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Oct 27, 2026
First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli in June 2025. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that Bill Essayli is unlawfully serving as Los Angeles' top federal prosecutor and ordered him disqualified from overseeing two criminal cases, rejecting the Justice Department's latest effort to preserve his authority.
Senior U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright, however, delayed the disqualifications from taking effect while he considers an anticipated government request for a stay pending appeal.
Although the order applies to two prosecutions, Seabright rejected the legal arrangement that has allowed Essayli to continue leading the office under the title of first assistant U.S. attorney. He concluded that the Justice Department had unlawfully delegated powers so sweeping that Essayli in effect occupied the U.S. attorney's position.
"In sum, Essayli is unlawfully serving as a ‘de facto' United States Attorney," Seabright wrote.
After learning about Seabright's ruling from The Times, Essayli on Tuesday afternoon said that his office expected it and that the case "will be decided by the Supreme Court." In a follow-up email, he said, "I look forward to serving in my current role until then."
H. Dean Steward, a defense attorney who filed a renewed motion in August challenging Essayli's authority, called the decision "a victory for the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution."
"The Trump administration ignored the laws governing the appointment of U.S. Attorneys and got caught in Los Angeles," he said in an emailed statement. "Trump and his Department of Justice violated the law again and again in an effort to install minions a
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Oct 27, 2026
By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The US military has spent over $47 billion so far to prosecute the war in Iran, more than 25% higher than the Defense ?Department's estimate in July, according to Pentagon data obtained by Reuters.
The Pentagon did not ?immediately respond to a request for comment on its estimate, which has not been shared publicly.
The disclosure about the rising ?cost of the Iran war comes as Republicans wrestle with the political fallout of the unpopular conflict ahead of the November 3 election that will determine control of Congress for the next two years.
The war's impact on global energy costs has weighed on support for Republican candidates and hurt President Donald Trump's ?approval ratings. Trump's Republican Party holds ?a narrow majority in both chambers of Congress.
The Pentagon's latest estimate was tied to the operational costs of carrying out the war, with a projected ?cost of more than $29 billion to replace expended munitions used in the conflict.
More than $6 billion would be needed to replace military equipment and so-called "platform losses," which include the loss of aircraft including many drones lost during ?the ?war.
Trump launched the Iran war jointly with Israel in ?February, predicting that the conflict would last ?a short time.
Trump's initial strategy in the Iran war focused on first using expensive, high-end precision missiles to bomb Iran's defenses so it could later use less expensive munitions, including gravity bombs like the air-launched JDAMs, which are plentiful.
But an April ceasefire gave time for Iran to dig out underground storage facilities, bringing back online some Iranian defenses, as well as missiles and drones that had ?been inaccessible.
Trump has since imposed a naval blockade on ?Iran to starve it of oil export revenue and held ?out the possibility of restarting combat operations ?afte
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Oct 27, 2026
The Trump administration is moving to weaken a regulation that requires oil and gas companies to limit leaks of methane, a more potent driver of climate change than carbon dioxide.
President Donald Trump announced the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed regulation at an event in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said earlier this month that the agency was "days not weeks" away from issuing the proposal, roughly outlining its contents.
"We've been working on this for a long time," Trump said at the rally. "We were working on this before the war broke out," he added, referring to the Feb. 28 attack on Iran.
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The move comes even as several major oil companies, including Chevron and ExxonMobil, have long supported direct federal regulation of methane, arguing that industry-wide rules are needed to curb leaks. But that support has not always extended to every provision: The companies have at times pressed regulators to narrow monitoring and reporting requirements.
Smaller independent producers and their trade groups have more aggressively fought methane rules as burdensome and costly. Executives at some of those firms — including several major donors to Trump — have push
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Oct 27, 2026
Flavio Bolsonaro lost elections to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and refused to concede defeat (Evaristo Sa)Defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro left Brazil for the United States despite a court order banning him from exiting the country, US media reported Tuesday.
The son of jailed ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro lost the presidential election Sunday to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and refused to concede defeat.
The right-wing senator on Monday said a Supreme Court justice had ordered him to hand over his passports. Bolsonaro is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering, and with his election loss is also set to lose parliamentary immunity.
The 45-year-old arrived in the United States, CNN and the Washington Post reported, each citing an anonymous source. Where he landed remains unknown.
The US State Department said Tuesday it would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family, without confirming his travel plans.
A police source told AFP that the senator's Brazilian and diplomatic passports had been canceled, adding that "there is no formal record of Flavio Bolsonaro leaving the country."
But he has held Italian nationality since 2023, according to an Italian parliamentary document seen by AFP.
Bolsonaro's campaign manager Rogerio Marinho expressed shock over reports that the defeated candidate had fled Brazil.
"We still don't have any news about his whereabouts," he told reporters Tuesday in Brasilia.
"I received a text message from him this morning, where he said he would let some time pass today and then would talk with us, and that was it," Marinho said.
"That was the only communication we had."
- 'Shameful' -
Lula called fleeing the country a "shameful" act.
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Oct 27, 2026
The words "competitive" and "Texas" don't often show up side by side when it comes to big elections. No Democrat has won a statewide race in the Lone Star State since 1994, and most of the races within that timespan haven't been particularly close.
But now, Democrats are pinning their hopes of ending their three-decade losing streak in Texas on James Talarico, a 37-year-old state lawmaker who has become one of the party's breakout stars of the midterms.
Talarico first gained national attention in March, when he defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in a high-profile intraparty primary battle. His Republican opponent is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who bested longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in an often contentious Republican primary runoff.
By fusing progressive politics, a soft-spoken demeanor and unapologetic Christian faith, Talarico has built a broad base of support among Texas voters that has allowed him to maintain a steady — yet small — lead in the polls in the months leading up to Election Day. Forecasters list the race as a toss-up.
The outcome could have huge implications for American politics. Democrats' hopes of seizing control of the Senate for the final two years of Trump's presidency hinge on winning at least a couple of seats in historically deep red states like Texas. A victory for Talarico could also cement his position as a key figure in the Democratic Party's next generation of leaders.
With all that in mind, here's what to know about where Talarico came from, what he stands for and how strong his chances are of turning the Lone Star State blue.
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Oct 27, 2026
Federal prosecutors were rebuffed in their effort to secure an indictment against former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson over her testimony related to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to four sources briefed on the grand jury proceedings.
The Justice Department has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The Washington Post first reported that the grand jury declined to indict Hutchinson.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has been handling the Hutchinson investigation, CBS News previously reported, and during a hearing on another matter Tuesday, a litigator with the division, Neville Hedley, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui that the grand jury had not concurred on the proposed indictment. Hedley did not say who the defendant was, but multiple sources confirmed it was Hutchinson.
Hutchinson, who was a top aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, angered President Trump's allies and his base when she testified in 2022 before the House select committee investigating the 2021 Capitol attack.
In depositions and congressional testimony, Hutchinson said that Mr. Trump and Meadows were warned on Jan. 6 that some of his supporters were carrying weapons to the Capitol, but Mr. Trump said he didn't care — and he tried to order officials to remove the magnetometers at the rally where he spoke that morning.
She also relayed a story she said had been told to her by then-White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato, in which Mr. Trump grew incensed after his lead Secret Service agent would not drive him to the Capitol after the president's speech to supporters. During that address on the White House Ellipse, he had encouraged them to go to the Capitol, where Congress was confirming the Elec
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Oct 27, 2026
Israel's Channel 13 news initially projected the opposition bloc would have the edge with 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, with Netanyahu's bloc set to win around 50. It later dropped the Eisenkot bloc to 52. Netanyahu's Likud party would be the largest single party, with 25 seats, per the broadcaster.
Channel 12, another major pollster, also put the opposition bloc at 52 seats and Netanyahu's at 50. It had the Likud party winning 24 seats.
Arab parties are projected to win a record 18 seats, according to the outlets.
In a post on X, Eisenkot said the exit poll results showed a "complete lack of confidence in Netanyahu and the October 7 government."
Yair Golan, the leader of Israel's left-wing Democrats party, added that the public had "spoken" and "ousted the Netanyahu government."
But Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar warned that celebrations from the left were "premature."
"One thing seems quite clear: The Likud is the largest party in Israel," he wrote on social media.
Turnout for the election - Israel's first since Hamas' 7 October 2023 attacks - hit over 77%, according to Israel's Central Elections Committee.
Netanyahu had spent much of the day calling on supporters to get out and vote, painting the election as a "matter of life and death."
The vote is widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's leadership.
This is a developing story. Check back here for further details.
This article originally appeared on Euronews at https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/27/exit-polls-suggest-no-clear-victor-in-israeli-election
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Oct 27, 2026
With a week to go until the 2026 midterm elections, you'd be forgiven for thinking that President Trump and former President Barack Obama were running against each other this year.
While campaigning for Democrats in Ohio over the weekend, Obama mocked the various renovation projects that Trump has been overseeing at the White House, prompting a pointed response from the president and his administration.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations," Obama told the crowd in Cleveland. "He should be on HGTV. Guy's building a ballroom that's bigger than the White House. He's paved over the Rose Garden. He's put a helicopter pad on the South Lawn. And there's gold everywhere — what's up with the gold? Everything, more gold. He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory."
What else did Obama say?Obama also skewered the Trump administration for the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool controversy.
"Remember that whole thing about 'drain the swamp'?" he said. "The only thing that got drained was the reflecting pool in the National Mall after some no-bid contract got it all messed up, and then they tried to blame a three-time Olympian and say he vandalized it."
Obama also taunted Trump for starting a trade war with "that well-known evil empire, Canada."
"I mean, these are the people who gave us maple syrup and Martin Short," Obama said.
But it was the Cheesecake Factory line that
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Oct 27, 2026
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump returned to Texas on Tuesday in a final attempt to boost Senate candidate Ken Paxton, whose close race in a normally reliable conservative-leaning state has Republicans worried about losing control of the chamber.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Apple's Foldable iPhone Duo Draws Early Complaints of the Screen CrackingLula Wins Record Fourth Term in Surprise Brazil ComebackFinland and Norway Hold ‘Frank' Call With Putin on UkraineAnthropic Files for IPO in Global Race to Raise Cash for AIMbappé Apologizes for Perceived Mao Insult After China BacklashTrump sought to cast Democratic challenger James Talarico as too far left for voters and at the same time pleaded for patience over high energy prices, fueled in part by the war in Iran.
High prices that have strained household budgets have become the dominant issue in the election, weighing down Republican candidates in red states such as Texas.
Trump on T
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Oct 27, 2026
By Ricardo Brito and Gram Slattery
SAO PAULO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election and refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to hand over ?his passports, three sources said.
The US Embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bolsonaro's lawyer also ?did not respond.
Bolsonaro's location was not immediately clear. One source who is close to the Bolsonaro family said Flavio had arrived in the United States, but declined to say ?where.
The source said US President Donald Trump's administration had granted asylum to Flavio and his immediate family. Trump has previously alleged Flavio's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil.
Flavio's departure threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas. Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to put them back in power, and Reuters reported ?ahead of Sunday's election on a US State ?Department campaign to restore them to office.
The elder Jair Bolsonaro also went to the United States after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022, when former US President Joe Biden was in office. He eventually returned to ?Brazil but was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia.
Trump made no mention of Flavio Bolsonaro's departure in comments to the press on Monday, but said the Brazilian vote "looked like another rigged election."
Lula's office did not respond to a request for ?comment.
Bolsonaro ?was favored to win Sunday's presidential election but ended up losing in a ?shock result to Lula.
On Monday, he was given 24 hours ?to surrender his passports as part of a money laundering probe in which he den
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Oct 27, 2026
Washington — A federal magistrate judge on Tuesday rejected the Justice Department's 11th-hour attempt to file new criminal charges against two former FBI counterintelligence officials, saying prosecutors could not take that step without judicial review first.
In a tense exchange, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia expressed shock and anger at the Justice Department for filing an unsworn and unsigned superseding complaint against the two FBI officials after midnight on Tuesday on the public court docket, noting it was never reviewed by him to establish whether there was probable cause a crime was committed.
Filing an unsworn complaint on the public docket and bypassing judicial review, he said, is unheard of and raises questions about the DOJ's motivations. He said he would be ordering that the new version of the charging documents be "struck from the record," though the Justice Department could try to add new charges the proper way.
The docket was later updated to say that the Justice Department's filings were entered "in error."
"We have never had complaints filed that are unsigned," Faruqui said. "It is inappropriate. It harms the defendants."
"I am unaware of that ever happening before in this court," he added. "I am frustrated that I got it in the middle of the night. But I am much more concerned that it is filed on the public record."
John Borchert, a prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C., conceded that the effort by the government to add fresh charges without judicial review in a criminal complaint was a first for him as well.
He asked if Faruqui would agree to let the FBI agent who filed the affidavit in support of the new complaint swear and attest to his filing and then proceed with a hearing to determine if probable cause was met.
Defense attorneys for the two ex-officials balked, with one calling such a move "
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Oct 27, 2026
Dr. Jennifer Shuford, the CDC's deputy director and chief medical officer, will leave the agency next month. (CDC)Less than five months into her tenure as the deputy director and chief medical officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Jennifer Shuford will leave the agency next month, a spokesperson said.
Her exit is the latest example of the leadership churn that has roiled the country's top health agencies under the Trump administration.
Shuford's last day will be Nov. 12, the CDC spokesperson said. In a statement provided on Shuford's behalf, she said she was leaving to spend more time with her family.
"I am so thankful to President Trump and Secretary Kennedy for giving me the opportunity to help lead CDC. It has been an amazing experience and I will be forever grateful for it," she said.
The spokesperson said Satish Pillai, who leads the agency's Ebola response, will serve as acting deputy director and chief medical officer while the CDC looks for a permanent successor.
