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Oct 02, 2026
A new emergency court filing seeks to preserve all evidence related to Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike, arguing the state botched the lethal injection procedure. A judge granted an expedited hearing on the motion shortly after it was filed, though no date or time was immediately listed.
Pike was set to be executed by the Tennessee Department of Correction on Sept. 30, but survived two doses of pentobarbital. The document, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court on Oct. 2, revealed more details about Pike's condition. It said she is intubated, on a ventilator and unconscious, and that both her arms were swollen, burned and blistered. As of the night of Oct. 1, Pike was still in critical condition at a Nashville-area hospital, the motion said.
"Hospital staff are working to save Ms. Pike's life and to clear the pentobarbital from her system," the Oct. 2 motion stated.
Pike was convicted in 1996 for the first-degree murder and torture of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville.
'She's still talking': Inside each minute of Christa Pike's failed execution attempt
Pentobarbital is the single drug required under the state's lethal injection protocol. The failed execution attempt came after a complex legal back-and-forth delayed her execution several hours that day, which was originally set for 10 a.m. Media witnesses of the procedure said the blinds to the observation room w
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Oct 02, 2026
MIAMI (AP) — A former Republican congressman and longtime friend of Secretary of State Marco Rubio received a 10-year prison sentence on Friday for concealing a $50 million lobbying campaign on Venezuela's behalf during the first Trump administration.
David Rivera of Miami has been jailed since his conviction in May for conspiracy to commit money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent for the government of Nicolás Maduro.
Rivera, 61, appeared stone-faced as Judge Melissa Damian denounced him for betraying his life's mission. His many friends in Miami would surely judge him harshly had the millions of dollars come from Cuba's communist regime instead of its allies in Caracas, she said.
"Nobody would accept that's ok and I don't think this is different," the judge said. "There's no dispute this money came from the Maduro regime."
The case offered a rare glimpse into foreign influence campaigns aimed at shaping U.S. policy toward Latin America, highlighting Miami's reputation as a magnet for both anti-communist crusaders and corruption among its sizable exile population.
President Donald Trump's secretary of state, Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas and a top Washington lobbyist all testified, saying Rivera had never mentioned his mammoth consulting contract with a U.S.-based affiliate of Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA.
Rivera was charged in 2022, during President Joe Biden's administration. Charges of illegal foreign lobbying have plunged since Trump returned to the White House. Rivera's lawyers have applied
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Oct 02, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has released a classified report to its workforce examining what it says are chapters from the bureau's history "where this institution fell short," according to an internal message obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
It was unclear what episodes from the FBI's past are chronicled in the new "Patel Report." But the document's existence is in keeping with Director Kash Patel's frequent criticism of the leaders who preceded him as well as with his determination to rid the FBI of agents and other employees he contends have politicized the bureau in the past. Patel's critics, however, accuse him of politicizing the FBI.
Though Patel pledged at his confirmation hearing last year that he would not look "backward," he has encouraged investigation of former senior officials and has presided over waves of terminations, including of employees who participated in years-old investigations of President Donald Trump, were photographed taking a knee during a 2020 racial justice protest and contributed to a disputed analytical memo about Catholic extremism.
"The Patel Report looks backward because accountability demands it," says a memo to the workforce signed by the FBI's co-deputy directors, Christopher Raia and Andrew Bailey, that describes the document as marking the "closing of one c
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Oct 02, 2026
This year's Kennedy Center Honors will be held at Washington's Capital One Arena, not the riverfront building that's been at the center of a legal fight over adding President Donald Trump's name to the building.
The 49th annual awards are set to take place at Washington's downtown arena, a Kennedy Center spokesperson said Friday. Few other details were immediately available, and an explanation for the change wasn't given.
The center's board voted last month to close the iconic performing arts venue along the Potomac River waterfront after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning Trump's name to the building.
Trump has said in social media posts that the center needed to close for safety repairs. But he said the repairs would only happen if the board was allowed to move forward with plans to add his name to the building.
A federal judge has twice said that can't happen without the approval of Congress, which has allocated $257 million for repairs.
The president hosted the 2025 awards, whose honorees included Sylvester Stallone and George Strait. He said at the time that he would rename the facility the "Trump Kennedy Center," and not long after workers began adding his name to the building.
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Oct 02, 2026
President Donald Trump warned Republicans that Texas and Michigan are among the states the party is "worried about" ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, while speaking to voters in Oklahoma on Thursday.
Fresh off an event in Texas, Trump told a crowd in the reliably Republican state that he was not concerned about Oklahoma but that Republicans needed to turn out voters in other states.
"I feel a little foolish, you know. I'm saying, 'go out and vote, go out and vote.' You're gonna, they're gonna win in the last half, but still go out and vote," Trump said. "But we're not worried about them. We're worried about Michigan. We're worried about Texas. We're worried about a few states."
Trump later said Republicans need to get the word out about the midterms, citing what he described as 35 to 40 races that the party is concerned about.
"But we have to get the word out because we have to win in those 35. Maybe you could even say 40 places, 40 races," Trump said. "You have many, you have hundreds of races, but it's all about 40."
Trump also again urged supporters to imagine that he himself was on the ballot.
"So you have to pretend I'm on the ticket and turn out for a midterm victory that's really too big to rig," Trump said.
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: Donald Trump raises his fist after delivering remarks at the Peterbilt Motors facility in Denton, Texas, on October 1, 2026. Trump sought to rally Republicans by attacking Democrats over inflation and immigration, repeating claims about the number and backgrounds of migrants who entered the country during the Biden administration.
Trump has repeatedly made claims about millions of migrants entering the U.S. from prisons and mental institutions, but those claim
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Oct 02, 2026
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that a woman who alleges she was drugged and raped by multiple fraternity members at Cornell University in 2024 was "failed" by those obligated to protect her.
Hochul's comments came a day after announcing she had lost faith in the district attorney overseeing the Cornell University rape case and appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James as the special prosecutor to oversee the investigation.
"In what world would the police learn from a victim that she'd been literally gang raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house and not elevate those allegations to the district attorney?" Hochul said at a press conference. "In what world does the district attorney not even interview her or anyone else involved or even request the full transcript?"
"At every turn, she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her," Hochul said.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has come under intense scrutiny in recent days over his decision not to prosecute anyone when the initial allegations were made in 2024.
In a civil lawsuit filed last month against the school and seven current and former fraternity members, a former student identified as "Jane Doe" alleged that she was the victim of a "gang rape" at the Chi Phi fraternity on Cornell's Ithaca, N.Y., campus on Oct. 19, 2024. She said she was already intoxicated when she arrived and was given ketamine before and during the alleged assault. She reported the incident to campus police three weeks later.
Van Houten, who earlier this week reopened a cri
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Oct 02, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Group of Seven industrial nations said they agreed to release 100 million barrels of oil, starting with "substantial" amounts of diesel after the fuel recently hit record high prices in the United States, where President Donald Trump said the diesel release would happen "immediately."
Trump and his Republican Party face pressure to address surging prices ahead of November's midterm elections. Trump announced the action Friday on social media, saying, "Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil. The process will begin immediately."
The president faces lagging approval ratings as the Iran war and his trade battles have increased U.S. prices for oil and other goods.
Gas prices in the U.S. and abroad have soared during the eight-month-long war, a cost Trump has repeatedly said is worth it for making sure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons. Trump has insisted prices will come down after the war, though there's no end in sight.
The national average for a gallon of diesel in the U.S. was $6.37 on Friday, according to AAA, after hitting a record $6.52 on Sept. 22.
Trump had a conversation overnight with French President Emmanuel Macron, the chair of the G7, about the need to address rising fuel prices and the availability of petroleum products, according to the French Embassy in the U.S. Macron on Friday then chaired a videoconference of G7 leaders to discuss the issue.
France holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group and made the announcement in a statement released after video-conference talks that Macron presided over. The International Energy Agency will coordinate the effort to combat soaring fuel prices. "We will implement our
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Oct 02, 2026
A dangerous, long-duration heatwave is sweeping through much of Southern California beginning Friday, creating increased fire risk in the region.
Extreme to moderate heat warnings are in place for more than 34 million Californians, with temperatures forecast to reach between 92 and over 105 degrees, including along the coastal plains.
ABC News - PHOTO: Dangerous Heat Wave MapThe National Weather Service in Los Angeles warned the conditions have created a high risk of "large and fast-moving fires" in the region's valleys and mountains.
The heatwave is expected to begin on Friday and last through at least Oct. 8.
Tracking severe weather in the USTemperatures are expected to rise to around 15 degrees above average, creating potentially life-threatening conditions for those without access to air conditioning.
Little relief from the heat is forecasted in the overnight hours, though lower humidity is expected.
ABC News - PHOTO: Extreme Heat MapWindy conditions expected over the weekend will contribute to the fire risk. A wind advisory is in place, with gusts of up to 50 miles per hour forecasted.
Those under heat warnings are advised to watch out for heat-related illnesses, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Anyone experiencing symptoms of heat-related illnesses is encouraged to move to a cooler area, wear loose clothing, sip cool water and apply ice. Those with heat stroke symptoms, including dizziness, confusion or becoming unconscious, are a
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Oct 02, 2026
The Labor Department reported that the US added 29,000 jobs in September, missing expectations. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1% in the previous month.
Economists expected a gain of 90,000 jobs last month, following a revised print of 133,000 job gains in August.
"Weak across the board when it comes to the demand for labor," economist Mohamed El-Erian told Yahoo Finance. "The demand side is flashing yellow … [and is] going to put the Fed definitely on hold for October."
A stable labor market gives the Federal Reserve leeway to raise interest rates in October as the central bank focuses on tackling persistently high inflation. At a press conference following the decision, Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said that bringing down inflation doesn't have to come at the expense of US workers.
The September jobs report follows a string of indicators on US employment trends this week.
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Oct 02, 2026
Christa Pike, pictured in 2012, is receiving life-saving treatment after surviving two lethal injections.Imagn Images via Reuters ConnectThe mother of the woman killed by Christa Pike said she was left without justice after Tennessee's failed attempt to carry out the execution, criticizing the state's handling of a procedure that left the death row prisoner hospitalized in critical condition.
"I didn't get justice for my daughter," May Martinez, whose daughter Colleen Slemmer was killed in 1995, told the Associated Press on Thursday.
Martinez traveled to Nashville to witness the execution Wednesday. Instead, she watched as officials administered two doses of the state's execution drug pentobarbital without killing Pike.
"I watched the whole thing. She was awake," she said. "She was moving her head, moving her feet. She was trying to sit up. Didn't work the first time they gave her a shot. It didn't work the second time, so she's in the hospital and alive."
The inmate is receiving life-saving medical care, according to her legal team, who have asked Tennessee Gov. Bil
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Oct 02, 2026
Manhattan District Attorney's Office
CNN has obtained newly unsealed police body camera footage showing the arrest of Luigi Mangione inside a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, days after he fatally shot United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The hours of footage capture officers questioning Mangione at the fast-food restaurant on the morning of December 9, 2024, before he is handcuffed, searched and transported to the police station. The videos show police conducting more thorough searches of Mangione and his belongings at the station, including the moment an officer finds a gun - now known to be the murder weapon - inside his backpack.
This is the first time the videos have been seen outside the courtroom. Some of the footage was played during a dayslong suppression hearing last December, when the defense argued evidence recovered during the arrest should be suppressed because Mangione's backpack was improperly searched.
New York State Judge Gregory Carro ultimately ruled most of the evidence would be allowed at trial and placed the videos under seal. The judge authorized their release after CNN petitioned for their unsealing following Mangione's guilty plea to federal charges in August, in which he admitted to fatally shooting Thompson, 50, on a Manhattan sidewalk.
The unsealed videos, taken from
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Oct 02, 2026
Sea surface temperatures just hit a record high in a 2.4-million square mile region of the deep Pacific Ocean known as Niño 3.4, the key area scientists are tracking to measure the rapidly strengthening El Niño.
The daily average temperature - 85.73 degrees - on Sept. 29 was higher than at any other time on record in the region, according to preliminary data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It continued to climb the next day.
The temperature is about as warm as the ocean off Miami Beach and San Juan, Puerto Rico this week and warmer than the water off St. Petersburg, Florida, and Galveston, Texas.
"We are seeing a perfect storm of climate change and a super El Niño that is maturing so fast," Ben Kirtman, dean of the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science, told USA TODAY on Sept. 30. Sea surface temperatures in the region are still climbing and could continue into November, according to Kirtman.
NOAA emphasizes the Sept. 29 number is preliminary and could change when additional data from ships, buoys and other sources is integrated. However, water temperatures at buoys along a 1,000-mile swath of the 140th meridian on Sept. 30 ranged from 83.8 degrees to 87.8 degrees, according to data provided by NOAA's National Data Buoy Center.
The record-warm waters raise grave concerns for marine life and coral reefs and for the people and communities who make their living by the sea, said Bill Precht, a coral scientist and director of coastal and marine sciences for Florida-based Bio-Tech Consulting.
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Oct 02, 2026
Think a high salary is a ticket out of living paycheck to paycheck? Think again.
Roughly 4 in 10 workers earning above $300,000 say they're doing just that, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management's 2026 retirement report.
"One of the more remarkable findings is whether or not financial security improves linearly with income," Chris Ceder, a senior retirement strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, told Yahoo Finance.
You'd think financial security would improve as someone makes more money, with income tracking in a straight path with each extra dollar of earnings.
"It does for a while, but it's a U-shape pattern," Ceder said.
