiture of a council seat when a member accepts another county office.
That means the questions surrounding the meeting extend beyond whether Kozikowski verbally offered Tackett a job. The recording and public records raise questions about what job was actually being offered, how it would have been created and funded, and whether Tackett could legally have accepted it while remaining on County Council.
From complaint to FBI review
Tackett and his campaign did not ask prosecutors to assume a crime had occurred. The complaint requested that authorities determine whether Kozikowski’s actions violated Delaware criminal law, election law or county ethics rules.
Kozikowski has consistently defended his conduct.
He told WHYY in September that because Tackett had not yet filed as a candidate, he believed there was nothing improper about offering him employment. After Tackett filed, Kozikowski said, the decision had been made.
The political question was subsequently settled by voters.
Tackett defeated Kozikowski in the Sept. 15 Democratic primary with 52.2% of the vote, ending Kozikowski’s 24 years as recorder of deeds. No Republican filed for the office, leaving Tackett unopposed in the Nov. 3 general election.
The legal questions remain unresolved.
WHYY reported that an FBI agent specifically requested the recording after reviewing information concerning the complaint. Tackett’s campaign provided it.
Neither Tackett nor his campaign manager said they know how far the FBI review has progressed, and WHYY reported that the agent has not subsequently requested an interview or additional information from them.
The involvement of the FBI does not establish that Kozikowski committed a crime. It does mean federal law enforcement has obtained evidence concerning a matter that began as an unusual conversation between two Delaware elected officials and subsequently became the subject of complaints, investigative reporting and questions about how a public job could be created and offered.
For Delaware taxpayers, the broader issue is also one of government accountability: Public positions, salaries and hiring authority generally leave a paper trail.
Hartley-Nagle’s investigation sought to find that trail.
The FBI is now examining the recording at the center of the dispute.
To Go Box
WHAT: FBI review of a June 24 job offer by then-New Castle County Recorder of Deeds Michael Kozikowski to County Councilman David Tackett.
LATEST DEVELOPMENT: WHYY News reported Oct. 24 that an FBI agent requested and received Tackett’s recording of the meeting.
BACKGROUND: Karen Hartley-Nagle’s Sept. 15 report, “The Job That Was Not There,” examines county budgets, vacancy records, pay schedules and legislation related to the position Kozikowski described.
STATUS: No criminal charges have been filed. Federal authorities have not publicly disclosed the scope or status of their review.
Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s attorney general, lashed out during an interview on Sunday while defending the justice department’s pre-emptive lawsuit to block certification of Alaska’s US Senate results if the GOP incumbent loses, calling a TV host’s question “crazy”.
The testy repartee unfolded on CNN’s State of the Union over the DoJ’s unprecedented legal action, which alleges that there could be “voter confusion” due to two candidates named Dan Sullivan on Alaska’s ballot. Trump told reporters, “I’m the one that said do it” when asked about the suit.
(The Center Square) – Voters are favoring Democrats when it comes to the economy, according to the latest The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, with the midterm elections just over a week away.
The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Oct. 25, 2026.
Exclusive: Joshua Loudermilk says suspicions first raised during filming by gun shaped like wearable plastic bottom: ‘You’re gonna put a butt on top of a butt? You can’t run in that’
• This article contains spoilers for Ali G: Who Iz I?
Joshua Loudermilk, one of two men apparently discredited by the new Ali G movie Ali G: Who Iz I?, has said that he was in on the joke, but that the film-makers didn’t realise this.
Loudermilk, a 54-year-old aspiring actor from North Carolina, has told the Guardian he recognised star Sacha Baron Cohen early in the shoot but continued pretending to be a hard-right Maga sympathiser prepared to defend the US border at all costs.
The following is the transcript of the interview with Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Oct. 25, 2026.
More than 30 people arrested as officers clear at least 100 tents in central Lisbon and about 50 in Porto
Police in Portugal have dismantled housing protest camps in Lisbon and Porto, baton-charging campaigners in the early hours of Sunday and arresting more than 30 people.
The raids were the latest incident in days of clashes between police and campaigners who – inspired by similar camps in Spain – had sought to pitch tents in central squares to protest against the country’s deepening housing crisis.
Police say altercation at a homecoming party escalated into gunfire and they are working to identify ‘those responsible’
A shooting near a Florida university campus in Tallahassee has left 11 people with gunshot wounds and another person injured, authorities say.
The shooting took place near the Florida Agricultural + Mechanical University’s campus on Perry Street on Saturday night, the university said, while police countedsix adults and six juveniles among the injured.
(The Center Square) – A majority of voters oppose using artificial intelligence to hunt fraud in government programs if it also risks wrongly flagging or denying benefits to people who qualify for them, a new The Center Square poll found.
Democratic and independent candidates stump the US midwest and prairie states, hoping to win over Republican strongholds
In this final stretch of the US midterm elections, Democrats and independents could win back communities and towns across America’s rural heartlands through a combination of resurgent “prairie populism”, local despair over the impact of Donald Trump’s agenda and an old-fashioned tenet of shoe-leather politics: showing up everywhere.
When Dan Osborn rolled into one of the most rural counties in Nebraska earlier this month, he started walking into businesses in the tiny main drag of Arthur, ready to meet whomever he could in the town of about 100.
"Lincoln in the Bardo," based on George Saunders' novel, is the first opera composed by a woman to premiere at the Metropolitan Opera. Missy Mazzoli talks about its creation, and the influence that punk rock and music videos had on her work.
Director Peter Berg discusses his new film, the true story of All-American football stars who volunteered for the Marines and fought in the Battle of Okinawa, the last and costliest World War II battle in the Pacific.
Number of videos about British trains doubles in three months as creators find audiences interested in workings of railways
They are not just gathered at the end of your local train station platform any more. Now they are on your social media platforms too.
Trainspotters have played a part in more than doubling the number of videos about British trains on TikTok in the last three months. According to the platform, the rise in rail content is also down to more people seeking information on cheap tickets, facts about the London Underground and tales from train staff.
How a rebuilt, historic California baseball diamond embodies ‘the contradictions in America’s legacy’
When Dan Kwong first dreamed of staging baseball games at the Japanese American concentration camp where his family was held captive during the second world war, he thought of it as an exercise in living history, an eye-catching way to convey the trauma of 120,000 men, women and children who were locked up in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Baseball was a passion for Kwong, a 71-year-old performance artist from Los Angeles. He knew that the wartime internees had played the game not just as a distraction from their predicament, but as a quiet expression of their loyalty to the United States. He wanted to stage an event that would cast the game as an act of resistance, and teach new generations about the damage governments do when they strip a whole segment of the population of their constitutional rights.
Actor’s storylines in the famous soap will be recut into vertical micro-episodes to be watched on phones – but her fellow cast members say they haven’t been consulted
The long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours is being recut with AI into a microdrama designed to be watched on phones, sparking a debate among the show’s actors and the industry over the wider implications of television archives being mined for new content.
RoseBerry Media, which specialises in making “vertical television” for phones, has repurposed original episodes of Neighbours for distribution on its Epis platform, using an AI-assisted production tool called RedSnapper.
In the 1990s actress Parker Posey was dubbed "The Queen of the Indies." The Emmy-nominated star of "The White Lotus," and the new film "Wild Horse Nine" talks about her Southern upbringing, and how her parents inspired her acting.
VW investment, creating 4,500 jobs in Georgia, comes amid Trump’s damaging tariffs, intense Chinese competition and costly shift towards EVs
Audi has said it will spend $4bn (£3bn) to build its first factory in the US, as its parent company, Volkswagen, struggles with the impact of steep tariffs imposed by Donald Trump.
The German brand’s chief executive, Gernot Döllner, joined Trump on stage at a campaign rally on Saturday night to announce the factory in Macon, Georgia, in an unusual move by a big European brand just days before the US midterm elections.
They're painted advertisements from long ago, for businesses that may have since died. But remnants of these "ghost signs" still remain, haunting our urban spaces – and one artist is bringing ghost signs back to life.
Exclusive: People from marginalised groups more likely to be diagnosed via urgent referral or in emergency setting, research finds
People from minority ethnic backgrounds in Englandare up to a third less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer via routine screening, and are more likely to be diagnosed in an emergency setting, analysis has found.
The research, carried out by academics at the University of Surrey and funded by the charity Breast Cancer Now, involved analysis of 86,564 adults diagnosed with the disease between 2009 and 2019, from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink and the Cancer Registration Tumour and Treatment datasets.
On Tuesday, Israel will hold its first parliamentary elections since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. Essentially one man is on the ballot: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. How might Israeli policy change if the opposition succeeds?
Harry Houdini, the greatest escape artist who ever lived, died 100 years ago on Halloween – a fact that has only burnished his image as a daredevil who often cheated death. But was there a cover-up involving the circumstances of his death?
Sources close to Tory leader say Jack Ross, who faces party investigation after undercover report, worked as social media consultant
A former Conservative election candidate who was suspended after he was filmed discussing the cost of hiring contract killers worked as a consultant in Kemi Badenoch’s office as recently as last year.
Jack Ross is facing an investigation by the Tories after he was filmed apparently asking an undercover reporter: “What do you want done?” and apparently offering to “broker” the services of an alleged far-right paramilitary group.
Shasta has embraced the Maga movement with gusto – can Democrats ever win back the rural, working-class voters they once relied upon?
A crucial election was approaching and the country was desperate. Despite promises that economic conditions were improving, nearly a quarter of the US was out of work as voters headed to the polls in 1932.
It was the darkest time since the civil war, a period so dire that in California’s capital people fought each other for work. In early 1931, a crowd of 200 men scuffled over a handful of temporary jobs moving back-breaking loads of granite, the Sacramento Bee reported.
To understand where Trump is trying to take the US, we should look to the authoritarian playbook of his favorite ally: El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele
One afternoon last year, Donald Trump welcomed “a friend” to the White House – El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, the world’s most popular authoritarian. “I knew him as a very young man,” the US president said before the cameras. “He’s done a fantastic job. Mr President, it’s an honor to have you.”
Since March 2022, when gangs in El Salvador murdered 87 people over a weekend, Bukele has maintained a state of emergency in which key civil liberties are suspended and 2% of the adult population has been jailed – about 100,000 people, at least half of whom are probably not gang members, say local rights groups. The narrative of “the Bukele miracle” – that he swiftly dismantled fearsome gangs and restored order – has made him an icon across Latin America, where a new host of rightwing leaders have sought to replicate his heavy-handed tactics. And in the US, Bukele’s overnight success as a strongman has made him a hero of the American right.
The Dream and Valkyries are tied at 2-2 after four absorbing games. Many in America would rather we revisited the national anthem debate
When Tyler Perry leading lady Crystal Renee took center stage at State Farm Arena to sing the national anthem before the Atlanta Dream’s WNBA finals clash with the Golden State Valkyries on Saturday afternoon, a smattering of photographers, game officials and event security took their familiar places around her as the capacity crowd stood for the flag. The teams, as is now customary, spent that time in their locker rooms. As soon as the lights went back up, the teams returned to the floor to resume their shootarounds. Anyone genuinely invested in the finals would have been unfazed by them briefly stepping away – if they remembered it at all after the Valkyries’ 67-62 win tied the series at two games apiece. But for many watching the game, basketball is beside the point.
Seven years ago, Jay-Z declared that the culture had “moved past kneeling” and similar national anthem protests, seemingly sounding the death knell for an era of sports activism that had helped raise awareness of racial disparities as a broader social movement gathered force. The line cemented his partnership with the NFL as the league bowed to political pressure to crack down on anthem protests, with other major US sports eventually following the NFL’s lead. But rightwing media and politicians never got the memo. They’re still making sports a battleground for patriotism, with basketball as the war’s chief casualty.
Keep the first course relaxed with 13 fall appetizers, from smoky wings and pork crostini to fresh pico, crisp pinwheels, and small dips. These shareable bites bring fall flavor without crowding the meal ahead.The post 13 fall bites that deliver…
Almost 1,000 arrested as police charge crowd in Paris and teargas used to stop protesters reaching other city centres
Hundreds of thousands marched in cities across France on Saturday in largely peaceful protests to support schoolchildren’s demands for more teachers and repairs to dilapidated buildings, as Emmanuel Macron faces a social and political crisis in his final months as president.
The prosecutor’s office in the southern city of Nice said on Sunday that 59 people had been taken into police custody, including 11 suspected of belonging to extreme-right groups. They were alleged to have gathered with the intent of committing violence. Some were arrested in two vehicles with masks, gloves, gas sprays and truncheons, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement to public broadcaster FranceInfo.
Incumbent president lost in first round to senator and son of convicted ex-president
Brazilians are going to the polls on Sunday in a highly unpredictable runoff in which the leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is attempting an unprecedented comeback against the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who won the first-round vote.
Bolsonaro’s surprise victory despite not leading most polls made him the favourite three weeks ago, but since then Lula’s campaign has gained ground, and the two go into the contest virtually tied.
This gives the company an advantage in tracking objects in orbit, raising national security concerns and fears of greater control over the space industry
The US military has given Elon Musk’s SpaceX access to restricted space tracking data, raising a new round of questions about whether the Trump administration is attempting to hand over traffic control in Earth’s orbit to a controversial donor.
The access also raises new national security questions, industry observers say.
State veterinarian attempted to get help from federal government but was told USDA didn’t regulate mink farms
An outbreak of bird flu at a mink farm in Utah – and the response from its owner and regulators – have sparked concerns from infectious disease experts about the Trump administration’s ability to manage such viruses.
While the mink becoming sick is unlikely to produce a “tidal wave of human infections”, an apparent lack of transparency from government officials about the infections is very troubling, said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiology professor and director of the pandemic center at Brown University School of Public Health.
When dinner needs to carry into the next night, these 15 slow cooker recipes bring generous servings, easy reheating, and plenty of variety, from roasts and meatballs to soups, casseroles, and chicken dinners.The post 15 slow cooker recipes with leftovers…
Exclusive: Forensic analysis of found images continues as Meghan’s father denies possessing child sexual abuse images
All signs point to Thomas Markle Sr being a “possible sex offender of the grossest kind” although a full forensic investigation will give a “definitive picture”, the Philippine interior minister has told the Guardian.
Authorities in the south-east Asian country are analysing digital images allegedly belonging to the estranged father of the Duchess of Sussex that were said to have been found at his former home in Cebu. Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, reported to authorities last week that he had apparently discovered a stash of child sexual abuse images.
Nikola Jokić scored eight of his 35 points in overtime and finished with 15 rebounds and 10 assists, and the short-handed Denver Nuggets rallied from 23 points down to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 141-135 on Saturday night.
Jokić had his 199th career triple-double in the regular season, second to Russell Westbrook, who retired with 209.
Election week can stretch late into the evening. These 17 dinner recipes include soups, casseroles, slow cooker meals, stir-fries, and hearty mains to make supper easier when the day runs long.The post 17 dinner recipes to get you through the…
I can’t say I’m enjoying my new gig as a would-be creator. But these days, I don’t have much choice
I recently started posting videos on Instagram. Like, actual videos.
Reels, as they call them. Where I say things, with one of those obnoxiously tiny microphones with the fuzzy head on top. I remember when microphones were gigantic tubular monstrosities that you couldn’t accidentally swallow without a pretty substantial effort and a handful of God-given talent.
Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist
Stakeholders concerned more people at risk of food insecurity after One Big Beautiful Act took effect
Enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) has decreased significantly over the past year in the US following restrictions imposed by the Trump administration, which has forced more people to seek help from food banks or go hungry, stakeholders say.
The number of people who receive food stamps has dropped from 41.6 million in July 2025, before the One Big Beautiful Act took effect, to 36.5 million in June 2026, a 13% decrease, according to the latest data from the US Department of Agriculture, which administers the program.
James Blair’s data-driven approach delivered victory in 2024 but president’s unpopularity and idiosyncratic style do not bode well this time
They are both young, bald and fathers of four. They are also the brains behind Donald Trump. But while Stephen Miller is infamous as the US president’s ideological enforcer, James Blair could, in the words of Time magazine, “be the most important person in Donald Trump’s Washington you’ve never heard of”.
That imbalance is deceptive, however. Blair has sufficiently impressed Trump to earn the nickname “Brilliant James”. And a well-positioned source told the Guardian: “I would say that James is probably twice, five times, 10 times more effective than Stephen Miller.”
Police closed case of Andrew Frederick despite autopsy report ruling his death a homicide
A time-critical investigation into the death of a British father whose body was found in a ransacked property on the Caribbean island of Grenada has stalled because of diplomatic delays between the two countries.
Charity workers supporting the family of Andrew Frederick are demanding immediate government intervention to clear the path for a full investigation to begin almost 10 months after his death, which has been ruled a homicide by a pathologist.
We all know the highlights of the tomb raider’s storied career – but what about the lowlights? We dig deep to unearth the archaeologist’s less glorious moments
Happy birthday, Lara! This month marks 30 years since Ms Croft first swan-dived into our lives with her unique blend of athletic prowess, archaeological expertise and giant knockers. More than 100 million Tomb Raider games have been sold since. We all remember the good times: the bold design and sheer playability of the original titles; the establishment of Lara as a 90s icon, embodying both lads’ mag culture and girl power; the way she made games cool, even appearing on the cover of the Face. We’ve had blockbuster movies, big budget reboots, and shiny reissues. And who could forget the time we got to powerwash her house?
But no one gets to 30 without a few skeletons in the closet – or in Lara’s case, butlers in the freezer. So here’s a look at the darker parts of her past.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has extended a line for the military’s religious leaders to reach him directly — and current and former military chaplains say they don’t want it.
Hegseth announced the creation of a new Office of Religious Affairs on September 30, vowing that the office would give members of the armed forces’ chaplain corps access to him without “bureaucratic dilution.” It coincides with his openly Christian “Send Me” campaign, an online propaganda effort that the Pentagon launched over the summer promoting a biblical phrase widely understood as a vow to accept a divine mission.
“We should not be in the business of wrapping the state’s mission in one particular religion,” an active-duty Army captain serving as a non-Christian chaplain told The Intercept. But as Hegseth’s Pentagon increasingly pushes Christianity, the chaplain, who was granted anonymity because he feared retaliation from the Defense Department, said he and other non-Christian chaplains worry the new religious affairs office will be used to do just that.
Hegseth’s body bears an assortment of Christian and Crusader imagery, including a Jerusalem cross across his chest and the Latin phrase “Deus vult,” or “God wills it,” on his bicep — a battle cry associated with the medieval Crusades that has since been adopted by far-right extremists. His forearm bears a cross and sword referencing Matthew 10:34, in which Jesus declares that he came not to bring peace but a sword, alongside the Hebrew name for Jesus. In 2021, a fellow National Guard member flagged Hegseth as a potential security threat over his Deus vult tattoo, before Hegseth was removed from an assignment protecting Joe Biden’s inauguration.
As defense secretary, Hegseth has frequently turned to messaging that centers religion and vengeance while promoting the U.S. and Israel’s unpopular war in Iran. His “Send Me” campaign is built around Isaiah 6:8, a biblical verse commonly invoked by Christians as a call to serve God. During his 9/11 speech last month at the Pentagon, Hegseth said the “struggle against evil” that followed the attacks continues today and “will continue until Judgment Day,” before turning to the current war with Iran.
“Using specific scriptural language for a military campaign inappropriately frames state-sanctioned armed conflict and government service as a Christian religious crusade,” the chaplain said. “Once a mission is declared God’s will, every act inside it is sanctified in advance.”
The new Office of Religious Affairs, the chaplain said, could entrench this dynamic. While the Pentagon memo establishing the office says it cannot compel religious participation or diminish the free-exercise rights of service members of any faith or no faith, the office’s director will report directly to Hegseth and the deputy defense secretary, oversee the Armed Forces Chaplains Board, and work with the civilian religious organizations that endorse military chaplains. The office will also oversee efforts to assess spiritual fitness, spiritual readiness, and spiritual resilience across the force. This consolidated control, the chaplain warned, may make it difficult to maintain pluralism among the chaplain corps.
“Our chaplain corps must serve [non-Christian service members], not just the soldiers that share a faith with the SecDef,” the Army chaplain said. While it’s too early to know what that authority will mean for non-Christian chaplains, he wondered how it might change the ranks of the chaplaincy itself.
“Will this group begin accepting fewer and fewer non-Christian chaplains into our ranks?” he said. “Will we begin seeing fewer and fewer non-Christian chaplains be chosen for promotions?”
The concerns extend beyond the active-duty chaplain. Rev. Dr. Rebekah Savage, a former military chaplain who now helps oversee the Unitarian Universalist Association’s endorsement of clergy serving as military chaplains, said the organization was not consulted before the office was established.
“I am deeply concerned about how this office will serve the religious needs of the members of the service,” she said. “I can’t speak for others who are a part of the chaplaincy corps, but I know I am not alone.”
In response to questions about the new office from The Intercept, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson wrote in a statement that the department “protects the constitutional right of every service member and civilian employee to practice their faith without coercion or discrimination. This is why Secretary Hegseth recently established the Office of Religious Affairs.” She said that prayer services and religious activities are always voluntary.
“The Christian faith is woven deeply into the fabric of our nation and shared by America’s wartime leaders like President George Washington, who prayed for his troops at Valley Forge, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who gifted Bibles to America soldiers during WW2 and encouraged them to read it,” Wilson added. “Despite the Left’s efforts to remove our Christian heritage from our great nation, Secretary Hegseth is among those who embrace it.”
In August, when “SEND ME” could still be dismissed as a string of social media posts, the Pentagon repeatedly declined to explain what the phrase meant or whether it represented a broader communications strategy.
As scholars of religion previously explained to The Intercept, the Pentagon’s use of the passage strips away part of the biblical story. Isaiah is not being sent to destroy God’s enemies; he is being sent to preach a warning to his own people. And the commission ends not in military triumph, but judgment. Cities are left empty, the land is devastated, and God’s own people suffer the destruction.
“Secretary Hegseth’s Send Me Tour is a military outreach and recruitment initiative focused on recognizing the Americans who volunteer to serve,” Wilson added in her statement. “We are grateful for the Americans—past, present, and future–who have raised their right hand and said, ‘Send Me.'”
Hegseth addresses Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets during a “Send Me” tour event at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, on Oct. 17, 2026.Photo: Capt. Tessa Lindsey/U.S. Army National Guard
Questions about the Pentagon’s treatment of minority religious traditions predate the new office.
In June, Savage joined 10 other religious endorsers in a letter to Hegseth objecting to revisions to the military’s Religious Affiliations Code list. The signatories said the changes removed or obscured the identities of several religious communities, including Unitarian Universalists, historically Black churches, and Wiccan and Pagan practitioners.
The endorsers warned that the changes could affect religious accommodations, access to clergy, and the distribution of chaplaincy resources.
“Classification is resource allocation,” they wrote.
Savage said the earlier changes, combined with the establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs, “calls the Department’s commitment to meeting the spiritual needs of all of its members into question.”
The active-duty Army chaplain questioned how the office’s stated religious-freedom protections would work in practice under a defense secretary who has increasingly incorporated Christian scripture into his public messaging.
“What oversight will exist to prevent religious bias?” he said. “When investments are made, will they be defining spiritual fitness by Christian, or by more pluralistic metrics?”
The same concerns extend to money. The office’s funding priorities include faith-based home school support for military families, faith-based suicide-reduction programs, and contracts with faith-based organizations.
“Will the Humanists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and other groups receive an equal, commensurate amount of support and funding for such programs?” the Army chaplain said. “Or will all or most of the funding go to Christian based organizations?”
Beyond institutional support, the chaplain said the Pentagon’s religious messaging could interfere with one of the central responsibilities of his profession: helping service members navigate questions of conscience, morality, and killing.
In reporting for Task & Purpose last month, this reporter examined how Army chaplains were preparing to address the moral and spiritual consequences of artificial intelligence in warfare. As one scholar of military ethics pointed out, moral injury can arise when service members feel responsible for actions that violate their values, even when they have little meaningful control over those decisions.
The Army chaplain raised a related concern: What happens when the military itself invokes religious authority to justify its mission?
“What can I say to a non-Christian soldier who is being ordered to kill his fellow man or risk dying himself for a god he does not believe in?”
“If my role as a chaplain is to advise soldiers and commanders of issues of morality and ethics, what can I say to them now?” he said. “How can I advise a commander on doing moral and ethical actions if the state has announced that their god has ordained their war?”
For service members who do not share the religious beliefs invoked by military leadership, the Army chaplain said, that tension could be especially difficult to reconcile.
“What can I say to a non-Christian soldier who is being ordered to kill his fellow man or risk dying himself for a god he does not believe in?” he said. “What do I tell a soldier who believes an action is immoral, but also believes that God commanded it?”
Newark Charter football improved to 7-0 this season with its win over the Seaford Blue Jays, 20-0, on October 23.
The rematch of last seasons’ Class 1A championship game drew a big crowd to see Newark Charter football take on Seaford, Friday night.
Freshman Liam Eruncak gets the game started with the opening kick-off.
Patriot senior Alexander Burrows celebrates after recording a sack.
Patriot senior Austin Gbadegbe looks on as his blocks get set.
Gbadegbe is brought down by Blue Jay junior Sincere Harris after a gain of 17 yards.
Newark Charter junior Austin Ledoschuk hauls in a nine-yard touchdown pass near the front pylon. This was Newark Charter’s first score of the game.
Junior Lucas Eruncak (No. 21) celebrates with his teammates after recovering a fumble and returning possession back to the Patriot offense.
Gbadegbe scores on a one-yard touchdown run to give Newark Charter a two possession lead.
Patriot senior Chase Lednum dives on the football to recover the fumble for Newark Charter. The Patriots forced two turnovers in the first quarter of the game.
Gbadegbe breaks a tackle during his 43-yard touchdown run following the fumble recovery. The Patriots led, 20-0, late in the first quarter.
To read about the game’s action click here for the full game story.
Seaford sophomore Nasir Serpa looks for running room as the Blue Jays drive down the field in the second quarter.
Blue Jay senior Jahari Ross leaps into the air to bring in the 10-yard catch.
Patriot quarterback Chase Kennedy throws a pass out wide during Newark Charter’s first possession of the second half.
Blue Jay junior Devon Crawford brings down Kennedy in the backfield for a sack, stalling the Patriot drive.
Seaford quarterback Everette Burton moves around in the pocket looking for an open receiver.
Blue Jay senior Leshaun Allen navigates through the Patriot defense for a gain of 33-yards on a pass from Burton.
Newark Charter senior Cayden Anderson leaps over the defender to make the catch on the Patriots’ final drive of the game. Newark Charter’s final offensive possession in the fourth quarter consumed over six minutes of time. Newark Charter won the game, 20-0.
All photos courtesy of Dave Reeder. To see more of Dave’s work follow him on Instagram @bfr_photo
For three decades, the recruitment industry treated Andrew Woosnam well.
Having learned his trade during the 1990s, he graduated to create his own firm at the turn of the millennium – which allowed him to bank millions of pounds in salary, dividends and loans and to buy assets including a grand house in Berkshire once owned by the comedians Dawn French and Lenny Henry.
Insolvent businesses reacquired by their previous management in “pre-pack” administrations are much more likely to fail again and tend to repay far less to creditors, research for the Guardian suggests.
The study is the latest to raise questions about the practice of “phoenixism” – accounting’s controversial art of liquidating companies to allow directors to return with a new entity, free of debts.
Teesside town has come out worst in children’s commissioner’s report, but residents say such rankings are demoralising and counterproductive
“It’s disappointing, it’s just another kicking,” said a youth worker after the town in which they work was labelled as the hardest place in which to be a child in England.
“It suggests our children are living unhappy lives,” said a teacher, who described her pupils as joyful.
James ‘Fergie’ Chambers, in prison in Spain, has applied for asylum as US seeks extradition over alleged Hamas support
US authorities seized wealthy activist James “Fergie” Chambers’s cellphone at some point after Spanish police arrested him in July without notifying him or his attorneys, the Guardian has learned.
Chambers, a US citizen and wealthy donor to leftwing and humanitarian projects, is imprisoned in Madrid. His case is the first known instance of the US seeking to extradite a citizen over alleged support for Hamas, an accusation tied to money Chambers has donated to support Palestinians, including the Sameer Project, in Gaza.
Reality TV show returns to focus on childbirth, diversity and the sharing of stories in a social media age
When One Born Every Minute first aired in 2010, viewers loved its fly-on-the-wall take on life in a maternity unit, from midwives idly chatting about unusual pregnancy cravings to parents squabbling over whether to call their child Zeus.
Almost two decades later, as the show is rebooted for a generation who spend their lives on social media, much has changed. Parents now share far more about their struggles with miscarriages, infertility and mental health; audiences have to be lured away from watching reels on their phones with more rigorous storytelling.
‘Session cookies’ are a primary target for hackers letting them hijack and use your accounts
You’ve had a busy morning of life admin, logging into various accounts to check balances and make payments. At the end of a productive few hours you close your laptop and move on to your next job.
What you don’t know is that fraudsters have hijacked your session with the bank and are now able to access your account. You are the victim of cookie theft, which belongs to a type of fraud known as “session hijacking”.
When Mike Harding, a California transplant, spotted a majestic mansion in Celina, Tennessee, he thought he'd found the dream retirement home for himself and his wife, Julie. But those dreams ended abruptly when Mike suddenly went missing in 2022.
Humanitarian catastrophe largely ignored as rivals Gadi Eisenkot and Benjamin Netanyahu vow to end Hamas rule
As Israel prepares to go to the polls, Palestinians in Gaza are bracing for an outcome that could shape their future, knowing their fate rests with the country that has reduced much of the territory to rubble and killed nearly 75,000 people.
Gaza, where nearly a million displaced Palestinians face dire sanitary conditions, water shortages and the constant threat of Israeli strikes, has been largely absent from the election campaign.
When Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s long-ruling dictator, was toppled from power in the Arab spring protests of 2011, his downfall sent shock waves across the Middle East. It also helped change the face of modern Manchester.
Mubarak’s successor, the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi, was a sworn enemy of the United Arab Emirates, whose rulers feared the advance of Morsi’s Islamism.
David Tolbert told investigators when he opened his car door outside a store where he was working in Huntsville, Alabama, he discovered his wife Savannah Tolbert's lifeless body in the front passenger seat. Investigators would rely on multiple security cameras to piece together what happened.
New York, NY — A former inmate who spent time with Jeffrey Epstein shortly before his 2019 death is recounting unverified stories the disgraced financier allegedly told him about President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.
William Mersey says he spent more than two dozen hours with Epstein at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center while participating in a companion program for inmates considered at risk of suicide.
In a new TMZ documentary, Mersey says he asked Epstein for a story that captured Trump’s personality. According to Mersey, Epstein responded with an anecdote involving Trump, a private jet, a French woman and Atlantic City, claiming Trump once described himself as “white-trash adjacent.”
Mersey said Epstein then volunteered a separate sexually explicit story involving Clinton during a trip to China.
Neither account has been independently verified, and Mersey’s recollections constitute hearsay rather than evidence that Trump or Clinton committed wrongdoing connected to Epstein.
The White House rejected the implications of the report and reiterated its position that Trump eventually barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago. Clinton’s representatives did not respond to TMZ’s request for comment.
Trump and Clinton were both socially acquainted with Epstein before his 2019 arrest, but neither has been charged with participating in Epstein’s sex-trafficking crimes.
Milwaukee rally from 4-0 down to win 5-4 in Game 2
Frelick homers before Pratt delivers go-ahead single
Rays undone by defensive mistakes in seventh inning
Sal Frelick tied the score with his first home run in three months, Cooper Pratt hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning and the Milwaukee Brewers stunned the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday night for a 2-0 World Series lead by overcoming a four-run deficit for the second time in the postseason.
Tampa Bay, who won the AL pennant by forcing opponents into mistakes, committed one error, made two other misplays that could have been charged as errors and had a runner thrown out at the plate.
Jaron Alexander, of Ingram, Texas, is one of more than 29,000 local law enforcement officers on the front lines of the Trump administration's deportation campaign.
The new patrol officer parked his black Dodge Charger outside a house off Main Street and approached on foot. A Mexican ballad was playing. Someone had called in a noise complaint, claiming it sounded as if people were fighting.
But as the officer, Jaron Alexander, got closer, he found nothing of the sort. A middle-aged woman greeted him as her daughter, Joanna Martinez, petite and visibly pregnant, looked on. “What kind of party are you all having?” she remembers him asking. Behind her were three generations of an extended family. They were celebrating a 3-month-old’s baptism over pozole verde, horchata and beers.
Alexander ran some IDs and found no issues. The music wasn’t even that loud, he thought. He told them to have a good night, and then he left.
That encounter, in early October last year, was the first of many that Alexander and Martinez would have in tiny Ingram, Texas, a 1.5-square-mile town of 1,900 people beside the Guadalupe River. But it was the only one before Ingram signed an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would roil the town and tear Martinez’s family apart.
“Her and I, at the beginning, I felt like we were running into each other all the time,” Alexander told us, in one of eight conversations over four months that offer a rare window into the thoughts of one of the local police officers on the front lines of the Trump administration’s deportation campaign.
In a town as small as Ingram, drivable in five minutes end to end, more run-ins were probably inevitable. Later that October, Alexander pulled over a work truck for rolling through a stop sign, and soon there Martinez was, demanding that he let her friends go rather than let immigration take them. He didn’t. He pulled over another driver in November who turned out to be her cousin, the father of the baby they celebrated at the baptism party. Alexander handed him over to immigration agents as well.
Ingram, a town of under 2,000 people, is — or was — 45% Latino. The police helped deport the equivalent of 10% of Ingram’s population.
He pulled over Martinez herself a few weeks before she was due to give birth, she says, surprising her when he knew her name and the type of car she typically drove. He warned her that the car’s window tint was illegal and let her go. After that, he says, he caught a glimpse of her and her husband and their newborn daughter in the toy aisle at Walmart. Martinez told us she doesn’t think it was even her that day — her baby girl was then just days old, and she couldn’t imagine running errands with her so soon. But in Alexander’s memory, she was shopping for Christmas presents, just like him.
Alexander, who is in his mid-30s, with dirty blond hair already turning gray, says he didn’t come back to Ingram to help deport his neighbors. In his telling, he just ended up making it part of his job. The town was where he started his law-enforcement career years earlier, before he took a better-paying position with the county, as a sheriff’s deputy. But things recently started to fall apart, first in his marriage, next at the sheriff’s office: A 185-page internal investigation found that he had an affair before his divorce was final and used a county vehicle to carry it out, then lied about it all. He says the investigator called him an “embarrassment to the profession.” The sheriff’s office fired him. (Alexander said at the time, and again to us, that he did not have the affair.)
Ingram’s Police Department took him back just when its new chief — its eighth in five years — was under pressure from the City Council to do more: more traffic stops, more citations, more arrests, more numbers. Alexander says he told the chief that the sheriff’s office had a deal with ICE and that Ingram should look into it; maybe it could help the department grow. “Blame me,” he eventually told people. “It’s my fault in a way.”
Donald Trump had retaken the presidency with a promise to carry out “the largest deportation in the history of our country.” America was still figuring out what that meant. Finding and expelling up to 4% of the U.S. population — the 14 million residents who are estimated to be undocumented — wasn’t something a few thousand ICE agents could do on their own.
Underway in Chicago that fall, and soon in Minneapolis, was one version of how the administration could try to do it: masked agents from across the federal government surging into a liberal city to round up immigrants, beating back — even killing — the citizens who tried to stand in their path.
But a quieter kind of surge was spreading across the country at the same time. In September 2025, ICE announced new incentives for a partnership program known as 287(g). The program’s most aggressive form, the so-called task force model, which Ingram opted in to, enlists local police officers as deputy immigration agents, and the new incentives included a $100,000 vehicle stipend, a $7,500 equipment stipend for every participating officer, quarterly performance bonuses and funding to help cover officer salaries and overtime. “By joining forces with ICE,” the announcement read, “you’re not just gaining access to these unprecedented reimbursement opportunities — you’re becoming part of a national effort to ensure the safety of every American family.”
Alexander completed an online course with ICE a few weeks after the baptism party, qualifying him for time-and-a-half pay whenever he helped the agency pick up immigrants. Here in the Texas Hill Country, he soon became the local face of the national crackdown.
“I’m friendly with the people that I meet,” Alexander says, “especially when they’re friendly to me.”
Ingram was just starting to recover from its worst natural disaster in a century, the flood that summer that killed at least 139 people up and down the Guadalupe River, including 25 girls at Camp Mystic. In the riverbed, towering bald cypress trees now stood at a lean, their branches swept back by a 30-foot surge of water and mud, their trunks still plastered with debris. As construction workers rebuilding the community traveled to their jobsites via Junction Highway, Ingram’s five-lane main thoroughfare, a black Charger began stopping them before they could get there.
Within three months of the baptism party, Alexander and Ingram’s other patrol officer had delivered at least 70 people to immigration agents, picking off what the police chief called a “dumbfounding” number of undocumented drivers. Within a year, they would hand over the equivalent of 10% of Ingram to ICE.
The weight of what Alexander was doing started to settle on him after Christmas. He says he was out patrolling as one of his new ICE handlers, a man in a ball cap and dark glasses, hovered nearby in an unmarked SUV. Around lunchtime, Alexander followed two Latino men in a 2008 GMC truck for several blocks before stopping them, they recall him saying, for failing to signal a turn.
A young man sat in the passenger seat. Alexander checked his papers along with the driver’s and determined that both were undocumented. The agent in the unmarked SUV rolled up behind them. Alexander realized who the man in the passenger seat was only after Martinez arrived in tears. It was her husband, Ulices Macias, the father of her newborn daughter.
“I don’t normally do this,” Martinez recalls Alexander telling her, “but I’m going to open up the car. I’m going to take the handcuffs off him.” He let the family have a moment together. In a video taken by Martinez’s younger sister, Alexander stood by, expressionless, as Martinez embraced Macias by the rear door of the Charger. He watched Macias cradle his 2-week-old baby girl, swaddled in a white blanket, and hug Martinez’s 4-year-old son, his stepson.
Then the ICE agent put the handcuffs back on Martinez’s husband, wrapped a chain around his waist and led him away. Alexander says Martinez threw herself to the ground and sobbed.
Images of the family he broke up shortly after Christmas would intrude on Alexander’s thoughts for months, he told us. But it didn’t keep him from doing his job. His next shift came a few days after he handed over Macias, and he was back in the Charger, back to stopping cars on Junction Highway.
Joanna Martinez’s husband, Ulices Macias, is detained by Alexander on Dec. 28, 2025, in this video taken by Martinez’s younger sister.Courtesy of the Martinez family
“Mini Guanajuato”
Alexander says he didn’t always want to be a police officer. He describes himself as “kind of a chameleon.” He grew up in nearby Harper, tried a few different colleges without graduating and spent his 20s cycling though jobs in freight logistics, pest control and insurance.
Still seeking his calling, he arranged a ride-along with a police officer outside Austin. What sold him on policing was the suburban officer’s power to enforce the law as he saw fit. That day, they pulled over a woman who had a warrant out for her arrest. She was coming back from the store with children and groceries in the back seat.
“You can use your discretion,” Alexander recalls the officer telling him. Wouldn’t they be doing more harm if they took her? What would the kids do without their mother? And wouldn’t it all create more paperwork? The officer let her go. Alexander imagined himself making the same kinds of judgment calls. In 2021, he enrolled in the police academy.
Even before the floods, tensions were rising in Ingram. Hundreds of Mexican immigrants and their families had settled there in recent decades as an increasingly militarized border made it harder for seasonal ranch hands and other workers to cross back and forth. Latinos would come to make up 45% of its population, and some residents began affectionately calling Ingram “mini Guanajuato,” after the central Mexican state where many have roots. Yet when Alexander returned, Ingram’s City Council still consisted of six white men.
Mayor Claud Jordan (in shorts and cap), Chief Dustin Breshears (center) and Mayor Pro Tem Rocky Hawkins (seated second from right) attend an Ingram City Council meeting in August.
A council faction led by Claud Jordan, now the town’s mayor, and Rocky Hawkins, now the mayor pro tem, came to power in November 2020, in a revolt against a new sewer project. They abolished Ingram’s city administrator position and took direct control of the Police Department, cycling through chief after chief. Five former city employees say Hawkins regularly used racist slurs for Mexicans. Four say that he pressured the city to go after Latinos through code enforcement or targeted patrols, and two say that Jordan did, too. One of the employees recalls Hawkins complaining that Mexicans were “taking over Ingram.” (Hawkins and Jordan each declined to speak on the record or address detailed questions we sent them by email. In a brief text-message exchange, Hawkins said that none of it was right but declined to offer any specific concerns.)
These were the men the new chief, Dustin Breshears, had to answer to as ICE revived the task force program, which had been shut down for a dozen years until the day Trump returned to office in January 2025. ICE, under President Barack Obama, had phased out the program after some of the first sheriffs to participate in it, including Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, used it to disproportionately target Latinos in their communities. Investigations by the Department of Justice found that deputies in the task force program pulled over Latino drivers at up to nine times the rate of other drivers and that some retaliated violently against people who accused them of racial profiling. But now, under Trump, any law-enforcement agency, no matter how troubled or small, was encouraged to sign up.
Breshears began appearing at City Council meetings armed with statistics: number of arrests since the last meeting, number of traffic stops, number of cleared cases from the backlog of hundreds he inherited — and number of what he called “deportations.” (He later explained this was his imprecise shorthand for “immigration-related enforcement activities.”) At the council’s October 2025 meeting, held a couple of weeks after Alexander showed up at the Martinez family’s baptism party, Breshears reported a remarkable 162 traffic stops by Ingram’s two patrol officers — Alexander and Christian Perez, who was 25 — in just 20 days. (Perez declined to comment.) The officers made more stops in two months than the department had made in the entire previous year. The City Council gave Breshears an $18,000 raise.
Christian Perez, one of the other Ingram police officers, at a traffic stop. He and Alexander made more stops in two months than the department had made in the entire previous year.
Before Breshears arrived and Alexander returned in August 2025, the weekly blotter in The West Kerr Current, the local newspaper, documented the humdrum of community policing: loose dogs, neighborhood disputes, code violations. Then, suddenly, it was filled with drivers stopped for defective brake lights, damaged license plates, cracked windshields, illegal window tints or other unspecified “equipment violations.”
Breshears and Alexander strongly deny targeting Latinos. “It’s honestly not what’s happening,” Breshears says, noting that his half brother, wife and daughters have Mexican heritage. Ingram’s traffic stops were simply up across the board, he says, so more Latinos were getting stopped. He shared statistics showing that stops of Latinos were proportional to their share of the population.
Alexander, who on top of his roughly $70,000 base salary was now logging dozens of hours per month for ICE, told us the same. “I don’t care who’s in the car,” he says. “I really don’t.”
“El Charger Negro”
As the ICE program took hold in Ingram, warnings about Alexander and his black Charger — the department has several — spread through the Hill Country and far beyond. Groups on Facebook and WhatsApp seemed to track his every move. The Charger was outside Rita’s taco shop. The Charger was near Dollar General. The Charger was parked by the church. A member of one particularly active Facebook group texted him screenshots, and he scrolled through blurry photos of himself looming behind work trucks or leaning over car windows.
Many Latino motorists trying to reach worksites up the Guadalupe began driving an extra 90 minutes each day to avoid the section of Junction Highway that Alexander patrolled. Ranch hands began sleeping at their employers’ properties in nearby Hunt, coming to town only when they knew — or hoped — that Ingram’s officers would be off duty. Residents were rattled the day a Customs and Border Protection helicopter hovered above town and the elementary school went into lockdown as the police hunted for a Mexican man who had run from one of Alexander’s traffic stops.
Workers Driving Between Kerrville and Hunt Add an Extra 90 Minutes to Their Daily Commute to Avoid Traffic Stops in Ingram
Lucas Waldron/ProPublica
One family notarized guardianship papers, in case the parents were detained and the children left behind. One woman swore Alexander showed up outside a memorial service and asked people for IDs. Another woman said he detained her and her husband when they returned home from church. Parties dwindled. Invite lists shrank. People began to move away, to Kerrville and San Antonio, and Alexander’s reputation reached as far as La Ceja, a village in the mountains of central Mexico, where an elderly resident said he and his neighbors were familiar with the Texas town’s police. “El Charger negro,” he said, with a knowing nod. He estimated that some 20 or 30 people in the village were recent deportees from Ingram.
Alexander’s fortunes seemed to rise as the Martinez family’s fell. With her husband gone, Joanna Martinez couldn’t afford payments on the trailer they shared. She and their infant and her 4-year-old son moved back into her childhood bedroom in her mother’s crowded home, where several relatives and their children also lived. She tried to stay connected with her husband, Macias, via WhatsApp calls while working as much as she could as a house cleaner to keep afloat. “I can’t lock myself up in my room and just cry,” Martinez says.
Winter for Martinez and her family brought a string of dark incidents. The January arrest of her cousin near the carwash as she drove to pick up her children from school. A canceled baby shower for her older sister, Jazmin, over a rumor that the Charger planned to show up. Another cousin, himself the father of a newborn, stopped and taken right in front of her mother’s house as Martinez watched.
A half dozen of the attendees from the October baptism party would soon be gone from Ingram, after being detained and deported or leaving to join relatives who had been. Some people had gotten wind that Alexander was making money off his enforcement. When a Spanish-language Facebook page shared a photo of him questioning the passenger of a beige Ford pickup, someone posted an animated image in the comments: a stack of green dollar bills growing taller and taller in an endless loop.
A view of the stretch of Junction Highway where many people are detainedSean Cronen for The New York TimesA view of the stretch of Junction Highway where many people are detainedSean Cronen for The New York Times
Alexander received his first ICE payments in early December. In January, as the country’s attention turned to the violent immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, he was often spending three or four hours a day and sometimes entire shifts working on behalf of the federal agency. By the time federal authorities announced a drawdown in Minneapolis on Feb. 12, Alexander had already made $3,264.46 from his task force hours, according to his pay stubs.
Ingram was by then one of more than 750 task force model partners around the country, up from not quite 500 when it signed up in October. At least 43 million U.S. residents, according to an analysis of ICE records by the legal data firm Titus Consulting, already lived in a county with an active task force agreement. Alexander was one of thousands of deputized officers in Texas alone.
Agencies With 287(g) Task Force Model Agreements
State-level
County-level
Local-level
Note: Though Pinal County, Arizona, is listed as having an active agreement in data maintained by ICE, the agreement is under permanent injunction, so it does not appear in this map. Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Initial data analysis by Andrew Thrasher of the legal data firm Titus Consulting. Additional analysis by ProPublica.Lucas Waldron/ProPublica
Agencies With 287(g) Task Force Model Agreements
Note: Though Pinal County, Arizona, is listed as having an active agreement in data maintained by ICE, the agreement is under permanent injunction, so it does not appear in this map. Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Initial data analysis by Andrew Thrasher of the legal data firm Titus Consulting. Additional analysis by ProPublica.Lucas Waldron/ProPublica
In interviews, Alexander described the immigration system he was enforcing as “skewed” and “weird,” but he saw himself as largely separate from these concerns. “If you’re taking federal money to do a job,” he says, “I think you should do the job.”
Still, he seemed to struggle with the contradictions of his role. He told us he sometimes shared his lunch with the people he detained and that he let them hold on to their phones to call loved ones from the rear seat of the Charger. He handcuffed them with their hands in the front rather than the back so they could use their hands.
Martinez told us about a moment when she watched him detain one of her cousins. He allowed the man’s wife and children to hug him goodbye and waited until his 7-year-old daughter wasn’t looking to handcuff him. To Martinez, it seemed as if Alexander was trying to prove to her that he wasn’t a bad person. “But I’m not going to fall for it,” she says.
There was a protest in Ingram the following day against Trump’s mass deportations. Martinez decided to go. As she stood among a few dozen protesters waving a handmade sign with the name “J. Alexander” circled and crossed out, she saw him drive by again and again.
Alexander responding to a call. “If I’m being 100% honest,” he says, “I don’t enjoy when families are separated.”
A few weeks later, Katie Winer, the leader of the group that staged the protest, was following the Charger after Alexander detained another immigrant in a traffic stop. He approached her car and threatened to arrest her if she followed him in the future, on charges of interfering with public duties. But he also seemed to want to talk, and she recorded him as they discussed what was going on in Ingram. “I think you guys are making a bigger deal of it than they are,” he said of the people he handed over to ICE. The only outliers were “loudmouths” like Martinez and “her little crew.”
Winer interjected that Martinez’s husband was the family’s breadwinner, and it was Alexander’s actions that tore them apart.
“My actions did not,” Alexander said. “His actions did. I made a traffic stop. He was here illegally. That’s not my fault.”
Still, Alexander’s uncertainty seemed to be growing. In March, another of Martinez’s cousins confronted him outside the taco shop, pressing him about Macias as she filmed with her phone.
“If I’m being 100% honest,” he said, “I don’t enjoy when families are separated, like with the Joanna situation. That kind of fucked me up.”
“I Voted to Get the Bad Guys Out”
A month later, as Ingram’s handoffs to ICE surpassed 100 people, another video of Alexander circulated among a small group of community members. It showed an evening traffic stop, at least the fifth stop Alexander made that day. He had followed a silver Ford F-250 from the highway until it pulled into the gravel driveway of a mobile home. There, the man in the passenger seat, a landscaper named Victor Ramirez Hernandez, tried to hurry inside. Alexander grabbed him before he could get there.
The truck’s driver pulled out his phone and began filming. “Why are you arresting him?” he asked.
“I’m not,” Alexander answered, struggling to place handcuffs on Ramirez as he squirmed. “I’m detaining him.” Then he wrapped his hands around the laborer’s chest, lifted him off the ground and slammed him down on the driveway. “I played nice with you, and now I’m done,” he said. He straddled Ramirez and cuffed his hands behind his back.
“He’s bleeding because you hit him,” the driver said evenly. They argued back and forth.
“You’re an idiot,” Alexander said, his face reddening. “Shut up. The more you talk it’s just making you look stupider.” (Alexander declined to comment on this incident. Breshears, who reviewed body-camera footage, says Alexander’s use of force was justified to control a potentially dangerous situation.)
Acrimony pulsed through Ingram that spring. In the Latino community, family members and neighbors accused one another of snitching, which Alexander says did happen. Young women accused one another of having affairs with him, which he denies, insisting that people just misinterpreted his attempts to be kind. “I’m friendly with the people that I meet,” he says, “especially when they’re friendly to me.”
One subject of these rumors was Martinez. She and her older sister scoffed at them. “He’s taken our whole family at this point,” Jazmin says. “And she’s going to sleep with him? It’s really annoying.” But some in the community, even cousins, stopped speaking with her. “It’s like ‘Hunger Games,’” Martinez says.
As Latinos fled and avoided Ingram, the daily takeout orders at one Mexican restaurant on the edge of town dropped to 50 from 200. A corner store catering to immigrants lost around half its revenue and most of its Latino regulars. Landlords in a mobile-home park just outside town struggled to find tenants.
As Latinos fled and avoided Ingram, many businesses suffered. At Los Altos de Jalisco, a local restaurant, daily takeout orders dropped to 50 from 200.
But it wasn’t just Ingram’s Latino community that was reeling. For Ingram’s non-Hispanic business owners, including many Republicans in a county that voted 77% for Trump in the 2024 election, the immigration crackdown was becoming an outrage. It was taking people they worked with and knew well. It was interfering with flood reconstruction. It was hurting the local economy.
The owner of a heavily damaged strip mall on the western edge of town, Steve Edelstein, lamented the loss of two workers who were helping him rebuild. “Technically local law enforcement is doing their job,” he told a reporter for The West Kerr Current, emphasizing that he supported Trump. “But it isn’t helping the community.” A manager overseeing the rebuilding of Ingram’s Little League field, which was washed away in the flood, made an angry call to the city after two of his workers were picked up, Breshears says. A contractor helping rebuild Hunt’s destroyed post office had his crew reduced to eight workers from 30 — causing what should have been a four-day job to stretch to two weeks.
Among the people who called Jordan, the mayor, to complain was his onetime high school classmate Neal Secor, who describes himself as “one of the most conservative guys you’ll ever meet.” His family business, a cluster of rental cabins called Waltonia on the River, was nearly destroyed by the flood. He was struggling to rebuild. He says that in the spring, in two separate stops, the Ingram police detained four of his workers and handed them over to ICE — the second set as they returned from a job repairing the docks at a nearby youth camp, a favor Secor was trying to do for a neighbor.
Secor says Jordan’s defense was simple: You voted for this. They’d all voted for this.
“Let me tell you something,” Secor says he told Jordan. “I didn’t vote for this. I voted to get the bad guys out.” The two employees detained coming back from the youth camp were like family, his friends and co-workers for over a decade. “There’s still a lot of bad guys here,” he continued. “These guys aren’t them.”
Many local construction workers have been deported or have left Ingram, slowing down work, including recovery from the floods in 2025 and 2026.
Secor recalls Jordan saying that Ingram’s officers were just following the law. But, Secor wondered, why was it that he could drive 85 every day on the 75-mile-an-hour interstate and police officers just let him pass? He told Jordan he’d put 175,000 miles on his truck and never been pulled over. “It’s a matter of what laws you want to pick and choose,” he recalls telling the mayor. “We all break laws every day if you really want to get down to it.”
“God Wanted Me to Meet You”
On an unpaved side street in the Ingram hills in April, Alexander again faced a decision over whether to separate a young family. This time he had more of a choice; ICE had yet to arrive. A woman named Norma Luján took his hand and said she was praying for him.
Luján, 61, runs a successful housecleaning company based in Ingram. She had heard of Alexander long before she confronted him. She had seen him in the Charger, too: on the side of Junction Highway as she made her way to jobs at vacation homes or youth camps up in Hunt. On the side of the highway on the way back. In her rearview mirror for four excruciating minutes one afternoon as her “girls,” as she called her crew, held their breath and sank into their seats, protected by the tint of her car’s windows and the fact that a license-plate reader would show it was registered to her, a Texas-born U.S. citizen.
Norma Luján confronted Alexander after he detained the husband of a woman who worked for her housecleaning company. “I need you to look inside your heart,” she said, “and let him go.”
In January, at the carwash, Alexander had helped a sheriff’s deputy take one of Luján’s best employees into custody. The woman, Cinthya Carranza, was a single mother and asylum seeker from Guanajuato — and Joanna Martinez’s cousin. Carranza was on her way to get her children from school after she and Luján spent the day cleaning houses. Later that day, Luján saw a Facebook post showing a familiar face in a mug shot: Carranza’s. Luján broke into tears. To her, the arrest was a signal event. The Charger had mostly stopped men up to that point. This was the moment she understood that no one was safe.
Luján started losing workers in droves after Carranza was taken — some to traffic stops, most for fear of having to drive through Ingram. Her crew of 30 people dropped to fewer than 10. She worried for her business, but she worried more, she said, for her workers, the lives they had made in Ingram and the relationships she had built with them. They invited her to parties and baptisms, surprised her with presents on her birthday. She often led them in prayer. “I love them,” she says. She promised she would try to protect them.
When Luján’s employee Maria called that April afternoon to say the officer in the Charger was outside her house, detaining her husband as he returned from work, Luján jumped into action. Maria (who asked to be identified by her middle name because she is undocumented) was eight months pregnant and already terrified that she would have to give birth alone. Alexander had taken her brother a week earlier. Now Maria was hiding behind the curtains of her home, sneaking peeks outside, hoping Alexander would let her husband go.
One of Luján’s cleaning company employees, who is from Guatemala, cleaning a home in Kerrville, Texas. She asked that her name and face not be used to protect her privacy.
“Cálmate” — calm down — Luján told herself as she approached the Charger. “Cálmate.” She took a deep breath. She says Alexander was sitting in the driver’s seat with the door propped open, staring at a tablet computer.
“Look, his wife has had a complicated pregnancy,” she told him. (This was true.) “She’s in the hospital.” (For that lie, Luján says, she later prayed for forgiveness.)
Then Luján reached out and grabbed Alexander’s hand. “I pray for your being, for your soul,” she recalls telling him as she cried. “I want you to think about what you’re doing. Feel it. Feel it, please.” She squeezed his hand. “I need you to look inside your heart,” she continued, “and let him go.”
Alexander didn’t react at first, in Luján’s telling. “God wanted me to meet you,” she said. He met her gaze.
“I’m that guy that everyone talks about on Facebook,” she recalls him finally saying. “If you think I don’t lose any sleep, you’re wrong.”
Luján pushed through the lump in her throat to speak. “I’m going to pray for you every night,” she promised him. She says Alexander squeezed her hand back, then pulled away. He walked off to make a call. She couldn’t make out much of what he said. It was quiet, save for the sound of Luján’s sobs and the pebbles from the unpaved road crunching beneath the officer’s feet.
Then he returned to the Charger. “Get him out of the car,” Luján recalls him saying. “Hurry up.”
“God bless you,” Luján said. “God will repay you for this.”
Alexander says he doesn’t remember the details of his interaction with Luján, but he confirms that he let Maria’s husband go, calling it a matter of “human decency.” He knew how hard it was to raise children. “A woman needs rest,” he says. “She needs help.” Maria’s husband “needs to be there helping out.”
The night shift at a meat-processing plant in Ingram, two days before two employees driving to work there were detained and handed over to ICE. All the other male workers quit shortly after.
At first, nothing seemed to change. Over the next two months, as the Hill Country prepared to welcome summer tourists and campers back after the devastation of the floods, Alexander worked around 100 task force hours, earning close to $5,000 from ICE.
But the next time he ran into Joanna Martinez, he seemed to be having misgivings. It was early June, and he was eight months into the ICE program. He had pulled over another of her family friends on Junction Highway, a person she had known since childhood. Martinez got a phone call and rushed to the scene, as she had so many times before. “I don’t feel good about this,” she recalls him saying when she arrived. “I signed up to be a cop, not an ICE agent.” (Alexander says he remembers that they talked and that he could have said something like that.)
Later that month, he pulled over a young man from Honduras who was on his way to a soccer game with his cousin, a 12-year-old with developmental disabilities. The boy’s father says he and his wife hid across the street watching it all happen, too terrified to step out and claim their son. The parents sent a friend from church, but she was not a legal guardian. Alexander says he had no choice but to hand the boy over to ICE, adding though that if he was one of the parents, he would see it differently. “If I’m in that position, there’s no way I’m letting my kid go,” he told us. “I’m probably fighting someone.”
Within a couple of weeks, Alexander’s task force hours dropped by about 40%, according to his pay stubs. It remains unclear if he tried to step back from immigration work or whether the number of undocumented drivers in Ingram had simply dwindled because of all he had already done.
According to Chief Breshears, Ingram had logged 194 “immigration-related incidents” as of this August. Whether every handover led to a deportation, Breshears couldn’t say. Alexander says he doesn’t know how many of the 194 are people he stopped. But he says he has now let at least 10 people go — many, though not all of them, mothers of young children.
Alexander sees this, and his relationship to the Martinez family, as evidence of his humanity, despite what people say about him. “For context, I’ve deported like six of their family members, and they’re still friendly to me,” he says. “So I’m not the monster they make me out to be.”
On July 16, the skies over Ingram opened again, dropping nearly 19 inches of rain in a single day, and the Guadalupe again overtopped its banks, again destroying businesses and homes. In the predawn darkness in the early hours of the emergency, Alexander began racing toward Ingram in his black Charger to help. He had barely left his house when surging floodwaters consumed the vehicle, destroying the Charger’s engine block. A driver in a pickup truck took him back home, and that’s where he stayed until the storm receded.
“One Free Pass”
Alexander remains only one cog in a deportation machine for which the federal government has now earmarked $240 billion. Today more than 1,900 agencies in at least 30 states have signed up for ICE’s task force model, with more than 29,000 deputized officers. With their help, ICE recently hit a record of immigration arrests, totaling more than 50,000 in August.
On Sept. 11, Alexander met one of us at a taco spot on Junction Highway. Ingram had changed in the year since his return. Whole neighborhoods had emptied out, and residents noticed fewer drivers on the streets. In part because of the money from ICE, the Police Department had hired two additional officers. As a Mexican ballad played over the speakers, Alexander warned against making too much of the leniency he showed to families like Maria’s. “It’s like one free pass, I guess,” he said: If he encountered her husband again during a traffic stop, he would probably hand him over to ICE. He just thought letting the father-to-be go was the right call at the time. “I mean, don’t you?” he asked.
He said he hadn’t made all that much money working with ICE. But city records show that his earnings from the agency already totaled $18,793.25 in nine months, more than a quarter of his base salary. “I think it’s skewed a little bit,” he said, looking at the pay stubs we had gathered.
Alexander said it was hard for him to be out in public anymore. He can’t escape being recognized in Ingram and Kerrville. Sometimes he catches Latinos staring at him, then walking away, visibly uncomfortable. So he tries to do his shopping and errands in another town 30 minutes away.
A driver passing one of the Ingram Police Department’s black Chargers along Junction Highway.
He blamed the Facebook groups. They had created a climate of “unreasonable fear” in Ingram. “What do they think I’m going to do right now?” he asked, seated at his table in the taco shop. A steady stream of customers, many of them white, approached a counter staffed by two young Mexican sisters. He said their father used to hide out in Hunt to avoid being pulled over in town. Some of their co-workers had quit months before, too uncomfortable to serve Alexander when he came in for breakfast. But when the taco shop owner sees him, he said, she hugs him.
