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Nov 07, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge said Saturday she intends to appoint an ex-top federal prosecutor in the nation's capital during President Donald Trump's first term to investigate whether she was purposefully misled by lawyers and administration officials in a lawsuit challenging one of his prized Washington construction projects, the renovation of a historic public golf course along the Potomac River.
Jessie Liu, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, would examine whether officials with the Interior Department and the National Park Service and attorneys with the Department of Justice violated ethics or misled U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes during the course of the case that was initiated in February by the DC Preservation League and two golfers.
The Republican administration plans to close the East Potomac Golf Course and park on Nov. 15 with the intention of constructing a "World Class, championship-level golf course that is capable of hosting major events." An injunction issued by Reyes last month temporarily bars the government from removing or damaging any additional trees on the course and the administration must give 10 days' notice in writing before making any "irreparable modification" to any "forms or features" of the course while the lawsuit is active.
Reyes is giving each side a chance to be heard on her plan to name Liu as special master in the case. They must do so in writing by Friday, when the next court hearing in the dispute is scheduled.
Reyes, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, wants to know whether federal officials lied abou
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Nov 07, 2026
(Adds dropped word in paragraph 12)
By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Building on a months-long naval blockade on Iran, the US military said on Saturday it is launching a task force to help crack ?down on Tehran's movement of advanced weapons and other sanctioned material over its land borders and through the ?Caspian Sea.
Task Force Iron Gate, which was first reported by Reuters, will be based in Tampa, Florida, and will coordinate with other US government agencies. ?Beyond movement of weapons, it will also focus on halting the flow of dual-use technologies used by Iran and stemming what Washington calls illegal revenue streams.
The establishment of the task force is the latest illustration of how the US is still searching for ways to increase pressure on Tehran, more than eight months after launching with Israel a war against the Islamic Republic.
While US ?strikes have dealt devastating blows to Iran's conventional ?military and the US naval blockade has severely restricted its crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea, Iran still poses a formidable threat to the region and its ?rulers have tightened their grip on the country.
IRAN'S SECRET NETWORK
A Reuters investigation found Iran has created a secret network of military agencies to import at least $2 billion in hardware, explosives and heavy-duty trucks since January 2025, evading both the US naval blockade and Western ?sanctions.
The ?material entered Iran by cargo ship across the Caspian Sea from ?Russia, by truck from Central Asia, and by freight ?planes from China, the Reuters investigation showed.
US Central Command said the task force will coordinate with other government agencies. A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that was expected to include the Treasury, State and Justice Departments but also the intelligence community.
"Strengthening CE
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Nov 07, 2026
The right-wing activist Laura Loomer has been paid by private clients to make political posts on social media without publicly disclosing the payments, according to a former campaign aide to President Donald Trump and three others familiar with the arrangements, shedding light on what they say is a business practice of one of the Trump administration's most influential online firebrands.
The allegations were made by Alex Bruesewitz, an adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, and three other people who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Two of the three people said they had paid Loomer directly to post political messages on her X account, where she has 1.9 million followers. The third said they had overseen clients who paid her to post on the account. The three spoke on the condition of anonymity.
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Bank transaction emails and a wire transfer statement reviewed by The Washington Post appear to show four payments totaling more than $60,000 sent to Loomer and a Florida-based company registered in her name, King Breaker Media, since May of last year.
The documents do not specify the purpose of the payments, but two people familiar with the arrangements said they were for political posts.
Loomer, one of Trump's best-known online acolytes, denied to The Post that she is paid to post on social media. She instead described herself as a journalist and activist and disputed the idea that she is an influencer paid to promote any political cause.
The new claims about Loomer's influe
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Nov 07, 2026
Democrats continue to celebrate one of the most lopsided midterm election victories in modern U.S. history, routing their Republican rivals to gain control of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and statehouses across the country.
In the Senate, Democrats flipped seven seats and now hold 54 to the Republican Party's 44. Two seats — nail-biting contests in Alaska and Mississippi — remain undeclared.
In the House, Democrats held 254 seats to the GOP's 162 as of Saturday morning, comfortably passing the majority threshold of 218, with 19 races yet to be called, according to the Associated Press. The latest estimates show that the party is on track to win its largest majority since 2008. And there are still seats it could flip, including Colorado's Fourth District, where Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, a staunch Trump ally, trails Democrat Eileen Laubacher by about 3,200 votes with 97% of the vote counted, according to the AP.
There were also gubernatorial races, mayoral contests,
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Nov 07, 2026
A 21-year-old South African-born Wisconsin State Patrol trooper who was detained Nov. 5 by federal immigration agents was released from custody Nov. 6, according to his attorney.
Attorney Marc Christopher confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe, who was traveling to visit family with a valid work permit, had been released from the Dodge County Jail and was awaiting a ride from his supervisor, the head trooper in Tomah.
Christopher said Van Der Merwe was released under an order of supervision, which requires him to periodically check in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He will also likely be subject to electronic monitoring, potentially through an application on his cellphone rather than an ankle bracelet.
Christopher said he plans to speak with Van Der Merwe to discuss the next steps in his case. He expects Van Der Merwe will eventually share his experience publicly but wants to give him time to readjust following his release.
"I just told him I wanted him to get back, get reacclimated, just get settled, because I know he's gone through a very dramatic experience," Christopher said.
Van Der Merwe came to the U.S. from South Africa with his family on visas at age 14, Christopher said. His family has been waiting seven years for their asylum case to be heard.
Earlier, Christopher slammed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for detaining a Wisconsin law enforcement officer who has permission t
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Nov 07, 2026
The Trump administration is considering a major reorganization of the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to internal documents reviewed by The Washington Post.
Staff are meeting this week and next to discuss a "realignment" of the two agencies, the documents show. One meeting regarding the National Park Service will discuss "pending duty station changes," referring to the locations where staff report to work. But the documents do not specify whether certain offices would be closed or moved, or whether any employees would be fired.
The Interior Department, which oversees the agencies, did not respond to a request for comment.
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Public land advocates fear that the changes could further hurt agencies that have already seen major staffing cuts since Trump began efforts to shrink the federal government by hundreds of thousands of employees last year.
"I think from their perspective, it seems as though that they're trying to find efficiencies by consolidating staff within DOI that maybe served different functions across these agencies," said Ed Stierli, vice president of government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group. "But I think in reality, it just seems to be causing more confusion and chaos."
While the administration has considered differing plans to overhaul the Park Service since last year, including one reported in September by the Washington Sun, plans
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Nov 07, 2026
KRAKOW, Poland (AP) — Six people were killed and 16 wounded after a gunman opened fire Saturday afternoon in a busy market square in Krakow, authorities said, in what Poland 's defense minister called an "act of terror" on the people of the city.
The suspect, a 25-year-old Polish citizen, opened fire with an automatic weapon in the city's Main Square, a major tourist destination. He was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held "very radical views," Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said at a news conference.
Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz called Saturday's fatal shooting an "act of terror" on the people of Krakow.
Four women and two men were killed. Two police officers were wounded, one seriously, Kierwinski said on X.
The number of people wounded rose from 15 to 16, police said late on Saturday.
Authorities earlier said the gunman was a Polish citizen and said he was 24, but later corrected his age to 25.
The perpetrator was shot and wounded during a gunfight with officers a short distance away from the initial violence, police said, and was taken to the hospital for surgery.
Katarzyna Cislo, a spokesperson for the Krakow police, said the perpetrator was wearing military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest and used a military-type long gun in the attack. Police found many other weapons, as well as ammunition, in his car. He kept firing at the police even after being shot himself, she said.
The attacker engaged in a "wild ride" around the Main Square, Cislo said, which is why people were wounded at several locations.
Cislo added that the gunman acted alone and that the public is safe.
Krakow mayor Lukasz Gibala said the city will be in official mourning until Wednesday. He
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Nov 07, 2026
KRAKOW, Poland (AP) — Six people were killed and 15 wounded after a gunman opened fire Saturday afternoon in a busy market square in Krakow, Poland, authorities said.
The gunman, a 24-year-old Polish citizen, aimed at random people as he drove into the Main Square, a major tourist destination in the center of the city, Krakow police said. Four women and two men were killed. Two police officers were wounded, one seriously, Poland's interior minister said on X.
The perpetrator was shot and wounded during a gunfight with officers a short distance away from the initial violence, police said, and was taken to the hospital for surgery. The death toll earlier stood at five, but police updated it to six in a post on X.
Katarzyna Cislo, a spokesperson for the Krakow police, said the perpetrator was wearing military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest and used a military-type long gun in the attack. Police found many other weapons, as well as ammunition, in his car. He kept firing at the police even after being shot himself, she said.
The attacker engaged in a "wild ride" around the Main Square, Cislo said, which is why people were wounded at several locations. Videos posted on social media by witnesses show people running away from the square to take cover on small streets nearby.
Cislo added that the gunman acted alone and that the public is safe.
It was not immediately clear whether the firearm used in Saturday's attack, or the guns found in the perpetrator's car, were legal. Around 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, which has a population of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.
Mass shootings are uncommon
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Nov 07, 2026
Newly ascendant Democrats on Capitol Hill aren't planning to make it easy for Marco Rubio to ride to the GOP's rescue in 2028.
The secretary of State's appeal to Latinos and relatively strong standing in Washington may offer Republicans, battered by this week's midterm elections, hope that they can bridge their internal divides and hold onto the White House. "The number of people who want to draft Secretary of State Marco Rubio is staggering," former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote Wednesday on social media.
But Democratic lawmakers are likely to make Rubio a top target for oversight and other hearings in the new Congress — grilling him on the Iran war, legally questionable strikes on alleged drug boats, deals related to Venezuelan oil and more, according to a House Democratic aide and a Senate Democratic aide familiar with the discussions. Similarly aggressive scrutiny from Republican lawmakers helped tarnish former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's image during the years before she ran for president in 2016.
Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser, has largely avoided the criticism aimed at President Donald Trump's Iran war and other major crises — but that doesn't absolve him of responsibility for administration failures, Democrats said.
"He belongs near the top of the list of people who must answer to congressional ov
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Nov 07, 2026
The skyline of Cleveland, Ohio, on 30 September 2023.Photograph: Photo by Mike Kline (notkalvin)/Getty Images
While Elon Musk has often touted putting datacenters in space, reports suggest that another geographic area may soon become a widespread target: our lakes and oceans.
Two underwater datacenters are already in operation off the coast of China, and recent reports suggest that the Trump administration is considering plans for four proposed underwater, sealed-pod datacenters to be built off the shores of Maine and Alaska.
At a campaign rally in Ohio last month, Donald Trump said of datacenters: "There's so much money to be made for Ohio … they'll go to China … we want them."
Underwater iterations are particularly attractive to tech companies as they largely eliminate community opposition and controversy around datacenters in residential areas on land. In theory, underwater datacenters could also significantly cut down on utility costs, another issue that's currently riling communities across the country.
A Microsoft project set up off the coast of northern Scotland in 2018 found that after two years, server failures were reduced by 87% compared with on-land datacenter equivalents. Microsoft executives saw the project, which ended after two years, as an unmitigated success.
That makes the cool, salt-free waters of the Great Lakes, home to 30
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Nov 07, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democratic leaders are placing an early emphasis on healthcare as they discuss their immediate priorities upon the swearing-in of the new Congress on Jan. 3.
Early votes in the House next year are expected to focus on boosting Medicaid and restoring an enhanced tax subsidy that is designed to lower the cost of Affordable Care Act health plans for millions of enrollees.
Democrats are also promising swift action on legislation to stop the war with Iran and to reverse some of President Donald Trump'strade tariffs.
"We're going to get out of the gate fast," said New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader who is in line to become the next House speaker.
The legislative flurry carries enormous stakes for Democrats as they seek to translate their sweeping victories in the midterms — their numbers will exceed 250 in the 435-member House — into achievements that deliver on their promises to lower the cost of living.
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Nov 07, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans aren't holding back.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described this week's elections as an "extinction-level event" for the GOP. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz likened it to a "Watergate-level repudiation." Former Vice President Mike Pence called it a "reckoning."
For all the apocalyptic talk emerging from a midterm that relegated Republicans to their thinnest ranks on Capitol Hill in decades, there's little agreement on how the party should move forward.
A return to the bedrock fiscal and national security conservatism that defined Republicans under President Ronald Reagan risks alienating the more hard-line conservatives welcomed into the party under President Donald Trump under the "Make America Great Again" banner.
But leaning even further into Trump's coarse brand of politics could lead to more voter rejection.
"We have soul-searching to do," Alex Latcham, the executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund, which spent $810 million to support Republicans, said in an interview. "We need to first understand and honestly admit why we just endured a wipeout of this magnitude. And then we have to regroup and agree to a path forward."