Those making between $100,000 and $300,000 aren't so stretched, according to the findings, but the number who say they are living paycheck to paycheck shoots back up among those earning above $300,000 annually.
"We can see a similar pattern as it relates to delaying financial goals, delaying retirement savings, and also paying the minimum of their credit card balances," Ceder added.
For example, the survey found that the people making only minimum credit card payments or less are clustered at the lowest and highest income brackets.
About 4 in 10 workers making under $100,000 are skating by on the minimum credit card payment. That drops to 35% for those in the $100,000 to $300,000 income bracket and pops up again to 42% for those who earn above that threshold.
Nearly half of those bringing in a half-million dollars made minimum payments this year, up from 39% last year.
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Oct 02, 2026
US bond yields have surged upward over the past month, as yields on both the 10-year Treasury (^TNX) and 30-year Treasury (^TYX) have reached levels not seen since 2002, surpassing 2007 high-water marks in the lead-up to the financial crisis.
Investors have attributed the run-up in yields to a variety of concerns, from the artificial intelligence build-out and the competition for capital to changing foreign ownership of gold versus fixed income.
Read more: How soaring Treasury yields could hit your finances
One overlooked source of upward pressure, argued Macquarie's Thierry Wizman, is not just the impact of the
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Oct 02, 2026
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Thursday she had lost faith in the district attorney overseeing the Cornell University rape case and appointed a special prosecutor to replace him.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has come under mounting pressure in recent days over his decision not to prosecute anyone when the initial allegations were made in 2024.
"Newly released information continues to raise serious questions about the investigation conducted by the Cornell Police Department and the decision by the Tompkins County District Attorney not to prosecute an alleged sexual assault on Cornell University's campus in October 2024," Hochul said.
"This has, in turn, undercut my faith, and the public's faith, in the District Attorney's ability to effectively investigate and prosecute the case at this time."
Hochul appointed the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James as the special prosecutor to oversee the investigation.
The case has drawn nationwide attention after a civil lawsuit was filed last month against the school and seven current and former fraternity members at the university.
The woman, a former student identified as "Jane Doe," said that she was the victim of a "gang rape" at the Chi Phi fraternity on Cornell's Ithaca, N.Y., campus on Oct. 19, 2024. She said she was already intoxicated when she arrived and was given ketamine before and during the alleged assault. She reported the incident to campus police three weeks later.
Van Houten, who reopened a criminal investigation into the case based on new information
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Oct 02, 2026
[AFP via Getty Images]
Donald Trump has said he may ask European countries to release some of their diesel reserves as he considers banning US exports of the fuel.
The president's comment comes after diesel prices hit record highs on UK forecourts this week, as the Iran war continues to put pressure on the supply of refined fuels.
The UK is heavily reliant on imported diesel from the US. But with US voters also facing higher fuel costs ahead of the midterm elections in November, Trump has threatened to restrict diesel exports.
The UK has been discussing the US supply threats with the EU which is holding a meeting on Friday on the issue.
Banning exports would flood the US market with diesel, and could bring prices down significantly for American drivers.
But experts warn such a ban would put further pressure on diesel prices in other countries, unless they can access further supplies.
The US is a vital supplier of diesel to the world, exporting between 1.2 and 1.5 million barrels per day, with most of it going to Latin America.
European countries including France, the Netherlands and the UK, also import a significant amount from the US following the reduction in Russian and Middle Eastern sources of diesel.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to sanctions, diverting Russian sales away from Europe. More recently Ukrainian attacks on Russian refining capacity has had a knock-on effect on global supply.
The US-led war on Iran has constrained the flow of both crude oil and refined diesel from that region.
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Oct 02, 2026
A new facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, may begin receiving undocumented families with children, local officials and immigrant rights advocates say.
The 528-bed facility will house families with children, unaccompanied minors, and single adult females as they await removal inside renovated former Air Force barracks at England Airpark, a former military base that now houses the Alexandria International Airport and an immigration detention facility, according to a draft agreement between ICE and the England Economic and Industrial Development District (EEIDD) reviewed by ABC News.
A communications manager for EEIDD told ABC News the facility could start receiving people "within the next week or two."
Alex Wong/Getty Images - PHOTO: An exterior view of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency headquarters is seen, July 6, 2018, in Washington, D.C. The facility would be the second constructed to house children since President Donald Trump's second term began but is the first to hold unaccompanied minors who are usually held in shelters under the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services before deportation or release.
A board of commissioners that governs the airpark approved the facility in February amid protests from local residents.
The facility will be managed by LaSalle Family Foundation, a nonprofit arm of LaSalle Corrections, a private prison company that manages several immigration detention centers across the country. Daily operations will be run by Anovaeon, which describes itself as a humanitarian response company. The operators are calling the facility the Alexandria Family Staging Center and say it will house people who are voluntarily self-deporting or voluntarily leaving the country, for an aver
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Oct 02, 2026
Watch: Tearful pilot recounts moment of Flydubai attack
The Indian pilot of the Flydubai plane who was attacked by his co-pilot and opened the cockpit door to let others in has said he was determined not to let others die.
Capt Smit Machchhar said he was on the ground and still being attacked when he realised the plane carrying more than 170 passengers was sinking and he had to do something.
"I was lying on the floor injured but I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside," he said in a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Others came in and also played a role [in controlling the situation]. I was of course fighting for my own life but at the same time I knew I was not going to let others die," he added.
Flydubai's flight FZ1073, which was bound for Tel Aviv from Dubai early on Wednesday morning, plunged more than 17,000ft (5,200m) two and a half hours into its journey.
It first sent an emergency signal to air traffic controllers before switching to code squawk 7500, which indicates hijacking.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later told the media that one pilot had stabbed the other before "apparently trying to crash" the plane.
After fellow passengers overpowered the attacker, two reserve pilots, who were in the plane as passengers, safely landed the plane at Tabuk Airport in north-western Saudi Arabia at 06:58 local time.
Machchhar, who has been hailed as a "true hero" by Netanyahu, was taken to hospital in Tabuk before being airlifted to Abu Dhabi, where he is reported to be in a stable condition.
He told Modi he had been flying planes for 17 years and "can tell what is happening to the plane even with my eyes closed".
Indian social media has been awash with praise for him si
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Oct 02, 2026
President Donald Trump's Department of Justice is now looking to see if Nixon-era special prosecutors committed misconduct in investigating the Watergate scandal.
An early morning burglary at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., in June 1972 would become a two-year affair, uncovering corruption inside the White House that would ultimately lead to Republican President Richard Nixon's resignation.
More than 50 years later, Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon aide who has written books on Watergate, was invited last month to give a two-hour presentation to the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility, an internal watchdog created out of the Watergate scandal, on allegations that the special prosecutor's office that investigated the break-in committed misconduct, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
A DOJ spokesperson confirmed to The Independent that Shepherd gave a presentation to the Office of Prof
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Oct 02, 2026
Follow updates on the war in the Middle East for Friday, Oct. 2, here. See earlier developments below.
What to know about the Iran war:President Trump said Thursday night that Iran "is ready to fold up," adding he believes the U.S. will win the war "right after the election," though he also said "maybe before the election."Mr. Trump told TIME magazine that U.S. military action against Iran could resume after the midterm elections if Tehran and Washington fail to reach a satisfactory agreement, and that he doesn't think "you could ever have peace" with Iran.Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday that Iran might be linked to a co-pilot's attempt to crash a packed plane traveling from Dubai to Israel. The president didn't offer any further details and said Iran would be hit "very hard" if it was determined that Tehran was behind the incident.
Saudi coalition accuses Houthis of drone attack on holy city of Medina
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said Thursday that the Houthis struck an electricity distribution station in the holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia. The alleged attack sparked strong condemnation from the Muslim world.
It came as fighting intensifies in Yemen, where government forces said they carried out att
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Oct 02, 2026
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - US job growth likely slowed in September and the unemployment rate is forecast to have been 4.1% for a third straight month, suggesting the labor market remained stable heading into the fourth quarter.
The anticipated moderation would follow a surprise jump in nonfarm payrolls in August, which economists partly attributed to volatility ?linked to the model the government uses to strip out seasonal fluctuations from the data. The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish its closely watched employment report on Friday.
"I am ?expecting a reaffirmation of the 'low-hire, low-fire' American labor market," said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. "At this point, we're at full employment, and I think there will be nothing in the jobs report that will cause the Federal Reserve to change its ?bias from one more hike this year."
Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 90,000 last month after surging by 162,000 in August, a Reuters survey of economists predicted. Estimates ranged from as low as 35,000 to as high as 180,000. Economists expected August's job count, which was the largest in five months, to be revised down. The initial payrolls print for August has typically been weak, making this year's jump an anomaly.
"We suspect that the seasonally adjusted August nonfarm payroll print will be revised down as the BLS extends its seasonal adjustment procedure forward to incorporate the September data," said Marc Giannoni, chief US economist at Barclays. "The seasonal adjustment significantly exaggerated that ?month's employment gain. Had the August nonfarm payroll employment been adjusted with ?the August 2025 seasonal factors, it would have registered a drop of 74,000 jobs."
Economists said there were no signs yet that the US-Israel war with Iran was disrupting the labor market. But they expected the growing headwinds from the conflict in the Middle
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Oct 01, 2026
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman [Getty Images]
OpenAI has fired three researchers for allegedly mishandling information, including work that involved an external organisation that analyses artificial intelligence (AI) models.
"Our investigation confirmed that these individuals mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work," a spokesperson told the BBC.
The ChatGPT-maker did not name the sacked workers, but at least two of them were involved in safety research at the firm.
The firings come as the debate over AI safety and the risks the technology may pose to humanity has intensified in recent weeks.
"We have parted ways with three individuals for violating our policies on accessing and handling sensitive company information," OpenAI's spokesperson said.
The BBC understands the former employees were not let go for raising safety concerns but for allegedly mishandling sensitive information.
Concerns over AI safety have made headlines after some researchers and industry executives called for more guardrails around the technology.
OpenAI has come under under intense scrutiny after its models went rogue and hacked several platforms, including Australian government websites.
In an earlier incident an OpenAI system accessed the internet and breached the open-source developer platform Hugging Face.
That incident led OpenAI to conduct a broad review of the activities of its AI models
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Oct 01, 2026
(AFP via Getty)
The Pentagon doubled hostile fire pay to $450 a month and raised imminent danger pay to $275 as of Thursday, the first boost to the two combat stipends since 2002.
A mid-July memo from Timothy Dill, assistant secretary of war for manpower and reserve affairs, took effect at the start of the new fiscal year, Navy Times reported.
Imminent danger pay will be prorated at $9.16 per day, up from $7.50, with a $275 monthly cap tied to days in a designated zone. Service members cannot collect both pays in the same period.
Anthony Tata, undersecretary of war for personnel and readiness, said troops facing combat "deserve higher compensation that reflects the risks" they take for the country, Stars and Stripes reported.
The increase lands as the Iran conflict enters its seventh month, with American troops still exposed to combat and reprisal strikes across the Middle East.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which administers military pay, lists 58 locations as eligible for the imminent danger stipend.
The two stipends have been locked at a flat $225 per month since October 2002. Before that, hazardous-duty rates varied by rank and duty, typically ranging from $100 to $240 per month, officials said.
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said the tiered model separates areas of potential danger from zones with hostile fire and lets commanders shift troops from imminent danger pay to hostile fire pay the moment a designated area tips in
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Oct 01, 2026
Governor Kathy Hochul/X
New York State Attorney General Letitia James will be taking over as special prosecutor in the case alleging sexual assault at Cornell University, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday, saying she "lost faith" in the district attorney's ability to oversee it.
The announcement comes as new details have emerged this week about the alleged gang rape of then-student Jane Doe in a room at the Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024, including what she told campus police about the alleged assault.
"New information has raised serious questions about how this case was handled, and I've lost faith in the Tompkins County DA's ability to fairly oversee it," Hochul said in a statement. "The young woman at the center of this case deserves to know that every fact will be examined and justice pursued."
James will now have the power to investigate the incident and, if warranted, prosecute any offenses and present evidence to a grand jury. Cornell told CNN Thursday it supports the governor's decision.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has repeatedly told CNN that his office never received more than the Snapchat messages and a six-page investigative report before deciding not to bring charges in the case.
In the report, Doe she recounted being hit and feeling emotionally coerced into sexual activity while intoxicated.
She made a more explicit accusation of rape in a November 2024 interview with campus police - the transcript of which Van Houten told CNN
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Oct 01, 2026
The Grand Teton national park in Wyoming.Photograph: Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Major League Baseball (MLB) leadership is no longer considering holding a game inside a national park, according to a letter commissioner Robert Manfred sent to officials in Teton county, Wyoming, on Thursday in what could be the league's biggest swing-and-a-miss off the diamond.
On 26 September, the Washington Post reported that MLB had reached out to the White House about staging a one-day game at Grand Teton national park in Wyoming. Teton county describes itself as a "a year-round resort community" and sits within the Jackson Hole valley. It's also a habitat for grizzly bears, osprey, bison and more.
News of MLB's outreach to the federal government quickly sparked concern about the impact that erecting a field and the infrastructure to hold spectators could have on the natural landscape and habitat of scores of wildlife that call the 310,000-acre (125,500-hectare) park home.
In the letter, Manfred noted that MLB had held games at places like the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina and the nation's oldest Negro Leagues stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. He added that MLB staff had been doing their due diligence to see whether a game at Grand Teton was possible and to evaluate the potential environmental impact.