President Donald Trump announced in April that Shuford had been appointed to CDC leadership, and she started her dual roles in June. Previously, she was Texas' chief state epidemiologist during the Covid pandemic, then was appointed in 2022 to be commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services. In that role, she oversaw the response to the measles outbreak centered in West Texas last year, which led to more than 750 cases and the deaths of two school-age children.
The CDC has lost several top leaders over the last year and a
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Oct 27, 2026
Michael Pretti and Susan Pretti, parents of Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal immigration agents in January, listen during a news conference, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt) - Ellen Schmidt/AP
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Susan and Michael Pretti join CNN's Jake Tapper on The Lead at 5 p.m. Eastern
The parents of Alex Pretti, a US citizen shot and killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis in January, are accusing the Department of Justice of violating their rights under a federal victims' rights law, as they demand transparency and justice in their son's death.
In a July letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche — obtained exclusively by CNN — an attorney representing Michael and Susan Pretti wrote they have not received any substantive updates from the DOJ regarding an investigation into their son's death, and called the department's attitude toward the case "cruel."
"The government's pattern of conduct is not only unconscionable, but unlawful," the letter states.
Pretti's parents on Tuesday accused the federal government of "shielding Alex's killers" by not turning over the entire federal case file to state investigators.
"We will no longer stay silent about the actions of the Department of Justice in the 275 days since Alex's murder," Pretti's father, Michael, said
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Oct 27, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior State Department official said Tuesday that Flávio Bolsonaro and his family will be granted U.S. visas after his weekend loss to incumbent Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a hotly contested race that bucked a trend of conservative electoral results in Latin America.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to visa privacy laws, said "the State Department will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States."
Bolsonaro, who had President Donald Trump's tacit support, had been under investigation for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in Brazil and had been ordered to surrender his passport.
The State Department official did not say if Bolsonaro had already left Brazil or if he and his family were en route to the U.S.
Bolsonaro's campaign manager, Rogério Marinho, said he hadn't spoken to the defeated candidate since early Tuesday morning.
"We had no news from Flávio or his lawyers about what happened," Marinho said. "I received a text message from him, he said he wanted to take a break and then he would talk to us. That's the only message I had from him."
Bolsonaro's brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who lives in Texas, had publicly encouraged him to leave Brazil if he lost the election.
Bolsonaro has touted his relationship with Trump and visited the White House in May. The family connections go deeper: Brother Eduardo Bolsonaro was convicted in absentia in June of illegally lobbying the Trump administration and sentenced to four years in prison. A warrant was recently issued for his arrest.
Trump did not offer a full-throated endorsement of Bolsonaro in the runoff against Lula, as he has with some other right-of-center candidates in Latin Americ
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Oct 27, 2026
The 2026 midterm elections are just 7 days away. So where do things stand — nationwide — in the race to control Congress? Which party has a better chance of, you know, winning? To get a sense of that, it helps to geek out over some cold, hard data.
The usual caveats apply, of course. Polls aren't predictions; they're momentary snapshots of public opinion. And they have been wrong before.
Yet time is running out — and the stakes in November couldn't be higher, especially for President Trump, who has enjoyed complete Republican control of Congress for the first half of his second term. Flipping the House would give Democrats the power to block the president's agenda, investigate his administration and even impeach him (again); flipping the Senate would allow them to stymie his Supreme Court nominees too.
The state-by-state midterm landscape is reaching its final form — and some clear polling trends have emerged. Here are the numbers to watch as Election Day nears.
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Oct 27, 2026
By Andrew Chung
Oct 27 (Reuters) - The US Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to reinstate the authority of immigration judges to temporarily postpone deportation cases, keeping in place an agreement between President Donald Trump's administration and Republican-governed Texas ?that bars the once-common practice.
The justices denied an emergency request by three US cities including Baltimore and an immigrant legal ?advocacy group to halt for now the deal ending the practice, known as "administrative closure," while litigation continues in the dispute.
The Supreme Court's decision, issued as a brief, ?one-sentence order, did not offer any explanation, as is common when it handles emergency requests. None of the justices publicly dissented from decision.
The administration and Texas filed the agreement in a federal court in Texas on June 22, the same day that the state sued to challenge the immigration court procedure. A federal judge swiftly approved the agreement on the same day. Baltimore and the other litigants said the federal ?government improperly colluded with Texas to secure the ?rule's invalidation.
Immigration judges relied on administrative closure for decades to clear certain deportation cases off their busy dockets, including when separate proceedings involving the same person are pending that could prevent removal, such as ?on a visa petition or an appeal of a criminal conviction.
Critics including Texas and the Trump administration have said administrative closure has allowed immigrants who lack legal status to remain indefinitely in the United States, acting in effect like an amnesty.
Administrative closure has been applied over the years in ?hundreds ?of thousands of deportation cases. Ending the practice is part of Trump's ?hardline approach toward immigrants.
In 2024, Biden's administration adopted a ?regulation that formally codified administrative closure procedures,
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Oct 27, 2026
Benjamin Netanyahu casts his ballot next to his wife Sara at a polling station in Jerusalem - Pool via Reuters/Yonatan SindelIsrael attracted a record turnout for Tuesday's crucial election, as Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot accused each other of dirty tricks.
At 4pm in Israel (2pm UK time), voter turnout stood at 55.7 per cent, according to the country's central elections committee - 8 per cent higher than at the same time of day during the 2022 election.
It was the highest turnout at that hour since hourly numbers were first recorded in 1973, with more than four million people having voted.
"We have surpassed all the records kept by the central elections committee. There hasn't been such a nationwide voter turnout since 1973," said Dean Livne, the acting director-general of the committee.
As voters went to the polls, Mr Netanyahu accused Arab parties of trying to steal the election after reports that people with envelopes of cash were allegedly trying to bribe voters.
The Israeli prime minister claimed that three senior officials from the Raam party had been arrested with envelopes full of money in the South.
However, Israeli police confirmed that while three local residents had been detained in the Negev on suspicion of distributing cash in Raam envelopes, they
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Oct 27, 2026
DNA connects serial killer Ted Bundy to the death of another Utah teenager, authorities announced Tuesday, exactly 52 years after her body was discovered in the woods by a hunter.
Bundy has been dead since 1989, but the tally of his confirmed victims continues to grow due to advances in DNA testing. He killed at least 30 women and girls in multiple states in the 1970s, and many more escaped or survived with injuries.
Investigators are satisfied that Bundy was responsible for killing 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith in 1974, a death that had long been listed as a cold case, Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said at a news conference.
They were able to close the case by making crucial connections with DNA found on Smith and Laura Aime, another Bundy victim whose case was resolved last April in Utah County. Bundy's DNA was on file in Florida, where he was convicted and ultimately executed.
Besides that evidence, Smith's death showed hallmarks of Bundy's "pattern, motive, means and opportunity," Olson said.
Utah's state crime lab got new technology in 2023 that extracts DNA from samples even if they are small, degraded from age or contain DNA from multiple people.
"This case demonstrates the importance of preserving evidence," said Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera, whose department has also investigated homicides linked to Bundy.
"We have to solve these cases to the best of our ability," she said, explaining the importance of tapping science, even so many years later. "Nobody is just going to walk away and just blame everything on Ted Bundy, even though many cases have been that way. Here in the state of Utah, we take it very seriously."
Smith's relatives were contacted about the findin
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Oct 27, 2026
April 2026 photo of former Rep. Eric Swalwell at a town hall meeting in Sacramento. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)The FBI Tuesday morning raided a mansion in Beverly Hills in connection with an investigation into former Congressman Eric Swalwell, sources told The Times.
Swalwell, a Democrat from Dublin, dropped out of the California governor's race and resigned from Congress in April after allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer and acted inappropriately with other young women, which he denied at the time. Before he dropped out of the race, polls indicated that Swalwell was among the front-runners.
On Tuesday, FBI agents were in Beverly Hills executing a search warrant on North Roxbury Drive in connection with the probe.
"We are executing a search warrant. Court documents are sealed. No arrests are planned," said FBI spokesperson Lourdes Arocho.
The raid is taking place at the home of billionaire Stephen Cloobeck, sources confirmed to The Times.
Swalwell stayed at the home several times while campaigning and used it for political events before he was kicked out in April after the allegations against him became public. In one of his last acts there, Swalwell filmed a video denying the rape and sexual assault.
Cloobeck, 64, is a one-time California gubernatorial candidate and a well-known figure in Democratic politics. He got rich in the timeshare industry, eventually selling his Las Vegas-based Diamond Resorts company to a private equ
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Oct 27, 2026
New data from the Energy Information Administration showed that gas prices since Jan. 20, 2025 have averaged $3.458 per gallon — the first time in President Trump's second term that overall average gas prices have surpassed the average seen during President Biden's four years in office.
The weekly government data, released Tuesday, shows a reading of $4.269 per gallon for Oct. 26, which nudged up the average price under Trump — from Jan. 27, 2025 to this week. It has now surpassed the $3.455-per-gallon average seen from Jan. 25, 2021, to Jan. 20, 2025.
Trump's gas price record is narrowly favorable to Biden's when comparing the first 91 weekly readings of both men's presidencies. "US Regular Gasoline Prices" from Jan. 25, 2021 to Oct. 24, 2022 averaged $3.517 per gallon.
Biden oversaw a spike in prices — including the highest gas prices on record of $5.006 per gallon the week of June 13, 2022 — as the US confronted oil shocks that followed Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.The new numbers come exactly one week before the midterm elections and underline a clear political challenge for Trump and his party as polling shows that voters blame the president for gas price increases, which spiked immediately following the invasion of Iran earlier this yea
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Oct 27, 2026
Kharkiv, Ukraine - Yulia Spichak, a 34 year-old makeup artist in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region, dropped her son off at an English-language lesson on Oct. 19 and sat down in a nearby park to send a selfie to her sister, Alina. Seconds later, a Russian drone slammed into the park, killing Spichak and four others, including a 1-year-old girl.
The attack came six days after Elon Musk's SpaceX throttled Ukraine's access to Starlink, which Ukraine has been using to coordinate its defenses against Russian attacks and for some of its offensive operations. In a post on X, Musk accused Ukraine of violating Starlink's terms of service by also using it for attacks on Russia.
Ukrainian officials told CBS News that the restrictions imposed without advance notice affected ground-based air defense radars and drone interceptors, hindering the military's ability to stop incoming Russian strikes.
"It's an essential part of the air defense infrastructure," Vadym Ivchenko, a Ukrainian member of parliament on the National Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee, told CBS News Monday. "I couldn't say that all other air defenses stopped working, no. But this part is quite essential for the defense of civilians in Ukraine."
CBS News obtained photographs that show Ukraine's ground-based air defense radars' Starlink connectivity dropping to .1 megabytes per second on Oct. 19, the day of the Kharkiv drone attack. That would not be enough to load a webpage, let alone power air defense radars, according to a source familiar with the technology who requested anonymity because he was not permitted to comment on the matter.
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Oct 27, 2026
Federal prosecutors filed new criminal charges on Tuesday against two ex-FBI counterintelligence officials, accusing them of obstructing a congressional proceeding and lying to lawmakers about their roles in the bureau's investigations of Hunter Biden.
The unsigned and unsworn superseding complaint, filed early Tuesday morning, comes just hours before the defendants Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides are due to appear in federal court in Washington, D.C. for a preliminary hearing.
At that hearing, attorneys for Floris and Benavides are expected to grill one of the government's witnesses to test the strength of the complaint and whether the Justice Department can demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe a crime was committed.
The decision by the Justice Department to file a criminal complaint against two former senior FBI officials over testimony they gave three years ago so close to the midterm elections has raised eyebrows among former prosecutors and other federal officials.
Criminal complaints in felony cases are typically reserved for more exigent circumstances, such as ongoing threats to public safety or national security. And Justice Department guidelines and norms have typically urged prosecutors to avoid taking overt investigative steps on politically sensitive cases so close to a national election.
Prosecutors filing an unsworn and unsigned superseding complaint overnight is likely to raise further questions about whether the case is politically motivated.
"What is going on at the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office? In the middle of the night, the government filed an unsigned and unsworn complaint attempting to fix the issues with their original charge against Ms. Floris and adding a new charge just as meritless as the first one," said Floris' legal team in a statement provid
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Oct 27, 2026
Real estate brokers Oren and Tal Alexander and their brother, Alon, listen as their lawyers argue for lesser sentences at a New York courtroom Tuesday. (Jane Rosenberg / Reuters)Two former luxury real estate brokers and their brother were each sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, seven months after they were convicted of drugging and raping women in a sex trafficking ring.
Federal prosecutors sought life sentences for Oren and Alon Alexander, a pair of former powerful real estate brokers, and their brother, Tal, in a New York City courtroom Tuesday afternoon. Attorneys for the brothers, who have asserted their innocence, asked the judge to give the men the mandatory minimum, instead.
U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni characterized the brothers as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." On one side, they were described as gentlemen who loved their children, she said, and on the other, they were described as "sadistic, misogynistic, sexual predators."
"Your conduct was monstrous," Caproni said in her sentencing.
But Caproni added that she did not believe the Alexander brothers were beyond redemption, declining the request to give them life sentences.
In addition to 30 years of incarceration, she ordered 10 years of supervised release and sex offender treatment approved by the probation office. They are not to have contact with any child under age 18 unless it is approved by the probation office.
Twins Alon and Oren Alexander, 39, were ordered to pay $300,000 each in fines. Tal Alexander,
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Oct 27, 2026
By Steven Scheer and Pesha Magid
JERUSALEM, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Israelis surged to the polls at the fastest rate in nearly half a century on Tuesday to pass wartime judgment on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in what voters described as the most consequential election in the nation's history.
Long lines formed outside polling stations for the first election since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, with ?voters passionately engaged over the trauma of the country's deadliest day and the ensuing wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
Policies of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition have been divisive at home and have deepened Israel's international isolation, ?while he has defended his record, calling himself the only leader with the mettle to face down Israel's foes.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader with 19 years in office, is an unmatched political survivor, and his nationalist politics are increasingly entrenched. Israel's fragmented system makes it difficult for an ?array of opponents to force out his coalition of right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.