GOP faces questions about Trump's future role
As has been the case for the past decade, the central question is the role Trump will play in shaping the party's future. His insistence on loyalty reached a zenith this year as he intervened in GOP primaries and pressed voters to make the elections a refe
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Nov 07, 2026
Widespread chilly weather still seems a long way away despite what the calendar says, as the nation is forecast to see one of the warmest Novembers on record, thanks mainly to the warming impacts of El Nin~o, forecasters said.
"The ongoing El Nin~o remains the dominant teleconnection to influence this forecast (for November)," said Johnna Infanti, a forecaster from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center, in an online report.
Chad Merrill, a senior meteorologist from AccuWeather, told USA TODAY that "a very warm month is expected nationally. It will likely rank in the top 10 for warmest Novembers."
Where are above-average temperatures expected in November?
The temperature forecast map from the
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Nov 07, 2026
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Missile explosions struck Kyiv and left at least five people wounded early on Saturday as Ukraine prepared for new talks next week with Russia and the United States.
Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. are to meet on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for talks aimed at ending the war. The new round of negotiations would be the fourth brokered by the Trump administration, following the most recent round in Geneva in February.
Western governments backing the peace initiative are seeking a new formula to break the impasse while acknowledging that territorial and security questions remain unresolved.
The Russian missiles that hit the Ukrainian capital overnight damaged homes and commercial properties, closed traffic on a Kyiv bridge over the Dnipro River and triggered new power and water outages, national and city authorities said.
"As a result of the enemy's night attack, energy facilities in the Kyiv and ... Zhytomyr regions were damaged," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. "The situation with the capital's energy supply is extremely difficult, affecting the city's heating and water supply systems."
Russia's Ministry of Defense confirmed Saturday that it had targeted the Northern Bridge, saying that it facilitated the transport of weaponry, military hardware and specialist equipment for Ukraine's armed forces.
It also said that it had targeted an industrial facility in the capital producing Flamingo missiles, as well as a power station, an electrical substation, and a plant producing ammunition, explosives and gunpowder in the wider Kyiv region. It also confirmed strikin
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Nov 06, 2026
A view of the East Block of San Quentin Rehab Center's death row, which was shut down by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier in his term before he announced Thursday that he was commuting the sentences of condemned inmates. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)While running for California governor in 2018, Gavin Newsom declared that he would rather be bold and fail than retreat to the safety of mediocrity.
The two-term governor known for taking big political risks once again made good on that vow Thursday when he moved to offer clemency to every inmate sentenced to death in California.
Amid a hum of speculation about how the mass commutation could help or hurt his presidential prospects in 2028, the Democratic politician sent a clear, defining message to Americans about where he stands and the type of leader they could expect.
"If my job is just to read the polls, you can have an AI chatbot as governor," Newsom said in an interview Friday. "I was hired for my judgment, and like it or hate it, that was why I think I was given this privilege, and that's the responsibility of a leader. My job's leadership, not stewardship. It's not management. It's to lead.
"I'm here to change polls, change minds."
The sweeping decision comes more than 20 years after Newsom emerged in the national consciousness when, as mayor of San Francisco,
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Nov 06, 2026
Hegseth and Miller (AP)
President Donald Trump said Friday he expects to make additional Cabinet changes following Republicans' sweeping midterm election defeats, signaling that the replacement of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles may be only the beginning of a broader administration shake-up.
In an interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes," Trump acknowledged that more personnel changes could be coming but declined to identify which officials might be affected.
Asked whether he expected to fire anyone after Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress, Trump replied, "I do, yeah. Little bit."
"I love my Cabinet. I think they're good," Trump said. "But I'll ... be doing maybe a few changes."
The remarks came as Trump announced Friday that longtime senior adviser Stephen Miller would replace Wiles as White House chief of staff, effective Monday.
Trump's comments were made during an interview with CBS News correspondent Ross Douthat scheduled to air Sunday, with excerpts released Friday.
The president's remarks also come amid growing speculation about the future of War Secretary Pete Hegseth, whose handling of the war in Iran has drawn criticism following the GOP's midterm losses.
CBS News reported Wednesday that Trump had privately asked advisers whether Hegseth should remain in his position, citing multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
The network reported that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had been floated as a possible replacement, although other sources said Trump had made no decision to remove Hegseth.
Trump publicly expressed confidence in Hegseth when questioned Wednesday and again during the CBS interview.
"I do," Trump replied Friday when asked whether he retaine
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Nov 06, 2026
Washington — Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who is set to take over the White House chief of staff role on Monday, has driven President Trump's most controversial immigration policies during both of his administrations.
Mr. Trump announced the staffing shake-up on Friday, calling Miller one of his "most trusted" advisers. Miller replaces Susie Wiles, who has been his chief of staff throughout his second term.
The move comes after Republicans suffered crippling losses in the midterm elections and as Democrats plan sweeping investigations into the administration's actions, including its immigration enforcement policies.
Miller was the architect behind many of those policies and also championed the administration's immigration enforcement expansion, which has been supported by approximately $170 billion that congressional Republicans allocated for immigration enforcement and border security in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which became law in July 2025.
During Mr. Trump's first term, Miller helped develop and publicly defend the administration's executive order that restricted entry by nationals of several Muslim-majority countries. The travel ban led to protests around the U.S. and legal challenges. A third iteration of the ban was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
He was a leading supporter of the administration's 2018 zero-tolerance immigration policy, which resulted in thousands of family separations, and he pressed for dramatic reductions in refugee admiss
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Nov 06, 2026
A Venezuelan national was arrested after being found sitting in a stolen vehicle near the White House with several firearms, according to a criminal complaint and the Department of Homeland Security.
The suspect, Ronny Guanipa-Chrinos, allegedly threatened to kill President Donald Trump, according to DHS.
A Secret Service officer on patrol spotted the vehicle parked on Constitution Avenue, near the White House complex, shortly before midnight on Thursday, according to the complaint affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court.
Man arrested for alleged threats to shoot President Trump at Kansas rallyWhen the officer knocked on the window of the blue Ford F-150 and asked if he was OK and whether he had any weapons, Guanipa-Chrinos allegedly shook his head yes and made a finger gun gesture, according to the affidavit.
After getting out of the vehicle, he allegedly told investigators through Google Translate, "I have the gun because they tried to kill me with it, and I had to take it away from them; it's in the brown bag," according to the affidavit.
According to DHS, Guanipa-Chrinos told officers he "heard voices in his head telling him to come to Washington, D.C. and kill President Trump." The affidavit did not include those alleged remarks.
Department of Homeland Security - PHOTO: Firearms seized from a vehicle near the White House on Nov. 5, 2026, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Investigators found a MAC-10 machine pistol, a Glock 43x pistol and an AR-15 rifle in the vehicle, according to the affidavit. There were also "dozens of rounds of ammunition," DHS said.
Th
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Nov 06, 2026
A Venezuelan national was arrested after being found sitting in a stolen vehicle near the White House with several firearms, according to a criminal complaint and the Department of Homeland Security.
The suspect, Ronny Guanipa-Chrinos, allegedly threatened to kill President Donald Trump, according to DHS.
A Secret Service officer on patrol spotted the vehicle parked on Constitution Avenue, near the White House complex, shortly before midnight on Thursday, according to the complaint affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court.
Man arrested for alleged threats to shoot President Trump at Kansas rallyWhen the officer knocked on the window of the blue Ford F-150 and asked if he was OK and whether he had any weapons, Guanipa-Chrinos allegedly shook his head yes and made a finger gun gesture, according to the affidavit.
After getting out of the vehicle, he allegedly told investigators through Google Translate, "I have the gun because they tried to kill me with it, and I had to take it away from them; it's in the brown bag," according to the affidavit.
According to DHS, Guanipa-Chrinos told officers he "heard voices in his head telling him to come to Washington, D.C. and kill President Trump." The affidavit did not include those alleged remarks.
Department of Homeland Security - PHOTO: Firearms seized from a vehicle near the White House on Nov. 5, 2026, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Investigators found a MAC-10 machine pistol, a Glock 43x pistol and an AR-15 rifle in the vehicle, according to the affidavit. There were also "dozens of rounds of ammunition," DHS said.
Th
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Nov 06, 2026
Last year, the Republican-controlled Texas legislature redrew its congressional maps in a controversial mid-decade redistricting effort aimed at giving the GOP five more House seats. Encouraged by President Donald Trump's strong showing among Hispanic voters in 2024, they concentrated on four districts in the heavily Latino Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.
But the Latino vote in Texas swung back from the president on Tuesday, driven by its dissatisfaction with Trump's immigration policy and the economy, according to ABC News' Voter Poll. Republicans failed to flip any of the Rio Grand Valley districts -- losing by double-digits in all of them -- and ended up with a net loss of one House seat.
Hispanic voters comprise more than 30% of eligible Texas voters and are especially concentrated in four counties in the Rio Grande Valley, where they make up more than 90% of the population, according to U.S. census data.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images - PHOTO: Democrats candidate for House Bobby Pulido, Senate candidate James Talarico and gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa sing together at the conclusion of the Voto Latino's "Ready. Go. Vote." campaign rally, Oct. 25, 2026 in Weslaco, Texas. ABC News' Voter Poll showed 67% of Hispanics who voted in the state's Senate race said the Trump administration's actions on immigration enforcement have gone too far, compared to 45% of white Senate voters.
Who won the redistricting war? So far, it looks like DemocratsJon Taylor, a University of Texas at San Antonio politica
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Nov 06, 2026
By Bo Erickson, Nandita Bose, Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump named longtime aide Stephen Miller as his chief of staff on Friday, giving the architect of some of his toughest domestic policies one of the most powerful jobs in Washington after Republicans lost control of Congress.
Miller, who will replace Susie Wiles, assumes the role as the president prepares to confront ?a Democratic-led House of Representatives and Senate and a wave of congressional investigations into his administration.
A longtime proponent of expansive presidential authority, Miller takes over at a moment when the Republican Party's defeat in Tuesday's ?midterm elections could leave Trump more reliant on executive power to advance his domestic agenda.
In a social media post, Trump called Miller "one of my most trusted advisors," and praised Wiles for doing "an outstanding job." Trump said the change would take effect on Monday.
A White House official said Miller's appointment signals ?that Trump has no intention of rethinking his policies and instead is rewarding his most loyal aides.
"He's not changing course," the official said, despite tens of millions of American voters repudiating Trump's domestic agenda and foreign policy.
Trump said this week he was willing to work with Democrats on Capitol Hill. But elevating Miller, who is known for being caustic and uncompromising, could signal a more confrontational approach and a renewed push to advance the president's agenda on immigration and other issues, several White House officials said.
Trump had been displeased with his political and communications operations in the run-up to Tuesday's election as his public appr
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Nov 06, 2026
Thomas Markle Sr. poses for a photo on August 10, 2018, in San Diego, California. - MEGA/GC Images/Getty Images
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story contains graphic details.
Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was placed on house arrest Friday and faces a charge of possession of child pornography, the Department of Justice announced.
"Mr. Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls," said First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli, who leads the Los Angeles-based US Attorney's office.
The 82-year-old allegedly kept "sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls in two Los Angeles-area storage units he rented for nearly two decades," the DOJ said.
Markle was arrested by federal agents in Florida before making an initial appearance in the US District Court in Tampa on Friday. US Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson ordered Markle to be released and placed him on house arrest. Markle is not allowed to travel outside the Middle District of Florida and the Central District of California, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.
Markle has not entered a plea, the office said. His arraignment in California ha
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Nov 06, 2026
Could this year's big blue midterm wave transform how America elects its next president? Now that Democrats have won complete control of governor's mansions and both legislative chambers in five battleground states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona — there is a chance that the Electoral College, as we know it, could soon become a thing of the past.
That isn't speculation. In fact, the plan is already in motion. Over the last two decades, 18 states and Washington, D.C., have formally agreed to award all of their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the most votes nationwide, regardless of the outcome in their own state or district. Until now, this legal agreement — official name: the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) — hasn't taken effect because the jurisdictions that have joined it only control 222 total electoral votes, which falls short of the 270 required to activate the compact (and elect a president).
But what if you add Pennsylvania (19 electoral votes), Michigan (15), Arizona (11), Wisconsin (10) and Nevada (6) to the list? That gets you to 283 (assuming that all of them join and the compact survives potential constitutional challenges).
Since Election Day, the Democratic shift in statehouses across the country has been overshadowed by the
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Nov 06, 2026
Democratic firebrand Elizabeth Warren, a consumer advocate known for her fierce battles over financial regulations, will take the gavel in January to become chair of the powerful Senate Banking Committee.
According to a source familiar with her plans, the Massachusetts senator intends to use her expanded platform to advance legislation to tackle populist affordability issues with a focus on housing.