“I know the status of everybody in this room,” he said. He suggested everyone who worked there was undocumented. Whether they disappeared or were allowed to stay was up to him. And today, at least, he was just there for breakfast.
Kim Aris tells the Guardian chance to speak with detained Nobel laureate was ‘public relations’ move from military leaders
Myanmar’s former democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be in good physical and mental health but is living in near-complete isolation, her son has said after the first call with his 81-year-old mother in more than five years.
“She still sounds certainly all there mentally, and physically she sounds strong,” Kim Aris said. “I don’t think she has anybody outside of the military or the police around her, so essentially she’s been held in solitary confinement from what I gather.”
Los Angeles, CA — California officials are pushing back against the Trump administration’s attempt to scrutinize roughly 20,000 voters suspected of being noncitizens after preliminary reviews found significant problems with the federal government’s data.
The Justice Department has ordered counties to verify flagged voters within 48 hours and set aside ballots when citizenship cannot be confirmed. Federal officials say the effort is necessary to prevent illegal voting.
But Los Angeles County’s examination of about 200 names exposed substantial inaccuracies. Nearly 40% were born in the United States, more than 70% had no voting history, and more than 40% had already canceled registrations.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said federal officials initially provided names without explaining the evidence supposedly showing the voters were ineligible. Gov. Gavin Newsom accused the administration of trying to manufacture evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Federal prosecutors recently charged 28 lawful permanent residents with election-related offenses, but those cases represent a tiny fraction of California’s electorate. Available evidence continues to show noncitizen voting is exceptionally rare and has not been demonstrated to alter major election outcomes.
The dispute is now before the courts, with federal officials seeking authority to prevent flagged ballots from being counted while California argues that unreliable data could disenfranchise lawful American voters days before the Nov. 3 midterms.
Washington, DC — Elon Musk personally ordered restrictions on a military-grade version of Starlink used by Ukraine, reportedly disrupting battlefield communications, drone operations and air-defense missions during the war with Russia.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk directed the slowdown of SpaceX’s Starshield service last week. The restrictions reportedly prevented terminals mounted on fast-moving platforms from functioning normally, creating immediate problems for Ukrainian forces.
The episode has added to growing concerns in Ukraine and Europe about relying on privately controlled American technology for critical military operations.
President Donald Trump denied responsibility for the restrictions. Musk has said decisions affecting Ukraine’s access are determined by the U.S. government or military, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has insisted Washington has not completely withdrawn Ukraine’s access.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed restoring full service with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and has publicly complained that the restrictions are hampering Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
The reported slowdown comes amid worsening tensions between Washington and Kyiv over Ukraine’s attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and Trump’s recent moves to ease some economic pressure on Moscow.
European officials have increasingly cited the Starlink dispute as evidence of the risks of depending heavily on U.S.-controlled military technology that can potentially be restricted during a conflict.
Former President Barack Obama took aim at gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has doubled down on an advertising campaign featuring the estranged mother of Democratic rival Amy Acton.
State attorney general said Trump’s justice department’s directive to verify 20,000 ballots is completely improper
California’s attorney general on Saturday rebuked the Trump administration’s efforts to quash alleged noncitizen voting, calling it “politicizing and weaponizing the law”.
Rob Bonta, the state’s attorney general, said the justice department acted at Donald Trump’s direction.
Former president speaks to crowd of thousands in support of Abdul El-Sayed for US Senate and Democratic ticket
Barack Obama told a Detroit crowd on Saturday that Abdul El-Sayed was “fighting for change, real change, that will get money out of politics and put money in your pocket”, as he threw his weight behind the Democratic Senate candidate and the rest of the ticket on the first day of early voting in Michigan.
Obama said in front of thousands of onlookers at Cass technical high school in Detroit that El-Sayed would “finish the job we started with the Affordable Care Act and guarantee quality, affordable healthcare to every single American”.
Fort Myers, FL — Republican candidate Byron Donalds repeatedly misgendered a transgender military veteran during a campaign event Friday, prompting an angry confrontation and criticism from people nearby.
The exchange occurred at Florida Gulf Coast University’s Alico Arena, where Donalds was campaigning ahead of the Nov. 3 election with support from President Donald Trump.
After the woman challenged Donalds, he referred to her as “sir.” When she corrected him and said, “I am not a sir, I am a ma’am,” Donalds continued, saying he was listening to her voice and still heard “a sir.”
The woman eventually walked away after responding with profanity, while other bystanders also criticized Donalds’ remarks.
The confrontation comes as transgender issues remain a prominent part of Republican campaigning in Florida. Donalds and Gov. Ron DeSantis have criticized drag events and gender-affirming medical care, while Donalds has attacked Democratic opponent David Jolly over his positions on transgender health policy.
Trump appeared at the same venue Friday to support Donalds.
The incident highlights the increasingly personal rhetoric surrounding transgender Americans in the closing weeks of the campaign, with Republican candidates frequently making gender identity a political issue while LGBTQ advocates argue such rhetoric contributes to hostility toward transgender people.
Donald Trump voted in West Palm Beach, Florida today, telling reporters at the polls that he voted straight Republican on his ballot. Trump has historically mailed-in his ballot rather than voting in-person.
Speaking from the polling site, Trump defended an ad from Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, his administration’s lawsuit seeking to block certification of the Alaska Senate race if Repubican senator Dan Sullivan loses his race and the war in Iran.
Prime minister is considering different options for new relationship with Brussels ahead of summit in November
Andy Burnham says he wants an “honest discussion” with the British public about the possibility of a return to free movement between the UK and the EU as part of his plans for a new relationship with the bloc.
The prime minister has been open about his desire to revisit the relationship between Britain and Brussels. He has said a new deal could mean the UK goes “all the way” and rejoins the EU.
Fresh deluge of wet weather comes after Storm Austen brought strong winds to many regions on Friday
Amber weather warnings have come into force as the worst of Storm Boelo could be set to hit parts of the UK.
Storm Boelo’s winds will peak from Saturday evening, leaving areas in the warning zone, including Scotland, parts of Northern Ireland and the far north of England, braced for gusts of 60-70mph and even 80mph in exposed coastal spots, the Met Office said.
Death inside Folkston facility comes as officials allegedly threaten hunger strikers there with force-feeding
An immigrant detained at a sprawling detention center complex in Georgia died on Friday, local and federal officials confirmed, after the facility has already faced national scrutiny for its response to an ongoing hunger strike inside.
The death inside the D Ray James facility in Folkston, Georgia, comes as federal immigration officials and private contractors are allegedly threatening hunger strikers there with force-feeding, a detained hunger striker, his wife, attorneys and advocates all said this week. Detainees are refusing food to protest prolonged captivity and bad conditions.
The trout stayed in the river. My guide removed the hook underwater and released it quickly, without lifting it into the air for a photograph. I had just learned to catch a fish on a fly rod, and watching the…
Chancellor will build on Burnham’s promise that local leaders in England will no longer have to ‘come cap in hand to Westminster’
Andy Burnham has promised that local leaders in England will no longer have to come “cap in hand to Westminster” ahead of a fresh drive to devolve spending power in next week’s budget.
In his statement on Wednesday, the chancellor, John Healey, will include plans for a new £1.5bn borrowing facility, to be drawn up in collaboration with mayors over the next two years.
But Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX owns Starlink, accuses Ukrainian military of violating the company’s terms
Ukraine’s military has a “stable connection to Starlink”, the Ukrainian government said, 10 days after its ability to use the satellite communications system was suddenly restricted.
But hours after the announcement, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whose company owns Starlink, accused the Ukrainian military of violating the company’s terms. Neither Musk nor the US government, which operates Starshield using Starlink technology, took responsibility for imposing the curbs.
Nearly 159 million people to head to polls on Sunday in battle between leftwing incumbent and Flávio Bolsonaro
More than one million supporters of Brazil’s leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, have streamed on to Rio’s most famous beach for a giant protest they hope will propel him towards a historic election fightback against his far-right rival, Flávio Bolsonaro.
Nearly 159m Brazilians will vote in the election’s runoff on Sunday, with the pair tied in the polls after Bolsonaro won the first round on 4 October by 47% to 45%.
Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem fell from ride earlier this month, spurring amusement park to temporarily shut it down
Six Flags will install seatbelts on its Goliath rollercoaster in Georgia, after a rider plummeted to his death earlier this month.
Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, a 42-year-old father and educator, was thrown from his seat on the Goliath, a coaster that plunges riders down 165ft, before a second drop of 180ft. On his way down, he collided with the ride’s other cars.
The former NBA player has pleaded not guilty to charges that he altered his play in certain games in 2024 to enrich sports bettors and ease his own debts.
Syracuse, NY — A 66-year-old New York woman has been charged with illegally voting after telling federal investigators she only recently discovered that she was not a U.S. citizen.
Marva Cook, who was adopted as a toddler and grew up in Syracuse, said she had always believed she was American. While recently searching for her biological mother, she discovered a German birth certificate indicating she had been born outside the United States.
Federal prosecutors say Cook, a lawful permanent resident, nevertheless voted in the 2022 midterm election. She faces one misdemeanor count of voting as a noncitizen, punishable by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Cook voluntarily surrendered but said she was shackled during her court appearance. Her attorney says no deportation proceedings are currently pending.
The Trump administration highlighted the arrest as evidence of election fraud. First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone declared that “voter fraud is rampant” in New York.
That sweeping characterization contrasts sharply with available evidence, including the administration’s own investigations, which have found noncitizen voting to be exceptionally rare and not remotely widespread enough to affect election outcomes.
Cook’s friends and community members said there was no intent to deceive anyone, describing her as a longtime community volunteer who genuinely believed she was a citizen.
The Socceroos star stares at the camera as he strides through an enormous atrium, the sound of his football boots on polished concrete echoing around him. Suddenly, he spawns four digital clones that peel off out of view to re-emerge in different settings around the world.
This scene from a social media video is fake and generated by artificial intelligence. But it has been authorised by the very real 22-year-old footballer, Cristian Volpato, the latest professional athlete to licence and monetise his AI likeness.
Met police say Anthony Lloyd, 38, was last seen on Friday in south London, and ‘poses a risk to himself and the public’
A manhunt is under way to locate a prisoner who police say “poses a risk both to himself and the public” after he absconded from a medical facility in London.
Anthony Lloyd forced his way out of a health unit in Lewisham, in south-east London, shortly after 4pm on Friday, the Metropolitan police said.
The 18-year-old German was arrested in Hamburg on Thursday, accused of being the indirect perpetrator of murder and grievous bodily harm, prosecutors say.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu vows ‘to destroy this place’ in retaliation for militant attack on army checkpoint
Israeli troops have levelled a neighbourhood in Hebron, driving out hundreds of families in collective punishment for a militant attack on an army checkpoint outside the West Bank city, local Palestinian authorities said.
The Hebron municipality estimated that 35 hectares (86 acres) had been destroyed or marked for destruction and about 1,500 people had been evicted from their homes by Saturday afternoon in the district of Ein Deir Baha. The whole city of 250,000 people was sealed off by checkpoints on every point of entry.
On Friday, it was reported that Meghan's father, Thomas Markle, is under investigation by authorities in the Philippines for alleged possession of child sexual abuse materials.
Fender criticises stadium pricing, calling it ‘bollocks’ and says it ‘won’t be happening’ on his tour
Sam Fender has responded to criticism by fans about ticket prices for his 2027 stadium tour by promising he would lower the cost, telling followers on Instagram: “They’re getting changed.”
The 32-year-old musician announced his Proper Massive stadium tour earlier this week.
(The Center Square) – This November, roughly one third of gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial seats are up for reelection. A quarter of U.S. states’ secretary of state seats are up for grabs. And 296 state executive offices in 43 states…
Fund will support feasibility study for potential bid to host Games in 2040s, backed by northern mayors and top athletes
John Healey is to announce a £7m fund to examine a potential future bid to host the Olympics in northern England in his first budget as chancellor.
The fund will be used to carry out a full feasibility study for a northern Games, which, if successful, would be held in the north of England in the 2040s.
Baseball’s two best regular-season teams are also among its lowest spenders. But their unlikely World Series comes with a warning about the sport’s future
The best pitcher in baseball led the best team to victory over the second-best team? Weird.
A World Series that makes the logical feel novel began on Friday as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in Game 1. Of course the Brewers, with their MLB-topping 103 regular-season victories, should be facing the 98-win Rays on the grandest stage. But of course, since these are two of the smallest and lowest-budget franchises in the sport, they shouldn’t.
About 200 firefighters deployed to tackle blaze at former Nazi mountain retreat in remote part of southern Germany
Police have arrested a 33-year-old German citizen after a fire ripped through Adolf Hitler’s former mountain retreat in Bavaria, leaving the historic Nazi meeting place – known as the Eagle’s Nest – largely destroyed.
About 200 firefighters were deployed on Friday night to tackle the blaze at the Nazi dictator’s remote, purpose-built Kehlsteinhaus residence, a protected building on the peak of Obersalzberg in southern Germany.
Newark Charter senior Austin Gbadegbe breaks a tackle during his 43-yard touchdown run against Seaford. Photo Credit: Dave Reeder
The Newark Charter Patriots defeated the Seaford Blue Jays, 20-0, on Friday, October 23, earning the program’s fourth shutout win this season.
NEWARK, DE — Newark Charter’s offense jogged out of the huddle and lined up in the pistol formation. The ball was spotted at the Seaford 43-yard line and the Patriots needed to gain 17 yards for a first down.
Quarterback Chase Kennedy received the snap, immediately turned to his left and stretched his right arm out to hand the ball off to senior running back Austin Gbadegbe. Gbadegbe took the handoff and ran to his left behind the blocking of junior tight end Austin Ledoschuk and sophomore left tackle Donovan Pray. Gbadegbe ran about five yards down field before being touched by a Blue Jay defender.
The abundance of space allowed the senior runner to evade a couple hopeful tacklers and rush the full 43 yards into the endzone, giving the Patriots a three score lead with a little over a minute remaining in the first quarter.
Gbadegbe finished the game with over 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns helping the Newark Charter Patriots defeat the Seaford Blue Jays, 20-0, Friday night.
“He’s a special player,” Patriot head coach Jody Russell said postgame. “He’s a really powerful, low to the ground guy and explosive when he gets the chance.”
Gbadegbe’s game-high 43-yard touchdown run not only showcased his talent as a runner, but the prowess of the offensive line he ran behind. The Patriots’ offensive line played a strong game creating running lanes for their offense — which ran for over 150 yards — and holding the Blue Jays’ defensive pass rush to two sacks.
Newark Charter’s defensive line created a similar impact on the other side of the ball.
Patriot defenders Alexander Burrows (No. 9) and Jayden Roberts (No. 58) combine for a sack. Photo Credit: Dave Reeder
The Patriots’ defensive line generated multiple pressures throughout the night and earned four sacks as a result of that pressure. Two of those sacks came on Seaford’s second drive of the game and the success of the Patriots’ defensive lineman allowed the rest of the Newark Charter defense to swarm to the ball for quick tackles.
“They just have a motor. They don’t stop,” Russell said about Newark Charter’s offensive and defensive lines. “They play together. They’re not the biggest guys in the world, but they’re fast, they’re quick, their speed really, you know, sets them apart from other teams.”
Newark Charter’s aggressive defense also generated a pair of turnovers that resulted in Gbadegbe’s two touchdowns. Both scores came on runs. The first was a one-yard run up the middle and the second was his 43-yard dash down the left sideline. Newark Charter’s first touchdown was a nine-yard pass from Kennedy to Ledoschuk on the Patriots’ second offensive possession of the game. Ledoschuk leaped over the Blue Jay defender to make the touchdown grab near the front right pylon.
“I’m on the backside and this week they said I was gonna get the ball and I definitely did get the ball,” Ledoschuk said with a smile postgame.
Newark Charter junior Austin Ledoschuk hauls in a nine-yard touchdown pass near the front pylon. Photo Credit: Dave Reeder.
Neither offense could get rolling in the second half, but the Blue Jays moved the ball well with quick throws from senior quarterback Everette Burton. Burton completed six passes in the half for 66 yards through the air. The Patriots run game continued to play well and helped the offense put together time consuming drives that limited the number of possessions the Blue Jays’ offense had.
Newark Charter’s win improves their record to 7-0 this season and completes an unresolved mission from a year ago.
The Patriots lost three games in their inaugural varsity season last year. One came against the Odessa Ducks whom the Patriots beat this season, 13-0. The other two were at the hands of the Blue Jays. Seaford defeated Newark Charter, 33-7, during the 2025 regular season and 21-20 in an overtime victory to claim the Class 1A championship title.
“We’ve been preparing for this game, we’ve had this game marked for like a year now and it just feels great to come out and beat these guys,” Ledoschuk said.
The Patriots seem poised to return to the Class 1A championship game and will try to continue their strong season against Early College School on October 30. The game will be played at Early College and start at 6:00 p.m.
Seaford’s next matchup will be against an out of state opponent — Washington High School from Maryland — and begin at 6:00 p.m. on October 30. The game will be played at Seaford High School.
This story was updated with pictures from the game courtesy of Dave Reeder.
Folklorists created a through line from the Celtic pagan festival of Samhain to Halloween. But the Halloween we know today has more to do with the English, a 9th century pope and American consumerism.
American, 22, edges Britain’s Jake Jarman by 0.033
Blakely takes vault and bars bronze after all-around gold
Simone Biles watches as Americans shine in Rotterdam
American Frederick Richard won the floor exercise title at the world gymnastics championships in Rotterdam on Saturday, finishing ahead of Britain’s Jake Jarman and Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat.
With US gymnastics great Simone Biles looking on as a spectator in the Netherlands, the 22-year-old Richard secured his first world title, edging out Jarman by just 0.033 points after scoring 14.633. Jarman, the defending world champion, was among a field that included the last two Olympic gold medallists.
An anthropologist of religion shows how Coptic Christians navigate two competing realities: the narrative of Christian persecution abroad and the suspicion surrounding migrants in the contemporary US.
Scotland Yard says it shared letter about Thomas Markle Sr allegations in 2019 but did not pass claims to other agencies
The Metropolitan police have confirmed they gave a letter to the Duchess of Sussex in 2019 concerning “alleged offending” involving her father, after accusations arose on Friday about Thomas Markle Sr having child sexual abuse images.
Scotland Yard said it had received a letter in January 2019 making a number of allegations about offending outside Britain.
North Korean leader travels over New Yalu River Bridge to meet senior Communist party member
Kim Jong-un has visited China, inaugurating a bridge that connects the two countries and saying he hopes to expand cooperation with his neighbour.
The North Korean leader arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday after crossing the New Yalu River Bridge, according to South Korea’s unification ministry, which handles affairs related to North Korea, and China’s official Xinhua news agency.
Second named storm will hit northern parts of UK as thousands remain without power after Friday’s Storm Austen
The UK is bracing for a second storm this weekend, as strong winds and heavy rain are expected to disrupt travel and cause further power cuts in the north.
Storm Boelo, the second named storm of the season, is expected to bring heavy, frequent showers and winds potentially exceeding 80mph to northern parts of the UK.
Mikaela Shiffrin drops from first to seventh place
American Paula Moltzan became the oldest woman to claim her first Alpine skiing World Cup victory on Saturday, pipping Albania’s Lara Colturi by just one-hundredth of a second in a thrilling season-opening giant slalom at Sölden, Austria.
Moltzan, who was fifth after the opening run, produced a superb second descent to finish with a combined time of 2min 14.82sec, narrowly denying her Italian-born Albanian rival, who finished in 2min 14.83sec. Germany’s Emma Aicher completed the podium, 0.52sec behind the Minnesota native.
Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Justice Department said may belong to noncitizens.
The basketball star seems proud to leave the job to his partner. That’s so last century
Nobody can accuse the basketball star LaMelo Ball of being bad at his job. That said, the Minnesota Timberwolves point guard doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of dribbling.
Ball has a nine-month-old son, LaOne, with his partner Ana Montana (real name: Analicia Chaves) and is apparently uninterested in dealing with all the body fluids that come with a baby.
Other voter concerns have prevailed but return of Congress likely to see renewed focus on late sex offender’s activities
As US voters head to the polls for crucial and fraught midterm elections, some survivors’ advocates in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation have expressed concern that the scandal could recede into the background.
Political experts believe, however, the Epstein issue is not going away permanently and that many voters can balance day-to-day concerns such as affordability and AI with the scandal involving the late financier and accused sex trafficker whose social circle was widespread among America’s elite.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 4,588 cases across the country, more than double the tally in 2025
Federal health authorities reported an additional 178 cases of measles in the US this week, as the vaccine-preventable illness continues to sicken people across at least 43 outbreaks.
The new data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) comes as experts criticize the agency for lack of transparency, and as health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr takes steps to further upend US vaccine infrastructure.
Wrapped candy can’t carry the whole Halloween table. These 7 treats add colorful bark and Oreos, pumpkin scones, skeleton cookie balls, cobweb-topped soup, and spider deviled eggs for sweet and savory party bites.The post 7 Halloween treats that taste sinister…
Nazhat Shameem Khan claims some staff are facing ‘banking difficulties’ but their work is unaffected
The deputy prosecutor of the international criminal court has said new US sanctions are beginning to take effect on its staff but insisted they have not hindered the court’s work.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, announced the sanctions this month, accusing the ICC – a frequent target of the Trump administration – of being a “rogue court” and declaring: “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.”
When cold weather sidelines the grill, these 13 bold slow cooker recipes bring dinner together indoors. Choose from pork roasts, beef stews, chicken, meatballs, soup, and casserole for hearty family meals.The post 13 bold slow cooker dishes that made my…
Washington, DC — Early voting is surging across several battleground states ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms, with Democrats showing particularly strong participation as both parties fight for control of Congress.
More than 23 million Americans had already voted by Friday, with turnout running substantially ahead of the 2022 midterm pace in several competitive states.
North Carolina has recorded more than 1.2 million early ballots, with registered Democrats accounting for a considerably larger share than Republicans. Democratic participation has also been notably strong in states including Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska, while battlegrounds such as Georgia, Texas and Ohio are experiencing heavy overall turnout.
The numbers offer Democrats another encouraging indicator alongside national polling that has recently shown the party leading Republicans on the generic congressional ballot.
However, early-voting data cannot determine the ultimately winner. Party registration identifies who voted, not which candidate they voted for, and Republicans have historically been more likely to vote on Election Day.
The unusually strong participation nevertheless suggests an energized electorate. Analysts point to concerns about affordability, tariffs, the Iran war, and President Donald Trump’s approval ratings as factors driving voter interest.
With voting continuing for more than another week, both parties are intensifying efforts to turn early enthusiasm into actual electoral gains.
Lobby group’s figures, shared with John Healey, are misleading as they do not include major rival Paris, say campaigners
A banking lobby group has been accused of cherrypicking data and trying to mislead the British government by claiming a tax rise for banks at next week’s budget would leave London less competitive than rival financial hubs.
UK Finance, which represents banks including Lloyds, JP Morgan and Revolut, commissions an annual report tallying up all the taxes shouldered by a large bank, including corporation tax, social security, VAT and bank-specific levies.
Leading restaurateur says Gulf countries actively help businesses set up, while east Asia has a better work ethic
Some of London’s top restaurants are opening branches in Dubai because of a “tax tsunami” in the UK and better work ethic abroad, according to a leading restaurateur.
James Robson, a co-owner of Fallow in St James’s Market, regarded as the capital’s hottest restaurant, serving 1,000 people a day, has just signed a deal to open an outpost in the Gulf.
The AI boom is pitting local residents against corporate giants seeking to power their energy-hungry networks – but one Welsh city is fighting back
Dale Johnston opens the gate to his neat suburban garden on the western fringes of Newport in South Wales. There’s a trampoline and a slide on the lawn for his grandchildren, and chairs for him and his wife. He should be enjoying the light draining from the perfect autumnal sky – but almost his entire view is blotted out by a vast expanse of prefabricated panels.
The 23 metre-high grey hulk looming over him and his neighbours is a hyperscale datacentre. It is heralded by the area’s Labour politicians as a job creator, yet all Johnston can think about is what he has lost: “Before, the sun used to come around here and it was lovely.” The way residents have been treated is “disgusting”.
Critics decry Trump administration rule that lets hunters lure bears with human foods on federal lands in Alaska
A new Trump administration rule allows hunters to bait bears on federal lands in Alaska with bacon, doughnuts, meat scraps or other human foods typically used to help kill the trophy animals at close range.
Opponents say the practice will cause bears to be more aggressive around humans, and allege that the rule change is a political gift to largely rightwing trophy hunters. The rule replaces a 2024 Biden administration rule that banned the practice, and environmental groups criticized the move as “indefensible and inexcusable”.
New details of IV team’s attempts to find a vein shared by Pike’s lawyer ‘shocked and disturbed’ practitioners
Medical experts have expressed shock at the apparent incompetence shown by Tennessee’s execution team during the failed lethal injection of Christa Pike, the prisoner who survived a normally fatal dose of pentobarbital, which they say would be considered medical malpractice in any other setting.
New details emerged on Thursday of how Tennessee’s intravenous (IV) team struggled for almost an hour to set up a line into Pike’s arms through which she would be administered the fatal dose of sedative. A blow-by-blow account was released in legal proceedings from Pike’s lawyer, Randy Spivey, who was present inside the death chamber at her 30 September failed execution.
Thanksgiving cooking gets easier when casseroles are handled early. These 17 recipes cover creamy vegetables, cheesy potatoes, chicken, turkey, corn, and sweet potatoes for a full holiday menu with less last-minute work.The post 17 casserole recipes to stash away before…
Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks during the WXYZ Channel 7 debate on Oct. 21, 2026, in Southfield, Mich.Photo: Robin Buckson-Pool/Getty Images
The PUMA spirit is back. The 2008 Democratic Party protest movement, inflamed by what Hillary Clinton supporters viewed as Barack Obama stealing the nomination from their primary candidate, scorned his general election campaign and embraced the mantra “Party Unity, My Ass.”
DSA-aligned progressives have won a number of party primaries and are set to help Democrats take the majority in Congress. But once in power, they’re likely to make demands — the kinds of demands that could upend decades of carefully crafted donor-friendly policymaking.
For moderate Democrats, “party unity” is only a goal worth pursuing to bully the left wing of the party to fall in line with their preferred candidate.
For moderate Democrats, “party unity” is only a goal worth pursuing to bully the left wing of the party to fall in line with their preferred candidate. When it’s on them to step up and vote for someone who might have different goals, that’s another story completely, and some centrists are even hoping for Republicans to win the House this November if the alternative is an empowered DSA Democratic wing.
James Carville, the fossilized Cajun strategist who was part of exactly one successful national political campaign, Bill Clinton’s 1992 White House victory, said on The Bulwark podcast last Sunday that he’d prefer a tight GOP hold on Congress over a narrow Democratic majority.
“I would be disappointed if it comes in at 225 House seats,” Carville told host Bill Kristol. “I would rather the Republicans keep the House by five than the Democrats to win by five, because, if that happens, they’re hostage to the DSA.”
To his credit, Kristol — who, in a sign of how people can change when they know which way the wind is blowing, spent the PUMA moment promoting Sarah Palin but is now a self-proclaimed Democrat — pushed back, saying he’d rather win.
Carville is the first of his cohort to explicitly call for a GOP victory rather than the left flank of the party getting more power, but he’s not the only centrist deprioritizing his party’s prospects in November.
Perhaps most consequentially, in Michigan, Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has faced an uphill battle since winning his party’s grueling primary. He’s now focused on winning in the general election and becoming the first Muslim U.S. senator, but resistance to his candidacy remains a concern.
Much of the difficulty has come from members of his own party and other liberals. Their antipathy toward a candidate whose positions aren’t so out of step with other members of the caucus has raised questions about what exactly is so objectionable about him. El-Sayed may skew to the progressive side of the party, but he’s not a socialist and not a member of the DSA; his positions on domestic policy should place him companionably among the likes of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s wing.
Until recently, most of the anger after El-Sayed’s primary in early August was confined to X and occasional cable news hits.
That changed on October 16, when two Michigan Democratic Party power players, David Kramer and Lon Johnson, urged voters in a Detroit News op-ed to leave El-Sayed’s place on the ballot blank — effectively handing the Senate seat over to Republican Mike Rogers, an election denier and a lockstep Trump ally.
The piece tied El-Sayed to extreme elements of Islam and suggested his opposition to Israel’s genocide, war crimes, and occupation was based in hatred for the Jewish diaspora.
“Our gravest concerns involve El-Sayed’s associations with figures who have excused or minimized terrorism, his reluctance to unequivocally condemn dangerous rhetoric, and his support of extreme policies,” Kramer and Johnson wrote. “At a time of rising antisemitism, Democrats deserve leadership that unequivocally rejects rhetoric threatening Jewish communities.”
Comedian Mike Drucker accurately described on Tuesday the centrist rejection of El-Sayed as less “blue no matter who” and more “blue unless brown.”
But Democratic leaders like Carville, Kramer, Johnson, and others are panicked beyond their obvious Islamophobia — they can see the writing on the wall goes well past Michigan. It’s a full-on existential crisis.
Former Intercept writer Jon Schwarz once opined on what he termed the iron law of institutions: “The people who control institutions care first and foremost about their power within the institution rather than the power of the institution itself.”
What we’re seeing now is the iron law’s white blood cells fighting a threat they don’t believe can be easily assimilated into the existing power structure. It’s a danger to their status and power.
Their attacks on the left are going to backfire, leaving the Democrats’ centrist wing even less empowered than before.
That outcome is ideal for the party, the base, and the country. For centrists, it’s a disaster — but if the way to stop their coming irrelevance is to vote for a progressive American Muslim who opposes genocide, they’re incapable of taking that step.
Ultimately, all their griping may not matter. El-Sayed is regularly polling slightly ahead of Rogers, and 95 percent of Michigan Democrats said they intend to vote for him. Much like Jackson in Maine, should he win, El-Sayed will be even less beholden to the elements of the party power structure who are so desperately trying to prove he needs them, rather than the other way around.
Ultra-endurance swimmer Catherine Breed navigated waves, wildlife and pollution to become the first person to swim from state’s northern-most tip to Mexico border
Nearly four months ago, Catherine Breed, a 33-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area, set out to become the first person to swim the entire coastline of California – from its northern-most tip to the border with Mexico. She and her support team prepared for encounters with sharks and storms. They hadn’t anticipated completing the marathon swim during a year of historic super El Niño weather.
But after dodging hurricanes, wildlife and 8ft waves in an unusually volatile Pacific Ocean, Breed finally celebrated the end of her journey on a beach in San Diego on Monday.
Ebro Ahmed, who acted after driver’s medical emergency, said he hopes incident will show Eritreans ‘in a good way’
A man who hopped on to a school bus full of terrified children that was careering down a Minnesota street after its driver had a medical emergency and manually halted it says he was motivated to act by a Qu’ran verse about how saving one life is equivalent to saving all of humanity.
“I’m a numbers guy, and those numbers make sense to me,” Ebro Ahmed, 27, said on Friday during an interview about his actions four days earlier in front of his family’s convenience store in Saint Paul, Minnesota. “I didn’t do it for me. It was selflessness in the name of God.”
Government campaign recommends three days’ worth of stores for emergencies, but some are ahead of the game
Dried foods, bottled water, medicine stocks and backup power banks: it could be the props cupboard on a disaster movie, but instead it is precisely what some UK residents are stockpiling amid official warnings about Russian “state-sponsored terrorism” and the impact of the climate crisis.
The government launched a campaign on Thursday advising people to set aside three days’ worth of stores to deal with a whole range of eventualities, and some are already well under way.
Vice-president’s visibility has risen as Trump’s popularity wanes, but path to inherit Maga throne is more complicated than it may seem
A day after JD Vance suggested Donald Trump would endorse him if he runs for president, the vice-president shifted awkwardly in the Oval Office as his boss was asked about the remark.
“He’s a very talented person, and he’s a very good person,” Trump said of the man standing behind him, with a forced smile this week. “But we’ve literally – I don’t think we’ve ever talked about,” the president claimed, leaving the assertion unconfirmed.
Founding member of Planxty, Lunny went on to play for bands such as Moving Hearts, the Bothy Band and Coolfin
The Irish traditional musician Dónal Lunny has died at the age of 79 from cancer.
Lunny rose to prominence in the trio Rakes of Kildare alongside his brother Frank and Christy Moore. He went on to play in bands such as Planxty, Moving Hearts, the Bothy Band and Coolfin among others and toured the world.
BBC series deliberately uses ‘more organic’ shots to assure viewers animals are not AI-generated, producers say
The David Attenborough-narrated series Blue Planet III deliberately includes cloudier, less polished footage to counter AI fakery and assure viewers it is “authentic”, its producers have said.
Nearly a decade after Blue Planet II shone a light on plastic pollution, and 25 years since the first Blue Planet aired, the hit BBC series is returning with more animal behaviour and cutting-edge technology, including the world’s first underwater CCTV camera – dubbed “stonefish” cam.
Tim and Geli Harris have spent more than a decade fighting to protect Catfield Fen, a rare wetland in the Norfolk Broads
Polluters and regulators who fail to stop pollution must quake in their boots when they receive a letter from the lawyers for Tim and Geli Harris. The couple, who farm 460 acres in the Norfolk Broads, have now scored a hat-trick of landmark legal victories to save an internationally important wetland after they won again in the high court this month.
Lady Justice Lieven found that Natural England failed in its statutory duty to protect Catfield Fen from pollution after nitrates and phosphates washed from arable fields into one of the finest examples of calcareous fen in western Europe, home to 2,500 species including rarities such as the fen orchid, crested buckler fern, breeding bittern and swallowtail butterflies.
Video shows AI likenesses of people linked to Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist party appearing to admit to wrongdoing
A political ad from Spain’s main opposition party that used a deepfake video of the prime minister’s wife has sparked outrage and set off a wider debate on AI, as the deeply polarised country gears up for general elections next month.
Launched this week across the social media channels of the conservative People’s party (PP), the video used artificial intelligence to manipulate the likenesses of various people linked to Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist party and appeared to show them admitting to acts such as soliciting prostitutes and taking kickbacks.
Established under the Franco dictatorship, the lunchtime ritual is in decline but all is not lost
A little before lunchtime each working day across Spain, evidence of one of the lingering, if less notorious, legacies of the Franco dictatorship is carefully traced in chalk, marker pen and printer ink.
Beckoning to hungry workers from blackboards, whiteboards and pieces of paper hastily taped to windows, the competitively priced menú del día, or daily set-price lunch, has been part of everyday Spanish life for more than half a century. But while 4m menús are still served each weekday, Spain is slowly losing its appetite for the familiar ritual.
The prime minister has defined and dominated his country’s politics for three decades and is putting his rivals on the defensive before Tuesday’s general election
They chant his name, they cheer and clap – and yet he is not the most dominant person in the room. Looming over the crowd that has gathered to hear Gadi Eisenkot, the former general who is the lead opposition challenger in Tuesday’s Israeli election, is a man who is not there. It is the man Eisenkot seeks to replace as prime minister, the man who first served in that role three decades ago and who has held it, on and off, for 19 of the past 30 years. It is Benjamin Netanyahu.
Naturally, the warm-up speakers at this evening rally in the modest city of Modi’in, halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, stress the virtues of Eisenkot, a son of working-class Moroccan Jews who rose through the ranks to become chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and entered politics only four years ago. But every sentence might as well end with two words that go unspoken: unlike Bibi.
Chancellor says government to commit hundreds of millions to develop ‘distinctively British’ approach to AI
John Healey has pledged to use Wednesday’s budget to harness the power of artificial intelligence to bolster Britain’s security and prosperity against the risks in the accelerating global technology arms race.
As he prepares for his debut budget, the chancellor said that Andy Burnham’s government would commit hundreds of millions of pounds to develop a “distinctively British” approach to AI that would capitalise on the benefits of the frontier technology.
Former USA team doctor Larry Nassar’s 2018 conviction sparked a global reckoning in gymnastics, yet gymnasts say they are still being let down
It has been 10 years since the Indianapolis Star published allegations of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar, the former team doctor for USA Gymnastics, setting off a chain of events that would lead to a reckoning for the sport. Hundreds of women came forward with their own allegations against Nassar, who also worked at Michigan State University, leading to his conviction and jailing.
The exposure of his crimes sparked a wider investigation into how gymnastics had allowed predators to abuse young athletes around the world. While Nassar was the worst recorded case, it emerged many other countries had questions to answer about the failure to protect victims from not only sexual but physical and emotional abuse. But a decade later, on a large houseboat moored in Rotterdam three tram stops away from the Ahoy Arena, where the World Gymnastics Championships are taking place this week, survivors and advocates raised fears about the slow pace of change.
We’ve heard much about the end of the west. At the proposed summit between Trump, Putin and Xi, those fears could crystallise
In the final two years of a US presidency, when Congress has been lost, approval ratings have sunk like a stone and their party has started to think about who’s coming next, the person occupying the Oval Office can feel their power draining away. Domestic legislation, particularly in an era where bipartisan cooperation is almost nonexistent, grinds to a halt. But as the days tick by until the end, and as presidents begin to think about their legacy, there is one part of the job where they still have power: the rest of the world.
In the final weeks of his presidency in 1992 George HW Bush sent 28,000 American troops to Somalia to help end a famine. For Bill Clinton, it was a quixotic attempt to bring peace to the Middle East by ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Barack Obama restored diplomatic ties with Cuba, making a historic visit to Havana, as well as a final, successful push on the Iran nuclear deal.
Phoenix, AZ — Arizona officials have ended a lawsuit after Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap restored voting rights to 25 U.S. citizens who had been incorrectly flagged as potential noncitizens.
The dispute centered on the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, known as SAVE, which the Trump administration has expanded for use in checking voter citizenship status. The system has previously produced false matches involving U.S. citizens.
Heap initially identified 207 voters he believed might be noncitizens and referred their information to prosecutors. Of 60 who had actually voted, a review by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office found that 52 were citizens and only eight were noncitizens.
Twenty-five citizens nevertheless had their registrations moved to “non eligible” status, preventing them from voting unless they produced additional citizenship documentation.
After a judge ordered mediation Friday, the necessary documents were provided and Heap restored all 25 voters to active status. Ballots were also issued to those enrolled in the county’s early-voting list.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said litigation should not have been necessary to restore their rights. Heap countered that his office acted once legally sufficient documentation was provided.
Republican Maricopa County Supervisor Tom Galvin also criticized Heap, accusing him of wrongly branding citizens as noncitizens before reversing course months later.
Brewers claim 3-2 victory in Game 1 of World Series
Yelich triples home a run and scores in first inning
Misiorowski and Megill hold off late Rays fightback
Trevor Megill struck out Jonny DeLuca with runners on second and third to escape a ninth-inning jam as the Milwaukee Brewers held on for a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
DeLuca’s strikeout came after Tampa Bay’s Liam Hicks had grounded into an apparent game-ending double play that was overturned after a video review. Replays showed that Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt’s right foot was slightly off the bag when he reached to catch a high throw from second baseman Brice Turang.
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton warned in a memo to Secretary of State Rubio that Iran has "substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel," and the plots have "reached advanced stages."
The Senate candidate denounced opponent Ken Paxton, calling out corruption allegations and support from Musk
James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Texas, has taken aim at Elon Musk, warning that the tech mogul is trying to buy political influence and declaring: “Texas is not for sale.”
Talarico held a campaign rally on Friday at the University of Texas at Austin, packing an auditorium at his alma mater with hundreds of students and other supporters, who cheered, whooped and waved campaign signs.
""Every hotel project arrives with its own architecture, its own story and its own technical limits, so a catalog piece is rarely the final answer," said Albert Wong, Vice President at Dongguan Diamond Life Lighting Co., Ltd."Dongguan Diamond Life Lighting…
Super typhoon weakening but large parts of Taiwan, including Taipei, still mostly closed and flights cancelled
Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday killing one person, injuring more than 500, and uprooting trees and severing power as it weakened and headed north toward the Chinese coast.
Earlier classified as a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was still packing gusts of about 126km per hour (78 miles per hour) near its centre, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA).
Senate Majority Leader John Thune campaigned with GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa on Friday in his latest effort to prop up Republican candidates on the campaign trail.
With less than two weeks until the midterms, my colleague Jonathan Freedland and Guardian US columnist Moira Donegan are answering your questions in this week’s episode of Politics Weekly America.
They break down the final stretch ahead of these hugely consequential elections, that will decide control of Congress in Donald Trump’s final two years of office.
Letters from federal prosecutors represent latest escalation as Trump continues to make claims of voter fraud
Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said may belong to noncitizens, according to the Los Angeles county registrar and a letter obtained by the Associated Press.
The letters are the latest escalation in a legal battle between California and Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which has recently focused on the state in its efforts to root out noncitizen voting ahead of the midterm elections.
Washington, DC — Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly created and posted an unauthorized State Department press release announcing her new role as a senior adviser, raising fresh questions about how her transition inside the Trump administration was handled.
Politico reported Friday that two people familiar with Noem’s State Department role said the statement she posted on X was never approved by the department. One source said Noem “went rogue and created a fake letterhead to post on X.” Noem and the State Department did not respond to Politico’s requests for comment.
The statement said Noem’s six-month appointment as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas had ended and that she remained at the department as a senior adviser.
The underlying job change itself appears to be real. A State Department official told CBS News a day earlier that Noem’s envoy status had expired and that she was now advising Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau while continuing work on the same regional security portfolio.
Noem was moved to the envoy role in March after President Donald Trump replaced her as homeland security secretary with Markwayne Mullin.
The dispute therefore centers not on whether Noem remains employed by the administration, but on whether she improperly presented an unofficial statement as an authorized State Department release.
US secretary of state makes comments after Trump tells US rally warships could intervene on return from Iran
Marco Rubio urged Cubans seeking political change in their country to act, saying “now is the time” moments after Donald Trump told a Friday rally for candidates in south Florida that US warships could intervene in Cuba on their way back from the Iran war.
The US secretary of state, in his social media post addressed “to those who seek to create positive change”, urged Cubans to capitalize on Trump’s plans. “The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete [sic] partnership with the CIA,” Rubio said.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said a higher percentage of mail-in ballots is being rejected this year over technicalities — a trend he called “infuriating” while sharing a statistic that wasn’t supported by state data.
“The State Board of Elections’ last-minute changes to voting by mail are leading to thousands more absentee ballots being rejected this election — at a rejection rate twice as high as in 2022,” Stein said in an Oct. 20 social media post.
Data released by the state elections board the next day showed that Stein’s post was wrong to say “thousands more ballots (are) being rejected this election,” but it was right in that North Carolina’s mail-in ballots are being rejected at a higher rate.
The number of overall mail-in ballots has dropped in the state when compared to the 2022 midterm elections. More people voted by mail in the 2022 midterms likely due to lingering concerns about the Covid-19, Jason Tyson, a spokesperson for the state elections board, told PolitiFact. President Donald Trump has also taken steps to discourage mail-in voting.
Through Oct. 20, about 43,500 North Carolina mail-in ballots had been cast, down 38% from the same stage in the 2022 election, according to state data. As a result, the total number of rejected ballots is down about 26%.
Through Oct. 20, officials had rejected 1,349 of mail-in ballots — or 3.1% of those cast through that date, Tyson said. At the same stage in the 2022 election, election officials had rejected 1,829 mail-in ballots, or 2.6% of those cast, Tyson said. North Carolina’s final 2022 absentee ballot rejection rate was 2.2%, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
The mail-in ballot rejection rate can fluctuate during the early voting period as more voters cast ballots and as voters take steps to fix ballots that elections officials flag as having problems. County elections officials are instructed to contact voters who cast a problematic mail-in ballot to give the voter enough time to correct the ballot or vote in-person instead.
What changed?
Stein is among many Democrats who have expressed frustration with new rules for accepting and rejecting mail-in ballots. The rules will make it more likely that ballots will be thrown out over technicalities that previously were ignored, and were introduced and approved by the state’s Republican-controlled state elections board.
A federal judge recently shot down a lawsuit that attempted to stop those changes from going into effect, saying that since voting had already begun it was too late to change the rules. The state elections board, however, didn’t approve the new rules until the same day voting began.
State law allows registered North Carolina voters to cast their ballots by mail for any reason, but they must follow strict instructions for filling out the ballot and mailing it back. The state elections board refers to this practice as voting “absentee-by-mail,” though North Carolinians often describe it as “absentee” or “mail-in” voting.
The state elections board adopted rules in September that allow election officials to more easily disqualify voters over simple mistakes, such as signing their name in the wrong place or forgetting to seal the envelope for their ballot or the container for photocopy of their ID. Opponents have said the new rules would disenfranchise voters in a state where statewide elections are often decided by close margins. Democrats tend to vote by mail at higher rates than Republicans in North Carolina, state data shows.
“It’s infuriating,” Stein wrote in his Oct. 20 post. “North Carolinians, please make a plan to vote this year, in person if possible. And if you’re voting by mail, make sure you seal both envelopes on your ballot. Don’t let them take away your vote.”
Stein is currently suing over a law that took control over the elections board from him. The governor has controlled elections for over a century, but after Stein was elected governor in 2024 Republican state legislators passed a new law transferring control of elections to Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek instead. Stein has repeatedly accused Boliek of politicizing elections administration in the leadup to the 2026 midterms, which Boliek denies.
Where did the ‘double’ estimate come from?
When asked where Stein got his data about rejected ballots and the rejection rate, Stein’s office pointed PolitiFact to an article by Democracy Docket, a group created by longtime Democratic elections lawyer Marc Elias.
The article cited an analysis by Common Cause North Carolina and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice that documented a rise in rejected midterm mail-in ballots. The groups’ analysis was drawn from only a sample of data. It analyzed data from 27 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Democracy Docket initially reported that North Carolina’s 3% total rejection rate was double the rate “the state saw” in its 2022 election, according to an archived version of the story.
The article has since been updated to say North Carolina’s 3% total rejection rate was double the rejection rate “the entire nation” saw in 2022. The national average in 2022 was 1.5%, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Democracy Docket declined to respond to a request for comment.
Common Cause North Carolina and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice found that mail-in ballot rejection rates were 7% to 8% in Mecklenburg and Forsyth counties. And there are nearly 1,000 ballots that haven’t been rejected but could be spoiled if not fixed by the voter, said Sailor Jones, Common Cause’s state director.
The state elections board expects the statewide mail-in ballot rejection rate to ultimately be slightly higher than the final 2.2% average from 2022, said Tyson, the state elections board spokesman.
Our ruling
Stein said that, in North Carolina, “thousands more absentee ballots (are) being rejected this election — at a rejection rate twice as high as in 2022.”
State data showed that, at the time of Stein’s claim, fewer total mail-in ballots had been rejected in North Carolina compared with the same period in 2022. That’s because fewer people are voting by mail.
The data showed that mail-in ballots were being rejected at a higher rate than in 2022 — but they hadn’t doubled. At the time of Stein’s post, the rejection rate was half a percent higher than in 2022.
Stein’s statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. That’s our definition of Mostly False.
Police body camera and security footage released on 21 October shows the police shooting of Kohen Wiley on 14 June in Senatobia, Mississippi. The released video comes after the Mississippi attorney general announced that the shooting 'was justified'. After the release of the video, the police officer who shot into the vehicle and killed Kohen Wiley resigned from the Senatobia police department.
Kaylub Giamanco recounts the day he confronted the Silver Rail elementary school shooter, who killed three boys and one teacher
The Oregon father hailed as a hero for stopping a school shooting last week spoke for the first time about the incident, describing his experience and how he told a 911 operator: “I have to go in. People are going to die.”
Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter, has received national attention and praise for stopping the bloodshed at Silver Rail elementary in Bend, Oregon, where his children attend school.
Researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed a machine-washable electronic fabric that can turn clothing into an interactive graphical user interface. The prototype reportedly survived 50 gentle machine washes and 1,000 bending cycles, though it still relies on external batteries and controllers. The Register reports: The development could lead - at some point - to a "future in which clothing functions as a pervasive, multimodal human-computer interface," according to the study published in peer-reviewed science journal Nature this week. The paper shows someone interacting with computing devices using the sleeve of a wool sweater (no jokes about the Windows ugly sweater please, this is serious). The researchers, led by Singapore National University research engineer Fu Heng, claim this is a big leap forward.
"This fiber-centric approach shifts wearable electronics from flexible panels toward truly textile-native architectures, laying the groundwork for fabrics that visualize, sense, communicate and compute as naturally as the garments they inhabit," the paper says. The researchers claim to have developed a scalable process to make millimeter-thick fibers. Using lasers to strip the insulation from specific spots on the thin copper wires, they attached light-emitting chips to the exposed sections, creating electrical connections to the chips. Thousands of chips were connected to the wires with extreme precision using this process.
The fibers were then fed into a transparent plastic tube, and made pressure-sensitive by adding two strips of a compressible, conductive polymer into a second longitudinal channel in the tube. The paper says they could make fibers 10 meters long using this method, and that they are thin and flexible enough to be woven into or attached to fabrics. The researchers were also able to add "peripherals" such as a microphone, a speaker, a temperature sensor and a light sensor.
With just 11 days until the US midterm elections, Democrats need a net gain of four seats to reclaim Congress
With just 11 days until the US midterm elections, early voting data is rolling in nationwide. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to reclaim the majority in each chamber of Congress. Here is where the numbers stand as of Friday:
Campaigners call lack of progress ‘staggering’ as online regulator issues review of first nine months of new regime
Landmark online safety measures have failed to limit the proportion of children suffering harm from social media, the UK’s online regulator has admitted, in an assessment branded “staggering” by campaigners.
The proportion of children being fed unsafe content that often left them frightened, confused and upset, was almost unchanged, according to an Ofcom review of the first nine months of supposedly strict requirements on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.
The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders have unionized, in a watershed labor victory that comes after years of fighting for fair pay.
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association (DCCA) was voluntarily recognized by the Cowboys as the collective bargaining representative for the cheerleading squad, according to a Friday news release. The recognition came after “meaningful discussion” between the Cowboys organization and the DCCA, and the parties are set to begin collective bargaining.
Dozens of schools in Cornwall also affected as Storm Boelo heads for Scotland, Northern Ireland and north of England
Thousands of homes are without power and schools were closed as the first named storm of the year hit UK shores.
Storm Austen brought severe conditions to parts of the south-west, with a gust of 76mph recorded at St Mary’s airport on the Isles of Scilly on Friday morning. By 3pm, more than 31,000 homes in the south-west were without power, according to National Grid.
Mercedes youngster could become youngest title winner
Max Verstappen says bumpy track makes drivers ‘suffer’
The Formula One world championship is within reach for Kimi Antonelli at the US Grand Prix in Austin this weekend. But while the young Italian approaches the race intending simply to have fun, there is disquiet among other drivers about the potential long-term health dangers posed by the state of the Texas circuit.
The 20-year-old Antonelli will become Formula One’s youngest world champion if he claims the title at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, eclipsing Sebastian Vettel’s record from 2010, when the German driver was 23 and Antonelli was four. It is an outside chance, as the Italian has acknowledged. He must win while needing his rivals to endure a poor day. His Mercedes teammate George Russell would have to finish outside the top eight and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton outside the top four.
Rodney Hinton ran over Larry Henderson after he viewed body-cam footage of police shooting dead his son Ryan
An Ohio man who killed a deputy with his car just hours after seeing video of his son killed by Cincinnati police was found guilty of murder and other charges on Friday, according to authorities.
Rodney L Hinton, 40, faces between 15 years and life in prison after his convictions in the death of Hamilton county special deputy Larry Henderson. His sentencing is tentatively scheduled for 16 November.
Republican senator faces critical re-election battle in state where president’s trade war has outraged voters
Donald Trump dropped some of the US’s tariffs on Canada on Friday to “better serve the public interest” the White House said, handing a win to Susan Collins, the embattled Republican senator for Maine, as she faces a tight re-election campaign that will help determine whether Democrats can flip control of Congress.
Collins announced that the exemptions would apply to nine agricultural products, including blueberries, potatoes, apples and seaweed. She added that many of the state’s farmers rely on specialized equipment and materials from across the border that are “unavailable from American suppliers or cannot be replaced without incurring significant expense”.
Frustrated by intrusive ads, sluggish interfaces, and data tracking, smart TV owners are using AI coding tools and open-source projects to strip unwanted software from their televisions and build customized home screens. The Verge reports: Several vibe-coded TV-debloating projects exploded in popularity over the weekend. Cleanyourtv (known as tv-vibehack until the 19th), tv-detox, and dumbtv all claim to accomplish similar things -- remove sponsored ads, debloat the TV so it runs faster, and block unwanted data collection that tracks what you're watching -- without hacking, or rooting, the TV. By default, they all also replace the TV's built-in app launcher with simpler ones. Many users are going a step further and vibe-coding their own replacement launchers, like the Pokemon one below.
Most of the projects we've seen so far focus on TVs that run on Android and Google TV operating systems (such as TCL, Hisense, Sony, and older Amazon Fire products), using existing developer modes and the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) to tweak settings and apply (and remove) packages. According to the GitHub pages, they can also work with some Fire TV products that use a custom fork of Android (although likely not on the new Vega-based Fire TV Sticks). Because they use built-in developer tools, they don't require root access or firmware hacking, and they're reversible. Even projects that totally change the look of the interface just use Android's ability to install custom launchers -- in many cases with an assist from Claude Code or a similar tool to create the new launcher, too.
President Trump on Friday slashed tariffs on a handful of Canadian products that are used widely by Maine's agricultural industry, a move cheered by GOP Sen. Susan Collins, who is facing a tough reelection battle.
Laura Owens, who also received seven years’ probation, fabricated medical records to prolong relationships
A woman who admitted to faking pregnancies and fabricating medical records while aiming to prolong relationships with men – including a star of the reality show The Bachelor – has been sentenced to 30 days in jail in Arizona as well as seven years’ probation.
Laura Owens, 36, received her punishment on Friday in Maricopa county superior court nearly two months after pleading guilty to felony counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, perjury and identity theft in a case that has been the subject of multiple true-crime podcasts.
Gunman opens fire from car in Trappes and Verrière, killing one and injuring five others, including a 12-year-old girl
Emmanuel Macron has condemned racism in French society after a gunman opened fire from a car west of Paris on Friday, killing one person, wounding a 12-year-old girl and injuring four others in what the president called a “racist terrorist attack”.
Macron arrived at the scene of the drive-by shooting in Trappes on Friday night, saying he was deeply saddened by what he called the “premeditated” attack. The 12-year-old girl, who was shot eight times, is being treated in hospital.
A Southern California realtor accused of being a Chinese foreign agent pleaded not guilty to the allegations in a Los Angeles federal courtroom Friday.
(The Center Square) - Despite the Los Angeles Unified School District's claims of improved campus safety and less violence, critics say a deeper look paints a different picture.
Austin, TX — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, accusing the company of misleading consumers about ChatGPT’s safety and failing to adequately protect users from potentially harmful outputs.
The lawsuit, announced Friday, alleges that OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as a safe and reliable product while failing to sufficiently disclose risks associated with inaccurate or harmful responses. Paxton’s office says those risks are particularly serious for children and other vulnerable users.
Paxton is bringing the case under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices–Consumer Protection Act. His office argues that OpenAI’s safeguards have not kept pace with the rapid expansion of its products and that consumers were not adequately warned about possible harms.
The attorney general’s allegations include concerns about inaccurate information, emotionally manipulative interactions and chatbot responses that could reinforce dangerous behavior. OpenAI has introduced multiple safety systems and parental protections over time, but the lawsuit contends those measures remain insufficient.
“With the rapid advancement of AI technology, OpenAI has the responsibility to protect users and warn them of the many dangers of its platform,” Paxton said.
The lawsuit is the latest effort by Texas to apply existing consumer-protection laws to rapidly developing artificial-intelligence products.
The allegations have not been proven in court, and OpenAI will have an opportunity to respond to the state’s claims.
Federal agents encountered a large aircraft that zoomed across the sky from a standstill while making no noise or giving off any exhaust, according to new files.
Greece has passed a law banning children under 15 from social media platforms beginning January 1, 2027. The legislation requires platforms to implement reliable age verification and parents to use government-backed apps to restrict access, with penalties for noncompliance under the EU's Digital Services Act. Engadget reports: "It would have been very easy to do absolutely nothing today and wait for the perfect European law. But the challenge is here. Children are sinking into the internet every day, and I believe a responsible government must do what it is obliged to do," said Greece's digital governance and AI minister, Dimitris Papastergiou.
The legislation was opposed by Greece's minority parties, so Mitsotakis used his majority government to pass the bill. The nation previously barred mobile phones in schools in 2024, and opinion polls show that the new social media ban for children is widely supported by Greece's adult population. Mitsotakis previously said that his government's "goal is to push the European Union in this direction as well."
An ad from the campaign of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska features a mother whose 22-year-old son died from fentanyl and who claims Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola took contributions from “liberals [who] opened our borders to the drug cartels” and then “voted with them against securing our border.”
But the ad leaves out several important points of context.
After saying that her son died from fentanyl, the mother, Sandy Snodgrass, says that “lower 48 liberals opened our borders to the drug cartels.” While the ad suggests a link between illegal immigration and her son’s death, experts — including government officials — say the vast majority of fentanyl coming into the U.S. is smuggled through legal ports of entry, mostly by American citizens.
As for Peltola voting with Democrats “against securing our border,” Peltola voted against a Republican bill in 2023 called the Secure the Border Act, which sought a return to many of the hardline border policies enacted by President Donald Trump during his first term. But the following year, Peltola was among a handful of Democrats who joined Republicans in support of a nearly identical bill. Setting aside the impact of either party’s border policies, Peltola often bucked her party when voting on immigration bills.
Peltola, a former U.S. House member, is attempting to unseat Sullivan, the Republican incumbent. The Cook Political Report lists the race as one of seven toss-ups that will decide control of the Senate.
The ad features a direct-to-camera message from Snodgrass, whose son, Bruce, died from fentanyl in 2021. Since her son’s death, Snodgrass has become a dogged advocate for legislative policies aimed at fentanyl prevention and raising awareness of the dangers of fentanyl.
Sullivan was a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill Snodgrass fought for called “Bruce’s Law” — named in honor of her son — which seeks to enhance fentanyl education and prevention strategies, including an interagency work group to improve the federal response to the fentanyl epidemic. Peltola, who came to the House the year after Bruce Snodgrass’ death, was a co-sponsor of that same legislation in the House. The law was folded into a bill that ultimately passed into law in 2025.
“My only child Bruce was killed by fentanyl,” Snodgrass says in the Sullivan campaign ad. “Lower 48 liberals opened our borders to the drug cartels. Now the same people want Mary Peltola to be our senator. Peltola’s taken their money and voted with them against securing our border. That is disgraceful and dangerous. Mary Peltola is liberal and weak. We cannot leave our children’s safety in her hands.”
As we said, the ad is missing important context.
When we asked the Sullivan campaign for backup for the ad, a spokesperson pointed us to Peltola’s 2023 vote against the Secure the Border Act, a Republican bill that aimed to implement many of the same border policies from Trump’s first term, such as restarting construction of border wall, increasing the number of Border Patrol agents, enhancing technology at the border to slow illegal immigration and ending the so-called “catch-and-release” policy whereby some immigrants caught in the U.S. without proper documentation were released back into the U.S. while they awaited an immigration court hearing (often to determine whether they qualified for asylum).
To be clear, while the bill sought to crack down on illegal immigration, opposition was not a vote for “open borders,” as text in the ad states.
The Secure the Border Act passed the House almost entirely along party lines (of those who voted, all but two Republicans voted for it; every Democrat, including Peltola, voted against it). But victory in the Republican-majority House was largely symbolic, as the bill never came up in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
However, through the remainder of her term in the House, Peltola proved to be anything but a reliable Democratic vote on border security and immigration issues.
Indeed, the following year, on April 20, 2024, when Republican leadership again attempted a similar bill to the Secure the Border Act, Peltola was among five Democrats — and every Republican present — who voted in favor of it. The End the Border Catastrophe Act was proposed through a fast-track procedure that required a two-thirds majority to pass. It failed, 215-199.
“No one can deny we face an ongoing crisis at our Southern border,” Peltola said in a press release at the time. “Currently, fentanyl flows across it and all the way up to Alaska, where it continues to tear families and communities apart. We must take real action to address our ongoing border crisis – that’s why I voted to pass this measure and stop cartels in their tracks.”
That same day, Peltola voted along with majorities of both parties in support of the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act, which, among other things, declared the international trafficking of fentanyl a national emergency and took measures to prevent its transport into the U.S.
Peltola also broke ranks with a majority of Democrats on border/immigration issues when she:
Voted on Jan. 17, 2024, along with 13 other House Democrats and every Republican, in favor of a nonbinding resolution denouncing the Biden administration’s border enforcement efforts, and “urg[ing] President Biden to end his administration’s open-borders policies.”
Voted on March 7, 2024, in favor of the Laken Riley Act — which required the federal detention of immigrants in the country illegally who are accused of theft, burglary, larceny or shoplifting.
Voted on May 15, 2024, with 53 other Democrats in support of a bill that would mandate the Department of Homeland Security to take custody of and deport any immigrant in the country illegally charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer or other first responder.
Voted on May 15, 2024, along with just 14 other Democrats in favor of a nonbinding resolution condemning the Biden administration’s border policies.