His main rival Gadi Eisenkot, a military ex-chief of staff and security hawk, aims to unseat him with the support of parties on the right and centre, as well as the rump of an increasingly marginalised left. Opinion polls show a close race, with neither leader facing an easy path to power.
In a message to supporters more than five hours after polls opened, Netanyahu urged them to vote, saying turnout was high among his opponents on the left and among Israelis of Arab heritage, around a fifth of the country.
"We need it to be high too. You all need to stream to the polls," he said. "This is a fateful moment."
VOTER SEES ?ELECTION AS MOST IMPORTANT SHE'S KNOWN
Voters began casting ballots after polling stations opened at ?7 a.m. (0500 GMT). The polls close at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT).
The Central Elections
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Oct 27, 2026
Someone could win an estimated $716 million in Wednesday's Powerball drawing after no ticket matched all six numbers on Monday.
The jackpot has gone for more than 30 drawings without a winner, since Aug. 12, when a single ticket sold in Illinois won $1.04 billion.
Monday still produced a couple of big winners. Two tickets, one sold in Florida and one in Georgia, matched all five white balls and won $1 million each.
What are the odds of winning Powerball?The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
To put that into perspective, the National Weather Service estimates the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year at about 1 in 1.2 million. That means you're roughly 240 times more likely to be struck than to win the jackpot with a single ticket.
A ticket is far more likely to win a smaller prize. The overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9.
What are the biggest Powerball wins?The most recent jackpot winner, who chose to remain anonymous, won $1.04 billion on Aug. 12, the eighth-largest Powerball prize since the game began in 1992. Illinois law allows lottery winners of over $250,000 to keep their identities hidden.
The largest jackpot ever won, $2.04 billion, went to Edwin Castro, who bought the winning ticket a
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Oct 27, 2026
With one week until the midterm elections, the majorities of both houses of Congress are in play as voters weigh a midterm check on unified control of government in Washington -- President Donald Trump's hold on the White House and Republican majorities in the House and Senate the past two years.
Republicans hold slim majorities in both the House and Senate and are rallying to preserve them with just days until Election Day.
Democrats on the other hand are trying to make inroads into some traditionally red areas in hopes of picking up crucial seats.
AP - PHOTO: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson in Washington, July 21, 2026 and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in Washington, July 13, 2026.HouseIn the House, all 435 seats are on the ballot on Nov. 3 for two-year terms in the 120th Congress. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana currently holds a historically narrow majority: 218 Republicans alongside a single independent, Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, who filed for reelection without party affiliation but continues to generally support the speaker on the floor. Democrats hold 214 seats.
There are also two vacancies in the House following the April resignations of lawmakers with ethics issues -- former Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales and former Florida Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who attempted a comeback but was rejected by voters in an August primary.
That's a lengthy way to explain that on Election Night, Johnson effectively begins with a 220-215 edge over Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Midterm elections voting: SlideshowWhile Johnson and Republicans defend their legislati
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Oct 27, 2026
Senators are bracing for a potential floor fight over accepting the results of the Alaska Senate race between incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) and former Rep. Mary Peltola (D) — and perhaps other battleground contests — if President Trump urges allies to dispute what he might view as unfair or "rigged" results.
Democratic senators generally view Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) as a straight shooter who would be averse to rejecting an election result in an Alaska Senate race certified by the governor and lieutenant governor.
But they aren't ruling out the possibility that the president will prod his MAGA allies in the Senate to contest the election results if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses by a narrow margin and blames his loss on voter confusion leading to a significant number of votes for his opponent with a similar name, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.
If Alaska's top officials certify Peltola as the winner, and Trump calls on Senate allies to reject that finding, it puts Thune in a tough spot and potentially sets up a messy floor fight.
"Everybody is gaming everything out, and everybody is preparing for everything," a Senate Democratic aide said of the preparations for potential Republican objections if Peltola narrowly beats the incumbent Republican senator.
Sarah Binder, a professor of political science at George Washington University and a Senate rules expert, said Trump's aggressive threat to challenge a Democratic win in Alaska could lead to a nasty Senate floor fight.
"We can't rule anything out at this stage just given the president's single-minded persistence that there's a lot of electora
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Oct 27, 2026
LONDON (AP) — Two men were charged Tuesday with national security offenses over a suspected plot against RAF Fairford, a U.S.-run military air base in England, police and prosecutors said.
British nationals Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim and Nouman Essghir, both aged 24 and from London, were charged under the National Security Act, the Crown Prosecution Service said. They are due to appear in court later Tuesday.
Abdulkarim is charged with assisting Iran's intelligence service and Essghir with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the U.K.
RAF Fairford, in western England, has been used by American bombers to strike Iran during this year's war.
Essghir was arrested outside the base on Sept. 27, when armed police officers and army bomb-disposal experts swarmed the rural area. Scores of residents were evacuated from their homes as police and army bomb-disposal experts searched for explosives.
Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant — gasoline — in vans at the scene, but no explosives.
Essghir was initially released on bail before being re-arrested last week. Abdulkarim was arrested in the past week. Six other men have been arrested and released on bail as investigations continue.
British authorities have linked Tehran to the incident, which led the U.S. to pull its bombers from RAF Fairford. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that the apparent plot was "almos
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Oct 27, 2026
Just two years after Missouri voters approved an amendment enshrining the right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution, abortion, which was also protected by the measure, is on the ballot there again.
On Nov. 3, Missouri residents will be voting on Amendment 3, only this time it would prohibit abortion, except in cases of medical emergencies, fetal anomalies, rape or incest. If the abortion is due to rape or incest, the procedure must occur no later than 12 weeks' gestation.
Since Roe v. Wade was overruled by the Supreme Court in June 2022, 13 states have ceased nearly all abortion services while four states have a six-week ban on books, according to an ABC News tally.
Missouri lawmakers move to repeal abortion protections enacted by votersFollowing the Supreme Court decision, Missouri enacted a trigger ban, prohibiting most abortions in the state.
However, in November 2024, Missouri became the first state to overturn a near-total abortion ban through a direct vote of the people by passing Amendment 3 -- the same name as the upcoming ballot measure -- with about 52% of the vote.
"Missourians have access to abortion care because the people made it possible," Mallory Schwarz, executive director of the nonprofit Abortion Action Missouri, told ABC News. "But not even months after our 2024 vote, politicians started plotting to overturn the will of the people and now, in a couple of weeks, voters will have to vote again to protect the right to abortion that we enshrined in the constitution previously."
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Oct 27, 2026
Polling stations in Israel will close on Tuesday evening, but it could be weeks before Benjamin Netanyahu or one of his opponents will be declared the next prime minister.
It might even require another election.
That's because Israelis vote for parties and not candidates. None of the several main parties is expected to win anywhere close to a 61-seat majority in Israel's parliament, known as the Knesset. So the next prime minister will have to cobble together a coalition.
Polls show a tight race between coalitions supporting Netanyahu and his main opponent, retired Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. In the end, both could fall short of a 61-seat majority, meaning another election would be held in the coming months with Netanyahu's government staying on as a caretaker.
Here's a look at the process.
Israeli broadcasters release exit polls
Shortly after polls close at 10 p.m. local time (2000 GMT), Israel's three main television broadcasters will release exit polls estimating how many seats were won by each party.
The exit polls usually provide a good indication of how people have voted. But they also could vary and may not be borne out by the official results, which will be released in the coming days.
The Associated Press calls thousands of elections in the United States, but doesn't declare winners in foreign elections.
Party leaders neg
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Oct 27, 2026
WICHITA, Kan. — Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., knows that he's running for his political life, even in deep-red Kansas, where a Democrat hasn't won since the Great Depression.
It's a Senate race that, until just a few months ago, was not on national Republicans' radar. But Adam Hamilton, a well-known megachurch pastor styling himself as a moderate, has made the race uncomfortably close for Marshall and the GOP and pushed what was once a safe bet into toss-up territory.
In an interview with Fox News Digital in Wichita, Kan., hours before President Donald Trump was set to rally behind the embattled incumbent, Marshall acknowledged that if he falls, Democrats may very well gain control of the Senate.
Sleeper Senate Race Emerges As Unexpected Headache For Republicans Ahead Of Midterms
President Donald Trump and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., attend a campaign event in Park City, Kansas, on Oct. 19, 2026."I think that, you know, I'm not a political expert, I'm a physician, but if we lose Kansas, I don't see how we keep control of the Senate," Marshall said. "And that's why a vote for Adam Hamilton is a vote for Chuck Schumer and Democrat control of the Senate. It's that simple."
Republicans are trying to maintain, and even grow, their slim, 53-seat majority in the upper chamber. Kansas, which hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century, wasn't supposed to be a problem.
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Oct 27, 2026
Election officials from coast to coast are facing a slew of challenges ahead of the high-stakes midterms, from the Trump administration's bid to impose itself on state-run elections to last-minute court challenges and threats faced by election workers -- all under a persistent sense of distrust in the voting process itself, some experts told ABC News.
"Usually the temperature is much higher -- and emotions run much hotter -- in a presidential election year than in a midterm election year," said Wendy Weiser, vice president of the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. "This year, though, the temperature is staying up at a high level."
Election experts broadly lay blame for the elevated sense of distrust in elections this year at the feet of President Donald Trump, whose administration has taken unprecedented steps to question the outcome by levelling unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud.
About 6 in 10 Americans are confident the election will be conducted fairly and accurately: ABC/Post/Ipsos pollTrump administration officials say steps they've taken in recent weeks -- including lawsuits in California and Alaska and threats to prosecute election workers -- are meant to ensure the integrity of the election.
But under the weight of those allegations, state officials say the once-collaborative rapport between the federal government and state leaders has in some cases given way to a deep sense of suspicion.
"There's no trust in that relationship," N
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Oct 27, 2026
Republicans' small-dollar donor base has contracted in recent years, leaving the party more dependent on a tiny group of wealthy megadonors for support.
The GOP has had a cash advantage all year thanks to a relatively small group of large donors who have funded super PACs — Elon Musk alone has given nearly half a billion dollars this cycle. But the campaigns themselves have raised relatively little, and there's one major reason: Other than President Donald Trump, who is still the party's biggest fundraiser, Republicans still haven't figured out how to raise money online.
New campaign finance filings reveal just how deep the problem goes. While Republicans have long struggled to grow their grassroots donor base, they've moved in the wrong direction in recent years. The number of federal donors giving through WinRed, the major GOP online fundraising platform, is down, with roughly 1.5 million donors so far this cycle compared to 2.2 million at this time in 2022. Meanwhile the number of donors has increased by about one third on ActBlue, from 4.9 million to roughly 6.6 million.
The contrast is stark: A single Democratic candidate, James Talarico in Texas, has had roughly the same number of donors on ActBlue this cycle as all Republican candidates and committees combined had on WinRed, according to a POLITICO analysis of reports ActBlue and WinRed submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
Republican digital strategists who have been sounding the alarm for years say lagging donations are a product of fatigue, driven by years of urgent messages to the same set of potential donors.
"We beat the absolute hell out of low-dollar donors with texts and emails without expanding our [donor lists], and now no one pays attention," said Wesley Donehue, a South Carolina-based GOP digital strategist.
Republicans' online
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Oct 27, 2026
By Steven Scheer and Pesha Magid
JERUSALEM, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a fight for political survival in Israel's election on Tuesday, with voters weighing his leadership after the 2023 Hamas-led attacks, wars in Gaza and with Iran, and Israel's deepening international isolation.
Yet Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader with 19 years in ?office, remains a formidable survivor, with nationalist politics increasingly entrenched and Israel's fragmented system potentially leaving him best placed to form a government.
Opinion polls show a close race between ?Netanyahu's Likud party and its right-wing allies and a rival alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff and security hawk with backers on the right and in the centre.
Voters began casting ballots after polling stations ?opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT). The polls close at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT). Netanyahu has campaigned on his wartime leadership and his alliance with US President Donald Trump, who has endorsed him and joined Israel in waging war on Iran. Netanyahu said on Sunday that Trump was prepared to act again to "finally" remove the Iranian threat, but only if Netanyahu remained in power.
Eisenkot has accused Netanyahu of "relying on a campaign of fear-mongering, lies and threats," and said he was confident Trump would work "in full cooperation with any leader chosen by the people."
Netanyahu may again depend on far-right leaders Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to ?form a government. Both have faced sanctions from some Western countries ?that accuse them of inciting violence against Palestinians, while Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party has gained support in opinion polls.
Neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot has a clear path to power. If neither can form a governing coalition in the 120-seat parliament, Netanyahu could stay on as caretaker until another election is held next ?year.
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Oct 27, 2026
The Justice Department took steps to charge James Comey with leaking classified information earlier this month, court records show, in its third attempt to bring criminal charges against the former FBI director and Trump foe.
Prosecutors are seeking to charge Comey with two counts of violating the Espionage Act by transmitting national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it. He has not been indicted by a grand jury or charged by criminal complaint, and was instead targeted through a criminal information filing.
In this case, the information was filed in order to preserve the statute of limitations before it expires, according to a Justice Department spokesperson. The official added that "this is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we will not comment further."
A criminal information does not require approval by a grand jury, or a finding by a magistrate judge of probable cause that there is evidence to establish that a crime was committed.
Comey's attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said Comey "steadfastly maintains his innocence."
The latest effort by the Justice Department stems from allegations that Comey gave national defense information to an unnamed individual for disclosure in a newspaper in October 2016.
According to court filings in the case, The New York Times published an article on Oct. 5, 2016, titled, "Yahoo Said to Have Aided U.S. Email Surveillance By Adapting Spam Filter." The article cited two unnamed government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Justice Department alleges that it has uncovered evidence that Comey sought to "correct misinformation which had appeared in the press by way of Reuters the day before" and that Comey "directed staff" to speak with the Times reporter about the accuracy of the Reuters
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Oct 27, 2026
The Justice Department took steps to charge James Comey with leaking classified information earlier this month, court records show, in its third attempt to bring criminal charges against the former FBI director and Trump foe.