The person familiar with her plans says Warren will use the committee's investigative powers to hold hearings and launch investigations into executive branch ethics and corporate practices, aiming to hold President Trump, the administration, Wall Street, and Big Tech accountable for economic decisions she views as having driven up costs for consumers.
Warren is also expected to take steps to shield the Federal Reserve from White House overreach. Any future nominee for the Fed will have to go through her committee. Earlier this year, she rallied Democrats to oppose Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh's confirmation before the banking committee, stalling his eventual confirmation.
Wall Street is likely to be another of Warren's targets. Before Republicans regained control of Congress, Democrats would have the chief executives of big banks testify before the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees once a year. The banking industry can expect a return to that practice.
Stephen Biggar, who covers the financial sector for Argus Research, says hearings will offer more transparency, but won't be accompanied by meaningful rulemaking.
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Nov 06, 2026
Cornell University's Faculty Senate approved a resolution Friday declaring "no confidence" in the school's top leaders, a symbolic gesture reflecting deep discontent on campus in the wake of a former student's lawsuit saying she was gang raped at a fraternity party in 2024.
The resolution passed 75-50, with five faculty senators abstaining and five others not voting, according to an email sent to Faculty Senate members on Friday afternoon.
The vote followed weeks of debate among professors over whether Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff and other administrators handled the woman's allegations properly and have done enough to curtail sexual misconduct at the prestigious university.
While the faculty body has no power over the university's top leaders, backers of the resolution had said they hoped it would pressure Cornell's trustees to address longstanding institutional failures they identified.
Board of Trustees Chair Anne Smalling said in a statement the faculty vote "reflects the deep anger across our campus" and sent a clear signal that what happened to the woman was unacceptable, but added that Kotlikoff and his administration were the right leaders to "thoughtfully and comprehensively" address the issue.
Thomas Giuffra, an attorney for the woman who filed the lawsuit, said in a statement Friday that "we are hopeful that this will be yet another step forward to educate and support the Cornell community by addressing the longstanding scourge of sexual assault on campus."
Lawsuit sparked outrage on campus
The Cornell community has been distressed since mid-September, when a forme
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Nov 06, 2026
Democrats continue to celebrate one of the most lopsided midterm election victories in modern U.S. history, routing their Republican rivals to gain control of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and statehouses across the country.
In the Senate, Democrats flipped seven seats and now hold 54 to the Republican Party's 44. Two seats — nail-biting contests in Alaska and Mississippi — remain undeclared.
In the House, Democrats held 253 House seats to the GOP's 161 as of 2 p.m. ET Friday, comfortably passing the majority threshold of 218, with 21 races yet to be called. The latest estimates show that the party is on track to win its largest majority since 2008. And there are still seats it could flip, including Colorado's Fourth District, which is held by Republican incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert, a staunch Trump ally, whose race against Democrat Eileen Laubacher remains tight.
There were also gubernatorial races, mayoral contests,
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Nov 06, 2026
Washington — Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut was released from the hospital Friday after experiencing a stroke nearly a week ago, but will miss several weeks of votes as he continues his recovery at a rehabilitation center.
"I want to be direct with you, so here is my diagnosis," Murphy said in a statement. "Last Saturday afternoon, I felt something was not right with my body and called 9-1-1 out of an abundance of caution, and I'm glad I did."
Murphy, who is 53, said he was diagnosed with a small bleed in the thalamus region of his brain. The thalamus sits above the brainstem and relays sensory information between the spinal cord and the brain, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Jose Suarez, the chief of neurosciences critical care at Johns Hopkins, where Murphy was hospitalized, said the senator experienced a small hemorrhagic stroke.
"He has shown tremendous progress, and at the current rate of improvement, we expect that he will make a full recovery following rehabilitation," Suarez said in a statement released by Murphy's office.
Murphy said he is taking his recovery seriously and will be spending several weeks at a rehabilitation center in order to "get back to work on the quickest timeline possible."
"This has been a scary experience for me and my family, and I appreciate the continued respect for our privacy," Murphy said. "As I'm working towards a full recovery, I am staying engaged with my team and colleagues remotely, and my staff continues to carry out our legislative priorities, serve constituents, and ensure the work of my office continues uninterrupted."
Murphy's office announced Sunday that he had numbness in his arm while at his son's hockey game and was taken to a local
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Nov 06, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top federal prosecutor in Miami who had been tasked with overseeing an investigation into foes of President Donald Trump has resigned, joining other high-profile Justice Department officials departing in the wake of the midterm elections, officials said Friday.
Jason Reding Quiñones' resignation follows frustrations among Washington officials with his management of the office assigned to lead the so-called "grand conspiracy" investigation, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.
The Justice Department's top national security official, John Eisenberg, also resigned on Friday, Attorney General Todd Blanche said. On Thursday, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who led a radical overhaul of the department's Civil Rights Division, also announced her departure.
Quiñones was confirmed by the Senate last year as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, where the Justice Department had centered its meandering probe into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against the Republican president.
His departure comes as the investigation has shown signs of faltering amid a spate of staff turnovers and delays. Investigators in recent weeks have put off scheduled grand jury testimony of several witnesses, according to multiple people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
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Nov 06, 2026
PHOENIX (AP) — Democrats in Arizona won control of both legislative chambers and retained the governor's office, giving the party its first trifecta in the state since 1966 as Democrats made major gains nationwide in this week's elections and took control of both chambers of Congress.
In her first term, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs had vetoed more than 540 measures passed by the Republican-led Legislature on policies including taxes, immigration and voting laws. Hobbs has said she's looking to address water issues and affordability, and take on fraud and abuse in the state's school voucher program.
The Associated Press called enough legislative races to confirm that both chambers flipped on Friday. The news organization calls races individually and it can take several days after voting, depending on when election officials tally the votes and how close the elections are. There have not been major disputes or disruptions this year.
In Arizona, Republicans have held the House for 60 years and the Senate since the early 1990s.
Overall, Democrats took full control
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Nov 06, 2026
In the early hours of Dec. 26, 1996, after a festive family Christmas, Patsy Ramsey walked down the stairs in her Boulder, Colorado, home to discover a terrifying ransom note telling her that her 6-year-old daughter JonBenét Ramsey had been kidnapped.
She immediately called 911 and the Boulder Police Department responded to the scene in three minutes.
Courtesy of John Andrew Ramsey - PHOTO: JonBenét Ramsey was 6 years old when she was found dead in her home in Boulder, Co. on Dec. 26, 1996.The taunting two-and-a-half-page ransom note was addressed to JonBenét's father, John Ramsey, and demanded $118,000 for the safe return of his daughter.
"You stand a 99% chance of killing your daughter if you try to out smart [sic] us," the letter said. There was no sign of JonBenét or further communication from the would-be kidnappers.
A new "20/20" episode, "JonBenét Ramsey: Race Against Time, Who is 'Unknown Male 1?' -- A New Diane Sawyer Investigation" airing Friday, Nov. 6 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming the next day on Disney and Hulu, re-examines the case.
You can get more behind the scenes of each week's episode by listening to "20/20: The Afte
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Nov 06, 2026
Democrats continue to celebrate one of the most lopsided midterm election victories in modern U.S. history, routing their Republican rivals to gain control of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and statehouses across the country.
In the Senate, Democrats flipped seven seats and now hold 54 to the Republican Party's 44. Two seats — nail-biting contests in Alaska and Mississippi — remain undeclared.
In the House, Democrats held 253 House seats to the GOP's 160 as of 12:30 p.m. ET Friday, comfortably passing the majority threshold of 218, with 22 races still to be called. The latest estimates show that the party is on track to win its largest majority since 2008. And there are still seats it could flip, including Colorado's Fourth District, which is held by Republican incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert, a staunch Trump ally, whose race against Democrat Eileen Laubacher remains tight.
There were also
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Nov 06, 2026
The polar vortex is weakening unusually early, forecasters have said, with a rare disruption possible within days that could send Arctic air traveling south over North America.
The polar vortex is a band of powerful winds in the stratosphere that circle the North Pole each winter. It keeps the coldest air locked high in the atmosphere until it is disrupted. Once the vortex weakens, pockets of that air can be pushed south, which can bring frostier temperatures to parts of the U.S.
In its updated November outlook, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center said a disruption of the polar vortex could occur within days, possibly developing into a sudden stratospheric warming, which it called "very rare" for November. It warned that if this happens, its effects could last up to two months.
The polar vortex made its mark this January, when a lobe of Arctic air pushed south, bringing a deep freeze to the eastern U.S. and Canada. Parts of northern Minnesota fell to -43°F on Jan. 24, according to state climate data, with states like Indiana also experiencing record lows as Greenland's west coast recorded its warmest January on record.
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Nov 06, 2026
Meghan Markle's estranged father, Thomas Markle, was arrested in Florida on Friday on charges related to child sexual abuse material, authorities said.
Markle, 82, was arrested by the FBI at a care home near Tampa, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a press release. He was charged with one count of possession of child pornography.
Authorities said Markle was arrested after agents discovered approximately 78 items — including slides, film negatives, and books — that contained suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM) while searching two storage units registered to Markle, at least one of which was in the Los Angeles area.
"Mr. Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls," First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said. "These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law."
The statement said that, in October 2026, law enforcement learned that an individual signed an affidavit regarding the discovery of suspected CSAM among Markle's possessions in the Philippines. Officers then interviewed a separate individual who revealed Markle had rented a storage unit in the Los Angeles area.
This led to the discovery of a second storage unit. Both had been rented by Markle since 2008.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that "Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions."
"This FBI will use every single r
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Nov 06, 2026
The GOP's sweeping losses in the midterm elections Tuesday set up an unsettling possibility for the party: If it doesn't act now to confirm a new Supreme Court justice, it may not have another chance for years to come.
That prospect is likely to ramp up pressure on the court's two oldest conservatives - Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr., 76, and Clarence Thomas, 78 - to retire during the lame-duck period, while Republicans still have the votes to get a nominee confirmed by the Senate. The new Senate, in which Democrats will hold a majority, is seated on Jan. 3.
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Alito, who joined the court in 2006, said last month he has no plans to retire during the lame-duck session. Thomas has said in the past he has no plans to step down from the court. He joined the court in 1991 and could become the longest-serving justice in its history in 2028.
But given the magnitude of Democratic inroads in the Senate, legal and political experts said it could be 2033 before Republicans have a realistic shot at winning back enough seats in that chamber to approve a conservative justice.
At that point, Alito and Thomas would be well into their 80s. Neither responded to a request for comment.
"I think both have been making an implicit bet that they will live long enough … so that a Republican president can replace them with someone ideologically similar," said Ed Whelan, a conservative attorney and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
This is likely to make many Republicans antsy, particularly those mindful of the lesson of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died while still on the bench at 87, in September 2020.
The lib
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Nov 06, 2026
The US added 165,000 jobs in October, blowing past economists' expectations, as the labor market showed strength despite the Federal Reserve's recent rate hikes.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1% even amid a slight increase in labor force participation. September's underwhelming jobs report of 29,000 additions was also revised upward to a gain of 60,000 jobs.
Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, deemed the results "a blowout" in a post on X.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a gain of about 70,000 jobs in October and saw the unemployment rate holding steady.
Wage growth increased 0.4% from September, better than expectations for 0.3% month-over-month growth. Annual earnings rose 3.1%, beating expectations but likely still below the current inflation rate.
Employers added jobs in a number of sectors of the economy. Professional and business services, which had been seen as more vulnerable to AI-related disruptions, added 70,000 roles. Healthcare, long a strong spot for job growth, added a higher-than-average 42,000 positions.
Transportation and warehousing jobs rose by 25,000, and manufacturing continued to show strength with 19,000 additions.
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Nov 06, 2026
Democrats continue to celebrate one of the most lopsided midterm election victories in modern U.S. history, routing their Republican rivals to gain control of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and statehouses across the country.
In the Senate, Democrats flipped seven seats and now hold 54 to the Republican Party's 44. Two seats — nail-biting contests in Alaska and Mississippi — remain undeclared.
To do so, Democrats won a series of key battleground contests. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed defeated Mike Rogers in one of the most closely watched races of the midterms. James Talarico beat Republican Ken Paxton in Texas, becoming the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat in the Lone Star State since 1988. Annie Andrews beat Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina to flip a Senate seat. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson defeated incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, putting an end to her three-decade tenure. Sen. Jon Ossoff comfortably won reelection in Georgia. Other Senate seats to flip to the Democratic Party included Roy Cooper in North Carolina, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Josh Turek in Iowa and Adam H
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Nov 06, 2026
President Trump reacted to the volatile Thursday in markets with a series of Truth Social posts overnight, doubling down on his support of data centers and trying to blame Democrats for the sell-off.