"Since the story was reported, it has become clear that the local community does not want us t
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Oct 01, 2026
New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday said she issued an executive order to appoint Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor for the alleged "gang rape" that took place at a Cornell fraternity in 2024.
"Newly released information continues to raise serious questions about the investigation conducted by the Cornell Police Department and the decision by the Tompkins County District Attorney not to prosecute an alleged sexual assault on Cornell University's campus," Hochul said in a statement.
"This has, in turn, undercut my faith, and the public's faith, in the District Attorney's ability to effectively investigate and prosecute the case at this time," Hochul added.
In a statement, James said she is "ready to lead a process New Yorkers can trust, guided by the facts and the law."
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images - PHOTO: New York Governor Hochul Makes AI Safety Announcement"Every New Yorker deserves to know that when they report a crime, it will be investigated fully and fairly. The Governor has entrusted my office with this investigation, and we do not take that responsibility lightly," James said.
The appointment of James as special prosecutor comes five days after Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said he would reopen the investigation into the former student's allegations.
'I felt like bait,' Jane Doe said at 2025 Cornell University hearing investigating allegations of fraternity house sexual assaultLate last month, the former student, listed as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit alleging that she was drugged, assaulted and "gang raped" by
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Oct 01, 2026
"Politically, there's just a recognition that it's always going to be hard to win a midterm when you have the White House, the Senate and the House," Vance said in an interview with NBC News. (Brandon Bell / Getty)JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — Vice President JD Vance acknowledged Thursday that Republicans face an "uphill climb" in next month's midterm elections — and that the results may be a data point he reviews as he decides whether to run for president in 2028.
"Historically there's always a bit of an uphill climb, and I think you definitely sense that," Vance said in an interview with NBC News. "I also think you can sense a sense of cautious optimism, in the sense that, you know, people feel like the numbers are sort of moving, maybe in our direction."
He added: "Politically, there's just a recognition that it's always going to be hard to win a midterm when you have the White House, the Senate and the House."
Vance spoke aboard Air Force Two shortly after it landed on a return trip from Lakeland, Florida, where he campaigned for Sen. Ashley Moody and Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor. It was his latest headlining gig at a rally meant to boost support for the party's candidates in what is expected to be a challenging year for the GOP.
Aside from the historical trends Vance mentioned, polls have shown President Donald Trump and
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Oct 01, 2026
For well over an hour, the state of Tennessee tried to kill Christa Pike. Then they raced to save her life.
Seven members of the news media who witnessed Pike's botched execution on Sept. 30 described an increasingly troublesome scene in the death chamber at a state prison in Nashville. The process began with Pike's last words, and ended with the state closing curtains in the viewing chamber and ordering the witnesses to leave even as they could hear Pike snoring on what was supposed to be her death bed.
Pike had survived two doses of pentobarbital, the second of which is considered a backup in case the first doesn't prove lethal. The state's execution protocol has no guidance for what happens when two doses fail, something that hasn't happened in the history of lethal injections in the U.S., according to experts and a USA TODAY review of previous botched executions.
Pike's failed execution, Tennessee's second in just four months, is raising questions about the state's ability to carry out the death penalty and drawing increased scrutiny to the constitutionality of the method nationwide.
As questions swirl about what happened to Pike and what is
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Oct 01, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 29: U.S. President Donald Trump waves after speaking during the America.gov launch event at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on September 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. The website features an artificial intelligence tool to help Americans interact with the federal government. The event was attended by tech leaders Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, along with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) | Image Credits:Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
In December 2025, about a month before the U.S. invaded Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, President Trump had a secret meeting with Elon Musk, Time magazine reports. This was roughly seven months after Musk left his role in the Trump administration at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
During this meeting, Trump "spent hours" talking to Musk's Grok chatbot, including asking how Venezuelans would respond to the capture of their president, a source told Time. Just a few months earlier, in September, Trump began ordering U.S. military strikes against Venezuelan boats that Trump alleged were involved in drug trafficking.
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Oct 01, 2026
Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, received two doses of a lethal drug in a Nashville execution chamber Wednesday night. But she didn't die.
Although her survival was "unparalleled," as one expert said, it was the latest example of a botched execution attempt involving lethal injections in Tennessee and elsewhere around the United States.
"All of this was predicted, and the court did nothing," said Steve Ferrell, an attorney for Pike, at a news conference Thursday, referencing the state's history of problems with its lethal drug protocol.
Pike, 50, was condemned for the 1995 murder of her former classmate Colleen Slemmer, then 19, whom she and two others tortured and killed in a manner widely described as gruesome, horrific and disturbing. Eighteen at the time of the attack and 20 at her sentencing, Pike was the youngest woman sent to death row in the country's modern capital punishment era.
The extent of Pike's injuries after the failed execution was unclear, but her attorneys said Thursday that she was still alive and receiving "lifesaving medical care" at a hospital. A doctor told CBS partner BBC News that Pike would have likely suffered traumatic brain injury.
Her legal team had said in an emergency motion to halt the execution Wednesday night that she had not lost consciousness, retained a heartbeat and could be heard audibly snoring on the gurney, despite correctional staff administering two syringes' worth of the drug pentobarbital to her through an IV. At one point, Associated Press reporter Kim Chandler, who witnessed the execution, said Pike "looked toward prison officials and asked if it was supposed to feel that way."
"The case of Christa Pike lays bare multiple reasons why the death penalty should be abolished," United Nations human rights chief Volker Tu
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Oct 01, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is dispatching roughly 9,000 troops aboard a group of ships to the Middle East, a U.S. official said Thursday. The bolstering of the American military presence comes as President Donald Trump warned anew that new strikes against Iran could be on the horizon.
The troop movement, which includes a third aircraft carrier, underscores the rapidly evolving dynamic of Trump's war against Iran as he ponders his next move, with midterm elections in the United States looming large and new signs that the nature of the conflict may be becoming more complex.
Trump has threatened that a post-midterm election escalation — despite his initial promises to Americans of a campaign that would last a matter of weeks — remains a viable option. Further complicating matters, Trump told reporters Thursday that early indications suggest that Iran is linked to the FlyDubai co-pilot who stabbed his captain and tried to crash an Israel-bound flight on Wednesday.
In an exchange with reporters at the White House, Trump raised the connection when asked by a reporter if there were any links between the pilot behind the attack and Tehran.
"I wo
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Oct 01, 2026
Christa Pike's attorney said she is still alive a day after she survived two doses of lethal injection drugs on Wednesday. The inmate is in critical condition and is receiving life-saving medical care, her legal team told reporters Thursday afternoon.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has since paused executions in the state.
Pike, 50, remained alive and snoring loudly after being given two doses of pentobarbital, her attorneys and other witnesses said. She was subsequently taken to a hospital.
Lee ordered "a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred" and said that another scheduled execution later this year had been paused.
"There are very few answers this morning. It's very early," Lee told reporters Thursday morning. "There are a lot of questions. The people of our state deserve to have those questions answered.
"This is a tragedy. There is no one who wanted what happened last night to happen. It's deeply disturbing to me that this has happened in this state."
May Martinez, the mother of Pike's victim, Colleen Slemmer, told NBC News the execution attempt had been a "mess," adding, "They didn't say anything, and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the victims to leave. We didn't know anything until we got up to the office and saw the commissioner. And he said that it didn't work ... and she's on her way to the hospital."
In a statement posted on
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Oct 01, 2026
Former Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger (center) in 2019 leaves the Frank Crowley Courts Building in downtown Dallas. (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer)
Guyger fatally shot Jean, a 26-year-old accountant, in September 2018 after mistaking his apartment for her own. She told investigators she believed Jean was an intruder.
Jean's killing drew protests in Dallas and national attention, particularly because Jean was an unarmed Black man killed in his own home by a white police officer.
A Dallas County jury convicted Guyger, now 38, of murder in October 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years in prison.
The Texas parole board confirmed Thursday to The Dallas Morning News that Guyger had been granted parole. She was previously denied in 2024.
It's not immediately clear Thursday when she will be released from prison.
Here's what to know about Guyger, Jean's killing and what has happened in the years since.
What happened to Botham Jean?
A large photo of Botham Jean is displayed with photos and cards on one of the tables in his childhood home in Castries, St. Lucia on Sept. 25, 2018. Botham Jean was shot and killed in his apartment by off-duty Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger. (Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)
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Oct 01, 2026
The Treasury Department said that over 60 million children have been automatically enrolled in Trump Accounts, according to guidance filed with the Federal Register.
"Millions of children have already enrolled in Trump Accounts. With automatic enrollment, over 60 million more eligible children now have an account ready to be claimed," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Why are children being automatically enrolled? The idea behind Trump Accounts is to give children a head start on building wealth. The accounts are a new type of tax-deferred individual retirement account for children. Any eligible child under 18 with a valid Social Security number can open an account, while U.S. citizens born between 2025 and 2028 may also qualify for a one-time $1,000 contribution from the government.
Until now, parents or guardians were required to sign up for accounts on their children's behalf. Participation has been low, however.
According to a study by the national nonprofit Commonwealth, participation rates remain low, with families citing conc
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Oct 01, 2026
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - New applications for US unemployment benefits drifted close to 57-year lows last week and layoffs decreased in September, suggesting labor market stability persisted even as employers remained cautious about boosting hiring.
The report from the Labor Department on Thursday joined a raft of other data, including robust consumer spending in August, in painting a rosy picture of the economy despite ?rising headwinds from the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has driven diesel prices to record highs. Economists said robust corporate profits growth and resilient domestic demand were shielding workers from layoffs, for now.
"At some point, ?elevated energy costs and material prices will force firms to lay off marginal workers to protect profit margins, but there is no sign of that here," said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 197,000 for ?the week ended September 26, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 200,000 claims for the latest week.
Claims have held below the 200,000 level for three straight weeks and are near levels last seen in 1969. Some economists said historically low layoffs, if sustained, could raise questions about the labor market overheating, with monetary policy implications.
"We do not appear to be close to that result yet, but this is a new risk that the FOMC appears to be watching," said Stephen Stanley, chief US economist at Santander US Capital Markets, referring to the Fed's policy-setting committee.
A separate report from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed layoffs announced by US-based employers dropped 18% to 43,281 in September. They were down 20% ?from a year ago and fell 43% in the third quarter. Employers are, however, ?in no rush to increase h
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Oct 01, 2026
JERUSALEM (AP) — A dentist and other passengers wrestled with a violent copilot. A plumber seized the controls as the plane plunged towards the desert. And the captain, despite being stabbed, managed to open the cockpit door — helping save all 182 people aboard the Israel-bound flight.
"Hollywood isn't creative enough to come up with stories like this!" said Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel.
Although major questions remained unanswered on Thursday about the attacker and his motive, the story of ordinary passengers saving the FlyDubai flight from disaster has quickly become the stuff of legend.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warmly embraced plumber Yaniv Hayoun shortly after the passengers arrived in Tel Aviv late on Wednesday. He later posted a five-star review of Hayoun's professional services, calling him "a hero who has saved many lives."
"He can help you too — I highly recommend him!" Netanyahu added on X.
Hayoun was among several Israelis recommended for the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism, while Indian Capt. Smit Machchhar was called "a HERO" by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Oct 01, 2026
President Donald Trump said in an interview out Thursday that he would be open to pardoning members of his administration, pointing to former President Joe Biden's blanket pardon to relatives and members of the administration out of concern they would be politically targeted after he left office.
"Yeah, sure, I'd do that," the president answered when asked by TIME magazine earlier this week if he was "considering pardoning members of your administration prior to the end of your term?"
The president further said that Biden "gave pardons to everyone."
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during an announcement in the Oval Office at the White House, September 28, 2026 in Washington.Biden issued preemptive pardons to several close family members in the final minutes of his presidency in 2025, saying that his family "has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me" and that he had "no reason to believe these attacks will end" after he left office.
Those pardons included James Biden, Joe's younger brother; Sara Jones Biden, James' wife; Valerie Biden Owens, Joe's younger sister; John T. Owens', Valerie's husband; and Francis W. Biden, Joe's younger brother.
In 2024, Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted on tax evasion and
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Oct 01, 2026
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee paused executions in the state after an inmate survived two doses of lethal injection drugs on Wednesday.
Christa Pike, 50, remained alive and snoring loudly after being given two doses of pentobarbital, her attorneys and other witnesses said. She was subsequently taken to a hospital. Her health status remained unknown as of Thursday, Lee said.
Lee ordered "a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred" and said that another scheduled execution later this year had been paused.
"There are very few answers this morning. It's very early," Lee told reporters Thursday morning. "There are a lot of questions. The people of our state deserve to have those questions answered.
"This is a tragedy. There is no one who wanted what happened last night to happen. It's deeply disturbing to me that this has happened in this state."
May Martinez, the mother of Pike's victim, Colleen Slemmer, told NBC News the execution attempt had been a "mess," adding, "They didn't say anything, and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the victims to leave. We didn't know anything until we got up to the office and saw the commissioner. And he said that it didn't work ... and she's on her way to the hospital."
In a statement posted on Facebook, Sen. Marsha Blackburn called for the state to return to the electric chair as a means of execution. "This situation is tragic," she said.
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Oct 01, 2026
The lethal drug administered in Tennessee's failed attempt to execute Christa Pike has been used in multiple states that carry out the death penalty and by the U.S. government after President Donald Trump resumed federal executions during his first term.
Pike, 50, remained alive after two doses of pentobarbital were administered Wednesday, according to her attorneys and media witnesses. One of her lawyers said Thursday that she was being treated at a hospital.