Prosecutors are seeking to charge Comey with two counts of violating the Espionage Act by transmitting national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it. He has not been indicted by a grand jury or charged by criminal complaint, and was instead targeted through a criminal information filing.
In this case, the information was filed in order to preserve the statute of limitations before it expires, according to a Justice Department spokesperson. The official added that "this is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we will not comment further."
A criminal information does not require approval by a grand jury, or a finding by a magistrate judge of probable cause that there is evidence to establish that a crime was committed.
Comey's attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said Comey "steadfastly maintains his innocence."
The latest effort by the Justice Department stems from allegations that Comey gave national defense information to an unnamed individual for disclosure in a newspaper in October 2016.
According to court filings in the case, The New York Times published an article on Oct. 5, 2016, titled, "Yahoo Said to Have Aided U.S. Email Surveillance By Adapting Spam Filter." The article cited two unnamed government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Justice Department alleges that it has uncovered evidence that Comey sought to "correct misinformation which had appeared in the press by way of Reuters the day before" and that Comey "directed staff" to speak with the Times reporter about the accuracy of the Reuters
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Oct 27, 2026
A golfer walks in front of cut down trees at East Potomac Golf Links near Hains Point in Washington, DC, October 19, 2026. - Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
A federal judge extended an order blocking tree removal from a Washington, DC golf course President Donald Trump is seeking to renovate, while imposing new notice requirements on any other major changes the administration seeks to make on the golf course grounds.
The new 70-page opinion from US District Judge Ana Reyes cited Trump's own statements about his plans for East Potomac Golf Course.
The judge said she was forced to act now in the long-simmering dispute - which came to a head in recent weeks because the administration cut down 400-plus trees on the grounds with little notice - "because the Government did what it assured all it would not do."
The ruling is a major setback for Trump's efforts to turn the beloved but modest public golf course into a championship level course. It also sets the stage for an appeals court battle in a case that had produced sharp confrontations between the administration and the judiciary.
The new ruling comes after a showdown between the Trump administration and the federal bench in DC during a marathon hearing last week over the president's efforts to overhaul the course.
Tensions were ratcheted up for those proceedings when Trump posted to social media that construction would begin at the course "immediately," while calling Reyes a "crazed lunatic."
"The event
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Oct 26, 2026
This booking photo released by the Tennessee Department of Correction on July 24, 2025, shows Jacob Morley. - Tennessee Department of Correction/AP
A 28-year-old convicted murderer serving a life sentence escaped through a Tennessee prison's fence Sunday evening before stealing a truck and driving off — and has not yet been located, according to Tennessee authorities.
Around 11:30 p.m. on October 25, staff at the Northwest Correctional Complex learned Jacob Morley was missing, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction. He had been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and vandalism.
Security camera footage later revealed Morley "breached the perimeter fence" and left the facility wearing his prison uniform, the department said. It remains unclear how he escaped through the fence.
Video obtained by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows Morley stealing a white 2008 Ford F-350 with Tennessee plates around 1 a.m. on October 26, the agency said.
unknown content item
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The Hornbeak Fire Department, which is about 15 miles from the Northwest Correctional Complex, said it captured video of Morley passing in front of the fire department building in the stolen truck around 1:18 a.m.
Morley is the second inmate to escape from the Tenness
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Oct 26, 2026
This booking photo released by the Tennessee Department of Correction on July 24, 2025, shows Jacob Morley. - Tennessee Department of Correction/AP
A 28-year-old convicted murderer serving a life sentence escaped through a Tennessee prison's fence Sunday evening before stealing a truck and driving off — and has not yet been located, according to Tennessee authorities.
Around 11:30 p.m. on October 25, staff at the Northwest Correctional Complex learned Jacob Morley was missing, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction. He had been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and vandalism.
Security camera footage later revealed Morley "breached the perimeter fence" and left the facility wearing his prison uniform, the department said. It remains unclear how he escaped through the fence.
Video obtained by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows Morley stealing a white 2008 Ford F-350 with Tennessee plates around 1 a.m. on October 26, the agency said.
unknown content item
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The Hornbeak Fire Department, which is about 15 miles from the Northwest Correctional Complex, said it captured video of Morley passing in front of the fire department building in the stolen truck around 1:18 a.m.
Morley is the second inmate to escape from the Tenness
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Oct 26, 2026
Smoke rises from a residential neighborhood in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in the Kherson region of Ukraine in a video the Ukrainian 34th Separate Marine Brigade released Sept. 22. (Ukrainian 34th Separate Marine Brigade / via AP)A rare humanitarian ceasefire brokered by first lady Melania Trump to save people trapped in a Russian-occupied Ukrainian town went into effect early Tuesday.
After months of warnings from Ukrainian officials about an unraveling humanitarian catastrophe in the front-line town of Oleshky, in the southern Kherson region, the White House announced last week that the first lady had secured a pause in the fighting.
The agreement between Ukraine and Russia would "temporarily stop all military action in Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and to prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe passageway," according to a statement released Friday.
Both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries have confirmed that the ceasefire will start at 3 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET) to ensure what they have both called a "humanitarian operation." Neither side has indicated when the temporary truce would end.
The ceasefire announcement came amid renewed pressure from President Donald Trump on his Ukrainian counterpart,
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Oct 26, 2026
President Donald Trump took seven minutes out of his Monday night rally in Corinth, Mississippi, to defend his focus on White House renovation projects after one of his predecessors, Barack Obama, compared the redecorated Oval Office to an over-the-top Cheesecake Factory.
Trump denied spending excessive time on the projects, then went on to detail repairs to exterior plaster, as well as construction of a heliport and ballroom. He described the executive mansion's previous condition in dire terms, including a cracked column, missing ornamentation and broken tile.
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"I fix things very good, very beautifully," he said. "It's a natural thing. It actually relaxes me."
Obama, campaigning for Democrats in Ohio on Saturday, joked that the proliferation of gold-colored appliqués in Trump's Oval Office looked "like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory." With his focus on home renovations, Obama added, Trump "should be on HGTV."
The slight played on a broader vulnerability for Trump, a real estate developer by profession, who has devoted considerable attention to remaking the White House and Washington even as most Americans disapprove of the projects. Fifty-nine percent of respondents to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted this month said Trump was spending "too much" time on the projects, compared with 27 percent of adults who said he is spending the right amount of time on the projects and 11 percent who said not enough.
Obama's criticism appeared to partic
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Oct 26, 2026
A federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration's late-breaking effort to force California to separate mail-in ballots from 20,000 purported noncitizens.
A 2-1 ruling from a panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the Justice Department improperly circumvented a lower-court judge who had scheduled a hearing on the matter on Tuesday and moved too slowly to seek emergency relief.
"[T]he United States failed to allow the district court adequate opportunity to consider its application for a Temporary Restraining Order," the majority wrote. "The United States's claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one."
Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, joined Judge Gabriel Sanchez, a Biden appointee, in turning down the administration's emergency appeal. Judge Patrick Bumatay, another Trump appointee, dissented and said he would have granted the request.
Though the outcome was foreshadowed in a hearing Sunday in which the judges appeared skeptical of their power to take up the Trump administration's case, the dissent by Bumatay created a surprising split.
Bumatay said the Trump administration's view — that a federal criminal law barring voting by noncitizens superseded California's election procedures — would likely prevail in the end, and that every day without relief from the courts increased the likelihood that noncitizens' votes would be improperly counted in the midte
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Oct 26, 2026
Politics can be a lot. Keeping track of what's going on can be confusing, frustrating, unsettling and, often, pretty boring. It's no surprise that a large share of Americans feel compelled to step back from following politics or give up on it entirely.
As understandable as it is to give yourself some distance, that does mean it can be hard to get caught up when something important — like next week's big midterm election — comes up. That's exactly what this story is meant to help with.
There's no need to bombard you with every single twist and turn in U.S. politics since President Trump was elected to a second term two years ago. Instead, consider this a zoomed-out, stripped-down cheat sheet of the things you really do need to know to understand what's happening, why it matters and how you can take part yourself on Nov. 3.
YahooWhat's happening?The midterms happen in even years when there's not a presidential election (they're called that because they happen in the middle of a president's term).
This year, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as 35 of 100 Senate seats and the governorship of 36 states, are on the ballot. That means every eligible voter in all 50 states
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Oct 26, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is attempting to prosecute James Comey for what it calls a decade-old leak of classified information, an effort the former FBI director's lawyers immediately dismissed as invalid and outside the legal time limit for when the Justice Department can file a criminal indictment.
The allegations from the Justice Department were revealed Monday in newly unsealed court documents that shed light on a closed-door fight that represents a clear escalation in the administration's targeting of Comey, a longtime critic and foe of President Donald Trump who has faced two other criminal cases since the Republican returned to the White House last year. The effort to prosecute Comey is also part of a series of politically charged investigative actions the department has undertaken in the run-up to next week's midterm elections.
"Well, they're back — again," Comey said in a video statement released after the documents dropped. "It would almost be funny if it weren't such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice - one that we cannot become numb to. Nothing's changed with me; I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid of these people — and I still believe in an independent federal judiciary."
The Justice Department, for its part, said it had filed what's known as a "criminal information" to extend the 10-year statute of limitations for bringing a case.
"Filing a criminal information to toll the statute of limitations is a widely recognized practice in federal court and has been approved by multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals. This is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we will not comment further," a department spokesperson said.
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Oct 26, 2026
The case began after an anonymous online tipster told the FBI that they overheard the man talking about mailing a suspicious substance to members of Congress. (Graeme Sloan / Bloomberg via Getty)WASHINGTON — A man has been charged in Illinois with mailing four letters containing a white granular substance to members of Congress, all of which were sent in envelopes bearing his name and home address.
Matthew Unglesbee has been charged with sending threatening letters containing a white granular substance to three members of Congress, along with a handwritten letter that read "HA HA." A fourth letter with a white granular substance included the note "HAH enjoy the gift."
Unglesbee faces two charges: false information and hoaxes and mailing threatening communications. He will make an initial appearance in court Monday afternoon.
A letter received by the district office of a member of Congress on Wednesday with a white granular substance spilling from the unopened envelope. The photo has been redacted for privacy. (U.S. District Court)In an interview with FBI personnel Sunday, Unglesbee is alleged to have admitted that he mailed four letters to four members of Congress after he he
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Oct 26, 2026
President Donald Trump prays during a roundtable discussion at the Trump National Doral Miami resort in Miami, Florida, on Oct. 22, 2024. —Chandan Kanna—Getty ImagesA video of Catholic bishops praying around President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House last week has sparked debate, with some bishops claiming their attendance was "exploited" for political purposes less than two weeks before the midterm elections.
The 12 clergymen joined Trump on Thursday in the Oval Office, for what Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee has said was intended to be a private meeting to discuss matters such as immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, and human dignity. But in a "public apology" issued Sunday, Grob expressed deep regret over the meeting that he suggested was used as a "political photo opportunity" after White House officials shared images and footage of a moment of prayer. The video, which Grob claims was posted without the bishops' consent, has been viewed over 1.8 million times on X alone.
Grob said he had received "many questions" over the encounter and wanted to emphasize that the meeting "was in no way an endorsement of the President, his policies, or his party." He said his invite to the meeting had been extended by Heritage Foundation, the think tank behind the conservative policy playbook
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Oct 26, 2026
By Jody Godoy
Oct 26 (Reuters) - Dollar General repeatedly charged more than advertised prices even after ?receiving tens of thousands of consumer complaints, ?the US Federal Trade Commission and 20 states alleged in a ?lawsuit filed on Monday.
Dollar General, which appeals to low-income consumers with bargain prices, made millions of dollars by failing to honor prices advertised on fliers and ?shelves at checkout, ?the FTC and states allege.
The discount retailer's stock was down more than 4% on ?Monday afternoon.
"Dollar General has, for years, repeatedly mislabeled prices, overcharged consumers and failed to correct the issue ?despite extensive ?corporate knowledge of the ?problem," the FTC and ?states said in a statement.
Representatives for Dollar General did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit cited numerous complaints from consumers, failed inspections conducted by state authorities, and undercover shopping sprees conducted ?by the FTC.
Portions of the ?lawsuit detailing the company's knowledge ?of the practices ?were largely redacted.
California joined the FTC ?lawsuit along with Florida, Illinois, ?Michigan, Ohio, North ?Carolina, Tennessee and 13 other states.
Since 2019, Dollar General has paid $6 million in settlements with ?six states over ?inaccurate pricing, according to the complaint.
(Reporting by ?Katharine Jackson and Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina ?Chiacu and Bill Berkrot)
This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-20-states-sue-dollar-174735286.html
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Oct 26, 2026
Press freedom groups on Monday sued the Trump administration, alleging in federal court that attempting to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House violates the First Amendment rights of ordinary citizens to access information about the U.S. government.
The three outlets already won a preliminary injunction halting the government from enforcing the bans while litigation plays out. But the new lawsuit, brought by Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute and Yale Law School's Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, alleges that the harms of the bans reach far beyond the three named outlets and deprive American citizens of their constitutional rights to access information.
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"The White House cannot decide what information Americans receive by punishing critical reporting," said Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute. "When the White House expels reporters because of their coverage and threatens others with expulsion, it isn't just the press that suffers - the public loses access to independent reporting and gets something closer to government propaganda."
The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Manhattan on behalf of six named plaintiffs: Yale law professor Kenneth Roth; Yale history professor Beverly Gage; Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes; journalist Daniel Froomkin; University of Pennsylvania student Ethan Young, editor in chief of the Daily Pennsylvanian newspaper; and New York City high school teacher Peter Schmidt-Nowara.