A little after 7 a.m. ET Friday, he renewed his support for data centers, writing he "will work with the many States in the U.S. that want to become RICH by having them" and calling leaders who might be opposed "foolish."
The comments appeared largely directed at Texas, where voters this week elected a new Democratic governor who has promised to halt new data center construction in a race that surfaced deep voter unease over AI and its effects.
President Donald Trump prominently displays a hat emblazoned with "Veto" in the Oval Office of the White House on November 5 after Democrats took control of the US House and Senate. (MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images
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Nov 06, 2026
Mackenzie was found guilty in October of the murder of 190 children and one adult [Reuters]
A Kenyan court has sentenced the leader of a doomsday cult, Paul Mackenzie, to 200 years in prison for murdering 191 people, all but one of them children.
Alongside 28 others, Mackenzie was found guilty of the murders for instructing members of his cult to starve their children to death so they could "meet Jesus".
Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie bore the "primary criminal culpability" for ordering his followers to fast to death, in one of the world's deadliest episodes of cult activity.
"The sentence is appropriate and just, to send an unmistakable message that such atrocities warrant the maximum penalties allowed by law," the judge added.
The self-styled pastor was arrested in 2023 after the discovery of more than 400 bodies in shallow graves in Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast. The sprawling investigation into the cases shocked Kenya and drew international attention.
The court sentenced Mackenzie to 100 years in prison for homicide and another 100 years for offences related to starvation.
The sentences within each category will run concurrently, but the two sets will run consecutively, bringing his total prison term to 200 years.
Mackenzie also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, arguing that the scale and circumstances of the killings warranted the harshest punishment.
However, Justice Mochache declined to impose the death penalty, despite ruling that the case met the threshold for its consideration.
"Nevertheless, the court declines t
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Nov 06, 2026
Comedian Russell Brand at Southwark Crown Court in London.Anadolu via Getty ImagesRussell Brand faces a "significant" prison term after his rape and sexual assault conviction, a judge has said.
A jury in London found the British comedian and actor guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault Thursday. He was acquitted of two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. The judge told Brand he would be remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on Monday, Nov. 9.
"You've been convicted of a number of offenses including rape," judge Joel Bennathan said. "The consequence of that is inevitably a significant custodial term. My current view is that I therefore have to remand you into custody."
The actor had been charged on seven counts: three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Following Thursday's verdict, London's Metropolitan Police Service told Yahoo News that Brand, 51, was facing further allegations of rape from two women.
"The suspect has previously been intervi
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Nov 06, 2026
A Ryanair flight travelling from Rome to Lisbon was placed under a security alert after an anonymous phone call to the control tower at Rome's Fiumicino Airport warned of a possible explosive device on board, according to reports.
The aircraft landed at Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport shortly before 8 am. Authorities are investigating the threat, but there has been no confirmation of explosives on board.
Meanwhile, the French Prime Minister's office declared that there had been four more bomb alerts concerning "planes flying over French territory" on Friday morning.
"The aircrafts landed safely. Security services are conducting inspections", said the PM's office, while adding that "an investigation is underway to determine the source of these alerts, which are affecting the whole of Europe."
Concerning the Rome-Lisbon flight, CNN Portugal reported that Portugal's Public Security Police (PSP) received a telephone call from a person described as a "law enforcement officer", warning of a possible explosive device on board. The caller's identity was reportedly verified by the Judicial Police (PJ).
When contacted by Euronews, Lisbon Airport referred enquiries to the PSP, which has not yet confirmed the reported incident. Euronews also attempted to contact the PJ but has not received a response.
Another bomb alert was reported on a Wizz Air flight travelling from Prague to Rome. The aircraft was diverted to Venice, where it landed.
The latest incidents follow a wave of bomb scares that affected at least 25 flights across Europe on Thursday. EU officials have said it is too early to determine whether the incidents are linked.
This article originally appeared on Euronews at https://www.euronews.com/2026/11/06/bomb-threat-targets-ryanair-flight-to-lisbon-as-scares-continue-across-europe
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Nov 06, 2026
By Ananya Palyekar, Akanksha Khushi and Nick Carey
Nov 6 (Reuters) - Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at its Texas gigafactory around mid-2027, CEO Elon Musk said on Friday, after years of persistently weak sales for a futuristic model once touted as a rival to legacy ?pickup trucks that ultimately only sold in just a handful of markets because of its heavy, angular design.
Musk said in an X ?post the production wind-down would enable the automaker to accommodate increased output of its newly launched Cybercab model, which the billionaire has made central to Tesla's robotaxi ambitions.
While it was not ?immediately clear whether Cybertruck production would be moved to another facility or phased out entirely, the automaker's Austin plant is the only known Tesla facility equipped to manufacture the model's specialized components.
In response to a user on X, Musk called the Cybertruck the "best vehicle Tesla has ever made" and the wind-down the "end of an era".
Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
The US EV maker only began delivering the Cybertruck to customers in late 2023. ?According to Kelley Blue Book, the company only sold 20,237 Cybertrucks ?in the US last year, down 48% from 38,965 in 2024. Before the pickup truck launched, Musk had predicted annual sales of 250,000 units.
"It doesn't make sense to keep it going when it's not meeting its targets," said former ?Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer. "Every rational auto guy would say the same."
"It will no doubt only be a rounding error on Tesla's balance sheet, but the statistics speak for themselves."
'CYBERTRUCK WON'T GO, CAN'T GO'
Right from its unveiling in 2019, the Cybertruck was a controversial choice for Musk. Its angular design was mocked by pickup truck purists and ?safety ?experts predicted it would be hard to gain approval for sal
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Nov 06, 2026
The fight for the 2028 Republican primary is beginning to take shape on the heels of the GOP's devastating midterm losses, with Vice President Vance facing criticism for blaming the losses on the Iran war and other big-name Republicans appearing to stake out their own positions.
The losses have created a huge opening for GOP White House hopefuls, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), to go against Vance.
It's a fact seemingly recognized by Vance, who was quick to blame the Iran war for the historic drubbings, and Republicans at large.
"The election results were bad news for every leader across the party, given the scale of the losses, but they were particularly tough for Vance's 2028 prospects," said Kevin Madden, the veteran Republican strategist who served as a senior adviser on Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.
"Vance is now in the position of serving as a loyal vice president to a lame-duck president whose approval rating is in the 30's and whose influence on the future of the party could be in question," Madden added.
Vance has long been seen as the front-runner to succeed President Trump as the GOP standard-bearer. A close second has been Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
But questions are now being raised by Republicans over whether a candidate not directly tied to the administration would be stronger.
"Tuesday made clear that the stink on Vice President Vance and Secretary [Marco] Rubio may be too much to overcome as the election was a referendum on the job they are doing," said one top GOP operative who has spoken to DeSantis.
"This certain
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Nov 06, 2026
Zoë Petersen, Deseret News
The "blue wave" that decimated Republicans in the midterm elections is widely seen as the resurgence of the Democratic Party after its decisive defeat two years ago.
But there's more to the story than that.
"It wasn't just a blue wave. It was an independent voter tsunami," Jeremy Gruber, senior vice president at the nonprofit advocacy group Open Primaries, wrote in the aftermath of the vote.
Gruber believes the Democrats owe much of their victory to political independents, whose numbers eclipse those of registered Republicans and Democrats. "They are now America's kingmakers," he said in an interview.
Forty-five percent of Americans, a record high, identify as independents, up from 34% in 2002, and their muscle was seen in key races this week.
Per The Washington Post, "In Kansas, nearly 7 in 10 independents supported Democrat Adam Hamilton, while Texas Democrat James Talarico won nearly two-thirds of independent voters."
And NPR
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Nov 06, 2026
(NewsNation) — Two oil tankers caught fire after being hit by mines while attempting unauthorized transport through the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to a press statement from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.
One oil tanker was in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz, and the other was in the strait itself.
"These two tankers had turned off their navigation and identification systems and were attempting to exit the Strait of Hormuz through an unauthorized route with the support of the aggressive terrorist U.S. military," the statement said.
What options are on the table for Trump in Iran moving forward?
The statement said the efforts of CENTCOM to force oil tankers through unauthorized and mine-contaminated areas will "only result in repeated and disgraceful failures."
President Donald Trump spoke with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the phone Friday about diplomatic efforts to ease tensions.
Iran updates Saudi, Qatari counterparts on diplomatic progress
The leaders discussed Qatar's mediation efforts to form a comprehensive agreement to end the regional conflict, according to a
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Nov 06, 2026
On Tuesday, Americans voted overwhelmingly against data centers and artificial intelligence growth. In 40 of 41 local ballot races around the country, many in the state of Ohio, voters opted to restrict or prohibit new data center constructions in their areas.
Much of the growing opposition to data centers has come from rising electricity prices, which are squeezing Americans in a time of already high prices and cost of living.
But, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, data centers are probably having only a small effect on residential electricity prices. The researchers calculated that these operations were responsible for just 4 percent of the utility rate increases over the last five years.
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"Even to me it was somewhat surprising," said Serguei Netessine, professor at
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Nov 06, 2026
Washington — A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from beginning construction on President Trump's proposed triumphal arch late Thursday, siding — for now — with a group of Vietnam veterans and the District of Columbia and Virginia, which sued to stop the project.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled in a brief order that the government cannot start any "construction-related activity" for 14 days, while further legal proceedings play out. She said she would explain her reasoning in a forthcoming opinion.
The ruling came shortly after the National Capital Planning Commission voted Thursday to approve plans for the 250-foot triumphal arch, giving the final go-ahead for the monument that's set to be constructed between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
The NCPC, which acts as the federal government's planning agency for the region and is stacked with Trump allies, voted 8-4 to greenlight the project after almost 9 hours of public comments from members of Congress, veterans, architects and Washington, D.C., and Virginia residents.
Chutkan's order aside, it's unclear how soon construction of the arch could start, though the Justice Department said in a court filing last month that it could begin as soon as Thursday.
In a separate filing Wednesday night, the Trump administration said that a construction company "may be — but is not necessarily — arranging off-site preparations for construction mobilization in anticipation of permit approval" at the site.
Ahead of the meeting, the NCPC's executive director, Mark Paoletta, recommended approval of the final site and building plans for the structure, which is supposed to
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Nov 06, 2026
There are stretches of high desert in northwestern New Mexico where Mother Nature has sculpted otherworldly forms using wind, rain and the passage of time.
Hefty planks of rock defy gravity as they balance atop spindly pedestals of clay, while some columns of sandstone take on the appearance of lace, elaborately eroded by the seasons.
Tour guide Kialo Winters shares this piece of his homeland on the edge of the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness with visitors regularly. On a recent Friday afternoon, the founder of Navajo Tours USA rounded a bend and found one of the area's most famous features had collapsed.
The Alien Throne — or Tsé Bináká Níyol as it's known in his language — was no more. His heart dropped.
"It was surreal," he told The Associated Press. "I had to sort of just pause. A lot of things ran through my head."
The Alien Throne and the nearby King of Wings formation collapsed within weeks of each other, toppled by the very forces of nature that created them.
Back-to-back storms destroy homes and hoodoos
The southwestern U.S. has endured major rounds of storms over recent weeks, with rain falling on ground already soaked from an especially wet fall.
Parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona have watched rivers crest and floodwaters course through usually dry washes, destroying homes, further saturating the soil and eroding the landscape.
The water is receding and cleanup is underway, but officials estimate the damage could stretch into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Winters still is concerned for relatives on the Navajo Nation, where many dirt roads became impassable or were washed away altogether by what he descr
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Nov 05, 2026
In a video on social media, Hegseth said, "A disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democrat allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly, just like they tried against President Trump twice."
Hegseth was referring to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who said Wednesday that he plans to reintroduce articles of impeachment when the House is back in session. Lawmakers are scheduled to return to Washington on Monday.
"It's all about the politics of personal destruction," Hegseth added. "Didn't work against President Trump, and it won't work with me. You can rest assured of that."
In the more-than-five-minute video, Hegseth only briefly touched on the Iran war — a driving force behind the effort to impeach him, as well as GOP losses in this week's midterm elections.
Massie, who lost his GOP primary after he crossed Trump, urged Trump on Thursday to replace Hegseth while he still has a GOP majority in the Senate.
"My Hegseth impeachment resolution is a much gentler version of what's coming when Dem's control Congress. They'll have hearings & trials," he said on X.
"There is one contingency in which I won't reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns," Massie wrote Wednesday.
Numerous Democrats have indicated a desire to oust Hegseth since their midterm election wins,
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Nov 05, 2026
Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa (D) vowed to protect Texans from data center projects after she is sworn into office in January.