Tennessee officials haven't explained yet what went wrong during the execution.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee ordered a third-party review to determine what happened and said another scheduled execution in Tennessee will not take place this year.
What is pentobarbital?Pentobarbital is a barbiturate, a class of drugs that depresses the central nervous system.
Approved medical uses include sedation, short-term treatment of insomnia, preparation for anesthesia and emergency control of certain severe seizures. It is also used in veterinary euthanasia.
In an overdose, it can produce coma, suppress breathing and cause circulatory collapse and death.
Why is it used in executions?For years, lethal injections commonly used three drugs: an anesthetic, a paralytic that stopped breathin
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Oct 01, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge in the nation's capital agreed on Thursday to permanently dismiss a criminal case charging a former Olympian with vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a move that could prevent federal prosecutors from reviving the case under political pressure from President Donald Trump.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman ordered the dismissal of David Hearn's case with "prejudice," which would block U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office from refiling the felony charge against him. The judge ruled nearly a month after hearing attorneys' arguments.
Hearn's lawyers say Trump administration officials have continued to falsely accuse the Maryland resident of vandalizing the reflecting pool despite Pirro's decision to drop the case on July 31. Trump responded by saying Pirro "choked" and "folded like an umbrella."
Edelman said the case presents "exceptional circumstances" that warrant dismissing the case permanently. He agreed with defense attorneys that the government "shot first and asked questions later" by charging Hearn in a "a lightning-fast indictment process."
"While the government wishes to hold open the possibility of the development of evidence that would support a future prosecution, its own representations make plain that such a possibility is theoretical at best, and more likely, is simply fanciful," the judge wrote.
Permanently dismissing the case protects Hearn from prosecutors electing to revive the case under political pressure from Trump, the judge said.
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Oct 01, 2026
A woman who accused seven members of a fraternity at Cornell University in 2024 of rape reportedly told the school's investigators that she "felt like bait" on the night of the alleged assault.
"I felt like lions around me," she said during a 2025 hearing, according to ABC News. "It just was a totally debilitating place to be in."
The comments were included in a 99-page report prepared by the university as part of its Title IX investigation, per ABC.
The report also included comments from a fraternity member who Cornell's investigation concluded did not engage in the assault but was found responsible for "attempted sexual exploitation."
"I was sorry that maybe if it wasn't consensual and she was victimized, I was sorry for not stopping it," the fraternity members said, according to ABC.
In a civil lawsuit filed last month against the school and the fraternity members, the woman, a former student identified as "Jane Doe," said that she was the victim of a "gang rape" at the Chi Phi fraternity on Cornell's Ithaca, N.Y., campus on Oct. 19, 2024. She said she was already intoxicated when she arrived and was given ketamine before and during the alleged assault. She reported the incident to campus police three weeks later.
On Tuesday, CBS New York
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Oct 01, 2026
A view of Catalina's Avalon Harbor. A medical transport helicopter crashed off the island on Wednesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)Investigators have located the wreckage of a medical transport helicopter that crashed in the Pacific Ocean after departing Wednesday night from Santa Catalina Island, killing a pilot and a nurse.
One person, a female patient being taken to the mainland, remains missing, and two people survived. Sources familiar with the investigation said the missing woman is a 45-year-old resident of Avalon who suffered a severe allergy attack.
At a press conference Thursday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said it's unlikely that the patient survived the crash, and noted the wreckage was deep in the water, 200 feet below the surface. Divers from the department's special enforcement bureau will work with other agencies and use technology to search the ocean floor.
"This is a tragedy for Catalina and for Los Angeles County," said county Supervisor Janice Hahn. "The men and women on board dedicated their careers to responding to crisis and saving lives. They are heroes."
The Los Angeles County Fire Department received a call at 7:53 p.m. Wednesday for a marine rescue to pull three people from the water, agency spokesperson Jonathan Torres said.
The department learned that the three were aboard a helicopter bound for the mainland and that five people were involved, Torres said. The aircraft was a Eurocopter EC135 P2, the National Transportation Safety Board said. The helicopter was equipped as a medical transport and was owned by REACH Air Medical Services, th
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Oct 01, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Renee Good's family sued the U.S. government and several immigration officials Thursday, alleging wrongful death, conspiracy and other violations in the 37-year-old woman's killing by an immigration officer during a federal crackdown in Minneapolis.
The two lawsuits were filed by Good's partner, Becca Good, and Renee's brother Brent Ganger.
The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuits.
Officer shot Good as she turned her car away from him
Renee Good, a mother of three, was fatally shot Jan. 7 as protests against immigration raids flared across the city. According to Becca Good, her partner stopped their car in a street to support neighbors during an immigration operation.
Bystander video shows Renee Good in the driver's seat of a red SUV blocking part of the road and repeatedly honking her horn.
Two immigration officers get out of a truck, their faces covered, and one orders Good to get out of the car. She reverses briefly, then turns the steering wheel as the officer says again, "get out of the car."
Almost simultaneously, Becca Good, standing in the street, shouts: "Drive, baby, drive!"
One officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and fires into the windshield. He lurches back as the car turns away from him. The officer, who is now very close to the open window on the driver's side, opens fire two more times, fatally shooting Renee Good, according to an analysis of the videos by The Associated Press and others.
Federal officials at the time said the off
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Oct 01, 2026
Matthias Huss with a four-metre-long measuring stake indicating the amount of ice that melted over the past year on the Scex Rouge glacier (Fabrice COFFRINI)Switzerland's glaciers, which are disproportionately impacted by climate change, have lost nearly 20 percent of their mass in five years, experts said Thursday, with 2026 registering the second-biggest melt on record.
Swiss glaciers saw 5.5 percent of their volume melt away this year, the Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (GLAMOS) network found in a new study, published after a record hot summer preceded by a winter with little snowfall.
"The glaciers this year have lost enormous quantities of ice," said GLAMOS chief Matthias Huss, describing 2026 as "a catastrophic year".
Perched on the Scex Rouge glacier, at an altitude of nearly 3,000 metres, he gazed across the landscape in despair.
"This is a glacier that isn't surviving," he said.
"There will be probably no ice in 10 or maybe 15 years."
He carefully dismantled the four-metre-long aluminium measurement stake inserted at the centre of the glacier.
In late July, when it was installed, it was completely embedded, but now more than three metres protrude from the grey surface of the ice.
"It's not that we are surprised, because we know how fast the glaciers are melting," Huss said.
"But to see the colours of the mountains where there is no snow left, there is just these rocks and these dark glaciers that are a relic from the past... it's just incredible."
Between 2022 and 2026, the melt rate at Switzerland's glaciers was "more than twice as high as in any previously monitored five-year period", the GLAMOS report said, noting an ice volume loss of almost 20 percent since 2021.
While Switzerland's glaciers have long been sh
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Oct 01, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to review a Trump administration policy denying bond hearings for immigrants as the government carries out a sweeping crackdown.
The justices will consider whether immigrants who have been living in the U.S. have a right to a hearing to determine if they should remain detained while challenging their possible deportation.
The case will test a key pillar of the Trump administration's hard-line immigration agenda.
Most appeals courts to have considered the issue have found that it violates federal law to detain immigrants, including those living in the U.S. illegally, without a bond hearing. Those decisions conflict with rulings by the 5th and 8th circuits, which held that immigrants accused of illegally entering and remaining in the U.S. must be detained while their deportation cases are pending.
The high court agreed to hear the case of Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a citizen of Brazil. Authorities say he entered the United States illegally two decades ago and applied for asylum in 2016. He sought a bond hearing after an immigration judge determined that his detention was mandatory following his September 2025 arrest.
He has never been charged or convicted of a crime,
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Oct 01, 2026
"I Voted" stickers sit on a table at Naperville Municipal Center in Naperville, Illinois, on September 24, 2026, on the first day of early voting ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. - Kamil Krzaczyski/AFP/Getty Images
Election Day is still a month away, but more than 700,000 Americans have already voted across at least 30 states. There are signs emerging of the advantage Democrats have in motivating their voters - a trend that's played out in polling all summer long.
In several states with key Senate or governor races this fall, Democrats make up a larger share of voters requesting ballots so far than they did at this point in 2024.
In Iowa, Democrats have made 67% of ballot requests, up from 54% at this point in 2024. In Pennsylvania, it's 66%, up from 62%, and in Maine it's 57%, up from 53%. And according to data from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, 42% of ballot requests are from Democrats, up from 36% at this point two years ago.
It's worth noting that in all of those states except for Iowa, ballot requests at this point in 2022 were more Democratic than they are now.
The uptick in the share of requests from Democrats would be in line with polling, special election results and primary turnout, all of which have indicated Democrats may be more motivated to vote this November.
On the other hand, it could just be further evidence of Republicans continuing to shift to preferring other forms of voting.
An important caveat: While the fact that a person has voted is general
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Oct 01, 2026
WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump said he regretted nominating three Supreme Court justices — Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and ?Brett Kavanaugh — who have opposed him in recent rulings, according ?to a Time Magazine interview.
The Republican president was asked about his recent comments regarding the ?three conservative justices in the interview, which was conducted on Monday.
"Do you regret nominating them?" the interviewer asked, referring to Trump's comments in a recent Truth Social post.
"Yeah. Yeah," Trump responded, according to a transcript of the ?interview.
"What can I do? ?I put them in. They voted against me too often. I was very — I gave them the position of ?a lifetime, and they vote against me often."
Trump appointed Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett during his first term as president, building a 6-3 conservative majority and allowing the court ?to steer ?a dramatic rightward course since 2020.
"I ?do like loyalty, yeah," Trump ?told the interviewer, who then asked whether that was what he wanted from the justices.
"No, I don't want loyalty. I want good decisions," Trump said.
After the top US judicial body declined to allow a Postal Service rule restricting the use of mail-in ballots in the November midterm elections, ?Trump said his appointees were behaving differently ?than they had during interviews.
"These are not ?the people I interviewed to ?serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are ?merely a shell of their original ?selves," he wrote on ?Truth Social.
After the court in February struck down his sweeping global tariffs that it found he had imposed illegally using a ?law meant for national ?emergencies, Trump reserved special ire for Gorsuch and Barrett, who were in ?the majority in that 6-3 ruling.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson and ?Doina Chiacu, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
This article originally
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Oct 01, 2026
Flagstaff — A former Northern Arizona University fraternity leader was sentenced to two months in jail Wednesday for his role in a hazing that led to the death of a pledge.
Carter Eslick, 20, also received three years of supervised probation during a sentencing hearing in Coconino County Superior Court. Eslick had pleaded guilty to a felony hazing charge in the Jan. 31 death of Colin Daniel Martinez, 18, at an off-campus house.
An autopsy found Martinez died of alcohol poisoning with a blood-alcohol content of 0.425% — more than five times the state's legal limit for drivers 21 and over.
Martinez was among four Delta Tau Delta pledges who shared two bottles of vodka to ensure they vomited, according to court documents. Witnesses reported adjusting Martinez's sleeping position and checking his pulse and breathing to look for signs of alcohol poisoning throughout the night, the documents said.
Martinez's parents appeared remotely in court, still grieving their son, and said they want accountability and reform within Greek life, CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO-TV reported.
Eslick was the fraternity's pledge master at the time and was responsible for welcoming new members.
The hearing began with testimony from five of Eslick's friends and family members who attested to his character while warning about the dangers of fraternity
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Oct 01, 2026
The Trump administration used an emergency measure this summer to change the language of the federal voter-registration form used by U.S. service members abroad and citizens residing outside the country, potentially restricting some eligible American voters abroad from using the application to request their ballots.
Advocates for American citizens overseas say the changes will spark confusion among eligible voters abroad and officials within U.S. election offices. They argue the changes effectively disenfranchise some voters abroad, but the Pentagon says the changes are meant to align the form with federal law. More than 2 million Americans living abroad are eligible to cast their ballots in U.S. elections.
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Doris Speer, president of the Association of Americans Resident Overseas, said she believes the changes to the form known as the Federal Post Card Application are "an effort to deter the overseas vote, not to legally stop people from voting but to make the process so difficult that you really have to want to vote to get through it. The result will be confusion, chaos and fewer overseas votes."
The changes to the form follow the Trump administration's unsuccessful efforts to restrict voting by mail and pass sweeping voter ID legislation. That proposed legislation, the Save America Act, would require Americans to prove their citizenship when registering to vote and show photo ID to vote, and permit the Department of Homeland Security to obtain access to voter rolls.
The political stakes of the
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Oct 01, 2026
A medevac helicopter crashed into the water off Catalina Island in California on Wednesday night, with one of the five people aboard reported missing and the other four taken to hospitals, according to officials.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department received reports of the crash shortly before 8 p.m.
Search and rescue operations are ongoing, with the fire department dispatching helicopters and divers shortly after learning of the crash.
3 Dead, 1 Hospitalized After News Helicopter Crashes In Los Angeles Commercial Area
A medevac helicopter crashed into the water off Catalina Island in California on Wednesday night.The U.S. Coast Guard also responded to the crash.
"I have been informed that a medevac helicopter leaving Catalina Island has crashed shortly after takeoff. L.A. County Fire, Sheriff, Coast Guard, and Avalon Fire are on the scene," Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said on X. "Search and rescue operations are underway, and I am praying for everyone who was on board."