"Media that pedal misinformation and defamation are completely capable of reporting their manufactured stories from directly outside," a White House
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Oct 26, 2026
What to know about the Iran war today:
President Trump said Sunday he was still deciding between reaching an agreement with Iran and taking action to "finish them off." Mr. Trump has kept open the possibility of a new round of major U.S. strikes against Iran. Iranian officials said Sunday that indirect negotiations with the U.S. continue but that Tehran will not change its positions even if Mr. Trump does order a resumption of American attacks on the Islamic Republic.The price of international benchmark Brent crude oil sat around $115 a barrel early Monday after surging last week over supply concerns, as the Middle East and Ukraine crises grind on and the Northern Hemisphere heads into winter, when demand for gas rises.
Saudi-led coalition says three more drones shot down over Riyadh
The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government in the escalating civil war with the Iran-backed Houthis claimed Monday to have shot down three more drones over the Saudi capital Riyadh, and in the south of the country.
In a post on X, coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki announced the "interception and destruction of 3 drones in the Riyadh region and the southern region."
He did not specify where the drones came from, but the Houthis have attacked Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones for weeks in retaliation for the kingdom's involvement in the Yemen war.
Earlier Monday, al-Maliki said Saudi ai
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Oct 26, 2026
Microsoft (MSFT) announced on Monday that it was offering voluntary buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees as it looks to reshape its organization for the AI era.
"The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we're evolving our approach to change: creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter," Amy Coleman, Microsoft's executive vice president and chief people officer, wrote in a memo to employees.
The company is reportedly offering buyouts to employees in Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States at level 70 and below, which includes some senior-level personnel.
The announcement follows Microsoft's first voluntary retirement program, which it announced in May. The retirement packages offered ranged from eight to 39 weeks of base pay, depending on employees' positions and tenure.
The offers to staff come as Microsoft plans to spend $190 billion on capital expenditur
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Oct 26, 2026
Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign for Ohio governor appears to be stumbling to the finish line after a series of setbacks — including the loss of a major endorsement and venue cancellations — amid mounting fallout from the MAGA Republican's controversial attack ad.
The 30-second ad, released last week, features Democratic candidate Dr. Amy Acton's mother calling her daughter a "liar" and urging Ohio residents not to vote for her.
The spot has drawn intense bipartisan backlash, with critics condemning the campaign's use of Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur. Acton has not spoken to Arthur in decades. Arthur lost custody of her children after her husband was indicted on a charge of raping Acton. He was never prosecuted on that charge before he died, after the couple fled the state.
Ramaswamy has defended the ad as "legitimate," and President Donald Trump has rallied to his defense. The controversy comes as polls show a tight race with less than two weeks until Election Day.
On Sunday, The Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper, broke with its policy against endorsing candidates in major races to
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Oct 26, 2026
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy slammed opponent Democrat Amy Acton's campaign on Sunday, saying her campaign "defamed my mother" before he released a controversial attack ad earlier this month.
Appearing on Fox News, Ramaswamy was asked whether he regretted releasing an attack ad that featured Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a "liar."
"I'll tell you the advice I was raised in: You never start a fight, but if you find yourself in one, you finish it, and you have to stand for what is right and what is true," he said. "They've attacked me. They've defamed my mother to media silence. It's unbelievable. And yet, at the same time, they'll trot out anything to attack a Republican."
Ramaswamy did not mention a specific instance of alleged defamation. The Hill has reached out to his campaign for clarification and comment.
Acton has talked about experiencing physical and sexual abuse, along with neglect, during her childhood. Her mother stayed with her stepfather even after he was charged with sexually abusing Acton when she was 12 years old, according to court documents.
Acton's campaign in August
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Oct 26, 2026
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy slammed opponent Democrat Amy Acton's campaign on Sunday, saying her campaign "defamed my mother" before he released a controversial attack ad earlier this month.
Appearing on Fox News, Ramaswamy was asked whether he regretted releasing an attack ad that featured Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a "liar."
"I'll tell you the advice I was raised in: You never start a fight, but if you find yourself in one, you finish it, and you have to stand for what is right and what is true," he said. "They've attacked me. They've defamed my mother to media silence. It's unbelievable. And yet, at the same time, they'll trot out anything to attack a Republican."
Ramaswamy did not mention a specific instance of alleged defamation. The Hill has reached out to his campaign for clarification and comment.
Acton has talked about experiencing physical and sexual abuse, along with neglect, during her childhood. Her mother stayed with her stepfather even after he was charged with sexually abusing Acton when she was 12 years old, according to court documents.
Acton's campaign in August
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Oct 26, 2026
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Trump administration's abrupt firing of former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey was unlawful, a US judge ruled on Monday, in a victory for ?the eldest daughter of former FBI director and longtime Donald Trump adversary James Comey.
Maurene Comey, who ?brought criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs during nearly a decade at the Manhattan ?US Attorney's office, was fired by the Justice Department in July 2025.
In a lawsuit against the Trump administration, she alleged that she was fired because of who her father was, in violation of federal laws prohibiting firing civil servants for political reasons and guaranteeing federal employees due process in employment disputes.
The case was seen ?as a test of whether the ?Trump administration can swiftly fire line prosecutors like Comey, who are not politically appointed and whose careers tend to span both Republican and Democratic administrations.
During his second ?term, Trump, a Republican, has sought to expand his authority over federal government entities that have historically enjoyed varying degrees of independence from the White House, including the Justice Department. His critics accuse him of using criminal ?prosecutions ?to punish political foes and reward allies.
In court papers, ?the Justice Department argued that prosecutors like Comey ?are subject to removal without cause by the president or the Attorney General because they are delegated a high degree of executive authority when they represent the federal government in court in criminal cases.
Trump fired James Comey during his first term and has attacked the former FBI director for his role in investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won.
The Justice Department last year charged James ?Comey with lying to Congress about authorizin
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Oct 26, 2026
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Trump administration's abrupt firing of former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey was unlawful, a US judge ruled on Monday, in a victory for ?the eldest daughter of former FBI director and longtime Donald Trump adversary James Comey.
Maurene Comey, who ?brought criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs during nearly a decade at the Manhattan ?US Attorney's office, was fired by the Justice Department in July 2025.
In a lawsuit against the Trump administration, she alleged that she was fired because of who her father was, in violation of federal laws prohibiting firing civil servants for political reasons and guaranteeing federal employees due process in employment disputes.
The case was seen ?as a test of whether the ?Trump administration can swiftly fire line prosecutors like Comey, who are not politically appointed and whose careers tend to span both Republican and Democratic administrations.
During his second ?term, Trump, a Republican, has sought to expand his authority over federal government entities that have historically enjoyed varying degrees of independence from the White House, including the Justice Department. His critics accuse him of using criminal ?prosecutions ?to punish political foes and reward allies.
In court papers, ?the Justice Department argued that prosecutors like Comey ?are subject to removal without cause by the president or the Attorney General because they are delegated a high degree of executive authority when they represent the federal government in court in criminal cases.
Trump fired James Comey during his first term and has attacked the former FBI director for his role in investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won.
The Justice Department last year charged James ?Comey with lying to Congress about authorizin
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Oct 26, 2026
Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) publicly filed its S-1 investor prospectus on Monday, ahead of its planned initial public offering later this fall under the ticker symbol "ANT."
The AI lab, helmed by CEO Dario Amodei, has exploded in popularity thanks to its Claude Code AI coding tool and Claude Cowork enterprise offering.
As of May, Anthropic was valued at $965 billion, more than rival OpenAI's (OPAI.PVT) $852 billion valuation in March.
Anthropic's S-1 provides potential investors with their first look at the company's financials, including how much it's spending on capital expenditures related to AI chips and data center leases, as well as how much revenue it's bringing in and what its largest sources are.
The AI lab has faced a number of controversies this year, including a run-in with the Trump administration over how the government can use the company's AI models, and current and former employees warning about the potentia
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Oct 26, 2026
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) on Sunday fired back at President Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric toward him, telling supporters that the president will be referring to him as "Senator Mohamed" if he wins in November.
"I get that the president of the United States takes personal offense to my first name," El-Sayed said at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. "He doesn't mind as much when it's a shared name from the Saudis who are funding his son-in-law's private equity. Doesn't seem to mind as much when it's the Qataris who are giving him a $400 million private jet. He just seems to have trouble pronouncing it when it's my name."
"But y'all, I don't care how he pronounces my name," he continued. "I don't even care that he remembers my whole name. Because he can just go on and call me 'senator' after November. I will be Senator Mohamed to you, bro."
If elected, El-Sayed would be the first Muslim American to serve in the Senate.
Trump has frequently attacked El-Sayed's faith on the campaign trail, mocking his name and alleging the candidate has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group founded in Egypt that has influenced and supported fundamentalist movements across the region.
The president has accused the Detroit-area physician of being a "terrorist sympathizer" and a "jihadist," calling the Michigan Democrat "Mohamed El-Sayed."
While rallying in Michigan on Sunday for El-Sayed's opponent, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.),
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Oct 26, 2026
The Tallahassee Police Department arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with the Oct. 24 mass shooting that left 11 people injured outside Bragg Stadium after Florida A&M University's homecoming football game.
Anthony Rivers III was arrested Sunday, Oct. 25 in the mass shooting, which was one of the worst in Tallahassee history.
Rivers was arrested on 11 counts of attempted homicide and one count of possession of a firearm by a delinquent, said Alicia Hill, a TPD spokeswoman. The Tallahassee Democrat names minors when they are charged with violent offenses.
"Our investigation indicates that a physical altercation occurred before shots were fired," TPD Police Chief Lawrence Revell said in a hastily arranged Oct. 26 press conference. "At this stage of the investigation, none of the victims appear to have been the intended targets."
Detectives believe the incident stemmed from a dispute between individuals known to one another. While at an earlier press conference hours after the shooting Revell said detective believed there was only a single shooter, he said additional arrests are possible.
At least 12 people were injured, including 11 who were shot. Six of the victims were children, including the youngest victim who is 11, according to TPD Chief Lawrence Revell. A grandmother of one of the victims was also injured in the ensuing panic.
Six of the victims were male and six were female. Six victims remain hospitalized, with one of the victims in critical condition.
"What should have been a weekend of celebration in our
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Oct 26, 2026
NEW YORK (AP) — Democrats and outside watchdogs are planning a massive presence at the polls on Election Day driven by concerns that President Donald Trump will further leverage the vast resources of the federal government to interfere with a midterm that could hobble his final two years in office.
They won't be the only ones there. A sprawling election protection effort on the left that is expected to deploy tens of thousands of monitors will be met by the largest-ever monitoring program by the Justice Department and still more observers from Republican-aligned groups. The result could be unlike anything seen at the polls in modern times.
The effort among Democratic and nonprofit groups includes training volunteers to stand watch outside polling places and report activities they consider concerning. The network includes traditional government watchdogs such as Common Cause and the American Civil Liberties Union plus a flood of volunteers assembled by state Democratic parties, congressional leaders, national activist groups and organizations focused on protecting democracy.
The Democratic National Committee's Association of State Democratic Committees created a first-of-its-kind cybersecurity unit staffed by former CIA and FBI officials to monitor and report online misinformation, including artificial intelligence deepfakes, said Jane Kleeb, vice chair of the DNC.
That's as Democrati
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Oct 26, 2026
As El Niño continues soaring to unrivaled heights, meteorologists are preparing for a winter in the United States that could be just as extraordinary - raising expectations for one of the stormiest seasons in history.
But forecasters are preparing for different versions of busy, depending on their region.
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The country should start to more directly feel the long-anticipated effects of this El Niño in November, as it powers up the subtropical jet stream - which will help fuel potentially dangerous storms, especially from California to Florida and up along the East Coast.
Some of these storms will be nuisance-level events, while others have the potential to be much more serious. There will be much higher than normal risks for coastal and freshwater flooding, as well as severe thunderstorms - with threats lasting through the first quarter or half of 2027.
The Washington Post surveyed meteorologists across key regions to find out how they're helping to prepare their audiences for the season ahead.
An exceptionally active Florida winterWFLA-TV meteorologist Jeff Berardelli, based in Tampa, vividly recalls the February 1998 Central Florida tornado outbreak, during another very strong El Niño. He was on the air live as the devastating storms unfolded, part of what he recalls as an "extremely hectic" and "very unusual" Florida winter.
He's expecting another
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Oct 26, 2026
As El Niño continues soaring to unrivaled heights, meteorologists are preparing for a winter in the United States that could be just as extraordinary - raising expectations for one of the stormiest seasons in history.
But forecasters are preparing for different versions of busy, depending on their region.
Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post.
The country should start to more directly feel the long-anticipated effects of this El Niño in November, as it powers up the subtropical jet stream - which will help fuel potentially dangerous storms, especially from California to Florida and up along the East Coast.
Some of these storms will be nuisance-level events, while others have the potential to be much more serious. There will be much higher than normal risks for coastal and freshwater flooding, as well as severe thunderstorms - with threats lasting through the first quarter or half of 2027.
The Washington Post surveyed meteorologists across key regions to find out how they're helping to prepare their audiences for the season ahead.
An exceptionally active Florida winterWFLA-TV meteorologist Jeff Berardelli, based in Tampa, vividly recalls the February 1998 Central Florida tornado outbreak, during another very strong El Niño. He was on the air live as the devastating storms unfolded, part of what he recalls as an "extremely hectic" and "very unusual" Florida winter.
He's expecting another
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Oct 26, 2026
Thirty-five Senate seats are up for grabs when Americans head to the polls on Nov. 3. A key handful of them will be critical in determining whether Democrats or Republicans control the chamber next year.
Republicans currently control the Senate with 53 seats. Democrats and two independents make up the Senate minority with 47 seats.
In order for Democrats to take the chamber back, they'll have to net four seats in the upcoming election. Republicans can afford to lose up to three and still be considered the Senate majority with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President JD Vance.