"Well, we have always been a pro-business state in Texas, but what changes now with me as governor is it has to be a partnership that benefits Texans," Hinojosa said during an appearance on CNN on Thursday night. "And right now, what has happened is data centers have moved into mostly rural communities, and there are no rules and laws to protect Texans, and Texans are being taken advantage of."
She plans to implement "laws to protect Texans" and to stop working with data centers "until we have those protections."
"We can have a strong economy, strong industry, and protections for the people of Texas. Those things are not mutually exclusive, and I'll make sure, as governor, I lead to ensure that that happens," she expressed.
CNN's Jake Tapper clarified that Hinojosa is not ruling out data centers being built in the Lone Star State, but that the incoming governor wanted "there to be regulations to protect communities. Is that right?"
"And that communities have a seat at the table to decide if and how these data centers come into their communities. Texas is like a country. We are so diverse in all ways," Hinojosa responded. "So, absolutely, we need to make sure they are partners in this effort, and that has always been my position. It is not that I hate data centers. I hate the way they are taking advantage of Texas, and that stops when I'm governor."
Hinojosa's defeat of outgoing Texas Gov. Greg Abbot
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Nov 05, 2026
For the second time this year, three executions by lethal injection were carried out on the same day, this time in Indiana, Florida and Alabama.
An Indiana man who admitted killing his girlfriend's two children was executed in the early morning hours Thursday. Jeffrey Weisheit killed the children, ages 8 and 5, by setting fire to his girlfriend's house in the Evansville area in 2010.
Weisheit died at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. The lethal injection started just after midnight and he was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m. local time, according to Noelle Russell, Indiana Department of Correction chief communications officer.
She said Weisheit's final meal was barbecue ribs and he had no final words. Weisheit was Indiana's first execution of the year.
Early Thursday evening, Florida carried out its record-tying 19th execution of the year.
Jesse Guardado, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. local time following a three-drug injection at a state prison in Starke.
Guardado had pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a 75-year-old woman inside her Walton County home in 2004 before stealing her jewelry box, $80 and other valuables to buy drugs. The woman had helped him get a job and housing.
A federal appeals court in 2024 said Guardado, now 64, had received a "full and fair" hearing during the death penalty phase of his case.
In Alabama, 54-year-old Michael Taylor received the last lethal injection of the day for his conviction in the killing of an elderly man and woman in a 1991 home robbery.
Taylor was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. local time. The execution got underway shortly before 6 p.m. as Taylor replied "no sir" when aske
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Nov 05, 2026
Republicans on Capitol Hill are on the clock. They have less than two months left in power before the new, Democrat-led Congress is sworn in and their window of unified control in Washington, D.C., comes to an end. Even as the votes are still being counted, GOP leaders have been putting together plans for what they hope to accomplish before they lose power.
"Our job is nowhere close to being finished yet," House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly told attendees at a watch party Tuesday night as Democratic victories piled up.
The period between the November election and the day in early January when new lawmakers are sworn in, often called the "lame duck" session, can be quite productive as lawmakers move with urgency to get things done while they still can. Some of the most important actions taken by Congress in modern history — the legislative response to the Watergate scandal, the Clinton impeachment, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and several Supreme Court confirmations — all happened during various lame duck windows.
Republicans will have a long list of priorities when Congress reconvenes on Monday, but there are also plenty of potential hurdles that could hinder their progress. Here's a look at what congressional Republicans want to do and some of the possible curveballs that could derail their plans.
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Nov 05, 2026
The Oval Office is set for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store at the White House on April 24, 2025. - Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/File
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday that he said would designate the White House's Oval Office and Cabinet Room as national landmarks — a move he said would protect the two West Wing spaces from future changes.
The signing ceremony, which came on the heels of Republicans' stunning midterm losses on Tuesday, was his third event of the week related to his construction or renovation projects in the nation's capital — which have been largely unpopular with voters.
"It concerns the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room, very important spaces. And I'm going to be signing a document which will make them into a landmark for the ages," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, which he's extensively gilded since returning to the White House in early 2025.
Trump said the administration would send the document to Congress.
"So we're going to be declaring it a national monument, and we're going to send it over to Congress, have it ratified," he said.
"It's a federal landmark — and when completed and when we get the documentation fully done, legally binding, it'll make it impossible for anybody ever to destroy this incredible space," he added.
CNN has reached out to the White House about the document and Trump's intenti
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Nov 05, 2026
Mississippi is one of the reddest states in America, so this year's U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith and her Democratic challenger Scott Colom wasn't supposed to be especially close.
Now it couldn't be closer.
As of Thursday afternoon, Colom was leading Hyde-Smith by a mere 1,724 votes, according to the Associated Press. That's just 0.19% of all ballots cast. As a result, the AP has yet to call the contest, even though 96% of the vote is in.
Along with Alaska — which also remains too close to call — the outcome in Mississippi will determine whether Democrats can expand their new Senate majority beyond its current size (54 seats) by flipping even more red states than they already have.
But Alaska was supposed to be a toss-up. Mississippi wasn't really on the national radar. President Trump won the state by 23 percentage points in 2024 — his third straight win there. Looking ahead to the 2026 Senate race, analysts said it was a "likely Republican" hold. Barely anyone bothered to
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Nov 05, 2026
US stocks plunged on Thursday as AI and chip stocks sold off, erasing the gains from Wednesday's post-election rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) tumbled 3.4%, or more than 1,800 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 4.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 5.5%, with the tech-heavy index closing in correction territory.
The Nasdaq-100 (^NDX) fell 6.3%, erasing $2.3 trillion in market value.
The PHLX Semiconductor index (^SOX) plummeted 12% as Nvidia (NVDA), Micron (MU), and other chip names sank. Wall Street unloaded this year's AI winners, while large-cap tech stocks saw the worst day since the COVID-19 pandemic sell-off.
Investors
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Nov 05, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a proclamation that he says will preserve the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as a national monument, his first official action after his party was swept aside in midterm elections on Tuesday.
But the action does not prevent future presidents from restyling the iconic office that Trump has filled to the brim with gold flourishes, nor does it prevent a successor from rolling back the proclamation itself. Trump himself has reversed national monument designations made by his predecessors.
Trump, however, described the Oval Office order in expansive terms. "It will not be allowed to be touched by anybody, destroyed, ripped down by stupid people, in order to build something in a slightly different shape," Trump said. "We like the Oval Office, and it's a symbol, like the White House itself."
It was the third day this week that the president, a real estate mogul, delivered remarks fixated on his pet projects in Washington. On Wednesday, a day after Republicans suffered defeats in key races across the country, Trump gathered reporters to sign the final beam being raised during construction of his opulent ballroom project. On Monday, he went to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to talk about his renovation of the landmark.
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Nov 05, 2026
Democrats continue to celebrate one of the most lopsided midterm election victories in modern U.S. history, routing their Republican rivals to gain control of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and statehouses across the country.
In the Senate, Democrats flipped seven seats and now hold 54 to the Republican Party's 44. Two seats — nail-biting contests in Alaska and Mississippi — remain undeclared.
To do so, Democrats won a series of key battleground contests. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed defeated Mike Rogers in one of the most closely watched races of the midterms. James Talarico beat Republican Ken Paxton in Texas, becoming the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat in the Lone Star State since 1988. Annie Andrews beat Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina to flip a Senate seat. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson defeated incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, putting an end to her three-decade tenure. Sen. Jon Ossoff comfortably won reelection in Georgia. Other Senate seats to flip to the Democratic Party included Roy Cooper in North Carolina, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Josh Turek in Iowa and Adam H
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Nov 05, 2026
Voters weighed in on tax ballot initiatives across at least 10 states this week, returning verdicts that demonstrate plenty of "tax the rich" sentiment despite the likely failure of California's high-profile plan for a wealth tax.
Other successful measures sought to limit taxes on Americans of more modest means either through new caps on state income taxes or lower property taxes.
Voters' affordability worries ran, "at least in part, through the tax code," as the Tax Foundation summarized the results in a wrap-up of the races.
Californians gather the day after the midterm elections in San Diego, Calif., on Nov. 4. (Reuters/Mike Blake)REUTERS / REUTERSIn California, a billionaire tax imposing a one-time 5% wealth tax on state residents and trusts with assets over $1 billion appeared on track to fail, after voters cooled on the effort as the campaign wound down.
But proponents of other taxes on the rich cou
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Nov 05, 2026
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman with supporters in Los Angeles on election night.Photograph: Chris Torres/EPA
Nithya Raman on Thursday unseated Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass after a neck-and-neck race for the leadership for the US's second largest city.
Related: Democratic socialist Nithya Raman wins Los Angeles mayoral race over incumbent Karen Bass
The young progressive's victory means that the two largest cities in the US, as well the nation's capital, Washington DC, have now all elected democratic socialist mayors.
Though Raman's political ascendance in Los Angeles has sparked many comparisons to New York City's mayor Zohran Mamdani, her political profile in her home town is very different from Mamdani's, as is her often tense relationship with the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Here's some key facts about LA's new mayor:
Raman broke into politics in 2020 by unseating an establishment Democrat on LA's powerful city council.
When Raman, an urban planner and political outsider, won a seat on LA's city council in 2020, it was the first time that a sitting city council member had been ousted in 17 years. One LA political analyst called her win "a political earthquake". Raman, whose campaign was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, was also the first DSA-endorsed candidate elected to office in Los Angeles. Raman credited her 2020 win to on-the-ground grassroots organizing, telling the Guardian at the time: "We knocked on 80,000 doors, which a
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Nov 05, 2026
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally at the Hollywood Palladium on Sunday. (Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)Gov. Gavin Newsom told the California Supreme Court Thursday that he will commute the death sentences of all 548 state prisoners awaiting execution, reducing their punishments to life in prison without parole.
Newsom can commute about 40% of the death sentences with the stroke of a pen, but the rest will require the high court's approval in order to be finalized.
The mass commutation would apply to inmates convicted of some of the most heinous acts in the state's history. Newsom and other opponents of capital punishment have long argued that the process is costly, cruel and discriminatory, with death sentences disproportionately handed down to defendants of color.
"I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the foundation of our legal system, and diminishes each of us," Newsom wrote in a letter to Californians explaining his decision. "I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency."
The move comes in Newsom's final months as governor and as he considers a run for president. Reducing the death sentences could help him in a primary with a Democratic base of like-minded liberal voters, but pot
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Nov 05, 2026
Washington — Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, resigned on Thursday, Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
"Today, I accepted the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who led the Civil Rights Division with conviction the past 18 months," Blanche wrote in a post on X. "She has defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor. The Department is grateful for her dedicated public service, and we wish her every success in her future endeavors."
Dhillon oversaw a mass exodus from the Civil Rights Division last year, with more than 75% of its staff departing. She upended many of the division's traditional priorities that focused on combating discrimination against some of the nation's most vulnerable and historically marginalized groups.
Since taking over the division, often lauded as being the "crown jewel" of the DOJ, she has reoriented it to focus instead on other priorities that have included protecting gun owners' rights, curbing the use of equity, diversity and inclusion policies at universities, and adopting legal positions that oppose civil rights protections for transgender people.
During her tenure, the Justice Department closed many of its cases involving discrimination targeting Black Americans and announced it had dismissed more than 50 decades-old consent decrees with public schools, many in the Deep South, that were in place to protect Black students from unlawful discrimin
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Nov 05, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration held secret talks with Iran on deporting Iranians even as the war there dragged on, court documents obtained by The Associated Press show.
The court documents unsealed Thursday show the Republican administration as recently as mid-October said it had plans to deport the Iranians through an unnamed third country, although it was unclear when it intended to do so. The judge in the case ordered the government to give the court 24-hour notice of any finalized plans to deport Iranians to Iran or to any other country and five days' written notice before any such deportation is carried out.
The documents show that the administration maintained contacts with Iranian officials during the war over the removals, specifically for submitting travel documents and figuring out "possible avenues for removal."
"We are at war with a country where the President of the United States has said, as recently as two or three days ago, if not yesterday, that it is essentially lawless ... A country that is an enemy of the United States, according to the current president. A country that, according to our president, murdered tens of thousands of protestors," Judge Ana Reyes said according to the Oct. 15 transcript.
"And what you're telling me is that the United States of America is going to send individuals back to that region, facing what you and I and everyone who would ever look at this would know would be, at a minimum, a serious threat of certain death."
"Yes, your honor," Justice Department attorney Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel said. "The government is executing lawful orders of removal."
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The development emerged from
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Nov 05, 2026
US stocks fell suddenly on Thursday as AI and chip stocks sold off, erasing the gains from Wednesday's post-election rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) tumbled 2.2%, or over 1,200 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 3.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 5%, putting the index on track to close in a correction.
The PHLX Semiconductor index (^SOX) dived 11% as Nvidia (NVDA), Micron (MU), and other chip names sank.