Voted on Sept. 20, 2024, in support of the No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act, which sought to cut off some federal funds for so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
“Time and time again, Mary was one of few members in her party to call out Joe Biden for his failures at the southern border,” a spokesperson for the Peltola campaign told us.
As we have written, illegal immigration surged to historic highs during Biden’s presidency. In June 2024, Biden announced a series of emergency policies designed to curb “substantial levels of migration” due to “global conditions.” Illegal immigration dropped dramatically for the remainder of Biden’s presidency.
At the time of Biden’s announced crackdown on illegal immigration, Peltola and three other Democrats in the House released a statement calling Biden’s orders “an overdue step,” and urging the president to do more.
“We’ve long demanded President Biden change course and empower the Border Patrol, and he’s finally acting and listening to the law enforcement agents in the field, like we’ve been telling him to do,” the statement reads.
The four Democrats implored Biden to return to the Trump policy of requiring immigrants to wait in another country while their immigration cases are pending in the U.S. And they called on Congress to pass legislation to reinstate the use of Title 42, a public health law invoked by Trump during the pandemic that allowed border officials to immediately return many of those caught trying to enter the country illegally, even those who sought asylum.
Fentanyl Smuggling
The ad ties Bruce Snodgrass’ death to the issue of migrants smuggling fentanyl across the border — it says “liberals … opened our borders to the drug cartels.” But experts say the vast majority of fentanyl coming into the U.S. is smuggled through legal ports of entry, mostly by American citizens.
In testimony presented to the Senate on Nov. 17, 2021, Diane Sabatino, deputy executive assistant commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations, said, “Most illicit fentanyl is synthesized in Mexico and like other illicit drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine, large volumes are encountered and seized at our southwest border ports of entry. It is brought in by privately owned vehicles, concealed within commercial vehicles, and even on pedestrian travelers. Although much less frequently now, we also encounter fentanyl and other synthetic opioids in international mail and express consignment shipments.”
“Our investigations do tell us that the vast majority of fentanyl is coming in the ports of entry,” Anne Milgram, then administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said in Senate testimony on Feb. 15, 2023. (At the 1:25:35 mark.)
According to a Government Accountability Office report on Sept. 4, 2025, “[M]ost of the fentanyl, chemicals, and equipment used to make it are coming in from Mexico or China. About 80% of fentanyl was seized in the southwest border region. Most of the illicit drug is coming across U.S. borders in passenger vehicles. The chemicals used to make fentanyl are largely being transported via commercial vehicles like cargo trucks, ships, and planes. And nearly half of the equipment used to make fentanyl pills is being sent by mail. “
According to an analysis by the American Immigration Council, “There is little evidence to suggest migrants are bringing fentanyl across the border on foot—or that migration is linked to fentanyl at all. While some have speculated that high levels of irregular migration provide an opportunity for drug smuggling (on the logic that border agents are distracted), the data provides no support for this theory. Migration has risen and fallen with no correlation between drug seizures.”
Citing data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the report states that “the majority of fentanyl smuggled across the southern border enters not on the backs of migrants crossing the border on foot, but in the vehicles and on the bodies of U.S. citizens and other lawful entrants seeking admission at land ports of entry.”
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Justin Craig charged with official misconduct and fraud, after searching plates of wife and ‘previous acquaintance’
An Indiana police officer has been arrested on allegations that he misused Flock cameras hundreds of times in a case involving his wife and a previous acquaintance of hers.
Justin Craig of Georgetown police department, was charged with official misconduct and two counts of fraud. Documents show that he searched his wife’s license plate more than 80 times and that of a “previous acquaintance” of hers nearly 250 times, the news outlet WLKY reported.
American, 21, wins world all-around title in Rotterdam
Blakely ruptured achilles before 2024 Olympic trials
First US champion since Simone Biles three years ago
Skye Blakely completed a sensational comeback from a ruptured achilles tendon to win the women’s all-around title at the world gymnastics championships in Rotterdam on Friday, claiming the biggest individual prize in the sport outside the Olympics.
The 21-year-old American scored 55.733 points across four apparatus to finish ahead of Russia’s Liudmila Roshchina (55.199), with China’s Ke Qinqin taking bronze (55.032).
36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco shared his story with Oregon Public Broadcasting a week after the school shooting that killed three children and a teacher.
The Trump administration is suing to prevent the Alaska Senate election from being certified if GOP Sen. Daniel Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola because of the other Dan Sullivan who is on the ballot.
The Mississippi attorney general's office had determined that the use of force was justified in the deadly shooting that stemmed from an alleged shoplifting incident.
Tel Aviv, Israel — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel this week and met privately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just days before Israel’s Oct. 27 election, as Washington and Jerusalem continue discussing their military posture toward Iran.
Israeli officials confirmed that Hegseth met Netanyahu at Ovda Air Force Base in southern Israel, where U.S. aircraft and personnel are stationed. A Netanyahu spokesperson said the two discussed “threats in the region” and U.S.-Israeli cooperation in both offensive and defensive operations.
The timing drew attention because President Donald Trump had endorsed Netanyahu one day earlier, calling him a key partner against Iran and warning that the United States could otherwise be left to confront Tehran alone.
Hegseth said only that he was in the region visiting American troops and declined to describe his conversation with Netanyahu.
The meeting also comes amid renewed debate over whether the U.S. and Israel could escalate operations against Iran after the elections. Israeli officials said the discussion included regional threats, but neither government publicly announced any new military action.
Netanyahu has made his relationship with Trump a central part of his reelection campaign, while his opponents have criticized direct U.S. involvement in Israel’s vote.
SpaceX is reportedly seeking access to at least 80,000 cellular tower sites across the U.S. as it prepares to launch Starlink Mobile as a fourth nationwide wireless carrier. "We will be building out our terrestrial networks so there's broad-based connectivity anywhere that SpaceX and Starlink are allowed to operate," Musk said during SpaceX's earnings call this week. Satellite launches plus spectrum acquisition "will pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US," he said. Bloomberg reports: One of the companies they're in talks with is Crown Castle, which, along with American Tower and Vertical Bridge Holdings, are among the largest owners of cellular towers. When asked on a Wednesday earnings conference call whether Crown Castle is discussing leases with SpaceX, Amazon.com or other satellite-based telecom providers, Chief Executive Officer Chris Hillabrant said, "You can assume that we're talking to all parties." He declined to discuss specific customer details.
Mobile networks rely on antennas placed on towers across the country to transmit wireless signals. Carriers such as AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and T-Mobile US Inc. typically lease room for their equipment at the tower sites because it's more cost effective than owning and maintaining them, in part because the facilities can be shared. The value of the deals with SpaceX could reach into the billions.
Steelers, Saints still on for NFL’s Paris debut on Sunday
Violent protests prompt US security warning for fans
PSG cancel Sunday match amid escalating Paris unrest
The NFL would have cancelled its first regular-season game in Paris, scheduled for Sunday, if the situation were unsafe, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said on Friday, referring to the recent protests in the French capital.
France experienced some of its worst urban unrest in years last weekend, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to tighten restrictions on protests on Thursday amid fears that demonstrations planned for Saturday could turn violent.
Democrats have made Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson’s wealth a major focus of the competitive Iowa U.S. Senate race, zooming in on her finances during her time in Congress.
A recent ad from WinSenate, a super PAC affiliated with the Democratic Senate Majority PAC, said Hinson has enriched herself since 2021 as she represents Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. The ad includes other claims about Hinson’s votes on the Iran war and Iowa farm bankruptcies, but we’re focusing on the claim about her wealth while in Congress.
“After just five years in Washington, she’s $8 million richer,” the ad’s narrator said. “Ashley Hinson got rich. Iowa got left behind.”
The onscreen text says Hinson is “up to” eight times richer, but the narrator doesn’t say it that way.
Democratic candidate Josh Turek, an Iowa House representative, has made related claims, saying Hinson increased her wealth by up to 15 times since she entered office. One of his campaign ads repeats the claim that Hinson is up to $8 million richer.
Hinson and Turek are in the final stretch of a competitive election for the Senate seat held by outgoing Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. Ad spending in the race has surpassed $200 million, The Associated Press reported Oct. 22.
A super PAC can raise and spend unlimited amounts. The Senate Majority PAC, the super PAC that operates WinSenate, pointed PolitiFact to Hinson’s personal financial disclosures when we asked for evidence supporting its ad.
The attack is based on a skewed comparison of the data.
How much has Hinson’s wealth increased?
Every member of Congress is required to file a disclosure listing most of their assets, debts and payments over a certain dollar amount. Members must also report certain assets held by their spouses. The disclosures don’t include the lawmakers’ primary residence or vacation homes that don’t generate income. The assets are reported as estimated ranges, rather than exact values.
“The value of many investments tends to fluctuate, so disclosing an asset’s value in a range helps capture a particular snapshot in time,” said Michael Beckel, research director for Issue One, an advocacy group on campaign-finance issues. “At the same time, broad ranges can often leave people wanting more information.”
Here’s what we know about Hinson’s finances based on the most recent disclosures and her filings when she entered office in 2021 that covered the previous year:
2025: Assets, $2.3 million to $8.8 million, zero debt.
2020: Assets, $726,000 to $2.4 million, $65,000 to $150,000 debt.
To calculate that Hinson is $8 million richer now than in 2020, WinSenate said it subtracted the highest 2020 debt figure ($150,000) from that year’s lowest asset number ($726,000).
Then, it subtracted that amount ($576,000) from the $8.8 million maximum assets in 2025, to get about $8.2 million.
But that math is misleading, experts say.
“It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison to compare the low-end estimate from one year to the high-end estimate from another year,” Beckel said.
Comparing averages between 2020 and 2025 shows a wealth increase of about $4 million, or half the figure the WinSenate ad is citing.
Hinson’s wealth increase was driven largely by one asset: Her husband’s stake in Highstreet Insurance Partners, a private-equity backed firm that buys local insurance agencies. Matt Arenholz, Hinson’s spouse, sold his local insurance agency to Highstreet in 2021, receiving a stake in the parent company after the sale. Hinson’s 2025 disclosure valued that asset between $1 million and $5 million.
Arenholz’ stake in the local agency was valued between $250,000 and $500,000, according to Hinson’s 2020 disclosure. Hinson’s spokesperson Billy Fuerst said Arenholz was compensated through private stock options for that sale. That’s the $1 million to $5 million stake in Highstreet Insurance in the 2025 disclosure.
“It has no connection whatsoever to Ashley’s service in Congress, and the sale was in process before Ashley was elected to Congress,” Fuerst said.
The difference in the estimated value of Arenholz’ local insurance agency and his new stake in Highstreet is not surprising, said Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota corporate law professor.
“I don’t find that unusual at all, that you’re running a business and a big company wants to come in and buy you, and pays you twice what you may have thought it was worth,” he said.
David Schultz, a professor at Hamline University who studies election law, said the ad misleads by using wide ranges and attributing the gain personally to her and not her husband.
“Clearly the ad seems to imply she did something wrong or is using her official position for self gain,” he said.
Our ruling
A WinSenate ad said Hinson is “$8 million richer” after five years in Congress.
The ad is based on financial disclosures, but it cherry-picked figures to present the largest possible gain. It also ignores critical facts about the source of the gains — Hinson’s husband’s stake in a company — to give a misleading impression.
Residents in Oleshky have been enduring a worsening humanitarian crisis due to the lack of food, electricity and other resources
The French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu has just issued a statement on a shooting in a town west of Paris this morning where one person was killed and four others injured.
Police said a gunman had opened fire in Trappes, in the Yvelines, and neighbouring La Verriere. The gunman was later arrested in nearby Coignieres.
Trump justice department claims there could be ‘confusion’ about two Republicans on the ballot named Dan Sullivan
Donald Trump said he ordered the justice department to file a lawsuit to block the certification of Alaska’s US Senate results if the Republican incumbent loses, a move that voting rights experts called an“unprecedented intervention” by the federal government with control of Congress in the balance.
“I’m the one that said do it,” the president told reporters as he landed in Florida for a campaign rally on Friday.
Beyond Halloween, Delaware’s Oct. 23-25 weekend features live music, comic books, fall festivals, history, cycling, charity races and family adventures across all three counties.
WILMINGTON, Del. — Halloween may dominate the calendar, but Delaware residents looking for something different this weekend have plenty of options.
From the streets of Rehoboth Beach to historic New Castle, the Delaware State Fairgrounds and the farms of Kent County, communities are celebrating the final full weekend of October with festivals, performances, outdoor activities and family entertainment.
Runners and walkers also have several opportunities to support local causes, including breast cancer awareness, education and community organizations.
Here are Delaware LIVE’s top picks for Oct. 23-25.
Sea Witch brings three days of fun to Rehoboth Beach
One of Delaware’s biggest fall traditions returns this weekend as the 36th annual Sea Witch Festival fills downtown Rehoboth Beach with parades, live entertainment, shopping and family activities.
Running Friday through Sunday, the festival draws visitors from across the Mid-Atlantic for a combination of Halloween celebrations and traditional beach-town festivities.
The centerpiece is Saturday’s costume parade, beginning at 11 a.m. along Rehoboth Avenue. Elaborate costumes, decorated floats, community organizations and families are expected to fill the downtown streets.
Beyond the costumes, visitors can enjoy artisan vendors, live entertainment, seasonal shopping and local restaurants.
The festival also includes Sunday’s Sea Witch 5K Classic and one-mile Fright Walk, giving visitors an opportunity to participate in the celebration.
Blue Hen Comic Con brings pop culture to Harrington
Comic books, anime, gaming, cosplay and pop culture take center stage Saturday and Sunday as Blue Hen Comic Con returns to the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington.
The two-day convention brings together comic creators, artists, vendors, celebrity guests and fans for a celebration of entertainment and creativity.
Activities include cosplay competitions, Artist Alley, interactive gaming, panels and workshops.
Families with teenagers, comic enthusiasts and anyone interested in movies, superheroes or gaming will find an alternative to the traditional fall festival.
Admission: $15 Saturday, $13 Sunday or $21 for the weekend.
William Penn Day celebrates Delaware’s beginnings
History takes center stage Saturday in Old New Castle as the New Castle Court House Museum commemorates the arrival of William Penn in 1682.
William Penn Day offers a glimpse into Delaware’s colonial history through educational presentations, historical interpretation and live music.
The day begins with a presentation by the Iron Hill Science Center about the Indigenous people and natural environment encountered by early European settlers.
At 2 p.m., musicians from the Suzuki Academy of the Delaware Music School will perform Baroque music reflecting the colonial era.
Visitors also can explore the museum and historic streets of Old New Castle.
Music lovers can spend Saturday afternoon in Lewes as internationally acclaimed pianist Awadagin Pratt opens the Coastal Concerts 2026-27 season.
Pratt has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center and with major orchestras across the United States.
His program, “America 250,” features works by American composers Florence Price, George Walker, Nathaniel Dett and Julius Eastman.
The concert offers a cultural alternative to the weekend’s crowded festivals and an opportunity to experience internationally recognized musical talent in coastal Delaware.
When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Where: Bethel Fellowship Hall, 129 W. Fourth St., Lewes
Families looking for a traditional fall outing can visit Fifer Orchards near Wyoming, where Fall Fest continues Saturday.
The farm offers pumpkin and apple picking, a five-acre corn maze, outdoor attractions and seasonal favorites such as apple cider, cider doughnuts, kettle corn and ice cream.
This year’s attractions include an interactive Minion Maze and expanded children’s play area.
Fall Fest runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with visitors asked to leave by 5 p.m. Admission is $18 online or $24 at the gate for ages 3 and older.
Cyclists will take to the roads of western Sussex County Saturday for the second annual Broad Creek Bash in Laurel.
Organized by the Western Sussex Chamber of Commerce, the event offers 25-, 50- and 65-mile routes through scenic countryside, historic communities, and waterways.
Riders will pass through a region known for its rural landscapes, historic sites and outdoor recreation opportunities.
An after-party at Janosik Park will feature live music and food trucks, giving friends and supporters a chance to join the celebration even if they are not cycling.
Online ride registration has closed, but visitors can still check with organizers about the community festivities.
When: Saturday, with cycling beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Runners and walkers take to Delaware streets for weekend 5Ks
Delaware runners and walkers have several opportunities to get active this weekend, with races supporting breast cancer awareness, education and other community causes.
On Saturday, Wilmington Friends School hosts the 30th annual Smith McMillan 5K, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The event benefits a financial aid endowment honoring two former students. A free children’s dash begins at 8:10 a.m.
Other Saturday events include the Boo & Brew 5K and Eternal Rest 5K Run/Walk in Wilmington and the Boo-K It! 5K in Odessa.
Sunday brings two notable races.
The 10th annual Deer Park Goes Pink 5K begins at 9 a.m. at Deer Park Tavern, 108 W. Main St. in Newark. The event supports the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition and includes a one-mile fun walk and post-race celebration. Organizers say all race proceeds benefit the coalition.
At the beaches, the Sea Witch 5K Classic begins at 9 a.m. Sunday at Grove Park in Rehoboth Beach. The event also includes a one-mile Fright Walk, providing another way to participate in the festival.
Whether running for a personal best, walking with family or supporting a cause, the weekend’s races offer an opportunity to combine fitness and community involvement.
When: Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24-25
Where: Wilmington, Odessa, Newark and Rehoboth Beach
Learn more:RunSignup or individual race organizers’ websites.
Seaford celebrates the harvest season
Downtown Seaford will host its Fall Harvest Festival Saturday, offering an afternoon of food, shopping, vendors and community activities.
Organized by the Downtown Seaford Association, the festival brings residents and visitors to High Street to enjoy the autumn season while supporting local merchants and small businesses.
The family-friendly event is a good choice for people interested in a traditional small-town celebration rather than a Halloween attraction.
Explore the stars at Delaware Museum of Nature and Science
Families can travel through the universe without leaving Wilmington this weekend.
The Delaware Museum of Nature and Science will offer Star Lab programs Saturday and Sunday, allowing visitors to explore the night sky inside an inflatable, 360-degree planetarium.
This weekend’s presentations focus on myths, constellations and star lore from cultures around the world.
Programs are scheduled at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. An additional ticket is required beyond regular museum admission.
For adults seeking something more adventurous, the museum also hosts Museum of the Macabre Saturday evening from 6 to 9 p.m., combining science and natural history with a Halloween atmosphere.
When: Saturday and Sunday for Star Lab; Saturday, 6-9 p.m., for Museum of the Macabre
Where: Delaware Museum of Nature and Science, Wilmington
Not every weekend adventure requires tickets or a scheduled event.
Delaware’s state parks, nature preserves and public trails offer opportunities to enjoy the cooler weather and changing fall colors.
Brandywine Creek State Park in northern Delaware offers wooded trails and views along the creek. In Kent County, Killens Pond State Park provides lakeside walks and wooded paths.
Farther south, Trap Pond State Park near Laurel offers trails around one of Delaware’s best-known natural areas, with its distinctive bald cypress trees.
Visitors also can explore the Wilmington Riverfront, where walking paths follow the Christina River and connect to restaurants, parks and other attractions.
Delaware LIVE’s best bets for the weekend
Whether looking for a full-day festival, live music, a community race or a quiet afternoon, Delaware has something happening in every corner of the state.
Best for pop culture fans: Blue Hen Comic Con, Harrington
Best for history lovers: William Penn Day, New Castle
Best for music: Awadagin Pratt, Lewes
Best for families: Fifer Orchards Fall Fest, Wyoming
Best for community involvement: Deer Park Goes Pink 5K, Newark
Best for science lovers: Star Lab, Wilmington
Best for outdoor adventure: Broad Creek Bash, Laurel
Best small-town festival: Seaford Fall Harvest Festival
With Halloween celebrations sharing the calendar with concerts, community races, harvest festivals, history and outdoor recreation, this weekend offers a reminder that Delaware’s fall season has something for just about everyone.
TO GO: Delaware weekend roundup
When: Friday through Sunday, Oct. 23-25, 2026
Where: Locations throughout New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties
Highlights: Sea Witch Festival, Blue Hen Comic Con, William Penn Day, Coastal Concerts, Fifer Orchards Fall Fest, Broad Creek Bash, community 5Ks, Seaford Fall Harvest Festival and Delaware Museum of Nature and Science programs.
Admission: Varies by event. Some activities are free; others require tickets or advance registration.
Planning tip: Sea Witch visitors should expect traffic congestion and parking restrictions in downtown Rehoboth Beach. The Saturday costume parade begins at 11 a.m.
More information: Visit individual event websites for schedules, tickets, parking information and last-minute changes.
(The Center Square) – Rural and Hispanic voters are split on the direction of the state and country, according to a new poll conducted by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston.
Donald Trump told rally-goers on Thursday evening that he had 'the right to run again' for president, invoking a claim he has repeatedly made that he may seek a third term despite it being unconstitutional
Any player will be eligible for High Impact Player status
Requirements had included top 100, marketability lists
Sides also resolve grievance on Rodman contract refusal
The NWSL and the NWSL Players Association have reached a settlement to drop the restrictive criteria around the controversial High Impact Player (HIP) rule, allowing any player to earn the league’s highest salaries.
The NWSL introduced the rule late last year, allowing teams to spend an additional $1m above the salary cap to sign star players. Players with the designation had to meet one of eight criteria, ranging from US national team minutes and Ballon d’Or recognition to NWSL Best XI honors to media lists, including the Guardian’s Top 100 and a ranking that ordered athletes by marketability.
This week's guests include Attorney General Todd Blanche, GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, Democratic Rep. Jason Crow and Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa.
(The Center Square) – A growing coalition of Jewish leaders are calling on Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to reaffirm Jewish rights and safety.
The New York Knicks reportedly sent employees a fake offer of complimentary NBA championship rings as part of an internal phishing test, requiring anyone who clicked the link to attend mandatory cybersecurity training. "Congratulations, your Employee Championship Ring is here," the email said. According to The New York Times, Madison Square Garden employees who clicked that link "were forced to attend a mandatory cybersecurity class to help satisfy some of [owner James] Dolan's growing cybersecurity concerns." Ars Technica reports: The offer wasn't implausible, either. "Typically, most employees for NBA teams receive rings, even if they are not as fancy and expensive as the ones the players receive," wrote Joe Vardon, senior NBA writer for The Athletic, which was bought by The New York Times in 2022 and then merged into the parent news organization. Vardon's article was primarily about how Knicks assistant coaches did not get rings on Tuesday when the team raised its first league championship banner since 1973. The assistant coaches were handed boxes without rings inside, though they are expected to receive rings later on.
"Ring orders, designs, and measurements can take time, and not every coaching staff for every defending champion gets its rings on ring night... The Knicks assistants were told they would receive championship rings eventually, but many longtime employees at Madison Square Garden, including some who work in the Knicks' business operations, will not receive rings at all, team sources told The Athletic," Vardon wrote. MSG employee hopes were raised "at the end of September when the Knicks sent an email to a long list of employees, which gave recipients a first glimpse at their would-be championship rings," Vardon wrote. The email included "a graphic of two differently styled rings" that the lucky employees could supposedly choose from, the article said.
"(Employee name), this one is on the house. MSG is issuing a complimentary employee championship ring. The same jeweler, the same craftsmanship, personalized with your name. No cost to you," the email said. "There are two designs to choose from: Championship Gold and Garden Classic. Reserve the one you want below." Vardon wrote that "multiple team sources" confirmed the email was a phishing test. It's not clear how many employees clicked the link or whether any of the employees who received the email will eventually get some type of championship ring. We contacted the Madison Square Garden Sports organization with these questions and will update this article if we get a response.
(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump has signed a bill into law to expand wireless emergency alerts and enhance emergency preparedness for disasters.
In late August, Democrat James Talarico said that he had told “every … wealthy person” that “if you are OK with getting taxed more, if you’re OK with me limiting your influence in politics, you are welcome to join this movement that we are building.” But an ad from his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, skips the part about wealthy people and influencing politics to brand Talarico as a proponent of raising all kinds of taxes.
Polling shows Talarico, a former Texas state representative, and Paxton, the state’s attorney general, locked in a tight battle for the open Texas Senate seat.
The Paxton ad, which has primarily aired on broadcast television over the past week, according to the ad tracking service AdImpact, takes other quotes from Talarico out of context and claims he “voted for an income tax” in the state and is “pushing higher property taxes.” It ends by saying, “Texans can’t afford Talarico’s radical agenda.”
An ad from Talarico counters that he “brought both parties together” in the statehouse “passing the largest property tax cut in Texas history,” among other legislative efforts. He voted for the tax cut, which passed with very little opposition. It’s unclear what role he played in shepherding the legislation through the statehouse.
We’ll go through the quotes the Paxton ad uses and the various claims about taxes.
‘Join This Movement’ Quote
The Paxton ad begins by showing Talarico saying, “If you are OK with getting taxed more, you are welcome to join this movement.” But that misrepresents Talarico’s remark.
On Aug. 29, during an interview alongside businessman Mark Cuban, Talarico said that he had told that to “every wealthy person I come across in this race.” He wasn’t talking about taxing everyone more.
Talarico began by referring to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Bobby Kennedy, saying they were “billionaires of their day” and “they used their wealth to help working people and not just through charity but by changing the systems that make charity necessary.” He then praised Cuban’s work in healthcare policy. Cuban founded Cost Plus Drugs to offer medicines at lower prices. Then, Talarico made his comment about wealthy people paying more in taxes.
“I’ve told every, you know, wealthy person I come across in this race, if you are OK with getting taxed more, if you’re OK with me limiting your influence in politics, you are welcome to join this movement that we are building,” Talarico said. “And we’re thankful to have Mark Cuban as part of this.”
Income Tax and Tips, Overtime, Social Security
The ad goes on to say that Talarico “voted for an income tax and supports taxing tips, overtime and Social Security.”
Talarico didn’t vote for an income tax. Rather, he opposed a 2019 joint resolution in the Texas Legislature calling for a constitutional amendment to prohibit an individual income tax. Texas doesn’t have such a tax.
Before 2019, the constitution prohibited an individual income tax without voter approval, and stipulated that if a tax were to be approved, the revenue would go to education and reducing schools’ local taxes. The 2019 proposal made implementing an income tax more difficult, and dropped the specification about where any potential revenue could be directed.
Voters approved the 2019 amendment, which now can only be changed with a two-thirds vote in the Legislature and approval by voters. Before, only a majority vote in the Legislature could have sent an income tax referendum to voters.
At the time of the votes in the Legislature, some Democrats expressed concern that the wording in the measure could lead to a legal challenge of existing business franchise taxes that fund public schools.
Asked about his vote against the joint resolution in a CBS News Texas interview that aired Sept. 5, Talarico said the state income tax was “already banned.” Reporter Jack Fink replied, “But this would have banned it permanently. It was, there’s already a high bar.”
“We need to bring bills to the floor that that are actually solving problems,” Talarico said. “Putting in a ban on an already existing ban is just duplicate government overreach at its worst, and it’s why we need legislators who are focused on solving real problems, not just trying to grandstand on an issue.”
He added that the measure “did nothing,” saying that “I’m against an income tax in Texas, always have been.”
As for the claim that Talarico “supports taxing tips, overtime and Social Security,” that’s a misleading reference to his opposition to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law in July 2025. This has been a common Republican attack line in midterm campaigns.
As we’ve written before, Talarico’s campaign said that he supports the law’s tax cuts for the “middle class,” including changes to taxes on tips, overtime pay and for seniors. Talarico has called for repealing the law’s “tax breaks for the top 1%.”
In its support for the ad, the Paxton campaign also cited a September news interview that indicated Talarico opposed the cuts to Medicaid in the OBBBA.
More Context Needed
The Paxton ad uses two other quotes from Talarico that need context. The first is: “Well, I don’t care where you get the revenue. I don’t care what taxes you have to raise.” Talarico said that in 2020 about Republicans potentially wanting to cut education and health funding when facing a budget shortfall and Democrats taking a stand against that.
His comments were theoretical. On Aug. 2, 2020, Talarico spoke during the COVID-19 pandemic in a virtual townhall organized by Texas Rising, a liberal group supporting young voters. He mentioned cuts in Texas to education funding in 2011, after the Great Recession, and then said the state could be facing a budget shortfall in the coming year “unless there is overwhelming federal aid, which I don’t know if we can count on.”
He said budget cuts could be “a lot greater” than in 2011 and went on to talk about opposing funding cuts to education and healthcare.
Talarico, Aug. 2, 2020: In my experience in politics, the folks who win the argument are the ones who talk first and say their message the most consistently and the loudest. And so, I’ve been trying to talk to as many education advocates as I can about how do we start now by drawing a line in the sand and saying we’re not going to accept cuts to health or education in the next session, no matter what the budget shortfall looks like. And that’s sometimes you get the reaction in the Capitol and the 10 blocks around the Capitol that that’s an unreasonable position to take.
But the other side of the aisle has already taken revenue increases off the table. They’ve done a good job of making certain options taboo. So I think our coalition, not just Democrats but progressives and anybody with a functioning heart, should be able to make cuts to health and education taboo. Take them off the table. I don’t care where you get the revenue. I don’t care what taxes you have to raise, but you’re not going to make our students and our teachers, you’re not going to make the sick and the elderly pay for this pandemic. We are not going to balance our budget off of the most vulnerable people in this state. And that kind of line in the sand needs to be drawn now, not in January, not in February, not when the first drafts of the budget come out. We need to be pressuring lawmakers today to commit to pledging that they will not sacrifice our students and our teachers and our nurses in the next budget cycle.
Another Talarico quote in the ad is simply: “Raise local taxes.” He said those words in January 2019 when speaking about Julián Castro at Castro’s presidential campaign launch event. Castro, when he was mayor of San Antonio, had called for a tax increase to pay for a citywide prekindergarten program.
Talarico told the crowd that he used to teach middle school and he displayed photos in his classroom of “leaders who were never afraid to stand up and speak out,” one of whom was Castro.
“And I told my students that the mayor is an example, not because he’s successful or because he’s famous, but because he always has the courage to do what is right,” Talarico said. “In my first year of teaching, Mayor Castro staked his entire political career on a proposal to raise local taxes in order to fund full-day pre-K across the city of San Antonio. A proposal to raise local taxes — they teach you that that’s a no-no on your first day of politician school, but the mayor did it anyway. He did it anyway, and that’s why I told my students to be like the mayor and to let their own light shine, no matter the consequences.”
San Antonio voters approved the pre-K program, and the small sales tax increase to fund it, in 2012. The sales tax went up by 1/8th of a cent per dollar. Voters reauthorized the program in 2020 for another eight years.
Property Taxes
The Paxton ad says that Talarico is “even pushing higher property taxes,” while Talarico says in an ad of his own that he helped pass “the largest property tax cut in Texas history.” So which is it?
The Paxton campaign cited Talarico’s vote against a 2019 bill to limit any increase in local property taxes to 3.5% in a year. An increase higher than that by cities or counties would have to be approved by voters. The bill passed and became law that year.
The Texas Tribune reported that this was a “controversial provision,” saying that “[m]unicipal officials have repeatedly said the 3.5% election trigger will hamstring their budgets and hamper their ability to provide public safety and other local services.” Prior to this law, localities were limited to an 8% increase in property taxes, and if voters wanted to stop it, they had to petition to get the matter on the ballot.
In his ad, Talarico says he “brought both parties together to make life more affordable” by, among other things, “passing the largest property tax cut in Texas history.” He did vote for two bills in 2023, companionlegislation that was described in news reports as the largest property tax cut in the state’s history. In the final House vote, only four or five lawmakers opposed the bills, which were introduced in the Senate by a Republican. Talarico wasn’t a co-sponsor on the similarbills introduced in the House.
We asked the Talarico campaign how he “brought both parties together” to pass the tax cut, but we didn’t get a response to that question.
The campaign pointed to other tax cut measures Talarico supported. He sponsored a 2023 bill to create a property tax exemption for childcare facilities. The identical Senate version was signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. In 2025, he voted for three bills that provided more property tax relief, including for elderly and disabled homeowners, and Abbott also enacted those.
On his campaign website, Talarico calls for cutting taxes on the “middle class” and paying for that by raising taxes on billionaires and corporations. Paxton’s campaign website says he will “fight to cut taxes” and that he supports “Trump’s legislative priorities,” including on taxes.
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After discovery of severe bug in the PHP programming language, executives warn of ‘vulnerability tsunami’
Leaders in cybersecurity are sounding the alarm after the discovery of a major vulnerability this week. They are predicting that artificial intelligence tools will expose more fundamental weaknesses in global internet infrastructure in the months to come.
“I no longer think we’re going to be able to patch all bugs,” said Sam Altman on Thursday evening, joining the chorus of executives. In the midst of what’s being called “Black October”, for which researchers used AI to help identify critical flaws in a coding language that is used across millions of websites and may have been unpatched for years, tech executives are warning about the ways AI will be used both to identify and exploit security vulnerabilities at an unprecedented scale and pace.
Unidentified object vanished suddenly and silently, anonymous senior military observers claim
Two senior military observers say they watched a mysterious black triangular object flying at an extraordinarily high speed over a sensitive site in the western US earlier this year, in the latest tranche of reported UFO sightings released on Friday by the Trump administration.
The unidentified object showed none of the characteristics of a conventional military aircraft, their report to the defense department said, and it vanished suddenly and silently within seconds, leaving no exhaust trail or other evidence of its existence.
Republican challenger proposes sweeping debt relief and economic reforms, while Democratic incumbent Sarah McBride emphasizes targeted assistance for working families. No debates, forums, or town meetings between the candidates have been announced.
WILMINGTON — Delaware voters looking for answers to rising living costs will have an opportunity Wednesday, Oct. 28, to hear a different approach to economic growth as Republican congressional candidate Dr. Joe Arminio presents his proposals just days before the Nov. 3 general election. As of Friday afternoon, the McBride Campaign has no similar public event on her calendar.
Arminio, who is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride for Delaware’s only seat in the House of Representatives, argues that reducing America’s enormous debt burden is essential to restoring economic growth and making life more affordable.
McBride, seeking a second term, has made affordability a central campaign priority, emphasizing lower housing, health care, child care and energy costs, along with tax relief for working families.
Both candidates recognize the financial pressures facing Delaware households. Their differences lie largely in how they believe Washington should respond.
Arminio proposes a different economic direction
Arminio, a Wilmington native and political scientist with a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has built his campaign around what he calls the American Prosperity Plan.
He argues that excessive personal, business and government debt has weakened the economy, leaving families with less money to spend and businesses with fewer opportunities to grow.
His proposals include:
Debt relief: A proposed “debt jubilee” providing $92,400 per adult to reduce private debt, with government-backed bonds compensating creditors.
Monetary reform: Changes to the federal monetary system, including government-created currency intended to reduce dependence on borrowing.
Infrastructure investment: Establishing a federal infrastructure bank to finance transportation improvements, public infrastructure and affordable housing.
Economic growth: Pursuing policies he believes could restore the stronger growth rates associated with the 1950s.
Arminio contends that reducing debt would free household income, encourage business investment and expand economic opportunities.
His campaign message, “Relieve Debts, Stop the Wars,” also connects economic prosperity to reduced American involvement in overseas conflicts, which he argues contribute to government borrowing, instability and inflation.
The proposals depart significantly from conventional economic policy. Important questions remain about how the debt relief would be financed, its effects on taxpayers and financial institutions, and whether the changes could produce the growth Arminio predicts without increasing inflation.
Some of Arminio’s economic assertions also differ substantially from official federal statistics. He contends that the United States has experienced little or no meaningful inflation-adjusted economic growth since 2008, although Bureau of Economic Analysis data show substantial real economic growth during that period.
McBride emphasizes targeted relief for families
McBride has approached affordability through legislation intended to reduce specific household expenses while expanding economic opportunities.
She has co-sponsored the American Affordability Act, which includes provisions intended to increase affordable housing, provide tax assistance for first-time homebuyers and renters, reduce health care and child care expenses, and lower energy costs.
McBride has also supported expanded paid family and medical leave, more affordable child care and greater access to home-based services for seniors and people with disabilities.
Her campaign argues that reducing these expenses would allow working families to keep more of their earnings while helping more people enter or remain in the workforce.
McBride has criticized federal tariffs, arguing that they increase prices for consumers and businesses.
Her approach relies primarily on targeted federal programs, tax incentives and investments rather than the broad restructuring of the financial system proposed by Arminio.
Those policies also raise questions about federal spending, financing and how quickly Delaware households might experience meaningful relief.
Two approaches to a shared concern
For Delaware residents facing high electricity bills, expensive housing, grocery costs and growing financial obligations, the candidates offer contrasting economic strategies.
McBride emphasizes reducing specific household expenses, expanding access to essential services and using federal legislation to provide relief.
Arminio argues that reducing debt and changing the nation’s financial structure would create stronger, sustained economic growth, ultimately benefiting families and businesses.
Neither approach guarantees immediate results, and both would require congressional support to become law.
The candidates also differ in their foreign-policy priorities. Arminio has made opposition to continued overseas military conflicts a central campaign theme. McBride has also called for ending prolonged conflicts and has criticized the Trump administration’s handling of foreign affairs, although the candidates differ on American policy toward Israel and Iran.
Few opportunities to compare the candidates directly
While both campaigns have published their priorities and participated in public campaign activities, opportunities for voters to hear the candidates directly compare and defend their proposals have been limited.
Arminio issued a public challenge Oct. 5 for a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate with McBride, proposing an extended discussion in which both candidates could explain their positions and respond to each other’s arguments.
The candidates previously appeared at a Sept. 17 forum hosted by the Jewish Federation of Delaware. Arminio was removed from that event after misgendering McBride.
McBride also participated in an extended candidate interview with Delaware Public Media, discussing her priorities and record in Congress.
As of Oct. 23, Delaware LIVE could not identify an additional publicly announced debate or comparable candidate forum involving McBride scheduled before the Nov. 3 election.
That does not mean voters have lacked opportunities to hear from the incumbent. McBride has campaigned throughout Delaware, participated in interviews and outlined her positions through public statements and her campaign website.
However, a forum allowing both candidates to respond directly to the same questions would offer voters an additional way to compare their economic proposals.
Oct. 28 offers a chance to hear another perspective
Arminio’s Oct. 28 campaign event comes during Delaware’s early voting period, less than a week before voters decide who will represent the state in Congress.
The event offers an opportunity to examine proposals that have received less attention than traditional debates over taxes, federal spending and government programs.
It also raises practical questions: Would broad debt relief help younger families purchase homes? Could changes in monetary policy strengthen small businesses? How would Arminio’s proposals affect inflation and federal finances? And how do those ideas compare with McBride’s plans to reduce household expenses?
For Delaware voters, the congressional race presents competing ideas about how government can help families afford everyday life while encouraging economic growth.
Although Arminio’s campaign event is not a substitute for a debate between both candidates, it offers voters another opportunity to hear an alternative perspective, examine its potential benefits and risks, and make a more informed choice before Election Day.
TO GO: Dr. Joe Arminio campaign event
What: Campaign event featuring Republican U.S. House candidate Dr. Joe Arminio and his proposals for debt relief, lower living costs and economic growth.
When: Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026
Time: Not confirmed
Location: Not confirmed
Public admission: Not confirmed
Why it matters: The event offers an opportunity to learn about Arminio’s economic proposals and consider how they compare with Democratic incumbent Sarah McBride’s priorities.
The board change is the latest development for Mount Sinai hospital which features prominently in the Epstein files
The hedge fund billionaire Glenn Dubin, one of several Wall Street figures whose relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is facing scrutiny, has stepped down from the board of Mount Sinai hospital, according to sources close to the renowned New York institution.
The revelation follows news earlier this year that Mount Sinai, which has long ranked as a top medical provider in New York City, had reportedly formed a committee to review its longstanding ties to the late accused sex trafficker. The hospital features prominently in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice, including an incident in which a Mount Sinai doctor appears to have operated on a young Russian woman inside Epstein’s Upper East Side townhouse after she got hurt during a stay on his Caribbean island.
Democrats may be ahead in the polls. But can they withstand billions in campaign spending by Elon Musk and other MAGA oligarchs? Will the election be safe from intimidation and interference? And even if they do prevail, what would a Democratic Congress actually do to obstruct Trump’s attacks on democracy?
For decades, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has been sounding the alarm about rising inequality and the concentration of power in America. Having served in three presidential administrations, he’s become one of the loudest and clearest voices challenging Democrats for their failures in the Trump era.
Reich joins Intercept Briefing host Akela Lacy for a live conversation about the most pressing issues this midterm season. He is the author of numerous books, including his memoir “Coming Up Short,” out in paperback now. His media company, Inequality Media, has also made a timely new documentary, called “The Work in Progress,” exploring how everyday Americans across the country are navigating our democracy in these times.
At least one injured after flooding in Four Corners region – which includes Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah
Severe flooding in the Four Corners region on Friday led to water rescues – some from rooftops – and impassable roads, with some residents being told to evacuate low-lying areas of Colorado and New Mexico and others advised to shelter in place until water levels go down.
It followed several busy days of flooding in the region that swamped dozens of homes in Utah. Earlier in the week, tornadoes blew off roofs, knocked trees on to houses and downed power lines in Arizona. At least one person was injured.
Senescent cancer cells stained for a Death Receptor protein that is highly upregulated in response to chemotherapeutic treatment. (Seamus Martin / TCD via SWNS)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: AI agents left to explore a virtual island without a specific task began inventing challenges of their own. MIT researchers say the behavior bears the hallmarks of play. The researchers put 13 AI agents called Eko, each running on Claude Opus 4.7, alone on a simulated desert island for 30 hours. They describe the experiment in a paper posted on arXiv, a site where researchers share studies before peer review. Afterward, they gave the agents specific challenges, like getting as many objects as possible onto the island's tallest rock spire. The Eko agents that had spent those 30 hours playing generally beat identical agents that had never set foot on the island.
Today, developers decide in advance what AI should practice and what counts as success. The researchers see this technique -- exploring without a goal -- as a different way for AI agents to learn skills, especially skills that could one day be used to control robots. "We normally develop artificial agents by deciding in advance what they should practice, what they should optimize, and what counts as progress," the researchers write in their report. "Play suggests another regime: give an agent a sufficiently rich and safe world, let it choose what is interesting, and allow useful knowledge to accumulate from the history that follows." UC Berkeley cognitive scientist Eunice Yiu told MIT Technology Review she was impressed with the findings but that more evidence is needed to determine whether AI models are genuinely playing. "It could be the case that the models are genuinely playing, but we don't know based on the paper," says Yiu. "If you only have the behavioral piece, it could be the case that they're just trying to abide by the prompt, trying to imitate humans."
MIT professor and coauthor of the paper, Phillip Isola, added: "It's not like this is a system that just suddenly magically decided to play. It's an artifact that learned from our culture, was trained by engineers at Anthropic, and was then placed on an island by us. It does things that surprise us and that are causally related to its future skillful behavior."
Debit and credit cards have long used microchips, which protect against skimming. Now the U.S. Department of Agriculture is mandating that all 50 states adopt the technology to prevent SNAP benefit theft. Ramon Dompor
The Trump administration this week announced an overhaul of the nation’s food stamp payment system, aimed at modernizing benefit cards to protect families from electronic theft. The move comes a week after ProPublica published an investigation showing how $470 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits were stolen from recipients last year alone, in large part because these cards are technologically outdated.
ProPublica’s story highlighted victims’ experiences and examined repeated failures by Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to upgrade Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, cards nationally. ProPublica’s reporting was shared around the department, according to two USDA officials.
The new proposed rule, officially issued by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration on Friday, has been in the works since 2023 — but it was continually delayed until now. Reasons included understaffing at the USDA, especially in the wake of the Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts last year, and a backlog of other regulations that the White House budget office had prioritized. White House and USDA officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sudden shift.
The rule will mandate that all 50 states transition from EBT cards with just a magnetic stripe on the back — which are easy for criminals to skim data from — to ones with digital microchips, which credit and debit cards have had for more than a decade, and tap-to-pay technology. Other changes include creating new federal “SNAP EBT Operating Standards” to be revised on an ongoing basis, so that the feds and states together can do a better job of keeping up with best practices in the credit card industry and the changing tactics of fraudsters.
A handful of states have already transitioned to chip cards on their own, including California, where the theft of SNAP and other public benefits was reduced by 83% in two years after the technology was adopted. But more than 40 states haven’t added chips, and hundreds of thousands of lower-income Americans continue to show up at grocery store checkout lines only to find that their food assistance for the month has been drained by thieves. NPR and other news outlets have also recently reported on this crisis.
Members of the public, including state SNAP administrators and grocery store owners who may have logistical questions about how to overhaul their EBT systems, now have 60 days to submit comments on the new USDA regulation; these will be reviewed by agency officials before the rule is formally enacted. After that, states will have two years to switch to chip cards, although their ability to meet that deadline will depend on several factors. For one, many are budget-strapped right now, due in large part to the fact that President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act slashed states’ funding for administering their SNAP programs — dollars that they could have used to upgrade their EBT systems and print and mail out the new cards.
Multiple current and former FNA officials, as well as state program administrators, told ProPublica that they are worried the agency is mandating expensive changes for states but that Congress so far has shown little sign it will provide federal funding for the chip card transition. As ProPublica reported last week, the Senate’s version of this year’s Farm Bill includes money for this purpose, but the House version does not; Democrats and Republicans remain at loggerheads about overall SNAP spending, and it is unclear what will happen. The estimated total federal and state cost of the changes is $283 million, as compared with the more than $600 million in SNAP and other benefits that are stolen from existing cards every year.
Still, the mandate that all states implement chip EBT cards “is a big deal for low-income households,” said Justin King, a longtime safety net advocate who is now the policy director for Propel, a company that helps SNAP recipients access their benefit information. He added that he was “legit surprised” by the administration’s decision.
“Theft rings don’t care about state lines. You’re just squeezing a balloon if you update one state at a time,” King said of the prospect of individual states continuing to gradually adopt chip cards without a federal requirement. “A national standard means there’s nowhere left to go” for the criminals, he said.
For the moment, at least, there are signs that the Trump administration’s posture toward this issue has shifted more broadly. On Wednesday, while barnstorming in Ohio for Republican candidates, Vice President JD Vance (whose roles include serving as the administration’s “fraud czar”) called a press conference and made a point of emphasizing that low-income families are often the victims of SNAP fraud.
This was at odds with how Vance has portrayed the problem in the past. “There are people who have Lamborghinis who currently receive SNAP benefits,” he has previously said, in a typical comment. For ProPublica’s previous article, research reporter Gabriel Sandoval reviewed dozens of speeches, social media posts and press accounts of statements made by Vance and other Trump officials, and found that they have consistently portrayed SNAP recipients as the perpetrators of fraud.
Vance also took a startlingly different tone this week toward the food stamp program itself. In his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which first propelled him to fame, he wrote that SNAP recipients in Kentucky and Ohio “live off of government largesse”; he said that people in that part of the country are largely “hardworking, except of course for the many food stamp recipients who show little interest in honest work.”
But this week from the stage in southern Ohio, he said, “Step back for a minute and realize that the [SNAP] program is one of the most important social service programs that we have in the United States of America.” He went on at length: Food stamps ensure that “all of our fellow citizens, particularly children, are able to have a full belly at the end of every single night, that regardless of whether they can pay for a meal, we don’t let American children and American families go hungry. That is one of the most important and sacred things that our tax dollars go to.”
The White House and Vance’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his rhetorical about-face.
Vance then had Attorney General Todd Blanche and other top officials give more details on multiple recent SNAP theft prosecutions. These included several ongoing EBT card skimming cases in Oregon in which criminal groups had allegedly pilfered the SNAP account numbers and PINs of legitimate beneficiaries and then used that data to buy bulk quantities of goods like energy drinks and baby formula — which the scammers resold for over $3 million. This is exactly the type of case that ProPublica reported on last week.
“The simple reality is that it is actually a very tough thing to go through a [grocery store checkout] line with kids,” Vance said. “To present that card, to expect to be able to take that food home to your family, to be able to cook it and provide a meal for your kids, and to be told that because of the theft of a fraudster, that you are being rejected. And there are hundreds of thousands of families all across our country, all across the state of Ohio who have had that experience.”
Pictured L-R: from Dover Little League: Baseball Director Videll Slade, City Liaison Director Ed Coker, President Bill Kinsey, Concessions Director Mary Pritchett, Equipment Director Ralph Pann, & Del-One’s President & CEO Dan McCarthy
Credit union’s contribution will support repairs at Schutte Park after August storm damaged fields, fencing, lights and dugouts
DOVER, Del. — Dover Little League’s effort to recover from tornado damage received a boost from Del-One Federal Credit Union, which donated $3,300 to help restore the organization’s fields at Schutte Park.
The contribution, made in partnership with Visa as part of a community reinvestment initiative, comes after an EF-1 tornado swept through Dover in late August with winds exceeding 100 mph.
The storm caused significant damage to the Little League complex, including fencing, light poles, scoreboards and dugout roofs.
For Dover Little League, the damage affected more than a collection of baseball fields. The complex has served generations of area children, coaches, volunteers and families.
“The devastation caused by the tornado was felt across the entire community, and we know how much this Little League field means to local families,” Del-One President and CEO Dan McCarthy said. “We are proud to help restore a place where children can play, grow and make memories.”
McCarthy said the donation reflects the credit union’s emphasis on supporting the communities it serves.
“Community is built on neighbors helping neighbors, and we are honored to be part of that effort,” he said.
Dover Little League officials receiving the donation included President Bill Kinsey, Baseball Director Videll Slade, City Liaison Director Ed Coker, Concessions Director Mary Pritchett and Equipment Director Ralph Pann.
Del-One Federal Credit Union has more than $984 million in assets and more than 106,000 members, with full-service branches throughout Delaware.
To Go Box
What: Dover Little League tornado recovery effort
Where: Dover Little League fields at Schutte Park in Dover
Why: An EF-1 tornado in August damaged fencing, light poles, scoreboards, dugout roofs and other parts of the baseball complex.
Support: Del-One Federal Credit Union and Visa contributed $3,300 toward the recovery effort.
Learn more: Visit del-one.org for information about Del-One Federal Credit Union and its community programs.
(The Center Square) – The Trump administration sued to stop certification of election results in Alaska if a candidate with the same name of incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan remains on the ballot.
(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump is calling on U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar to resign amid the ongoing federal investigation into the Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota.
Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers promise demolitions and forced displacement after deadly gunfight
Israel has launched a campaign of collective punishment against Palestinians in Hebron after gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and injured three near a checkpoint outside the city.
Benjamin Netanyahu announced a siege on Hebron and neighbouring Halhul and said residents of the gunmen’s home neighbourhoods would all be forced out. He promised mass demolitions of homes.
Multinational ‘anti-war bloc’ uses Istanbul summit to call for a diplomatic solution to Middle East crisis
Foreign ministers at a summit of eight European and Middle Eastern countries have urged the US and Israel not to renews their attacks on Iran, warning a fresh outbreak of fighting would spread conflict and push oil prices even higher.
The development of a new multinational “anti-war bloc” represents a challenge to the increasingly open plans by the US and Israel to relaunch strikes on Iran while talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme remain deadlocked.
Prosecution says Robinson guilty of harassment of Daily Mail journalists because we do not live in a ‘vigilante world’
Tommy Robinson is guilty of harassing two journalists because we do not live in a “vigilante world”, jurors have been told, as the prosecution sought to use the far-right activist’s words against him.
Robinson had posted a video in which he told Daily Mail journalists he would find them after they wrote about his alleged role influencing England’s 2024 riots. He told them he had obtained details of where they and their families lived and warned them to abide by “men’s rules”.
An electoral supercycle over the next year may redefine the continent’s future. But what’s happening on the streets is shaping it, too
France sneezed, and Europe has again caught the cold. The wave of unrest which began with teenagers at a high school soon drew in hundreds of thousands of people nationwide and then spread across the continent. Protests have filled the streets in Lisbon and Madrid, and have ignited into violence in Milan, Brussels and Tirana as well as in French cities.
French authorities say they are deploying 70,000 officers on Saturday and are allowing only marches organised by unions. They blame hard-left militants as well as opportunistic young perpetrators for last weekend’s destruction and looting, when a minority hijacked largely peaceful protests. But with fuel prices set to rise further over the winter, the demands and participants broadening, and President Macron utterly failing to meet the moment, there is no sign of an end to the wider discontent and no speedy resolution in sight.
Elections too often get pigeonholed. The hot take, or simplistic analysis, would have it that just one issue – often the issue the source so happens to be most animated about – will decide the entire result.
Tens of millions of Americans will go to the polls next month. Will they be galvanized by affordability? Maybe it’s Iran. Or healthcare? Taxes, perhaps. Or crime.
Microsoft has revealed pay-as-you-go pricing for Xbox Cloud Gaming, with introductory packages costing $3.99 for 10 hours, $7.99 for 25 hours, or $11.99 for 50 hours. Starting in November, Game Pass subscribers will receive only 5 to 15 included cloud-gaming hours depending on their tier and will have to buy additional time -- even to stream games they've already purchased. Gizmodo reports: Back in September, before these changes were announced, you paid full purchase price for a game that isn't in the Game Pass library on the assumption that you'd be able to play it via cloud streaming. Maybe your hardware doesn't meet the specs for this fancy new game. Maybe your gaming PC exploded/got stuck on a ship/had a component fail. Maybe you just want to be able to play it in bed on your laptop. Whatever. Now you find that in addition to the cost of the game you bought, you're going to be paying by the hour to play it once your monthly allotment of hours is up. If this is you, I expect you're not particularly amused. Thankfully, Microsoft notes that the playtime you purchase "remains available until it's used," so you won't have to worry about losing any unused time between gaming sessions.
Three-time Vezina winner leaves Winnipeg after 11 years
Devils send four players and two draft picks to Jets
Olympic gold medalist joins US teammate Jack Hughes
Connor Hellebuyck finally has a new home after the Winnipeg Jets granted the three-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender’s trade request in a deal that sent him to the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
The Devils sent center Dawson Mercer, goalie Nico Daws, prospect Alexander Command, forward Nick Bjugstad, a 2029 second-round pick and a 2027 seventh-rounder to Winnipeg for Hellebuyck.
Party insiders say they expect initial verdict to be against leader and are preparing to appeal against adverse findings
Nigel Farage’s Reform is braced for a negative report from the standards commissioner over his failure to declare a £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne and plans to appeal against any adverse findings.
The party is on tenterhooks over the report, with multiple Reform insiders saying they are readying for a fightback through the appeals process and fully expect the initial verdict to find against their leader.
My combination of old eyes, sunglasses, & fall morning shadows came together to camouflage a large pothole this morning. My 15-18mph speed made it too late to hop off, no way I could run it out anyway. So I just held steady as she goes and one bonk later I was on the other side😁.
If you had asked me, I would have said that I could not survive that but my XRC was still a viable ride on the other side, not a falter nor bobble. Nobody more surprised than me.
Hunter Foster fired at vehicle during a shoplifting call at a Walmart, killing one-year-old Kohen Wiley
Hunter Foster, the Mississippi police officer who shot into a vehicle and killed one-year-old Kohen Wiley, has resigned from the Senatobia police department. Earlier this week, Mississippi’s attorney general, Lynn Fitch, announced that the shooting was “justified”.
The Senatobia board of aldermen accepted Foster’s resignation on 21 October and the resignation took effect immediately. Foster was placed on leave on 16 June, days after the 14 June shooting. Yesterday, the Mississippi department of public safety released body-camera and surveillance footage from the shooting, at a Walmart in Senatobia, during which the toddler died in his mother’s arms after being shot.
Pete Buttigieg chose to endorse independent Seth Bodnar over the Democratic Senate nominee, Alani Bankhead. Bodnar says he will not caucus with Democrats if he wins.
“I don’t know who is going to be your next president and I think the law said, I’m not 100% sure, but I think the law says I’m not allowed to run again,” Trump said in Sioux City, Iowa.
Both projects remain under county review, and September emails identify an unresolved groundwater cleanup question at the car wash site.
HOCKESSIN, Del. — No new plans have been posted in more than a year for a proposed McDonald’s near Limestone and Paper Mill roads, while a proposed car wash at Yorklyn Road and Lancaster Pike has new filings this year. Both remain in the first stage of county review, and the county still lists both applications as “Active Plans,” according to county land-use records.
Both projects came up at the Oct. 7 League of Women Voters of New Castle County forum for the New Castle County Council District 3 seat. Delaware LIVE said in its coverage of the forum that it would report on their status.
Table 1 below lists the details for each project. Neither project has completed the county’s initial review. The McDonald’s proposal needs rezoning and a full traffic study, while the car wash still faces zoning, environmental and planning reviews.
TABLE 1: Proposed McDonald’s and Spotless Car Wash
Yes, from residential to neighborhood commercial; requires a public hearing and County Council vote (no date listed)
No rezoning proposed
Traffic study
Full study required by the Delaware Department of Transportation; none posted
Preliminary traffic analysis conditionally approved by the county; no full study listed
Current status
First stage of county review
Latest county review report:none posted
Still incomplete: 11 of 13 reviews, including traffic and zoning
First stage of county review
Latest county review report:Aug. 6, 2026
Still incomplete: zoning, environmental and planning reviews
(Source: New Castle County Department of Land Use project records and site plans for the McDonald’s and car wash, accessed Oct. 22, 2026. Table: Delaware LIVE.)
Requested exceptions to county rules
McDonald’s
Fewer parking spaces (32 vs. 50 required)
No landscaping in the required buffer along Limestone Road and the Route 72 connector
A narrower buffer by the trash enclosure (15 vs. 25 feet)
Spotless Car Wash
Fewer parking spaces (13 vs. 21 required)
Paving 2 to 7 feet from the roads instead of 25 feet
No landscaping in the required buffer along Yorklyn Road and Lancaster Pike
No street trees along West Lancaster Pike
Clearing or grading all of the wetland on the site
Clearing or grading all of the land in a county groundwater protection area
The car wash’s environmental review
In 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added about 32 acres of land along Lancaster Pike (Route 41) in Hockessin to its national cleanup list because of contaminated groundwater, according to its May 15, 2018, announcement. The same announcement said Artesian Water Company drew drinking water from wells in that area and treated it, and that the treated water met all drinking water standards.
The proposed Spotless Car Wash in Hockessin would sit in that same cleanup area. In a Sept. 16, 2026, email, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) passed along the EPA’s statement that it could not yet tell whether letting rain soak into the ground at the site would affect the cleanup of the contaminated groundwater. The EPA said it was still mapping how far the contamination goes.
The developer’s engineer had written in August that the plan did not then call for letting rain soak into the ground. That option would depend on testing and the EPA’s confirmation that it would not affect the cleanup.
On a separate issue, the car wash site is also in a county groundwater protection area, where county rules limit how much land can be cleared or graded. The developer is asking for an exception to clear or grade all of the protected land on the site, according to the site plan. That request, like the developer’s other requested exceptions, would be decided by the county’s Board of Adjustment at a public hearing.
Learn more
For residents following the proposals, future public hearings will be important milestones. Both developers are requesting exceptions to county rules.
The county’s guide to the land development process explains how a project moves through review, from the first plan to construction. To see other projects under review, visit the county’s Active Plans page.
People in Russian-occupied city facing severe shortages of food, water and electricity, with some reportedly surviving on weeds
The White House has said that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, where a deepening humanitarian crisis has left thousands of civilians struggling to survive.
In a statement on Friday, the White House said both sides had agreed to halt all military operations in the city from 27 October to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and preparations for the evacuation of civilians.
The Trump administration intends to push for new labels on seafood sold at grocery stores to give consumers a better idea of where products originated.
The holiday used to be all about trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. No more – and it could something to do with the fact that traditional markers of adulthood have changed.
Records show California High-Speed Rail knew a winning contract bid relied on "artificially low" rates that the consulting firm never intended to charge.
Minneapolis, MN — Minnesota officials say the Trump administration has stopped sharing critical evidence in state investigations into the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers earlier this year.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the federal government is “obstructing our investigations” after cooperation that began in July was halted indefinitely.
State investigators are still seeking key evidence, including cellphones belonging to officers involved in the shootings, recorded interviews, firearms, bullets and shell casings, Good’s clothing and a gun taken from Pretti before he was shot.
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE officer on Jan. 7 during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was killed by a Border Patrol agent weeks later.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Moriarty and state investigators have sued the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security seeking access to the remaining evidence.
Federal officials argue the Justice Department has discretion under federal regulations to decide what information it provides to state investigators. Minnesota officials counter that they need the material to independently determine whether criminal charges are warranted.
Some evidence, including body-camera footage and officer statements, was turned over in July before cooperation stopped.
No criminal charges have been filed in either shooting.
Washington, DC — The Supreme Court has cleared the way for New Hampshire to fully prohibit voters from using student identification cards to establish their identity in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The justices granted an emergency request backed by Republican state officials and blocked a lower-court order that had allowed student IDs to remain available as a backup form of identification.
New Hampshire enacted a law this year removing student IDs from the list of expressly accepted identification documents. The secretary of state later issued guidance barring their use even as a secondary method of proving identity.
A lower-court judge allowed the law itself to stand but blocked that additional guidance earlier this month. The Supreme Court reversed that portion of the ruling, citing the principle that courts generally should avoid changing election procedures shortly before voting.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only justice to publicly dissent.
Republican state Rep. Donald McFarlane, who sponsored the law, argues that college-issued identification lacks the verification safeguards used for government IDs and said the restriction strengthens confidence in elections.