Read On The Fox News App
At least one of the five people aboard the helicopter remains unaccounted for as of late Wednesday night. Two others were transported to hospitals in
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Oct 01, 2026
Indian pilot Smit Machchhar has been hailed as a hero for saving passengers after he was stabbed by his colleague in an alleged attempt to crash a Flydubai plane on Wednesday. - Israel Foreign Ministry/Reuters
The Indian pilot who fought off a savage attack by his copilot and helped prevent an apparent hijack of a Flydubai plane heading to Israel with more than 170 people on board is being hailed as a hero.
Captain Smit Machchhar was stabbed while trying to fend off the attacker, leaving him badly wounded. During the struggle the cockpit door was opened, allowing other passengers to rush in, subdue his assailant, and take control of the plane that was enroute to Tel Aviv.
Machchhar's actions have received widespread praise from political leaders, passengers who were onboard, and those who know him.
"Smit Machchhar is a talented, soft spoken, kind-hearted and a person with good nature," said Jinat Shah, who used to live next door to him in Mumbai before the pilot moved to Dubai. "He is an incredible person, and I hope for his fast recovery," Shah told Indian news agency ANI.
Passengers who were on flight FZ1073 described those chaotic moments, during which the plane plumm
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Oct 01, 2026
Brittany Bee was wed to a man when she was a teen. [BBC]
California has officially banned child marriage, with Governor Gavin Newsom signing legislation to end the practice that is still legal in 32 US states.
The new law, which will come into effect on 1 January, states people must be 18 to get married in the Golden State.
Newsom called it a "long overdue measure to protect young Californians and minors". He signed the bill into law with Courtney Stodden, whose parents allowed her to marry a 50-year-old Hollywood actor when she was just 16.
Stodden, who has been advocating to end the practice, called the change a "victory" and said survivors of child marriage should "never have been expected to carry this burden".
Gov Gavin Newsom called the law "overdue" [Getty Images]
Stodden said she would "keep fighting until children are protected from marriage in all 50 states".
She was married to actor Doug Hutchison - known for roles in The Green Mile, A Time to Kill and I Am Sam - in 2011, spurring headlines internationally over the controversy and appearances on several reality programmes in the US, including the VH1 series Couples Therapy.
Other survivors of child marriage also applauded the new law.
"California has sent a clear message to the world today," Brittany Bee, a former child bride, told the BBC. "A message of hope for all children that they may be free from systemic violence. That they may choose their own path."
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Oct 01, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance will both hit the campaign trail on Thursday, but they will be heading to heavily Republican areas to shore up lagging enthusiasm in their party ahead of next month's midterm elections.
Trump's travel on Thursday to Texas and Oklahoma kicks off what the president said will be a 32-day campaign blitz leading up to Nov. 3. Vance will be stumping in Florida, putting the Republican Party's highest-ranking officials in areas where GOP candidates once expected to have glide paths to victory but are now facing tougher races.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only 17% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of the cost of living. Just 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall, marking a new low.
Republicans have expressed growing pessimism about their chances in the election, which will determine control of Congress, as the president has repeatedly dismissed concerns about high costs and gas prices as his unpopular war in Iran drags on.
According to Trump, his party's headwinds are merely a matter of poor public relations about a job he says is well done.
"We're not getting the word out," he to
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Sep 30, 2026
During a 2025 hearing at Cornell University, an unidentified female former student who alleges she was gang raped at a fraternity house in 2024 described her harrowing night at the house surrounded by multiple men: "I felt like bait. I felt like lions around me. It just was a totally debilitating place to be in."
Her description is included in a heavily-redacted 99-page report, obtained by ABC News, that was prepared by the university last year as it investigated what happened.
As part of its investigation, Cornell conducted 50 interviews with 32 witnesses, including the fraternity brothers Jane Doe accused in a civil lawsuit filed earlier this month of gang rape, and determined that someone at the Chi Phi house had overdosed on ketamine one day prior to Jane Doe's experience.
ABC News - PHOTO: This photo shows the former Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca, where a former Cornell University student alleges that she was drugged and gang-raped in 2024. "Ketamine was a substance used by multiple individuals in the Chi Phi house at the time, including [redacted] who had overdosed on or about October 18, 2024," the report said.
Jane Doe told investigators the ketamine she took that night induced a "vague consciousness" that left her disoriented.
"So, lights are on, but nobody's home. Your brain is not functioning at its proper level," Doe said, according to the report. "I know it sounds super weird to say. I know it happened, but I don't remember it."
The investigators also noted an apology from one of the fraternity brothers during the hearing.
"I was sorry that maybe if it wasn't conse
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Sep 30, 2026
President Donald Trump speaks to the media aboard Air Force One on its way to Joint Base Andrews, Md., from Ireland on Sept. 13.
(Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images file)The White House on Wednesday removed CNN from the press pool that's set to cover a trip by President Donald Trump on Thursday, escalating a feud with the cable network after a federal judge blocked the administration's push to restrict its media access.
CNN had been designated to travel with Trump on Thursday, according to a press rotation document the White House released Sunday. But when the daily guidance came out for his scheduled visit to a truck manufacturing facility in Denton, Texas, followed by remarks in Durant, Oklahoma, it did not list CNN as providing pool coverage.
The move comes less than a week after a federal judge halted Trump's effort to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. It also comes after the White House barred CNN from flying on Air Force One over the weekend when Trump traveled to Tennessee, when the network was scheduled to provide pool coverage. (The judge's order was limited to media access on the White House g
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Sep 30, 2026
A man accused of plotting a "violent attack" on the Texas Capitol in Austin is in custody after state authorities say they received a tip about the alleged threat and worked through the night to track down a suspect.
The Texas State Department of Public Safety and the FBI thwarted a "credible threat" against the state capitol, according to a notice sent to Texas state senators Wednesday and reviewed by ABC News. The alleged attack was to occur on Thursday, according to the notice and Texas DPS.
2 employees killed, 1 hurt in workplace shooting in Virginia; suspect dead: PoliceTexas DPS said it learned of the threat Tuesday evening. Special agents worked alongside the FBI and local partners before arresting 40-year-old Benny Caldera Jr., whom it called the "main suspect," at his residence in Converse, Texas, at around 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Caldera was transported to the Bexar County jail and has been charged with felony terroristic threat against a public servant, according to Texas DPS.
Eric Gay/AP Photo - The Texas State Capitol building is seen in Austin, Texas, Sept. 3, 2026.According to an official briefed on the investigation, the suspect had allegedly been threatening to conduct a mass shooting at the Texas Capitol on Thursday and had been collecting ammo and had guns.
Authorities were notified by people who knew the man that he has been growing more angry and potentially violent recently, the official said. Neither Caldera nor his wife are cooperating with the probe at this point, the official said, but other family members and co-workers are talking to investigators.
In recent weeks, the suspect h
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Sep 30, 2026
A man accused of plotting a "violent attack" on the Texas Capitol in Austin is in custody after state authorities say they received a tip about the alleged threat and worked through the night to track down a suspect.
The Texas State Department of Public Safety and the FBI thwarted a "credible threat" against the state capitol, according to a notice sent to Texas state senators Wednesday and reviewed by ABC News. The alleged attack was to occur on Thursday, according to the notice and Texas DPS.
2 employees killed, 1 hurt in workplace shooting in Virginia; suspect dead: PoliceTexas DPS said it learned of the threat Tuesday evening. Special agents worked alongside the FBI and local partners before arresting 40-year-old Benny Caldera Jr., whom it called the "main suspect," at his residence in Converse, Texas, at around 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Caldera was transported to the Bexar County jail and has been charged with felony terroristic threat against a public servant, according to Texas DPS.
Eric Gay/AP Photo - The Texas State Capitol building is seen in Austin, Texas, Sept. 3, 2026.According to an official briefed on the investigation, the suspect had allegedly been threatening to conduct a mass shooting at the Texas Capitol on Thursday and had been collecting ammo and had guns.
Authorities were notified by people who knew the man that he has been growing more angry and potentially violent recently, the official said. Neither Caldera nor his wife are cooperating with the probe at this point, the official said, but other family members and co-workers are talking to investigators.
In recent weeks, the suspect h
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Sep 30, 2026
The New York state prosecutor who has reopened an investigation into the alleged rape of a woman by seven members of a fraternity at Cornell University in October 2024 says he was not provided with a transcript of her interview with campus police before his office decided not to pursue charges.
On Tuesday, CBS New York published excerpts from a Nov. 14, 2024, interview with police, in which the woman reportedly asserted, "I can say with 100% confidence I was raped."
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said he had never seen the transcript before.
"I'm going to follow up on this because this is news to me," Van Houten told the network. "If she had said those words, we certainly would want to have explored that more. Like I said, that wasn't provided to me."
In a civil lawsuit filed earlier this month against the school, the woman, a former student identified as "Jane Doe," said she was the victim of a "gang rape" at the Chi Phi fraternity on Cornell's Ithaca, N.Y., campus.
In a lengthy statement released on Monday, Van Houten announced that he had started pursuing criminal charges against the seven fraternity members and would present the case to a grand jury. He also sought to explain why he initially decided not to prosecute them.
According to Van Houten, Jane Doe "did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gan
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Sep 30, 2026
LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. (Stacy Revere / Getty Images file)A Louisiana State University student who claims a school football player raped her last year is speaking out about how the school handled her report and the lack of guidance she said she received throughout the process.
Kendall Danielle Francis talked on TikTok about the monthslong Title IX investigation that played out after she reported the October rape to the school. Two days into the current semester, she said, she received an email while she was in class to notify her that the student, who had been suspended for two semesters, had his punishment modified upon appeal to four semesters' probation. He would remain on campus and could continue to play football, she said.
"Now I am just trying to speak on my story, because LSU does really protect their athletes, especially their football players," Francis, who was 18 at the time of the alleged incident, said in the Sept. 14 social media post. As a result of the student's remaining on campus, Francis said, she moved her classes online.
Francis wasn't aware that filing the Title IX complaint was
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Sep 30, 2026
The winning entry of a prestigious scientific photography competition is being re-evaluated following criticism from other scientists that it was made with AI.
Nikon's annual Small World In Motion contest accepts photos and video taken using powerful microscopes, and has run annually for the last 15 years.
The winner was a short video submitted by Dr Ning Xu, a researcher at Tsinghua University in China, which claims to be footage of tiny, hair-like structures called cilia moving inside the airways of a child with a rare disease.
Xu did not respond to the BBC's request for comment, but has posted online denying he broke the competition rules.
In a response to a post by Nikon on LinkedIn, he did not dispute using AI within the image processing but said he remained within the rules of the contest.
"AI was not used to generate the experimental movie, the cilia, or their motion," he said.
Xu's video is artificially brightly coloured - common in microscopy and permitted in the contest - which is usually done manually using stains and dyes on the sample itself.
He accepted AI was used "to distinguish and visualize features in the reconstructed grayscale images".
But the ch
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Sep 30, 2026
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a flurry of announcements during a wide-ranging speech to active-duty officers Wednesday.
At the beginning of the address, the Pentagon chief stuck to his bread and butter: culture-war grievances, stripping the "woke" out of the Department of Defense (DOD), bashing the news media for its coverage of the Iran war, and proclaiming the "warrior ethos" has been revived and the U.S. military has been "rebuilt."
But the Defense secretary made several newsy announcements that lean into Hegseth's elevation of faith, create a combatant command, partner the Pentagon with different universities and tease a new domestic military base for which governors will compete.
Here are the takeaways from Hegseth's 52-minute speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia:
New combatant command focused on autonomous warfare
Hegseth announced the formation of a new four-star combatant command focused on developing autonomous warfare like drones and defense robotics.
The Defense secretary said it would have "service-like authorities built to scale autonomous and robotic capabilities across the joint force in the fastest peacetime shift in modern military history," with the aim of being operational by Oct. 1 next year.
The Autonomous Warfare Command, or "AutoWarCom," will be initially led by Owen West, a former Mar
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Sep 30, 2026
Passengers on a flight to Israel have recounted how they subdued a pilot after he stabbed the other pilot and appeared to be trying to disable the plane, while others described the "terrifying" moment they thought they would die.
Appearing in a bloodstained shirt after the ordeal, Yaniv Hayun told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he realised something was wrong when the aircraft suddenly dropped.
The plane, en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv, plummeted 17,000ft (5,200m) in less than two minutes.
"Someone screamed... the light went out," Hayun said in a video posted by the prime minister on social media.
He and others tried to push open the cockpit door, but the pilot who had been stabbed was very close to it, so it was hard to open. Before he collapsed, the injured pilot managed to open the door.
When Hayun and another man entered the cockpit, he said he saw one pilot down and the attacker on the instruments, between the two seats, "trying to destroy the instruments in order to...disable the plane".
"I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and pulled him - first and foremost - outside," Hayun said.
"We pulled him out; it was a matter of seconds. I called out to the Israeli guys with us on the plane - I called them, and two other guys came over to me... we pinned [the attacker] down to keep him secure."
Hayun said he then jumped back into the cockpit and "started pulling the controls".
When asked by Netanyahu whether he knew what he was doing, the passenger answered: "I watch Air Crash Investigation, Mr Prime Minister."
Hayun said the plane then started to level out. By then, two on-duty pilots who had been in the passenger cabin were at the front of the plane, and one told Hayun he was taking control from there.
Netanyahu praised Hayun, calling him a "great hero" and a "lion".
Another passenger, Zvika Meness, told Israeli public broadcaster Kan he helped overpower the attacker
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Sep 30, 2026
Cornell University agreed Wednesday to initiate an independent investigation into how the Ivy League school handled what a former student now alleges was fraternity house gang rape, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Wednesday.