Investors continued to process the Democrats' sweeping victory on Tuesday and its implications for markets and the economy. Amid relief that election
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Nov 05, 2026
Comedian Russell Brand at Southwark Crown Court in London.Anadolu via Getty ImagesA jury in London found comedian and actor Russell Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
The actor had been charged on seven counts: three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Following Thursday's verdict, London's Metropolitan Police Service told Yahoo that Brand, 51, is facing further allegations of rape from two women.
"The suspect has previously been interviewed under caution in connection with the allegations," the force said in a statement. "Files have been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to both complainants." Brand has not been charged in relation to these claims.
Following a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in London, the jury found Brand guilty on four of the charges. He was acquitted of two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault.
During the trial, the court heard tearful and forceful testimony from the six complainants, wh
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Nov 05, 2026
Meghan Markle's half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., is a "person of interest" in an investigation by police in the Philippines into alleged child sexual abuse material linked to their father, Thomas Markle, the country's interior secretary said Thursday.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla told reporters at a press conference in Manila that authorities were examining whether Markle Jr., 60, was involved but that he was not currently considered a suspect. "We will know in the next week," he said in a video shared by Reuters.
"There are signs that point that the son is involved in the crime as well, but only as a person of interest so far," he said, adding that "he is not currently considered a suspect."
Thomas Markle, 82, has been under investigation since October in the Philippines over allegations that he possessed child sexual abuse material. He has not been charged.
The Sun first reported that Markle Jr. told Philippine police that after his father left the Philippines in May, he discovered images of child sexual abuse material among boxes at his father's former home in Cebu.
Remulla told AFP on Oct. 24 that police inspected Markle Sr.'s former home in Cebu following a report from his son and found a "trove" of suspected child sexual abuse material and a laptop.
Markle Sr. has vehemently denied the allegations against him, telling the British newspaper the
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Nov 05, 2026
US First Lady Melania Trump called for a new ceasefire in Ukraine after the expiry of a temporary truce in the ruined town of Oleshky (SAUL LOEB)US First Lady Melania Trump called for a new, "more enduring" ceasefire in Ukraine as she hosted officials from the war-torn country and its invader Russia at the White House on Thursday.
Trump earlier helped negotiate a six-day ceasefire in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, which ended on Sunday. The brief pause was one of the most notable instances of Russian-Ukrainian cooperation since Moscow invaded its neighbour in 2022.
"I hope Oleshky inspires greater peace. Every significant transformation begins with a small spark," Trump told reporters at a joint press conference with Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Ukrainian ceasefire negotiator David Arakhamia.
"Now we must use the courage we brought to Oleshky to find common ground through a shared concern for the suffering of innocent people," Trump added. "Together, we can create something more enduring than a temporary ceasefire."
She concluded by saying that she had written personal letters to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
"The ceasefire in Oleshky would not be possible without President Putin and President Zelensky. Their cooperation establishes a meaningful precedent for advancing peace throughout the region," she added.
Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets presented Melania Trump with a national award for her role in brokering the Oleshky ceasefire that enabled the evacuation of civilians.
Dmitriev said that "on behalf of President Putin, on behalf of people of the Russian Federation, we would like to thank First Lady Melania Trump for her distinguished humanitarian role
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Nov 05, 2026
Comedian Russell Brand at Southwark Crown Court in London.Anadolu via Getty ImagesA jury in London has found comedian and actor Russell Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
The actor had been charged on seven counts: three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of attempted indecent assault.
After the verdict, London's Metropolitan Police Service told Yahoo that Brand, 51, is facing further allegations of rape from two women.
"The suspect has previously been interviewed under caution in connection with the allegations," the force said in a statement. "Files have been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to both complainants." Brand has not been charged in relation to these claims.
Following a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in London, the jury found Brand guilty on four of the charges. He was acquitted of two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Brand is due to be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, Nov. 9. The judge said he should
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Nov 05, 2026
By Tim Reid
WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - With the US midterms over, Democrats are turning to what could become one of their most crowded and unpredictable presidential primaries in decades, a 2028 contest likely to expose the party's divide over how to win back the White House.
No Democrat has emerged as a clear favorite in a field that could attract dozens of contenders, while Republicans ?have a smaller group of widely discussed candidates, led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to succeed President Donald Trump, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
Potential Democratic ?candidates, including sitting governors and senators, have spent months cultivating donors, visiting states with early nominating contests and raising their national profiles, positioning themselves for a race that strategists expect to begin in earnest now that the midterms are over.
The sweeping victories by Democrats on Tuesday, when voters ?delivered a sharp rebuke to Trump and his agenda, will intensify discussions within both parties about how to win over an electorate unhappy with the country's direction.
Despite their resounding victories on Tuesday, Democrats enter the 2028 campaign still divided over whether to tack to the center or move further left on issues ranging from healthcare and taxes to policing and foreign policy.
Republican candidates will face a different challenge - how to distance themselves from Trump after Tuesday's repudiation of his policies. They need to broaden their appeal beyond the president's base while avoiding a break with the populist Make America Great Again movement that has come to define the party.
Trump, who has dominated the political landscape for a decade, may be reluctant to yield center ?stage, and his continued influence with MAGA followers could complicate the path of ?the party's next standard-bearer.
LOOMING DEMOCR
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Nov 05, 2026
A complex mission lies ahead for investigators trying to determine why a Learjet dove into the ground and exploded in South Florida, killing nine people, including two children.
How did the pilots lose control of the aircraft? Did the jet go into a "Mach tuck," its nose suddenly pitching downward in a trajectory nearly impossible to recover from? What role did icing play in the fatal fall from the sky?
Investigators will scrutinize the towering and turbulent storm the jet encountered, every aircraft piece recovered and every word the co-pilot spoke to air traffic controllers in the final minutes of her life, expert pilots told USA TODAY. Those experts said pilots of the mid-sized high-altitude Learjet may have faced little margin for error in difficult flying conditions, raising concerns about "Mach tuck," an infamous nose-down flying condition.
"Every single one of those pieces will be a clue in putting this whole picture together," said Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation.
The Nov. 1 crash killed the
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Nov 05, 2026
President Donald Trump hopes to win approval Thursday for his planned 250-foot-tall triumphal arch, which he calls a necessary addition to Washington. He may end the day with work finally underway - or blocked by a federal judge.
The National Capital Planning Commission, which Trump has stocked with allies, on Thursday afternoon will review final plans for the arch, proposed near Arlington National Cemetery. The commission is expected to approve the project - after extensive public testimony and debate - and administration officials say they could begin construction immediately.
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The project's opponents have beseeched U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan to stop work before it starts. "The Court should not allow this lawless project to evade scrutiny," Brian Schwalb and Jay Jones, the attorneys general for D.C. and Virginia, wrote in a joint court filing Wednesday.
Trump has spent more than a year touting plans for the arch, which he says is needed to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary. The monument would rise in Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout tucked inside Washington's boundaries. The current Congress has not authorized the project, and opponents argue it would violate multiple federal laws, overwhelm the site and wrongly overshadow the national military cemetery.
The Trump administration says building the arch will complete a century-old vision for the site that Congress had authorized. The president extolled the arch again Wednesday while touring another of his projects, a new W
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Nov 05, 2026
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, on July 21. - Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
President Donald Trump may have made the decision to launch the war that tanked voters' support for the GOP and dealt them a midterm shellacking. But the historic losses are accelerating a push for someone else to take the fall: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
And the House could vote as soon as next week to impeach the Pentagon's top leader.
Many Republican lawmakers and allies alarmed by Tuesday's wipeout are moving swiftly to pin blame for the election results on Hegseth, arguing behind the scenes that he played a chief role in convincing Trump to attack Iran with no exit strategy — and no plan for managing the inevitable political fallout.
The knives-out campaign comes despite private acknowledgement from House and Senate GOP strategists that the party's problems extended far beyond the war, triggering 2008-level losses that will take years to reverse. But for now, party leaders - and many in their ranks - remain unwilling to directly blame Trump for their woes.
Even among House Republicans who survived Tuesday's onslaught, there's zero expectation they will suddenly break from the president with two years left in his term. Yet that fealty does not extend to Hegseth, the combative defense secretary who has made few friends on Capitol Hill since taking over command of the Pentagon.
House Republicans are expected to vote to directly repudiate the defense secretary in a matter of days. Rep. Thomas Ma
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Nov 05, 2026
Democrats celebrated sweeping successes in the midterm elections as the party regained control of the House, Senate and statehouses across the country.
Democrats flipped seven Senate seats to hold 54 seats to the Republican Party's 44 in one of the most lopsided recent midterm performances. Two seats — nail-biting contests in Alaska and Mississippi — remain undeclared.
Mississippi is unexpectedly competitive, and with 96% of the votes counted, Democrat candidate Scott Colom leads Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by 0.1%, according to the Associated Press.
As Republicans licked their wounds, President Trump signaled he would work with Democrats, but indicated he wouldn't hesitate to use his veto powers. The president also acknowledged Wednesday that the eight-month-long Iran war had hit the Republican vote, but defended his actions. "If I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again," he said, adding, "you can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon."
Vice President JD Vance had earlier blamed the scale of GOP losses on the war with Iran in a post on X, "The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone," he wrote. "The reason we lost is the war."
Democrats won a series
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Nov 05, 2026
A Ryanair flight which landed in Sofia on Thursday [Reuters]
Several flights across Europe have been targeted by bomb threats for the second time this week.
Flights bound for Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, Austria and Czechia have been affected, including an Aer Lingus plane which departed Dublin for Rome but was forced to divert to Evreux air base in northern France on Thursday morning.
Italian fighter jets escorted a Finnair flight travelling from Helsinki to the Italian capital, where it landed as scheduled.
It comes just days after eight European flights, including two departing from the UK, were targeted by suspected bomb threats. No explosives were found on any of the planes after searches.
A statement from Aer Lingus confirmed that flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome "diverted to Normandy this morning as a security precaution."
It added: "The flight landed safely and Aer Lingus will work to re-accommodate customers to their final destination as soon as possible."
The following flights have been affected on Thursday:
Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome diverted to a French airbase after a bomb threat
Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome was targeted by a bomb threat and landed as normal, the airline said. It was was escorted into Fiumicino airport by Italian Air Force fighter jets, a spokesperson for Aeroporti di Roma told the BBC
Second Finnair flight travelling from Helsinki to Vienna faced a bomb threat and landed as normal in Austria
Wizz Air flight from Milan, Italy, to Warsaw, Poland, issued an emergency
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Nov 05, 2026
Democrats celebrated sweeping successes in the midterm elections as the party regained control of the House, Senate and statehouses across the country.
Democrats flipped seven Senate seats to hold 54 seats to the Republican Party's 44 in one of the most lopsided recent midterm performances. Two seats — nail-biting contests in Alaska and Mississippi — remain undeclared.
As Republicans licked their wounds, President Trump signaled he would work with Democrats, but indicated he wouldn't hesitate to use his veto powers. The president also acknowledged Wednesday that the eight-month-long Iran war had hit the Republican vote, but defended his actions. "If I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again," he said, adding, "you can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon."
Vice President JD Vance had earlier blamed the scale of GOP losses on the war with Iran in a post on X, "The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone," he wrote. "The reason we lost is the war."
Democrats won a series of key battleground contests.
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Nov 05, 2026
(Bloomberg) -- Americans handed Democrats a thumping midterm victory on Tuesday, and with it, a mandate to fix their money problems. In survey after survey, voters voiced their anger over the state of the US economy, especially the cost of essentials like food, gas and housing.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley Offers $2.3 Billion Debt for Dell Family DealDemocrats Clinch Huge Wins on Inflation Anger, Trump FatigueWhat the Democrats' Sweep of Congress Means for TrumpDemocrats Sweep to Control of Congress in Rebuke of TrumpTrump Now Has to Govern Through a Midterm Meltdown of His Own MakingMany voters now expect their newly elected leaders to do something to lower the cost of living and help them save. But it's rarely that simple. Congress can't control markets and GDP growth, much less gas prices and groceries. And while candidates have pledged to push back on tariffs and the Iran war, much still lies in President Donald Trump's control. Nevertheless, elections mat
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Nov 05, 2026
By Tim Reid
WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - With the US midterms over, Democrats are turning to what could become one of their most crowded and unpredictable presidential primaries in decades, a 2028 contest likely to expose the party's divide over how to win back the White House.
No Democrat has emerged as a clear favorite in a field that could attract dozens of contenders, while Republicans have a smaller ?group of widely discussed candidates, led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to succeed President Donald Trump, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
Potential Democratic candidates, including sitting governors ?and senators, have spent months cultivating donors, visiting states with early nominating contests and raising their national profiles, positioning themselves for a race that strategists expect to begin in earnest now that the midterms are over.