Some of the races that were closely watched earlier this year have slid from the spotlight as the election grew near. Republicans seem to have abandoned efforts to unseat incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia and have pulled out of spending in North Carolina, where former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper now seems poised to best former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley to fill retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis' seat.
As both parties prepare for the final leg of the campaign, here are some of the most closely watched Senate races.
Reuters/Getty Images - PHOTO: Democratic candidate for US Senate Abdul El-Sayed in Warren, Michigan, October 3, 2026 and Michigan Republican Senate candidate, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, October 9, 2026 in Highland Township, Michigan. Michigan: A bitter fight against a progressive newcomerABC News rating: Lean Democrat
Republican nominee Mike Rogers is no stranger to Senate races -- the former congressmen lost his 2024 bid to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin by less than 20,000 votes.
Rogers is squaring off this time against progressive Abdul El-Sayed, a former health
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Oct 26, 2026
Snapshots of the economy: Relentless inflation and a stagnant job market have thrust the economy to the forefront of the November midterms. In the run-up to election day, USA TODAY Money reporters fanned out across the country to examine how Americans are coping with the financial squeeze, from the gut-punch of sudden layoffs and endless job searches to the daily grind of making ends meet. This is the second piece in a six-part series.
After their regular paycheck covers rent, groceries and other bills, some Americans are clocking in for a shift at a second job or picking up work on the side.
Their day jobs keep them afloat, but side hustles create financial wiggle room in their budgets to help them save money or enjoy life at a time when, according to research from Ally Bank, inflation and the cost of living has Americans feeling "joy pressured" and guilty for spending on things that make them happy.
Side hustles also serve as a layer of protection. Workers say they have become a financial strategy - not only to support discretionary spending and their ability to save, but also as a safeguard against economic uncertainty as they fear layoffs and long, full-time job searches. For some, side hustles provide a reliable "plan B" after a job loss as economists say the U.S. labor market remains in
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Oct 26, 2026
Republicans spurned by President Donald Trump aren't interested in rescuing their would-be replacements.
Instead, a growing number of retiring or ousted GOP incumbents from Nevada to North Carolina are sitting those races out, and in some cases, openly bucking their own party.
Outgoing Sen. John Cornyn has raised money for various Republican Senate candidates — just not for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who ousted him in the primary with support from Trump. He's been vocal for months about what he sees as Paxton's vulnerabilities and how Democrats could flip Texas blue for the first time in decades.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis — who has frequently criticized some of Trump's Cabinet and broken with the White House on policy — has played little role in the campaign of former RNC Chair Michael Whatley, Trump's hand-picked Senate candidate. The distance between the two Republicans is particularly notable as Whatley struggles to close the gap against Democrat Roy Cooper.
Rep. Mark Amodei has repeatedly criticized, and now openly rejected voting for, the GOP nominee to replace him, David Flippo.
"The bedwetting from outgoing moderate Republicans will define their legacy and only help socialists get elected," said David McIntosh, president of the Trump-aligned Club for Growth, which has endorsed Flippo and Paxton. "People like John Cornyn and Mark Amodei need to get on board and support Republican nominees and stop posturing for an MSNOW contract."
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Oct 26, 2026
Ukrainian troops deploy a Starlink terminal on the battlefield. Kyiv is allowed to use the civilian service for communications needs, but not for drone strikes, for which it relies on Starshield.Dmytro Smolienko/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty ImagesElon Musk has accused Ukrainian forces of using commercial Starlink in drone strikes.But two Ukrainian drone figures say the claim is impossible because of limits imposed on the terminals.It comes after Ukraine was hit by a 10-day slowdown on Starshield, the military version of Starlink.Ukraine said its access to Starshield was restored this weekend, but Elon Musk isn't finished with Kyiv yet.
In an X post on Sunday, Musk accused Ukrainian forces of breaching Starlink's terms of service by using the civilian platform in drone attacks.
"Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week," wrote the SpaceX owner.
"Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be," he added.
Musk made it
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Oct 26, 2026
Rapper Nicki Minaj doubled down on her support for President Donald Trump during a Republican campaign rally in Michigan on Sunday, telling the president she would back him again if he ever sought another term.
Minaj was invited onstage at the Port Huron rally by Trump, who was campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers and gubernatorial candidate John James.
"President Trump, it is an honor to stand with you every single time," Minaj said. "And I will continue to support you forever and ever. If you run again, I will support you again."
Trump, who is serving his second term, is barred by the 22nd Amendment from being elected president to a third term.
Trump Brushes Off Reporter Question About Running For Third Term In 2028: 'The Law Is Very Strong'
Rapper Nicki Minaj joined President Donald Trump onstage during a Republican campaign rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday.The Grammy-nominated hip-hop star has increasingly voiced support for the president and recently served as a celebrity judge for the Small Business Administration on the Small Business Administration's Million Dollar Pitch Competition, serving as one of the celebrity judges.
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"I am so honored to be working with this president. He represents resilience," Minaj told the crowd. "Since he's come back, he's changed the energy of our country. And he's given us a futur
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Oct 26, 2026
By Lisandra Paraguassu, Brendan O'Boyle and Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a historic fourth term on Sunday, the country's electoral court said, in a shock result that defied polls, precedent and global anti-incumbent sentiment to put the brakes on a wave of right-wing election victories across Latin America.
However, his opponent Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair ?Bolsonaro, refused to accept defeat and said he would ask for the result to be annulled due to a Sunday ruling from a Supreme Court justice that extended voting for two hours.
Bolsonaro led the election's first ?round but lost in the runoff by over 4 million votes, rattling Brazilian financial markets which had bet on his victory. His refusal to concede defeat has echoes of his father's reaction after losing to Lula in 2022. Jair Bolsonaro never accepted his loss and was later sentenced by the Supreme ?Court to 27-years in prison for plotting a coup to remain in power.
The scale of Flavio Bolsonaro's loss to Lula — by more than twice his father's losing margin — and the fact his campaign also asked for an extension due to rains in the conservative-leaning south make any annulment unlikely, analysts said.
Mario Braga, a Latin America analyst at the risk consultancy RANE, said there could be right-wing protests in coming days, but "it's very improbable that it will lead to the reversal of the result."
COMEBACK KING
Investors expect recent bets on a change of government to unwind in a volatile week ahead on financial markets. A Tokyo-listed exchange-traded fund tracking Brazil's Bovespa index dived nearly 15% in Asia trade on news of Lula's victory, while the Brazilian real was set to fall sharply ?against the US dollar.
The victory marks another comeback in a career full of them ?for Lula, an icon of the global left and the most
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Oct 26, 2026
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in Sparrows Point, Maryland, on October 6. - Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
US forces in the Middle East are prepared to launch new, potentially major, military operations against Iran "within 96 hours of receiving" an order from President Donald Trump, according to two US officials.
Sufficient forces are now deployed in the region to carry out the potential attacks, the sources said. The scope of new US military operations would likely go beyond efforts to simply "mow the lawn" or maintain the status quo by striking radars, launchers and other Iranian assets that can be quickly reconstituted — as has been the case since Trump halted full combat operations earlier this year, the sources added.
"It will be a big effort," one of the officials told CNN. That view has been echoed by other current and former US officials familiar with internal military planning discussions — some of whom say it is a question of when, not if, Trump will issue a go-order. They believe it could come any time before the end of the year, though most likely after the US midterm elections.
US officials acknowledge challenges, cite potential threat
Iranian forces are now more familiar with US tactics, and it would therefore be harder for the American military to effectively destroy all potential intended targets. However, le
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Oct 25, 2026
(NewsNation) — With nine days until midterm election polls close, candidates are working overtime to ensure their messages reach potential voters.
In Michigan, that has meant high-profile political figures stumping across the state as early voting gets underway.
President Donald Trump arrived in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday to campaign for Republican candidate Mike Rogers. Meanwhile, in Detroit, Former President Barack Obama appeared Saturday to support Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Each made the case for why their party's Senate candidate is best suited to represent Michigan.
In final Michigan Senate debate, El-Sayed and Rogers question each other's loyalties
Thousands turned out for both events. While Trump and Obama never campaigned against each other directly, the atmosphere was energized as two of the nation's most prominent political figures rallied supporters in the state. Hundreds lined up to see Trump.
The president, joined onstage by music star Nicki Minaj, pointed to his economic policies, saying they had benefited Michiganders.
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Oct 25, 2026
From thousands of miles away, a Texas dad, hiding in a country he doesn't know, reminded his son to vacuum the carpet each week.
Moussa Diawara is from Mali, but spent nearly half his life living in the United States, where he married, had two U.S. citizen children, worked and paid taxes. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported him to Ghana over the summer. Diawara has no connection to Ghana, but a judge had issued an order that he couldn't be deported to Mali, because it was likely he'd be persecuted there. Diawara said that within days of his arrival in Ghana, local officials forced him onto a flight to Mali.
"I still say to myself, 'This isn't real,'" Diawara said.
Third-country deportations are a reality for many as President Trump's administration seeks to carry out the largest deportation in U.S. history. When the U.S. government decides an immigrant can't stay in the U.S., and can't be sent to their home country, it can send them to a third country. A 60 Minutes investigation found that some of the third countries accepting deportees from the U.S. are routinely sending them back to the very countries they fled — locations where U.S. immigration judges ruled they would likely be persecuted or tortured.
What happened to Moussa DiawaraDiawara, 57, came to the U.S. on a tourist visa when he was 32. He overstayed that visa, and later applied for refugee protection, arguing he would be persecuted if he were to return to Mali. Diawara had converted to Christianity, and Mali's a Muslim-majority nation with an Islamist insurgency. He has no criminal record.
In
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Oct 25, 2026
A voter casts her ballot in Boyle Heights on Saturday, the first day of early voting in Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)In a rare Sunday hearing, a federal appeals court judge appointed by President Trump questioned how the Trump administration's request to intervene in California's ongoing midterm election in order to force state officials to set aside 20,000 ballots from voters whose citizenship it questions squares with the U.S. Constitution.
Judge Mark J. Bennett said that while the executive branch is "unhappy" with what California law requires for ensuring voters are citizens, the state has the right to determine the manner of its elections under the Elections Clause of the Constitution and Congress has not challenged that process, despite having the ability to do so.
"It seems to me that you want us to issue an injunction that is entirely inconsistent with the law the California Legislature has adopted pursuant to the Elections Clause," Bennett said. "How can we do that?"
Matthew Donnelly, a Justice Department attorney, said the Trump administration has good reason to believe those ballots are from ineligible noncitizen voters, and has the legal right under separate federal criminal law to challenge their tabulation until state officials can prove otherwise.
Donnelly said both federal criminal law and state election law bar noncitizen voters from casting ballots, but "the problem is that California isn't interested in enforcing that provision."
The exchange came during an hour-long hearing before a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, over the
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Oct 25, 2026
Data centers have emerged as a national issue during this midterm election cycle, and candidates for the House and Senate have seized on it in their campaigns.
But state and local officials actually have more sway over data center construction and energy infrastructure, so the winners of lower-profile races may hold the economy's future in their hands.
Hyperscalers have been spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year, with forecasts for 2027 topping $1 trillion. JPMorgan has estimated AI-related investment was responsible for about one-fifth of GDP growth over the past year. Analysts at ING believe AI will account for a third of growth in 2026.
With Election Day just over a week away and early voting already in full swing in many states, expectations for big Democratic gains could weigh on the stock market, which has sold off in recent days on fears the AI boom will go bust.
If there is a further stock slump, it will be because a "blue wave" at the state and local levels will usher in lawmakers opposed to data centers, Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie, said in a note on Monday.
"For the direction of the U.S. economy, the composition and direction of governance at the state level may matter more than whether the Democrats ‘win' the House or the Senate," he added.
That dynamic was on display on Tuesday, when Amazon canceled a plan to build data cente
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Oct 25, 2026
Momentum is building in Illinois to form a new state, with more counties ready to vote on leaving because of Chicago's influence.
Eleven counties are set to vote on non-binding referenda this year to secede from Cook County. If all 11 vote to leave they would join 33 counties that have already approved similar measures.
Cook County is home to Chicago, but people in the state and nation have criticized it for its crime rate, cost of living, Democratic leadership and oversized influence on state politics.
Loret Newlin, director of Illinois Separation, said Illinois leadership does not take concerns from other parts of the state into consideration.
"This is our lived experience. We are ignored. We are not taken into consideration when they're making a lot of the laws that hurt us," she told NBC Chicago.
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Oct 25, 2026
Vucic is a relentless campaigner (SASA DJORDJEVIC)The dominant force in Serbian politics for over 14 years, Aleksandar Vucic, who conceded defeat in a snap parliamentary poll on Sunday, rose from the wreckage of strongman Slobodan Milosevic's cabinet to the centre of power using his brand of populist nationalism.
For supporters, the 56-year-old represented stability, development and patriotism in a country scarred by the bloody wars of the 1990s and ensuing international isolation.
But opponents saw him as an increasingly authoritarian figure, twisting between the Kremlin and Brussels and leading a government accused of endemic corruption.
Vucic conceded his party had lost after voters cast ballots in record numbers in Sunday's vote, defeated by a new political force that emerged from a years-long protest movement.
"Based on a stratified sample, it is clear that we lost these elections," Vucic told supporters at his party headquarters in Belgrade.
- Political turnaround -
Vucic rose to prominence in the 1990s as an ultra-nationalist ally of Milosevic, serving as his information minister in 1998.
After protests ousted the Yugoslav strongman in 2000, Vucic became a senior figure in the far-right Serbian Radical Party.
He was then a vocal supporter of Bosnian Serb political and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, both later sentenced to life for genocide and other crimes committed during the Bosnian war.
But Vucic underwent a dramatic rebrand in 2008, co-founding the conservative, pro-European Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which won parliamentary elections in 2012 and has dominated Serbian politics since.