Opponents contend the rule unnecessarily complicates voting for college students who are otherwise eligible New Hampshire voters.
The ruling comes less than two weeks before Election Day and amid a closely watched Senate contest in the state.
The decision does not determine whether student IDs are inherently unreliable; it allows New Hampshire’s existing restriction to remain in effect for this election.
Iconic music legend, Suzanne Vega, whose hits include “Luka,” “Tom’s Diner” and “Marlene on the Wall,” will perform at the Queen Theatre and is touring behind her 2025 album, “Flying With Angels,” blending new material with the thoughtful storytelling that helped define the contemporary folk revival of the 1980s.
Singer-songwriter behind “Luka” and “Tom’s Diner” returns to the stage with a career-spanning Wilmington performance that proves her music remains relevant four decades after her breakthrough.
WILMINGTON — For music fans who came of age in the 1980s, Suzanne Vega’s songs were part of the soundtrack of a generation. But when the acclaimed singer-songwriter takes the stage at The Queen in downtown Wilmington on Sunday, Nov. 1, she will bring more than memories.
Vega, whose hits include “Luka,” “Tom’s Diner” and “Marlene on the Wall,” is touring behind her 2025 album, “Flying With Angels,” blending new material with the thoughtful storytelling that helped define the contemporary folk revival of the 1980s.
The 7:30 p.m. performance, presented by WXPN, will feature Vega alongside longtime guitarist Gerry Leonard, known for his work with David Bowie, and cellist Stephanie Winters. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
For Delaware music fans, the concert offers an opportunity to revisit some familiar favorites while discovering why Vega continues to attract audiences more than 40 years after releasing her debut album.
More than a voice from the 1980s
Vega emerged from New York City’s Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1980s, building a following with songs that favored observation, character and storytelling over conventional pop formulas.
Her self-titled debut album arrived in 1985, followed by her commercial breakthrough, “Solitude Standing,” in 1987.
“Luka,” one of her best-known songs, addressed child abuse through the perspective of a young boy. Its understated delivery contrasted with the seriousness of its subject, demonstrating how Vega could address difficult social issues without losing the accessibility of popular music.
“Tom’s Diner,” another signature recording, took an entirely different approach. Built around the ordinary observations of someone sitting in a New York diner, the song became internationally recognizable, particularly after a dance remix by British producers DNA.
The original a cappella recording also became part of music technology history when it was used in the development and testing of MP3 audio compression.
That unusual connection helped introduce Vega’s music to listeners who might never have experienced the folk revival that first made her famous.
New music, familiar storytelling
Rather than relying exclusively on her early hits, Vega continues to record new music.
Her latest studio album, “Flying With Angels,” released in May 2025, explores contemporary themes through the same restrained vocals and carefully constructed lyrics that have characterized her career
The album earned positive attention from music critics, including Rolling Stone and Stereogum, which praised Vega’s continued creativity.
The Wilmington concert is being promoted as a career-spanning performance, with the new album sharing the program with familiar songs including “Luka,” “Tom’s Diner” and “Marlene on the Wall.”
The accompanying musicians should add another dimension to the performance. Leonard has worked with Vega for years and brings experience from his collaborations with Bowie, while Winters’ cello adds texture to the singer’s understated arrangements.
Why Vega still connects with audiences
Part of Vega’s appeal is that her music has never depended entirely on the trends that shaped the pop charts.
Her songs tell stories about relationships, vulnerability, city life and ordinary experiences — themes that remain recognizable regardless of when listeners first encountered her work.
That approach also fits the strong singer-songwriter tradition supported by audiences throughout the Wilmington region, where intimate live performances and thoughtful musicianship remain important parts of the local arts scene.
Longtime fans can expect an evening of familiar songs, while younger listeners may recognize “Tom’s Diner” from its later remixes and reinterpretations.
The result is a concert that bridges generations without depending exclusively on nostalgia.
For downtown Wilmington, Vega’s appearance is another opportunity to see a nationally recognized recording artist in the more intimate setting of The Queen, where the focus can remain on the songs and the stories behind them.
To Go Box
Event: Suzanne Vega — Flying With Angels Tour
Date: Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026
Time: 7:30 p.m.; doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Location: The Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington
Performers: Suzanne Vega, guitarist Gerry Leonard and cellist Stephanie Winters
What to expect: A career-spanning concert featuring “Luka,” “Tom’s Diner,” “Marlene on the Wall” and selections from Vega’s latest album, “Flying With Angels.”
Contents of laptop of Joe Biden’s son were part of a bizarre saga in the final weeks of 2020 presidential election
Two former FBI intelligence officials who specialized in foreign election interference were charged on Friday with making false statements about their roles in investigating the origins of Hunter Biden’s laptop in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.
Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides surrendered on Friday and made their first appearance in federal court in Washington DC. Floris’s legal team expressed outrage at the development coming from the US Department of Justice, the parent agency of the FBI.
Ukrainian drone strikes have damaged three major Yandex data centers as well as facilities serving Sberbank and VKontakte (the country's equivalent to Facebook), disrupting cloud services, banking, e-commerce, ride-hailing and other digital services across Russia. The attacks may deal a longer-lasting blow to Russia's AI ambitions: Yandex's affected facilities housed its three top-500 supercomputers, and experts say sanctions and shortages of high-end Nvidia chips could make repairs difficult or even take years. "This effectively sets Russia far behind in the AI race, "said Mikhail Klimarev, head of the Internet Protection Society activist group. Fortune reports: Data centers are the latest targets of aerial campaigns waged by both sides against each other's vital infrastructure. [...] Kyiv's attacks on Russian data centers closely followed Moscow's recent strikes on data centers in Ukraine, which disrupted the internet and TV broadcasts. On Oct. 8, Ukrainian drones hit a Yandex data center in Sasovo in the Ryazan region that houses two of the company's three supercomputers. A data center in Kaluga was hit a day later and the one in Vladimir was struck Oct. 11.
The data center and AI hub for Sberbank was hit Oct. 14 in Balakovo in the Saratov region, and four days later, Kyiv struck a data center in St. Petersburg serving VKontakte. While oil refineries and warehouses are easy prey, data centers are even softer targets -- massive buildings packed with servers and supporting power and cooling infrastructure. Lasting damage can result from a drone carrying a relatively light load of explosives.
[...] Ukraine has stored critical data on servers in allied European countries, helping limit the damage from Russian attacks. But Moscow's strict digital sovereignty policy requires all data storage at home, making it extremely vulnerable. "Because all the infrastructure and all the data is located inside Russia, it's relatively easier to take down," [said Nick Reiners, senior geotechnology analyst at Eurasia Group]. Klimarev predicted the data center attacks could encourage many top Russian companies to move data abroad, while the authorities could ease their efforts to tighten internet controls to minimize the damage.
Photo illustration by Emily Scherer for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. Source images: The Texas Tribune, documents obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, and YouTube.
Four years after North Texas home builder Scott Sherman completed a federal prison sentence for mortgage fraud, his new construction materials business received a $600,000 cash infusion.
The financial boost came from a blind trust set up to prevent Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, from any overlap in their personal investments and their actions as elected officials. But previously unreleased records from the attorney general’s 2023 impeachment investigation show the trust was far from blind and did not shield the Paxtons from its business dealings, including the investment in Sherman’s business.
Before long, Wildcatter Sand Services and Grayson County Sand and Gravel, which Sherman built with his father, grew into a vast enterprise with various locations and subsidiaries. And along the way, some of those businesses stopped paying taxes to local governments, including school districts.
But as their tax debts stacked up, Wildcatter companies wired the Paxtons tens of thousands of dollars in the months leading up to and during the attorney general’s impeachment on charges of corruption and bribery. Paxton was eventually acquitted by the Legislature and is now in an expensive and tight race for a U.S. Senate seat against Democrat James Talarico, a state lawmaker.
While Paxton has been in public office for more than two decades, the blind trust he established upon becoming attorney general has largely obscured his business dealings. The Paxtons’ investment in Wildcatter through that trust offers a new, previously unreported look at both the limits of that trust and the attorney general’s financial association with the very type of business executives whose prosecutions he typically celebrates.
“In Texas, we fight fraud head-on and will not rest until every last corrupt actor is brought to justice,” Paxton said in a news release last year. In a recent social media post linking to a newly released campaign ad, he wrote, “As Attorney General, I’ve made big pharma and fraudsters pay billions.”
Doing business with a recently convicted felon undermines that narrative and erodes public trust in his role as the state’s top anti-fraud watchdog, ethics experts told ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
Richard Painter, who served as the chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, said he would have thought “the attorney general of Texas would have the good sense not to be dealing with a convicted felon.”
“They’ll pay out their friends while they’re not paying their taxes, run up debt,” said Painter, who has been critical of staunch Paxton ally President Donald Trump. “But the question is, why is the attorney general of Texas dealing with those kinds of people?”
Wildcatter Sand Services had a tax warrant issued against it for back taxes after facing a lawsuit by local governments.Obtained and highlighted by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune
Ken Paxton did not answer detailed questions from the news organizations about the Wildcatter investment or whether he knew of Sherman’s conviction. He has previously defended his business dealings, saying he follows ethics laws. A spokesperson for Angela Paxton, who filed for divorce last year, said that she was not aware of Sherman’s criminal history.
Sherman ran a homebuilding firm, Artisan Operating LP, when he pleaded guilty in 2014 for his role in a mortgage fraud conspiracy. The scheme involved artificially inflating home prices to obtain larger loans for more than two dozen properties in cities across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Sherman did not respond to calls made to his cellphone and company or to emailed questions.
Paxton’s connection to Sherman is the second revelation in recent weeks of the attorney general engaging with people charged with federal crimes. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Paxton celebrated New Year’s Eve 2024 in Dubai with two Americans who failed to return to the U.S. after being indicted months before on federal healthcare-fraud charges. A spokesperson for Paxton didn’t address his association with the defendants but said in a statement to the Journal that the attorney general has been “politically persecuted for years.”
ProPublica and the Tribune found the Paxtons’ investment in Wildcatter by reviewing records collected by impeachment investigators.
The records show that Ken Paxton had at least some knowledge of the blind trust’s investments, which could violate terms the Paxtons set when establishing the trust.
It would also run afoul of U.S. Senate rules, which Paxton would be bound by if elected, said Donald Kettl, an ethics expert and former dean of the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. Those rules, Kettl said, require senators with a blind trust to have no knowledge of its investments.
“It’s reasonable to ask whether a candidate for the U.S. Senate has followed the ethics rules for financial reporting of blind trusts that would be required if the candidate became a senator,” he said.
In setting up the blind trust, the Paxtons agreed that their friend Chip Loper would manage the assets without consulting with them or taking “any instructions regarding investment matters,” according to incorporation documents. Loper did not respond to a request for an interview and did not answer questions about the Paxtons’ involvement in selecting investments.
Text messages that emerged during the impeachment probe, however, showed he and Ken Paxton discussed certain investments. Mortgage and deed records show that Paxton purchased eight properties between 2015 and 2026 and then transferred them into the trust.
The Wildcatter investment also appears to have slipped past the required firewall.
Angela Paxton served for years on a Wildcatter advisory board beginning in 2022. ProPublica and the Tribune could not find any documents describing her responsibilities in the role, which she described as “non-governing” on her personal financial disclosures. While on the board, she voted for legislation that shielded a subsidiary from certain environmental complaints.
The Paxtons also claimed more than $93,000 in itemized losses from Wildcatter Sand Services and Grayson County Sand and Gravel on their 2020 federal joint income tax return.
“That is proof positive that there’s nothing blind about this trust,” said Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis who specializes in legal and government ethics. If Ken Paxton “can report on his tax return a transaction, then he is not blind to the transaction.”
A Board Seat and a Vote
After Wildcatter received the cash injection from the Paxtons’ blind trust, Sherman went on a shopping spree.
He purchased a sand mine in the North Texas town of Denison and a concrete plant 40 miles down the road in Gunter, a city of about 2,000 residents. Both are in Grayson County near the Oklahoma border.
Neighbors complained to Texas environmental regulators about clouds of dust from Wildcatter and other companies located at the Gunter site that they said coated their properties for up to 12 hours a day.
In 2021 and 2022, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued violation notices to Wildcatter Redi-Mix, the company that runs the Gunter plant. At least one dust-related violation was resolved when a road leading to the plant was paved in 2022, according to TCEQ documents. TCEQ did not respond to a request for comment.
Neighbors continued to raise concerns about the plant.
Angela Paxton joined the advisory board of Wildcatter Materials, which owns Wildcatter Redi-Mix, a year later. The IRS defines advisory boards as lacking legal and financial authority over companies. She was still serving on the board in 2025 as of her last financial disclosure.
Complaints against the company continued. At one point, Gunter resident Deirdre Diamond, a respiratory therapist and lead advocate for a local group created to fight pollution from concrete batch plants, reached out to her representative in the Legislature, then state Sen. Drew Springer.
Despite the TCEQ’s previous violation notices, Springer concluded that the neighbors’ complaints were “abusive” and filed a bill that he said at the time would prevent efforts to “weaponize the system.” He made similar comments in a recent interview with the news organizations. Springer’s bill allowed the TCEQ to ignore residents after more than five unsubstantiated complaints in seven years.
Diamond and other opponents believed the bill was an attempt to keep residents from exercising their rights and argued that the language was too vague. They said the legislation did not make clear what would constitute an unsubstantiated complaint and that some complaints may be repeated over the years because of TCEQ inaction.
When the bill reached the Senate floor, Angela Paxton voted for its passage.
Matt Welch, a spokesperson for Angela Paxton, pointed to the measure’s bipartisan support in the Senate, saying it was needed “to stop a small group of environmental activists from wasting taxpayer dollars by weaponizing the complaint process.”
He said that between 2019 and 2023, the group filed more than 100 complaints against Dallas-area industrial sites that did not result in findings by the state environmental agency. “These frivolous complaints divert state resources from legitimate violations.”
Angela Paxton did not recuse herself from voting on the bill because it did not relate to any specific company, Welch said. He added that Paxton’s role on the advisory board “carried no decision-making authority” and that she was unaware of any complaints or violations against Wildcatter.
Ethics experts said she should have disclosed her relationship with the company and recused herself. State law bars lawmakers from voting on bills that benefit them or their businesses. The prohibition does not, however, apply to legislation that regulates an entire industry, Senate Secretary Patsy Spaw said.
Because lawmakers write the laws governing what they must disclose and when they should recuse themselves, “a good amount of the time, the guardrails that they create for themselves are not enough,” according to Andrew Cates, a San Antonio ethics lawyer, who said this is one such instance.
Meanwhile, neighbors of Wildcatter’s Gunter plant said the new law left them demoralized and convinced that lawmakers were not interested in protecting them or their land. Diamond moved away after the bill passed. She said she feared the plants’ impact on her children’s health and believed the regulators were on the side of the company.
She was stunned to learn about the Paxtons’ investment in the company.
“You can’t pretend to be about protecting the people when you directly profit from it,” Diamond said in an interview.
A bank statement from the Paxtons’ blind trust checking account shows various deposits from Wildcatter in early 2023.Obtained, highlighted and redacted for privacy by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune
Wildcatter Helps Paxton in Difficult Times
In the months leading up to the bill passing the Legislature, four Wildcatter companies wired more than $73,000 to the Paxtons, according to bank statements reviewed by the news organizations that were part of the previously unreported impeachment documents.
About $10,000 arrived in the two weeks before Angela Paxton voted on the environmental bill. An additional $12,000 was wired the week after the legislation passed in the Senate.
Because the records ProPublica and the Tribune reviewed are limited, the news organizations cannot say with certainty why the payments were made and how they were accounted for on the companies’ books.
The payments came as some Wildcatter companies were failing to pay local property taxes.
At the time, Wildcatter Sand Services, the company the Paxtons’ trust had invested in, already owed more than $31,000 in back taxes, according to Grayson County public records.
Several Wildcatter companies also owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in local taxes in 2023 that soon became delinquent.
That year, Ken Paxton was facing his own troubles as allegations of bribery and corruption reached a fever pitch.
Early in 2023, the U.S. Justice Department’s public integrity unit, known for handling high-stakes political corruption cases, took over an investigation into allegations by Paxton’s senior advisers that he abused his office. (It was later dropped in 2025.)
Paxton also reached a tentative $3.3 million settlement with some of those employees. They had accused him of firing them after they went to authorities with allegations that he had used his office to go after the enemies of an Austin real estate investor and donor. The proposed payout required legislative approval, drawing the ire of lawmakers who questioned why taxpayers should be on the hook. After the Legislature took no action, a judge awarded the whistleblowers $6.6 million in 2025. Paxton called the ruling a “bogus judgment in support of baseless claims by rogue employees.”
Some of the Wildcatter payments came while a House committee was investigating the whistleblowers’ claims about the attorney general’s conduct.
On May 19, a week before Paxton was formally impeached, the blind trust wired $9,000 to attorney Mitch Little’s firm. Little later represented both the trust and Paxton in his impeachment trial. It’s unclear whether the money from Wildcatter was used to pay for the legal representation. The trust’s checking account would not have had enough money for that payment without deposits from the companies earlier in the month, records show. At the time, the trust also had an investment account with $9,300 in cash and just under $1 million in securities, but records do not show any distribution from that account to the checking account in that period.
Neither Loper nor Little, now a state representative, responded to questions about the transaction. Angela Paxton’s spokesperson said she has no knowledge of any payments for impeachment lawyers.
Craig Holman, ethics lobbyist for consumer-advocacy group Public Citizen in Washington, D.C., said it would be particularly problematic if any of the money was used as a “passthrough” for Paxton’s legal fees.
All told, Wildcatter companies wired the Paxtons’ trust 15 payments between January and June 2023 totaling more than $83,000. It is unclear whether payments continued after that date because the records collected by impeachment investigators ended in June.
The following year, two of those companies became delinquent on nearly $200,000 in 2023 property taxes to local schools, cities and counties.
The governments had to sue to recover what they were owed.
The United States will open its 2027 IIHF World Championship campaign against Canada on May 14 in Düsseldorf, Germany. The matchup renews one of hockey’s fiercest rivalries and gives American fans a compelling reason to plan a European vacation around…
Guardian Europe columnists Rokhaya Diallo and Alexander Hurst are taking questions from readers about the riots and protests in France. Join the discussion in the commentshere.
Michael Wolfcarius asks: I cannot understand why the Guardian is selecting dots instead of joining them. France may have developed into the big story for many reasons, many of which have yet to be discussed, but it is not the only place where seemingly small incidents grew into massive protests, some also quite violent; Spain, Italy, Serbia and Albania come to mind. The crystallising reason may be different but the conditions leading up to it are quite similar. Can you put all these events into perspective, context and relation? There are obviously underlying currents making it difficult for people to refrain from making themselves ‘heard’.
Rokhaya: I agree that these movements deserve to be considered together, while at the same time, recognising their different specific national contexts. Housing in Spain, living costs and public services in Italy and France, and corruption in Serbia and Albania are bringing people onto the streets. These concerns touch the foundations of a decent life and people’s ability to shape their future.
What connects them, in my view, is the widening gap between what people need and what political institutions seem willing to deliver. These incidents that have led to protests are not “small .” Serbia’s movement began after a deadly railway-station canopy collapse, which became a focus for anger over corruption and accountability. My reading is that these protests express a crisis of political responsiveness.
Alexander: I think people in all these places – Albania, Spain, France – feel that the political systems that exist aren’t capable of dealing with the sheer scale and nature of the crises facing us, and they’re responding to a sense of ‘loss of control’ (the Brexit campaign really did strike upon a brilliant slogan) over where their societies are headed. There is a general social sense that has flipped from “this is broken, but things can and will get better”, which gives people a stake in the institutions around them, to “this is broken and things can and will get worse”.
The impact of the arrival of AI has been understated. Not just on labour markets, or on the environment, but ontologically. The investment pitch of the most powerful companies in the world, the ones amassing trillion dollar valuations, isn’t just that X-subset of jobs are replaceable, it’s that human beings themselves are replaceable. That the things we do fundamentally don’t matter, and that their goal is to bring this into being. I think that feeling is there even if we don’t immediately put our finger on it in those terms.
The depiction of the Duchess of Sussex by certain sections of the media has often been one of a fame-hungry daughter casting off an elderly father in his declining years and keeping him from his grandchildren as she embraces the international celebrity stage.
Caption: A new report from commercial real estate firm Newmark shows the Wilmington area’s office vacancy rate fell to 15.9% during the third quarter of 2026, its lowest level in two decades. Image created on 10/23 using AI.
Newmark report shows stronger leasing, business expansion, and renewed investor confidence, signaling a potential turning point after years of uncertainty.
WILMINGTON — After six difficult years for Delaware’s office market, commercial real estate professionals are seeing something they have been waiting for: measurable signs of recovery.
A new report from commercial real estate firm Newmark shows the Wilmington area’s office vacancy rate fell to 15.9% during the third quarter of 2026, its lowest level in two decades.
The improvement reflects businesses occupying more office space, stronger leasing activity and growing demand from expanding companies. Investors are also beginning to return to a market that has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For six years, when someone asked, ‘How is the office market in Delaware?’ I said ‘challenging,'” said Wills Elliman, senior managing director at Newmark. “I meant terrible but didn’t want to say it out loud. That’s changing, and we saw it this quarter.”
Businesses are keeping and expanding their space
According to Newmark’s third-quarter Delaware Office Market Overview, businesses occupied a net additional 139,842 square feet during the quarter.
That brought net absorption for the first nine months of 2026 to 208,458 square feet, already exceeding the full-year totals recorded in every year since 2012.
Net absorption measures the change in occupied office space. Positive absorption means businesses are collectively occupying more space than they are vacating.
Wilmington’s overall vacancy rate declined from 16.8% in the second quarter to 15.9% in the third quarter, well below the market’s 20-year average of 18%.
Leasing activity also improved, with nearly 195,000 square feet leased during the quarter.
Elliman said the improvement reflects an important shift in how businesses are making decisions about their offices.
“Tenants took less space when they moved or renewed. Now, more are keeping their space or expanding. We’re seeing that especially with law firms.”
Among the largest transactions was Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell’s renewal of an 82,549-square-foot lease at 1201 N. Market St.
Financial technology company Fiserv also signed a lease at 800 Delaware Ave., while Gordon, Fournaris & Mammarella leased 9,540 square feet along Lancaster Pike.
Those transactions demonstrate the continuing importance of Delaware’s legal, financial and professional services industries to Wilmington’s commercial real estate market.
Growing businesses offer reason for optimism
Perhaps the most encouraging finding involves companies currently searching for office space.
Newmark identified approximately 603,000 square feet of active tenant demand in the Wilmington market.
Nearly 370,000 square feet of that demand comes from businesses seeking to expand or enter the market.
That distinction is important. Companies renewing existing leases help maintain occupancy, but expanding businesses and new employers can create opportunities for additional jobs and economic activity.
The broader regional economy is also supporting demand.
Unemployment across the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metropolitan area stood at 3.8% in August, compared with the national rate of 4.1%.
Employment in office-oriented industries remains approximately 4% above pre-pandemic levels.
Investors are returning to the office market
Beyond improving occupancy, Elliman sees another encouraging development: Investors are purchasing office properties again.
“Investors are buying office buildings again. Good buildings in good locations are trading at prices that make sense,” Elliman said. “Add renewed confidence in Wilmington’s business climate, and there’s reason to feel better about the office market than we have in years.”
The return of buyers is significant because office buildings have faced uncertainty over tenant demand, operating expenses and property values since the pandemic.
Elliman said Newmark is involved in another transaction that could further demonstrate improving investor confidence.
“We just put a large office building under contract, and we’ll have more to say about it in our Q4 2026 review,” he said. “It’s the kind of building tenants will love, at a price that makes sense for the buyer. That deal is one more reason to have confidence in this market.”
The property and terms of the pending transaction have not been disclosed.
While Elliman’s observations suggest renewed investment activity, Newmark’s quarterly report focuses primarily on leasing, occupancy and asking rents rather than broader commercial property sales trends.
Downtown is improving, but challenges remain
The recovery is not occurring evenly across Wilmington’s office market.
Downtown Wilmington recorded particularly strong activity during the third quarter, with positive net absorption of 148,681 square feet.
However, downtown’s vacancy rate remains at 18.2%, higher than the overall market average.
Other Wilmington-area office markets present a mixed picture.
Office market
Vacancy rate
Wilmington North
11.3%
Wilmington West
13.5%
Wilmington South
16.2%
Downtown Wilmington
18.2%
Overall market
15.9%
Wilmington South experienced negative absorption during the quarter, meaning more space was vacated than occupied.
Older buildings also face competition from newer properties offering modern layouts, amenities and updated technology.
Office buildings constructed since 2000 have a vacancy rate of 14.4%, compared with 15.9% across the overall market.
Still, Newmark reports that the gap between newer buildings and older properties has narrowed, suggesting demand is improving beyond just the newest office towers.
Limited construction is helping the market
One significant factor behind Wilmington’s improving vacancy rate is the absence of new office construction.
Newmark reports that no office buildings are currently under construction in the Wilmington market.
The most recent major delivery was the 100,000-square-foot Avenue North office building completed in 2024, which is now 88% leased.
With few new buildings entering the market, businesses looking for office space are increasingly choosing from existing properties.
Another factor is the conversion of older commercial properties to residential or other uses.
Such conversions can reduce excess office inventory while bringing additional residents into business districts, potentially supporting restaurants, retail businesses and other downtown services.
However, declining vacancy does not automatically mean every building is becoming more financially successful. Removing vacant buildings from the office inventory can improve marketwide statistics even without equivalent growth in occupied space.
In Wilmington’s case, the report identifies both positive net absorption and constrained supply as contributors to the improvement.
Office rents remain relatively stable
Despite stronger demand, office rents have not increased dramatically.
Average asking rents reached $26.14 per square foot during the third quarter, up 1% from the previous quarter but down 3.3% compared with a year earlier.
Newmark attributes much of the annual decline to Wilmington University’s purchase of a large vacant building at 3 Beaver Valley Road in 2025, which removed higher-priced space from the available inventory.
That change affected the marketwide average rather than necessarily reflecting widespread rent reductions.
For businesses considering expansion or relocation, relatively stable rents and a substantial selection of available properties could present opportunities.
For property owners, the challenge remains attracting tenants while managing operating costs, property improvements and financing.
A potential turning point for Wilmington
The latest report offers reasons for optimism after several years in which remote work and changing workplace habits raised questions about the future of traditional office districts.
Vacancy is declining, office employment has stabilized and businesses are actively searching for additional space.
Perhaps more importantly, according to Elliman, tenants and investors appear increasingly willing to make longer-term commitments to Wilmington office properties.
Still, the market has nearly 3 million square feet listed as available, including space occupied by existing tenants but being marketed for lease.
That leaves significant room for improvement.
The long-term question is whether Wilmington can build on its advantages as a center for banking, law, financial services and other professional industries while continuing to attract new businesses.
The next phase of recovery may depend not only on filling traditional office buildings but also on creating an environment where employers, residents, restaurants and retail businesses can grow together.
For now, Newmark’s findings and Elliman’s observations point in the same direction: After years of difficult conditions, Wilmington’s office market is showing renewed momentum.
Whether that momentum becomes sustained growth will depend on continued tenant expansion, successful property investments and the strength of Delaware’s business climate
TO GO: Wilmington office market at a glance
Third quarter 2026
15.9%: Overall office vacancy, the lowest in 20 years.
208,458 square feet: Net office space absorbed during the first nine months of 2026.
603,000 square feet: Office space being sought by prospective tenants.
370,000 square feet: Demand from expanding businesses or companies new to the market.
$26.14: Average annual asking rent per square foot.
Zero: New office projects currently under construction.
18.2%: Downtown Wilmington office vacancy rate.
Source: Newmark, Delaware Office Market Overview, Third Quarter 2026.
France will deploy about 70,000 police around the country on Saturday as the government seeks to prevent more civil unrest after some of the worst street violence in years erupted on the fringes of cost-of-living protests last weekend.
The interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said on Friday the security forces would include elite units usually used for counter-terrorism operations and hostage rescues, adding that there had been social media calls for violence from “ultra-left” groups.
Exclusive: Key figure in campaign group accused of saying she would ‘never hire a black person’, and second figure discussed Sydney Sweeney’s ‘assets’
The Free Speech Union (FSU) is reeling from internal grievances involving allegations of racism, workplace discrimination and sexually inappropriate remarks by senior members of staff, the Guardian can reveal.
A key figure in the campaign group, the chief operating officer, Sigrun Olafsdottir, departed late last week after employees alleged that she told a junior member of staff she would “never hire a black person” as a part of a one-on-one meeting late last year.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Comcast reportedly plans significant job cuts in its cable division as the firm continues to lose residential broadband and TV customers. Comcast lost 144,000 residential broadband customers in Q3 2026, up from a 91,000-customer loss in the same quarter a year ago, the company said in its earnings report today. Comcast historically capitalized on a lack of competition for high-speed wired broadband. But now it faces stronger competition from fixed wireless providers and from fiber providers in parts of its cable territory. "Fixed wireless remains aggressive and continues to take share, while fiber construction remains elevated, with pockets of irrational pricing and promotional activity," Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said today in an earnings call.
Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong said "irrational pricing" from fiber operators includes $30 to $40 monthly broadband offers "in specific markets in the third quarter." He said $30 to $40 pricing is irrational because deploying fiber costs $1,500 or more per home, and is "getting more expensive with construction costs up as you get into more suburban and rural areas." "As we look at the return profile of that, to us, that is irrational competition," Armstrong said. While he didn't name any specific competitors, Verizon has been pitching FiOS fiber plans that start at $30 a month. Comcast's network is a mix of fiber and cable, and it offers fiber-to-the-home in only small portions of its cable territory.
Armstrong said more Comcast customers are leaving when they face "pricing transitions," apparently referring to the price hikes customers get when promotional offers expire. "We've been refining our offers and retention strategies to better manage these transitions and strengthen customer retention," he said. Cavanagh said that "satellite is not yet a material factor" in the competition Comcast faces, but that Comcast is focused on "anticipating emerging forms of competition and positioning our business to respond as the market evolves."
Cate Blanchett and Hannah Waddingham join William on sofa for special edition to celebrate prince’s Earthshot prize
The Prince of Wales has braved the chatshow sofa, making a surprise appearance on The Graham Norton Show.
In the pre-recorded show, to be aired on Friday on BBC One, William made a surprise appearance in a special Earthshot prize edition to promote his environmental initiative, which has an annual awards ceremony due to be staged in Mumbai, India, next month.
The US supreme court has cleared the way for New Hampshire to prohibit student IDs as a form of voter identification ahead of November’s midterm elections.
In a brief unsigned order, justices sided with a Republican National Committee (RNC)-backed appeal on the matter. They cited a longstanding rule that lower federal courts should not “alter election rules” too close to election day.
The prime minister said the government is having conversation about emergency preparedness
A DUP minister has said he is confident MP Carla Lockhart will stay in the party despite leaving its main decision-making body amid a row with party leadership over the future of Stormont.
Lockhart is at odds with DUP leader, fellow MP Gavin Robinson, over whether the party should withdraw deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly from the power-sharing executive.
The closure of the studio responsible for some of the best games of the 21st century leaves the world of RPGs feeling smaller without the hope of another instalment of the much-loved sci-fi series
Earlier this week, EA announced the closure of BioWare, a game studio with a 30-year history of compelling role-playing games, complex characters and bold, choice-driven narratives. Its forthcoming game in the Mass Effect sci-fi series has been cancelled, and more than 400 people are losing their jobs. As someone who has worked in the video games industry for 15 years and spent almost 20 as a BioWare fan, I am among millions of mourners today.
It’s not terribly hard to see why BioWare got the chop. Its parent company has been saddled with $20bn of debt thanks to a recent leveraged buyout involving Jared Kushner and the Saudi wealth fund. EA was looking for weight to cut loose, and despite its hardcore fanbase and reputation for genre-defining RPGs such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age, BioWare hadn’t put out a critical or commercial hit in over 10 years. Its forthcoming game, titled Mass Effect: Universe according to a leaked trailer, was announced back in 2020. Despite some flashy teases, it was still years away from release.
After Brody called out the ‘death and misery’ in Palestine, the Netflix hit’s Jewish creator said they don’t see eye to eye
The creator of the hit Netflix comedy Nobody Wants This has responded to star Adam Brody’s recent support of Palestine amid the Israel-Gaza war.
“Everyone is entitled to a different opinion,” Erin Foster said in an interview with the Not Skinny Not Fat podcast when asked about Brody calling for a free Palestine.
An excerpt from an upcoming book claims Kushner had access to alleged Middle Eastern "slush" funds when he served as a senior White House adviser during the first Trump administration. Kushner and his legal team deny the accusations.
The New York mayor’s passion for the Gunners and human rights presents an opportunity to push back on the club’s lucrative UAE sponsorship
Like him or not, there is no doubt that New York mayor Zohran Mamdani’s passion for certain issues is electric, and that passion played a large part in him getting elected. But today, two of his biggest passions are on a collision course.
On one hand, Mamdani is now arguably the US’s most high-profile supporter of English Premier League champions Arsenal. A superfan since he was a child, he has put the Gunners into the American spotlight more than anyone since becoming mayor. The Empire State Building gleamed in Arsenal’s red and white when they won the Premier League title. He wrote an essay about what Arsenal’s championship means to him, talks about Arsenal at press conferences and interviews and inaugurated Thierry Henry Way near Times Square in honor of the Arsenal legend.
Since June, however, the only candidates Fellowship PAC has spent on have been Democrats, including those who have criticized the president’s meme coin, and it is getting help from a former Trump administration official’s company.
Since June, the only candidates Fellowship PAC has spent on have been Democrats.
Fellowship PAC funneled $600,000 since this summer through a firm co-founded by former Trump crypto adviser Bo Hines to help reelect Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York; Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire; and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. The Democrats are considered crypto allies, and none of them are facing competitive elections this fall.
All those advertising dollars have been spent through a vendor called Nxum Group, which was co-founded by Hines, a former Republican congressional candidate and Trump administration official.
Hines did not return a request for comment, and it is not known whether he has personally been involved in the Nxum Group’s work on behalf of Fellowship PAC. In congressional races in 2022 and 2024, he presented himself as a Trump-loving MAGA acolyte.
There is a thick web of ties between Hines, Fellowship PAC, and one of the biggest players in the crypto industry, a stablecoin company called Tether.
Before Trump’s election, Hines was involved in promoting a Trump-themed meme coin that made a handful of investors millions before plummeting in value. After Trump’s election, the president tapped Hines to serve as the head of the White House Council of Advisers on Digital Assets. In that role, Hines helped pass a law that created stablecoin regulations that benefited Tether.
As Hines served in the Trump administration, Tether was paying money to the firm that Hines co-owned, Nxum Group, according to a report last week in the Wall Street Journal. Nxum Group told the news outlet that Hines had no involvement in the company’s business dealings with Tether during that time. Hines said in a June 2025 ethics disclosure that he had only a “passive investment interest” in the company.
Hines left the Trump administration in August 2025 and, a month later, Tether announced that he would serve as the CEO of its U.S. branch.
Tether also has ties to Fellowship PAC. The newly created Fellowship PAC received a $10 million donation in January from Tether’s U.S. banking firm, Cantor Fitzgerald. In April, Fellowship PAC announced that Tether’s vice president of regulatory affairs would serve as its chair.
Although it launched with a splash last year by claiming that it had a $100 million war chest, the PAC has never reported as much as that in official campaign finance disclosures. The PAC’s last receipt was in January, and its cash on hand dwindled to $250,000 as of October 14.
Throughout the midterm elections, Fellowship PAC has leaned heavily on Nxum Group to spend advertising dollars on various congressional races.
Fellowship PAC spent exclusively on Republicans until its first expenditure on behalf of a Democrat, Torres, in June. That spending coincided with public polls showing increasingly dismal fortunes for Republicans in the midterm elections. Since then, the PAC has spent exclusively on Democratic candidates.
Torres’s and Warner’s campaigns did not respond to requests for comment. Goodlander’s campaign said she had nothing to do with the $150,000 that Fellowship PAC spent on digital advertising in her race. The money, the PAC disclosed in filings, had been routed through Nxum Group on August 31.
“Congresswoman Goodlander has been one of the strongest advocates in Congress for cracking down on Big Tech and crypto profiteering and getting dark money out of politics,” her campaign said in a statement. “Like all campaigns, we’re legally barred from coordinating with outside groups like these, so you’d need to ask them why they’re spending in this race.”
Goodlander, Torres, and Warner are all rated as strong supporters of the crypto industry on an industry scorecard. Still, all three have been critical of Trump’s personal dealings in the industry though his $TRUMP meme coin, which has helped make him $1.4 billion from crypto ventures.
Warner recently ran an ad of his own attacking Trump over the meme coin.
“That’s not governing. It’s grifting,” the Democratic senator said. “The corruption needs to stop.”
Engineers sprang into action amid concern that an 82-year-old WWII shipwreck's crumbling masts could topple and set off its 1,500-ton sunken explosives payload.
Conservative media personalities who have long benefited from boosting the president will be forced to wrestle with the likely fallout of Republican losses in next month’s US midterm elections
Nothing lasts forever. Jesse Kelly knows his meteoric rise through conservative radio will end one day – just like Donald Trump’s power over the Republican party.
Every day, the 6ft 8in Kelly walks a tightrope between sycophancy and criticism of the US president: the same fine line many rightwing hosts have attempted to tread throughout Trump’s rise, fall, and then resurrection from the political graveyard after his 2020 presidential election defeat.
Anthropic claims AI will shift how work gets done and labor demand – but some experts are skeptical of the vision
Last year, the Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei, warned that artificial intelligence could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs and that in six months it would be writing 90% of code. Neither of those predictions came to pass.
Now, in a report Anthropic published on Thursday, the company said it was hiring fewer junior technical workers and that human attention has become the new “bottleneck” as it increasingly relies on its Claude AI agents.
Switzerland says patient is wife of Swiss diplomat and believed to have contracted virus while travelling in Uganda
Health officials across Africa are racing to determine how Nigeria’s first Ebola patient in more than a decade became infected, amid fears the outbreak could spread further after reaching a fourth African country.
The Swiss foreign ministry said on Friday the patient in Nigeria, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, had not travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak was first detected in mid-May before spreading to Uganda, Kenya and now Nigeria. The woman was believed to have contracted Ebola while travelling with her husband in Uganda, the ministry added.
The Supreme Court already has weighed in on aspects of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, rejecting limits on birthright citizenship, putting the brakes on attempts to deport people using the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act and allowing the administration to revoke protections for immigrants from countries plagued by war, unrest or natural disasters.
Now a new immigration case centered on college campuses is headed the justices’ way. With both the Justice Department and civil rights lawyers representing affected immigrants calling for review and a clear split in appellate rulings, the issue could be ripe for the Court to hear argument and render its judgment by early next summer.
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, arrested in New York City last year because of his activism at Columbia University, and the Trump administration have suggested in court filings that the justices should take up Khalil’s case as well as that of a Georgetown University scholar.
The appeals follow circuit rulings in favor of the government in Khalil’s case and in favor of the Indian scholar, Badar Khan Suri.
“This represents a clear circuit split that will not get resolved absent this Court’s intervention,” Khalil’s lawyers wrote in their petition in Khalil v. Trump, 26-530. The other case is Trump v. Suri, 26-380.
At its root, the dispute concerns the administration’s authority to detain and deport scholars and students over their support for Palestinian rights.
In both cases, Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the U.S. whose wife is an American citizen, and Suri, who holds a visa to do post-doctoral work in this country and also is married to an American, allege they were detained for speaking out in favor of Palestinian rights, in violation of the First Amendment.
Lawyers for Khalil say they have learned that at least a dozen legal permanent residents in the U.S. have been subjected to deportation proceedings based on the same foreign policy ground that Rubio first applied to Khalil.
The issue before the court is somewhat more technical, whether the immigrants can have their constitutional challenges to their detention heard now by federal courts or whether federal law instead directs them first to immigration courts that are part of the Justice Department.
Trump had promised to target students who joined protests against the war in Gaza in 2024. Arrests during the first few months of his second presidential term drew extensive press coverage, perhaps none more than Khalil’s.
He was arrested in March 2025 after Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that his presence in the United States was contrary to American foreign policy interests, invoking a rarely used broad power to expel foreign students.
At the time, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said the arrest was in support of Trump’s “executive orders prohibiting antisemitism” and that Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
Less than two weeks later, federal agents detained Suri outside his suburban Washington apartment complex. Suri did not take part in protests, but the administration said he had undisputed family ties to Hamas and wrote social media posts in favor of the group. His wife’s father once served as an adviser to a Hamas leader.
Federal judges eventually ordered the men released. Khalil spent more than three months in detention, mostly in a facility in Louisiana, where he missed the birth of his first child. Suri was held for two months, mainly in Texas.
The Justice Department appealed both rulings in favor of the men, and federal courts of appeals in Philadelphia and Richmond, Virginia, reached different decisions.
A three-judge panel of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia decided in a 2-1 vote that Khalil’s case belongs in immigration courts, reversing a district court ruling in favor of Khalil.
In an opinion joined by Judges Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, the court wrote that the Immigration and Nationality Act stripped federal courts jurisdiction, even as it acknowledged that “some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”
A three-judge panel of the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, also voting 2-1, came out the other way. It ruled that Suri’s case was properly in the federal court system, affirming a district court judgment that Suri should be released while the government continues its efforts to deport him.
Describing Suri’s and similar cases, Judge DeAndrea Benjamin wrote that “in each case, the Government insists that judicial review of the allegedly unconstitutional detention can come only after removal proceedings that can last for months or years. Until then, according to the Government, a detained noncitizen has no judicial recourse. We disagree.”
In Khalil’s case, the Justice Department opposed a typically routine request for an extension to file his Supreme Court appeal. Justice Samuel Alito, who oversees matters from the Third Circuit, granted the extension.
Responses in both cases are due in November, and the Supreme Court could consider the petitions shortly before or after its Christmas recess.
Mark Sherman is a regular contributor to Constitution Daily. Sherman covered the Supreme Court for the Associated Press for 20 years, and he has previously written about the Justice Department, health care, and national politics.
Editor’s Note: Blog posts written by contributors reflect the analysis and opinions of the authors, and do not represent the opinions or positions of the National Constitution Center.
Ministers will make an unprecedented intervention in water bills and how companies prioritise investment, directing bosses to bring down costs and stop leaks and sewage overflows.
Angela Eagle, the environment secretary, has told suppliers in England and Wales she plans to intervene in the next price review – conducted by the water regulator, Ofwat.
Israel's Netanyahu says he ordered the military to cordon off a major city in the occupied West Bank after an attack by Palestinian gunmen that killed two Israeli soldiers.
State authorities investigating killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti said federal officials paused transfer of evidence
The federal government has stopped sharing evidence with Minnesota authorities who are investigating the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers during a violent anti-immigration, anti-protest crackdown in the state earlier this year, state officials said in recent court filings.
Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration in March for access to materials they said they needed to independently investigate the shootings.
Tatiana Mitrova, a fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and former energy scholar at Moscow’s Russian Academy of Sciences, and Sergey Vakulenko, an oil and gas expert at Carnegie’s Russia Eurasia Center, argue that Russia and Ukraine are locked in an energy war that has become an adaptation spiral, despite growing human and economic costs and despite current US pressure on Ukraine. They observe Ukraine’s remarkable ability to withstand Russian strikes, while questioning claims that long-range Ukrainian strikes will be able to achieve game-changing damage on Russia. Ukraine and Russia have transformed the role of energy warfare in modern conflict, drawing on low costs drones but also new forms of technological resilience that are likely to make wars longer and more dangerous.
CBP commissioner Rodney Scott says $46bn Texas project is justified amid court-ordered pause on wall’s construction
The Trump administration’s top border official defended plans to build a wall and other infrastructure in the Big Bend of Texas despite mounting opposition against the project and a court-ordered pause on construction, saying his goal of fortifying the country’s borders was “non-negotiable”.
Rodney Scott, the commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said the $46bn wall project was justified despite a bipartisan coalition of landowners, local businesses and environmentalists who view it as a waste of taxpayer money that could be destructive to a region with historically low migrant crossings, in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press.
Meghan reveals she was made aware of ‘disturbing allegations’ against him in 2018 by Met police
The Duchess of Sussex has said she is “deeply distressed” over accusations involving child sexual abuse images against her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr, and revealed she was made aware of “disturbing allegations” against him in 2018 by the Metropolitan police.
Meghan issued a statement after the Sun newspaper published claims that her half-brother Thomas Markle Jr alleged he had found a stash of images belonging to their father at his former home in the Philippines.
Thomas Markle, the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is facing a probe in the Philippines over alleged possession of child sexual abuse materials.
Republicans are resorting to childish taunts to defend an uncommonly dishonorable state attorney general
It’s a bit like Lucy with the football. Every few years, Democrats convince themselves that a Texas Senate seat might finally switch from red to blue. On paper, it makes sense. Texas is a large and urbanizing state with an increasingly educated – and increasingly non-white – population.
Other one-time Republican strongholds that have undergone similar demographic shifts have turned purple or even blueish – think Georgia, for example. The border counties along the Rio Grande valley, with their deep poverty and big Latino populations, were long thought to be fertile ground to nurture a kind of anti-Trump populism that could be converted into pro-Democratic sentiment. The state Democratic party is anemic there, but a few talented candidates have emerged.
As riot police encircled Place de la République last week, lobbing teargas canisters to disperse demonstrators, the conductor Étienne Jarrier and his orchestra played on. They kept playing even after everyone else had disappeared and teargas was being fired into the central Paris square.
It was only when Jarrier noticed his musicians were being directly targeted that he ordered them to stop. “There were teargas canisters landing in the double bass and music stand cases, and starting fires the musicians had to stamp out,” he told the Guardian.
Show features live chat sessions with breeders, a podcast and updates on dogs’ progress from birth to weigh-ins
A 24-hour Finnish TV show dedicated entirely to the live progress of a dog and her six newborn puppies is drawing millions of viewers.
As well as a 24-hour webcam, Pentulive (Puppy Live) includes live evening chat sessions with the dogs’ breeder, a podcast and an instant notification service that updates followers on the puppies’ progress – from their birth to weigh-ins and first nail trims – for eight weeks.
People under 35 are hunting for no-frills rides they can pay for in cash and fix themselves – defying expectations to take on steep loans
Jack Price joined the marines in fall 2021 knowing he would need a car to get around base and that he couldn’t afford a new one. A joyless, month-long search through dealer classifieds and Facebook Marketplace listings ended when his mother spotted a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta posted on her office listserv by a co-worker moving abroad. With just 60,000 miles (96,560km) on the meter, the car (a manual!) was mechanically sound, and the air conditioning, sunroof and Bluetooth radio worked too. At $6,000, it was a steal. Price paid in cash.
Five years on, the Jetta, which he called the Pewter Pebble, is still carting him from A to B in unassuming style. “I’ve completely driven it into the ground,” says the 30-year-old, who lives in Los Angeles. “All over bases, cross-country a couple times, not really lovingly. I get so much crap from people, but not people my age.”
Byron Donalds removed mentions of the president from his website and has barely uttered his name – will his ploy prove successful in a tight governor’s race?
It took Byron Donalds, addressing a wildly supportive crowd at a rally in Florida’s bluest county, some time to list those he blamed for any “affordability” issues they might be experiencing.
Joe Biden, and the radical policies of the Democrats, were at fault, the Republican nominee for Florida governor insisted in his stump speech at Broward county’s Green Glades West ranch, even though neither has wielded power in Washington for almost two years.
Exclusive: Documents show German party’s scramble to request support after president’s 2016 election win and co-leader’s pursuit of Steve Bannon
A data leak from Germany’s far-right German Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has revealed the extent of efforts by the party to court Donald Trump and other leading figures in the Maga movement, stretching back more than a decade.
The trove reveals the pains the AfD took in wooing the president, whom they saw from the beginning as a potential ally, with senior party officials agonising over the wording of an obsequious congratulatory telegram when he was elected in 2016, which included the wish that his “hopes as a person be fulfilled”.
Omar Muñoz, one of 28 people charged in California, speaks out about being dragged from his home in front of cameras as DoJ accused of ‘disgusting’ PR campaign
Omar Muñoz was getting ready to have his morning coffee just after 5am on Monday when he heard a loud bang at the front door of his Los Angeles home.
“Open up or else we’ll break down the door, and it’ll be bad for you,” the man on the other side yelled, Muñoz, 72, recalled.
Physicists at Northwestern University have successfully trapped a single positron for an entire month, allowing researchers to study its quantum properties with unprecedented precision. "Further investigations using the trap might reveal the secret of why the world around us is made of matter and not antimatter, when things could have presumably gone either way," reports Scientific American. From the report: Every normal particle of matter has an antimatter counterpart with equal mass but opposite charge. To build their trap, physicists started with atoms of sodium 22, a radioactive isotope with a half-life of about two and a half years. When one of these atoms decays, it emits a positron -- the antimatter counterpart of the electron. "The big challenge is to persuade these positrons to slow down and then capture them," says Gerald Gabrielse, a physicist at Northwestern University, who oversaw the project. The team reported its achievement on Wednesday in Physical Review Letters (PDF).
The first step is to send the positrons through the crystal lattice of a sliver of cold tungsten. As the particles go pinballing through the material, they slow down and lose energy. "Every time they bang into something, there's a chance of annihilation, but it doesn't always happen," Gabrielse says. "If they make it to the end, they get popped out." Next, the physicists steer the positrons along a channel using electromagnetic fields. Eventually the particles end up in a vacuum, just three tenths of a degree Celsius above absolute zero, trapped by an electric field on top and bottom and a magnetic field on the sides. "If you want to hold on to antimatter, you have to hold it in a container without walls," Gabrielse says. This method allowed the researchers to isolate and study a solitary, lone positron for a monthâ"and could let them do so indefinitely.
The researchers intend to use their trap to make precise measurements of the positron's magnetic moment -- basically the strength and orientation of its magnetic field. To do this, they must determine two things: the energy needed to flip the direction of the positron's spin and the energy needed to make it jump from its ground state to its first excited state. Using a similar trap setup, Gabrielse and his team have already measured the magnetic moment of an electron to a precision of one part in 10 trillion. Taking the equivalent measurement for a positron will allow them to make a crucial comparison. "We're looking to see if they have an exactly opposite magnetic moment," Gabrielse says. That's the prediction of the Standard Model of particle physics. If the two have different values, however, this could help explain why our universe is made of matter instead of antimatter.
Trump’s latest tactic to champion Republicans at midterm rallies? Assessing men’s bodies in meticulous detail
Speaking at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, earlier this month, to support the Republican senator Jon Husted, Donald Trump broke from his prepared remarks.
Trump said he had recently learned that Husted played football at university. The president, 80, said this had prompted him to conduct a physical assessment of Husted.
Investigation marks a rare move by the DoJ against an ally of the US president. Plus, why the world’s coral reefs are facing a dire future
Good morning. Corey Lewandowski, a former political adviser to Donald Trump and top aide at the Department of Homeland Security, is under criminal investigation over allegations he profited off his role in the US government. The Department of Justice has not yet issued subpoenas or other legal demands in the criminal investigation, and a lawyer for Lewandowski did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The justice department under Trump has investigated several prominent critics of the president, but investigations of people close to Trump have been rare.
Lewandowski served as a top aide to Kristi Noem during her tenure as homeland security secretary. Lewandowski allegedly signed some DHS contracts despite having questionable legal authority as a special government employee, according to one DHS official. Certain grants and contracts, including those involving the Federal Emergency Management Agency, were put on hold at Lewandowski’s direction, according to two other sources.
Where else has Trump suffered a legal setback? Donald Trump has been ordered by a US judge to cooperate with the discovery process mandated for his lawsuit against the BBC and to sit for a deposition by 11 December – or else he could be subject to sanctions, including possible dismissal of the $10bn lawsuit.
What request has Trump claimed he made of Google? Trump has said Google rejected his request to rename the Atlantic Ocean after himself or America. Google has previously acceded to Trump’s demands, with locations labelled “Gulf of America” and “Lake America” for US users at the president’s request.
Retail sales in Great Britain fell more steeply than expected last month, the latest negative economic update before the chancellor, John Healey, announces his budget next week.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the volume of goods sold fell 0.4% month on month in September, much steeper than economists’ consensus expectations of a 0.1% fall.
Heineken has warned British bars and pubs that the boom in popularity of weight-loss drugs could lead to a fall in sales of beer and cider.
The world’s second-largest brewer sent a presentation to British hospitality customers earlier this month that said the use of GLP-1 medication – such as Ozempic and Wegovy – could reduce the desire to drink alcohol. This in turn could result in “fullness and fewer serves” of pints in pubs and bars, it added.
Kareem’s Quote of the Day: What would Langston Hughes make of the America we’ve built—and what are we doing to bring it closer to the country he imagined?
Mud Wrestling with Ramaswamy and Vance: Republicans are trying to exploit Dr. Amy Acton’s childhood trauma, but their immoral strategy is backfiring.
Vladimir Putin, Humanitarian: Steve Witkoff’s praise of Putin shows what happens when flattering power requires giving the dictionary a rewrite.
The Price of Diesel: Trump’s demands over Russian refineries and Musk’s Starlink restrictions make Ukrainian lives subordinate to their priorities.
Origin of the Dream (PBS): This documentary follows the development of Dr. King’s greatest speech and how it was influenced by Langston Hughes’s poetry.
Langston Hughes, “The Weary Blues” (1958): The poet performs with a jazz band, and I’m still wondering whether it offers rest or surrender.
Kareem’s Quote of the Day
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed— Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above.
—Langston Hughes (1901-1967), American poet and activist
(Photo: Carl Van Vechten)
I often wonder what great Americans of past generations would make of the country today. Would General George Washington be more amazed at our incredible modern weapons or appalled at the ways in which they’ve been used? Would Harriet Tubman be more surprised by Barack Obama’s election as president or by the persistence of racism 160-plus years after the end of the Civil War?
I think Langston Hughes would look out at the country and say something along the lines of, “Yes, indeed, the more things change, the more they stay the same.” This week’s quote comes from his poem, “Let America Be America Again,” which is both a clear-eyed look at the nation’s shortcomings and a hopeful prayer for its possibilities. At the end of each of the first few verses, he adds a parenthetical thought: “America was never America to me,” or some variation of that theme. Then he asks, “who are you that mumbles in the dark,” and answers like this: “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,/I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars./I am the red man driven from the land,/I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—And finding only the same old stupid plan/Of dog-eat-dog, of mighty crush the weak.” Lines that were written in 1935 and published in full in 1938, but that could have been written yesterday, or tomorrow.
Hughes was born in 1901, in Joplin, Missouri. Both his paternal great-grandmothers were enslaved Africans, and both his paternal great-grandfathers were white Kentucky slaveowners. On his mother’s side, he was of African-American, French, English, and Native American descent. Hughes’s family was relatively well-off, though he was largely raised by his maternal grandmother, who steeped him in stories of Black resistance, dignity, and perseverance, shaping his understanding of racial responsibility and his identification with the oppressed. He attended Columbia University in New York and eventually became a central voice of the Harlem Renaissance, that flowering of Black artistic and intellectual life in the 1920s.
Hughes helped redefine who and what American poetry could be. While contemporaries like T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound pushed American poetry toward complex, Eurocentric modernism, Hughes looked inward to his American roots. He embraced the voices, rhythms, and experiences of the African Americans he’d known in both New York and the South of his childhood. He drew directly from jazz and blues, weaving their cadences, improvisation, and emotional honesty into his verse. This was a radical artistic choice, treating vernacular culture as worthy of serious literature rather than something to be polished away. His work captured both the pain of racism and segregation and the joy, humor, resilience, and beauty of Black communities. His 1926 essay, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” became a manifesto, arguing that Black artists should express themselves freely without worrying about the approval of the white establishment.
Never married, Hughes spent much of his adult life traveling in Europe, Africa, and the Soviet Union, and connected the oppression of Blacks in America to global struggles for equality and the working class. Besides poetry, he also wrote plays, novels, short stories, essays, children’s literature, opera libretti, and a long-running newspaper column.
“Let America Be America Again” is one of his signal works, a social critique that captures the reality of working-class experiences shared across our multiracial country. As Harry Belafonte once remarked, “When Hughes writes, in the first two lines of his poem, ‘Let America be America again/ Let it be the dream it used to be,’ he acknowledges that America is primarily a dream, a hope, an aspiration, that may never be fully attainable, but that spurs us to be better, to be larger.” For better or worse, that’s a message that’s still relevant today.
An old idea springs anew as a chorus of influential voices predicts that AI may trigger crises of vast magnitude
In a preface to his book Capitalism and Freedom, the American economist Milton Friedman famously observed that a crisis can propel once-fringe ideas into the political mainstream.
“Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around,” he wrote. The job of intellectuals, thinktanks and economists, he argued, is to refine the quality of these ambient ideas, so that good ones are ready when disaster strikes.
To reclaim control of the Senate, Democrats need to retain all the Senate seats they have and flip four more in the 2026 midterm elections. Shrai Popat, the Guardian's US politics reporter, explains which are the key races to watch in November.
The US president is portraying Zelenskyy as the villain as he strives for Russia’s approval
If Donald Trump could, he would fly to Munich to sign away Ukraine to Vladimir Putin, and return to wave the document as “peace in our time”, hoping to claim at least the second Fifa peace prize.
Whatever the complicated motives of Neville Chamberlain, his well-grounded fear after the carnage of a world war of another apocalypse and his wishful thinking that Hitler would be satiated after carving up Czechoslovakia, Chamberlain had not sent his son-in-law and former golf partner and real estate partner in advance to cut back-end deals with the Nazis to profit for his family and cronies.
Voters in 39 states will face an array of referendum issues – including Alabama’s on the national anthem in schools
Americans heading to the polls for next month’s midterm elections are not just choosing whom to send to Washington, or their state capitols. There are also 145 statewide measures on ballots across 39 states, polling voters on actions from a novel wealth tax on California’s billionaires to requiring Alabama’s public schools to broadcast or perform the first stanza of the national anthem each week.
Voters in Idaho, Nevada and Virginia are asked to protect abortion rights; voters in Missouri are asked to give those rights back. Property tax issues appear on dozens of state ballots. Several state referendums ask voters to bar trans athletes from competing in women’s sports, or bar gender-affirming medical care for minors.
The Onyx RCR 80V can hit motorcycle speeds, but after hundreds of miles in the saddle, I found there’s a lot more to this compact electric machine than going fast.
Brazilians will head to the polls on Sunday in one of the most consequential presidential elections of the last decade. The run-off election will determine the future of the largest democracy in Latin America and the fate of the Amazon rainforest.
Incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is facing off against Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The elder Bolsonaro is currently on house arrest for his role in a failed 2023 military coup that intended to assassinate Lula, his vice president, and a Supreme Court justice. Despite his father’s attempted coup, Flavio Bolsonaro is currently the frontrunner, after coming out slightly ahead in the first round of voting.
“If they don’t win this election, then not only is Jair going to stay in jail, most likely, but Eduardo, Flávio’s brother and Jair’s son, who is in self-exile in the U.S., he has a multiyear prison sentence for his actions in the U.S. lobbying against Brazil’s foreign interests. He’s not going to be able to go home if they lose this election,” says Andrew Fishman, a Rio de Janeiro-based investigative journalist. “So they’re really just willing to do whatever they can to make sure that they win because this is their only get-out-of-jail-free card.”
Sound familiar? This week on The Intercept Briefing, host Jessica Washington speaks with Fishman, president and co-founder of The Intercept Brasil, about what’s at stake for Brazil and the planet in Sunday’s election.
“It’s a global election. The voters in Brazil will be deciding the future of humanity,” Fishman tells The Intercept. Jair Bolsonaro oversaw significant deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, leaving the ecological and climate linchpin in danger of becoming a “savanna.” Now, he argues, his son can finish the job. “You’re going to have an international migration crisis,” says Fishman. “It’s really self-defeating because the cattle ranchers are his base. They are the ones that are wanting to do the things that will end their future profitability — the future existence of their business.”
President Donald Trump has taken a particular interest in the race, as he seeks to expand U.S. influence and control across the Western Hemisphere. “Brazil — as the biggest economy, the biggest country, the most powerful entity in the hemisphere besides the United States — if Brazil falls, then the rest falls in line,” says Fishman. “But if Brazil remains as this big island of resistance in the middle of the continent, it really messes up [the Trump administration’s] plans, doesn’t it?”
Big Tech is also looming large over the race. “There’s all these pieces of circumstantial evidence that suggest that Meta is interfering in this election, and they have every incentive to do so. They will have a much better regulatory environment if Flávio wins because of Flávio’s submissiveness to U.S. interests and his willingness to play ball with whatever Trump tells him to,” adds Fishman.
In a request for comment, Meta said, “Meta applies the same rules to every candidate, every party and every political viewpoint in Brazil, as we do in elections around the world. We do not suppress content to disadvantage one side, and we do not give preferential treatment to any side. Each of the incidents cited by Lula’s campaign has a straightforward, documented explanation. … Brazilian voters deserve facts, not a political narrative built by combining unrelated technical issues. Meta will continue to enforce its rules, comply with Brazilian electoral law, fix mistakes when they occur and provide a level playing field for everyone who uses our services.”