The sweeping victories by Democrats on Tuesday, when voters delivered a sharp rebuke to Trump ?and his agenda, will intensify discussions within both parties about how to win over an electorate unhappy with the country's direction.
Despite their resounding victories on Tuesday, Democrats enter the 2028 campaign still divided over whether to tack to the center or move further left on issues ranging from healthcare and taxes to policing and foreign policy.
Republican candidates will face a different challenge - how to distance themselves from Trump after Tuesday's repudiation of his policies. They need to broaden their appeal beyond the president's base while avoiding a break with the populist Make America Great Again movement that has come to define the party.
Trump, who has dominated the political landscape for a decade, may be reluctant to yield center stage, and his continued influence with MAGA followers could complicate the path ?of the party's next standard-bearer.
LOOMING DEMOCRAT
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Nov 05, 2026
Vice President JD Vance takes the stage before he speaks at a campaign rally in Swanton, Ohio, on November 2. - Tom Brenner/Getty Images
Vice President JD Vance's seemingly straightforward path to succeeding President Donald Trump suddenly looks much murkier.
The Republican shellacking in Tuesday's midterm elections has quickly triggered a public reckoning within the GOP over Trump's place in the future of the party — one that threatens to complicate Vance's efforts to consolidate party support behind a widely anticipated White House bid.
Vance appeared to recognize the danger Wednesday morning, blaming the party's sweeping losses on the war with Iran and distancing himself from Trump's unpopular foreign policy decisions. In a lengthy post on X, Vance appeared to sketch out what the foundations for his own 2028 platform, centered on ending the war, tackling affordability, refocusing on domestic challenges and reconsidering America's relationship with Israel.
"To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be," he wrote. "Let's take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country."
But there are already signs
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Nov 05, 2026
A single ticket in New Jersey won the $847 million Powerball Wednesday night, one of the 10 biggest jackpots in the lottery's history.
The ticket holder matched the winning numbers, 15, 34, 41, 53 and 56, as well as the red 21 Powerball, to take the prize.
The winner can either take a one-time payment of $363.1 million before taxes, or they can choose an annuity that is paid out over the next 29 years.
A total of 25 people won $50,000 in the draw, while four Power Play winners boosted their prizes to $100,000.
The win ends the three-month Powerball jackpot drought, after the last grand prize winner claimed $1.04 billion in Illinois, which was the eighth-largest win in the game's history.
While the jackpot is one of the biggest ever, the winner may never disclose their identity. Under New Jersey state law, the winner has the right to remain completely anonymous indefinitely.
The next Powerball drawing on Nov. 7 will offer players a chance to win $20 million.
What are the biggest Powerball wins?The latest win is the ninth largest Powerball prize.
The largest jackpot ever won, $2.04 billion, went to Edwin Castro, who bought the winning ticket at Joe's Service Center in Altadena, Calif., in 2022. Castro has generally kept a low profile, but the
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Nov 05, 2026
A customer holds a number slip for Powerball lottery tickets in Hawthorne, California, on August 25, 2025. - Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
A single Powerball ticket in New Jersey has won an estimated $847 million after matching all six numbers in Wednesday's drawing, the company said Thursday.
The winning numbers were 15, 34, 41, 53, 56, and red Powerball 21, with a Power Play multiplier of 2x.
The winner has the option to take a one-time payment of $363.1 million or an annuity paid out over 29 years.
There were no winners for the $2 million and $1 million Match 5 prizes.
Wednesday's jackpot was the ninth-largest prize in game history and the second-largest prize so far this year, according to game officials. Powerball updated the jackpot from $835 million, raising it from being the tenth-largest prize in game history.
The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was August 12, when a lucky player claimed a $1.04 billion jackpot in Illinois.
Powerball drawings take place three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, at 10:59 p.m. ET. The jackpot will reset to $20 million for Saturday's drawing.
The odds of winning Wednesday's jackpot were extremely slim, at an estimated 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.
This jackpot cycle was the first in which players in the United
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Nov 04, 2026
District Attorney and U.S. Senate candidate for Mississippi Scott Colom speaks as he gives an update on state of Senate race against Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Jackson, Mississippi, on Nov. 4, 2026. —Rogelio V. Solis—Getty ImagesAs Democrats are celebrating a historic blue wave, eyes are on the Senate race in deep-red Mississippi, where the Democratic candidate led the Republican incumbent by a razor-thin margin of 1,138 votes as of Wednesday evening.
The Associated Press has not yet called the race because it is so close, with Democratic challenger Scott Colom ahead by about 0.1%—he has so far earned 49% of the vote compared to Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith's 48.9%, with 96% of votes counted. It's a stunning nail-biter of a race that, in the weeks leading up to Election Day, polls had suggested would likely be won by the Republican incumbent by a narrow margin.
"I can't recall the last time it's been this close for a statewide Senate contest—or a statewide election in general," says Aaron Hitefield, an assistant professor of political science at Mississippi State University. "It's unprecedented for [Mississippi] to be this competitive for Democrats particularly, certainly in the last 40 years."
Read More: What Democrats' Midterm Gains Reveal About Trump's Voter Coalition
Political experts say it co
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Nov 04, 2026
Hours before Indiana was poised to carry out its first execution of the year, set for Thursday before sunrise, lawyers and supporters for the condemned man rallied to spare his life after new details emerged about the state's secretive process of obtaining lethal injection drugs.
Attorneys for Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, called on Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to halt his lethal injection execution and order an independent review of the state's procedures over allegations that the state obtained its chemicals from a pharmacy currently on probation and facing suspension of its license.
"Laid bare, the apparent conduct here is patently unworthy of the public's confidence in the solemn exercise of state power in taking a human being's life in the name of the people," Joe Perkovich, an attorney for Weisheit, said in a statement Wednesday.
Jeffrey Weisheit. (Indiana Department of Correction via AP)Weisheit, who was convicted in the 2010 murders of two young children in a house fire, did not contest his guilt but sought clemency from Braun for his sentence to be commuted to life in prison without parole. His attorneys are citing Tennessee's failed lethal injection execution of Christa Pike on Sept. 30 in his new application to the governor seeking a reprieve, saying Indiana's protocol is "more susceptible to catastrophic failures such as the one that
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Nov 04, 2026
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would remain on the job, even as he acknowledged that the war with Iran had contributed to Republicans' sweeping midterm losses and as Democrats prepare to use their new congressional majority to potentially investigate the Pentagon chief.
Trump dismissed the possibility of replacing Hegseth, telling reporters he was "doing a great job." When asked about speculation that Hegseth is eyeing Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn's soon-to-be-vacated Tennessee seat, Trump predicted the defense secretary would be "very popular" in the state.
Blackburn, who won Tennessee's gubernatorial race Tuesday, declined to weigh in on who might be picked to fill her Senate seat. Asked about who would be appointed, she said, "It's not a conversation for today."
Hegseth says War Powers deadline doesn't apply because of ceasefire with IranTrump's remarks come as Republicans grapple with the political fallout from the eight-month war with Iran, which has driven up gas prices and fueled voter frustration over the cost of living. The war and its economic consequences are widely seen as a major factor in Republicans' crushing midterm defeat.
"The Iran thing we had to do, and we continue to do it," Trump told reporters, adding that he believes the war will be worth it in the long term.
In April, Hegseth declared a "historic and overwhelming victory" over Iran. But fighting has continued for months, killing and wounding American troops, driving up energy costs and consuming expensive U.S. munitions that could take years to replace.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
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Nov 04, 2026
Midterms tend to be backlash elections, and the president's party almost always loses seats when voters return to the polls to judge his performance in office.
But not all midterms are created equal.
On Tuesday, Democrats comprehensively routed their Republican rivals, regaining control of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and statehouses across the country. Along the way, they shattered a series of decades-long Republican winning streaks and notched several historic firsts.
So just how big was this year's blue wave (or "
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Nov 04, 2026
By Nandita Bose, Jarrett Renshaw and Bo Erickson
WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump faced pressure from Republicans on Wednesday to change course after a midterm election rout handed Democrats control of Congress and voters rejected his handpicked candidates in key ?races.
Republican allies and strategists called for Trump to shake up his White House personnel, restore discipline and scrap policies they blamed ?for the losses, including the Iran war and tariffs, as his presidency enters its final years.
Veteran Republican strategist John Feehery called the results a "huge disaster" for Trump.
"He needs to clean house," ?Feehery said. "Every day from this point forward, he's becoming more and more lame."
But Trump showed little indication that he viewed the election outcome as a reason to change direction.
"I don't view it as a hit on me," he told Fox News late on Tuesday.
Democrats will now have the power to block Trump's legislation, investigate his administration and challenge his nominees. That is expected to push Trump, who has already used executive authority aggressively, toward an even greater reliance ?on unilateral action.
He will also have to decide whether ?to double down on an agenda that some Republicans fear has become a political liability, particularly for potential successors eyeing White House bids in 2028.
Vice President JD Vance, who is viewed as Trump's likely political heir, appeared to put some ?distance between himself and the president on Wednesday, blaming the Iran war for the midterm losses. Such breaks could become more common if Republicans conclude Trump's longtime grip on the party's voters is weakening, strategists and party officials said.
WHITE HOUSE BRACES FOR STAFF SHAKE-UP, INVESTIGATIONS
Inside the White House, senior aides were bracing for ?staff departures, ?possible Cabinet changes and Democratic
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Nov 04, 2026
An illustration of NASA's Swift Observatory in space - NASA
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory met a fiery end on Wednesday morning, nearly 22 years after it launched to study the most powerful explosions in the universe.
Data from the US Space Force estimates the 3,200-pound spacecraft plunged into Earth's atmosphere over Indonesia around 7:39 a.m. ET.
While most of the observatory was expected to burn up as it blazed through the thick inner band of Earth's atmosphere, NASA predicted some pieces of the vehicle would survive.
It was not immediately clear whether any surviving debris hit land. Previously, NASA had predicted that the "risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is unlikely, approximately 1 in 2,100."
The Swift Observatory launched atop a Delta II rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on November 20, 2004. - NASA
A risky reentry
If Swift were launched today, it would likely have to adhere to far stricter safety guidelines regarding end-of-life planning, according to The Aerospace Corporation, which is a federally funded research and development center.
Current orbital debris mitigation standards, which were updated in 2019, mandate that "uncontrolled reentries
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Nov 04, 2026
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska Dan Sullivan, left, and Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, right. Photos: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff / Flickr / CC BY 2.0, Arctic Warrior / U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Moises Vasquez / Flickr / Public Domain(The Center Square)—The outcome of a tightly contested and controversial U.S. Senate race in Alaska may not be known until the end of the month or later.
U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, a Republican, is making a bid for a third six-year term. As of 2:20 p.m. EDT, he trails former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, by 626 votes with 77% of ballots counted. He has 102,075 votes to her 102,701. The race has been the focus of controversy after The New York Times reported that Peltola's campaign helped recruit a candidate with the same name as Sullivan in an apparent attempt to confuse voters. She has denied doing that.
Twenty-three percent of votes have yet to be tallied. Even when they are, the narrow margin separating the candidates means that the outcome may be decided not at the state's polling sites but through the mail via absentee and questioned ballots.
In the previous midterm congressional election four years ago, Alaska officials said they received 9,143 in-person absentee ballots and 8,009 questioned ballots. Two years
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Nov 04, 2026
Over 800 gold and silver coins have been found from the Ann Francis wreckage.
Archaeologists have finally cracked the code to the famed Ann Francis shipwreck's brass combination treasure lock. However, the 16th century relic didn't open after hours of painstaking trial-and-error. Researchers at Cardiff University and Amgueddfa Cymru, the National Museum of Wales, relied on highly detailed CT scanning equipment to peer inside the mechanical device and learn the code without touching the lock itself.
"It's not every day you get to solve a 400-year-old mystery," David Williams, a Cardiff University biomechanics engineer, said in a statement.
The lock's combination was lost on December 28, 1583, when the merchant ship Ann Francis sailed into a powerful storm during a return voyage from Spain. The exact crew number is unclear, but all of them (around 14 sailors) reportedly drowned after veering off-course and wrecking along the coast of southern Wales. Unfortunately, at least one other death is likely directly tied to the Ann Francis. Archival evidence suggests locals later accused a "detestable woman" named Mother Gabley of being an "execra
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Nov 04, 2026
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) speaks with reporters during an election night watch party in Washington on Nov. 3, 2026. (Tom Brenner / Getty Images)Democrats in Congress gained the power Tuesday night to more forcefully investigate President Trump and rein in his agenda, setting up confrontations that are likely to define the final two years of his presidency.
As party leaders on Wednesday celebrated retaking the House and Senate, they vowed to put Trump and his administration on the defensive with subpoenas and hearings, a role that voters made clear they want them to play. But they also said the top priority would be the issue that swept them to power: making life more affordable.