He served as deputy prime minister, defence minister and prime minister before becoming p
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Oct 25, 2026
Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign said she and her family sustained "minor injuries" Saturday when a vehicle they were in was struck on the way to banquet. ( Nathaniel Wilder / Bloomberg via Getty )Former Rep. Mary Peltola is rescheduling several upcoming campaign events after she and her family sustained "minor" injuries in a car crash, her campaign announced Sunday.
"Mary and her family sustained minor injuries but are in good spirits. Unfortunately, per the advice of medical professionals, Mary's upcoming events in Fairbanks and Bethel will be rescheduled for later in the week as she takes time to recover," Peltola campaign manager Cheryl Bruce said in a statement.
"Mary is disappointed that the accident is delaying the start of her Alaska Always Tour, and she is eager to get back on the campaign trail to speak directly with Alaskans about her plan to take on the rigged system and lower costs for working families," Bruce added.
Peltola was en route to the Alaska Federation of Natives' annual banquet Saturday when a vehicle transporting the candidate and her family was struck by another driver, according to the campaign. A spokesperson for the campaign said they had no reason to believe the accident had been politically motivated.
The police department in Anchorage confirmed Sunday that a collision involving three vehicles occurred on evening and those involved sustained "non-life threatening injuries."
Police added that the incident is under investigation.
Peltola, a Democrat, is locked in a competitive Senate race against GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan. She was elected to the House in 2022 but narrowly lost her re-election bid in 2024, the
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Oct 25, 2026
Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign said she and her family sustained "minor injuries" Saturday when a vehicle they were in was struck on the way to banquet. ( Nathaniel Wilder / Bloomberg via Getty )Former Rep. Mary Peltola is rescheduling several upcoming campaign events after she and her family sustained "minor" injuries in a car crash, her campaign announced Sunday.
"Mary and her family sustained minor injuries but are in good spirits. Unfortunately, per the advice of medical professionals, Mary's upcoming events in Fairbanks and Bethel will be rescheduled for later in the week as she takes time to recover," Peltola campaign manager Cheryl Bruce said in a statement.
"Mary is disappointed that the accident is delaying the start of her Alaska Always Tour, and she is eager to get back on the campaign trail to speak directly with Alaskans about her plan to take on the rigged system and lower costs for working families," Bruce added.
Peltola was en route to the Alaska Federation of Natives' annual banquet Saturday when a vehicle transporting the candidate and her family was struck by another driver, according to the campaign. A spokesperson for the campaign said they had no reason to believe the accident had been politically motivated.
The police department in Anchorage confirmed Sunday that a collision involving three vehicles occurred on evening and those involved sustained "non-life threatening injuries."
Police added that the incident is under investigation.
Peltola, a Democrat, is locked in a competitive Senate race against GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan. She was elected to the House in 2022 but narrowly lost her re-election bid in 2024, the
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Oct 25, 2026
Images by the Press Team of Maria Corina Machado team on Sunday shows the opposition leader arriving at Santa Rosa church in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. After more than 10 months in exile, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate returned home to a political landscape that has been reshaped by her ally the United States without her involvement. - Maria Corina Machado Press Team
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After more than 10 months in exile, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado has returned home to a political landscape that has been reshaped by her ally the United States without her involvement.
"I am here. With you," Machado announced on X Sunday morning shortly before other members of the opposition confirmed her arrival without providing details.
Former opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who is currently in exile, celebrated her return, saying, "Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!" He added that he will soon join her in returning to the country.
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Oct 25, 2026
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado made returned to her home country on Sunday after nearly a year abroad, re-entering a political landscape transformed by the U.S. ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
"I'm here. With you all," Machado wrote on social media, announcing her return for the first time since December. Her homecoming comes as Venezuela remains under the leadership of acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally backed by the Trump administration, with no presidential election scheduled.
President Donald Trump, asked about Machado's return by reporters in Port Huron, Michigan, said he was unaware of the development but expressed hope for her safety.
Trump Touts Access To 65 Billion Barrels Of Venezuelan Oil In Deal He Says Will Slash Gas Prices
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado arrives at a church after returning to the country following nearly a year abroad, in Lara, Venezuela, Oct. 25, 2026."I don't know anything about it, but I think she's a very nice woman," Trump said. "She gave me her Nobel Prize. So how can I say anything else? And I hope she's safe. She's a very nice woman. But we're doing really well in Venezuela."
Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 for her peaceful opposition to Maduro's government, did not disclose her exact location or provide details about how she returned.
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Oct 25, 2026
Dustin Johnson and other players are considering whether to continue with LIV Golf.ASSOCIATED PRESSOne way or another, LIV Golf is in its final days as originally created. The tour began life as a PGA Tour breakaway funded by Saudi Arabia's virtually limitless Public Investment Fund, but now is working to both line up financing and hold onto players in preparation for what league officials have termed "LIV 2.0." With a self-imposed go/no-go deadline nearing, several recent developments have complicated plans for a new version of the league.
For players, LIV's chief drawing card was the paychecks with astounding numbers of zeroes. Stars, former stars and non-stars alike all cashed in during LIV's run, earning many millions more than they would have been able to on the PGA Tour or the Europe-based DP World Tour. But when Saudi Arabia cut off funding for LIV in April, the pipeline for those paychecks dried up, and now player after player has decided to take their chances elsewhere.
The most notable defection came several weeks ago, when Jon Rahm decided he'd had enough of LIV. Rahm's jump to LIV in late 2023 was a seismic moment in golf history, a declaration that the league was capable of enticing even one of the world's best players. But after three years of absolute domination on LIV and underperformance in majors,
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Oct 25, 2026
The Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca, N.Y. (Heather Ainsworth for NBC News)One of the men sued by a former Cornell University student identified as Jane Doe has asked a judge to dismiss the claims against him, arguing that her allegations do not support her broader accusations of rape and sexual assault.
Diego Sarabia filed the motion Friday seeking dismissal of all claims against him in the lawsuit Doe filed Sept. 16 in New York state court. Sarabia, who was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity, was one of seven men originally sued by Doe for allegedly participating in a gang rape at the Chi Phi house from Oct. 19 to 20, 2024.
Sarabia denies the allegations against him, according to the filing. His attorneys argue that even if the complaint's factual allegations are accepted as true for the purposes of the motion, the claims against him were filed too late, are legally insufficient, or both.
James C. Knox, an attorney for Sarabia, wrote in the motion that as far as the allegations against his client, "this is essentially a lawsuit about a forced kiss." Knox argued that the conduct Doe attributed to Sarabia did not qualify for the extended statute of limitations she cited for certain sexual offenses.
Doe accused Sarabia of grabbing her face, kissing her and snorting ketamine off her body with other fraternity members during a drug- and alcohol-fueled encounter in what was known as the "alumni room" of the fraternity house.
"Throughout a sprawling complaint approaching 600 paragraphs, plaintiff repeatedly, collectively and without differentiation accuses seven student defendants of ‘sexual assault and
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Oct 25, 2026
A 20-year-old U.S. Marine stationed in Okinawa, Japan, has been indicted on charges stemming from the death last month of a woman found strangled in a hotel, authorities said on Sunday.
LCpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, who is stationed at the Futenma Air Base in Okinawa, was indicted on charges of robbery and murder, according to NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, citing the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office and other sources,
Kyodo via Reuters - PHOTO: Marine Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard leaves a police station to be sent to prosecutors over the killing of a Japanese woman in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, October 5, 2026 in this photo taken by Kyodo.Ballard is accused of strangling a 39-year-old resident of Naha City by wrapping a telephone receiver cord around her neck at a hotel in Naha City on Oct. 3 and also allegedly stealing a backpack containing her wallet and other belongings, according to NHK.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
This article originally appeared on ABC News at https://abcnews.com/International/us-marine-indicted-alleged-okinawa-robbery-homicide/story?id=137553792
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Oct 25, 2026
Election campaign posters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu beside a billboard featuring opposition rival Gadi Eisenkot ahead of Israel's general election in Dimona, Israel, on Wednesday. - Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
When Israelis go the polls on October 27, they will face a familiar question: Should Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's longest-serving prime minister, stay in power?
Nearly every recent election has been a referendum on Netanyahu. This time, many Israelis say the choice is more consequential than ever: not only about who will lead the country, but about where it is heading.
It is the first national vote since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, the deadliest security failure in Israel's history, and the wars that followed in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, which have mobilized much of the country and subsequently deepened Israel's international isolation.
For many voters, this is the first chance to pass judgment on the leadership that presided over October 7 failures, to decide who should lead the country in conflict and who should carry the burden of increased military service.
Netanyahu's outgoing government - the first in decades to conclude a full four-year term - relied on far-right and ultra-Orthodox partners, who pushed Israel in a more nationalist and religious direction than ever before. He became the first sitting Israeli prime minister to stand trial on corruption charges as his government pursued a judicial overhaul aimed at weakening the supreme court and other checks on power. The
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Oct 25, 2026
Demonstrators hold signs in support of minority voting rights outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on October 15, 2025. - Celal Gunes/Anadolu/Getty Images
Voters will pick the winners of next month's midterm elections, but it is the conservative Supreme Court that has set the rules.
Long before early voting got underway to decide control of Congress, the court exerted an unusually profound impact on the election with a series of decisions that have reshaped redistricting, campaign finance regulations, efforts to identify noncitizen voters and mail voting - frequently in a way that has benefited Republicans.
Some of those decisions received little attention, like the court's ruling this month that cleared the way for political parties - and particularly, Republicans - to pour millions more into television advertising in tight races. Others were more notable, like the 6-3 ruling in April that effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act's power to protect minority voters, and prompted a new round of redistricting in Republican-led states.
Various rulings have exposed tensions among the justices that
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Oct 25, 2026
Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Justice Department's newly filed lawsuit to prevent Alaska state officials from certifying election results if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses in November.
In an at-times contentious interview with CNN's "State of the Union," Blanche pointed out that according to the Constitution, Congress can create laws at any time to regulate elections. But when host Dana Bash asked what crime the administration was arguing was being committed, Blanche replied, "It depends."
"There could be a crime," said Blanche. "But the real wrong here is that Alaskans are going to be confused and will not have their vote heard. So an Alaskan intends to vote for one candidate, but is confused because of a second candidate with exactly the same name who has voted Democrat his entire life, who donated money to the other Democrat opponent, is running."
Bash pressed Blanche on how it is illegal for two candidates with the same name to be on a ballot at the same time.
"It is an obligation of the states to avoid confusion, among other things, confusion in the minds of voters in the election process," Blanche replied. "So the question is whether Alaska, by allowing this to happen, is violating the law and the federal law and the constitution by allowing confusion in the ballot."
The Alaskan Supreme Court in June ruled that both Sullivans may remain on the ballot as the incumbent faces off in a tight reelection battle with former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola. The four-person Senate ranked-choice ballot for the general election specifies that Dan S. Sullivan is a "Registered Republican" and the "incumbent" — no information is listed after Dan J. Sullivan Jr's name.
Regardless, in the suit filed Thursday, DOJ argued that Dan J. Sullivan Jr.'s name on the ballot constitutes a purposeful effo
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Oct 25, 2026
A Northern California man was responding to a call about ICE activity in his city when surveillance footage showed he was hit by an agent in an SUV on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. - Obtained by CNN
When footage of a man being hit by federal immigration officers' SUV in Northern California became public, the Department of Homeland Security responded by saying the man had jumped on the vehicle's hood.
Local police raised doubts about federal officials' account as they announced a criminal investigation into Tuesday morning's incident involving the pedestrian, 37-year-old Antonio Moreida, citing video footage that contradicted DHS' statement.
Footage from a nearby surveillance camera, a bystander's cellphone recording and Moreida's GoPro, which had already been made public at the time of the agency's statement, told a different story of what happened on a residential street in Woodland, an agricultural city just outside of Sacramento. The incident is the latest in which DHS' account has been contradicted by officials and video evidence amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
Police contradict ICE account
In a statement Wednesday morning, DHS said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers didn't hit a pedestrian.
"An agitator jumped onto the hood of an ICE vehicle and the officer driving applied the brakes," a DHS spokesperson said in a st
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Oct 25, 2026
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said it's "getting to be decision time" on whether he will make a deal with Tehran or resume attacks as Iranian and Houthi threats against Americans in the Middle East continue to grow.
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Trump has suggested that US strikes on Iran could resume after the Nov. 3 midterm elections and he has sent additional forces, including a third aircraft carrier group, toward the Persian Gulf.
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Oct 25, 2026
"Listen, I have got a lot of colleagues who I think are probably interested in running for president, and I've heard everyone say, ‘You can't have this person or that person,'" the governor told NBC News' "Meet the Press."
"I would put my money on any Democratic governor in the country against [Vice President] JD Vance or [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio in 2028," she added, pointing to two Republicans widely expected to run for president in two years.
Asked directly whether a woman could be the best choice to beat a potential GOP presidential nominee in 2028, Whitmer simply said, "I do."
In 2025, Obama said in public remarks: "As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain't ready. That's why I'm like, don't even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You're not ready for a woman. You are not."
Several women, including Whitmer and former Vice President Kamala Harris, are widely speculated to be potential candidates in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
On Sunday, Whitmer did not deny that she's exploring a potential run for president in 2028, saying that she'll decide on her next steps after she departs from her post as governor in January.
"When I exit office … I'm going to take a little time off and figure out what I want to do next, so I've got nothing new to share with you, unfortunately," Whitmer told "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker.
Earlier this year, Whitmer denied that she planned to run for president but quickly walked back the comments.
"There will be a robust group of people running for president," she said at the time, adding, "I will not be one of them
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Oct 25, 2026
Call it the "avoidance" election, with many on each side more motivated by trying to prevent or stop things than by what they'll gain.
Against a backdrop of continued concern about inflation and the economy, Democrats maintain their lead in a bid for a House majority. They're currently on pace for 229 seats in our CBS News House model estimate, which translates voters' congressional preferences into seats.