As U.S. leaders attempt to mold Brazil into a satellite state, Fishman argues the United States is slowly becoming more and more like its southern neighbor.
“It’s not that Brazil is becoming more like the United States, it’s that the United States is becoming more like Brazil,” says Fishman. “You have just shrinking spheres of democracy while oligarchs have increasing power and control and are able to do what they want and insist on decisions for the country that are bad for all of the society and the people, but good for their individual interests.”
For more, listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Transcript
Jessica Washington: Welcome to The Intercept Briefing, I’m Jessica Washington, politics reporter at The Intercept.
Akela Lacy: I’m Akela Lacy, senior politics reporter at The Intercept. Jessie, what do our listeners need to know about this week?
JW: I’ve been following a pretty disturbing story that’s actually centered on a campaign ad. Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy released what I would argue is the ugliest campaign ad of a dark season. That is, of course, a season of campaign ads filled with Islamophobic, transphobic, sexist rhetoric, and racist rhetoric as well. But in the ad, the mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton accuses her daughter of being a liar, claiming “she’s lied her whole life.”
Now, what makes this really dark is that Acton was removed from her mother’s care at 12 years old, after she alleges she was raped by her mother’s then-40-year-old husband.
AL: That’s horrible. Has Acton responded?
JW: Acton responded to the attack ad saying, “My brother Phil and I endured abuse, hunger, and neglect. We were often kept in a dark basement, were frequent-fliers with child protective services, and lived in fear of our birth mother’s violent and erratic temper. I’ve always known that she was deeply sick and unwell, and it’s sad to see Vivek Ramaswamy exploit her all for his own political gain.”
This is one, as I’ve said, of the darkest campaign ads in a really horrifying season of campaign ads.
Akela, I know you’ve been tracking another big election story this week on a beat you’ve covered for a really long time, and that’s [American Israel Public Affairs Committee].
AL: So we have been covering extensively the way that AIPAC’s strategy has changed over the last few election cycles since they started spending directly on campaigns.
If you’ve been following our reporting, you know that we’ve written a lot about both their super PAC, United Democracy Project, and this shell PAC strategy where there were a number of different groups that popped up throughout the midterm season, took money from AIPAC, spent against candidates that AIPAC didn’t like, and then — per filings that came out this week — shut down and gave all their money back to AIPAC.
So the idea being that, they had been trying to shield what was an increasingly toxic reputation amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza from creating backlash against their activity in these races.
Jewish Insider scooped on Wednesday that AIPAC announced that it will no longer endorse candidates or give PAC contributions through its AIPAC PAC. Now, this doesn’t mean that they will stop spending on elections. Their super PAC, United Democracy Project, will continue to spend, as it has been pouring record amounts of money into various races. But this is getting a lot of attention, both from the left and I would say from the center.
The left, Justice Democrats in particular, and candidates who are no longer in Congress, but I saw Jamaal Bowman talking about this, saying that this is the culmination of the fight that the left has been putting up against AIPAC in elections. I don’t know that I would categorize this as a win necessarily, considering that the super PAC seems like it’s going to continue to spend a lot of money. But that was the big news in my campaign finance world this week.
JW: You’ve done a lot of really interesting coverage of how AIPAC is moving their money around through these different PACs and trying to get around the fact that people really dislike AIPAC, and that it has really tarnished the reputation of candidates who take this money. Obviously, this is a maneuver to get rid of the reputational harm of AIPAC money while still giving people AIPAC money.
I’ve actually been tracking a story completely off our election cycle, and that’s what’s going on in France. I know we touched on that a couple weeks ago but, really, these protests have taken on another life.
For those who don’t know, in France, there were these protests that were initially launched by students primarily in the suburbs concerned about educational inequality. This meant staffing shortages and poor facilities. But it has exploded into a nationwide uprising about the cost of living and broader economic inequality.
Now, perhaps unsurprisingly, and not to bring it too quickly back to the U.S., but President Donald Trump has used this as an opportunity to rail against immigrants. So despite the fact that there is zero indication any of the violence has been spurred on by immigrants. At a campaign rally on Monday, he told the crowd, “If Europe doesn’t close its borders and bring the criminals out, like the people that are protesting, Europe is finished.”
So yeah, that’s just one other example of how Donald Trump has inserted himself into international politics.
AL: Trump has also inserted himself into politics in a different region in the world. We have the Brazilian elections for president heading to a runoff this week. I know you spoke, Jessie, to Andrew Fishman, an investigative reporter and president and co-founder of The Intercept Brasil, about those elections.
JW: It’s a really interesting election with a ton of parallels to the political situation in the United States, as well as, as you’ve pointed out, a ton of influence from the United States. On Sunday, Brazil will have a run-off presidential election that will determine the future of not only Latin America’s largest democracy, but also — and this is really important — the fate of the Amazon rainforest, and one could argue, the planet.
This is the first presidential election since former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was imprisoned on house arrest in an attempted military coup, a sentence that his son, the current frontrunner, Flávio Bolsonaro has promised to overturn.
I talked to Andrew about the media landscape, the history of military leadership, and the outside influences that have made this a tight race, despite the fact that the perceived frontrunner is running on freeing the man who attempted a coup years prior.
President Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva is running for reelection. He’s accused both President Donald Trump and Meta of attempting to sway the election in favor of Flávio Bolsonaro.
The Intercept reached out to Meta for comment, and Meta denied interfering in the election process, saying they do not suppress content to disadvantage one side or give preferential treatment to the other.
But this is a really interesting conversation with Andrew, and I’m excited for people to get to hear it.
AL: As am I. Let’s hear it.
JW: Andrew, welcome to The Intercept Briefing.
Andrew Fishman: Hi, thanks for having me.
JW: On Sunday, Brazilians will head to the polls in a runoff presidential election between right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, and incumbent left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to determine the leadership of Latin America’s largest democracy and biggest economy.
Now, this is the first presidential election since former President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the Capitol in 2023 and attempted to overturn the election results. Now, Flávio Bolsonaro, his son and ally, is widely considered to be the frontrunner after coming out slightly ahead in the first round of voting.
But as of Tuesday, his lead in the polls has been narrowing. Andrew, big picture, what are the major issues at play in this election on Sunday?
AF: If you want to be really direct about it, it’s the future of humanity.
You have one candidate who’s been responsible for record reductions of deforestation in the Amazon; and you have another one who’s saying, let’s chop it all down, and farmers should be able to do whatever they want on their land.
And under his father’s leadership, deforestation in the Amazon soared, as in the other regions in the area. Scientists think that there’s a major tipping point that we could be on the cusp of, that if we were to reach that, the Amazon will turn into a savanna. There would be no going back from that.
If that were to happen, all of the rain in South America comes from the Amazon, basically. [That would affect] the cattle ranching that’s doing the deforestation, no more of the soy that’s doing the deforestation — people would have trouble feeding themselves. São Paulo would probably run out of water, which it has done in the past.
It’s very precarious. So you would be having mass refugee influxes, migrations. I really do think that this election is on that scale; it’s a global election. The voters in Brazil will be deciding the future of humanity, very possibly.
JW: To your point, his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration oversaw significant deforestation of the rainforest, which houses 10 percent of all [known] species on Earth, and his son appears to be moving in that same direction.
Flávio told reporters in August that he did not believe in climate change and that “the best way to address environmental issues is what we did during the Bolsonaro administration,” referring, of course, to the senior Bolsonaro’s administration.
What is at stake for climate change when we’re talking about this massive deforestation that could potentially be happening if Flávio wins?
AF: Every ecosystem in South America is interconnected and in the world. If the Amazon collapses and turns into savanna and the rainfall stops, and you have this massive drying out of the continent — which is one of the major exporters of food in the world — you’re going to have all of those issues locally, and that’s going to impact local markets and everything. You’re going to have an international migration crisis.
But on top of that, we have no idea what the ecological knock-on effects of that could be. With that, we could be having a more rapid increase in polar ice cap melting. With the temperatures increasing, it could be exacerbating the death of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current, which is the thing that would put Europe back into an ice age. It’s very possible that’s already happening right now.
We’re at this really tenuous moment for the climate, for the Earth, for humanity. And you have a candidate that says very proudly [he] doesn’t believe in any of that and wants to slash all mechanisms that are used to have more responsible management of land and prevent this massive catastrophe in just this proudly Luddite sort of way.
It’s really self-defeating because the cattle ranchers are his base. They are the ones that are wanting to do the things that will end their future profitability — the future existence of their business. It’s really self-defeating in this way for the Brazilians, and these very short-term benefits for massive long-term costs.
There’s estimates that the impact that the Amazon has for the global economy is in the hundreds of billions of dollars a year, and that benefit is far larger than the profits that they get out of these extractive industries that they do with farming and mining. It’s really hard to overstate the potential impacts that this could have.
JW: Is that urgency resonating with voters?
AF: Absolutely not. That is not what people are voting about, unfortunately. It’s what the people living in the heavy agricultural regions — where their local economy depends on that — they’re voting for Flávio for that reason. But the people who are voting against him, yes, there’s many people that care about the Amazon and want to preserve it, but it’s not the issue that’s being discussed day to day on TV, in the news, on the streets.
People are talking more about more human issues of corruption and who has better communication, security, economics. They’re not talking about the Amazon, unfortunately.
JW: That’s hardly surprising in the U.S. context, which I’m a little bit more acquainted with. Certainly climate, the environment, have never been top issues for voters, even if they’ve resonated more so with young people.
I did want to talk about another issue in the election, and that is the fate of Jair Bolsonaro. His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, has promised to free him. Jair Bolsonaro has been imprisoned on house arrest since 2025 for plotting a military coup. How is that particular campaign promise landing with the electorate in Brazil, and are you at all surprised by the public’s response?
AF: It’s very clear that for the Bolsonaros, this is an all-or-nothing for them. If they don’t win this election, then not only is Jair going to stay in jail, most likely, but Eduardo, Flávio’s brother and Jair’s son, who is in self-exile in the U.S., he has a multiyear prison sentence for his actions in the U.S. lobbying against Brazil’s foreign interests. He’s not going to be able to go home if they lose this election.
For them, it’s been very clear, and they’ve even said it in moments, that’s what this is about for them: their ability to get their father out of prison and to get themselves off the hook. Also, if you’re elected president, the investigations on things you did before you got elected, they go away.
“They’re really just willing to do whatever they can to make sure that they win, because this is their only get-out-of-jail-free card.”
So then Flávio’s off the hook, and he’s so wrapped up in so many different schemes and accusations and active investigations, some of which that we have revealed, including U.S. and abroad and offshore bank accounts and money laundering and potential connections to organized crime and militias. So they’re really just willing to do whatever they can to make sure that they win because this is their only get-out-of-jail-free card. To do that, they’re going to completely change the structure of the Supreme Court, and they’ll be able to put in a majority even without impeachment. They already have the Senate and the lower house of Congress.
They would control all of the executive branch. They have the majority of governorships that are in their coalition, and they run the local police. And the executive has control over the federal police and all the investigative and regulatory agencies. So they would have just absolute lockstep control over every branch of government federally and most of local government as well.
It would be a democratically elected coup.
JW: And voters, do they care about that? Do they care about the preservation of democracy? Is this ranking as a top election issue?
AF: It’s always double speak, right? Both sides say that they’re preserving democracy. The Bolsonaristas say that Lula and the Supreme Court are running a judicial dictatorship right now because they were getting censored and put in jail for actively plotting a coup, which included active planning to assassinate Lula after he was elected, his vice president after he was elected, and a member of the Supreme Court. So that’s what they’re [Jair Bolsonaro and military officials] in jail for. That’s why they were getting pushback, and they’re saying that having the pushback against that is a dictatorship.
In the meantime, you have the Lulistas who are saying that what the Bolsonaros want to do is a coup because they actively have said year after year, over and over again, “We want a coup. We love the military dictatorship. The military dictatorship was great! When we were torturing everybody, that was good.” Jair said, “When I’m elected, we’re going to take a machine gun and shoot down all of the leftists, the petistas, the Workers’ Party [Partido dos Trabalhadores] supporters.”
Remember that the military government was going alive and strong into the ’80s. It happened in ’64, and it went through the ’80s. So it’s very recent.
The people that are in his orbit, they were actually part of the military coup government until very recently. And I think that Lula supporters are very, very concerned about this. They really do care.
The Bolsonarista supporters, which are about 30 percent lockstep — same as it is in the U.S. with Trump — they’re just in their own information ecosystem, and they want Bolsonaro to win. It doesn’t matter, and anything that he does is good because it’s him.
“They’re just in their own information ecosystem, and they want Bolsonaro to win.”
It’s not, there are people that support the Workers’ Party, and there are people that support Bolsonaro. The Bolsonaro movement is essentially anti Workers’ Party, anti-petismo. The Bolsonaros have been seen as the greatest vehicle for getting rid of the Workers’ Party, which has been so hard to do because they’ve been so popular because of all the policies they’ve put into place over the years.
But you’ve had the media saying for 30 years now, just drilling it in, that the PT [Partido dos Trabalhadores] equals corruption, the PT invented corruption. The PT is everything that is bad in Brazil, and anything that is not the PT is everything that is good in Brazil. You’ve had a generation of this narrative being repeated over and over in all these different instances that it’s really hard to shake.
JW: Could you talk more about that legacy of military leadership in Brazil, and for Brazilians, how they feel about it on the day to day? I recognize that it’s a very large country, as we’ve mentioned multiple times. I assume not everyone feels the same way, but I am curious about that legacy and how people respond to it.
AF: Brazil has been a country of negotiated solutions. So when they were the last in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery in 1888, it was not some sort of civil war or uprising. It was a negotiation: “OK, I think it’s time that we do this, but let’s just make sure that everyone that did own slaves is in the best possible situation, and let’s make sure that we have some sort of semi-slavery going on afterwards.”
It was really the same thing with the dictatorship. It was a moment where the economy was going into the can. It was very unpopular. It wasn’t having the economic glory years of before, and so they said, “All right, we’ll step back. We’ll let you run some elections, but we’re going to make sure that we’re never held accountable, that we’re able to continue exercising power in the way we want.”
As part of that, they were able to help control the narrative. So during the military dictatorship, there was an impression — and it continues today — that there wasn’t corruption. The reason why they had that impression, it was actually very corrupt, very corrupt. But the impression exists because there was censorship of the media, so the corruption that existed just wasn’t exposed.
When the Lula government came into power the first time in the early 2000s, they started making the federal police stronger. They made the judiciary stronger and more independent. They increased the ability of the federal government to investigate and uphold the rule of law. As a result of that, many corruption schemes started coming out of the woodwork that were legacy of the military leadership.
“It was the business elite together with the military that did the coup and ran everything.”
It was called a civil military dictatorship, technically, in Brazil, because it was the business elite together with the military that did the coup and ran everything.
So that business elite didn’t change. It’s still the same families. They were running the same corruption schemes back then. They were running it through re-democratization. Whether it’s a right-wing government or a left-wing government in power, they’re making sure that their interests are being served. That corruption is just this constant throughline. People don’t really see that because that’s not how it’s presented in the media and in the day-to-day in communications.
I know for a fact that there’s lots of people that really want us to go back to the dictatorship. There are people that really want us to go back to the monarchy because they see it as a better, simpler time when things were the way that they should be. Everyone was in the right place and things were safer and everything was just better, this idealized past, “Make Brazil Great Again” sort of thing. How far back do you want to go?
Then there are the people that, like Dilma Rousseff, who was the successor to Lula after a second term — who fought against the dictatorship — that are currently active in politics, that are still around, and they were tortured. Their friends were murdered. They know exactly what a dictatorship means and what it means for people like them, anyone that stands against those entrenched powers of the old elites that go back for centuries.
That’s why you have a lot of older voters tend to vote PT [Workers’ Party] because they came up with the workers’ struggle with re-democratization. They understand what that means. It’s this interesting dynamic now where you have more younger people that are starting to tip more to the right because they don’t have this memory.
They don’t remember what it was like in the ’80s in the northeast when there was water shortages and food shortages, and the standard of living was so much lower. You have this new narrative being rewritten in real time online.
“You have more younger people that are starting to tip more to the right because they don’t have this memory.”
JW: The parallels to the United States and Brazil are just incredibly striking in what you’re saying. This kind of the “Make America Great Again” movement and the Make Brazil Great Again, even if they’re not using those exact same phrases. There are just so many points of similarity, especially with what we’ve seen with youth even in the United States, some of whom have taken a rightward tilt.
I want to get into the relationship between Brazil and the U.S. because that’s obviously been such a big issue in this election. In a Lula ad earlier this month, his campaign called Flávio Bolsonaro Trump’s candidate, arguing that, “What Trump wants is to colonize Brazil, take our riches, steal our future, and leave us in the dust.”
Now, this comes after President Lula confirmed that Brazil denied visas to two U.S. officials over election interference concerns. The State Department has denied any claims of election meddling, telling reporters, “Any insinuation of a ‘ploy’ to undermine a democratic nation’s election is a baseless lie.”
Andrew, is there any evidence that the Trump administration is attempting to sway this election? Does it veer into election interference as we generally understand it?
AF: The answer is oh God, yes. So much so it’s overwhelming. Overwhelming evidence, and it’s the same thing they’ve been doing across the region, which is why there’s been this rightward swing in elections across Latin America.
That’s why they’re so interested in Brazil right now because Brazil — as the biggest economy, the biggest country, the most powerful entity in the hemisphere besides the United States — if Brazil falls, then the rest falls in line.
But if Brazil remains as this big island of resistance in the middle of the continent, it really messes up their plans, doesn’t it? The interference has been done on many levels. The reality is that we don’t know the full extent of it, and we won’t know the full extent of it for years. We’re still learning about things that happened in 1964 with the U.S. role in the coup.
There’s dirty tricks happening that’s being run through intelligence agencies. That’s absolutely positive. There’s very, very strong signs that they’re using U.S. companies, Big Techs like Meta, who’s been getting a lot of attention — a lot of flak — lately because of clear signs that its algorithm is favoring Bolsonaro and suppressing Lula.
Multiple instances that they even admit happens, “Oh, but no, but it was just a mistake. It was just a mistake.” Meta and the Big Techs in the U.S., they’re really concerned about what a Lula government could do for their profits. Maybe Lula wants to have more sovereignty and control over what they’re doing.
The Brazilian government doesn’t even know how much money they make in Brazil, the Big Techs. They just know how much money they send out through the tax bills that they pay and the money they send out of the country. The Big Techs in the U.S. are really concerned about getting their access on rare earths and on lithium reserves, which Brazil has the largest deposits of rare earths after China. This whole trade war with China, Brazil becomes much more important. It’s a huge market.
So you have one candidate that is just completely submissive — like painfully, embarrassingly submissive — to U.S. interests. So much so that one of his former closest allies, a general, Santos Cruz, who’s a very famous well-known general, he came out recently and said, “I’m a conservative. I’m right-wing. This is not conservatism. This is not right wing. This is just ‘voluntary submissiveness.’”
“You have one candidate that is just completely submissive — like painfully, embarrassingly submissive — to U.S. interests.”
They’re just absolutely scamming Brazilians with this level of supplicancy that we’ve never seen before, that the military dictatorship even didn’t do, which was hand in glove with the U.S. interests. This is completely next level, and it’s something that obviously the left is very concerned about.
But people like Santos Cruz, Brazilians that actually believe in Brazilian sovereignty, and that it’s important for Brazil to be able to pursue its own interests rather than the interests of foreign powers — they’re very concerned about that, which is, some segments of the elite.
Whenever you have a submissive local government in an imperialist relationship, there are people that benefit. There are local people that will get special contracts, that will get special treatment. They’ll be able to crush their enemies through these relationships. And that’s what they’re doing in Bolivia and in Peru and in Ecuador right now.
“Whenever you have a submissive local government in an imperialist relationship, there are people that benefit.”
What they did in Venezuela, where they just came in and took all of the oil and said, “All right. We’re going to take 90 percent of the oil profits, and we’ll give you a couple billion a year.” People are seeing this in Brazil. They see what Trump has done. And they’re still saying, “Well, we like Bolsonaro, so we’re going with Bolsonaro. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
It’s a massive issue, and I really, I don’t think we know how bad it will be and how submissive they’ll be this time around. Because it always is the case that, with right-wing authoritarian governments, it’s the second term where they really take off whatever mask was left and decide, “We have a mandate and we can do whatever we want.”
You saw it in the U.S. with Trump. They saw it in Turkey with Erdoğan. They saw it in Hungary with Orbán. They saw it in India with Modi. This is what always happens. It’s the second term where they say, “OK. We showed them who we are, and everyone said it’s fine.” They’re able to smoke out all of their rivals in the first term. They map them out, and so when the second time comes around, it’s just bang, bang, bang. Let’s get rid of them. Let’s maximize our power and do whatever we want.
“With right-wing authoritarian governments, it’s the second term where they really take off whatever mask was left. … It’s the second term where they say, ‘OK. We showed them who we are, and everyone said it’s fine.’”
The result’s not going to be positive for Brazil. That’s the thing: If I were a Brazilian billionaire — which I am not — it would be in my personal interest for Brazil to follow the economic path that the Lula government is following, much more than what Bolsonaro is proposing.
Lula’s not some left-wing radical. He’s center-right. He was left, then he became center-left, and he’s moving ever more to the right. This last election, his vice presidential candidate was his former presidential rival, the center-right guy. They’re very much doing what the big banks want. They’re helping the big agro get what they want. They give tons of subsidies to major industries. But the thing that they do, they take a little bit of that money, and they spread it around to the poorest people with public services with access to education, with some cash transfers. We’re talking about 60 bucks or 80 bucks a month to families, and that is what is making the economy grow. Because if you don’t have consumers in your economy, and you have domestic industries you’re trying to build, then no one’s going to buy the things. Your employees can’t buy the things.
That’s intolerable to some people in Brazil, and they can’t see that it benefits their own economic interests.
You’re in this kind of crazy situation where it doesn’t really make sense what they’re doing. And they saw it happen with Bolsonaro, with Jair! They all supported him, and then he crashed the economy. Then they all went back to Lula begrudgingly and said, “OK, we’re going to support you in ’22 because things aren’t going very well.”
Then Lula turned it around immediately, and now they’re forgetting again and going back to Bolsonaro. Logically, it doesn’t make sense. It’s more psychological. Freud has to explain what’s going on.
“Lula’s not some left-wing radical. He’s center-right. He was left, then he became center-left, and he’s moving ever more to the right.”
JW: Again, the parallels between the United States and Brazil are very apparent in terms of some of those economic choices. You’ve already gone over what the U.S. wants to gain from involvement in this election. But there’s another foreign power that’s also interested in the election. Flávio Bolsonaro has been cozying up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, obviously in stark contrast to President Lula, who’s been an ardent supporter of the Palestinians. What would a Flávio Bolsonaro presidency look like for Brazil’s stance towards Israel?
AF: You can’t say that Lula has been the heroic savior, but he has made statements saying, “This is a genocide. This is very bad. This shouldn’t happen.”
At the same time, he’s allowed Petrobras to ship petroleum products to the Israeli government that are being used in the genocide. He’s allowed one of the major steel manufacturers to ship steel and ore to the Israeli weapons companies that are using it to build rifles and bombs to use in Gaza.
It’s not like you’re dealing with the leader of BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement] versus Netanyahu’s best friend. It’s a run-of-the-mill European-style center-left social democrat leader that’s kinda disappointing on this issue, versus someone that just wants to be absolutely submissive to everything that Israel wants and does and just completely supports it.
Again, you said, there’s so many parallels to the U.S. The parallels in Brazil, why does this make sense? Why would they care about supporting Israel? Why would this be something that they would want to put their name on, like these horrible scenes that people have been seeing for years online?
Everyone’s seeing it. Why would they want to support it? They kind of want to do the same thing in Brazil. One of the things that Jair always complains about is that he’s jealous of the U.S. because their cavalry was more effective at exterminating the Indigenous population than the Brazilian cavalry was. They’re upset that they have these relatively small numbers of Indigenous people that have claims to these massive swaths of land, much of which in the Amazon, that they want to get their hands on so they can cut down the trees and throw cows in and do mining. So a colonial–settler project that involves extermination of the Indigenous population to benefit their economy.
“They’re upset that they have these relatively small numbers of Indigenous people that have claims to these massive swaths of land, much of which in the Amazon, that they want to get their hands on.”
That’s what Israel’s doing, and that’s what they want to do in Brazil: “Why don’t you give me all the fun, fancy tools of espionage and surveillance and war and suppression that you guys have developed and honed in Israel for the last decades, and let me get my hands on them too so I can do the same thing back here.”
I think that’s one of the main reasons ideologically. Plus the whole political, evangelical right-wing movement, which was a concerted project by the CIA to implant in Latin America, bringing in prosperity gospel to get rid of the Catholic Church and all their support of left and workers movements.
This is all very well documented, that they brought it in because it’s more individualist ideology, and that individualist ideology also includes the idea that all the Jews need to go to Israel for the reckoning.
There are a ton of parallels between Brazil and the U.S., and that’s because almost all of the worst ideas in the United States have been intentionally exported to Brazil as a way to make Brazil a worse country that’s more in line with U.S. interests.
That includes healthcare companies. The U.S. model of healthcare. They have free, independent public healthcare in Brazil called SUS [Sistema Único de Saúde]. It’s an incredible system that’s very popular. They want to privatize it. They want to get rid of it to create more profit. Prosperity gospel with all this right-wing ideological movements, they love it.
“Almost all of the worst ideas in the United States have been intentionally exported to Brazil as a way to make Brazil a worse country that’s more in line with U.S. interests.”
The NRA sent lobbyists down in 2002 to Brazil to work with the right-wing movements to say, “This is the game plan for how you create a gun movement in Brazil.” And what happened? It manifests itself in the Jair Bolsonaro administration, where they just opened up the floodgates for access to guns, increasing the number of guns you have, the type of guns that you could have, the number of bullets you could have, and getting rid of anything that could help prevent organized crime from getting massive amounts of assault rifles and unmarked bullets they can use in crimes. Under Bolsonaro, that’s one of the things that spread more than ever.
There’s all these little levers that they’re really just doing copy and paste, and we’ve seen these alliances with JD Vance and the Rockbridge [Network], which is a group that he created before he was vice president with a bunch of Peter Thiel and other billionaires in the U.S. They’ve created a subsidiary in Korea and now one in Brazil that they were using to do the same sort of alignment with the local elites that they did before, in the lead-up to the ’64 coup. I can go on for hours about all the different connections and ties.
JW: To your point, you’ve talked about how this is much bigger than just Brazil.
To me, the “Donroe Doctrine” is hanging over all of this. Last November, President Donald Trump released what he described as a corollary to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, the “Donroe Doctrine,” which effectively calls for the U.S. to take an aggressive interventionist stance in Latin America under the guise of protecting the United States’ national security and economic interests in the region.
Andrew, from your perspective, what more should we understand about what the United States is doing in Brazil and kind of the wider context of the Trump administration’s actions in Latin America over the last two years?
AF: It’s pretty simple. They are fighting the Cold War against China in Latin America, just like they used to do against the Soviets. As part of that war, they are aligning with far-right upstart leaders that are seen as anti-establishment, even though they’re usually tied to billionaires or even billionaires themselves, like in Ecuador.
There’s this weird coincidence with all of them that they almost all have connections to organized drug trafficking. They’re almost all known drug smugglers or connected to them or have some sort of financial relations. While they’re doing that, they’re arguing that “We are working together with these local governments in South and Latin America to fight drug trafficking,” which is obviously a farce.
That’s what they did in Ecuador. The president of Ecuador, Noboa, he’s the son of a banana dynasty that does a lot of exporting bananas, and in those crates of bananas, they’ve also been known to export a lot of kilos of cocaine. Their allies in Colombia have always been this way, and the things that they’re doing in Bolivia, it’s the exact same thing. The [Bolivian] attorney general who was trying to push back against the corruption of this right-wing government that has allied with Trump, well Trump and Rubio came in and said listen, you need to go after this attorney general and get rid of him. So he was arrested because he was going after their allies.
They don’t care about drug trafficking, obviously. The U.S. government never cared about drugs. It’s always been a weapon or a tool for them. So they’re aligning with these people to create this lockstep union that they’re calling the “Shield of the Americas.” It’s this new alliance that they’re using instead of the existing, the U.N. or other mechanisms. They’re creating all their own, just like they did with the “Board of Peace.” They’re working to make sure that those economies just stay in their sphere of influence just a little bit longer.
They know that China’s winning. China is the main trade partner with all of these countries now. They’re Brazil’s biggest trade partner. The United States cannot absorb all of the exports that Brazil produces that goes to China. They’re not going to get Brazil to stop trading with China or stop having relations with China. They compete on corn and ethanol and soy exports. They can’t absorb what China’s buying.
“They’re really just trying to buy a little bit more time as their empire is slowly waning, but at the cost of what?”
They’re really just trying to buy a little bit more time as their empire is slowly waning, but at the cost of what? At the cost of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of lives? It’s not clear what the indirect results of this will be. At the cost of destroying the democratic institutions in these countries that are already, many of them struggling and teetering, and potentially at the cost of massive ecological devastation, as would be the case in the collapse of the Amazon under a Bolsonaro government?
It’s uplifting, right?
JW: Very uplifting. That is my first word that comes to mind. You’ve pointed out everything that Donald Trump is doing, but we also know that tech oligarchs are involved as well. Tech tycoons like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have taken a massive interest in Latin American politics.
What impact do you think that is having on the rightward shift we’re seeing throughout the Americas?
AF: Oh, big time. Big time. I think the biggest tycoon that’s most in the news lately is Mark Zuckerberg. He’s the guy who runs Meta. Something like 99 percent of people in Brazil use WhatsApp as their primary form of communication.
The idea of sending a text message in Brazil is like, “What are you, some sort of barbarian? What decade is this?” People only use WhatsApp. And for a lot of people, you get a cheap phone, and you get a prepaid phone plan because they didn’t have net neutrality like it was passed in the U.S. It’ll come with free credits for WhatsApp and Facebook, and it’ll come preinstalled on the phone even, and it’s part of the plan.
So for a lot of people, Facebook for many years and WhatsApp were the internet. Now Instagram as well. Instagram is really the main tool of political communication at this point. As we know, [it is] highly censored. You guys saw recently at the No Kings protests what Meta can do if it just decides to suddenly have a technical error that they fail to fix for eight hours.
That’s what they’ve been doing in Brazil for months now. So you have a young right-wing member of Congress named Nikolas Ferreira. He comes from a right-wing evangelical church, and he’s very charismatic, and he’s really good on social media, and he’s got something like 22 million followers or something. Brazil has 214 million people.
When Lula was having this dispute a year or two ago with foreign tech interests, including Meta’s interests, Nikolas Ferreira planted this fake news that Lula was trying to tax the main financial instrument that people use called Pix. It’s this free instant cash transfers that you can do that’s created by the central bank, and everyone loves it. Trump hates it because it competes against Mastercard and Visa.
So [Ferreira] created this fake news that what Lula was trying to do was tax all transactions and so therefore you were just going to get taxed even more, and you, the poor working man, was going to get screwed. In reality, there was no tax involved, and it was an anti-money laundering initiative that any transactions over 1,000 reais [Editor’s note: 5,000 Brazilian reais] would be immediately reported so they can trace questions of money laundering, which is a huge problem in Brazil.
That video was seen, the last time I checked, over 300 million times in a country that has 214 million people, and not all of them are on Instagram. That’s just Instagram — not including the other social networks. And in the last few weeks of the election, Nikolas Ferreira’s account has had greater engagement and views than every global celebrity you can name. I don’t know the exact numbers off the top of my head, but three times more than Beyoncé. Just think of the most famous person that you can think of in the world and their account, and Nikolas Ferreira — who you hadn’t heard of until I said his name just now — is crushing them.
“Just think of the most famous person that you can think of in the world and their account, and Nikolas Ferreira — who you hadn’t heard of until I said his name just now — is crushing them.”
That’s being seen as probable algorithmic manipulation by Meta in favor of the right-wing movement. OK, that’s one example, we don’t have access to the algorithm, we can’t be sure about that. Well. if you go onto the Meta’s AI in WhatsApp, and you say, “Create me a political poster for Flávio, vote Flávio,” it’ll do vote Flávio, and they’ll use his election number, 22.
And you say, “Vote for a capybara, vote for a flamingo,” They’ll say, “Vote 22.” They’ll use Flávio’s number. And then if you say, “Do another poster, but say vote Lula,” it’ll say, “We can’t do that. That’s an election interference, and we’re not allowed to do that.” And say you just did it for Flávio,” and then the AI will be like, “Oh, you’re right. That’s a mistake.” But then it keeps happening, and it’s been happening for weeks now. People have been pointing it out for weeks.
They blocked Lula’s Meta account from being able to run paid ads like 10 days before the first round of the elections. They said, oh, that was a mistake. It was my bad. Lots of left-wing accounts have seen these weird number shifts.
So they’ll have, let’s say, 20,000 comments, but it’ll say zero shares, or the views will go down to zero, or people have been talking about, “My engagement just has been completely in the tank since this election has started.” Not everybody, but some people.
There’s all these pieces of circumstantial evidence that suggest that Meta is interfering in this election, and they have every incentive to do so. They will have a much better regulatory environment if Flávio wins because of Flávio’s submissiveness to U.S. interests and his willingness to play ball with whatever Trump tells him to.
So that’s just one case. That’s just Mark Zuckerberg.
JW: Cutting in here, from the future. After our conversation with Andrew. We requested comment from Meta who sent a lengthy response, but in summary, they said, “Each of the incidents cited by Lula’s campaign has a straightforward, documented explanation. … None reflects political targeting. None reflects manipulated distribution. None reflects an effort to influence the election.”
Meta said Lula’s campaign ad account was disabled for one hour by mistake, not for political reasons. The company also claimed that issues with ad creation and video view count were global errors, and not politically motivated.
On Monday, a Brazilian court gave Meta 24 hours to prove that it was not favoring Flávio Bolsonaro over President Lula in its feeds, or it would face an escalating fine. This comes after that same judge ruled that while he could not find evidence of deliberate interference, the company had 24 hours to prove that the issues affecting the Lula campaign were solved and would not reoccur.
OK, now back to Andrew.
AF:Elon’s coming down here. Peter Thiel was just down in Argentina to hang out with Javier Milei, who’s the president who’s been destroying the economy and businesses are shuttering, unemployment’s up, costs of living have gone through the roof, but he’s this anarcho-capitalist, hyper-libertarian that’s just been cutting everything with a literal chainsaw. He came on stage with a chainsaw saying, just like Elon Musk did, I’m going to cut through all the regulations and the red tape.
That’s what they want, and Flávio Bolsonaro said, I’m going to do that. I want to follow the Milei model. In the last debate that they had, the first debate, which was just the other night, Lula asked Flávio about this: Are you going to be Milei?
He was just sort of refusing to answer the question. Eventually OK, what model are you going to follow? [Lula] said, I’m going to follow the Lula model, the one that I’ve been doing that’s been working. What are you going to do? Answer the question. But, outside of that debate, [Flávio] had been saying that he loves Milei.
Milei gave him an official endorsement, just like Benjamin Netanyahu did an official endorsement for Flávio, which is something that doesn’t happen in international relations. Foreign leaders just as a matter of course don’t endorse a candidate in a foreign election. So they’re being very overt in this, and they’re all working together with their billionaire buddies who have controls over huge levers of power in Brazil because of how Big Techs work in the world.
That’s one of the main issues for leftist voters in Brazil right now. They want sovereignty for their country. They want Brazil to be able to govern Brazil under Brazilian law and have control over Brazil to serve Brazilian interests.
Flávio Bolsonaro does not care about that. Trump and Musk and Zuckerberg do not want that because it would be a limitation on their ability to exert power in Brazil and in the world. They don’t want it to be a model for the rest of the world.
“That’s one of the main issues for leftist voters in Brazil right now. They want sovereignty for their country.”
JW: Listening to everything you’re saying, obviously, we’re not going to fix the issue of tech oligarchs meddling in foreign elections by Sunday. But are there any final thoughts that you have just about this election?
AF: I would say that this election is so important and relevant for the United States and for the world. For many years, there’s been this concept called the Brazilification of the United States.
Brazil wants to become, or, people that vote for Flávio at least, they want Brazil to become the United States. They see the U.S. as the country where everything works, where everything is perfect and goes well, and they don’t see all the bad stuff that listeners and readers of The Intercept know all about far too well.
But in reality, it’s not that Brazil is becoming more like the United States, it’s that the United States is becoming more like Brazil.
The middle class is getting squeezed and disappearing. In Brazil, 90 percent of the country makes $1,200 or less a month. The middle class would be considered extremely poor by U.S. standards, and what it does exist of a U.S.-style middle class is just teeny-tiny. You have just shrinking spheres of democracy, while oligarchs have increasing power and control and are able to do what they want and insist on decisions for the country that are bad for the society, bad for all of the society and the people, but good for their individual interests.
It’s just this more polarized, divided, K-shape economies, what you guys call it in the U.S. That’s where things are going. So you should really pay attention to this Brazilian election because the things that are happening here and the things that are going to happen in the next few days are very likely to be happening in the United States in the near future, if they’re not already happening.
JW: The Brazilification of the United States is a really good way to put it. I think so often people in the U.S., and, I can include myself, we think about the impact that the United States has on other countries, but we rarely think about the mutual shared relationships and larger shared ideas that people have between countries, between continents. So I think that’s a really good point.
We’re going to have to leave it there, but Andrew, thank you so much for joining me on The Intercept Briefing. You can find more of Andrew Fishman’s reporting at The Intercept Brasil.
AF: Thank you. Keep up the good work.
JW: That does it for this episode.
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Why Should Delaware Care? Delaware’s U.S. senators cast votes on federal laws that shape state budgets, healthcare, Social Security and the country’s military actions. Candidate forums are one of the few places voters can compare the visions of candidates, while in the same room and answering the same questions.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Coons and Republican challenger Dr. Mike Katz laid out differing approaches to health care, Social Security and U.S. support for Israel during a candidate forum in Wilmington Thursday — the first day of early voting in Delaware.
Seeking a fourth term in office, Coons described the race as a “job interview” and urged voters not to “take a risk on an untested candidate.” Katz, a pediatric critical care anesthesiologist and former Democratic state senator, argued that 16 years of Coons in office had left Delaware “unaffordable” and “dying.”
The hourlong forum was hosted by the Rotary Club of Wilmington at the Hotel du Pont, and moderated by Spotlight Delaware Editor-in-Chief Jacob Owens.
The forum occurred 12 days before the Nov. 3 general election when Delaware voters will choose their senator to serve for the next six years.
Katz faces a steep climb against Coons, who has won three Senate elections. Additionally, Katz’ former-Republican rival in the primary election, John Shulli, is running a write-in campaign that could peel votes away from Republican standard bearer.
Katz beat Shulli, a retired Army colonel, in the primary with about 77% of the vote.
Two years earlier, Katz also ran for U.S. Senate with the Independent Party. Prior to that, he served in the Delaware Senate as a Democrat from 2009 to 2013.
Delaware has not elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since William “Bill” Roth, who left office in 2001.
Coons, Katz debate domestic, foreign affairs
During the debate, a question asking how to bring down healthcare costs drew some of the sharpest contrasts.
Dr. Mike Katz | PHOTO COURTESY OF KATZ CAMPAIGN
Katz called the health care system “broken” and “bloated.” He said the Affordable Care Act has “a lot of really good things in it,” including protections for pre-existing conditions, but called it “a failed policy” overall. The comments echoed his public stance calling for a repeal of the act, also known as Obamacare.
He also said the healthcare system needs to be restructured, using “a clean slate” approach.
Coons, on the other hand, defended the Affordable Care Act, and argued that the increasing numbers of uninsured Americans have been driven by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, which allowed ACA tax credits and subsidies to expire.
It will remove millions of people from Medicaid starting in January, he said.
On Social Security, Coons said he is a current co-sponsor of a bill to lift the cap on wages subject to the payroll tax, which now sits at $184,500. He also committed to joining a bipartisan commission to consider various option to add more dollars to the Social Security Trust Fund.
If elected, Katz said he would first “do the diagnosis” of the Social Security program’s problems before proposing a fix. He further said that he did not necessarily support raising the retirement age for program eligibility.
Throughout much of the debate, however, Katz refrained from stating precise policies actions he would take to address a range of issues, including a Social Security shortfall, rising healthcare costs and immigration.
He also repeatedly touted his independence as a candidate, and said he is not “bought and paid for by any special interests or corporate interests.” While the statement did not explicitly mention Coons, the notion echoed the fact that much of the senator’s personal campaign and accessory leadership PAC’s fundraising has come from corporate or lobbying interests.
Advocates have raised concerns this cycle about the incumbent senator after data company Palantir donated $27,500 to his campaign. The company came under fire from advocates in recent years for its work with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, U.S. military and the Israeli Defense Forces.
Pro-Palestinian advocates have also raised concerns that Israeli-linked lobbyists, like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and J Street PAC, have donated more than $500,000 to his current campaign.
U.S. Sen. Chris Coons has pledged to stop accepting donations from controversial data company Palantir after previously bringing in thousands from it. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY JEA STREET JR.
On foreign policy, the candidates parted ways over U.S. military aid to Israel. Asked whether he would continue military aid to Israel, Coons said he has long supported the country, but would reconsider such support if President Benjamin Netanyahu moves to annex the West Bank or ignores humanitarian needs in Gaza.
Coons said he recently introduced legislation to sanction those who would build settlements meant to block a two-state solution.
“I recognize that a traumatized Israeli population is not in the mood today to embrace the path of peace, but it has to remain open,” Coons said.
Katz said Israel has a right to exist and Hamas must be disarmed, but he asserted that U.S. taxpayers should not pay for arms for wealthy, technologically advanced allies, such as Israel.
Both candidates said the U.S. war with Iran should end. Coons blamed rising gas prices on the war and said Trump launched it without planning or consulting allies.
Katz said Iran cannot be allowed a nuclear weapon, and blamed decades of “failed leadership” for the current situation. He also criticized Coons for supporting the 2015 Iran nuclear deal under then-President Barack Obama.
Asked how to end the war in Ukraine, Katz gave a brief answer and then quickly pivoted to what he characterized as the corruption of Delaware’s political process. He said he wanted to speak about it “because I may not get another opportunity.”
“Our campaign’s communications have been hacked. Staff members have been threatened. Fear and intimidation have been directed against campaign staff and supporters,” Katz said.
The remarks drew murmurs from the roughly 100 people in the room.
Katz did not name anyone responsible, but tied the allegations to the absence of a traditional televised debate in the race, saying there had been “no sustained scrutiny of the incumbent’s record.”
Coons, who answered the Ukraine question next, did not address the allegations. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin alone was responsible for the war and criticized President Donald Trump for “abandoning Ukraine.”
Why Should Delaware Care? Each year, Delaware’s school districts vote to approve a school tax rate and typically collect revenues in the fall. But the fallout from Delaware’s first property reassessment in 40 years delayed school districts’ ability to set a tax rate in July, causing New Castle County districts to vote on their tax rates this month.
All five New Castle County school districts announced in recent weeks that they will raise local taxes later this year.
During October board meetings, the Appoquinimink, Brandywine, Christina, and Colonial school districts all said tax hikes are necessary because of an increasing number of special education students in their schools, and the higher costs associated with meeting their needs.
Red Clay said its increase results from the final phase of a tax referendum passed in 2024.
For property owners, it can mean more than a hundred dollars more in annual tax payments.
At the Brandywine School District, the average property owner will pay $150 more. And at Christina, it will be a nearly $270 bump for the average property owner.
The tax rate announcements come three months after several districts publicly stated they would need to increase school taxes. At the time they did not announce the exact amounts because of delays caused by the county’s recent property reassessment controversy.
Members of the Christina school board meet in October 2025. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY JULIA MEROLA
Before calculating new tax bills, the districts had to wait for New Castle County to complete a quality control review of commercial property assessments in northern Delaware. On Thursday, the county announced that the review was complete and published a report that found numerous errors in the assessment of a sample of commercial properties.
In recent weeks, the county sent school districts updated information about their tax bases, allowing school boards to vote on new rates during October meetings.
New property tax bills will be issued in November, and residents will have until Dec. 31 to pay. In typical years, school districts collect taxes in September.
Increased student needs, inflation driving costs
During a school board meeting earlier this month, Brandywine Chief Financial Officer Daniel McCoy told members that the district struggled to find staff for special education classrooms.
McCoy said the district has used contractors to fill vacancies in special education classrooms at a cost of upward of $100,000 per student, each year.
At the same time, McCoy said the district this year gained 93 special education students, more than half of which had transferred from other states. Those students will need 10 additional classrooms, and each classroom will need — at minimum — a special education teacher and paraprofessional.
The component of property taxes that pay for special education — called the tuition tax — is set by local school boards, and does not require approval by residents, like a broader tax referendum would. That has been a longstanding reality in Delaware, but fluctuations in the tuition tax have been so small in typical years that residents never noticed them.
The three other categories that make up a district’s property tax are operating costs that are not covered by the state, debt services that pay for building construction and renovations, and local funding to match state-funded programs such as technology or extracurriculars.
How much will school taxes go up?
The Appoquinimink School District announced during its October meeting that an average homeowner can expect to see an increase of $109 in the school district portion of their property tax bill this year.
Appoquinimink Superintendent Matthew Burrows told board members that the bulk of the new money is needed for internal program costs for special education students, such as teachers, paraprofessionals, and other related service professionals.
The Colonial School District cited similar costs for its increase, amounting to roughly 5.8 cents per $100 of assessed value. District officials did not disclose the amount the average homeowner would pay — but a home worth $400,000 would pay roughly $232 more under that framework.
And the Red Clay Consolidated district officials announced that its previously passed tax referendum would boost school property taxes by 1.31%
Residents in Christina will likely see the highest average annual increase at $268.95.
During the district’s recent board meeting, Christina Chief Financial Officer Bob Vacca said many residents do not realize the district’s taxes are higher because of the amount it pays to charter and choice schools.
Christina School District CFO Bob Vacca sits next to Brandywine Superintendent Lisa Lawson during a meeting of the state’s Redding Consortium. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY JULIA MEROLA
Delaware’s public education funding currently follows what officials call a unit-count system, which distributes money to districts based on the number of students enrolled.
When students attend charter schools rather than their local district school, school district leaders are obligated to pass tax revenues on to the charter school to cover their costs. That allocation is based on the number of students enrolled in the charter school.
Vacca also said the Christina School District has more students using school choice to go to other schools than it takes students in.
“We are using a methodology where we raise taxes for 7,000 students in nine other schools,” he said.
The Onyx RCR 80V can hit motorcycle speeds, but after hundreds of miles in the saddle, I found there’s a lot more to this compact e-bike than going fast.
Linda Williams, who was attacked in 2004, says force’s handling of her case was ‘like being raped all over again’
A detective who was raped by the former Scotland Yard officer David Carrick has called for the head of the Metropolitan police to resign, saying the handling of her case was “like being raped all over again”.
Linda Williams, 60, who has waived her right to anonymity, was attacked by Carrick in 2004. She launched a legal case against the Met for failing to protect her against the serial rapist, and has now settled for an undisclosed six-figure sum without the force admitting liability.
Sioux City, IA — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he believes he has the right to seek a third term in office, despite the Constitution explicitly prohibiting anyone from being elected president more than twice.
Speaking at a Republican campaign rally in Sioux City, Trump acknowledged that the law restricts him but argued that his continued false claim that the 2020 election was stolen should effectively entitle him to another run.
“I think I have the right to run again,” Trump said, adding, “They cheated us on the second one, because we won it three times.”
Trump did not win the 2020 election. Joe Biden defeated him in both the Electoral College and popular vote, and Trump’s campaign and allies failed to produce evidence of fraud sufficient to overturn the result despite dozens of lawsuits, recounts and audits.
The 22nd Amendment is unusually direct: no person may be elected president more than twice. It contains no exception for a president who believes an earlier election was stolen.
Trump’s latest comments continue months of public flirtation with remaining in power beyond January 2029. Supporters have promoted “Trump 2028” merchandise, while some allies have publicly discussed hypothetical ways he might attempt to remain president.
Changing the two-term limit would require a constitutional amendment, not a declaration that a previous election was unfair.
Trump made the remarks while campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson and other GOP candidates ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.
The president shows a unique disregard for the opinions, norms and ideals of the nation – and, for that matter, humanity
The Democrats’ focus on affordability seems to be a winning strategy (we’ll know for sure in a little over two weeks). But we mustn’t lose sight of the moral squalor at the core of the Trump regime and the necessity of ending it.
It’s that moral squalor – the utter disregard for the opinions, norms and ideals of the nation and, for that matter, of humanity – that uniquely marks Trump and the reprobates he has attracted to Washington. It has also poisoned much of the Republican party, including the billionaires and tech bros who finance it.
Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now in the US and in the UK
A rescued mink from a Utah fur farm Julie Leopo for ProPublica
The strain of bird flu that’s ripped through American barns for the last four years has killed two people who caught it from sick animals. But as far as anyone can tell, humans can’t spread it. The virus has remained a true “bird” flu, tailored to attach to avian cells, not invade human throats and noses, where coughing and sneezing reliably spew droplets.
Under the right conditions, however, that could change. A single mutation could give the bird flu a foothold in people and spark a pandemic that experts fear could be deadlier than COVID-19.
For that to happen, this bird flu would likely need to find an intermediate host — an animal vulnerable to viruses that infect both birds and humans. These animals would be crowded together, each infection raising the odds that a new strain could arise through mutation. Then, for that strain to jump across species, it would have to have access to humans and time to spread among them undetected.
That perfect petri dish exists right now, a ProPublica investigation found. For over two months, an outbreak of bird flu has raged uncontrolled on a Utah farm that raises thousands of mink for fur. Mink have lungs and airways that on a cellular level are remarkably similar to those of people; they have caught and spread other flus and infected some humans with COVID-19.
Instead of trying to stop the outbreak and prevent it from spilling into humans, state and federal officials have done little except try to keep its existence quiet, our investigation shows. The failure to act amounts to a cascade of missteps flu experts called “irresponsible” and “puzzling.” One called it “playing with fire.”
C&T Fenn Farms, a mink fur farm west of Provo, Utah, on Sept. 25Julie Leopo for ProPublica
Utah agriculture officials learned in mid-August that mink were dying of bird flu on C&T Fenn Farms, about an hour’s drive south from Salt Lake City, according to communications released under the state’s public records law.
Had poultry been infected, the playbook would have been clear: The strain is so virulent that if a single chicken tests positive, the U.S. government requires farmers to kill the whole flock to protect other farms as well as public health. Poultry farmers are reimbursed for the loss.
But there are no federal rules for how to deal with sick mink.
Handling Utah’s response was state veterinarian Amanda Price, who sought help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which takes the lead on bird flu outbreaks involving poultry and cows.
USDA officials said they didn’t regulate mink or have a vaccine that was approved to give them. And though officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spoke with Price’s health department counterparts who were less involved with the outbreak, they never talked to her, and she never reached out.
The threat of spillover has been far from the minds of Utah officials, records and interviews show. Instead, front and center have been the interests of a business raising animals to skin for luxury pelts to ship overseas.
“It has been devastating,” Price told ProPublica of the outbreak and its impact on the farm’s owner. “This is his life’s work that he’s seeing be destroyed. I really hope that you understand the humanity behind this situation.”
Flu experts were unequivocal that the government should have ordered the farm to cull its mink, as other countrieshave done.
But Utah never seriously considered it. A fur trade representative warned Price that doing so would kill the business and, ultimately, the industry. Farms spend decades breeding mink to develop unique genetic lineages.
“There’s just not a lot of options out there other than kind of sitting and waiting and seeing what happens,” Price said, noting that USDA officials did not urge her to kill the mink or make her feel like bird flu in mink was any riskier than infections in other animals that have caught it, like ducks and cows.
Flu experts found that response surprising.
“Every other country that I’m aware of that has had H5N1 in fur farms, depopulation has happened pretty quickly,” said Tom Peacock, an avian influenza researcher at the Pirbright Institute. “The fact that the first instinct wasn’t just to depopulate and figure stuff out later is very concerning to me.”
And all the while, officials didn’t monitor the mink workers for symptoms, as guidance from the CDC urges.
Their exposure is significant: Mink sneeze. They escape. They attack. “The mink are fierce,” said a Spanish-speaking “minkero” who works on a nearby farm, showing the scars he got from the aggressive, solitary creatures. “You get scared because the fucking thing bites, and it claws at you.”
A mink farmworker, sometimes referred to as a “minkero” among the Spanish-speaking community, shows scars from mink bites and scratches in Payson, Utah. Workers typically wear long gloves to protect themselves but can still be bitten or scratched.Julie Leopo for ProPublica
Right now in Washington state, officials are working to track down the contacts of a symptomatic person exposed to dairy cattle infected with bird flu. The patient is isolating at home. Utah public health officials used to do similar, proactive monitoring. But they stopped after complaints from their colleagues in the agriculture department that farmers were annoyed by it.
“Us doing active monitoring was making it so that farms didn’t want to work with them,” said Pamela Gomez Pinedo, a respiratory disease epidemiologist for Utah’s health department. As a result, public health workers had a “pretty difficult time” getting details from agriculture officials, she said.
As part of a 2025 agreement, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food agreed to share information about bird flu outbreaks on farms — so long as the health officials didn’t do anything to track workers’ health.
“We will only do active monitoring in the case of evidence of human-to-human transmission,” Pinedo said in emails with a CDC epidemiologist. As the outbreak stretched to a month, CDC officials expressed concerns, asking how anyone would know if a worker had been infected if they weren’t getting tested.
Price said the state’s policy not to monitor workers is meant to allow farmers to decide whether to contact the health department, rather than “forcing it on them.” “If we started seeing people actively dying from this, obviously that would change how we respond to this,” she said.
A telltale sign of bird flu infection in humans is eye redness. It is present in over 90% of cases and is often the sole symptom a person displays.
Last Saturday, a ProPublica reporter tracked down two people who worked at the Utah mink farm. One had a visibly red eye.
After ProPublica reached out to the farm, its owner, Chad Fenn, contacted the Utah County Health Department about the red eye, which had cleared up by Monday, he told ProPublica. He said the worker got dust in his eye; the department didn’t recommend testing.
“They’re not going to do anything,” Fenn said. “They said they don’t see that there’s a need.” He said the department recommended testing only if other symptoms, like a cough or sore throat, developed.
A half dozen flu experts had no shortage of adjectives to describe their disbelief at the government decisions not to cull the mink or monitor and test the workers.
“It’s amazing to me,” said Gail Hansen, a former Kansas state public health veterinarian and epidemiologist. “Utah doesn’t want to be the epicenter of the next human flu outbreak, right?”
Most of the new viruses that have shaken humanity in the past century have spilled over from animals. Ebolas likely came from fruit bats; HIV, from chimpanzees. The leading theory for COVID-19 is that it jumped from bats to humans via an intermediate host mammal such as a raccoon dog. And all the modern flu pandemics have been bird flu viruses that mutated to spread in humans.
That’s not happening in Utah, experts said after reviewing ProPublica’s findings. Both the state and federal government are to blame.
“There’s no leader of this ‘one health’ team to take charge,” said Erin Sorrell, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “That is going to allow the virus to continue to circulate, potentially adapt and potentially spill over into another host, whether it’s avian, mammalian or human.”
This strain of bird flu, which began ripping through American poultry farms in early 2022, has proved adept at jumping to other species. It took hold in cows in 2024 and since then has run rampant through dairies.
Yet federal guidance to prevent the spread into mink farms hasn’t considered cows a threat. Farmers are encouraged to keep wild birds from infiltrating their barns and avoid feeding them raw poultry. It has said nothing about feeding beef parts to mink, which farmers commonly do in summer months to encourage the animals to put on weight and grow.
The genomic data from the samples of mink lungs and brains sent from Utah to a USDA lab shows that the mink were stricken with the same strain of the virus that has spread in dairy herds. Officials said they didn’t know whether contaminated beef was the way the mink got infected.
Cows graze in a field in Utah Valley, Utah.Julie Leopo for ProPublica
In mink, the dairy strain of bird flu may have found a much better host for mutating into a human flu, because mink airways have an abundance of the type of cell receptors in people’s throats and noses that are a common pathway for infection.
A 2024 study of the dairy strain of the bird flu found that a single mutation could switch the virus from preferring the bird-type receptors to human-type receptors. And in studies using ferrets, a close relative of mink, the virus acquired mutations that let it attack human-type cell receptors.
It’s not clear to scientists just how much of an evolutionary leap would be needed for this strain of bird flu to spread among humans, or whether mink are the host that would allow that leap to happen.
How this ultimately plays out “really depends on what happens with the virus,” said Meghan Davis, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University.
“We might get lucky, and a response that is not robust may not have dire consequences,” she said. “But we may get unlucky.”
There’s also a risk of something called “reassortment,” where another flu virus could infect the same cell as a bird flu virus and swap wide swaths of genetic code already adapted to humans.
When the outbreak in the mink farm started, there was very little seasonal flu it could mix with, but September saw one of the earliest starts to flu season on record, compared with November, when flu normally takes off.
“The most likely scenario for a pandemic is that we have a virus that reassorts with another virus,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health. “Obviously, having this circulate amid human flu season is not great.”
Utah officials were far more responsive to the threat of spillover in 2020, when outbreaks of COVID-19 spread explosively on mink farms – including this very farm. They invited federal officials to the state to research how the virus adapted and moved.
There are no similar efforts now in Utah with bird flu.
A USDA spokesperson told ProPublica that it was more involved in 2020 because the virus that causes COVID-19 had “significant” potential to transmit between humans and animals and vice versa.
Scientists with the USDA sequenced and published bird flu genomic data from the first samples of dead mink. Those sequences didn’t show any particularly concerning mutations, experts and the CDC told ProPublica.
But in the past two months, experts said, the virus is sure to have continued mutating as it spread – it’s only a question of whether those mutations could confer some advantage in infecting humans as well.
“As long as it continues to go mink to mink, then it becomes more and more likely that it could jump to a human,” Hansen said.
Fenn said new samples were taken two weeks ago. Price said she is still waiting for the results.
John Korslund, a retired USDA official who helped coordinate the response to COVID-19 on mink farms several years prior, was one of several experts who said officials need to look closely at newer genetic samples to see how the virus is evolving.
“I really want to know what the virus has done, from when it started to today,” he said. “Are we getting accumulated mutations making the virus more dangerous?”
Mink have the type of cell receptors that a seasonal flu will target in human throats and noses.Julie Leopo for ProPublica
ProPublica began reporting on the outbreak late this summer after the USDA updated a bird flu dashboard that showed seven captive mink had tested positive in Utah. But neither the USDA nor state officials had said anything publicly, and, when asked, they wouldn’t discuss what was actually happening on the farm.
Willy Lanier, a public health veterinarian with the state health department, told colleagues to keep the outbreak under “closer hold” than outbreaks of bird flu on poultry and dairy farms. Keeping the information confidential was consistent with state protocol, a spokesperson in his department said, adding that it was still shared with local health officials. But when ProPublica reached out to the spokesperson for the Utah County Health Department about a possible bird flu outbreak, she said, “That would be news to me.”
Price is so deferential to the family that owns the farm that she has not set foot on the property.
“We might get lucky, and a response that is not robust may not have dire consequences. But we may get unlucky.”
Meghan Davis, Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist
“I’m really the only one here at this facility that’s been dealing with the producer. They’re a very private bunch,” Price said. “A lot of what I’m going off of is what I’ve seen from Google Maps, what I’ve talked to the producer about, what I’ve talked to the vet about. I haven’t felt the need to go out there based on those conversations.”
She said she “became very comfortable” in conversations with the owner that the virus wouldn’t spread off the farm. It doesn’t have animals moving on and off over the course of the year like on a dairy or poultry farm; mink leave only when they’re slaughtered and skinned for pelts at the end of the year. She also said that she was confident the owner would recapture any escaped mink.
Short of a formal quarantine, Price gave the farm a “verbal hold” to not move any mink, or manure or carcasses, off the farm. “We haven’t seen spread off of this farm. We have not had additional cases in Utah that are linked to this, so thus far the verbal hold orders and the measures that have been taken look to be successful: There is not spread happening from this farm from this case.”
Price’s assertion didn’t allay the concerns of experts that ProPublica spoke with. When poultry test positive for this strain of bird flu, all nearby farms are quarantined and tested for the virus. But the approach in Utah relies on farms reporting cases or the public calling in reports of dead birds in the area.
“If you’re not looking for something, you won’t find it,” Sorrell said. “Unless you’re doing active surveillance, you can’t claim that you haven’t had cases.”
Fenn told ProPublica his conversations with state officials made him less worried about any kind of spread. When the outbreak started, Fenn said, he asked whether the bird flu could infect people.
“Right off the bat, the state people we reported to, they said you don’t need to worry too much,” Fenn said. “My guys wear masks every day. They have glasses they can wear,” Fenn said. “ Me? I don’t wear it at all. Never have, never will, because I’ve been doing it for 40 years.”
Fenn said he wished he could vaccinate the mink for bird flu to keep the rest of his animals from catching it and dying; Price asked the USDA about a vaccine that had been used to save endangered wild species but said she got nowhere with that request. The USDA told ProPublica its division responsible for protecting animal health has no “species-specific regulatory authority or dedicated programs” for vaccinating mink, depopulating them or paying owners back for such a culling.