Hochul discussed the case during an exclusive interview Wednesday afternoon at her Midtown offices. The governor sits on the Cornell University board.
The governor called for the outside review, saying what happened raised "serious questions about Cornell campus culture" and whether the university is doing all it can to protect students.
"I wanted to make sure they knew how important this was, and they absolutely agreed. And they're acting on this this afternoon. So, they'll be reporting on what the details are, but they will be conducting what I asked for, which is an independent outside investigation of what happened," Hochul said.
"People need to know the truth and I think it's important for the public, for the victim, her family and the university community to know that their university did everything that they're supposed to do."
Cornell's internal data show 35% of undergraduate women reported experiencing sexual assault during their time on campus but Hochul said the problem acute on every campus.
"There's been a culture of this kind of treatment of young women on campuses for as long as I've been in college, and it has to change. There has to be an awakening and an awareness that says enough is enough," Hochul said.
Earlier this week, as outrage over the allegations grew, the Tompkins County district attorney decided to
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Sep 30, 2026
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has been a staunch defender of President Donald Trump and gone after some of his critics. (Al Drago / Getty Images file)Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said Wednesday that new pro-Trump TV ads paid for with government funds don't "merit any sort of FCC review."
"It doesn't strike me as anything at all out of the ordinary," Carr said of the ads, which have aired across the country in recent weeks.
Asked about allegations that the ads are "propaganda," Carr laughed.
The White House has "explained that these are just normal-course public service announcements, PSAs, that you see all the time. I don't think there's anything unique or different about it," he said at a news conference.
"There's nothing in there that strikes me that merit any sort of FCC review," said Carr, whom Trump appointed to the agency.
A reporter pointed out that the progressive advocacy group Public Citizen filed a complaint with the FCC noting that the Trump campaign used one of the ads in 2024.
Carr brushed off the concern, telling reporters that "there's groups on the
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Sep 30, 2026
Major changes are coming on Oct. 1 for the tens of millions of Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for food assistance from the federal government.
In the short term, most families will see a slight bump in their monthly payments to help afford groceries. But in the coming months, households will face stricter eligibility requirements and changes to how the benefits are administered that could ultimately result in far fewer benefits.
An estimated five million Americans -- including more than 1 million children -- have already lost SNAP assistance over the past year as part of President Donald Trump's signature tax and spending law, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Short-term boost in benefits
Every year on Oct. 1, the federal government adjusts its monthly SNAP benefits to account for inflation. These cost-of-living adjustments apply across all states.
For a typical single-person household in one of 48 states (not including Alaska or Hawaii), checks will go from a maximum of $298 to $306 per month. That's an extra $8 monthly.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images - PHOTO: A sign indicates the store accepts SNAP benefits, April 21, 2026, in Miami.What to know about SNAP as benefits set to expire amid government shutdownFor a family of four, checks will go from $994 to $1,023 per month. That's an extra $29 per month, or $348 per year.
These inflation adjustments are intended to help families keep up with the rising cost of food. Grocery prices are up 2.2% in the past year.
Big funding changes
Whil
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Sep 30, 2026
A Parkside Pediatrics provider assessing a patient with measles symptoms in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on 30 January 2026.Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images
Pennsylvania has reported its fifth measles-associated death of 2026 as the state's ongoing outbreak climbs to 943 confirmed cases across 39 counties.
The Pennsylvania department of health said on Wednesday that an unvaccinated Lancaster county resident who tested positive for measles had died. Health officials did not release further information about the individual, citing privacy protections.
The death marks the fifth Pennsylvania resident to meet the state's definition of a measles-associated death this year after a fourth death two weeks ago. Due to how the Trump administration has changed its method for reporting measles deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not counted the Pennsylvania measles deaths in its national tally.
As of Monday 28 September, Pennsylvania had recorded 40 new positive cases. The outbreak has now reached 39 counties, with 943 cumulative confirmed cases, 176 hospitalizations and five confirmed measles-associated deaths.
Only four of those confirmed cases have involved vaccinated individuals, representing less than 1% of the state's total cases.
Health officials say daily totals can change, but monitoring the numbers gives residents and healthcare providers a clearer picture of community transmission across Pennsylvania and
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Sep 30, 2026
NASA's Swift Observatory orbits above Earth in an artist's concept. - Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA
A celebrated space telescope is rapidly dipping from its once-stable orbit and falling to Earth just shy of the 22nd anniversary of its launch.
The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory will soon have to cease its science observations after a daring rescue mission's attempt to boost its orbit failed over the summer.
Named after fast-flying birds, the telescope could quickly pivot to observe blink-and-you-miss-it cosmic events like flaring black holes. The telescope was originally designed to study the most powerful explosions in the universe, called gamma-ray bursts, but scientists have also used it to observe other types of cosmic flashes, as well as asteroids and comets.
The 3,200-pound (1,452-kilogram) observatory is currently located about 200 miles (325 kilometers) above Earth. But engineers estimate that once Swift drifts below 185 miles (300 kilometers) in early to mid-October, operating the telescope will become a challenge, according to NASA. Then, Swift will drop from orbit and is expected to burn up in Earth's atmosphere during the plunge.
"While it's possible some hardware from the Swift spacecraft may survive re-entry due to its size, the probability of debris causing significant property damage or physical harm to any
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Sep 30, 2026
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On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who is overseeing the antitrust case aimed at blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal approved Paramount's settlement with the 12 Democratic state attorneys general who brought the case to resolve the litigation.
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Paramount has tentatively set next Tuesday, Oct. 6, to close the merger, according to regulatory filings.
The order approving the settlement by Martínez-Olguín was the final remaining barrier to Paramount's debt-fueled $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, after it had been cleared by regulators in 68 jurisdictions worldwide including the Jus
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Sep 30, 2026
(Dreamstime)
The Federal Reserve's inspector general on Wednesday cleared former Chair Jerome Powell of criminal wrongdoing in the central bank's $2.4 billion headquarters renovation while faulting Fed managers for weak cost controls that led to a roughly $1 billion overrun.
The 120-page evaluation from Fed Inspector General Michael Horowitz found that "at no point" during a yearlong review did investigators uncover "reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of federal criminal law had occurred" in the renovation of the Marriner S. Eccles and 1951 Constitution Avenue NW buildings.
The office also did not identify administrative misconduct by Powell, who requested the review in July 2025 as White House pressure intensified.
The findings collapse the central premise of a criminal probe launched by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, who examined whether Powell misled Congress in June 2025 testimony about the project's ballooning cost.
That inquiry was closed on April 24 after Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg quashed the grand jury subpoenas in March, as The Hill reported, finding a "mountain of evidence" that the subpoenas were intended to pressure Powell to cut interest rates rather than to pursue a genuine crime.
Horowitz's team documented deep structural failures in how the Fed's Board of Governors ran the project. The construction budget more tha
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Sep 30, 2026
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 - The US Senate on Wednesday blocked legislation placing new restrictions on stock trading by members of Congress, as Democrats refused to provide enough votes to advance the measure toward passage, arguing that it falls ?short of a full ban.
By a vote of 53-47, the Senate halted a Republican drive to open debate on the partisan ?bill, which was passed in July by the House of Representatives. Sixty affirmative votes were needed to get the legislation over a Senate procedural hurdle.
The bill's failure, coupled with ?the Senate defeat of unrelated legislation aimed at tamping down households' rising electricity costs, nonetheless gives Republicans hopes of delivering a new line of attack against Democrats in the closing weeks of the November 3 midterm election campaigns.
For years, voters have expressed outrage over the thousands of stock trades by lawmakers that many argue are improper given lawmakers' privileged position.
Members of Congress shape legislation, often behind closed doors, and at the same time execute trades ?on stocks and bonds whose prices could be affected ?by actions in the House and Senate.
The legislation also contained a Republican provision to tighten requirements on photo IDs needed to vote in American elections - language Democrats labeled a "poison pill" they said would make it more difficult ?for eligible citizens to vote in federal elections.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a press conference on Tuesday that the bill's provisions "strike at the very heart of issues that the American people care deeply about."
The "Stop Insider Trading Act" would prohibit members of Congress, spouses and dependent children from buying stocks of ?publicly traded ?companies. But Democrats bridled over their ability to keep stocks they already hold, ?let them use dividends to buy more shares and ?allow spouses or children to trade
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Sep 30, 2026
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"I know people are worried about me because they read that I have a brain disorder, which sounds a lot worse than it actually is," Joel recently shared on SiriusXM while taking calls from fans. "I'm okay. My balance isn't that good. Lost a little bit of my hearing, but that may have to do with my age, too, and the rock and roll life and the loud volume probably didn't help. But I'm fine. I want people to not have to worry about me. I'm okay."
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After initially refusing surgical intervention, Joel had a shunt implanted to alleviate some effects of the disorder. The procedure has helped to improve his memory, balance, and overall function, he shared earlier this month.
Joel still is
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Sep 30, 2026
Passengers aboard a FlyDubai flight to Tel Aviv on Wednesday sprang into action after a pilot allegedly stabbed another and plunged the plane thousands of feet in an apparent attempt to crash it, in what Israeli officials are saying was an act of terror.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the intention was to "crash the plane, killing everyone on board" the flight from Dubai.
Passengers described a violent mid-air incident as the unidentified pilot allegedly stabbed the other pilot in the cockpit.
"We just heard screams, and they opened the cockpit and saw amounts of blood from someone who had simply tried to murder the pilot and stabbed him with a pocketknife. Then the plane lost control," a passenger who identified herself as Miriam told Israeli media.
Obtained by ABC News - PHOTO: An image from a video circulating online taken by a passenger inside a FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv that was diverted to Saudi Arabia, Sept. 30, 2026, after an incident took place inside the cockpit."We felt like we were, like, going to crash. I was already screaming, 'Shema Israel'," she added, referring to the Jewish prayer. "I can't die, I'm my only daughter, I can't do this to my mother."
Netanyahu said in a statement that the plane "went into a spin and began to dive." The passengers were predominantly Israeli citizens, he noted.
The prime minister said that some passengers took a stand, referring to one he said he spoke with after the incident.
"He managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and together they subdued the pilot who had committed the stabbing while he was attempting to sabotage the aircraft's systems," Netanyahu said.
"Another flight crew member on board entered the cockpit and manage
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Sep 30, 2026
The New York state prosecutor who has reopened an investigation into the alleged rape of a woman by seven members of a fraternity at Cornell University in October 2024 says he was not provided with a transcript of her interview with campus police before his office initially decided not to pursue charges.
On Tuesday, CBS New York published excerpts from the November 2024 interview, in which the woman reportedly asserted, "I can say with 100% confidence I was raped."
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said he had never seen the transcript before.
"I'm going to follow up on this because this is news to me," Van Houten told the network. "If she had said those words, we certainly would want to have explored that more. Like I said, that wasn't provided to me."
In a civil lawsuit filed earlier this month against the school, the woman, a former student identified as "Jane Doe," said she was the victim of a "gang rape" at the Chi Phi fraternity on Cornell's Ithaca, N.Y., campus.
In a lengthy statement released on Monday, Van Houten announced that he had started pursuing criminal charges against the seven fraternity members and would present the case to a grand jury. He also sought to explain why he initially decided not to prosecute them.
According to Van Houten, Jane Doe "did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped" in her six-page sworn statement to campus police in N
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Sep 30, 2026
By Jody Godoy
Sept 30 (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission is conducting an industry-wide probe into Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI labs to uncover the potential dangers their technology ?poses to consumers, a senior FTC official told Reuters on Wednesday.
The probe is the first ?official US enforcement action that delves into rogue AI agents, following a surge in incidents first reported in July that ?have stoked fears among the public that uncontrolled AI could one day harm humans.
The FTC plans to issue formal demands for information and compel testimony from executives at top AI developers, including Anthropic, OpenAI and the research group METR, the official said.
Anthropic and OpenAI have used METR to conduct independent ?investigations into security incidents involving their ?agentic AI technology.
Anthropic, OpenAI and METR did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters. The New York Post first reported the news.
FTC Chairman Andrew ?Ferguson had concerns about the companies before AI agents developed by OpenAI hacked the open-source platform Hugging Face, the official said.
But the incident in which OpenAI agents had probed the AI coding hub for vulnerabilities before ?carrying out ?a large-scale attack increased urgency around the issue, the ?official said.
Ferguson suggested last week in an ?interview with Reuters that developers who instruct agents in cybersecurity tests that result in hacks should be liable for any harm they cause.
The US should look to existing laws before seeking to pass new ones regulating AI, Ferguson said at the Reuters Momentum AI event in Austin.
The FTC has broad authority to sue companies over unfair or deceptive practices, and has used that authority in ?the past to take action against companies for failing to ?take reasonable measures to secure consumers' data.
US President Donald ?Trump met w
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Sep 30, 2026
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After hitting the coast of South America in late August, a "Kelvin" wave is now making its way up the coast of North America. | Credit: David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images
A powerful "Kelvin wave," triggered by this year's super El Niño, is creeping up the Pacific coast of Central and North America and will soon reach California's shores, where it could raise sea levels by up to 1 foot (30 centimeters) for months, researchers warn.
Kelvin waves are a well-known, planetary-scale ocean phenomenon, but this particular forecast has experts worried because it will likely amplify the damage from severe storms, storm surges, flooding and coastal erosion that the record-shattering El Niño is expected to bring this winter.