"We are going to work hard to drive costs down with the president or without him, period," Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is poised to become Senate majority leader, said at a news conference.
Schumer's fellow New Yorker and the House Democratic leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, echoed those priorities on CNN: "We ran on affordability, we won decisively on affordability, and now we have a responsibility to govern on affordability."
With power split between the legislative and executive branches, to what degree Washington avoids gridlock will depend on how Trump wields his veto pen and how the Democrats negotiate with him — and how they follow through on pledges to investigate what they called a corrupt administration.
"Make no mistake, whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we w
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Nov 04, 2026
By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The US midterm election landslide that gives Democrats control of Congress starting in January is fueling questions about the longevity of the Supreme Court's two eldest justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, and the durability of its conservative majority.
As Republicans prepare to cede control of the Senate to Democrats for the next two years or ?more, some conservative commentators already are expressing concerns about the health prospects of Thomas, 78, and Alito, 76, placing renewed focus on their continued service on the top US judicial body.
The US Constitution ?assigns the Senate the power to confirm a president's judicial nominations. With a Senate majority, Democrats can block any nominations that Republican President Donald Trump would make to fill potential Supreme Court vacancies, just as Republicans blocked Democratic President Barack Obama from filling one in ?2016.
Thomas has given no public indication of wanting to step down. Alito said last month he would remain for the duration of the current nine-month term, which began in October, even if Democrats were to retake the Senate. Thomas and Alito did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about whether they are considering retiring.
Thomas and Alito are the court's two most conservative justices and have reliably backed Trump policies in major rulings during his second term in office. The court's 6-3 conservative majority, which has steered American law in a sharply rightward direction on issues from abortion to gun rights to presidential powers, includes three justices Trump appointed during his first term as president.
Alito's comment about remaining ?through the current term followed speculation that he might quickly retire in the ?event Democrats captured the Senate in order to ensure that Trump could get a successor confirmed with Republicans still in control.
Unt
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Nov 04, 2026
US stocks jumped on Wednesday after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in a seismic midterm election, paving the way for a divided government.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 3%, or around 1,500 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) climbed 1.7%. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) traded up by 1.8% as Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) stocks touched record highs.
Markets swiftly repriced a Democratic sweep of the House and Senate — and the potential for ballot measures and newly elected officials to restrict data center construction. Chip stocks, including Nvidia (NVDA) and Micron (MU), fell m
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Nov 04, 2026
The battle for control of Congress got the lion's share of the attention on Tuesday, but there were a lot of other consequential measures on the ballots that could have a direct impact on voters' lives.
Ballot measures often don't receive much national focus, but every two years, voters across the country decide whether to adopt policies that have major implications for their states. This year was no different.
There were more than 140 measures on the ballot across 40 states. Many touched on some of the biggest issues in U.S. politics, including abortion, transgender rights, voting and the democratic process itself.
Ballot measures can give the people a way to directly alter the laws in their states instead of relying solely on their elected representatives to create policy on their behalf. In some cases, they provide an opportunity for voters to endorse or reject something their state legislature wants to do. In others, regular citizens can get their preferred policy on the ballot directly through a signature-gathering campaign.
Here's a rundown of the results of some of the major measures on statewide ballots this year.
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Nov 04, 2026
Former President Bill Clinton on April 28, 2007 (left); Abdul El-Sayed on Nov. 4, 2026 (right)
Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio; Sarah Rice/Bloomberg via GettyNEED TO KNOWBill Clinton crossed paths with Abdul El-Sayed nearly 20 years agoBoth gave speeches at the University of Michigan commencement in 2007"I just wish every person in the world could have heard you speak today," Clinton told El-Sayed at the timeBill Clinton was a fan of Abdul El-Sayed years before he became Michigan's senator-elect.
In a resurfaced video, the former president praised El-Sayed while giving an address at the 2007 University of Michigan commencement.
"I don't want to embarrass your senior speaker," Clinton said moments after El-Sayed delivered a speech as class valedictorian. "But I wish every person in the world who believes that we are fated to have a clash of civilizations, and cannot reach across the religious divides, could have heard you speak today."
Clinton added, "I just wish every person in the world could have heard you speak today."
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, El-Sayed defeated Mike Rogers to become the first Muslim elected t
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Nov 04, 2026
California's proposed billionaire tax appeared headed for defeat on Wednesday in one of the final verdicts from voters in an election week that saw a wave of anti-billionaire sentiment elsewhere.
The latest results on Wednesday afternoon showed California's Proposition 40 down by over 11 percentage points, with 60% of votes counted but the race not yet formally called.
The referendum would amend California's constitution and impose a one-time 5% tax on California residents and trusts with assets over $1 billion on Jan. 1, 2026. The revenue would primarily go toward healthcare, as well as food assistance and education.
Some assets, such as real property and certain retirement accounts and pensions, were excluded.
The measure was estimated to impact about 200 billionaires in the state. It faced fierce opposition from many in Big Tech and lost steam with voters as Election Day neared.
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Nov 04, 2026
Steve Kornacki is back to give viewers some closure after his epic midterms marathon.
The network's chief data analyst went live for a whopping 10 straight hours for NBC News' coverage of the midterm elections Nov. 3. Throughout the evening, Kornacki regularly appeared on the NBC television network to discuss the election results as they came in. But NBC also hosted a "Kornacki Cam" livestream that stayed with Kornacki all night long.
The stream ended a bit abruptly, though: After impressively staying on for more than 10 hours with virtually no breaks, Kornacki told viewers he'd be taking five minutes and would be "right back," only to never return.
In an early morning X post on Nov. 4, Kornacki explained he had planned to be live for 13 hours but had to dip out a bit earlier than anticipated.
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Nov 04, 2026
Democrats on Tuesday comprehensively routed their Republican rivals, regaining control of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and statehouses across the country.
It was one of the most lopsided midterm performances in modern U.S. history.
Coming into the night, Republicans held 53 of the Senate's 100 seats; Democrats held 45. To wrest back control of the Senate, Democrats needed a net gain of at least four seats. As at 11:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, the Democrats had won 54 Senate seats to the GOP's 44 — and they could wind up winning as many as 56 once all the votes are counted in Alaska and Mississippi, where key races have yet to be called.
In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed defeated Mike Rogers in one of the most closely watched races. James Talarico beat Republican Ken Paxton in Texas, becoming the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat in the Lone Star State since 1988.
Annie Andrews beat GOP Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina to flip a Senate seat. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson defeated incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins, putting an end to her three-decade tenure. Sen. Jon Ossoff comfortably won reelection in Georgia. Other Senate seats to flip to
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Nov 04, 2026
US stocks jumped on Wednesday after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in a seismic midterm election, paving the way for a divided government.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 2.8%, or around 1,400 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) climbed 1.7%. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) traded up by 1.8% as Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) stocks touched record highs.
Markets swiftly repriced a Democratic sweep of the House and Senate — and the potential for ballot measures and newly elected officials to restrict data center construction. Chip stocks, including Nvidia (NVDA) and Micron (MU), fell
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Nov 04, 2026
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump's social media company and meme coin both plunged after Democrats won a decisive victory in the midterm elections, dinging the multibillion-dollar fortune of a president whose slew of new business ventures became a defining feature of his second term.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley Offers $2.3 Billion Debt for Dell Family DealDemocrats Sweep to Control of Congress in Rebuke of TrumpWhat the Democrats' Sweep of Congress Means for TrumpDemocrat El-Sayed Wins Michigan Race in Boost to ProgressivesDemocrats Clinch Huge Wins on Inflation Anger, Trump FatigueTrump Media & Technology Group Corp., the parent company of social media platform Truth Social, touched an all-time low of $5.03 on Wednesday. $TRUMP, the virtual token that Trump introduced days before his second inauguration, slid more than 10% in the past 24 hours, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.
The simultaneous drop in both assets — which trade heavily on retail spe
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Nov 04, 2026
CVS Health Corporation (CVS) announced plans on Wednesday to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies, reshaping one of the largest healthcare companies in the US.
Shares of CVS dropped more than 10% on Wednesday. The company also reported quarterly results.
CVS Health intends to separate its insurance, pharmacy benefit management, and healthcare services operations from its retail pharmacy and community healthcare segments.
The planned split marks a major shift from CVS Health's long-term strategy to bring together insurance, pharmacy benefit management, and healthcare services under one single structure.
Under the proposed plan, one company will retain the CVS Health name and house Aetna, CVS Caremark, CVS Specialty, Oak Street Health, and Signify Health.
The second entity will operate under the name CVS Pharmacy. It will include approximately 9,000 retail pharmacy locations and MinuteClinic locations, among other services.
Management believes separating the businesses will allow each organization to operate with greater independence while maintaining the ability to pursue partnerships across the healthcare industry.
The planned separation is expected to be completed in the first half of 2028.
On Wednesday, CVS also reported third quarter results with total revenue increasing 5.4% year over year to $108.4 billion, compared with $102.9 billion in the prior-
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Nov 04, 2026
Washington — President Trump has been asking advisers around him and on the phone whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job, following Republicans' catastrophic losses Tuesday night, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CBS News.
Some White House aides have predicted some of the blame for GOP midterm losses will be trained on Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, who both played big roles in guidance on the Iran war.
Still, other sources said the president hasn't decided to replace Hegseth. Before the election, Democrats were already trying to impeach Hegseth, and the likelihood of an impeachment effort could increase with Democrats holding strong majorities in both chambers.
Vice President JD Vance is blaming the war for the GOP defeat. "The reason we lost is the war," he said in a lengthy post on X Wednesday morning.
One source told CBS News that GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible replacement for Hegseth, arguing DeSantis could go through Senate confirmation in the lame-duck period and then take the post when his term as governor expires Jan. 5.
Asked for comment about reports that Hegseth's future as defense secretary, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement that Mr. Trump "has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth." In the statement, Kelly also praised the military operations in Iran and Venezuela and Hegseth's efforts to reverse the Biden Pentagon's prioritizing of "DEI and woke ideology."
This article originally appeared on CBS News at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-hegseth-midterm-election-losses/
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Nov 04, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump gave extended comments Wednesday, not about the Republican Party's midterm election wipeout but instead justifying his building a sprawling White House ballroom.
Trump invited reporters into a cavernous construction site and talked about the building project for nearly 20 minutes without mention sweeping Republican defeats around the country the night before.
"This has been a structure the likes of which has never been seen anywhere," Trump said before watching crews erect what he said would be the project's last beam and even signing what was being built.
The president had no public events on his schedule originally, but called reporters together at the last minute. He also briefly took questions, insisting, "If I were on the ballot I would have won."
He said a series of rallies he held leading up the election featured a lot of love from his supporters that "we weren't able to transfer love to the candidates."
Trump's continued heavy focus on the building project comes as midterm voters said they thought he was concentrating on the wrong issues during this year's campaign.
About two-thirds of voters said Trump does not have the right priorities, according to The AP Voter Poll survey — and the overwhelming majority of these voters supported Democratic House candidates. Roughly one-third of voters said Trump has the right priorities.
Even as Trump evaded blame for the election fallout, he had used a flurry of late campaign rallies to implore supporters to pretend that
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Nov 04, 2026
The ScoopAs soon as Republican Sen. Darline Graham won the GOP nomination to replace her late brother in August, Democrat Annie Andrews made her move.
Andrews immediately began spending more than $5 million on advertising in South Carolina's Senate race at a moment when she largely had the airwaves to herself as her new opponent struggled to raise money. At the time, Republicans were racing to prioritize other competitive races across the country — and most people in both parties still saw South Carolina as a pipe dream for Democrats.
But by October, when the rest of the country began tuning into South Carolina — and spending money — Andrews quietly became the frontrunner, according to internal campaign details shared with Semafor following her victory on Tuesday.
On Oct. 5, the Andrews campaign received a poll showing her with a 3-point lead over Graham. But the Democrat's campaign decided against publicly releasing the poll — or any subsequent internal poll — showing Andrews with a lead over Graham, wary of drawing too much attention from national Republicans and jeopardizing a peak at the right time, according to Chas Goldman, a strategist for Andrews.
That Republican attention did come, but not in time to save Graham in a state where Democrats hadn't won a Senate race since 1998. On a Senate map filled with shocking GOP losses, South Carolina stands out: It's the home of the National Republican Senatorial Committee chair, Tim Scott, and territory on which Democrats tried to compete statewide in 2020 — and lost handily.
Former GOP Rep. and Gov. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., told Semafor on Wednesday that he could feel the anti-Graham sentiment building on the state's coast but that most Republicans still felt that Graham could "nose it out" elsewhere. Ultimately, though, he said President Donald Trump's backing of Graham in a crowded primary which included Sanford and Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry "never sat well wi
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