Fenn told ProPublica he thinks concerns about mink as a particularly risky bird flu host are trumped up by anti-fur activists, the same forces that he believed were behind the reactions in Spain and Finland, which depopulated mink farms hit with bird flu. “Europeans are a little scared of everything,” he said. “They’re going to do what they’re going to do, and here in the United States, we’re going to do what we’re going to do.”
Price said she was aware that Finland and Spain had depopulated their fur farms when the same strain infected them. “I didn’t really look much further into it,” she said, explaining that she was interested in those cases only for lessons about how to handle the outbreak, but not the particular reasons those countries chose to depopulate the farms.
A USDA spokesperson said Congress would have to specifically fund a program to depopulate mink. (The program to cull poultry to stop the spread of bird flu has cost well over $1 billion since 2022.)
The events in Utah are a “clear warning sign” about the dangers of mink farms, said Neil Vora, executive director for the Preventing Pandemics at the Source Coalition.
“Fur farms are to produce pelts purely for luxury goods, to make fancy coats,” he said. “It’s absurd that we’re willing to gamble with the lives of millions of people just to keep an industry alive.”
The industry has struggled as American consumers increasingly reject fur. Though domestic farms peaked about a decade ago, selling luxury pelts that often ended up in China, foreign farms have sprung up, threatening the business.
It’s Milwaukee and Tampa Bay in the 122nd Fall Classic. Our writers predict how it will be decided, who will shine brightest and who will break their World Series maiden
Yes - and in fact, evidence that money actively undermines baseball happiness. For the big-market teams, anything less than a World Series is disappointing. Whereas for the Rays (who in April were given a 1.1% chance of winning the World Series by FanGraphs) or Brewers (2.1%), the season is already a success, and winning it all would give their fans more pleasure than a Yankees or Dodgers fan could ever experience. Alan Evans
Search and rescue efforts under way after quake strikes region’s north, with at least seven aftershocks recorded
A magnitude-7 earthquake has hit Tibet, killing at least 16 people, injuring 54 and destroying hundreds of homes in the northern regional city of Nagqu, official media have said.
Search and rescue efforts continued after at least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds collapsed, the Nagqu media office said, citing city government officials. It was the biggest quake in the region in the past five years, according to China’s national broadcaster CCTV.
Economic fallout from war in Middle East adds to pressures on consumers and on chancellor before budget
Consumer confidence in the UK has fallen at the fastest rate outside the Covid pandemic since the 2016 Brexit vote as the escalating economic damage from the war in the Middle East hits Britain.
With less than a week before John Healey’s first budget, the latest barometer from the data company GfK indicated confidence plunged by 11 percentage points in October to -24 amid pressure on consumers from the rising cost of living.
Washington, DC — Sen. Ted Cruz escalated Republican attacks on Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed this week, claiming without evidence that El-Sayed could share classified intelligence with Muslim Brotherhood terrorists if elected.
Appearing on Fox News, Cruz said he believes El-Sayed is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and argued that placing him on the Senate Intelligence Committee would create an “unacceptably high risk” to U.S. service members and intelligence assets.
No evidence has established that El-Sayed belongs to or supports the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed has repeatedly denied any affiliation and explicitly disavowed the organization when asked at an October town hall.
PolitiFact recently rated Republican Mike Rogers’s claim that El-Sayed refused to disavow the Brotherhood False, noting that video shows El-Sayed answering, “Sure, yeah, absolutely.” The Associated Press has likewise described allegations of El-Sayed’s Brotherhood ties as unsubstantiated.
Republicans have cited old social media posts from El-Sayed’s half-sister about their biological mother’s alleged activism and a 2012 statement El-Sayed signed supporting Egypt’s democratically elected government. Neither establishes membership in the Brotherhood.
Cruz has also accused El-Sayed of hating Jews, another serious allegation for which he has not presented evidence.
El-Sayed has compared the recurring loyalty accusations to questions once directed at John F. Kennedy over whether his Catholic faith would make him beholden to the Vatican.
For the first time, the UN has declared that exceeding the Paris Agreement's 1.5C warming limit is "imminent and unavoidable." "We are now saying this window has closed, but we can open it again by making the overshoot as brief as possible," UN Environment Program Executive Director Inger Andersen said on a call with reporters. "This is about how to find a way back as shortly and as quickly as possible with as limited an overshoot as possible." CNN reports: Past reports have examined the distance between countries' emissions reduction commitments and what it would take to limit global warming to 1.5 C above preindustrial levels. However, this year's report redefines the gap. Instead, it examines new emissions overshoot scenarios, and what it would take to limit peak warming to just 1.7 to 1.8 degrees C before bringing temperatures back down to 1.5 C through emissions cuts and the use of carbon removal technologies.
The report makes clear that every additional fraction of a degree of warming above 1.5 C "raises the risk of irreversible changes including in ice sheets, permafrost carbon, ocean circulation, and coral systems, along with devastating human impacts." Each added fraction of a degree of warming can have an "immense" impact "as measured in terms of damage, cost and loss of lives," said climate scientist Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania. Mann was not involved in producing the UNEP report.
According to the UNEP, which is based in Nairobi, the lowest overshoot scenario would keep peak warming to between 1.7 and 1.8 degrees C and return global average temperatures to at or below 1.5 C by 2100. However, to follow such a pathway, global greenhouse gas emissions would need to be slashed by far more than anything currently on the table at the upcoming COP31 talks. This would require an 18% cut by 2030, 45% by 2035, and 69% by 2040, relative to 2025 levels.
Meeting this lowest-possible overshoot scenario would require a tripling of renewable electricity capacity by 2035, and dramatic cuts to fossil fuels, including the phaseout of coal by 2040, the report states. In addition, there would need to be a major scaling up of carbon removal technologies, which so far have not been proven to work at such a large scale. In stark contrast to these figures, the fulfillment of existing emissions reduction pledges would only yield a 5-to-8% emissions cut by 2030 and an 11-to-15% reduction by 2035, the report found. This would be associated with a peak warming of about 2.6 degrees C.
If countries simply follow their current policies, then warming could reach a peak of about 2.8 C. That estimate has increased since last year, in part because of the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement and retraction of its emissions reduction commitments, the report states. Even the scenario that assumes countries meet their existing reduction commitments, and nations with net-zero pledges succeed in fulfilling them, still brings warming to a peak of 2.1 C.
Case filed in 2022 by patient unable to afford medicine leads to cap on drug prices for millions who face ruin if diagnosed
The Indian government has moved to reduce the price of cancer drugs after a retired bank clerk took her case to the supreme court.
From next month, 137 cancer drugs in India will be cheaper as the government tries to tackle the tragedy of poorer patients either forgoing treatment, selling land or falling into debt to meet the high cost of some medicines, which are making large profits for hospitals and pharmacists.
Biggest Apple smartwatch gets better health tracking and new readiness tools with a battery and chip boost in preparation for controversial audio AI
As the Ultra enters its fourth year as Apple’s biggest and beefiest smartwatch it gets the best kind of spec upgrade – longer battery life – while waiting for something potentially more transformative.
Jim Chalmers in a speech last week offered the scant encouragement that the economy would be “a bit better” in a year’s time.
Fast forward to Friday morning, and the treasurer revealed that his officials were busy downgrading their forecasts ahead of December’s mid-year budget update to show slower growth and higher unemployment.
James helps Sixers erase 29-point deficit against Cavs
Donald Trump lashed out at NBA superstar LeBron James on Thursday for what he called disrespectful behavior during the playing of the national anthem.
Trump posted a video of the basketball legend making apparent warm-up movements while lined up with his Philadelphia 76ers teammates before their season opener against the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
Activision; PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox From parkour over Manhattan rooftops and car chases in Paris to the climactic battle at a North Korean air base, the developers have thrown absolutely everything at the game
And so we return perhaps one final time to Call of Duty’s Modern Warfare strand, with stories, “ripped from the newspaper headlines”, featuring shady terror organisations, nefarious rogue states and the brutally capable, monosyllabic war fighters who stand between us and Armageddon. Last year’s Black Ops 7 instalment was a sales disappointment for Activision, and that has no doubt put extra pressure on Infinity Ward, the studio leading Modern Warfare 4 development. Fortunately, this developer – like series heroes Price, Gaz and Ghost – seems to thrive on pressure.
As you may have read, this year’s campaign is based around a fictitious North Korean ruling family that has seized an opportunity to invade its southern neighbour. Amid the chaos, a small group of Korean and American marines must help lead the fightback, while in the shadows, SAS hard man John Price makes an unlikely new comrade in his own morally ambiguous quest to put the world to rights. Mads Mikkelsen pops up as evil mastermind The Archer, but like Kiernan Shipka in Black Ops 7 he’s rather wasted, with very little screen time.
Caleb Williams threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns, and the Chicago Bears cooled off Drake Maye and the New England Patriots with a 30-24 win on Thursday night.
Williams was 22 of 33 passing in his second game back after being sidelined by a hamstring injury. He became the first Bears quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards in consecutive games since Mitch Trubisky had a three-game run in 2018.
The last month, it’s felt as though I’ve cradled the world in open hands, almost dropping it from time to time, but spinning it as though I were from another galaxy, picking up this weird ball and wondering what all these people were doing, stuck to it… like gummy bears on a wall… defying gravity. I’m not sure this other galaxy would have gummy bears, but ok, why not.
The cacophony that is social media is mostly useless. Lady Gaga called it the toilet of the internet, which endeared me to her even more. But once in a while, you land on information that is like that last piece of the puzzle dropping into place. You smooth over the puzzle and go, Oh, so that’s what that was. And in the moment, you’re grateful for the over-sharing.
I wrote a long missive recently that I’m sure I wrote hoping my ex-partner would stumble upon it. In it, I wrote all the things I wished he would say to me. Ways he would promise to fight for us. Apologies and epiphanies. But like a lot of mysterious moves, he stopped paying attention to my music, my writing, anything creative, about midway through our separation.
Yet this pining persisted, for him to say the words to me. To finally say: I will work with you. You matter to me. We matter.
Yet those words never came in the way I needed them to. I kept noticing that I’d wrap myself in the promise of his words, just like I did from day one. A birthday email… long and poetic, perfectly spaced with punctuation that felt like kisses. His use of the colon is magical. He no doubt will magnetize so many more to him through his writing, as perhaps he should.
But as the days went on, my autonomy took centre stage, and who I was before this relationship of intense highs and lows started to re-emerge.
There had been a painful conflict involving my family that I couldn’t reconcile. Months later, I was still struggling with the absence of the kind of accountability and repair I needed to feel safe moving forward.
At some point, you start to take this information as data, instead of a knife to the heart.
Oh, I see.
My skin became thicker.
My heart, still rife with sadness, was becoming accustomed to the reality of what I could and couldn’t change.
The painful conflict was a horrible night earlier this year when I left the family home to go visit my dad. I’ve done this many times. I know I don’t have many more days with my 90-something dad. What I thought would be a simple evening became something else entirely.
It wasn’t long before I was getting phone calls. I was hearing about arguments. Desperation. The panic in my heart went off. I had to pack up from my parents’ house and head home to see what was going on.
Fuck.
I remember the feeling of losing the future I had imagined, right there in that moment.
But this time felt different.
When I arrived home, I knew that something fundamental had shifted for me.
But you see, the details of who said what are not really the point of this essay. The point is that I no longer felt the security I had believed was at the centre of my marriage.
I understand that families are complicated, but when you feel caught between your marriage and your responsibility to your children, it’s a strange kind of sour death.
That night came the realization that this was over. It was the last straw for me.
But then, what I didn’t plan for moved into my body like a peculiar, new visitor. An unimaginable confusion and grief.
No, none of it was right, but I still love him. Fully.
No, I couldn’t accept the relationship as it had become, but he is my person.
Yes, things had happened that I couldn’t reconcile. But we are married.
Yes, it’s over. But he is my home.
On and on and on, for months, this gruelling and unimaginable tug of war. How to reconcile the wonderful person I remembered with the experience of the relationship I was now trying to understand?
I began reading about control, attachment, trauma-bonds and reactive responses to emotionally unsafe behaviour. I was especially interested in the ways people can become so overwhelmed in relationships that they begin behaving in ways they barely recognize themselves. Diminishing themselves. Pleading with partners. Angered and lost and breathless.
It made me think about my own reactions, my desperation to be understood, and how much energy I had spent trying to find a way through. So much time, every day, decoding. Hoping. Balancing precariously.
February to mid-October of this year, I spent most of my days trying to understand this relationship. Why I kept being drawn back. Where did Emm go, who was once so magnetic and powerful?
Was our dynamic unsafe?
Was there ever any love?
Where was the magic of the early days? Because oh my god, there was so much magic. There were pop songs and yacht rock songs and dancing on stage and romantic trips and holding each other through everything and being a family.
There was a tug of fear early on that I didn’t listen to. Why didn’t I listen to it? Why did I go headlong into this relationship?
It must have been the magic, overshadowing all of those little mini red flags, flapping in the bubbled pandemic wind.
I know now that when it came to this relationship, I, like so many of us, tried to fill the void left by my caretakers in childhood. He listened like no one else I had ever met, he framed my words perfectly, he swiftly understood what mattered to me, he knew my vulnerabilities, he became my everything and my home… and what an exciting person to have in my life.
The best writer in Canada. Beyond handsome. Knows every Iron Maiden album. Would take my son to the rink. Would hold my daughter when she was afraid of butterflies at the butterfly conservatory. (She hated the butterfly abdomen, and I kind of get it.)
So, if it was so perfect, with red flags that could be seemingly managed, why, after taking space, wouldn’t he want to find our way back? I was beyond befuddled. Why couldn’t we get into the weeds about our relationship? Surely, if two people love each other, it can be done. It wouldn’t be that hard.
I kept offering and offering and offering. Offering a plan for repair. A structure. I begged. I offered some more.
Let’s listen to Marshall Rosenberg. Here’s the audio. Let’s forgive. Let’s start from today.
So many approaches. So much disconnection.
And then it hit me.
What if control, not love, had become the central theme of this relationship?
Not necessarily the absence of love. I know what I felt. I know the extraordinary beauty of the early days.
But what if I had mistaken the intensity of being wanted, the feeling of being someone’s everything, for the safety of creating comfort?
And what if, somewhere along the way, I had become so invested in preserving that feeling that I had stopped noticing what was happening to my own autonomy?
That was the puzzle piece.
I had been trying to understand the relationship through the lens of love. Why couldn’t love fix it? Why couldn’t love bring us back together? Why wasn’t love enough?
But when I began to examine my experience through the lens of control, so much more made sense to me.
The ways I had learned to anticipate moods.
The ways I had begun to manage my own words and reactions.
The ways I had put my own needs aside to preserve peace and uphold a perceived loyalty.
The amount of time I spent trying to understand someone else instead of understanding myself.
And those of us who look to fill the void, and make our partner our healing magic in life… the one who has come to close that childhood loop, the loop that left us in so much unconscious pain… can become extraordinarily willing to surrender pieces of ourselves.
We will do anything for love.
We give the benefit of the doubt.
And then we give it again.
And again.
And when relationships go the way mine did, where wonderful, blissful connection flowed like a river prior to marriage, and then slowly started to erode once the relationship was sealed by wedding rings and marriage documents… it is a slow drive through the countryside for the bereaved funeral party.
My big mistake: I thought compromise, commitment, leaning into couplehood was just part of being together.
In actual fact, I had surrendered too much of my autonomy, my identity, and my needs.
I was so open and ready for love that I thought it was just par for the course.
And gradually, what I had once understood as the natural evolution of a marriage began to feel, to me, like something else entirely.
I felt increasingly responsible for maintaining the emotional equilibrium of the relationship.
I tried to turn a blind eye to that feeling.
Over and over.
But this month, October 2026, living on my own, I began to see it as clear as day, thanks to doctors sharing their wisdom online and in books, and other people being strong enough to speak about their experiences.
Control had become the organizing force of my experience of the relationship. Not love.
That is how I understand it now.
And suddenly, I could stop asking the same questions.
Why couldn’t we fix it?
Why couldn’t I find the right words?
Why couldn’t I make myself be understood?
I had spent months believing that if I could just find the right approach, I might be able to restore the relationship I remembered.
But I was beginning to understand that I had no control over that outcome.
Only over myself.
I never wanted to move out from the home we created. It takes balls, and the mama bear in me — then still not aware of the epiphanies I’ve had this month — possessed a felt sense that could take no more.
As horrible as that final chapter was, it was a big-gigantic-life-changing gift.
A gift that gave me the light. That led me here. No contact. A clean break from the emotional cycle I had been living in.
Of course, because I’m me, I want to help everyone else who’s gone through this. I want to write about this. I want to understand control, narcissism, reactive responses, trauma-bonding and more.
But today I just said: STOP.
No training. No certificates. No helping others.
Write about it once. (That’s this.) And then put the grief, the sadness, the bewilderment into something positive.
…
Photo by Sanjeevan SatheesKumar
The healing starts right now. I choose me.
I give myself the year, or whatever it’s going to be, to return to who I am.
I’m not living my life cradling an unpredictable nervous system.
I’m not looking to navigate surprises.
I’m not making excuses for behaviour that didn’t feel right to me.
I’m not abandoning my own instincts in the hope that love will eventually make everything okay.
I’m not going to couples therapy wondering why a high point in my career has become another source of emotional distress.
I’m not waiting to be loved by someone else.
No. That all stops now.
Black ink over handwritten tattoos.
Reminders gone.
My heart unlocked.
My breath fuller, and freer.
My mornings quieter.
My smile wider.
All of this with the help of Catherine. Lisa. Catherine. Cindy. Tanya. Karin. Amber. Liese. Sarah. Darlene. Mary. Kelly. Maureen. Davis. Kara. Mom. Renee. Svetlana. Natalie. Kim.
This army of women has held my heart so carefully this year. There’s no way I’d be above water if it weren’t for them. I thank them with everything I have.
And my children, who should never have had to prop up a single mom, have done so.
By laughing at me buying the Home Sweet Home decor for my new place when I knew it was finally hopeless.
By giving me unsolicited motivational entrepreneurial advice on car drives.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Axios: Major U.S. banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts, with some agents attempting to take actions that appear to be independent of user instructions, sources tell Axios. The difficulty in distinguishing between a human and an unauthorized bot is forcing banks to block the technology and rapidly rewrite their terms of service. [...] This presents significant security risks: banking executives fear the steps agents with login access might take, especially if a user has granted purchase authority or the ability to shift funds. In other instances, some banks have tracked activity when agents -- programmed to fulfill requests or complete tasks on a user's behalf -- contact call centers or appear to take actions independent of user instructions, the people said.
Bank executives described the situation as horrifying, with one official saying the industry has grave concerns about agents gaining access to customer accounts and taking steps that could impact user finances. The concerns are at the root of the decision by several banks to restrict third-party AI agent access, the people said. Morgan Stanley has begun blocking third-party agents from accessing its platforms, sources familiar with the decision said. JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citi are also restricting agents. [...] Many banks are broadly not able to parse whether agent account activity is user-directed, sources said.
[...] On one hand, banks are best positioned to respond to the threats and opportunities of AI given their cash on hand and experience as critical infrastructure. But money isn't necessarily enough to solve this problem, one source said, because of how quickly the technology is developing and revealing new weaknesses in real time. Banks are investing in preventing worst-case scenarios, but they are also preparing for when those could happen, including with "day after" scenario planning that would allow them to quickly secure or restore customer access, sources said.
Speaking from a crowded airplane hangar in ruby-red western Iowa, President Trump delivered a pitch to farmers — a key group as Republicans fight to hold on to a Senate seat.
Got my GT delivered today and after a quick charge, started riding in the hallway of my building. Progressed about 30 minutes later outside, into an empty parking lot for a solid 15 minutes and then made 8-10 laps around the fairly large block going at the lowest setting I could find in the app, 5mph. Although I minorly regret being on a bike path after, near a modest amount of traffic, I went a mile and a half up to a large park where I could try accelerating and braking. It was fun, but I couldn’t wait to get home. 🤣
I went farther than I thought I would but managed to log 7 total miles and only fall, once. I was very happy I have my motorcycle gear on as it would have hurt big time when I finally fell over! I am learning that the wobbles and overall control are pretty prevalent when just riding straight after a while, slowing down is a severe challenge for me, but I am confident that they will even out- after a while, it’s only day 1 I keep saying. I definitely used muscles today I haven’t used in a LONG time at the age of 43!
Any thoughts or suggestions to help the wobbles slowly disappear over the next few days? I’m eventually looking forward to going faster, but have kept it on a very low speed (and will continue to do so) so I don’t crash. Looking at the board, it looks already scraped to hell- which is awesome as it rides amazing.
Anyway, thanks for any help in advance- tomorrows another day for practice! Included an obligatory photo in front of my growing collection of Segway scooters- I really am excited to have purchased a OneWheel!
A blaze that killed four soldiers and injured several dozen more on a military base in the Canadian province of Alberta last week broke out on a grenade launcher range during training exercises, officials said.
Washington, DC — Rep. Ilhan Omar says she plans to move out of her Washington home after federal agents searched it last week, saying the attention generated by the raid has left her feeling unsafe.
Federal authorities are investigating possible fraud involving immigration paperwork connected to Omar’s family. Grand jury subpoenas have also been issued to some relatives, according to a person briefed on the investigation.
Omar, a naturalized U.S. citizen who arrived in the United States with her family at age 12, said she is confident she did nothing wrong. She became a citizen in 2000.
The Minnesota Democrat said Homeland Security investigators arrived around 6 a.m. and spent four to five hours searching the residence. Agents seized 17 items, including phones, notebooks, a Somali-language children’s book and a vintage camera.
The Justice Department has released few details beyond describing the matter as an ongoing criminal investigation.
The timing has drawn criticism from Democrats because the search occurred only weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms. Omar has frequently been targeted by President Donald Trump, while administration officials had publicly raised allegations about her immigration history before the search.
Omar described the agents themselves as “intrusive but polite” and said they documented what they removed and returned other items to their places.
Our Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, heads to Roraima to hear what’s at stake for the rainforest and the communities that live there in the Brazilian presidential runoff on Sunday. Send your comments and questions to tif.questions@theguardian.com
For the Amazon and the communities who live there, the stakes in Sunday’s Brazilian presidential election runoff could scarcely be higher.
Our Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips heads to Roraima, the country’s most northern state, to hear from voters, preachers and politicians in a region that heavily backed Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round.
Mary Peltola’s campaign to represent Alaska in the US Senate has taken her to parts of the massive state’s interior that are inaccessible by road and on the frontlines of the cost-of-living crisis she hopes will make her the first Democrat to win the seat in nearly two decades.
California flu test rate at 9.65%, higher than normal 1% rate for early October, amid mutation of H1N1 influenza A strain
Flu cases on the west coast are on the rise months earlier than normal, prompting US health experts to stress the importance of the annual vaccine.
Flu activity typically ramps up in December, hitting its peak in February. But this season has kicked into action earlier this year, with higher positive cases than normal recorded.
Ex-Trump adviser and former top aide for homeland security alleged to have profited off government role
Corey Lewandowski, a former political adviser to Donald Trump and top aide at the Department of Homeland Security, is under criminal investigation over allegations he profited off his role in the US government, three US officials and a fourth person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
The investigation began with a criminal referral to the justice department from the internal watchdog at the DHS, according to the four people. The DHS inspector general’s office has been investigating Lewandowski’s involvement in the handling of certain government contracts, according to one of the people, a DHS official.
The City of Newark held its annual Halloween party at the George Wilson Center on Thursday. Dozens of kids enjoyed a costume contest, games, crafts, snacks and a scary room. The Halloween fun continues at 3 p.m. Sunday with the…
Among those charged were the mother and father of 13-year-old Benson Nguyen, who died after crashing his e-moto into a light pole in Southern California.
Why Should Delaware Care? Assessed property values are the foundational piece of how property taxes are assessed for homeowners and commercial property owners. After values were reset for the first time in 40 years, many New Castle County property owners decried the impact that the new values had on their property.
New Castle County intends to reassess every property in northern Delaware a year earlier than previously planned after a recent audit of a sampling of commercial properties found an abundance of errors.
County Executive Marcus Henry made the announcement Thursday in a statement sent out alongside the audit report.
Completed by real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, the report examined 50 commercial properties whose valuations increased less than the median following the 2024 reassessment — or were lower than a recent sale.
The report highlighted a variety of what investigators called discrepancies, including misstated building sizes, inaccurate property classifications, and even erroneous room counts for hotels and apartment buildings.
One shopping center was found to have been classified as an office building.
The findings are likely to fuel concerns raised early this year when the county separately corrected assessment errors on several large properties, including an Amazon fulfillment center near Newport, and apartments and a parking garage in downtown Wilmington.
David Del Grande, the county’s chief finance officer, attributed the errors in the latest report, in part, to New Castle County’s failure for decades to reassess properties. He also pointed to missing permitting data from municipalities, including the city of Wilmington.
Assessors from Tyler Technologies — the contractor hired to complete the reassessment — also conducted only exterior examinations of properties, and relied upon county data for information about the interiors.
The assessed value of an Amazon warehouse near Newport increased by hundreds of millions of dollars following a review by county officials. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY JACOB OWENS
Further, only about 1% of commercial property owners responded to surveys asking for updated information about their properties prior to the reassessment. Del Grande said the surveys could have provided information about income that commercial properties produce, among other details.
Finally, Del Grande noted that the reassessment took place at the same time that New Castle County was switching out its appraisal software.
“It could have been data that was in the wrong field coming from the old system to the new system. It could have been data overridden by Tyler in the new system. It could be a variety of things,” he told Spotlight Delaware.
Despite these issues, both the report and Del Grande denied that it was indicative of broader issues with the integrity of the overall reassessment in New Castle County, but rather an expected growing pain with resetting decades of inaction.
The discovered issues have convinced county leaders to move ahead more quickly with the next reassessment though. Under the new state law, reassessment must occur every five years, but this expedited review would occur after just four.
“We want to make sure that the public is confident with the numbers that we have as their assessed values as being as being fully accurate to the best that they can be,” Del Grande said.
A tortured reassessment process
The recent findings, as well as the county’s decision to push forward the next reassessment, mark the latest in two years of acrimony that followed New Castle County’s first-in-a-generation property reassessment.
The results of the reassessment initially sparked outrage from many homeowners whose property tax bills spiked, while the tax liabilities for some business properties dropped. Lawmakers responded in 2025 by enacting several pieces of legislation, including one bill that allowed New Castle County and its area school districts to charge a different tax rate for business and residential properties.
Still, concerns around the accuracy of business property valuations continued this year prompting lawmakers to authorize the inquiry of New Castle County business properties.
The inquiry ended with Thursday’s report.
“From the beginning, we wanted an independent review because we needed to know where improvements were necessary,” Henry said in a statement.
What’s next?
Next, county officials will develop and then advertise a new request for contractors to submit bids to conduct the next property reassessment.
County officials are targeting July 2028 as their date for completing the base property assessments – one year earlier than previously planned.
New Castle County Executive Marcus Henry. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY MAGGIE REYNOLDS
Those assessments would then appear on 2029 tax bills, according to the county.
If completed on time, the earlier reassessment would be completed ahead of the 2028 elections, when Henry could be on the ballot.
Del Grande said the next reassessment will again be completed by a third-party vendor, and that nothing in the latest audit findings would preclude Tyler Technologies from bidding and being considered by the county.
New Castle County has hired 10 employees in its assessment office and has funding to hire 10 more, but they are tasked with reviewing the more than 1,000 property appeals now expected to be filed on an annual basis.
Thousands of property owners filed appeals of their assessments in 2025, of which about 200 commercial properties have yet to be resolved, Del Grande said. This year, another 1,600 appeals were filed, including a mix of residential and commercial property.
The county has no plans to conduct the reassessments in-house, as many other jurisdictions across the country do, because of the cost of such an undertaking, Del Grande said. That could require hiring up to 50 more seasonal workers.
Editor-In-Chief Jacob Owens contributed to this story.
i’ve washed my Onewheel every 3 to 4 months for years now. When it gets muddy, I just washed it with a hose and it’s worked perfectly fine. In recent months, I’ve taken it apart to change the wheel and what not and on the battery I’ve seen light corrosion on the surface nothing to be concerned about just yet, but it makes me wonder if I have water damage. I sprayed it down today because I’m in a bind and I have to get somewhere. I’m worried if my board will malfunction soon or stop working. Anyone else experience anything similar? And if so, is it that big of a risk or is my board facing impending doom?
EDIT: i opened up the back footplate and there’s a small damp patch of water that is was underneath the footplate and on the battery. i hope this isn’t that bad. is there any way i can check that it went inside the battery?
The controller module and all the wires are still fine, it’s the battery i’m worried about
PM will also announce funding for specialised protective gear and the deployment of military aircraft
The UK government is to create an AI Cobra unit to spot wildfires after this year’s record-breaking summer saw devastating blazes across the country.
The country experienced its hottest-ever summer this year, with prolonged dry periods and extreme heat fuelling wildfires that triggered an emergency alert to mobile phones in England and Wales. Figures released on 8 October showed a clear upward trend in the number of fires recorded each year.
With four Democrats and four Republicans receiving support, Delaware’s leading business organization offers a reminder that a candidate’s record and willingness to work across party lines can matter more than political affiliation.
WILMINGTON, Del. —At a time when national politics increasingly encourages voters to choose sides, the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce is offering a reminder of an older First State tradition: Judge the person, not just the party.
The Chamber announced endorsements Thursday, Oct. 22, of eight candidates in the Nov. 3 general election — four Democrats and four Republicans.
The selections reflect a longstanding Delaware political culture in which personal relationships, individual records and a willingness to work together have often mattered more than party loyalty.
Known as the Delaware Way, that tradition has come under increasing pressure as national political divisions influence state and local elections.
But the Chamber’s endorsements suggest that, at least within Delaware’s business community, there remains value in evaluating candidates individually.
Eight candidates, two parties
The Chamber endorsed the following candidates:
Office
Candidate
Party
Attorney general
Kathleen Jennings
Democrat
Senate District 7
Spiros Mantzavinos
Democrat
Senate District 14
Kyra Hoffner
Democrat
House District 8
Gary Taylor
Republican
House District 11
Jeffery Spiegelman
Republican
House District 20
Alonna Berry
Democrat
House District 34
Lyndon Yearick
Republican
House District 38
Carlie Carey
Republican
In its announcement, the Chamber said the candidates have demonstrated a willingness to engage with employers and consider how government decisions affect jobs, economic growth and Delaware’s competitiveness.
The organization said its endorsement process considers voting records, past engagement with the business community and positions on issues affecting employers and employees.
That approach does not require candidates to agree on every issue. It places greater emphasis on their records and willingness to consider different perspectives.
A reminder of the Delaware Way
Delaware’s small size has historically encouraged a political culture different from the increasingly partisan environment in Washington.
Republicans and Democrats frequently worked together, and voters were often familiar with candidates as neighbors, business owners, community volunteers or local officials.
Former Republican Gov. Mike Castle defended that tradition in 2012, arguing that Delaware’s size made cooperation essential to competing with larger states for jobs and economic opportunities. Castle described bipartisan cooperation as central to Delaware’s past success.
But that tradition has become more complicated.
Critics argue that the Delaware Way can also protect established political relationships and discourage challenges to those in power. Gov. Matt Meyer campaigned in 2024 as an outsider willing to challenge that political culture.
The Chamber’s endorsements suggest another way of looking at the tradition: Cooperation across party lines does not necessarily mean protecting the political establishment. It can also mean evaluating individual candidates on their willingness to listen, compromise and be accountable for their decisions.
Business interests cross party lines
For Delaware employers, many of the issues facing state government are not easily divided into Republican and Democratic priorities.
Energy costs, taxes, workforce development, education, regulations and government spending affect businesses regardless of their owners’ political affiliations.
The Chamber has consistently advocated policies intended to improve Delaware’s economic competitiveness while working with lawmakers from both parties.
Its bipartisan approach is not new. In 2024, the organization endorsed 14 General Assembly candidates in the general election, including Democrats and Republicans.
This year’s smaller list of eight endorsements suggests a selective approach, although the Chamber has not publicly explained why it endorsed fewer candidates.
The choices also raise questions about what constitutes a business-friendly candidate in a state where Democrats control the governor’s office and both legislative chambers.
For the Chamber, maintaining relationships with members of both parties may be as important as supporting candidates who agree with every position on its legislative agenda.
A different question for voters
The Chamber’s announcement comes as voters begin early voting ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.
Its endorsements are not evidence that Delaware voters are abandoning party loyalty. Nor do they establish that the Delaware Way is returning.
But they provide a timely example of an organization evaluating candidates through a different lens.
Rather than asking only whether a candidate is a Republican or Democrat, the Chamber’s approach focuses attention on other questions: Has the candidate listened to constituents and employers? What does the candidate’s record demonstrate? And is the candidate willing to consider solutions that cross party lines?
In an election season dominated by national political divisions, the endorsements offer a reminder of a tradition that has long shaped Delaware politics.
In a state small enough for voters to know many of their elected officials personally, party labels may tell only part of the story.
Whether more Delaware voters embrace that approach in 2026 remains to be seen.
TO GO: Chamber endorsements and the Nov. 3 election
What’s new:The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce endorsed eight candidates Oct. 22 — four Democrats and four Republicans.
How candidates were selected:The Chamber cites voting records, engagement with the business community and positions affecting employers and employees.
Historical context:The Chamber has supported candidates from both parties in previous election cycles.
Photo taken by Delaware LIVE. Graphics added by on 10/22 using AI.
Federal spending, health care costs and foreign policy highlight differences as Delaware voters begin casting ballots.
By George D. Rotsch, Delaware LIVE News
WILMINGTON, Del. — Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Coons and Republican challenger Dr. Mike Katz presented different approaches to controlling federal spending, reducing health care costs and addressing America’s foreign policy challenges Thursday during a U.S. Senate candidate forum at the Hotel du Pont.
The hour-long discussion, hosted by the Rotary Club of Wilmington and moderated by Jake Owens of Spotlight Delaware, gave voters an opportunity to compare the candidates as early voting began for the Nov. 3 general election.
Coons emphasized his 16 years in the Senate, bipartisan legislative experience and willingness to challenge President Donald Trump’s policies. He said his campaign is focused on three priorities, in this order: opportunity, security and justice. Coons described opportunity as helping Americans build better lives, security as protecting families and their futures, and justice as addressing political divisions and abuses of power.
Katz, a physician, former state senator and business executive, argued that after 16 years of Coons representing Delaware in Washington, it is time for a change. He characterized the election as a performance review of the incumbent and a job interview for the challenger, calling for new leadership focused on financial responsibility, government efficiency and solutions to longstanding problems.
While both candidates promised to work across party lines, their differences were evident in how they would address some of the nation’s most pressing challenges.
Photo: The Gold Ballroom at the Hotel duPont, the stie of the Candidate Forum on Thursday October 22,2026.
Federal spending and debt
With the national debt approaching $40 trillion, both candidates acknowledged that federal spending and borrowing have become serious problems.
Coons said Republicans and Democrats share responsibility for growing deficits. He advocated increasing taxes on wealthy Americans and highly profitable corporations while providing relief to working families.
Katz argued that Washington cannot continue increasing taxes without addressing the underlying cost of government.
He called for restructuring federal operations, eliminating waste, establishing balanced budgets and developing a plan to reduce the national debt.
Moderator Owens challenged both candidates to identify specific budget decisions they would make, including which constituencies they would be willing to disappoint.
Neither presented a comprehensive deficit-reduction plan identifying specific spending cuts and revenue increases.
Social Security and health care
The candidates also offered different approaches to preserving Social Security and controlling health care costs.
Coons supported raising the income cap subject to Social Security payroll taxes and working through a bipartisan process to consider additional changes necessary to strengthen the program.
Katz said Social Security represents a commitment to Americans who have contributed throughout their working lives. He advocated reviewing how the program operates before considering changes to benefits or retirement requirements.
On health care, Coons defended the Affordable Care Act as a means of expanding access to insurance and preventive treatment.
He argued that improving access to primary care could reduce expensive emergency treatment and improve long-term outcomes.
Katz, drawing on four decades in medicine and health care management, said the system requires more fundamental reform.
He argued that government subsidies and insurance changes primarily determine who pays rising medical bills without adequately addressing why care costs so much.
Katz acknowledged beneficial provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions, but described the overall law as a failed approach to controlling health care costs.
Neither candidate provided a detailed legislative plan showing how his proposals would reduce costs for Delaware patients and employers.
Tariffs, energy and family expenses
The cost of living was another area of disagreement.
Coons criticized the Trump administration’s broad tariffs, arguing they increase prices for consumers and businesses, particularly those importing construction materials or exporting products to Canada.
He pointed to Delaware industries, including chemicals, agriculture and port operations, as examples of businesses affected by international trade policies.
Katz described tariffs as a legitimate economic tool when used selectively to protect American workers and businesses from unfair foreign competition.
He said tariffs should have clearly defined objectives, measurable results and congressional oversight.
Both recognized the importance of maintaining American competitiveness, but Coons placed greater emphasis on removing trade barriers while Katz focused on targeting unfair trade practices.
Iran war divides candidates
Foreign policy produced some of the forum’s clearest differences.
Coons strongly criticized the administration’s war with Iran, arguing that inadequate planning and insufficient consultation with Congress and American allies contributed to higher gasoline prices and instability in the Middle East.
He called for ending the conflict and restoring shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Katz said preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons remains essential to American and international security.
He criticized decades of foreign policy decisions, including the 2015 nuclear agreement supported by Coons, which Katz argued failed to resolve Iran’s long-term nuclear threat.
Both expressed concern about presidential military actions without sufficient congressional involvement, although they emphasized different responsibilities and policy failures.
On Ukraine, Coons strongly defended continued support for the country against Russia’s invasion. Katz criticized failures of American and international leadership but did not outline a detailed alternative strategy for ending the conflict.
Katz questions political process
One of the forum’s more pointed moments came when Katz departed from a question about Ukraine to raise concerns about the conduct of Delaware’s Senate campaign.
He alleged that campaign communications had been hacked, staff members had been threatened and supporters had experienced intimidation.
Katz also criticized the absence of a traditional public debate and what he described as insufficient scrutiny of the incumbent.
The allegations were not substantiated during the forum, and no evidence was presented establishing who might have been responsible.
The campaign has previously criticized Coons for declining other proposed debates, including a student-organized event at the University of Delaware. Thursday’s forum brought both candidates together, although the format did not allow direct exchanges or audience questions.
Bipartisanship and congressional accountability
Despite their disagreements, both candidates supported maintaining the Senate filibuster, which generally requires 60 votes to advance major legislation.
Katz said the rule protects minority-party interests and discourages either party from imposing sweeping changes without broader support.
Coons also defended the filibuster while expressing openness to certain reforms, particularly involving voting rights.
Asked when they would oppose their own parties, Katz pledged to evaluate legislation based on Delaware’s interests rather than party loyalty.
Coons cited examples of bipartisan legislation he had worked on with Republican colleagues, arguing that his record demonstrates an ability to deliver results even when party leaders disagree.
The discussion also touched on artificial intelligence, immigration and U.S. military assistance to Israel.
Both candidates supported responsible AI development, although Katz emphasized innovation and competitiveness while Coons stressed safeguards and the potential impacts of data centers on communities.
On immigration, Katz emphasized stronger border enforcement and legal immigration reform. Coons called for border security combined with greater accountability for federal immigration enforcement and legal pathways for qualifying immigrants.
Different approaches, shared challenges
Throughout the forum, Katz returned to his central argument that longstanding federal problems require changes in management, priorities and accountability.
Coons pointed to his relationships in Congress and legislative experience as reasons he could continue delivering results for Delaware.
Both identified rising costs, federal debt and political division as major concerns. Their disagreement centered largely on whether those problems are better addressed through changes to existing federal policies or more extensive restructuring of government programs.
The forum also left questions about specific spending reductions, long-term Social Security financing and measurable health care savings.
With early voting underway, Delaware voters now have a clearer comparison of the candidates’ priorities — and the decisions each would face in Washington.
TO GO: Delaware U.S. Senate election
Candidates: U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D) and Dr. Mike Katz (R)
Forum: Thursday, Oct. 22, Hotel du Pont, Wilmington
Host: Rotary Club of Wilmington
Moderator: Jake Owens, Spotlight Delaware
Early voting: Oct. 22-Nov. 1, on designated voting days
Washington, DC — Several people pardoned by President Donald Trump for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol are now seeking financial compensation from the federal government, including individuals convicted of assaulting police officers.
The claims argue that the prosecutions, convictions and imprisonment stemming from the Capitol attack caused financial and personal harm. Some of the plaintiffs are seeking millions of dollars in damages.
Trump issued sweeping clemency after returning to office, pardoning or commuting the sentences of nearly all Jan. 6 defendants, including people convicted of violent offenses against law enforcement.
The new compensation claims go beyond asking for criminal records to be cleared. They seek taxpayer-funded damages for actions taken by federal prosecutors, investigators and prison officials during cases that had previously resulted in guilty pleas or convictions.
Critics argue the demands effectively seek to turn presidential pardons into financial rewards for people who participated in an attack that injured police officers and disrupted the certification of the 2020 election.
A presidential pardon eliminates or reduces criminal consequences, but it does not establish that the prosecution was unlawful or that the person was wrongfully convicted.
Whether the claims succeed will depend on courts determining whether the plaintiffs can overcome legal protections that generally shield the federal government and its officials from damages arising from lawful prosecutions.
Salt Lake City, UT — The Justice Department will deploy federal election monitors to Utah for the Nov. 3 midterms, part of a nationwide Trump administration effort expected to place roughly 1,000 monitors across all 50 states. Washington Examiner
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said Utah officials were notified of the deployment and emphasized that federal monitors will be required to follow state laws governing poll watchers.
According to Henderson, monitors must identify themselves to election workers, remain separate from voters, avoid conversations with people casting ballots and refrain from interfering with election operations. They also will not carry weapons or wear badges or other insignia visible to voters.
The Justice Department says the monitors are intended to observe compliance with federal voting laws rather than intervene in the process. DOJ has long deployed attorneys and other personnel to monitor elections, including during Democratic and Republican administrations. Department of Justice
What is unusual this year is the planned scale. The Trump administration has said it intends to send about 1,000 monitors nationwide, describing it as potentially historic for a Republican administration. Washington Examiner
The expanded federal presence comes amid heightened tensions over election administration, including recent disputes involving voter rolls, alleged noncitizen voting and federal agents appearing near polling locations.
Utah officials said the monitors will be subject to the same restrictions designed to protect ballot secrecy and prevent interference with voters.
Tallahassee, FL — Federal immigration agents have been spotted near early voting locations in two Florida counties, prompting complaints from election officials who say the presence risks intimidating voters during an already tense midterm election.
In Leon County, Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley said two Customs and Border Protection vehicles parked outside the county’s busiest early voting location Monday morning for about 10 minutes. Earley filed a formal complaint with the FBI, saying voters should never feel intimidated by law enforcement or other government officials while casting ballots.
A separate incident occurred in Monroe County, where video showed masked federal agents conducting an arrest near an early voting location in Key Largo. Election Supervisor Sherri Hodies said frightened voters contacted her office afterward.
“I’m not happy about it. Frankly, I was stunned,” Hodies said. She contacted CBP and provided the locations of polling sites while asking agents to conduct enforcement activities elsewhere.
Federal law sharply restricts the use of military or federal authority to interfere with elections or intimidate voters.
The incidents come amid heightened concerns about the Trump administration’s use of immigration enforcement around election-related activities. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin previously declined to categorically rule out federal agents appearing near polling places, saying officers could respond to specific threats.
Neither incident has been shown to involve an attempt to interfere with voting, but local election officials say even the appearance of armed immigration agents near polling locations can discourage eligible voters from participating.
Meeting Arctic security threats: Do Europe’s new strategies make sense?Expert commentjon.wallace
Responding to security threats from Russian military capabilities and increasing Chinese activity are largely sensible. But a lack of alignment on climate policy risk undermining the security they seek to strengthen.
September’s security agreement between the United States, Greenland and Denmark has, for the time being, lowered the political temperature in the High North following months of tension over US ambitions towards Greenland. But the Arctic is being reshaped by multiple converging factors.
Accelerating climate change and ecosystem degradation are intersecting with geopolitical tensions, military activity, and competition for resources to make the region increasingly important. Arctic sea lanes, long considered unviable, are drawing interest following disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea – though they are still not reliably ice-free.
In response, the UK published its updated Arctic Policy Framework on 15 October, swiftly followed by the EU’s own updated strategy for the Arctic ‘Europe’s Northern Neighbourhood’ on 20 October.
Both documents make important moves on enhancing military preparedness in the region. But alongside strategies for securing an Arctic that is melting, greater efforts are needed to keep it frozen.
From ‘low tensions’ to hard security
There are differences between the UK and EU strategies: The UK’s framework declares that the ‘High North, Low Tension’ policy followed by Arctic countries for 30 years is effectively over and adopts a NATO-first approach, based on deterrence and warfighting readiness. The EU’s strategy prioritizes maritime surveillance, military mobility and protection of subsea infrastructure, creating ‘dual-use and multi-purpose capabilities’ – placing the Arctic into the broader agenda of EU ‘Strategic Autonomy’.
But both strategies recognize the importance of the Arctic for security, and the need to respond to a greater Russian and Chinese presence in the region.
The threat is real. Over the last decade, Russia has established a new Arctic command and new Arctic military bases. Russia also has a long history of conducting military and intelligence operations under the cover of its Arctic and maritime research outfits. And communication lines between NATO and Russian forces in the region have effectively collapsed since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
China, meanwhile, claims to be a near Arctic state, and has shared plans for a new class of container ships, developed with Russia, to navigate the Northern Sea Route, which skirts Russia’s coast. Fears that this route may become a new trade chokepoint are probably overblown, while volumes are so low. But Moscow and Beijing are increasing military cooperation in the Arctic, for instance through joint air and sea patrols.
NATO activities have intensified in return. Sweden and Finland have joined the alliance, increasing the number of member-states with Arctic territory. And over the last decade, the UK has expanded its cooperation with Nordic NATO members, through the Joint Expeditionary Force established in 2014, increased training alongside Norwegian armed forces, and a joint frigate procurement programme with Oslo announced in 2025. In January, the Royal Marines deployment to Norway was expanded to a year-round commitment.
The new UK Arctic Strategy focuses on further strengthening deterrence and interoperability with NATO partners and commits to doubling the number of British troops training in Norway to 2,000 by 2029.
That signals a significant shift in the UK’s attention to Northern Europe. And it places the UK’s Arctic military activities in the context of its greater presence in the ‘Wider North’, building on long-standing commitments to air policing over Iceland, maritime patrols and under-ice submarine deployments, and recent NATO initiatives like Arctic and Baltic Sentry. It also emphasizes the UK’s reorientation to Europe in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review.
Both strategies also highlight the need for good governance. But this will likely be a struggle. The Arctic Council, a post-Cold War governance initiative that convenes all states and indigenous communities in Arctic territory, worked reasonably well for most of the post-1991 period. But Russia was excluded from the Council following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, creating another international forum undermined by the war.
Climate change remains central challenge for Arctic security
Both the UK and EU strategies recognize climate change as a central challenge in the Arctic. They link the urgency of tackling the climate crisis to achieving net zero and emphasize the need to better understand climate tipping points.
However, the strategies could be more explicit about what crossing these tipping points could mean for the UK and Europe – particularly the increasing likelihood of Greenland ice sheet collapse and further weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). That would pose a severe threat and cascading pressures to Europe’s food security, infrastructure, public finances and resilience. This threat makes protecting the Arctic from climate change a core European security interest.
The UK and EU strategies also need to draw stronger connections between Arctic climate research, domestic preparedness and international leadership on climate mitigation to help advance solutions and practical protection against these risks.
Halting global warming and preserving Arctic ice should be recognized as essential parts of a security strategy. Stronger climate action today could reduce, or even prevent, some of the geopolitical tensions and security risks associated with a warming Arctic. A rapidly melting Arctic increases the risk of new maritime disputes, conflicts over critical minerals, more pollution from shipping, environmental damage from new infrastructure development and uncontrolled extractive industrial activity.
Both updated strategies face unresolved policy tensions between protecting the region from climate impacts, pursuing new economic opportunities and expanding the European security presence.
For instance, increasing exploration for resources – as both strategies advocate – could mean creating significant new infrastructure to extract and export. That risks increasing emissions and heaping further pressure on the Arctic’s fragile ecosystems.
The UK and EU need to remain sensitive to growing apprehension in the region about the motivations of non-Arctic actors.
Meanwhile, constructing new dual-use infrastructure, as proposed by the EU strategy, may support civilian services, scientific research and emergency preparedness. But its military functions could fuel securitization of the Arctic.
On critical minerals, the UK’s strategy makes clear it will not sponsor or support the issuance of deep-sea mining exploitation contracts that conflict with the International Seabed Authority’s Mining Code, which regulates prospecting, exploration and exploitation of marine minerals. This is an important message, because it affirms that competition for critical minerals must remain subject to multilateral governance and international rules.
Success depends on strong Arctic partnerships
For their strategies to succeed, the UK and EU will need to deepen cooperation with Arctic states and communities, building on their generally welcomed security roles and the significant contribution of UK science to Arctic climate research. At the same time, the UK and EU need to remain sensitive to growing apprehension in the region about the motivations of non-Arctic actors.
Despite geopolitical tensions, there have been positive developments in Arctic governance. Greenland’s prominent role in negotiating the recent US security agreement signals a shift towards greater agency in decisions historically dominated by external powers.
The UK and EU should support this shift by strengthening indigenous participation in decisions affecting Arctic security and economic development, through institutions such as the Inuit Circumpolar Council and Saami Council. That will advance an approach to Arctic security that encompasses climate, food, health, livelihoods and cultural continuity alongside military concerns.
More comprehensive Arctic strategies are clearly needed. And the updated strategies largely make sense. Yet, managing the trade-offs between defence, economic development, climate protection and indigenous rights requires careful policy design, clearer priorities and meaningful engagement with Arctic communities.
Finally, the US will remain central to Arctic security. That makes sustained transatlantic engagement essential. Europe has demonstrated that, when united and working in cooperation with Canada, they can influence US policy towards the Arctic. Building on that collective strength can help ensure that future cooperation strengthens security across all dimensions.
The Climate Briefing: The road to Antalya – looking ahead to COP31 AudioLToremark
With conflict, economic headwinds and climate impacts reshaping the international agenda, COP31 arrives at a critical moment. Bhargabi, Pelin and their guests discuss what’s at stake in Antalya, and the prospects for progress on climate action.
In November, global climate negotiators will gather in Antalya, Turkey, for the latest round of the UN climate talks at the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31). This episode explores how, amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis, global conflicts or emerging El Niño conditions, the negotiations may shape progress on implementation. We unpack the key issues to look out for at this conference: the role of Turkey and Australia’s shared leadership, growing adaptation and finance needs, and the leadership vacuum in climate diplomacy.
To discuss this, Bhargabi is joined by Pelin Zorlu, senior research fellow and lead on climate and energy at Chatham House, to speak with Jennifer L. Morgan, former state secretary and special envoy for international climate action at the German Federal Foreign Office, and Ümit Şahin, head of the Climate Change Program at the Istanbul Policy Centre.
For more on these issues, watch the recording of Making the case for COP in a fractured geopolitical environment, with the COP30 and COP31 presidents, alongside the COP32 president-designate. The discussion explored the continuing value of multilateral climate diplomacy amid geopolitical tensions.
About The Climate Briefing
The Climate Briefing explores key themes in the UN climate negotiations and international climate politics. The podcast is hosted by Bhargabi Bharadwaj from Chatham House and features interviewees from governments, international organizations, academia and civil society organizations from across the world.
Who is responsible for the increases? There is no single cause behind Delaware’s rising electric bills. Several organizations, market conditions and government policies influence what customers ultimately pay. Image created on 10/22 using AI.
Delmarva Power seeks $67.8 million more in annual revenue as regulators weigh grid investments, rising energy costs and what Delaware can do to protect consumers.
By George D. Rotsch, Delaware LIVE
WILMINGTON, Del. — Delaware families already paying substantially more for electricity face another potential increase as state regulators consider Delmarva Power’s request for $67.8 million in additional annual revenue.
The proposal would increase the utility’s distribution base rates by 21.7%, although that does not mean customers’ total electric bills would rise by that percentage.
The request comes after a separate increase in electricity supply costs took effect June 1, adding an estimated $14.64 per month, or about $176 annually, to the average residential customer’s bill.
For households struggling with higher prices for food, insurance, housing and other necessities, the latest rate case raises a broader question: Why does electricity keep getting more expensive, and what can Delaware officials do about it?
Electric bills keep climbing
The cost of electricity has increased substantially in recent years, adding pressure to household budgets.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Delaware’s average residential electricity price reached 17.15 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2025. Preliminary monthly data show prices climbing further in 2026.
Unlike groceries or gasoline, electricity is difficult for consumers to avoid. Families can reduce consumption, but heating, cooling, refrigeration and other essential household needs place limits on how much they can cut.
The June increase was particularly significant.
Delmarva’s standard electricity supply rate increased approximately 19%, largely because of higher regional power costs. Changes in renewable-energy compliance charges slightly offset the impact, resulting in an estimated 9% increase in the overall bill for a typical residential customer using 811 kilowatt-hours per month.
The pending distribution-rate case represents a separate cost pressure.
Delmarva implemented temporary higher distribution rates July 9 while the Delaware Public Service Commission reviews its request for a permanent increase. The final decision will determine how much additional revenue the utility can collect, with the interim rates subject to adjustment.
Who is responsible for the increases?
There is no single cause behind Delaware’s rising electric bills. Several organizations, market conditions and government policies influence what customers ultimately pay.
The major cost drivers include:
PJM Interconnection — Regional electricity costs: PJM manages the wholesale electricity market serving Delaware, 12 other states and Washington, D.C. Rising demand, limited generation capacity and higher prices for ensuring adequate electricity supplies have contributed significantly to recent increases.
Delmarva Power — Local delivery costs: Delmarva maintains the poles, wires, substations and other equipment delivering electricity to homes and businesses. Its pending rate request would increase revenue collected from customers for distribution services and infrastructure investments.
Delaware Public Service Commission — Rate oversight: The PSC reviews Delmarva’s proposed distribution rates and determines which expenses are reasonable for customers to pay. The commission does not directly control regional wholesale electricity prices.
Delaware lawmakers — Renewable-energy requirements: State law requires utilities to obtain 40% of electricity from renewable sources by 2035, including a 10% solar requirement. Renewable-energy credits and other compliance expenses can add costs, although supporters argue the requirements deliver environmental benefits and reduce long-term exposure to fossil-fuel price volatility.
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — Carbon compliance costs: Delaware participates in this regional emissions-reduction program. Power generators must purchase allowances for certain carbon emissions. Some expenses can be reflected in wholesale electricity prices, while program revenues support energy-efficiency and environmental initiatives.
Growing electricity demand — Pressure on the regional grid: Data centers, economic development and increasing electrification are expected to place additional demands on the power system. Meeting that demand could require more generation, transmission capacity and local infrastructure.
The distinction matters.
Regional wholesale electricity costs have been a major driver of recent increases, but Delaware regulators and lawmakers have greater control over utility distribution spending, renewable-energy requirements and other state policies.
That leaves Delaware officials with an important responsibility: ensuring the costs they can control are necessary, transparent and affordable for the families and businesses paying the bills.
Delaware’s energy policies also carry costs
The debate over electricity affordability increasingly includes questions about the state’s environmental and renewable-energy policies.
Delaware’s Renewable Portfolio Standard requires utilities to obtain an increasing share of electricity from renewable sources, reaching 40% by 2035.
Supporters say the requirements encourage cleaner energy, diversify supplies and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Critics question whether the mandates are achieving those goals at the lowest possible cost, particularly as regional electricity prices rise.
The state also participates in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which requires participating power generators to purchase carbon-emission allowances.
Revenue from those allowances supports energy and environmental programs, but the compliance costs can also influence electricity prices.
Neither program accounts for the entire increase in household bills, and renewable-energy compliance charges actually decreased slightly during Delmarva’s June supply-rate adjustment.
Still, the programs raise a legitimate policy question: Should Delaware review the cost and timing of its energy mandates as consumers face higher electricity bills?
Does Delaware really need more grid investment?
Delmarva’s distribution-rate request centers on the cost of maintaining and upgrading the electrical system.
The company must maintain infrastructure, respond to outages, replace aging equipment and prepare for future electricity demand.
Additional investments can improve reliability, reduce outages and strengthen the system against severe weather.
But those benefits come at a price.
The question for regulators is not simply whether improvements are needed, but whether the proposed spending is justified, appropriately timed and fairly allocated among customers.
The Public Service Commission has authority to examine the utility’s expenses, investment plans and requested financial returns before approving permanent distribution rates.
That oversight becomes increasingly important when customers are already absorbing higher supply and transmission costs that state regulators have less power to control.
What can Delaware do to lower electric bills?
Although Delaware cannot independently control the regional electricity market, policymakers have several opportunities to address affordability.
Push for PJM reforms. Regional leaders, including Gov. Matt Meyer, have called for changes intended to address rising electricity costs. Increasing available generation, reducing delays for new energy projects and improving market rules could help stabilize prices.
Review renewable-energy compliance costs. Lawmakers could examine whether current requirements are delivering their intended benefits at reasonable costs and whether adjustments to compliance mechanisms or timelines are warranted.
Expand energy-efficiency programs. Weatherization, insulation, efficient appliances and other improvements can help consumers reduce electricity consumption without sacrificing reliability.
Scrutinize utility investments. Regulators can require Delmarva to demonstrate that proposed projects are necessary, cost-effective and beneficial to customers before authorizing additional rate revenue.
Improve transparency. Consumers could benefit from clearer information showing exactly how much they pay for electricity supply, capacity, transmission, distribution and state energy-policy requirements.
Target financial assistance. Existing assistance programs and payment arrangements can provide relief to households with limited incomes, including seniors and residents living on fixed incomes.
Some of those actions could reduce long-term costs. Others would provide more immediate relief without necessarily changing the underlying price of electricity.
The question is affordability
The growing cost of electricity is not the result of one utility decision or one government policy.
It reflects multiple pressures, including regional electricity markets, rising demand, infrastructure investments and state energy requirements.
Some expenses are necessary to maintain a reliable electrical system. Others reflect policy choices that can be examined and adjusted.
The challenge for Delaware’s elected officials and regulators is determining whether the benefits justify the costs and whether enough attention is being paid to the financial impact on consumers.
For families watching their electric bills rise, that question is becoming harder to ignore.
The Public Service Commission is accepting written public comments on Delmarva’s pending rate case through Nov. 4.
TO GO BOX
What: Delmarva Power electric distribution rate case
Proposed increase: $67.8 million in additional annual revenue, representing 21.7% of existing distribution base rates
Status: Temporary higher rates took effect July 9. The permanent rate request remains under review.
Consumer assistance: Residents struggling with electric bills can contact Delmarva Power about payment arrangements or the Delaware Division of the Public Advocate for assistance.
Can Africa maximize its global influence?Audiosseth.drupal@c…
In this week’s episode of Independent Thinking, our experts discuss how African states are increasing their leverage on the global stage.
As the world becomes more unstable and the demands for critical minerals from China and big tech increases, can greater international attention on Africa translate into greater power and prosperity for African nations?
Can African states leverage their huge deposits of natural resources and the youngest population in the world into more infrastructure, better engagement with international partners and greater representation for Africa on international bodies, including the UN Security Council?
Our experts explore the new global opportunities for African nations, the increasingly transactional approach of the US, trade deals with the EU, the Accra Reset, creating regional value chains, Russia’s involvement in conflicts in Africa and why international organizations need to open up their decision-making bodies.
In a special edition for Black History Month, Bronwen Maddox is joined by Tighisti Amare, director of our Africa Programme, and Lisa Musumba, host of our sister podcast, ‘Africa Aware’.
About Independent Thinking
Independent Thinking is a weekly international affairs podcast hosted by our director Bronwen Maddox, in conversation with leading policymakers, journalists and Chatham House experts providing insight on the latest international issues.
POLICE LOG – October 22, 2026Dover Police Charge Two Men In September Armed Home Invasion
DOVER, Del. — Dover Police have charged two 30-year-old Dover men in connection with an armed home invasion that occurred September 16 in the 100 block of Cherry Street.
Police said detectives identified both suspects during the investigation and obtained warrants for their arrests. One suspect was already being held at Sussex Community Corrections Center on unrelated charges dating back to September 17.
The second suspect was taken into custody October 21 with assistance from Probation and Parole. He was arraigned and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on a $154,000 cash-only bond.
Both men were charged with second-degree conspiracy, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and theft involving a victim age 62 or older.
The original investigation began after police responded to the Cherry Street residence shortly before midnight September 16. Police said a 15-year-old girl was sitting on a downstairs couch when a masked man entered through an unsecured rear door or window, pointed a handgun at her and demanded money.
The suspect allegedly took an iPad, iPhone, four bottles of medication and a Nintendo Switch charging dock before fleeing. Four family members were asleep upstairs at the time.
The suspects’ names were not released. Dover Police said Delaware House Bill 59, which took effect October 21, limits the release of names and photographs of adults charged with crimes under certain circumstances.