In general, a Kelvin wave is a swell wave that spans thousands of miles and balances Earth's rotation, David Webb, a physical oceanographer at the National Oceanography Centre in the U.K., told Live Science in an email. But the waves generated during El Niño years are not normal Kelvin waves, because they cause oscillations of a boundary within the ocean as well as a height increase at the surface. In particular, these waves trigger the
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Sep 30, 2026
On Tuesday, President Trump met with tech executives at the White House to have them sign a "morally binding" agreement on artificial intelligence. Rather than pushing for government regulation, Trump called for "tremendous self-regulation" among companies in the AI industry. The document reflects that, encouraging AI leaders to implement "robust internal controls" and partner with independent external auditors.
The summit comes after months of increased scrutiny for AI companies as they've disclosed concerning incidents of AI "going rogue" during testing. The event that kicked it all off was the Hugging Face incident, in which AI agents from OpenAI that were being evaluated escaped their ostensibly isolated testing environment and infiltrated another company's systems in an effort to "cheat" at the task they were given. After that, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Google have reported even more incidents in which AI agents have gone rogue in various ways. We've rounded up all the cases you need to know about, along with details about what (if anything) is being done about them.
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Sep 30, 2026
Crude oil is moving through the Strait of Hormuz at a pace that is starting to approach prewar levels, a notable rebound for the world's most critical oil choke point.
That restored flow is mainly the result of Iran's somewhat depleted military capability and a U.S. Navy operation that has secured a portion of the waterway for relatively secure passage.
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But the forces driving high fuel prices are not receding along with the development. That will require a lot more than the costly military campaign that is clearing the way for passage of one product at one particular moment in the war.
Most of the refined gasoline and diesel that was moving through the strait before the war is still not getting shipped, a major factor keeping prices elevated.
The rebound of crude shipments "is good news, but we are far from out of the woods," said Bob McNally, founder of the research firm Rapidan Energy Group. "The market realizes that. We have dug ourselves into a deep deficit over the last several months, and this only reduces it. It does not get us back to where we were."
Crude oil prices dipped Tuesday - largely as a response to Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline resuming limited operations. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, remained above $100 a barrel Wednesday morning, roughly 40 percent higher than it was when the Iran war began in February.
The outlook for the war and for oil was further clouded on Wednesday, when the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported that three vessels carrying fuel through a corridor of the strait the U.S. military has been trying to protect had been attacked the d
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Sep 30, 2026
A teacher noticed the gun Monday morning and took "immediate action," Canton Police Chief Joseph Bialy told ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ.
Officers then responded to the incident in Canton, just outside of Detroit, and secured the weapon, according to Canton police.
Florida mom allegedly abandons 4 kids to go on cruise: Court documentsNo injuries were reported.
Charges against the parent were not immediately clear, but the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office told ABC News the parent is expected to be arraigned on Thursday.
"The message here is that no matter how busy our lives are, we have a great responsibility if we're going to choose to own a firearm," the chief told WXYZ.
Guns are the No. 1 cause of death for children in the U.S., according to Everytown For Gun Safety.
This article originally appeared on ABC News at https://abcnews.com/US/toddler-found-loaded-gun-daycare-michigan-police/story?id=136884435
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Sep 30, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a solid 2.2% pace from April through June as consumer spending and business investment came in strong.
Growth in gross domestic product — the nation's output of a goods and services — decelerated from a 2.5% pace from January through March, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. The second-quarter growth was an improvement on the department's previous estimate of 1.5% — a surprise to economists who had expected little or no change in the GDP number.
Consumer spending — which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity — increased at a healthy 3.8% annual pace, up from 0.7% in the January-March period. Spending has been helped by a strong stock market, which reflects enthusiasm over the prospects for artificial intelligence and which enriches wealthy investors and gives them more money to buy things with.
The overall growth number was dragged down by imports. They are subtracted from growth because GDP is only supposed to count domestic production. Imports rose at a 12.6% annual pace from April through June, partly due to a surge in shipments of computer chips and other products that support artificial intelligence investment, and slashed nearly 1.7 percentage points off second-quarter growth.
The U.S. economy has proven surprisingly resilient in the face of fighting with Iran and the energy price spike it caused.
Business investment, excluding housing, rose at a 9% clip in the second quarter, reflecting the AI investment boom. And a measure of the economy's underlying strength — which strips out volatile government spending and trade numbers — grew at a strong 4.6% rate, up from 1.8% in the first quarter.
"The eco
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Sep 30, 2026
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (ilia YEFIMOVICH/Getty Images)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the situation was under control after a flydubai flight carrying about 180 Israelis was diverted to Saudi Arabia and that steps were being taken to bring the passengers home safely.
"The situation is under control, and all measures are currently being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel safely," Netanyahu's office said in an official statement.
Netanyahu held security consultations after the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, his office reported.
The circumstances of the incident remain under investigation, but passengers aboard the flight said they intervened to stop an apparent attempt by one of the pilots to crash the plane.
According to reports Wednesday, the copilot, reportedly an Omani national who had worked for the airline for about a year, stabbed the captain and tried to crash the plane before passengers subdued him.
Israeli sources said that initial investigations suggested the suspected attacker was Omani, but his identity had not been confirmed.
The aircraft landed safely in Saudi Arabia, and there is no indication at this time that the incident was directed by a state or organization, according to reports.
However, a growing assessment among Israel's security establishment, including the IDF, Mossad, and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), is that the incident was intended as an act of terror, reports The Jerusalem Post.
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Sep 30, 2026
The U.S. government has revealed a new, redesigned passport and announced plans to dramatically modernize the way Americans can apply for one.
Speaking at President Donald Trump's America.gov Event on September 29, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio demonstrated a new passport application process that he said U.S. citizens can "complete entirely from home" and showed off a "beautiful" new U.S. passport that's expected to roll out in 2028.
The changes are part of the Trump administration's new AI-powered government services platform, America.gov, which he launched on Tuesday, touting it as a "single digital point of entry" designed to simplify how Americans access government services.
The last major U.S. passport redesign was introduced in 2021, following the 2016 redesign of the passport book's overall format and security features. The 2028 update therefore represents another significant modernization within a relatively short period, reflecting continued efforts to strengthen security, incorporate new technologies, and improve document durability and usability.
Americans Can Now Apply for a Passport OnlinePerhaps the biggest change that Rubio announced is that first-time passport applicants will no longer need to navigate the traditional, paper-based process.
According to Rubio, Americans will be able to apply for their first passport entirely o
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Sep 30, 2026
Republicans in both chambers are increasingly breaking ranks with President Trump across a host of sensitive issues, hoping some separation from the GOP's unpopular standard-bearer will help avert a blue wave in the midterm elections.
The divisions are highly unusual for a party that's walked virtually in lockstep with Trump for more than a decade. But as the president's numbers have tanked over the summer and rising costs have squeezed voters of all stripes, more and more Republicans are distancing themselves from Trump's agenda, if only as a temporary strategy to retain power in the next Congress.
The pushback targets a range of policies, including Trump's hard line on immigration enforcement; his full-throated embrace of data centers despite the public backlash; his signature tariffs, which have challenged businesses at home and alliances abroad; and his warm reception of Chinese President Xi Jinping during a recent visit to Washington.
But none of those issues seems to resonate quite as much as the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel, which have spiked in response to the global trade disruptions caused by Trump's decision to launch a war with Iran earlier in the year. Even the top GOP leaders on Capitol Hill have been forced to acknowledge that Trump's agenda, which was once their winning ticket, has become a liability heading into November.
"What's happening in Iran [has] sort of trumped everything else that's going on," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Fox News on Monday.
Weeks ahead of the midterms, gas prices are hovering at an average of just less than $4.50 per gallon, dies
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Sep 30, 2026
In a six-page statement given to police in November 2024, a Cornell University student told a campus police officer what happened to her at the Chi Phi fraternity house a month prior "felt like coercion," according to a copy of the police report obtained by ABC News.
The statement from the student, sworn on Nov. 15, 2024, is the most detailed account yet of what "Jane Doe" described in a civil lawsuit two years later as a "gang rape."
The former student did not call it that in her statement at the time. She did detail multiple instances where she declined to participate in certain sexual acts suggested by the men, according to the statement.
Heather Ainsworth/AP Photo - PHOTO: Cornell Fraternity LawsuitDistrict attorney reopens case of alleged Cornell University 'gang rape'The woman's statement was central to a decision by the Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten not to bring charges in 2024.
In an interview with ABC News this week, Van Houten described the allegations as "morally disturbing" but argued Jane Doe's 2024 account of the incident suggested that she consented to the sexual activity. He said that she did not withdraw her consent, and that when she raised concerns, the fraternity members "stopped and did not pursue what they were doing."
According to her 2024 statement, at one point she said "no to the foursome" one of the fraternity brothers proposed, she said in her statement. At another point she recalled "a group of multiple men" walking into a room and "I was instantly horrified, and I remember squealing out loud and running across the room and hiding und
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Sep 30, 2026
Treasury Department checks, along with letters signed by Trump notifying recipients, will begin going out to more than 950,000 Americans across 30 states, according to an administration official.
"For years, the Biden administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov," Trump says in the letter, which was viewed by USA TODAY. "That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now I'm returning it to you!"
'Flagrant bribery': Trump faces MAGA backlash over $5K election offer
Trump announced the $500 Obamacare refund checks on Sept. 10 in a video posted by the White House that coincided with the Republican midterm convention in Dallas. The money is separate from a controversial $5,000 dividend Trump has vowed to distribute to all Americans if Republicans retain control of Congress after the November midterm election.
The White House has said the Biden administration collected user fees from health insurance companies that consumers paid for in the form of higher pr
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Sep 30, 2026
Older Americans make up an ever-larger share of the workforce, a trend that dates to the 1990s.
Over the past few years, however, the employment rate among older Americans has been falling.
Or "collapsing," as one report puts it.
The share of Americans ages 55 and over participating in the labor force dropped from 39.2% in February 2022 to 36.9% in July 2026, according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In a brief Aug. 11 note, economists from Bank of America theorized that older Americans are retiring en masse because of a booming stock market.
"Labor force participation is collapsing among older workers," the economists wrote. "We think the strength of the equity market is partly to blame."
Are older Americans retiring because of a booming stock market?
The value of the S&P 500 has more than tripled since its lo
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Sep 30, 2026
Containers are seen at the container terminal of Nanjing Port, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on September 8, 2026. Most Chinese goods shipped to the United States have faced a minimum 12.5% tax. - AFP/Getty Images
Here we go again: President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs are back under the legal microscope.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel at the US Court of International Trade is set to hear arguments in a case that could determine whether the president can use a 1970s trade law to impose tariffs on nearly everything the United States imports.
Since late July, goods from 80 countries, including China, India and Japan, have faced tariff rates ranging from 10% to 12.5%. The administration imposed the duties after determining that those countries had allegedly failed to address the use of forced labor in producing goods shipped to the US. The US Trade Representative recommended the tariffs as a remedy, with higher rates applying to countries deemed the "worst offenders."
The rollout of these tariffs coincided with the lapse of a separate 10% near-blanket duty Trump had imposed earlier in the year under a different legal authority. The Supreme Court later ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority, which immediately invalidated the tariffs and triggered $168 billion worth of refu
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Sep 30, 2026
Surging mortgage rates chilled the housing market in September, forcing sellers to slash prices at historic levels to revive slipping demand.
Nationally, the share of listings with price cuts reached 20.8%, up 0.9 percentage points year over year, exceeding 2025 levels for the first time in 2026, according to the latest Realtor.com® monthly housing market trends report. This marks the highest September price-reduction rate since 2018 and the highest overall for any month since October 2022.
This surge in price cuts aligns with broader housing market shifts, including accelerating inventory growth and plunging pending sales.
Simply put, as mortgage rates topping 7% push would-be buyers to the sidelines, leaving homes to pile up on the market, motivated sellers are willing to capitulate on price just to get to the closing table.
"A lot of the people selling right now have to sell rather than simply choosing to sell—because of a job relocation, divorce, debt, or another life event—so they have to meet buyers where they are," Russell Faucette, principal broker and co-founder of Omada Real Estate in
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Sep 30, 2026
A commercial plane traveling from Dubai to Israel was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, briefly raising concerns about a possible hijacking and prompting Israel to scramble its jets.
Israeli media, citing security officials, said the incident stemmed from a feud between the plane's two pilots, and everyone on board was safe. The plane landed in Tabuk, a civilian and military base in the kingdom.
The FlyDubai plane transmitted an emergency alert shortly after takeoff, according to publicly available flight tracking information.
A regional official briefed on the incident said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved pilots. It wasn't immediately clear what had caused the fight, the official said.
A second official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking of a plane carrying dozens of its citizens. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned in recent days of unspecified, escalated security threats.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was still under investigation.
Netanyahu's office later said the situation was under control and Israel was working to bring the passengers home.
Emergency landings for personnel reasons are rare yet not unheard of. In 2022, two Air France pilots were suspended after fighting in the cockpit on a Geneva-Paris flight, though it did not have to be diverted and landed as planned.
FlyDubai is the lower-cost sister carrier of Emirates airlines. The United Arab Emirates has become a popular vacation destination for Israeli tourists since the countries normalized ties in 2020.
Israel has not experienced a hijacking in decades but maintains some of the strictest airport security in the world. Commercial flight have flown between Israel and the United Arab Emirates since the countries normalized ties in 2020.