The potential range of outcomes could reach into the 230s in our model, but Republicans do still have a very narrow path to hold the majority, too.
While that Democratic lead has been durable over recent weeks, it hasn't expanded, either.
In other words, there isn't a growing wave, at least not as of today.
If anything, the still undecided or uncertain voters tend to profile as more Republican.
Whether they decide to show up is perhaps the key question of 2026.
Either way, voters describe a dynamic in which they're more motivated in opposition to things they think might happen. For instance:
More think gas prices will go up if Republicans win than if Democrats do.
(Though they don't think Democrats will make gas prices go down.)
Most voters don't think Democrats have a plan and won't make people financially better off, either...But more voters think they'll be worse off if Republicans win.
The president remains a central factor. It would be a high number voting either to support or oppose a president in a midterm if this sentiment holds through Election Day.
Most of the Democra
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Oct 25, 2026
Nearly one in three veterans who relies on the government for health care could benefit from taking psychedelic drugs like magic mushrooms or MDMA.
That's not the assessment of some hippie or fading 1960s rock star. It came from Andrew Gradison, a senior adviser at President Donald Trump's Veterans Health Administration. Gradison told a conference for psychedelics enthusiasts this month that he is eager to ramp up the VA's capacity to give the drugs to as many as 2.1 million veterans with mental illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. Gradison said 6.4 million veterans regularly rely on the VA for care.
No government regulator has deemed psychedelics safe or effective for mental illness. Under former President Joe Biden, the Food and Drug Administration in 2024 resoundingly rejected a proposal to authorize MDMA — also known as ecstasy — combined with talk therapy, to treat people with PTSD.
But psychedelics are getting a second chance in the Trump administration. Trump in April issued an executive order to accelerate research, clinical trials and patient access to the drugs. Republicans in Congress are among psychedelics' biggest backers. And the constituency they are seeking to please, veterans, are disproportionately Republicans.
Veterans, frustrated with high suicide rates among their fellow ex-service members, are lobbying aggressively to see Trump follow through.
"We were able to roll out a vaccine for Covid because of President Trump's Warp Speed initiative," said Juliana Mercer, a Marine Corps vet who also spoke at the Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics conference in New York City. "Why aren't we warp-speeding this treatment to save our veteran lives? What's keeping us from doing that?"
Gradison said practical challenges, an
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Oct 25, 2026
Why are major Democrats and Republicans flocking to Mississippi in recent weeks?
In a climate where polls show President Donald Trump's approval ratings cratering, Democrats are unusually optimistic about Scott Colom's chances of flipping the Senate seat held by incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith -- even in deep-red Mississippi.
"We got to have a senator that looks out for Mississippi, that puts Mississippi farmers first, Mississippi small businesses first, represent our values by not allowing corruption to ruin our country and actually delivers on the commitments to put America first," Colom told ABC News in an interview earlier this week.
Sarah Warnock/AP Photo - PHOTO: Mississippi Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom speaks during a voting rights town hall at the historic Farish Street Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss., Aug. 1, 2026.The incumbent's campaign dismisses the Democratic push as the last-ditch effort of a campaign that will fall short.
Gov. Wes Moore says key races in South 'in play,' Democrats 'made mistakes' not investing earlierColom is a district attorney for four counties along the Mississippi-Alabama border and a former nominee to become a U.S. district judge. He would be Mississippi's first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.
Democrats have argued that Colom's prominent credentials, as well as voter pushback against Republican incumbents and motivation among Democratic-leaning Black voters, could help boost him. Mississ
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Oct 25, 2026
The midterm campaign is being fought in areas President Donald Trump carried in the last election, and largely among voters who have supported him in the past but have soured on his presidency.
Rick Sebring, a resident of rural Black Creek, Georgia, is one of them. He was among the Americans drawn to Trump when he emerged as a political outsider running for president in 2015, and supported him in each election since.
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Now, he says, he jokes with his son and daughter, 25 and 18, that he needs a hat that reads: "I fell for it three times."
Trump is "not the same guy he was before," said Sebring, 66, who explained that he no longer believes the president is acting with ordinary Americans' best interests at heart.
"It's kind of like if your wife is screwing the guy next door," Sebring said. "You know, you're kind of butt hurt about it."
He is furious about the war against Iran that Trump started after pledging to avoid new wars in the Middle East. Trump should tell Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom the president endorsed for reelection last week, to "go to hell," Sebring said, and "cut off all aid" to Israel and Ukraine.
He is bothered that Trump tried to stop the release of the Epstein files. He is disappointed that the government-slashing DOGE program, which Trump appointed Elon Musk to run, was ultimately brought to a halt.
Sebring, who responded to the most recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ip
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Oct 25, 2026
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The Ford Expedition rumbled to a stop and Cindy Banda's bedazzled flip-flops landed on the asphalt of the Houston cancer center's vast parking lot. She threaded through the rows of cars, a tally of patients who gather here to sit with chemotherapy needles or lie on radiation machines.
The elevator dinged open. A year ago in this building, surgeons removed Banda's right breast, and she still didn't know whether treatment had expunged the cancer from her body. Doctors had told her it would be tough to beat.
"I'm more of a positive person myself," Banda said, now sitting with a white wristband in a dim waiting room. But the bills are harder to dismiss, and the single mother with six children in her care repeated something like a mantra. "Keep the house. Keep the cars. And just keep the kids stable."
That's true for many Americans, as rising healthcare costs leave more families with a sinking feeling after seeing the bill for surgery or medication. Heading into the Nov. 3 midterm elections, about half of registered voters said healthcare costs are a major problem for them and their families, up from a little more than one-third four years ago, according to a Fox News poll from September.
With party control of Congress at stake, registered voters are nearly twice as likely to say they trust Democrats over Republicans to handle healthcare, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from the same month. Thos
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Oct 25, 2026
PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) — President Donald Trump intensified his anti-Muslim rhetoric against Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday, portraying him as a threat to national security and questioning his loyalty to the United States in remarks that drew a sharp rebuke from a former top Arab American ally.
Trump called El-Sayed, a former Detroit health official, a "jihadist" who was "on the side of the terrorists" and would "have to go through a metal detector before he's allowed to go into the Senate." He also repeatedly invoked the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, drawing a comparison between stopping El-Sayed from entering the Senate chamber and the passengers who fought back against the hijackers aboard United Flight 93.
El-Sayed, who would become the nation's first Muslim senator if elected, has called attacks on his loyalty to the country "shameful" and repeatedly denied any ties to extremist groups. The Republican president's remarks were condemned by Bishara Bahbah, a founder of Arab Americans for Trump, the group that helped lead the president's outreach to Arab American voters in 2024.
"The president's statements are out of line," he said in a phone interview. "They are crossing a red line. They are racist."
With Republicans on the defensive over inflation, soaring fuel prices and the Iran war, the president has been trying to generat
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Oct 25, 2026
PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) — President Donald Trump intensified his anti-Muslim rhetoric against Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday, portraying him as a threat to national security and questioning his loyalty to the United States in remarks that drew a sharp rebuke from a former top Arab American ally.
Trump called El-Sayed, a former Detroit health official, a "jihadist" who was "on the side of the terrorists" and would "have to go through a metal detector before he's allowed to go into the Senate." He also repeatedly invoked the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, drawing a comparison between stopping El-Sayed from entering the Senate chamber and the passengers who fought back against the hijackers aboard United Flight 93.
El-Sayed, who would become the nation's first Muslim senator if elected, has called attacks on his loyalty to the country "shameful" and repeatedly denied any ties to extremist groups. The Republican president's remarks were condemned by Bishara Bahbah, a founder of Arab Americans for Trump, the group that helped lead the president's outreach to Arab American voters in 2024.
"The president's statements are out of line," he said in a phone interview. "They are crossing a red line. They are racist."
With Republicans on the defensive over inflation, soaring fuel prices and the Iran war, the president has been trying to generat
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Oct 25, 2026
on that winter morning, and already, a dozen attorneys waited on her TV screen, each with an urgent request. Their clients, all locked up and facing deportation, needed hearing dates scheduled or bond requests considered. As always, the judge had prepared for every case days earlier, because almost nothing happened in Courtroom 15 that she didn't anticipate.
Then the door behind her swung open, thudding against the wall. In walked her supervisor.
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"Are you on the record?" he asked, questioning whether she was in session.
Karen Donoso Stevens was in session, and she was certain he knew it. The judge held up a finger - wait - as she announced a recess inside the Annandale Immigration Court.
A Homeland Security attorney at the prosecution table watched in silence, as did her legal assistant.
She drew a long breath, then stood in the black robe she'd worn for nearly a decade, its cloth fraying at the elbow.
Here we go, the judge thought, certain she was about to be fired.
In the hallway, she recalled, her supervisor said he'd been instructed to pull her from court.
"Why?" she asked.
"I don't know," he replied.
It was Jan. 14, one year into the most tumultuous period in the U.S. immigration court's history. President Donald Trump had inherited what was widely seen as a broken system. Exacerbated by an influx of migrants under President Joe Biden, its backlog exceeded 4 million unresolved cases, and Trump's administration had vowed to address it.
The public broadly
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Oct 25, 2026
So far in President Trump's second term, prices in the US have risen only about half as quickly compared to his predecessor's four years in office. Yet Trump has a 72% disapproval rating on the issue and risks paying a steep political price — just as former President Joe Biden did — with voters drawing a direct connection between rising prices and the president's policies.
In the last election cycle, prices of all items rose more than 20% during Biden's term, sparking widespread voter angst. This time around, price growth is notably slower, rising 5.4% in a little less than two years since Inauguration Day.
But a Yahoo Finance analysis of price data shows that a few major outliers have hit Americans' wallets in an outsized way, largely due to increases in goods affected by the war in Iran and tariffs.
Fuel oil and gasoline are perhaps the most dramatic examples, spiking over 30% beginning in March in response to the war in Iran and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz.
And voters have noticed, as evidenced in poll after poll. A
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Oct 25, 2026
A US marine has been indicted in Okinawa prefecture in Japan on charges of robbing and murdering a Japanese woman.
Lance corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, was accused of killing Anna Yagi, 39, in a hotel in the prefecture's capital Naha and taking her wallet and backpack earlier this month. Ballard denied the allegations.
Ballard, who was stationed at Futenma Air Base, was found walking alone in Okinawa city later that day and was arrested the following day on suspicion of robbery and murder.
He was indicted on Sunday amid growing anger among Okinawa residents over the incident and the presence of US military installations.
He allegedly strangled the woman with the cord of a telephone in a hotel room between 2.10 and 4.15am on 3 October and stole her backpack that contained her wallet and other belongings, according to the indictment.
The woman had checked into the hotel with a man around 2.10am that day. Hotel employees entered the room at 4.15am after she did not check out on time. The staff found her body and alerted the police, investigative sources told the Japan Times.
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Oct 25, 2026
Twist Robotics' drones can be used as signal repeaters to help the connection between a drone operator and their mission drone.Twist RoboticsDrones in Ukraine act as flying communications bridges between operators and mission drones.They repeat the operators' signal to allow drones to fly farther while staying connected.The signal-repeating drones make other drones more resistant to Russia's electronic warfare.Ukraine has created drones that act as flying relay towers, allowing its drones conducting missions to fly farther while making them harder for Russia to jam.
In a war where drones gather intel and account for more than 95% of Russia's front-line losses, Ukraine wants its operators to keep control of their drones over longer distances with stronger signals that are harder for Russia to break.
One solution is the signal repeater drone, a flying signal booster that operates between
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Oct 25, 2026
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, was reelected Sunday in a result that provides relief to critics of widening U.S. influence in Latin America.
With 100% of the vote counted, Brazil's electoral court announced that the soon to be 81-year-old Lula held an unassailable lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over opponent Flávio Bolsonaro. The announcement capped an evening of chaos at polling places across Brazil, following a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours. That decision by a Supreme Court justice may trigger legal action by Bolsonaro.
His triumph bucks a trend in Latin America where increasing numbers of right-of-center presidential candidates allied with Trump have been winning. Lula's victory leaves Mexico and Brazil, Latin America's two most populous nations, with left-of-center leaders. It also positions Latin America's largest economy, with a GDP of $2.6 trillion per year, to remain independent of the U.S., despite the pressure of increased tariffs imposed by Trump.
The announcement kicked off celebration by supporters inside and outside of the Sao Paulo hotel where Lula watched the count with First Lady Rosângela da Silva.
Lula's victory, if confirmed by electoral authorities, will give him his non-consecutive fourth term as president. The next term begins on Jan. 5, 2027.
It is the first time since Brazil's military dictatorship ended in 1985 that the second-highest vote-getter in the first-round elections won the presidency. Bolsonaro had 47% of the vote in the first round to Lula's 45%, a difference of 2.2 million votes.
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Oct 25, 2026
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, was reelected Sunday in a result that provides relief to critics of widening U.S. influence in Latin America.
With 100% of the vote counted, Brazil's electoral court announced that the soon to be 81-year-old Lula had a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over opponent Flávio Bolsonaro, giving him 51.8% of the total vote. Bolsonaro quickly refused to concede defeat and asked for the election results to be annulled after an evening of chaos at some polling places that followed a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours.
Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom Lula defeated to take the presidency in 2022.
Lula's triumph bucks a regional trend of victories for right-of-center presidential candidates allied with Trump. It also means Latin America's largest economy, with a GDP of $2.6 trillion per year, will likely continue defying Trump's demands, despite the pressure of increased tariffs.
Lula says Brazil is ‘not anyone's backyard'
A video published by Lula's campaign shows the veteran leader celebrating with First Lady Rosângela da Silva and allies after his runoff victory was confirmed by Brazil's electoral court. Wearing star-shaped red glasses, he kissed his wife.
Speaking to his supporters, thousands of whom gathered on Sao Paulo's main artery and in Rio de Janeiro's Cinelandia Square, Lula expressed his gratitude to the Brazilian people, and pledged to resp
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