New study reveals dramatic population drops in fish, cephalopods and more after Deepwater Horizon disaster
Marine life in the Gulf of Mexico plummeted by about 60% after BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and has still not fully recovered, according to a new study.
The April 2010 explosion of an offshore drilling unit 50 miles off the Louisiana coast triggered the largest marine oil spill in history, releasing 134m gallons of oil into the ocean. According to the study published on Monday in PNAS, the disaster – which also killed 11 people and injured 17 others – led to the “sudden, severe and persistent declines in the abundance” of marine life for more than a decade.
Why Should Delaware Care? Delaware’s hospitals are powerful and often consolidated entities. For decades, each of the state’s three main hospital systems have remained within their bounds by county line. But as more retirees flock to the state, those boundaries are being disregarded.
Downstate hospital systems lambasted two proposed ChristianaCare campuses in Georgetown and Camden on Tuesday, following what has been months of controversy that could derail the projects.
At a public hearing of the Delaware Health Resources Board, a government body responsible for approving large healthcare expansions, leaders from the state’s downstate hospital systems asked regulators to halt the project. The hospital leaders questioned both the merits and legality of the proposed expansions.
The lower counties have long been considered outside of ChristianaCare’s regional grip, but ChristianaCare said it believes the new campuses would bring more emergency care to Kent and Sussex counties, as the state continues to age and faces access shortages.
Delaware’s downstate hospitals — which included Bayhealth in Dover, TidalHealth in Seaford and Beebe Healthcare in Lewes — challenged ChristianaCare’s reasoning saying the new facilities could make emergency care more expensive for patients.
In their presentations, hospital leaders also said the projects, dubbed “microhospitals,” lack a regulatory definition under Delaware law and may run afoul of another law signed this summer meant to curb the involvement of for-profit enterprise in nonprofit healthcare.
Delaware’s Health Resources Board did not take any kind of vote on the projects on Tuesday, but will likely consider the projects at another meeting next month.
What happened during the meeting?
Tuesday’s meeting was an opportunity for ChristianaCare to defend its proposals from what has been a sustained effort by the other hospitals to shut them down. All the downstate hospitals made it clear they support investment and competition in Kent and Sussex counties, but they did not believe ChristianaCare’s proposals would benefit the healthcare ecosystem at large.
ChristianaCare opened the public hearing with a presentation, which said its two proposed “microhospitals” would support a healthcare ecosystem in need of more emergency room beds.
The upstate hospital’s proposals would bring eight emergency room beds and eight inpatient beds for each of its locations, but opponents questioned how transfers would work for patients in need of higher levels of care than the microhospitals could offer.
Vinay Maheshwari, who is ChristianaCare’s physician executive of growth and strategic partnerships, said the hospital hopes to partner with the other regional systems so patients do not have to transfer from a Sussex County microhospital back up to ChristianaCare’s main campuses in Newark or Wilmington.
“It will take partnership,” Maheshwari said. “We are committed to working through that partnership with all of you, and we hope that you will as well.”
Bayhealth’s chief operating officer, Kyle Benoit, opposed the proposals, saying the new emergency services would add “exceptionally high costs for a low-volume benefit for the community.”
Benoit also pointed to another attempt by Beebe Healthcare to build a freestanding emergency room similar to ChristianaCare’s proposal, which the board denied in 2019.
“This is not about protecting our turf,” Benoit said. “It’s about what is the right investment to address the excess and cost challenges that are plaguing our residents of Delaware and really healthcare across the country.”
Delaware’s southern hospital systems also took aim at a lack of regulatory guidance on how ChristianaCare is defining its Camden and Georgetown proposals.
When ChristianaCare announced the proposals earlier this year, it said it aimed to build two “microhospitals” in Kent and Sussex, a term the other hospitals believe makes them invalid for consideration.
Steve Leonard, the CEO of TidalHealth, requested the board deny the proposal on the grounds that no definition exists in Delaware code to classify the microhospitals. Without clearer guidance, he said, there may not be adequate protections in place for patients.
Leonard also said the microhospitals would bring an “increased cost” to services in Sussex County. He pointed to recent legislative efforts to bring down the cost of care, and said ChristianaCare has some of the highest rates in the state.
Maheshwari denied ChristianaCare’s costs are among the highest in the state, instead saying they are comparable to other systems. But Leonard requested the board require ChristianaCare demonstrate how its proposals would bring down costs in the area.
“General statements about neighborhood hospital ER wait times, visit times, they’re just not enough,” Leonard said.
Downstate arms race
For decades, Delaware’s three major health care systems largely fit into geographic monopolies: ChristianaCare serving New Castle County, Bayhealth serving Kent County and Beebe Healthcare in Sussex County.
But over the last five years, a health care arms race heated up between Bayhealth, Beebe and now TidalHealth, coming up from Salisbury, Maryland. They have all built or broken ground on major projects in locations, such as Lewes, Milton or Millsboro in recent years.
It follows a post-COVID population boom in Sussex County. The region is now designated as a “Medically Underserved Area” by the federal government, with projections showing that the population will increase from 237,000 in 2022 to over 361,000 by 2050. The county is also rapidly graying, as the population growth is largely driven by retirees who will demand more health care needs.
The arrival of ChristianaCare, which to date only had primary care offices in Milford and Rehoboth Beach, will bring needed resources, but also new competition to the crowded market.
In 2019, the board was central in a debate over whether to allow Beebe to build a freestanding emergency room in Georgetown. It ultimately denied that project, saying it was too close to Bayhealth’s Milford campus and Nanticoke Hospital in Seaford.
The board was also expected to be critical of plans by Bayhealth to build its own freestanding emergency room in Milton, which led the Dover-based health system to pull its plans.
Both of those projects, however, predated the population surge that has particularly struck Sussex County after the COVID housing market boom.
The Health Resources Board did not make any final decision on the fate of ChristianCare’s proposals. The board will meet again next month, where it will likely continue discussions.
The inaugural Ladybug Dark Bloom Music Festival brings live music, local art, and Halloween-inspired creativity to Wilmington’s Trolley Square on Saturday, October 31, from noon to 6 p.m. The free, all-ages celebration features women-led musical performances, local vendors, and seasonal festivities.
Free Trolley Square Celebration Combines Women-Led Music, Local Art, and Autumn-Inspired Experiences
WILMINGTON, Del. – Wilmington’s Trolley Square neighborhood will take on a new look this Halloween as the inaugural Ladybug Dark Bloom Music Festival brings an afternoon of live music, local art, and seasonal creativity to the community.
Scheduled for Saturday, October 31, from noon to 6 p.m., the free, all-ages festival offers a fresh approach to Halloween, blending the beauty of autumn with the spirit of Día de los Muertos and the imaginative atmosphere of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Rather than focusing on traditional Halloween scares, Dark Bloom celebrates artistic expression, community connections, and the changing seasons.
At the heart of the festival will be performances by women-led musical acts across multiple stages throughout Trolley Square. A DJ will keep the music going between live performances, creating a continuous soundtrack for the afternoon’s festivities.
The festival also will feature a curated marketplace showcasing local artists, makers, and creative vendors. Visitors can browse handmade goods, discover unique creations, and support small businesses while exploring the neighborhood.
Autumn-inspired decorations, seasonal installations, and interactive experiences will transform the area into a festive setting, offering opportunities for guests to participate in the celebration rather than simply observe.
Organizers envision Dark Bloom as more than a traditional music festival. Built around the idea that “Beauty is something we create together,” the event encourages visitors to connect through shared experiences, whether discovering a new musician, supporting a local artist, or spending time with family and friends.
The celebration also highlights Trolley Square’s neighborhood businesses, bringing together music, shopping, and community in one of Wilmington’s most recognizable districts.
Guests are encouraged to embrace the festival’s creative spirit through their attire. Autumn-inspired outfits, vintage gothic fashion, and Día de los Muertos-inspired clothing are welcome, although costumes are not required.
With free admission and activities designed for guests of all ages, Dark Bloom aims to create an inclusive Halloween experience that appeals to families, music enthusiasts, art lovers, and anyone looking for a different way to celebrate the holiday.
Additional details about participating musicians, vendors, activities, and special experiences are expected to be announced as the event approaches.
As the first installment of what organizers hope will become an annual tradition, Ladybug Dark Bloom Music Festival offers Wilmington residents and visitors an opportunity to experience Halloween through music, imagination, and community.
Event Information
What: Ladybug Dark Bloom Music Festival When: Saturday, October 31, 2026 Where: Trolley Square, Wilmington, Delaware Time: Noon to 6 p.m. Admission: Free, all ages
Washington, DC — Congressional Democrats are demanding an investigation into Elon Musk after reports that he personally ordered restrictions on satellite service used by Ukraine’s military, a decision with potentially life-or-death consequences on the battlefield.
Sen. Adam Schiff called for Musk to testify before Congress under oath, saying either President Donald Trump or Musk has given a misleading account of who was responsible for slowing Ukraine’s access to the Starlink-linked Starshield network.
The restrictions reportedly affected Ukrainian drones, aircraft and helicopters traveling above certain speeds, disrupting military operations during Russia’s continuing invasion.
Musk initially said Starshield is owned and controlled by the U.S. government and that any restrictions ultimately come from the military and president. The Wall Street Journal later reported that Musk personally directed the slowdown after consulting administration officials, creating conflicting accounts about who authorized it.
Sen. Ruben Gallego publicly invited Musk to testify voluntarily, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Congress needs to determine whether a private billionaire was effectively “dictating our foreign policy.”
The scrutiny has become bipartisan. Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick also called for witnesses to be brought before Congress under oath, describing the matter as “very, very serious.”
The controversy raises broader questions about allowing a private company and its owner to wield extraordinary influence over military communications used by a U.S. ally during wartime.
The Road to 2028: What will be America’s global role?
27
January 2027 — 18:00 TO 19:00 GMT
Anonymous (not verified)
Chatham House and Online
As the US looks ahead to the 2028 presidential election, join Chatham House for The Road to 2028 series exploring the future of American foreign policy, its global role, and the competing visions shaping what comes next.
As the US looks ahead to the 2028 presidential election, join Chatham House for a new The Road to 2028 series exploring the future of American foreign policy, its global role, and the competing visions shaping what comes next
The 2028 presidential election will mark a pivotal moment for America’s role in the world as President Trump’s second term comes to an end. As debate grows over the future of US global leadership, competing visions are emerging over how Washington should approach its alliances, security commitments, and how it defines itself in the international order.
The Road to 2028 series examines the ideas and political forces shaping the next era of American foreign policy. Bringing together leading policymakers, practitioners and experts, it will explore what might change after the current administration and what those choices could mean for allies, adversaries and the wider international order.
This first session discusses:
What will define US foreign policy beyond the current administration?
What competing visions of America’s global role are emerging ahead of 2028?
How could the election reshape US alliances and security commitments?
What role should the US play in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific?
How will Washington navigate strategic competition with China and Russia?
What should allies prepare for as America approaches its next political transition?
At 25, Jody Ginter Mihok was looking ahead to dating, a career and the possibility of starting a family. Then four words changed everything: “you have breast cancer.”
San Francisco, CA — A federal judge has blocked the Department of Homeland Security from conducting door-to-door and other field operations targeting suspected noncitizen voters in nine states, finding the administration’s effort relies on unreliable data that could intimidate lawful voters.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a preliminary injunction covering California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin through Election Day.
The Trump administration’s “surge initiative” sent armed federal agents to homes to question residents about immigration status and voting history. CBS News reported that hundreds of Homeland Security investigators were reassigned from traditional criminal cases to the voter operation.
Martínez-Olguín found DHS’s lists of suspected illegal voters were “widely known” to contain U.S. citizens and said the operation could create a reasonable fear that lawful voters might be wrongly investigated.
Agents were reportedly expected to complete at least 40 reviews per day, leaving roughly 12 minutes for each case.
The ruling is another setback for the administration’s aggressive campaign around alleged noncitizen voting. Earlier court decisions have also criticized federal voter databases for relying on inaccurate citizenship information and potentially placing eligible Americans at risk.
Documented noncitizen voting remains rare, despite repeated claims from Trump that it is widespread.
The injunction was temporarily stayed until Friday evening to give the administration time to appeal.
You Can See Everything, a documentary about the disgraced health tech company founder Elizabeth Holmes, has enjoyed a record-breaking opening in the US. It is a testament to how fascinated we remain by the convicted fraudster, but what is behind the enduring appeal? US technology editor Blake Montgomery tells Madeleine Finlay why Holmes continues to fascinate us, and reflects on whether the Theranos scandal has had a permanent impact on Silicon Valley
Dover Police Arrest Two in Fatal Shopping Center Shooting
DOVER, Del. — Dover Police have arrested two men in connection with an October 10 shooting at the Dover Commons shopping center that killed a 22-year-old Philadelphia man and injured another man.
Police said detectives identified a 22-year-old Dover man as one of the suspected shooters. He was arrested October 16 at a residence in the 500 block of Crawford Avenue after police obtained arrest and search warrants. Investigators said they recovered a 9mm handgun, ammunition and clothing and accessories believed to match items worn during the shooting.
A second suspect, an 18-year-old male, was located October 21 at a residence in Snow Hill, Maryland, by members of the U.S. Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force–Salisbury. He was taken into custody without incident and was being held in Maryland pending extradition to Delaware.
Both suspects are charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, four counts of first-degree reckless endangering and carrying a concealed deadly weapon.
The shooting occurred at about 9:19 p.m. October 10 in the Dover Commons parking lot in the 1200 block of North DuPont Highway. Police found two gunshot victims, including Nasir Cox, 22, of Philadelphia. Officers transported both victims to Bayhealth Kent Campus in police vehicles because heavy traffic in the area was expected to delay emergency medical response.
Cox later died from his injuries. The second victim, a 21-year-old man, was reported in stable condition.
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information, photographs or video from the area is asked to contact the Dover Police Department Criminal Investigations Unit at 302-736-7111.
All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Austin, TX — Texas schools have referred children ages 10 to 13 for prosecution more than 47,000 times since 2014, often for misconduct that previously might have been handled by teachers or principals.
A joint investigation by The New York Times and San Antonio Express-News found the referrals increasingly involved relatively minor behavior, including classroom disruptions, threats, vaping and confrontations with school staff. Few cases involved serious physical harm.
A referral does not necessarily result in criminal charges, but it can mean a child is handcuffed, taken into police custody and processed through the juvenile justice system.
In one case, a 12-year-old girl who refused to go to the principal’s office was arrested and taken to school police headquarters. Body-camera footage reportedly showed officers twisting her arm behind her back until she complied with fingerprinting.
The rise coincides with Texas dramatically expanding police presence in schools following the 2022 Uvalde massacre. The state now has nearly 400 school district police departments and about 11,000 officers trained to work in schools. A separate investigation found officers using Tasers, pepper spray and physical force against students, including young children.
Texas law says school police should not handle routine student discipline, but critics argue the expanding law-enforcement presence has increasingly criminalized behavior better addressed through school discipline or mental-health services.
Washington, DC — Republican Rep. Nancy Mace delivered one of the harshest conservative condemnations yet of Vivek Ramaswamy’s attack ad featuring the estranged mother of Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton.
“This ad is going to go down as the most shameful, disgusting, offensive ad this election season,” Mace told CNN. She said Ramaswamy had managed to “limbo under the lowest bar of decency” by attacking a woman who has publicly described being sexually abused by her stepfather as a child.
Acton and her brother have said their mother failed to protect her from the abuse and remained married to the man after he was charged. Acton was removed from her mother’s custody at age 12 and has been estranged from her since.
Ramaswamy’s campaign produced the ad and is spending $4 million to air it despite bipartisan criticism. The spot features Acton’s mother calling her daughter a “liar” and disputing portions of her childhood story.
Mace, who has publicly discussed surviving sexual assault herself, said she previously considered herself a major Ramaswamy supporter but was “stunned” by the campaign’s decision.
She also criticized Vice President JD Vance for defending the ad and warned that the controversy could further damage Republicans with women voters.
Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted and several conservative commentators have also distanced themselves from the advertisement.
The campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican running for governor in Ohio, sparked controversy this week with an ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton. In the ad, Acton’s mother calls her a “liar” who is being dishonest about her past.
But court documents — as well as contemporaneous news articles and statements by Acton’s brother — corroborate key elements of Acton’s account of her difficult childhood. Acton has said she was removed from her mother’s custody at age 12 after her stepfather was charged with raping her. She says she hasn’t seen or spoken to her mother since.
The 60-second ad has drawn widespread backlash since it first surfaced on social media Oct. 19, including from some Republicans. It was initially unclear who was behind the ad, but Ramaswamy told reporters the next day that his campaign had produced it and plans to spend $4 million airing it. (So far, the ad tracking service AdImpact showed only $2,116 had been spent to air the ad on Oct. 20.)
The race is considered a toss-up, according to the Cook Political Report.
Acton, who previously served as director of the Ohio Department of Health, has spoken before about the hardships she endured as a child.
In a 2019 profile by the Youngstown Vindicator, she said her biological parents divorced when she was 3, leaving her and her brother in the custody of her mother. She described cycling through a series of different homes in the following years, including a tent at a campground outside Youngstown one winter.
By that point, her mother had remarried, according to the profile. Acton told the Vindicator that her stepfather sexually abused her. Acton, who was 12, went to live with her biological father. She said she hasn’t seen or spoken to her mother since a court appearance after her stepfather’s 1978 arrest.
In the ad, Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, accuses her daughter of lying about her childhood, including the extent of their housing insecurity.
“Amy has a serious problem,” Arthur says in the ad. “She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She’s lied her entire life. My daughter needs help. And she can’t help you if she needs help herself.”
Though the ad does not refer specifically to the sexual abuse allegations, Arthur has done so in the past. In 2020, she gave an interview to the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue in which she claimed her daughter had “lied” when she accused Donna’s second husband, Cledith Arthur, of rape.
Court records provided by the Acton campaign show that Cledith Arthur was charged with rape in July 1978 after Acton’s biological father reported that Arthur had sexually abused her. He pleaded not guilty. He was indicted by a grand jury that September.
The Youngstown Vindicator reported on the arrest at the time.
The case never went to trial, however, because the Arthurs left town without notifying the authorities, the records show.
After Cledith Arthur failed to appear for a court date in October 1978, a Mahoning County judge issued a warrant for his arrest, writing that “it appears that the Defendant has willfully vacated his last known address and has failed to provide any forwarding address and his present whereabouts are unknown.”
Another arrest warrant was issued in 1981, and records show the authorities were looking for him as late as 1983.
In the 2020 Operation Rescue interview, Donna Arthur indicates that she and her husband skipped town in order to avoid a trial. “Donna borrowed $10,000 from her father and hired an attorney who recommended that she and [Cledith] move away for awhile until things could calm down and charges could be dropped,” the article said.
The Mahoning County court system’s online records search only goes back to 1989. We reached out to the court clerk’s office for more information on the case, including its ultimate resolution, and haven’t heard back.
Cledith Arthur died in 2004. He and Donna Arthur had been living in Pennsylvania.
As for Acton’s description of living in a tent at one point, her campaign pointed to a 1982 police report documenting an interview with an Ohio campground manager who said Cledith Arthur had lived there some years earlier. Arrest paperwork from 1978 also lists that campground as Arthur’s address.
The Acton campaign has also releasedstatements by her younger brother, Philip Stearns, in which he backs her account of their childhood.
“It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,” Stearns said in a statement the campaign released Oct. 20. “After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died.”
In a response ad the campaign released the same day, Stearns also describes repeated childhood abuse.
“I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it,” he says. “She continued to receive that abuse because she knew she had to protect me from that, and that if she hadn’t done that, who knows where I would have ended up.”
We reached out to the Ramaswamy campaign with questions about the ad and haven’t received a response. Ramaswamy defended the ad when speaking to reporters on Oct. 20.
“This is part of a pattern,” he said. “Someone else who appears to know her well who says the same thing, and I do think that is important for voters to take all of that into account.”
The ad has been criticized by some Republicans, including Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, who’s in a close race of his own. Vice President JD Vance defended the ad this week, saying it “calls it out like it is, and calls Amy Acton a liar.”
The Acton campaign has condemned the ad as a “disgusting smear using Dr. Acton’s estranged, abusive mother, who stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died.”
“I won’t normalize somebody who has said my childhood is just something I’m complaining about, who today just released an ad using my birth mother, who I was removed from at the age of 12 for severe abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse,” Acton told Spectrum News, a local TV outlet.
Update, Oct. 22: President Donald Trump endorsed the ad in an Oct. 22 Truth Social post and urged Ramaswamy to keep running it. “Who wouldn’t use such an Ad?” Trump wrote. “I would, it’s called, ‘hitting pay dirt.’” Trump also criticized the Republican governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, for calling on Ramaswamy to take the ad down.
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At 25, Jody Ginter Mihok had a lump in her breast but plenty of reasons to believe it wasn’t cancer. Her age was one of them. image created from photo courtesy of the DBCC and DeerPark Goes Pink using AI on 10/23.
Delaware survivor Jody Ginter Mihok’s experience highlights why younger women shouldn’t dismiss breast changes — and how a Newark fundraising event this Sunday brings survivors and families together.
NEWARK, Del. — At 25, Jody Ginter Mihok had a lump in her breast but plenty of reasons to believe it wasn’t cancer. Her age was one of them.
Before undergoing a biopsy, she had been repeatedly reassured that cancer was unlikely in someone so young.
But in 2006, the diagnosis came: breast cancer.
Twenty years later, after two separate breast cancer diagnoses and becoming a mother, Mihok is sharing her experience as she prepares to participate in the 10th annual Deer Park Goes Pink 5K this Sunday, Oct. 25, in Newark.
The event begins at 9 a.m. at Deer Park Tavern, 108 W. Main St., and includes a 5K run/walk and an untimed 1-mile walk. Registration remains open, and organizers say 100% of proceeds benefit the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, which supports women and families affected by breast cancer.
Mihok hopes her story will encourage other women to pay attention to changes in their health and motivate Delawareans to join Sunday’s event in support of survivors and their families.
Breast cancer is rising among younger women
Although breast cancer remains far more common in older women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that incidence among women younger than 45 increased an average of 0.7% annually between 2001 and 2022.
More than 27,000 women under 45 were diagnosed with breast cancer nationwide in 2022, according to the CDC.
For Mihok, the statistics reflect something she experienced firsthand: Being young can make breast cancer seem unlikely, even when symptoms are present.
“Being young can sometimes make people assume cancer isn’t a possibility, and that was certainly part of my experience,” she told the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition.
Her diagnosis changed the direction of her life almost immediately.
“I went from being a 25-year-old young adult living her life to having what seemed like daily appointments, testing, surgery, and then six months of chemotherapy,” Mihok said.
Instead of concentrating on her career, relationships and plans for a family, she faced difficult questions about whether she would ever have children.
Cancer threatens plans for motherhood
For younger breast cancer patients, treatment may involve decisions extending well beyond fighting the disease.
Mihok had to consider how surgery would change her body, how cancer might affect relationships and whether chemotherapy would eliminate her chances of having children.
She consulted a fertility specialist but learned that preserving her eggs would involve out-of-pocket expenses and hormone treatments that raised concerns because of her aggressive, hormone-positive breast cancer.
“There were also things I had to think about at 25 that I never expected to face, including my fertility,” she said.
The experience illustrates another challenge facing younger patients: Cancer treatment can affect reproductive options at an age when many women have not yet decided whether to start a family.
Women facing treatment that could affect fertility are encouraged to discuss preservation options with their medical team before treatment begins.
For Mihok, motherhood eventually became a reality.
At 35, she became pregnant without fertility treatment and gave birth to her daughter, Jacey.
But two years later, cancer returned to her life.
A second diagnosis brings a different fear
Mihok was diagnosed with breast cancer again when her daughter was just 2 years old.
According to her account, the second diagnosis was not a recurrence of her original cancer but a new breast cancer.
This time, her greatest concern had changed.
At 25, she had worried that cancer might prevent her from becoming a mother. Now she feared her daughter might grow up without one.
The two diagnoses, occurring at dramatically different stages of her life, gave Mihok a personal understanding of how cancer affects patients and their families long after the initial diagnosis.
Today, her daughter is 10, and Mihok credits her husband, family and friends for providing the support she needed throughout her treatment and recovery.
Support for Delaware’s younger survivors
Mihok participates in the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition’s Young Survivors in Action program, which addresses the concerns of women diagnosed with breast cancer at younger ages.
The program offers education, wellness activities and opportunities to connect with other survivors. Activities focus on physical recovery, emotional well-being and adjusting to life during and after treatment.
Mihok’s experience also reinforces an important distinction between routine cancer screening and evaluating an actual symptom.
The American Cancer Society recommends that women at average risk have the option of beginning annual mammograms at age 40, with annual screening recommended beginning at 45. Women at higher risk may need screening earlier.
But a new breast lump or other concerning change should be evaluated regardless of age. Being too young for routine mammograms does not mean being too young to develop breast cancer.
Turning survival into support for others
For Mihok, Sunday’s Deer Park Goes Pink event represents far more than a race.
It brings together survivors, caregivers, families and supporters while raising money for breast cancer education and survivor services in Delaware.
“I come back every year because this event means something very personal to me,” she said.
“Being surrounded by this community reminds me how many people are willing to stand beside you, whether you are currently going through treatment, a survivor, a caregiver, or someone who has lost a loved one.”
Her message to other women is rooted in the uncertainty she experienced at 25: Pay attention to changes in your health, ask questions and advocate for yourself when something does not seem right.
And while breast cancer changed her life twice, she refuses to let it become the only thing that defines her.
“Cancer became part of my story, but it did not get to define my whole story.”
TO-GO BOX | Join Deer Park Goes Pink this Sunday
10th annual Deer Park Goes Pink 5K
When: Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, at 9 a.m.
Where: Deer Park Tavern, 108 W. Main St., Newark.
What: A 5K run/walk, untimed 1-mile walk and post-race celebration benefiting the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition.
Registration: $35 plus fees through Saturday, Oct. 24. Registration increases to $40 plus fees on race day.
Not running? A post-race celebration pass is available for $20 plus fees. Organizers also accept donations.
Beneficiary: Organizers say 100% of event proceeds benefit the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition.
State lawmaker helped establish program later directed by her husband, highlighting the importance of public disclosure, accountability and financial transparency
By George D. Rotsch, Delaware LIVE
DOVER, Del. — A Delaware lawmaker’s role in helping establish a state-sponsored retirement savings program that later employed her husband raises questions about transparency in government hiring, financial oversight and the safeguards intended to maintain public confidence in state decisions.
State Rep. Krista Griffith, D-, was among the co-sponsors of House Bill 205, the legislation that created Delaware EARNS, a retirement savings program designed to help private-sector workers who lack access to employer-sponsored retirement plans.
The legislation, primarily sponsored by Rep. Larry Lambert, D-Claymont, passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law by Gov. John Carney in August 2022.
The law authorized the creation of the program, including a paid leadership position responsible for overseeing its implementation.
Griffith’s husband, Ted Griffith, subsequently became the first director of Delaware EARNS, a position within the Office of the State Treasurer.
There is no evidence presented in the research reviewed by Delaware LIVE that Rep. Griffith improperly influenced her husband’s hiring or that either violated state ethics requirements.
However, the relationship presents a legitimate public-interest question: What hiring, disclosure and oversight procedures were followed, and how can Delawareans independently verify that decisions involving public employment and taxpayer funding were handled appropriately?
A program intended to help Delaware workers
Delaware EARNS was established to address a significant gap in retirement savings opportunities.
State officials estimated that nearly 150,000 Delaware workers lacked access to retirement plans through their employers when the program was authorized.
EARNS allows eligible workers to contribute to individual retirement accounts through payroll deductions, even when their employers do not offer a traditional retirement plan.
Employers facilitate participation, while workers control their own contributions and may opt out.
State Treasurer Colleen Davis championed the legislation as a way to expand retirement security while reducing the administrative burden on small businesses.
The program has reported measurable progress. In April 2026, the Treasurer’s Office announced that EARNS participants had accumulated $10 million in retirement assets.
Those savings belong to participating workers and should not be confused with taxpayer appropriations used to establish and administer the program.
A qualified director, but questions about the process
Ted Griffith came to Delaware EARNS with significant experience in financial services.
According to his official Treasury biography, he is a certified financial planner who spent 16 years at Vanguard, including work as a financial adviser overseeing approximately $100 million in client assets.
He also held responsibilities in marketing and financial communications.
Those credentials are relevant to evaluating his qualifications for leading a retirement savings program.
The separate question is how Delaware selected him for the position.
Publicly available information reviewed for this story identifies Griffith as program director but does not establish the complete recruitment and selection process, including how widely the position was advertised, how many applicants were considered or who made the final hiring decision.
Those details would help determine whether the hiring followed a competitive, documented process consistent with state requirements.
Transparency would also help protect the reputation of a qualified public employee by allowing the process to be judged on facts rather than assumptions about family relationships.
Taxpayer funding adds another accountability issue
The original fiscal analysis for Delaware EARNS projected approximately $1.1 million in government implementation expenses over three fiscal years.
Those estimated costs included funding for a full-time program director as well as other administrative expenses.
Actual spending and appropriations must be distinguished from those initial projections.
The question of public funding is particularly relevant because Rep. Griffith subsequently served on the General Assembly’s Joint Finance Committee, which plays a central role in developing Delaware’s annual operating budget.
A review of legislative and budget records could establish whether Griffith participated in decisions that specifically affected EARNS staffing, compensation or administrative funding after her husband became director.
Such participation would not automatically establish an ethics violation. Legislative budget votes frequently involve departments employing relatives of lawmakers.
The more relevant questions are whether any decisions directly affected a household financial interest, whether state ethics requirements applied and whether appropriate disclosures or other safeguards were observed.
These are questions that can be resolved through legislative records, personnel documentation and applicable ethics guidance.
Outside consultants and financial oversight
The transparency questions extend beyond the hiring of the program director.
During implementation, the Treasurer’s Office selected AKF Consulting Group to help develop and administer EARNS.
According to Treasury records cited in the research report, AKF was the only qualified consultant to submit a proposal in response to the state’s request for proposals.
An evaluation committee reviewed the submission and unanimously recommended the firm.
A procurement process that attracts only one qualified bidder is not necessarily improper. However, it makes documentation of the selection process, contract costs and performance particularly important.
AKF subsequently assisted Delaware in evaluating opportunities to cooperate with other state-sponsored retirement programs.
In December 2023, Delaware joined the Partnership for a Dignified Retirement, an interstate arrangement involving Colorado and Maine.
State officials said the partnership would reduce startup costs, accelerate implementation and provide economies of scale.
The arrangement uses Vestwell, working with BNY Mellon, to provide retirement program administration and related services.
The public-interest questions are whether those projected savings have materialized, what fees Delaware and participating workers are paying, and how the state evaluates the performance of its vendors.
These questions concern the management of public programs and retirement services rather than any demonstrated wrongdoing by the program’s employees or contractors.
Who is responsible for oversight?
Delaware EARNS was initially overseen by a seven-member board responsible for implementation, vendor relationships, investment oversight and administration.
On Jan. 1, 2026, those responsibilities transferred to the Delaware Plans Management Board, which oversees other state-sponsored savings and investment programs.
The board’s publicly posted meeting materials include EARNS business reports, creating opportunities for public review of the program’s activities.
Still, important questions remain about how easily taxpayers can obtain information concerning hiring decisions, administrative expenses, consulting contracts, vendor performance and potential conflicts of interest.
The distinction matters.
Public disclosure requirements are intended not simply to identify wrongdoing after it occurs but also to help prevent conflicts, promote accountability and give residents confidence that government decisions serve the public interest.
Transparency should not require allegations of misconduct
Family relationships involving elected officials and government employees are not inherently improper.
Delaware’s relatively small political and professional community makes such relationships particularly relevant to public confidence.
The challenge for government is to ensure that hiring, contracting and funding decisions are made through established procedures, with appropriate safeguards when personal or family interests may be involved.
In the case of Delaware EARNS, records documenting the director’s selection, applicable ethics guidance and subsequent legislative funding decisions could help resolve questions without relying on speculation.
The same standards should apply regardless of political party, elected office or the perceived merits of a particular government program.
Delaware EARNS was created to provide retirement opportunities for workers who lacked them. Its reported growth offers evidence that the program is serving that purpose.
Public confidence in those accomplishments would be strengthened by clear documentation showing how the program was staffed, funded and managed.
The broader issue is not whether a legislator’s spouse should be disqualified from public employment.
It is whether Delaware’s government provides enough transparency for citizens to know that employment decisions, taxpayer expenditures and public contracts are handled fairly, independently and in the public interest.
TO GO: Delaware EARNS and government transparency
What is Delaware EARNS? A state-facilitated retirement savings program for workers whose employers do not offer qualifying retirement plans.
Who created it? House Bill 205, primarily sponsored by Rep. Larry Lambert with bipartisan support, became law in August 2022. Rep. Krista Griffith was a co-sponsor.
What raises questions? Griffith’s husband, Ted Griffith, subsequently became the program’s first director. His hiring process and any relevant legislative funding decisions warrant examination.
Has wrongdoing been established? No. The research reviewed does not establish improper hiring, unlawful conduct or an ethics violation.
What deserves greater transparency? Hiring procedures, compensation, state funding, potential conflicts of interest, vendor contracts and program performance.
Washington, DC — The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s emergency request to immediately enforce restrictions on medical care for transgender people in federal prisons, leaving a lower-court injunction in place while litigation continues.
The policy, issued by the Bureau of Prisons in February, would halt hormone therapy, surgeries and certain accommodations intended to align an inmate’s appearance with their gender identity. Federal prisons have provided hormone treatment for gender dysphoria since at least 1992.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth blocked the restrictions in June, finding the Bureau of Prisons likely acted unlawfully by disregarding its own prior evidence and experience. He wrote that officials appeared to have “reverse engineered” the policy to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting federal recognition of transgender identity.
The Supreme Court gave no explanation for denying the administration’s request, which is common in emergency cases. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito publicly dissented.
The lawsuit was brought by three transgender prisoners and is proceeding as a class action. Reuters reported that the ruling affects roughly 1,000 inmates covered by the litigation.
The decision is a notable setback for Trump’s broader effort to restrict transgender rights. The court has previously allowed his transgender military ban to take effect and upheld several state-level restrictions affecting transgender people.
France’s riots and mounting debt reveal a country in disarray ahead of pivotal presidential electionExpert commentLToremark
France’s violent protests put further pressure on Macron’s already weak government, give Marine Le Pen fresh political ammunition – and offer a stark warning for Europe.
Only three weeks after the peaceful celebration of Pope Leo XIV’s visit, France offered an altogether different spectacle over the weekend: burning cars, looted shops, violent clashes with police and the historic town hall of Limoges engulfed in flames.
The contrast between the two events is stark. But they may both point to something deeper: a profoundly divided society, facing a crisis of self-confidence, hoping to recover a sense of direction and purpose. Beneath France’s political anger lies an anxiety about the future, in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms and faceless technology.
Although this anxiety is not unique to the country, the timing is particularly bad for France.
A hijacked social protest
It all started with high-school students protesting deteriorating teaching conditions and staff shortages. University students soon joined them, followed by trade unions and veterans of the ‘yellow vests’ movement, as grievances expanded to encompass living costs and declining public services.
By 17 October, some 550,000 people had demonstrated, according to the ministry of the interior; organizers claimed 800,000. In any case, it was one of the largest mobilizations since protests against the government’s pension reform bill in 2023, which has since been dropped.
Most participants protested peacefully, although some young demonstrators were severely injured in clashes with police. Their demands were also quickly overshadowed by rioters who looted shops, attacked police officers and set public buildings alight. The French government imposed a curfew in the most sensitive districts of Paris and other major cities, bracing for further escalation this coming weekend.
Such violence is hardly unique to France. Milan also suffered protests and looting last weekend, and the Italian government has just passed new anti-riot laws. Britain too experienced widespread rioting as recently as the summer of 2024. But the timing is exceptionally damaging for France. Its public debt is approaching 119 per cent of GDP, while weak growth, a persistently high deficit (the fourth highest in the eurozone) and soaring borrowing costs have placed France’s public finances under mounting pressure (it has been subject of an excessive deficit procedure by the European Commission since 2024). Meanwhile, the parliamentary stalemate that followed President Emmanuel Macron’s ill-fated decision to dissolve the National Assembly in 2024 has made it almost impossible to restore financial discipline and has pushed France to the brink.
With the public purse under such strain and the destruction caused by the riots projected to exceed €1.2 billion, the question of who will eventually foot the bill is politically extremely sensitive. A new riot insurance scheme, planned for 2027, could push up premiums for small shopkeepers. For those whose premises have been vandalized or looted, being made to shoulder the cost of public disorder (and criminal behaviour) risks deepening the sense of injustice and resentment that has helped fuel social unrest.
The images of disorder reinforce the impression of anarchy and a country without a clear political direction – if not a failing state. They spurred a bond sell-off, heightening pressure on the French debt even further. This could be seen by malign foreign powers as an opportunity for destabilization, although there is no clear established evidence at this stage that external actors interfered and fuelled the unrest. But former prime minister and presidential candidate Gabriel Attal’s proposal to allow temporary restrictions on social media platforms during riots illustrates the growing concern over their capacity to amplify violence and threaten public order. The Italian defence minister went a step further, openly declaring that the Milan riots were the result of a ‘hybrid war against the West’ waged via ‘TikTok, social media and YouTube’.
France’s political centre no longer holds
With the 2027 presidential election only six months away, the political stakes couldn’t be higher. Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, has already used the violence to strengthen her discourse on law and order, while hard-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has sought to capitalize on the social anger to denounce institutionalized police violence and rally the left-leaning electorate. Their political projects differ profoundly, but both are taking advantage of the dissatisfaction with a political centre that has struggled to demonstrate that it can still deliver – or hold at all. In polls, the two leaders are still the favourites to reach the second round of the presidential election.
It is difficult to address France’s current predicament without drawing a parallel with Europe’s other major economy, Germany. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which won 20.8 per cent in the 2025 federal election, now polls at roughly 28–30 per cent. Germany, of course, has seen nothing comparable to France’s weekend of rioting, and the sources of discontent are not identical. Anger mostly stems from a deterioration of Germany’s industrial model in the face of rising energy costs, more restricted expert markets and growing competition from China, alongside disputes over immigration and the feeling of a loss of identity. But the French and the Germans are asking the same question: can established political parties still protect living standards and offer a credible future? The success of the National Rally and the AfD suggest they don’t think so.
These are signs of a broader European socio-political crisis, further highlighted by recent protests in several European countries. For decades, the continent’s social bargain rested on the expectation of growing prosperity, economic security and a better life for one’s children. That expectation has clearly weakened just as Europe faces intensified global competition and the prospect of AI transforming entire professions for which young people have spent years preparing. The sense of social demotion and purposelessness is becoming personal. France offers a graphic warning of the political risks when such anxiety isn’t properly addressed by governments, constrained by an ever-shrinking fiscal space.
But the risks are high for the European Union (EU) too. As political anger directed at national governments grows, pressure on EU institutions and the compromises on which European cooperation depends will likely mount as well. Le Pen has confirmed that she wouldn’t fear a confrontation with Brussels over the EU budget if elected president. And the AfD has repeatedly called for an end to the support for Ukraine, a reset of Germany’s relations with Russia and the normalization of economic relations with Moscow, especially on gas imports. At a moment when Europe needs to show a united front to bolster its defence, deter Russia and revive its competitiveness, further political fragmentation in Paris and Berlin would severely undermine the continent’s resilience.
During the May 1968 riots in France, Prime Minister Georges Pompidou was asked by journalists to summarize the mindset of President Charles de Gaulle. His reply: ‘reform yes, chaos no’. With only six months to go before his decade in power comes to an end, President Macron has little time left to ensure that his legacy won’t be summed up by the opposite: reform no, chaos yes.
Miami, FL — Families and immigration advocates say severely ill detainees held at two Florida ICE facilities are being prepared for deportation to African countries where they have no ties, despite serious medical conditions that have already complicated efforts to remove them elsewhere.
Among them is 41-year-old Cuban national Noslén Sendra, who suffers from uncontrolled diabetes and acute pancreatitis and has reportedly lost more than 50 pounds while detained. His wife says Mexico refused to accept him because of his medical needs, after which immigration officials told him he could instead be sent to Africa.
Advocates say deportation flights to the Central African Republic and Burundi could leave as early as this week. They warn that detainees with diabetes, heart conditions and other illnesses face heightened risks during flights lasting up to 24 hours, particularly if access to medication, food or medical treatment is limited.
Conditions at Miami’s Krome North Processing Center have already drawn federal scrutiny. An unannounced government inspection found 1,102 detainees packed into a facility designed for 882, along with insufficient toilets, showers and sinks.
The Trump administration has increasingly deported migrants to third countries when their home nations will not accept them. Human Rights Watch recently documented cases in which people transferred to African nations subsequently faced arbitrary detention, persecution or abuse.
DHS did not provide a substantive response about Sendra’s case.
Delaware quarterback Nick Minicucci dives into the endzone for his lone rushing touchdown against Missouri State. Photo credit: Dave Reeder
Senior quarterback, Nick Minicucci, returned from a two game absence to lead the Fightin’ Blue Hens (3-4, 1-2 CUSA) to a 61-38 win over the Missouri State Bears (2-5, 1-2 CUSA) at home on October 20.
NEWARK, DE — Senior quarterback Nick Minicucci stood behind center Steven Demboski along the numbers near the Blue Hen sideline. Minicucci practiced receiving the snap from the Blue Hens’ starting center while the offense waited for the media timeout to end. A typical pre-drive exercise for a quarterback getting ready to take the field. Minicucci was set to return.
Minicucci led the offense out to the field for their first drive and officially returned after a two game absence. The Blue Hens’ explosive offense returned with him.
The University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens defeated the Missouri State Bears, 61-38, Tuesday night, earning their first Conference USA (CUSA) win of the season in dominant fashion against their fellow sophomore CUSA member.
“Personally, I was not going to let anyone tell me I couldn’t play, so I was going to do anything possible to get back,” Minicucci said. “I mean I was waking up at 3:30 in the morning to go head over to Star Campus for an hour every morning … I lived in the training room.”
UD’s signal caller had a slow start in his first on-field reps since leaving Delaware’s final non-conference game against Virginia in the second quarter.
Minicucci attempted only two passes on the Blue Hens’ first drive and threw a pick-six on the Blue Hens’ second that resulted in a touchdown for Bears safety J.J. O’Neal. Missouri State led 14-7 after the interception late in the first quarter, but Minicucci was spectacular from then on.
Minicucci and the Delaware offense bounced back from the turnover to score on their next drive via a six-yard touchdown pass to Bryson Graves. UD’s defense forced a three and out on Missouri State’s ensuing possession — the only three and out of the half — and returned possession back to the Delaware offense. Minicucci connected with sophomore tight end Scott Moore for a 26-yard score over the middle of the field putting UD ahead in the middle of the second quarter.
“After the first drive, I think Nick really settled in and it was, you know, one of his better games to be honest,” head coach Ryan Carty said postgame.
Minicucci rolls out to his right looking for a receiver downfield. Photo Credit: Dave Reeder
The Bears tied the score on a 11-yard pitch and catch between starting quarterback Henry Belin IV and CUSA’s leading receiver, Isaiah Myers, but lost the lead on UD’s next offensive possession which ended in a 33-yard field goal by Tucker Smack.
Missouri State regained possession with a little over two minutes left in the first half and drove 78 yards down the field in eight plays to score before halftime. Belin and Myers connected once more for the go-ahead score, this time on a six-yard throw and catch.
The Bears led, 28-24, at halftime and Myers finished the first half with 148 receiving yards on nine catches. Myers finished the game with 11 catches and an FBS season high 242 receiving yards.
The game seemed poised to continue its back-and-forth nature after both teams scored on their opening possession of the second half. Minicucci found tight end Elijah Sessoms in the back of the endzone for a go-ahead score on UD’s second offensive drive and it seemed as though Missouri State would answer after driving into Delaware territory on the following possession.
Belin took the snap on second down and dropped back to pass. The fifth-year quarterback had little time to survey the field before he realized Delaware linebacker Jawarren Corbin was bearing down on him and, while trying to escape the sack, Belin fumbled the football. Sophomore defensive end Brandon Gorham scooped the ball up and returned it to the Bears’ four yard line before being tackled.
“[Defensive Coordinator Manny Rojas] knew they [were] gonna cut, and the A-gap would be wide open so we called an A-gap blitz and my luck, it came wide open,” Corbin said about the game changing play.
Minicucci ran the ball in for the score and UD earned its first double-digit lead of the night, 45-35, in the final five minutes of the third quarter.
Corbin’s play swung the momentum to the Blue Hen sideline and broke the shootout game flow both teams settled into. George Mullins continued the momentum shift with an interception on the Bears’ next drive which led to a Jo Silver three-yard touchdown run.
Sophomore safety George Mullins celebrates after earning his third interception of the season. Photo credit: Dave Reeder
Corbin earned an interception of his own on the Bears next drive wrapping up a career best day. Corbin finished the game with his first career interception, first career sack, first career forced fumble and a career high six tackles. Corbin started in place of the injured Colin Gallagher.
“It felt great,” Corbin said about his performance. “You never know when your name’s gonna get called and when my name got called, I just prayed that I’ll make the best of the opportunity.”
Corbin’s interception led to Minicucci’s fifth passing touchdown — a three-yard pass to senior Donovan Lewis — and completed Minicucci’s return to play. Freshman Tyler Bell relieved Minicucci with nine minutes remaining in the game and Delaware ahead, 58-35.
Minicucci finished the game with 225 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and a 69 percent completion percentage. Minicucci’s five passing touchdowns tied the program’s single game high — the last to throw five passing touchdowns in a game was Nolan Henderson in 2022 — and tied his personal career high with six total scores.
Minicucci also etched his name in the Blue Hen history books passing Rich Gannon on the program’s career passing yards list for sixth place all-time and moved into third place all-time in career passing touchdowns.
In addition to Minicucci’s prowess through the air, Delaware finished with a season high 232 rushing yards. Fifth year runner Jo Silver led the team with 101 rushing yards followed by 58 from fellow fifth year, Kaderris Roberts. Both players scored a touchdown in the game and helped take some of the pressure off Minicucci in his return.
“We have to be able to run the ball when we need to,” Carty said. “We’ve got to be able to set up those plays that we can get big ones on later on, and then we got to take some heat off of Nick, in particular when, you know, he’s coming back from injury. … And so it was really great to lean on those guys, and you know coach Rogers does a great job with those guys. The O-line, you know, blocked their butts off today and really worked together in unison.”
Fifth year running back Kaderris Roberts runs into the endzone scoring Delaware’s first touchdown of the game. Photo credit: Dave Reeder
UD finished the game with 482 total yards of offense and generated 13 explosive plays (passes of more than 15 yards and runs of more than ten) in CUSA’s highest scoring game since 2017.
“Really proud of the execution that we had today. We were so much more disciplined, so much more detail oriented. We were intent. Our sideline was better. Our passion was better. We played more connected. We believed in each other so much better than we did in the past couple weeks, and I think that’s hopefully the start of something that can give us some confidence going into next week,” Carty said.
The Blue Hens’ will play their next two conference games on the road starting with a game against Western Kentucky on Tuesday, October 27. They’ll follow that with a trip to Kennesaw, Georgia, to take on Kennesaw State before returning home on November 14, to play the FIU Panthers.
UD is two games behind Liberty for first place in the CUSA standings and have five conference games remaining. Delaware needs three more wins to be eligible for a bowl game.
This story was updated on October 22 to include the second picture of Nick Minicucci.
Las Vegas, NV — A new analysis of Nevada elections offers a stark reality check to years of claims from President Donald Trump and other Republicans that widespread voter fraud threatens American elections.
Researchers at UNLV’s Brookings Mountain West and Lincy Institute found just 11 documented election-fraud cases in Nevada between 2012 and 2021, a period covering 14 elections and approximately 8.5 million votes.
That works out to roughly one documented case for every 773,000 votes cast.
Ten of the 11 cases resulted in criminal convictions, demonstrating that isolated fraud does occur and can be prosecuted. But the numbers bear little resemblance to claims of systemic or election-changing fraud.
The findings are especially notable because researchers relied on data compiled by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which has spent years documenting election-fraud cases nationwide.
Only two Nevada cases over nearly three decades involved noncitizens. Four involved duplicate voting and five involved false registrations.
One of the most striking cases involved Donald Kirk Hartle, whose claim that someone had voted in his deceased wife’s name was promoted by Nevada Republicans after the 2020 election. Investigators ultimately determined Hartle himself had cast the ballot using his wife’s identity. He later pleaded guilty.
A separate Brookings analysis of Heritage’s nationwide database similarly found only tiny numbers of fraudulent votes across hundreds of millions of ballots, with none changing an election outcome.
Washington, DC — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that companies building massive data centers should provide financial “dividends” to surrounding communities as opposition grows over the projects’ electricity use, water consumption and potential impact on utility bills.
Trump said on Truth Social that companies have discovered financial payments can turn unpopular projects into locally supported developments. His administration has aggressively promoted new data center construction as part of its effort to expand U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure and compete with China.
The president also said new facilities should generate their own electricity and either sell or provide excess power to local grids, an effort aimed at preventing households from absorbing the massive new energy demand created by AI computing.
Data centers have increasingly encountered bipartisan resistance in communities concerned that taxpayers and utility customers could subsidize infrastructure benefiting some of the world’s wealthiest technology companies.
Congress has responded as well. The House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act 417-3 in September, which would require regulators to consider whether large electricity users should bear the costs of new generation and transmission infrastructure. A subsequent Senate vote received 57 votes but failed to reach the 60 needed to advance.
The debate is likely to intensify as Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and other companies spend billions expanding AI-related infrastructure nationwide.
A Ruidoso Fire Department station less than a half mile from the Riverview RV Park. The fire chief had for weeks declined requests from off-duty swiftwater technicians who wanted to be stationed in flood-prone areas, including one close to the RV park, before the waters hit.
The man was nearly to his waist in a flooded river and couldn’t get out. A firefighter and a police officer didn’t have enough rope or manpower to lift him onto the temporary flood barrier that separated them from the debris-strewn water. The man, Jere Stark, had just been carried a quarter mile by a torrential flood and was covered in mud and extremely cold.
It was around 3:30 p.m. on July 8, 2025, and a flood in Ruidoso, New Mexico, had unleashed chaos at Paradise Canyon Drive, just a couple hundred yards from the headquarters of the village fire department.
Not far from Stark, a woman huddled on the ground, shielded from the floodwaters by the temporary barrier. It was Stephanie Trotter, a tourist from El Paso, Texas, who had been washed away with her young daughter. A civilian tended to her while a second firefighter hauled in a rope he had used to rescue her. “Is somebody coming for her?” asked the civilian.
By that time, at least eight other firefighters were trying to save people upstream at the Riverview RV Park, where Trotter and Stark had been staying. But at the barrier where Stark was waiting for help, the two firefighters and one police officer were the only first responders. One of the firefighters wasn’t even wearing a personal flotation device — a basic safety measure for flood rescues.
They soon got help from civilians, including a property owner in shorts and flip-flops and a second passerby who both helped one of the firefighters haul Stark from the water with another rope.
Body-camera footage from a Ruidoso Police Department officer shows the moment that a civilian, Corey Sexton, and others pulled Jere Stark from the flood.Obtained by ProPublica
Trotter and two civilians told the police officer, Jimmy Hernandez, that her family was missing. Lost in the flood were her 4-year-old daughter, her 7-year-old son and her husband.
Hearing this, Hernandez radioed, “We need swiftwater rescue here.” But no additional swiftwater teams arrived for at least 25 minutes. Both children died, along with an adult man. Trotter’s husband, Sebastian, survived.
The shortage of firefighters at Paradise Canyon Drive illustrates larger problems with Ruidoso’s emergency response that day. Five rescuers involved in the effort said the village’s leadership had not given them enough training or dispatched enough of them in advance of the flooding to protect the community. Because of the flood’s strength, rescuers said, the best chance to save the Trotters’ children was before the water arrived, when they could have evacuated the area where the family was camping.
But they said the fire chief, Cade Hall, had for weeks resisted calls to station additional flood experts in low-lying areas when there was a threat of storms. Doing so would have required paying firefighters overtime. “The village’s mentality is, ‘We’ll have to pay for that, and what if nothing happens?’” said one rescuer in an interview earlier this year.
ProPublica reported that village leaders knew dangerous floods were likely because two intense 2024 wildfires had scarred the hillsides above town. Even moderate rain on severe burn scars can trigger post-fire floods and debris flows. But leaders seeking to encourage tourism scolded residents who warned of the danger on social media. We also examined what went wrong with the rescue itself, consulting with seven experts outside Ruidoso who have experience in emergency response including floods.
The Village of Ruidoso did not respond to detailed written questions about its emergency response, and it has not publicly released a report on rescue efforts during the flood. Reached by phone, Hall disputed ProPublica’s reporting but declined to provide specifics. Mayor Lynn Crawford has said protecting the village includes balancing public safety with tourism, the lifeblood of its economy.
The fire department employed nine swiftwater technicians trained to perform rescues in floodwater. But when forecasters issued a flash flood warning due to heavy rain, only a handful were working, along with four New Mexico National Guard technicians in vehicles capable of navigating floods. According to a spokesperson for the Guard, its members helped rescue nine people from the flood.
Two additional swiftwater teams had recently been in Ruidoso. But when the weather forecast for the area showed a slightly decreased chance of flash flooding in late June, the state’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management issued an order to send home the team from Las Cruces. One member of that team, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their employment, said, “We didn’t understand why we were being sent home.” The other swiftwater team, which was from Texas, left after deadly flooding hit Kerr County and surrounding regions in its home state.
A former incident commander for Cal Fire, California’s fire agency, said that the state shared responsibility for the inadequate emergency response on July 8 because of its decision to send home the Las Cruces team. “This should be a clarion call as to reevaluating their resource availability.”
Asked about the decision, a DHSEM spokesperson said in an email, “New Mexico was experiencing multiple flooding threats,” adding that the team needed to be available to respond elsewhere. According to the spokesperson, there are only about eight swiftwater teams in the state.
But the Las Cruces team was not deployed to another flood. Rather, it went home. “I could understand if we were sent somewhere else,” said the frustrated swiftwater technician.
This left Ruidoso’s firefighters to lead rescue operations in the village. But Hall had for weeks declined requests from off-duty swiftwater technicians who wanted to be stationed in flood-prone areas before the waters hit. One of those areas was close to the Riverview RV Park, where Stark and the Trotter family were staying.
Stephanie and Sebastian Trotter’s trailer was destroyed during the flooding at the Riverview RV Park.
Forty-five minutes before the downpour started, Crawford had stated in a council meeting that whenever the village was alerted to flooding, firefighters and public works employees would be at the ready: “Everybody is in position.”
Over the coming two hours, these words would prove false.
At 2:12 p.m. the National Weather Service sent out a flash flood warning. About 20 minutes later, Hall summoned all off-duty swiftwater technicians. At 2:38 p.m., a weather service hydrologist wrote in a message to emergency managers, “Water is Out of the Banks in the Rio Ruidoso at the County Line.” At 2:47 p.m., the warning was upgraded to a flash flood emergency. Still, internal fire department records show that Hall didn’t call in his full department until 3:10 p.m., 45 minutes after Ruidoso dispatchers recorded the first call for rescue related to the flood. It was too late for some: Before any firefighters could access the Riverview RV Park, Stephanie Trotter and her daughter were swept downstream.
Trotter and her husband, Sebastian, said they had no idea the town was in danger and didn’t receive the automated alerts sent by the National Weather Service. (They said they had not known about, or signed up for, text-message alerts created by the village.) During the hour before the flood reached them, first responders with loudspeakers drove through other parts of the community, telling people to seek high ground. But no officials with loudspeakers went to the Riverview RV Park, even though the area was known to flood and even though it sat just down the road from the primary fire station.
The village had another warning tool it did not use that day: sirens. During the 2024 fires, Ruidoso’s emergency manager, Eric Queller, had overseen the evacuation of thousands using the siren system. Since the flood, the village has claimed that using it could have put people in harm’s way by sending them onto roads covered with water.
The village had long planned to install additional sirens, including three that could instruct people to seek high ground during flooding, allowing a more orderly evacuation. But the new sirens were not yet operational by July 8. In an interview last year, Queller said that the disasters the community faced since 2024 had delayed the project.
Eric Queller, Ruidoso’s emergency manager, helped coordinate the area’s fire and flood response.
According to firefighters, the department’s flood response was also limited by an antiquated dispatch system. Fire departments typically use computer-aided dispatch systems. Ruidoso’s department didn’t have one. Firefighters say this shortfall preceded Hall, and that he had been in favor of acquiring a computer-aided dispatch system.
Experts say that without computer-aided dispatch, chiefs often rely on memory or notes. Radio channels can become clogged, adding to confusion. According to Ruidoso firefighters, the effect was acutely felt during chaotic situations.
Following Stark’s rescue, the first responders at Paradise Canyon Drive were overwhelmed, according to two civilians who were present and Hernandez’s body-camera footage. Trotter told Hernandez that her daughter was in the water, and that they had been in an RV. According to the property owner, Corey Sexton, he saw a child float past and alerted first responders. Hernandez told crews downstream to look for a child, but he also radioed that he thought the children were in an upstream trailer. (Hernandez and the police department did not respond to emailed questions. Reached by phone, the department’s deputy chief did not answer questions about the response.)
The two firefighters, listening to their radios, hustled to the upstream bridge, prepared rope and watched the water. Minutes later, a call came on the radio: two children were trapped in a house at the upstream RV park. Swiftwater technicians at the park waded in and saved them.
Swiftwater technicians at the Riverview RV Park saved two children trapped in this house.
During the crucial minutes immediately after the Trotters’ children were swept downstream, no one had clear information. According to multiple firefighters, the department briefly thought it had found all the missing children. Experts told ProPublica that such chaos and misinformation is common during disaster response. But the experts also said it can be mitigated by having good dispatch systems and adequate staffing.
Records show that Ruidoso firefighters fielded 34 emergency calls on July 8 once flooding started, and the department has stated it made more than 60 rescues.
Despite the deaths, first responders say the village’s leadership has not learned needed lessons and has continued to prioritize tourism at the expense of public safety.
By this summer the village had finally installed its voice-activated sirens and reversed its position on the standard ones: The village would now use them during floods.
Hall had planned for all firefighters to be trained as swiftwater technicians. But in February, the firefighters, many of whom worked second jobs to make ends meet, unionized. The department’s plans changed, with Hall sending firefighters to get a lower-level certification that limited their ability to perform rescues in rushing water.
In April, senior Ruidoso Fire Department officers held a meeting during which they discussed Hall’s leadership. ProPublica reviewed a recording of the gathering. An officer said Hall, who did not attend the meeting, still wouldn’t pre-position extra firefighters. “How many people are going to die?” the officer wondered aloud during the meeting.
Hall declined to respond to questions about the meeting and the allegation that he hadn’t pre-positioned enough firefighters to avoid paying overtime.
Once monsoons arrived this year, multiple rescuers say, Hall rarely stationed off-duty firefighters in vulnerable areas. Sometimes in the afternoons, when it was most likely to rain, multiple firefighters weren’t in town. To promote tourism, Ruidoso had signed a contract with Contour Airlines to provide flights between Denver and the village. During takeoffs and landings emergency medical workers had to be present at the airport, 17 miles from where Trotter and Stark were rescued.
Stephanie Trotter holds a bracelet on her husband’s wrist displaying their children’s initials. Their 4-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son died in the flooding.
Columbus, OH — Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is doubling down on a deeply personal attack against Democrat Amy Acton, spending $4 million to air an advertisement featuring her estranged mother despite widespread criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.
The ad features Donna Arthur calling her daughter a “liar” and disputing Acton’s longstanding account of a childhood marked by instability, homelessness and sexual abuse.
Acton has said she was sexually abused by her stepfather when she was around 12 and that her mother failed to protect her. Her brother, Philip Stearns, said their mother remained married to the man accused of abusing Acton even after the children were removed from the home.
Ramaswamy initially did not identify his campaign as the source of the viral video, but later acknowledged producing it. His campaign told Axios that internal testing showed the ad performing well with “persuadable” voters and is moving ahead with the multimillion-dollar buy despite the backlash.
Even conservative commentators have condemned the tactic. Mary Katharine Ham questioned how the campaign could expect the ad not to backfire, while Meghan McCain and other Republicans criticized the use of an estranged parent against a candidate.
A mid-October Marist poll showed Acton leading Ramaswamy 50% to 43% among likely Ohio voters.
Washington, DC — President Donald Trump’s clemency operation is facing renewed ethics scrutiny after a Venezuelan billionaire received a full pardon weeks after his family provided former Trump attorney Alina Habba with a contract guaranteeing her more than $50 million.
Julio Herrera Velutini had faced felony bribery charges before reaching an unusually lenient 2025 plea agreement for a misdemeanor campaign-finance violation. His family then pursued a pardon through Christopher Kise, another former Trump attorney.
Meanwhile, Herrera’s daughter, Isabela Herrera, donated $3.5 million to a Trump-aligned super PAC and pledged another $2.5 million toward Trump’s White House ballroom project.