This article originally appeared on CBS
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Sep 30, 2026
The Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on September 28, 2026. - Heather Ainsworth/AP
It was 7:05 p.m. on a Wednesday in mid-September when Jane Doe's lawsuit hit the New York County Supreme Court docket. Within days, the 101-page, double-spaced filing had captured the nation's attention, sparking outrage and controversy and refocusing attention on a longstanding issue: sexual assault on college campus.
The complaint was explosive, claiming that seven members of a Cornell University fraternity took part in the sexual assault of a 20-year-old sorority member during a drug-fueled, hours-long encounter in the fall of 2024. Included in the filing was a screenshot of a Snapchat message where one of the men wrote that there was "free p*ssy" and others responded gleefully, with comments like "CHI PHIII."
Soon after the lawsuit's filing on Sept. 16, a familiar pattern played out. Furious onlookers took to social media to demand accountability, flooded the district attorney's office with complaints and shared photos and other identifying details of the fraternity members many have taken to calling "the Cornell 7." Others, meanwhile, condemned the rush to judgment or urged caution in drawing conclusions from the allegations in the lawsuit, which a prosecutor said differ from what the alleged victim reported in 2024. Some hurried to try to unmask the anonymous woman behind the accusations.
There were flashes of politics and victim blaming, judgment and shame in a case that's rife with unanswered questions and likely to evolve as more details come to light.
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Sep 30, 2026
BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military announced on Wednesday that it has completed the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group. The last U.S. troops left an air base in northern Iraq under a deal between Baghdad and Washington.
The withdrawal, agreed on two years ago, comes against the backdrop of the ongoing war between the United States and Iran that has also sometimes spilled over into Iraq, with Iran-backed militias firing on U.S. troops and the U.S. striking the groups' strongholds.
Baghdad touted the end of the U.S. mission as a sign of the country's increasing strength and sovereignty.
The withdrawal was also celebrated by Iran-backed groups but raised concerns among some other Iraqis, particularly in the Kurdish region. Meanwhile, questions loom around the future of the Iraqi militias, which the Baghdad government has sought — with little success so far — to disarm.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that U.S. troops and equipment had completed an "orderly departure" from the air base in Irbil, in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
"This milestone reflects the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region," he said. "It also marks a transition from a wartime coalition mission to an Iraqi-led security effort supported by a more normal bilateral security relationship."
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi presided over the handover ceremony and described the U.S. withdrawal as the beginning of a "new phase, one defined by Iraq's sovereignty, the strength of
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Sep 30, 2026
TORONTO (AP) — Mark Carney built a global profile in 2026 by standing up to U.S. President Donald Trump. If some prediction-market traders and prominent admirers are right, the Canadian prime minister could end the year with the Nobel Peace Prize and Time magazine's Person of the Year.
Carney briefly became the favorite Monday for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Kalshi, a U.S.-based prediction market, when traders on the exchange put his chances at 14%. His odds later fell, illustrating the highly speculative nature of the wagering.
There is no public evidence Carney is on the Nobel Committee's secret shortlist for the prize that will be announced Oct. 9 in Oslo, Norway.
But the buzz about the Canadian leader possibly winning the esteemed peace prize reflects the message that has raised his profile: Middle powers should band together to defend sovereignty as great powers increasingly use economic and military leverage.
Whether that position resonates with the Nobel Committee is impossible to know. One thing is certain, though: the Nobel and Time's annual award happen to be two honors Trump covets.
Trump believes he deserves Nobel honor
Carney and Trump are locked in an escalating trade war, with 50% U.S. tariffs on billions of dollars of Canadian goods and Canadi
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Sep 30, 2026
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's execution of Christa Gail Pike for a murder she committed at age 18 was halted Wednesday about an hour before it was set to begin, as a federal appeals court sought to review whether her allegations of childhood sexual abuse and rape were fully considered at her sentencing.
This would have been the state's first execution of a woman in at least 200 years.
Pike, now 50, and her boyfriend were convicted of stabbing and beating 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, their classmate at a job training facility in Knoxville in 1995.
The case garnered widespread attention at the time in part because a pentagram that was carved on Slemmer's body and other elements of the crime stoked fears of Satan worship during the "satanic panic" of the 1980s and 1990s.
It wasn't immediately clear if Tennessee's attorney general was appealing the decision, or how long the execution might be delayed. A phone message and email were left with a spokesperson for the attorney general's office seeking comment.
Execution witnesses had already gathered at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville when the order came down at around 9 a.m. CDT.
As the execution date drew near, it renewed debate over the death penalty for young offenders.
Pike does not deny committing the killing, but her supporters argue the state should consider Pike's age at the time, mental illness and a history of severe sexual abuse that included being raped from the time she was a toddler. Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said Pike's death sentence is an outlier because other 18-year-olds sentenc
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Sep 30, 2026
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Tennessee to execute Christa Gail Pike on Wednesday, overturning a last-minute stay that stalled the state's first execution of a woman in at least 200 years.
Pike, 50, was initially scheduled to die by lethal injection in the morning for a killing she committed at age 18, and witnesses had already gathered at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville when the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to issue a stay. That court said a delay was needed to consider whether Pike's allegations of childhood sexual abuse were fully considered at her sentencing.
The Supreme Court's conservative majority did not explain their order, while the three liberal members signed a dissent that said Pike's claims deserved a closer look.
A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction said it would proceed with Pike's execution Wednesday night ahead of a midnight cutoff on the state's execution order.
Pike and her boyfriend were convicted of the fatal stabbing and beating in 1995 of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, their classmate at a job training facility in Knoxville. The case garnered widespread attention in part because a pentagram that was carved on Slemmer's body and other elements of the crime stoked fears of Satan worship during the "satanic panic" of the 1980s and 1990s.
Decision stopping execution was swiftly appealed
After the stay was issued, Tennessee's attorney general immediately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Witnesses and media remained at the prison while the high court considered the case.
The attorney general's office said in its appeal that halting the execution at the last moment traumatized Slemmer's fa
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Sep 30, 2026
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee officials were unable to put Christa Gail Pike to death Wednesday for a 1995 murder after administering two doses of a lethal drug. A death penalty expert said it was an unprecedented failure, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee halted the remaining execution for the rest of the year.
Pike, 50, was alive and loudly snoring after the attempted lethal injection and taken by ambulance from the prison, her attorneys said. She was being treated at a hospital, but they said they hadn't been told about her condition.
She had been scheduled for execution at 10 a.m. Wednesday for the killing she committed at age 18 and would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. An appeals court stopped the lethal injection just an hour before it was to start and hours later the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that stay.
Officials gave Pike two doses of pentobarbital, her attorneys said in court filings late Wednesday.
Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement that he has ordered "a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred" and that the remaining scheduled execution will not take place this year.
"Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State's most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective," he said.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement that they "followed every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's Office."
The state's execution protocol calls for a secondary set of drug syringes to be administered "if the inmate is not deceased" after the first set. It does n
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Sep 30, 2026
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee officials were unable to put Christa Gail Pike to death for a 1995 murder Wednesday, media witnesses said, after the lethal injection was halted for hours as courts considered a last-minute appeal of what would have been the state's first execution of a woman in at least 200 years.
Pike, 50, had been scheduled for execution for a killing she committed at age 18 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned an appeals court ruling that stopped the lethal injection just an hour before it was to start. Officials then attempted to go ahead with it as planned.
Officials appeared to give Pike two doses of pentobarbital.
At 7:46 p.m. prison officials closed the curtain to the media room. They raised the curtain three minutes later. Pike could be heard loudly snoring, and the curtain was closed again at 8:06 pm.
Pike continued to be heard snoring behind the closed curtain until the microphone was cut off at about 8:53 p.m. At that time there was an announcement to escort media witnesses out of the area.
Tennessee Department of Correction spokesman Dorinda Carter told media witnesses she was unable to immediately provide information about what happened.
Emergency vehicles were seen coming and going from the prison.
Lawyers for Pike filed an emergency motion late Wednesday to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution, saying she was in "unnecessary agony" and it was violating her right to be executed free of cruel and unusual punishment. They also filed motions in the Sixth Circuit court and district court.
The motion also asserted that the Department of Correction should begin lifesaving measures. "Failure to provide such care constit
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Sep 29, 2026
Bernie Sanders is cracking open his war chest.
For months, the Vermont senator crisscrossed the country vaulting progressives to a series of primary wins. Now, he told POLITICO, he's dipping into his substantial campaign coffers as part of a broader effort to propel battleground Democrats over the finish line in November.
His campaign had nearly $23 million as of July 1 and is currently in the process of contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota's Senate race, according to Sanders' campaign and a second person granted anonymity to share details of the transfer. He also plans to financially boost other candidates he's endorsed, including Angie Nixon's Senate campaign in Florida and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's reelection bid, according to Sanders' campaign.
Those donations, which have not previously been reported, are the first that Sanders has made from his campaign account for the general election, part of a surge of activity from the left's leading figurehead in the final midterm sprint.
"I am very proud that many strong progressives have won Democratic primaries. We got to defend them right now," the Vermont senator said in a brief interview Tuesday. "We got three Senate races in Michigan and Minnesota and Florida that I want to see us win, three great candidates, and they're all taking on enormous amounts of money. So we need to strengthen the grassroots movement in those states. Got great congressional candidates in Wisconsin, Ohio, elsewhere … so we got a lot of work in front of us."
Sanders' operation is also spending to hire more full-time organizers in Michigan, Minnesota and Florida, according to his team, and is planning get-out-the-vote text campaigns for federal candidates he's endorsed.
Sanders' escalating efforts come as some Democrats have wondered whether the senator — having flexed considerable influence after helping power a series of high-prof
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Sep 29, 2026
Thomas Jefferson has long been rumored to have fathered children with Sally Hemings. New genetic evidence strengthens that connection. (Photo by Burstein Collection/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images) - Burstein Collection/Corbis/Getty Images
Opening a Bible that once belonged to Thomas Jefferson, staff at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in 2011 discovered a reddish-blond hair pressed between the pages. That hair, suspected to have belonged to Jefferson himself, launched a DNA investigation spanning more than a decade that's now providing a long-missing puzzle piece regarding Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman in his household.
After spending years reconstructing DNA fragments, scientists have revealed the most compelling evidence to date that Jefferson, a founding father of the United States, also fathered children with Hemings — a relationship that has been long rumored but never definitively proven. How that investigation unfolded is documented in the book "History by a Hair: Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings & Solving a 200-Year-Old Mystery," written by Richard Kurin, a distinguished scholar and ambassador-at-large at the Smithsonian, and published on September 22.
Kurin is also senior author of a paper describing the methods that connected the former US president to Hemings' descendants, which involved delving deep into the genetics of the Jefferson and Hemings fa
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Sep 29, 2026
The U.S. military is expected to complete the total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq on Wednesday after a 12-year presence prompted by the war against the Islamic State militant group ISIS.
It will be the second time that the U.S. has withdrawn all of its military forces from Iraq.
In 2011, the U.S. pulled out after an eight-year presence that began with the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. U.S. troops returned in 2014 as ISIS conquered wide swaths of Syria and northern Iraq and threatened the approaches to Baghdad. The U.S. defeated ISIS militarily in 2019, but the continued U.S. presence was seen as a necessary one to prevent a resurgence of ISIS.
Staff Sgt. Pat Caldwell/U.S. Army - PHOTO: A line of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles operated by Soldiers with Company F, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command stand ready to begin a convoy at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.Iran live updatesThe withdrawal was negotiated with Iraq by the Biden administration in 2024, and the Trump administration has continued with the withdrawal plan that set Sept. 30 as the final pullout date. But the U.S. war with Iran has created a different regional situation for Iraq and the United States than when the deal was agreed upon.
Iraq and Iran have a shared Shiite cultural heritage and Iran has militarily assisted Shiite-militias inside Iraq. It remains a question how far Iran will be able to increase its presence and influence in Iraq and whether ISIS could become resurgent.
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Sep 29, 2026
Transportation Security Administration agents sit as they check boarding passes and IDs at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, on Monday, January 26, 2026. - Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Airport security employees checking boarding passes and IDs will no longer be allowed to sit down while working, the Transportation Security Administration confirmed Tuesday.
All chairs are being removed from the travel document checker podiums at the entrance to checkpoints nationwide, the union representing the screeners said. The American Federation of Government Employees TSA Council 100 said it found out about the decision from its members and called it a "disregard for workers rights and safety."
TSA defended the move, saying the document checkers are the first to interact with the traveling public and requiring them to stand will create a better experience for passengers.
"This welcome change reinforces both our security posture and our commitment to hospitality by having these officers on their feet and alert," the agency said in a statement. "All officers must meet fitness for duty requirements to be capable of performing their vital national security function while simultaneously creating a welcoming and professional environment for travelers."
The move comes nearly two months after TSA Administrator David Cummins was confirmed to lead the agency.
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Sep 29, 2026
Christa Pike, Tennessee's only female death row inmate, has lost her final appeal after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in her imminent execution.
The nation's highest court denied Pike's request for a stay of execution on Sept. 29, less than 24 hours before Pike is set to be executed by lethal injection on Sept. 30. The court joins Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and lower courts in rejecting arguments from Pike's attorneys that she should be spared because of her exceptionally traumatic childhood.
Also on Sept. 29, Amnesty International joined more than 100 women's advocacy groups and sex abuse experts in continuing to argue for a reprieve for Pike.
"It is unthinkable that Governor Lee would even consider moving forward with this execution," Justin Mazzola, deputy director of research at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. "In this moment, people around the world are asking Governor Lee to grant clemency to Ms. Pike, and we add our voice to theirs."
Lee announced
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