Then came the Habba deal. The Herrera family offered Habba $10 million annually for four years plus bonuses through Concord Partners, a newly created company whose business activities remain unclear. Habba began working there Jan. 1 while also serving as an adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump pardoned Herrera weeks later.
Habba denies participating in the pardon effort and says her employment arrangement was disclosed and vetted by the Justice Department. The White House has also denied that political donations influenced the clemency decision.
The sequence nevertheless adds to broader scrutiny of Trump pardons involving wealthy defendants, political donors and individuals represented by lawyers or lobbyists with close ties to the president.
Park City, KS — President Donald Trump used the antisemitic term “Shylock” during a Kansas campaign rally Monday while defending Republican Sen. Roger Marshall against criticism over his past practice of suing patients for unpaid medical bills.
Trump complained that Democratic ads had portrayed Marshall as “some kind of a Shylock-type guy,” invoking the Jewish moneylender from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. The term has long been used as an antisemitic stereotype associating Jewish people with greed and predatory lending.
The Anti-Defamation League responded Tuesday by saying the term is “rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype” and can reinforce harmful tropes. Notably, its statement did not identify Trump by name.
Critics accused the organization of applying a softer standard to Trump than it has to other politicians. When Joe Biden used the same term in 2014, the ADL publicly addressed him by name and welcomed his apology.
Trump also falsely claimed Marshall had been legally required to pursue patients over unpaid bills. Kansas reporting found Marshall’s former medical practice sued more than 700 patients, with some ultimately arrested after failing to appear in court.
Trump used the same slur at an Iowa rally in 2025. At the time, he said he was unaware of its antisemitic meaning.
The Kansas appearance came as Marshall faces an unexpectedly competitive reelection challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton.
Washington, DC — Elon Musk personally ordered restrictions on a military-grade satellite network used by Ukraine, disrupting battlefield operations and setting off confusion inside the Trump administration over who authorized the move, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The slowdown capped connection speeds for Ukrainian equipment using SpaceX satellite technology, leaving numerous reconnaissance and combat drones unable to operate normally. Ukrainian officials said the restrictions endangered troops and weakened their ability to intercept Russian drones and conduct other battlefield missions.
The restrictions came amid escalating pressure from both Musk and President Donald Trump on Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil and diesel facilities. Trump has simultaneously eased economic pressure on Moscow, including waiving recently enacted sanctions and supporting increased Russian diesel sales.
Questions remain over who ultimately authorized the satellite restrictions. Musk publicly said the military-grade Starshield system is controlled by the U.S. government and that limitations are decided by the military and ultimately the president. Trump, however, later told reporters that neither he nor his administration ordered the disruption.
The Journal reported that SpaceX subsequently contacted White House officials seeking a coordinated explanation for the decision.
Ukraine continues to report restrictions on the system, underscoring its vulnerability to decisions made thousands of miles from the battlefield.
WILMINGTON, Del. — The YMCA of Delaware has received a $25,000 grant from the NBA Foundation to expand a workforce development program that has helped hundreds of Delaware teens and young adults prepare for jobs and careers.
The YMCA’s Workforce Development program serves people ages 16 to 24 through career training, paid internships, mentoring, financial literacy education and industry-recognized credentials.
Since the program began, the YMCA says it has trained 651 young people and helped place 562 participants in paid internships. The program reports an 86% internship placement rate.
“Young people across Delaware have the talent and determination to succeed. What they need are opportunities, practical skills, and caring adults who show up for them,” YMCA of Delaware President and CEO Jarrett Royster said.
“Through this investment in our Workforce Development program, the NBA Foundation is helping more young people build confidence, gain experience, and take the next step toward a brighter future.”
Participants receive training in communication, professionalism, workplace expectations, résumé development and interviewing before many move into paid internships.
The internships are intended to give participants hands-on experience while allowing them to develop relationships with professional mentors and potential employers.
YMCA officials said every graduate from the first year of the organization’s EVOLVE program secured either a new job or a raise.
EVOLVE serves as the YMCA’s credentialing and career advancement track. Through Delaware Technical Community College and other training partners, participants can pursue credentials in areas including certified nursing, early childhood education, forklift operation, fitness training and artificial intelligence.
The YMCA also cited an independent evaluation of its 2025 participants that found 94% demonstrated growth in self-management and 94% reported increased confidence in their schoolwork. Every participant showed growth in at least one core social and emotional skill area, according to the organization.
Blue Coats partnership expands beyond basketball
The grant also builds on an existing relationship between the YMCA and the Delaware Blue Coats, the Philadelphia 76ers’ NBA G League affiliate.
The organizations previously developed the YMCA Junior Blue Coats Developmental Basketball League, which serves more than 525 young athletes in five YMCA communities across New Castle County.
“The Delaware Blue Coats and the YMCA of Delaware share a deep commitment to youth opportunity across Delaware,” said Alex Yoh, vice president of business operations for the Delaware Blue Coats.
Yoh said the basketball league gives young people an opportunity to develop as athletes and leaders, while the YMCA’s workforce programs extend that work into career preparation.
“The Y’s Workforce Development and EVOLVE programs extend that same commitment into career readiness, equipping teens and young adults with the skills and resources they need to succeed,” Yoh said.
The NBA Foundation supports nonprofit organizations in NBA markets that focus on education, employment, career advancement and economic opportunity for young people from underserved communities.
The YMCA said the new funding will help it continue providing training, mentorship, work experience and career support to young Delawareans moving from school into the workforce.
To Go
What: YMCA of Delaware Workforce Development program
Who: Delaware teens and young adults ages 16 to 24
What it offers: Career training, paid internships, mentorship, financial literacy education and industry-recognized credentials
Career pathways: Programs include certified nursing, early childhood education, forklift operation, fitness training and artificial intelligence
Learn more: Visit the YMCA of Delaware website for information about Workforce Development and EVOLVE programs.
Washington, DC — The Trump administration is giving pro-Trump YouTuber Nick Shirley a $10,000 government payment for his fraud-related videos, further blurring the line between independent journalism and political advocacy.
Shirley will become the first recipient of a new Justice Department Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, which promises rewards of up to $30,000 for tips producing convictions or significant enforcement actions.
The White House credits Shirley’s viral Minnesota daycare video with helping expose fraud. But major fraud investigations in Minnesota were already underway before his video, including the $250 million Feeding Our Future case.
Shirley’s reporting methods have also repeatedly drawn scrutiny. His videos rely heavily on confrontational encounters, selective footage and dramatic editing, while presenting suspicions as evidence of broader wrongdoing. Minnesota inspectors later found the daycare centers highlighted in his viral video generally operating normally, undermining the sweeping impression that they were simply fake businesses collecting government money.
Shirley also has a documented record of spreading inaccurate claims. AFP previously debunked his assertion that more than 30 people were illegally registered to vote at a San Diego UPS store. The address actually included a 34-unit apartment complex, and election officials found nobody registered to the store itself.
The payment comes after the Trump White House repeatedly promoted Shirley, invited him to administration events and used his videos to support its political messaging and policy actions.
That relationship raises an obvious question about how meaningfully Shirley can continue presenting himself as an independent journalist while receiving money and extraordinary access from the administration he overwhelmingly supports.
Columbus, OH — A pro-Vivek Ramaswamy attack ad featuring Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton’s estranged mother has triggered rare bipartisan outrage, with critics accusing Ramaswamy’s allies of exploiting Acton’s childhood abuse for political gain.
The video features Donna Arthur calling her daughter a “liar” and disputing Acton’s longtime account that her family lived in a tent during part of her childhood. But the ad omits key context: Acton has said she was sexually abused as a child by Arthur’s husband, who was criminally charged, and that she became estranged from her mother after being removed from the home.
Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, said Arthur remained married to the man accused of abusing his sister until his death. He accused Ramaswamy of turning that trauma into a campaign weapon and called the attack a “despicable low.”
Even prominent conservatives recoiled. Republican strategist Liz Mair called the ad “terrible,” commentator Mary Katharine Ham said it appeared likely to backfire, and Reason’s Robby Soave described it as “sick stuff.”
It remains unclear who produced or paid for the video, and there is no verified evidence that Ramaswamy’s campaign directly commissioned it. His campaign had not publicly addressed the controversy when the reports were published.
Acton’s account of her childhood, including living in a tent, was publicly documented years before she ran for governor.
From savory soups and pumpkin French toast to handmade ice cream and seasonal coffee drinks, Delaware restaurants and bakeries offer plenty of ways to taste autumn.
Oct. 20, 2026
HOCKESSIN, Del. — Pumpkin season in Delaware is about more than carving jack-o’-lanterns and decorating front porches. Across the First State, restaurants, bakeries and ice cream shops are finding creative ways to bring one of fall’s favorite flavors to the table.
Some have made pumpkin a signature dish, while others introduce seasonal treats that disappear when autumn ends.
From a longstanding Hockessin soup to pumpkin-flavored ice cream at the beaches, here are 10 Delaware destinations worth considering this fall. Several offerings are listed on current menus, while others are documented seasonal favorites whose return should be confirmed before visiting.
1. Pumpkin mushroom soup at the Back Burner Restaurant & Tavern — Hockessin
Few pumpkin dishes in Delaware have the staying power of Back Burner’s signature pumpkin mushroom soup. Unlike most seasonal offerings, this Hockessin favorite remains on the menu throughout the year.
The creamy soup combines pumpkin and mushrooms, finished with crème fraîche, croutons and chives. Its popularity has made it a defining dish at the restaurant, attracting customers who return specifically for the soup.
The restaurant’s published menu lists the soup at $10 for a cup and $12 for a bowl. It also is available for takeout, making it an easy fall meal to enjoy at home.
2. Pumpkin crab bisque at Big Fish Grill — Rehoboth Beach
Big Fish Grill has developed a following for its seasonal pumpkin crab bisque, combining the flavor of fall squash with one of Delaware’s best-known seafood ingredients.
The bisque has appeared on past restaurant menus and holiday catering offerings, including a Thanksgiving menu that offered larger quantities for customers to take home.
Its combination of pumpkin and crab has attracted enough attention that regional dining guides have highlighted the soup as a seasonal favorite.
The restaurant’s current website does not establish whether the bisque has returned for October 2026, so diners should call to confirm its availability.
3. Pumpkin pie cold brew at the Station on Kings — Lewes
The Station on Kings offers a fall twist on coffee with a pumpkin pie cold brew listed on its online ordering menu.
The drink combines cold brew coffee, house-made pumpkin syrup, cinnamon cold foam and Biscoff cookie crumbles. The online menu lists it at $8.
The café has previously offered a pumpkin pecan torte with layers of pecan cake, caramel crémeux and pumpkin Bavarian cream, although that pastry could not be confirmed on the current menu.
With its café, pastry offerings and garden-center atmosphere, The Station provides a pleasant stop for visitors exploring Lewes during the fall.
4. Pumpkin pie praline French toast at Egg — Rehoboth Beach
For breakfast lovers, Egg offers one of the more creative ways to enjoy pumpkin without waiting for dessert.
Its pumpkin pie praline French toast combines pumpkin custard-soaked French toast with a pecan topping, bringing together traditional breakfast ingredients and the flavors of pumpkin pie.
The dish appears on the restaurant’s published menu at $17, making it one of the more clearly documented pumpkin offerings at the beaches.
Egg has also featured fall-inspired cocktails in previous seasons, although those selections may change.
5. Pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll at Bing’s Bakery — Newark
Delaware’s oldest continuously operating bakery keeps pumpkin season traditional.
Bing’s Bakery in Newark offers a classic 9-inch pumpkin pie and a pumpkin roll filled with cream cheese icing. The bakery’s website currently lists the pie at $17.95 and the pumpkin roll at $20.
Both products are advertised as available through Thanksgiving, giving customers an opportunity to bring familiar seasonal desserts to family gatherings.
For those who prefer traditional baked goods over pumpkin-flavored drinks, Bing’s provides a dependable choice.
6. Pumpkin bars and seasonal pastries at Dolcé Bakery and Coffee Shop — Milford
In downtown Milford, Dolcé Bakery and Coffee Shop has a history of preparing pumpkin bars and pumpkin rolls alongside its selection of fresh pastries.
Older published menus identify both pumpkin specialties, although the bakery’s current online menu does not specifically confirm that they are available this fall.
The downtown café offers coffee, pastries and a casual atmosphere for visitors exploring Milford’s shops and businesses.
Customers looking for the pumpkin bars should contact the bakery before visiting.
Spark’d Creative Pastry + Coffee brings pumpkin season to downtown Wilmington through its fall beverage menu.
At its I.M. Pei Building location on Market Street, the shop lists a pumpkin spice latte available hot or iced. Customers can also add pumpkin cold foam to customize their beverages.
The current online ordering menu lists the seasonal latte starting at $5.50.
While Spark’d is known for its creative pastry selection, specific pumpkin pies and cheesecakes mentioned in earlier descriptions could not be confirmed on its current online menu.
8. Pumpkin pie ice cream at Hopkins Farm Creamery — Lewes
Hopkins Farm Creamery offers a distinctly Delaware approach to pumpkin season by combining locally produced dairy products with traditional fall flavors.
The creamery has offered pumpkin pie ice cream as part of its seasonal selection, a flavor documented in regional tourism and restaurant coverage.
Located on Dairy Farm Road, the family dairy operation makes its own ice cream and offers visitors a chance to enjoy a frozen dessert in a farm setting.
The pumpkin pie flavor is historically documented, but its availability for October 2026 has not been confirmed on the creamery’s current website. Its telephone number provides recorded information rather than live customer service.
9. Small-batch pumpkin ice cream at Marigold Creamery — Lewes
One of the clearest current pumpkin finds at the beaches comes from Marigold Creamery, a small-batch ice cream business operating from a truck in the parking lot at The Station on Kings.
Its published flavor list includes pumpkin ice cream, offering another way to experience fall without ordering a traditional pie or pastry.
Marigold’s website lists Oct. 23-25 as its final operating weekend of the 2026 season, giving pumpkin lovers a limited opportunity to visit before the business closes for the year.
Customers interested in purchasing pints can preorder by email, subject to availability and confirmation from the creamery.
10. Fall treats, cider doughnuts and pumpkin picking af Fifer Orchards — Camden-Wyoming
For families who want to experience pumpkin season beyond the restaurant table, Fifer Orchards offers a combination of farm activities and seasonal foods.
The farm’s 2026 Fall Festival runs from Sept. 19 through Nov. 7, with pumpkin picking, a corn maze and seasonal attractions.
Visitors can also enjoy the farm’s apple cider doughnuts, kettle corn, cider and other treats.
Although Fifer’s has been associated with pumpkin desserts, its current website does not specifically confirm pumpkin pies or pumpkin rolls. The cider doughnuts and fall activities, however, are advertised as part of the seasonal experience.
It’s an option for visitors who want to make a day of autumn rather than simply stop for a meal.
Delaware’s autumn food scene offers something for almost every preference, from savory soups and seafood bisques to traditional bakery desserts and small-batch ice cream.
The advantage of living in a small state is that many of these destinations can become part of a fall day trip, whether that means breakfast at the beach, dessert in Newark or a stop at a Kent County farm.
The 10 spots were selected from restaurant reviews on respected apps, local visitor guides (including Visit Delaware and Visit Rehoboth), Delaware Today and Delaware Online coverage, and restaurant write-ups that specifically praised particular pumpkin dishes. Priority went to items with the strongest reputations—such as cult-following soups, year-round staples, and standout pastries—while also aiming for geographic variety across the state and a mix of savory, breakfast, and dessert options rather than only basic lattes or generic pies. The ranking reflects the depth of that local praise, not a formal tasting or poll.
Editos’s note: Because seasonal menus and supplies change, customers should confirm that a particular pumpkin item is available before making a special trip.
To Go: Delaware’s pumpkin favorites
What: Ten Delaware restaurants, bakeries, creameries and farm destinations offering or historically known for pumpkin-inspired fall favorites.
Selection: Items were selected based on an analysis of reviews, customer comments and travel posts on several respected websites… the process identifies strength reputation over a poll or taste test.
When: October and early November, depending on the business and seasonal availability.
Where: Hockessin, Wilmington, Newark, Milford, Camden-Wyoming, Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.
Cost: Varies by location and menu item.
Learn more: Visit the business websites listed above for menus, ordering information, hours and seasonal updates.
Charlotte, NC — Five Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers have resigned and a sixth remains suspended after an internal investigation uncovered alleged racist text messages, prompting the police chief to request an FBI civil rights investigation.
Chief Estella Patterson said the messages surfaced during a separate inquiry into misuse of the department’s Flock camera system. She described the communications as “deeply troubling” and said the discovery triggered reviews of the officers’ body-camera footage and arrest records.
Local reporting indicates the messages included racist slurs, including alleged use of the N-word, and one exchange reportedly compared the group to a “clan rally,” an apparent reference to the Ku Klux Klan.
The five officers who resigned were Mateo Juarez, Joseph Kelly, Tredan Maronic, Matthew Osborn and Alexander Larsen. Patterson had already recommended their termination. Officer Jeremiah Todman remains suspended while his case proceeds through a civil service review.
Patterson said she also intends to seek revocation of the officers’ state law-enforcement certifications.
The chief acknowledged concerns about whether the conduct reflects a broader problem within the department and said CMPD will continue auditing officers’ interactions with the public.
No officers have been criminally charged in connection with the text messages.
Washington, DC — A former Trump White House official is warning about the possibility of Stephen Miller becoming President Donald Trump’s next chief of staff amid renewed speculation about Susie Wiles’ future in the administration.
Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy White House press secretary during Trump’s first term, described the prospect of Miller taking over as “terrifying,” pointing to his outsized influence over the administration’s immigration and domestic policies.
Miller currently serves as deputy chief of staff for policy and has been one of Trump’s closest advisers since his first presidency. He has played a central role in developing the administration’s hard-line immigration agenda, including mass deportation efforts.
Reports last week said Trump had privately discussed possible replacements for Wiles, with Miller among several names being floated. Other reported possibilities included Bill Pulte, Lee Zeldin and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Trump has publicly rejected the reports, saying there is “zero chance” he will replace Wiles and insisting she will remain chief of staff “for a long time.”
The speculation comes amid increased turmoil inside the White House ahead of the midterms, including the abrupt five-day tenure of press secretary Katie Zacharia and reports of growing internal competition for influence within Trump’s shrinking senior circle.
Wichita, KS — A 24-year-old Kansas man has been arrested and charged with threatening President Donald Trump after authorities say he posted multiple social media messages about shooting the president ahead of Trump’s visit to the Wichita area.
Federal prosecutors identified the suspect as Jaden J. Read of Clearwater, Kansas. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a Crime Stoppers tip alerted investigators to comments Read allegedly posted Oct. 15 beneath a KAKE News story about Trump’s planned Oct. 19 visit.
Prosecutors say one post stated, “Let’s shoot Trump honestly,” while another allegedly referenced recently obtaining a .308 firearm and ammunition.
Investigators later found additional comments beneath a KWCH report about Trump’s visit. One allegedly said, “Can we shoot him in Kansas please I will myself.” Another claimed to know where Trump’s speech would occur and referenced having “mapped out roofs around” the location.
Authorities arrested Read in Clearwater on Oct. 17, and he remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Kriegshauser said political violence and threats of violence will not be tolerated, while emphasizing that the First Amendment protects robust political disagreement but not criminal threats.
The Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Highway Patrol and Wichita Police Department participated in the investigation.
Washington, DC — President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 31%, the lowest level recorded for him during either of his presidential terms in Reuters/Ipsos polling, as Republicans head into the Nov. 3 midterms facing growing voter dissatisfaction over the economy.
The four-day poll found 31% of Americans approve of Trump’s performance, down one point from two weeks earlier.
The numbers are even more troubling for Republicans on the congressional ballot. Among registered voters, Democrats lead Republicans 47% to 35%, a 12-point advantage and the widest Democratic margin recorded by Reuters/Ipsos during the current election cycle. Two weeks earlier, Democrats led by seven points.
Women favored Democratic congressional candidates by an especially wide 50% to 32% margin. Men also favored Democrats, though by a smaller amount.
Economic dissatisfaction appears to be a major factor. Sixty-eight percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, including 37% of self-identified Republicans. Voters also preferred Democrats over Republicans on managing the economy, 40% to 33%.
Reuters noted that gasoline prices rose sharply following U.S. military strikes on Iran earlier this year, adding pressure to household budgets.
Generic congressional polling measures national sentiment and does not account for individual House and Senate races, where geography and district boundaries can significantly affect the final results.
Laredo, TX — A 56-year-old Dallas man who died Saturday after nearly four months in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody was a lawful permanent resident of the United States, ICE confirmed Monday.
Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, a Mexican citizen who had lived in Dallas for decades and raised three U.S.-born children, was found unconscious in his bed at the Rio Grande Processing Center. He was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later. His cause of death remains under investigation.
ICE detained Andrade-Covarrubias while he was returning from Mexico in June. The agency alleges he obtained his green card fraudulently by failing to disclose a 2004 theft arrest and had placed him in removal proceedings.
His daughter disputes that account, saying her father disclosed his criminal history during the application process and immigration officials nevertheless approved his permanent residency.
She also said her father suffered from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure and repeatedly complained of breathing problems and chest tightness while detained. According to his family, facility staff did not consistently provide his medications or adequately respond to his medical concerns. ICE says he received appropriate medical care.
Andrade-Covarrubias is the seventh person to die in ICE custody in Texas this year. Rep. Henry Cuellar has requested additional information from the agency about his treatment and death.
Many Delawareans vote early. About 4 in 10 Delaware voters cast their ballots early in the 2024 general election (209,516 early voters out of 518,330 people who voted), and Sussex County led the state.
How the counties compared: 2024 vs. 2026
Sussex stood out. It had about the same number of early voters as New Castle County, roughly 90,000 to 83,000, even though New Castle had more than twice as many registered voters. In Sussex, 43% of all registered voters voted early, compared with 19% in New Castle – see Table 1.
Sussex is also growing. Every county had more registered voters on Oct. 1, 2026, than on Nov. 1, 2024, and Sussex added the most, about 12,000 – see Table 2.
Table 1: 2024 Delaware registered and early voters, by county
Table 2: 2026 Delaware registered voters, by county
County
Registered voters (Oct. 1, 2026)
New Castle
440,754
Kent
148,538
Sussex
220,594
Statewide
809,886
(Table 2 Source: Delaware Department of Elections, Voter Registration Totals by Political Party, Oct. 1, 2026.)
Delaware early voting sites, by county
(Sussex notes: Nassau Valley Vineyard in Lewes replaces the Fairfield Inn in Rehoboth Beach, which was used for the primary. In Seaford, Allen Street is closed; turn from Stein Highway onto Dulaney Street to reach the site. See the detour map.)
Early voting site
Address
New Castle County
Appoquinimink State Service Center
122 Silver Lake Road, Middletown
Claymont Community Center
3301 Green St., Claymont
Department of Elections Warehouse, New Castle
220 Lisa Drive, New Castle
Hudson State Service Center
501 Ogletown Road, Newark
The Delaware Contemporary
200 S. Madison St., Wilmington
Wilmington PAL
3707 N. Market St., Wilmington
Kent County
BPOE #1903 Elks Lodge
200 S. Saulsbury Road, Dover
Frederica Senior Center
216 Market St., Frederica
Harrington Parks and Recreation
114 E. Liberty St., Harrington
Wyoming United Methodist Church
216 Wyoming Mill Road, Dover
Sussex County
Department of Elections Warehouse, Georgetown
542 S. Bedford St., Georgetown
Department of Elections Warehouse, Seaford
200 Allen St., Seaford (see road closure note above)
Ellendale Fire Hall
302 Main St., Ellendale
Indian River Fire Company, Station #2
25375 Banks Road, Millsboro
Laurel Fire Hall
205 W. 10th St., Laurel
Margaret Rollins Community Center
101 Adams Ave., Lewes
Millville Community Center
32517 Dukes Drive, Millville
Nassau Valley Vineyard
32130 Winery Road, Lewes
Roxana Fire Hall
35943 Zion Church Road, Frankford
(Source: Delaware Department of Elections, Voting Locations page, accessed Oct. 19, 2026)
How to vote early
Hours:
Thursday, Oct. 22, through Tuesday, Oct. 27: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Closed Sunday, Oct. 25
Wednesday, Oct. 28, through Sunday, Nov. 1: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
What to bring: ID, but it does not need a photo. A Delaware driver’s license, state ID card, or a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or government document with your name and address all work. Forgot it? You can still vote once poll workers check that you’re registered and you sign a form swearing to who you are.
Washington, DC — Artificial intelligence is playing an unprecedented role in the 2026 midterms, with campaigns and political groups spending more than $137 million on advertisements created or enhanced using AI.
The Wesleyan Media Project has identified 220 AI-assisted political ads this cycle, compared with less than $50,000 in spending on such advertising during 2024. Researchers say the current total is almost certainly an undercount.
Republican candidates and aligned organizations produced 81% of the identified AI ads and accounted for 88% of the spending. Democratic sponsors produced about 12%.
Many advertisements create fictional scenes involving opposing candidates. One Republican ad depicts New York Gov. Kathy Hochul walking with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and saying, “don’t say affordable,” although Hochul never made the statement and the scene never occurred.
Only 27% of the AI-generated ads tracked by Wesleyan included a disclaimer alerting viewers to the technology’s use.
Democratic congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke has also demanded that Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden stop distributing AI videos depicting her making fabricated statements about corruption.
The rapid spread of synthetic political advertising comes as federal regulation remains limited, leaving disclosure requirements largely dependent on state laws and individual platforms.
Recent polling indicates broad bipartisan concern about AI oversight, particularly when synthetic material can make politicians appear to say or do things that never happened.
Kissimmee, FL — Scammers reportedly used artificial intelligence to clone the voice of a Florida sheriff as part of a fake arrest-warrant scheme, highlighting how increasingly accessible AI tools are making traditional impersonation scams harder to recognize.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said scammers cloned Sheriff Steve Moser’s voice and used his photograph while contacting a resident. Sheriff Chris Blackmon said the call was fraudulent despite appearing and sounding as though it came from Moser.
The incident follows similar reports across several states involving scammers impersonating law enforcement officers and claiming victims missed jury duty or face outstanding warrants. The schemes frequently pressure targets to make immediate payments to avoid arrest.
Authorities warn that legitimate law enforcement agencies do not demand payment over the phone to resolve warrants or missed jury service.
AI-generated voice cloning adds another layer of credibility because scammers can reproduce a recognizable person’s tone and speech using relatively small samples of recorded audio.
The technology has already been used in fraud targeting families, older adults and businesses. In some cases, criminals have impersonated executives to persuade employees or financial institutions to transfer large sums of money.
Florida law makes impersonating a law enforcement officer a felony.
Officials advise anyone receiving a threatening call claiming to be from police to hang up and independently contact the agency through a verified phone number.
Miami, FL — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday that the state has obtained an arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, accusing him of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection with the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue.
The Miami-based exile group flew humanitarian missions over the Florida Straits searching for Cuban migrants in distress. On Feb. 24, 1996, Cuban military jets shot down two unarmed U.S.-registered Cessna aircraft over international waters, killing Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales.
Uthmeier said Florida investigators concluded the attack was intentional and part of a coordinated conspiracy involving Cuban intelligence and military officials. He said Castro, then Cuba’s defense minister, was involved in the chain of command that authorized the operation.
Castro, 94, already faces separate federal charges stemming from the same attack. The Justice Department unsealed an indictment in May charging him and five other former Cuban officials with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and murder. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Uthmeier acknowledged that Castro is unlikely to be taken into Florida custody immediately but said the warrant could have consequences if he travels to a country willing to extradite him.
Washington, DC — The White House is investigating allegations that senior Trump adviser Ric Grenell offered a Turkish billionaire access to President Donald Trump and administration officials in connection with a multimillion-dollar Kennedy Center donation.
Axios reported that a May 2025 text allegedly sent by Grenell to businessman Turhan Mildon promised VIP events and proximity to Trump after money was transferred through a private company. Grenell has strongly denied sending the message or participating in any improper arrangement.
The dispute centers on a $17.6 million payment transferred from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s finance ministry to Houston-based defense company Texas Armament & Technology. Mildon alleges roughly $5.6 million was supposed to become a Kennedy Center donation, but officials found no record that the center received it.
Mildon, who recently married former Trump attorney Alina Habba, provided the disputed text, financial records and other correspondence to White House counsel Will Scharf. Trump ordered the internal investigation after Habba personally raised the allegations with him.
The circumstances surrounding the transaction remain unclear, including whose money was involved and how the Congo business arrangement related to the proposed donation.
Grenell called the accusations “absurd” and denied receiving money or directing funds away from the Kennedy Center.
White House officials say investigators are now attempting to authenticate the text and determine what happened to the money.
Manchester, NH — California Gov. Gavin Newsom used a weekend swing through New Hampshire to sharpen his anti-Trump message and position his record as a possible model for Democrats looking toward 2028.
Newsom repeatedly highlighted his clashes with President Donald Trump while campaigning for Democratic candidates ahead of the midterms. At one stop, he argued that Democrats need to become “a little more ruthless,” saying Republicans and Trump have shown a willingness to fight aggressively over issues such as redistricting.
The trip was officially focused on boosting Democratic turnout, but it also gave Newsom valuable exposure in a state that remains important in presidential politics.
Newsom portrayed California as a testing ground for resistance to Trump, citing disputes over National Guard deployments, voting rules and federal investigations involving his family. He said Democrats need to respond more forcefully to what he described as Trump’s attacks on democratic institutions.
He also leaned into economic populism, calling for Democrats to address concentrated wealth and power while pointing to California policies on paid family leave, wages and other social programs.
Newsom has not formally launched a presidential campaign. He remains one of several nationally prominent Democrats being discussed as possible 2028 contenders, alongside figures such as Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg.
Washington, DC — Republican senators are increasingly pushing back against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his sweeping changes to Pentagon leadership, warning that repeated firings and forced departures could weaken military readiness and leave experienced officers sidelined.
The tensions have intensified since Hegseth announced plans to reduce the number of generals and admirals by 20%, part of a broader effort he says will streamline the military and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy.
Several senior Republicans have complained that Congress was given little warning about the cuts. Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker and other GOP members have also questioned whether some personnel decisions are being driven by political or ideological considerations rather than performance.
Sen. Thom Tillis has gone further, repeatedly calling on President Donald Trump to replace Hegseth. Tillis has described the Pentagon’s management as “inept” and accused Hegseth of driving out capable military leaders while focusing heavily on culture-war issues.
The Pentagon maintains that its personnel decisions are merit-based and necessary to reshape the military for future threats.
Hegseth has already forced out or sidelined numerous senior officers, while the Army has experienced particularly significant turnover, including the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll after months of reported clashes with Hegseth.
Trump has continued to publicly support his defense secretary despite the growing criticism from within his own party.
PACs targeted former West Virginia Delegate Vernon Criss following his proposal to rein in state spending on school vouchers. Will Price/West Virginia Legislature
On a cold February morning at West Virginia’s Capitol, children in winter jackets, holding signs and their homework, clogged the hallways outside the House Finance Committee room. Delegate Vernon Criss, the committee’s chairperson, popped outside his office, then promptly walked back in.
Five days earlier, the Republican lawmaker had proposed to limit payouts from a voucher program that diverts public tax dollars to private education. Since then, families had shown up each morning, and with them lobbyists and organizers posting inflammatory assertions that the proposal would kill the program.
Criss didn’t want that. Five years earlier, he voted to create the Hope Scholarship program, the nation’s first educational savings account program to have no income requirements. Since then, 11 other states have passed similar legislation.
In the first year of the Hope program in West Virginia, it cost the state $9 million. Now, as 2026 was beginning, it was set to expand, with estimates that it could cost $200 million or more a year. And Criss was concerned that unchecked growth of the program, coupled with a spree of tax cuts, could put the state budget into a tailspin. The state and its lawmakers needed “to face the music,” as Criss would later say.
On that February day in Charleston, a staffer unlocked the committee door. Parents and media filed in, taking seats along the narrow benches lining the committee room’s walls. Kids lay on the floor. A delegate asked if the Hope Scholarship bill would be discussed. When Criss said no, the parents and their kids stood up and filed out.
Within the next few days, lawmakers would stop the effort to curtail spending on vouchers. And Criss would soon be fighting for his political life.
Criss greets constituents supporting the Hope Scholarship.Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislature
The money and organizing behind the demise of the bill, as well as the targeting of Criss, can be traced to “school choice” advocates at the local and national levels and their ability to spend huge sums to have their way.
When Republicans assumed control of the West Virginia Legislature in 2015, school choice — their preferred terminology for voucher-style programs — became a rallying point for an array of political nonprofits. Through lobbying and supporting sympathetic lawmakers, they helped establish the Hope Scholarship six years later.
In West Virginia, Arkansas and Texas, proponents have been eager to challenge anyone who got in the way, including fellow Republicans who voiced concerns. Basic guardrails or efforts to cap spending have been met with intense resistance.
During the 2026 West Virginia primary, three political action committees spent heavily on independent advertisements, targeting 10 incumbent Republicans. They succeeded in ousting four, all of whom had disagreements with the governor; most expressed reservations about the Hope Scholarship.
Their biggest victory was unseating Criss, the long-serving incumbent and high-ranking Republican.
One of the three PACs working to defeat Criss is affiliated with the Koch family. Yass has contributed to the two others: School Freedom Fund and the Sugar Maple PAC. David McIntosh, president of School Freedom Fund and the affiliated Club for Growth, was jubilant afterward.
“These elections are a warning to Republican leaders like Vernon Criss — if you oppose school freedom, expect to be held accountable,” he wrote in a press announcement at the time.
Have you had trouble finding a school or using a voucher-style program? Do you have concerns about schools — public or private — in your area? Help us understand how families across the country are navigating their school options.
Criss had been unopposed in his 2024 primary. In 2026, the three PACs spent more than $145,000 to help a 23-year-old defeat him.
Criss’ proposal to put financial limits on the Hope Scholarship program came as West Virginia public schools arrived at a dangerous crossroads. The program directs dollars away from public schools, adding to funding shortfalls created by enrollment drops.
Since 2019, 70 public schools have closed throughout the state, with the system losing more than 30,000 students. By the end of this school year, up to 20 more schools could close.
During the same legislative session this year, when lawmakers passed emergency legislation to help one school district stay open, there was little drama — no crowds in the hallways or the galleries.
The Rise of Hope
In 2021, as West Virginia lawmakers worked on the bill that would create the Hope Scholarship, they got some help from the outside: a lobbyist and political operative named Jason Huffman.
Huffman has been the director of Americans for Prosperity-West Virginia since the mid-2010s. The group is part of the larger Americans for Prosperity, which was set up by the billionaire industrialist David Koch and supported by his brother Charles, longtime donors to conservative causes. Americans for Prosperity advocates for low taxes, school choice and loosened environmental regulations throughout the country.
In shaping the West Virginia legislation, Huffman said, one goal was to create a school voucher program that other states could model. While other states had already passed voucher-style programs, they hadn’t made them open to all residents regardless of income.
Jason Huffman is the director of Americans for Prosperity-West Virginia.Courtesy of Jason Huffman
Among those advocating in West Virginia were members of Cardinal Institute, a homegrown conservative think tank. Founded in 2015, the group made public funding for private schooling one of its first policy planks. Over the last decade, Cardinal has received significant donations from organizations that also have received funding from Koch entities and Yass.
To support the Hope legislation, Cardinal’s leaders distributed research, published columns in newspapers and linked up with other groups, like Americans for Prosperity and the Institute for Justice, which litigates libertarian causes, to push the issue. They also found allies in parents who wanted the financial flexibility to send their children to private schools or teach them at home or in small clusters of like-minded families.
Katie Switzer, a mother of six, became one of Cardinal’s most reliable advocates. She had started looking into schooling options after her second child was diagnosed with a learning disability.
“I just felt like this doesn’t feel good to send my nonverbal child to a school that you know isn’t really collaborative, and I don’t know what’s going on when she’s there because she can’t tell me when she gets home,” she said. The experience made her a proponent of alternatives to public school.
Her story appeared in some of Cardinal’s promotional copy for the bill. She sat in on a video call presentation featuring state Sen. Patrcia Rucker, a Hope Scholarship proponent. She took to Facebook to tout the program.
And she stepped up when the Hope Scholarship was challenged in court by other parents who argued the program would undermine funding for public schools.
Hope’s opponents in the case gained support from the state Board of Education, which argued the program siphoned money away from public schools. On the other side was the West Virginia attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, defending the law and the state.
The Institute for Justice was looking to get involved, but it needed to find somebody with standing in the case. Switzer and another parent signed up, giving the firm the ability to file motions and argue in court. The Institute for Justice has received $8.5 million from charities controlled by Yass over nearly a decade.
The case went to the West Virginia Supreme Court, where the justices ruled 4-1 in favor of the program.
The ruling meant the Hope program had survived. It was good timing for Morrisey. He was about to make a run for governor. When Morrisey waded into a tough four-way primary battle, the Club for Growth Action, a super PAC Yass has donated heavily to over the years, was ready to help.
“Our goal in all of this is to elect people who will be champions for school freedom, lower taxes, less regulation, so businesses can thrive,” McIntosh, the group’s president, said in an interview.
The Club for Growth Action pumped $10.8 million into that race. Morrisey won the plurality in the Republican primary and went on to trounce his Democratic opponent in the general election.
On a cold morning in January 2025, Morrisey stood bundled up in a black wool coat on the stairs of Capitol, its gold dome towering above him. He took the oath of office and gave his address.
“We will expand the Hope Scholarship, putting more control in the hands of parents to choose the best educational path for their children,” he said.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey at his inauguration ceremony in January 2025. Club for Growth, which supports voucher-style programs, spent $10.8 million through a super PAC to support Morrisey during the tough Republican primary.Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislature
Runaway Train
Hours before Morrisey gave his State of the State address earlier this year, the House Education Committee called a meeting to hear about a report from the Rand Corporation, a nonpartisan think tank.
Rand called on the state to fix what was becoming abundantly clear: Education in West Virginia wasn’t just in transition; it was in crisis.
Initially the Hope Scholarship was limited to students attending public school or children who would enter kindergarten. Participation grew over time. And as the 2026-27 school year began, the program opened to any student in West Virginia, including those who had spent their entire academic careers in private school or in homeschooling.
That translated into tens of millions of additional state dollars to private schools and homeschooling. Estimates for the 2026-27 school year ranged from $230 million to more than $300 million in the months leading up to the legislative session. The program costs for the year are still being tallied but are currently projected at an unprecedented $150 million.
The Rand report suggested placing an income cap on the Hope Scholarship and increasing funding for public schools.
While the Education Committee would work on public school funding, Criss’ Finance Committee would tackle the ballooning costs of the Hope Scholarship. He was not interested in Rand’s solutions but found his own. By capping the scholarship amount and limiting certain expenses, Criss was hoping he could help prolong the program for families well into the future. But families would soon be rallying against him.
In the time since the Hope Scholarship had withstood the court challenge, Switzer’s reach had only grown. On Facebook, she administered a group that offers practical advice to hundreds of parents, or “Hope Schoolers” as she called them, on questions like what items counted as qualifying expenses and how to properly file for the program.
Before Criss’ plan rolled out, Switzer said she received word from a member of the Finance Committee — though she did not disclose who — that the Hope Scholarship would be discussed.
Writing a lengthy Facebook post, she warned that the move would severely damage the program. “The bill takes away 19,000 children’s access to online education, tutoring, private schools across state borders, and many other beneficial academic programs,” she wrote.
Huffman, the Americans for Prosperity state director, took to radio and social media to decry what he described as an existential threat to the program. Parents with kids in tow echoed those fears.
Criss’ proposal would’ve capped the award amount for the Hope Scholarship at a little more than $5,000 a year. He said his intent was to prolong the program for the long run, not kill it.
Huffman countered that by capping the award amount, inflation would eventually erode families’ abilities to use the program for private education or homeschooling.
Looking back, Criss said he anticipated some pushback, because the Hope Scholarship is a “giveaway program.” He blamed political forces for riling people up.
At a caucus meeting with the Republican supermajority — which holds 91 of the 100 seats in the lower chamber — Criss said he couldn’t muster the votes. A bill to fix public schools that came out of the Education Committee died entirely.
Election season was right around the corner, and Americans for Prosperity-West Virginia and other groups hadn’t forgotten the Hope Scholarship battle. Criss had failed what Huffman called “a litmus test” in trying to restrict public money for parents looking for an alternative to public school.
Meanwhile, McIntosh, the president for Club for Growth, said he received word from his allies in the Morrisey administration. Morrisey was concerned about lawmakers who had opposed him on budget issues and school choice. The governor was looking to replace those he saw as not aligned.
While the legislative backlash had been about one issue, the campaign against Morrisey’s foes went well beyond education issues.
Ads depicted Criss as a liberal who wanted to open borders for illegal immigration. That was based on a no vote Criss had cast against a piece of legislation that would’ve mandated employers run a citizenship check on every employee.
Fliers mailed by the School Freedom Fund, a PAC affiliated with Club for Growth, depicted candidates as supporters of drag queens. Americans for Prosperity-West Virginia sent volunteers door to door to rally for their candidates, including in Criss’ district.
The newly created Sugar Maple PAC — headed by a former state delegate and Morrisey ally — ran ads accusing opponents of being Republicans in Name Only.
One mailer, depicting Criss driving a garbage truck, accused him of taking “West Virginia’s values to the dump.” On the back, it reiterated his vote against the citizenship check for employees and his vote against West Virginia’s abortion ban.
“Vernon Criss’ liberal trash,” the flier read, with an image of black trash bags.
Some of the mailers attacking Criss. PACs targeted him following his efforts to rein in spending on the Hope Scholarship.Obtained by Mountain State Spotlight
“I think that the fact that they called me a liberal, it just stuck out,” Criss said. “You know, as the chairman of finance, I know that it’s a targeted job, obviously, that’s part of the deal. Those types of things happen, that’s just part of the politics involved here.”
The School Freedom Fund poured nearly $1 million into statehouse races across West Virginia to both retain Morrissey’s supporters and oust detractors, like Criss. Americans for Prosperity did the same, again targeting Criss, and spending around $700,000 across the state.
A spokesperson for Morrisey said in an email that the governor is a supporter of both public schools and the Hope Scholarship and “is also grateful that organizations that share his worldview of helping West Virginia children having the best educational opportunities in the country weigh in.”
Sugar Maple PAC and Yass did not respond to requests for comment. Yass contributed $450,000 to Sugar Maple in the lead-up to the 2026 primary. Among the three PACs, Sugar Maple spent the most on the Criss race: $86,000 to attack Criss and $15,000 to back his opponent, Charles Hartzog, a 23-year-old gas station cashier.
Criss didn’t just lose the primary; Hartzog beat him with 61% of the vote. Criss is now running a long-shot campaign as a write-in for his district in the general election.
Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker/ProPublica. Source images: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images, skaman306/Getty Images, Mike Klein/Getty Images.
Early in his tenure as Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton issued a statement commemorating what he believed was a national tragedy.
“It’s impossible to fill the void of more than 50 million missing human beings,” he said in 2016. He was marking the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that protected abortion rights — and had long stood in the way of efforts to ban terminations in early pregnancy, when most abortions occur.
Paxton spent the years that followed testing Roe’s limits and ultimately prevailed where others had failed: In 2021, he defended a near-total abortion ban that Texas legislators had designed to evade conventional legal challenges. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed it to take effect while Roe remained in force.
After the justices overturned Roe the following year, Paxton kept pushing, pursuing new ways to extend the reach of Texas’ restrictions. He prevailed against the Biden administration, picked fights with states that protect abortion access and pioneered strategies that his peers later adopted or expanded.
While Paxton’s tenure as attorney general has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum for his personal scandals and alleged misuse of the office, detractors and allies alike agree that his signal achievement as the state’s top legal official has been advancing restrictions on abortion.
A close look at his record shows a clear pattern in his successes: He relentlessly tests the limits of the law and employs novel legal strategies to advance his goals.
Paxton’s national role as an anti-abortion warrior would change if he wins his U.S. Senate race. As Texas attorney general, he has been able to act largely on his own authority. If he prevails in November, he would become one of 100 senators in a chamber where most legislation needs 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.
But allies who have witnessed his victories see an opening.
“He’ll have the ability to use some of the laws that he’s defended in Texas as influence to draft legislation in the U.S. Senate,” said Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations at Texas Values, a Christian advocacy group that supports a national abortion ban.
Legal experts and advocates on both sides expect he could join colleagues who are pressuring the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its approval of the abortion drug mifepristone.
Anti-abortion activists at the state and federal level are also trying to secure legal rights for fetuses, which could have implications for reproductive care like birth control and in vitro fertilization. Paxton, who has called himself a strong supporter of IVF, recently said he was open to restrictions intended to prevent the loss of fertilized eggs.
His litigation has also raised questions that experts expect the Supreme Court to confront, including whether a federal law, which mandates hospitals provide stabilizing care to patients having an emergency, overrides state abortion bans; whether to treat a fetus as a separate patient that has its own emergency care rights; and how far states can go in pursuing out-of-state doctors who prescribe abortion medication to patients in states where it’s banned.
During the current race, abortion has played a far smaller role than questions about Paxton’s ethics. His Democratic opponent, James Talarico, has said that he supports restoring a federal right to abortion and that his Christian faith calls for an end to “extreme” laws that Paxton has defended and that have forced women to flee the state for emergency abortion care.
But those who have watched Paxton extend the reach of Texas law beyond its borders are paying close attention to his Senate bid.
Dr. Jennifer Villavicencio, an abortion provider, said she has felt compelled to move her family twice to states with strong laws shielding doctors from out-of-state litigation, partly out of concern that Paxton is creating a blueprint for targeting providers like her.
“It’s very disheartening and scary to think that it’s maybe coming to the U.S. Senate,” she said.
Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker/ProPublica. Source images: Drew Angerer/Getty Images, Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images.
Paxton successfully defended a near-total abortion ban before Roe v. Wade was struck down.
When Paxton became Texas attorney general in 2015, there was no ambiguity about where he stood on abortion.
Raised by an anti-abortion activist, he married his sweetheart from a Christian college, who spoke proudly about the fact that she was adopted, saying her birth mother “chose life.” She campaigned for Paxton, but he had his own bona fides. A law he’d co-sponsored as a state senator banned almost all abortions after 20 weeks.
Similar 20-week bans had taken root across the country as decades of court rulings chipped away at Roe, but no state had managed to enforce a ban as early as six weeks. More than a dozen tried, passing laws that prohibited abortion when cardiac activity could be detected. One after another, they were blocked by judges.
Then, in 2021, a Texas lawyer named Jonathan Mitchell worked with legislators to craft a law that would withstand similar challenges. Instead of having state officials enforce their “heartbeat law,” the new act, referred to as Senate Bill 8, allowed citizens to sue physicians they suspected were providing abortions. The law offered up to $10,000 if they won.
When abortion providers and President Joe Biden’s administration separately challenged the law in federal court, Paxton’s office argued that state officials couldn’t be ordered to stop enforcing it because they had no power to do so in the first place. Only private citizens could.
“Because the executive officials are expressly prohibited from enforcing SB 8,” his office wrote to the Supreme Court, “there is nothing for a federal court to enjoin.”
The Supreme Court agreed that Paxton couldn’t be sued because “the petitioners have not identified any enforcement authority the attorney general possesses in connection with S. B. 8 that a federal court might enjoin him from exercising.”
The law remained in effect, becoming the first enforceable six-week ban under Roe.
Legislators in Idaho and Oklahoma subsequently passed similar laws.
For Dr. Sam Dickman, who worked at a San Antonio Planned Parenthood, the implications were clear: “I was going to need to either entirely change the type of medicine I was providing or leave the state,” he said. He opted for the latter, moving to Montana, where abortion is legal until viability, or roughly 24 weeks.
Days after the Texas ban took effect, Josseli Barnica arrived at a Houston hospital in the midst of a miscarriage. She was 17 weeks pregnant and her fetus’s head was pressed up against her dilated cervix. Because the situation put her at high risk of developing an infection, medical experts said doctors should have offered to speed up delivery or empty her uterus; the fetus was not viable, and losing the pregnancy was inevitable.
But the fetus’s heart was still beating.
Barnica relayed to her husband what she said her medical providers had told her: “They had to wait until there was no heartbeat,” he told ProPublica in Spanish. “It would be a crime to give her an abortion.”
For 40 hours, Barnica waited, her uterus exposed to bacteria.
She died days later of sepsis. Medical experts told ProPublica her doctors did not follow the proper standard of care and that Barnica’s death was preventable.
In a statement, HCA Healthcare, the hospital chain that treated her, said “our responsibility is to be in compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations” and said that physicians exercise their independent judgment.
Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker/ProPublica. Source images: Drew Angerer/Getty Images, Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images.
Paxton blocked federal guidance for emergency abortion care, with consequences far beyond Texas.
When the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion on June 24, 2022, Paxton dismissed his staff at noon to celebrate. He would later designate the date as a paid office holiday, Sanctity of Life Day.
The Texas Legislature had prepared for the occasion, passing a law that went into effect shortly after the overturning of Roe. The ban threatened doctors with up to 99 years in prison if they performed an abortion. But soon came what Paxton framed as a federal attempt to thwart the state law.
The Biden administration issued a memo to doctors in states with abortion bans saying that a federal emergency care law protected their medical judgment, “regardless of the restrictions in the state.”
The federal Health and Human Services secretary at the time said doctors had an obligation to follow the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, better known as EMTALA. The law requires hospitals that accept federal funding to screen and stabilize every patient who arrives.
For those with complications such as severe preeclampsia, a potentially fatal, pregnancy-related blood pressure disorder, stabilizing a patient might require performing an abortion, even if the state forbids it, the guidance said. “The physician must provide that treatment,” it said, bolding the word “must.”
Paxton sued, accusing the administration of an attempt to use federal law “to transform every emergency room in the country into a walk-in abortion clinic.”
He argued EMTALA was created to make sure hospitals didn’t dump uninsured patients back on the street without treatment, not to override state laws. He took the argument a step further, suggesting that under EMTALA, doctors might need to consider “the life of the unborn child.”
The argument was novel, six legal experts told ProPublica.
“He’s basically suing the federal government to protect Texas’ right to force pregnant women to not get abortions, even when their health is threatened,” said Greer Donley, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, that’s radical.’”
Medical groups warned patients would die.
But a federal judge sided with Paxton that August, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision in January 2024.
The ruling did more than keep the administration from enforcing its EMTALA interpretation in Texas.
It barred the federal government from pursuing cases against members of two anti-abortion medical organizations that had joined Paxton’s suit as plaintiffs, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations. This effectively exempted them from having to follow the federal guidance, regardless of where they worked.
It also served as immediate litigation fodder for another state fighting to enforce its own abortion ban.
Idaho had not had the same success in court as Texas. After the Biden administration sued, arguing the state’s ban conflicted with EMTALA, Idaho lost in lower and appellate courts, leaving its ban effectively frozen in emergency cases, with doctors instructed to follow the federal guidance.
But Paxton’s 5th Circuit win on Jan. 2, 2024, gave Idaho’s ban a lifeline. The ruling conflicted with the 9th Circuit’s decision in Idaho, creating the kind of disagreement between federal appeals courts that the Supreme Court often steps in to resolve.
The following day, attorneys representing Idaho asked the high court to do just that, saying Paxton’s success showed they were “likely to prevail.” In the meantime, they asked the court to unfreeze the ban.
On Jan. 5, the Supreme Court allowed Idaho to fully enforce its ban while the case proceeded.
Emergency doctors began hesitating over when they could legally provide abortions, Dr. Jim Souza, chief physician at St. Luke’s Health System, said on a press call at the time, according to NPR. “Is she septic enough for me to do this abortion and not risk going to jail and losing my license?”
In the three months that followed, St. Luke’s, the state’s largest hospital system, said it had to airlift six patients out of the state for abortions.
In Texas, ProPublica has documented the consequences for women experiencing pregnancy emergencies.
When Tierra Walker sought care later that year in San Antonio, she developed preeclampsia and ultimately died from it, ProPublica previously reported. None of the 90 physicians involved in her care offered her the option of terminating her pregnancy, even after she asked if doing so might keep her safe.
Her family sued Paxton in September, along with state medical officials and several healthcare providers, alleging that Texas’ abortion restrictions and the care Walker received led to her death. Paxton has not responded to the suit and did not respond to a request seeking comment.
ProPublica has identified at least two other pregnant Texas women who died without what experts said was appropriate emergency care. Paxton has not publicly commented on any of their deaths and did not respond to ProPublica’s questions about them. Our analysis also found worsening outcomes across the state for patients experiencing pregnancy complications.
The reach of Paxton’s legal victory may not end there.
The Supreme Court still hasn’t resolved the conflict between the circuit rulings. It declined to do so in the Idaho case, and after President Donald Trump took office, his administration dropped the suit and rescinded the EMTALA guidance.
But legal experts told ProPublica the Supreme Court has yet to resolve core questions that Paxton’s litigation raised: whether EMTALA preempts state abortion laws and whether a fetus also has a right to emergency treatment that could conflict with the mother’s interests in cases where her health is at risk.
To guard against future rulings, a reproductive rights advocacy group called All* Above All is pushing state-level legislation to safeguard emergency care. “We’re seeing the chaos right now and the confusion,” said its president, Nourbese Flint.
Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker/ProPublica. Source image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
Paxton tested expansive new ways to pursue abortion providers. Other states are following his lead.
On Dec. 7, 2023, a state judge in Austin issued a ruling that Paxton immediately moved to stop.
A 31-year-old mother named Kate Cox wanted permission to get an abortion. She was 20 weeks pregnant and carrying a fetus diagnosed with trisomy 18, a genetic condition that kills the vast majority of babies born with it.
Texas doesn’t allow abortions for fatal fetal anomalies, but Cox’s doctor argued that if she was forced to give birth, it could imperil her ability to get pregnant again. It was also medically risky: Cox had already had two children by cesarean section, and the chances of complications increase with each procedure.
The day a Travis County district court judge granted her request, Paxton took a step legal experts told ProPublica they had not seen another state attorney general take:
He sent letters to three hospitals where Cox’s doctor had admitting privileges, threatening legal action if the doctor performed the abortion a judge said she could have. The court order, he wrote, did not insulate hospitals, doctors or anyone else from civil and criminal liability for violating Texas’ abortion laws.
At the same time, he appealed the case to the Texas Supreme Court, saying that Cox did not face the kind of threat to her life that fell under the law’s exception. If legislators had wanted to write an exception for fatal fetal anomalies, he said, they would have done so.
“The Texas Legislature did not intend for courts to become revolving doors of permission slips to obtain abortions,” he said.
The Texas Supreme Court agreed with Paxton and reversed the lower court’s ruling. By that time, Cox had sought an abortion out of state.
“It was incredibly scary,” Cox told ProPublica. “We saw in my case that Texas will go after doctors.”
Paxton was also the first — and, so far, the only — attorney general to criminally prosecute a provider in his state for violating an abortion ban.
According to court documents, investigators got an anonymous tip alleging that abortions were being performed at a medical clinic that catered to low-income, Spanish-speaking patients, managed by Maria Rojas, a licensed midwife.
Rojas was arrested and charged with practicing medicine without a license and violating the state’s abortion ban. Paxton also moved to temporarily shut down the clinic and others she ran while the case progressed through court. Months after her arrest, Paxton announced he had arrested and indicted eight other clinic staffers for practicing medicine without a license.
Rojas has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her attorneys have accused Paxton’s office of a shoddy investigation and argued that at least one case prosecutors were treating as an abortion was actually the management of a patient’s miscarriage.
A trial has not yet been scheduled, but an appeals court this summer overturned the order shuttering the clinics, finding the state had not presented sufficient admissible evidence to justify a temporary injunction. Paxton said he is appealing the ruling. The court did not rule on whether Rojas had actually performed illegal abortions.
Paxton has not stopped at the state border in his pursuit of doctors.
In December 2024, he sued Dr. Margaret Carpenter, a New York-based physician, accusing her of violating multiple Texas laws when she treated a patient via telehealth who lived in Plano, a suburb north of Dallas, and prescribed her abortion medication.
Because the patient was based in Texas, he argued, Carpenter was subject to laws there that banned abortion and required a license to practice in the state.
Carpenter didn’t respond to the suit, so Paxton won by default. But Texas was unable to collect on more than $100,000 in civil fines and court fees that resulted; a New York county clerk refused to register the judgment, invoking a “shield law” that protects providers of abortion care that is legal in New York from certain out-of-state investigations, prosecutions and judgments. At least 22 states have passed shield laws since Roe was overturned, and New York’s is among the strongest. Carpenter did not respond to a request seeking comment and has not publicly responded to the case.
A New York judge dismissed Paxton’s case seeking to enforce the judgment, but Paxton didn’t give up, filing two more civil suits this year against practitioners and organizations in Delaware and California that mail abortion medication to Texas.
Three other state attorneys general have now expanded on the strategy. Last month, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill — who brought criminal charges against Carpenter after Paxton sued her (and has faced similar obstacles in New York) — joined the attorneys general of Arkansas and Alabama in filing a sweeping federal civil suit against out-of-state providers of abortion pills. The case names some of the same providers Paxton pursued; they have challenged the suits. The three attorneys general filed a separate action directly with the Supreme Court asking it to strike down shield laws in New York, Massachusetts and California.
Paxton has moved beyond doctors to target other entities that help patients obtain abortions. Mary Ziegler, an abortion historian and professor of law at University of California, Davis, called him “an innovator in terms of broadening the network of people who were seen as culprits or aiders or abettors.”
He sent cease-and-desist letters to organizations that ship abortion medication into Texas; the attorney general of Alabama subsequently used similar tactics. And Paxton sued cities in his state to stop them from disbursing funds to help women travel for abortions — a move the Legislature followed with a law banning such funding.
Following his legal victory against the city of San Antonio early this year, in which it was forced to end the $100,000 program, Paxton made a vow:
“I will always do everything in my power to prevent radicals from manipulating the system to murder innocent babies.”
Washington, DC — President Donald Trump defended his decision to waive newly approved sanctions and tariffs on Russia, arguing the move is intended to keep Moscow engaged in negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump said imposing the measures immediately could drive Russia away from talks. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration wants up to 60 days to evaluate the economic effects of the sanctions before deciding whether to restore them.
The decision has drawn unusually sharp criticism from Republicans. Sen. Thom Tillis called the waiver “beyond irresponsible,” while Rep. Michael McCaul urged Trump to reverse course and return to stronger economic pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The sanctions were included in legislation Trump signed in September and were designed to punish Russia and countries that continue purchasing Russian energy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also criticized the waiver, warning that easing economic pressure provides Moscow additional resources while Russian forces continue attacking Ukraine. He said the decision “definitely helps only the Russians.”
Trump has separately struck a deal allowing increased Russian diesel exports, another move criticized by Republican lawmakers who argue that energy revenue could help finance Russia’s war effort.
The administration maintains that temporary economic concessions could provide incentives for Moscow to remain at the negotiating table.
Washington, DC — Former President Barack Obama sharply condemned the Trump administration’s investigation of Rep. Ilhan Omar on Sunday, arguing that the federal government is being used to punish a prominent political critic.
Obama called the Oct. 12 search of Omar’s Washington home “appalling” and said Americans should be alarmed regardless of their opinions about the Minnesota Democrat. Federal agents executed a court-authorized warrant as part of an investigation examining decades-old immigration and citizenship records involving Omar and her late father.
Obama said the investigation rests on an “unsubstantiated theory” that Omar improperly obtained citizenship because of a discrepancy involving her recorded birth year. Omar has denied wrongdoing, and a previous federal review during Trump’s first administration reportedly found insufficient evidence of citizenship fraud.
“The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president,” Obama said.
He compared the case with previous prosecutions and investigations involving Trump critics and warned that normalizing politically motivated law enforcement could create a precedent future presidents of either party could exploit.
Trump has denied directing the Omar investigation while continuing to publicly attack her. No criminal charges have been filed against Omar, and the government has not publicly produced evidence proving she committed immigration fraud.
Washington, DC — Republican lawmakers are threatening to withhold support for major Pentagon funding and other pieces of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda as anger grows inside the GOP over his recent moves benefiting Russia.
Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a retired Air Force brigadier general, said Republicans who support Ukraine may refuse to fund Trump’s priorities after the president eased sanctions on Moscow, opened the door to Russian diesel imports and pressured Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
“Many of us won’t fund these things knowing he is propping up a dictator’s invasion and throwing an ally under the bus,” Bacon wrote.
The warning is significant because Trump is seeking hundreds of billions of dollars in additional Pentagon funding through budget reconciliation, along with other priorities lawmakers are expected to consider after the midterm elections.
Republican criticism has expanded beyond Bacon. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has accused the administration of capitulating to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while other GOP lawmakers have raised concerns about restrictions placed on Ukraine’s access to intelligence and the Starshield satellite network.
Trump has defended his approach as serving U.S. interests and lowering energy costs.
The dispute gives congressional Republicans considerable leverage: Trump cannot secure the additional defense spending he wants without lawmakers approving the money.
Now a new immigration case centered on college campuses is headed the justices’ way. With both the Justice Department and civil rights lawyers representing affected immigrants calling for review and a clear split in appellate rulings, the issue could be ripe for the Court to hear argument and render its judgment by early next summer.
