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Washington DC-based institution says it'll temporarily close museums and research centers in response to shutdownSmithsonian museums and the National Zoo closed their doors on Sunday in response to the ongoing government shutdown.In a statement over the weekend, the Washington DC-based Smithsonian Institution announced that it was temporarily closing its museums, research centers and its zoo due to the government shutdown which has now entered the third week. Continue reading...

Cause of explosion at Accurate Energetic Systems that leveled building is unknown but foul play not ruled outAt least 200 mourners came to the Humphreys county courthouse at twilight on Sunday to mourn the 16 people killed in an explosion at a nearby munitions plant in middle Tennessee early on Friday.Humphreys county sheriff Chris Davis said that even in these nightmarish days, the true strength of our county is our people". Continue reading...

Department of Health and Human Services rescinds more than half of the 1,300 termination notices it sent, reports sayThe firings of hundreds of employees at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have been reversed, according to several reports citing officials familiar with the matter, and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union representing federal workers.On Friday, the White House budget office announced that as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, reductions in force (RIFs) across agencies have begun. Continue reading...

In this mailbag edition of his newsletter, Jonathan answers questions about the evolution of tactics, heat and World Cup outsiders

Areas from the Carolinas to New England see flooding and high winds, while flooding in Alaska carries away homesNew Jersey and parts of New York City were under a state of emergency on Monday as slow-moving nor'easter moved up the easter US seaboard, while in western Alaska remnants of Typhoon Halong lashed coastal hamlets and ripped houses off their foundations.In Alaska, rescue aircraft were sent to the villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, where there were reports of up to 20 people possibly unaccounted for. Continue reading...

Riders wore nothing - or close to it - in hastily called event against Trump's attempts to mobilize the national guardProtesters rallying against the Trump administration in Portland put the city's quirky and irreverent reputation on display on Sunday by pedaling through the streets wearing absolutely nothing - or close to it - in an emergency" edition of the annual World Naked Bike Ride.Crowds that have gathered daily and nightly outside the immigration facility in Oregon's largest city in recent days have embraced the absurd, donning inflatable frog, unicorn, axolotl and banana costumes as they face off with federal law enforcement who often deploy teargas and pepper balls. Continue reading...

Israelis believe their interests are better served by Washington than Jerusalem. But will Trump and Netanyahu's focus change now the hostages are home?

Abdul El-Sayed's bid for Michigan senator centers on bold leftwing populism similar to the NYC mayoral candidateDuring Vermont senator Bernie Sanders's Fight the Oligarchy tour stop in Michigan, Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed hit on bold populist policies like Medicare For All and taxing the rich.But he drew among the loudest cheers from the crowd in Kalamazoo, when he bellowed his updated reversal of an Obama catchphrase that signified a new pugilistic tactic when dealing with Maga attacks. When they go low, we don't go high. We take them to the mud and choke them out," he said. Continue reading...

Banning online anonymity tools like Tor won't stop crime. It will only drive people underground and normalize government control over the internetLike the war on drugs" or the war on terror", a war on child abuse" has too often been used to justify authoritarian overreach. Governments across the world are expanding surveillance, weakening encryption, and curtailing freedoms under the guise of staunching the proliferation of sexual images and videos of children - but these measures don't actually solve the problem.In Europe, the latest proposal for a chat control" regulation put forward by the Danish presidency would require every internet-connected device to include government spyware, as easy to activate as Alexa or Siri. It would scan not only for known child sexual abuse material (CSAM) but also, in practice, would flag artwork, fan fiction, family photos and chats, relying on unreliable AI classifiers - which scientists warn can't be implemented safely. Continue reading...

Veterans are facing federal charges after protesting Ice sweeps and Trump's national guard deployments. The justice department claims the veterans were violentUS military veterans increasingly face arrest and injury amid protests over Donald Trump's deportation campaign and his push to deploy national guard members to an ever-widening number of American cities.The Guardian has identified eight instances where military veterans have been prosecuted or sought damages after being detained by federal agents. Continue reading...

The state is setting a powerful example with its first-in-the-nation plan. But the policy has support across the USFor four years, New Mexico has been on a distressing losing streak. The state has consistently ranked last in the nation for child wellbeing, as determined by factors including household income, educational outcomes, and child mortality. And over the past decade, whenever New Mexico hasn't placed 50th, it's been 49th.But in its ongoing efforts to shake off that unenviable distinction, the state is poised to achieve a significant first. In September, governor Michelle Lujan Grisham - who made affordable childcare a centerpiece of her 2018 campaign - announced that New Mexico will offer free universal childcare. No other state in the US currently provides this essential service.Katrina vanden Heuvel is editor and publisher of the Nation, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a contributor to the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times Continue reading...

Group says Mark Francis Ford's work history also has several red flags, including entering a program known for treating pedophilia, though he claimed he was there due to problematic spendingAn Indiana man charged with molesting a disabled child while working as a Roman Catholic priest in New Orleans for several years beginning in 2004 should be listed as a credibly accused clergy abuser by various institutions for whom he ministered, says the director of a church accountability organization.Mark Francis Ford, once a member of the religious order colloquially known as the Vincentians, ministered within the archdiocese of New Orleans as well as the dioceses of Dallas and Gallup, New Mexico, after his ordination in 1992. He is accused of raping a boy whom he met through a program that he helped start in New Orleans named God's Special Children - which serves youths who are disabled - before and after the Vincentians say Ford successfully asked the Vatican to laicize him, or remove him from the priesthood, in 2007. Continue reading...

From Silicon Valley to Michigan, the biblical figure is in the headlines. The shift from pulpits to politics is familiar - and dangerousTwo scenes from the past two weeks capture something unsettling - and familiar -about American public life. In San Francisco, a tech billionaire delivered a soldout, offtherecord lecture series on the antichrist. In Michigan, a man rammed his pickup truck into a Latterday Saints meetinghouse during Sunday worship, opened fire and set the building ablaze, apparently believing that Mormons are the antichrist.The antichrist is clearly back. But perhaps he has never really left.Matthew Avery Sutton is a Guggenheim Fellow and author of the forthcoming Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity (Basic Books), in addition to five prior books on Christianity. He is the Claudius O and Mary Johnson distinguished professor and chair of the department of history at Washington State University. The views expressed here are his own and do reflect those of WSU Continue reading...

Plenty of franchises spend decades looking for a star quarterback. New England appear to have found one after a few short years in the wildernessYou have to feel for the Browns, Jets, and Bears. Those franchises have spent decades in quarterback purgatory, rotating through prospects and placeholders. Meanwhile, after just five years of searching, the Patriots - the post-Tom Brady Patriots - appear to have found the guy.Five years. From Brady to Cam Newton to Mac Jones to Bailey Zappe to Maye's first choppy season to this: a 23-year-old quarterback who looks like a top-five starter and MVP candidate. Continue reading...

Krone says alarming' levies on about 400 goods including hair dryers and combine harvesters have forced pauseOne of Europe's biggest farm machinery companies, Krone, has been forced to pause exports of large equipment to the US because of alarming" and little-known new tariffs that are hitting hundreds of products from knitting needles and hair dryers to combine harvesters.Among the products on the steel derivatives list drawn up in consultation with US manufacturers, Donald Trump is taxing 407 specific products ranging from tiny embroidery stilettos to cooker hoods, barbecues, fridges, freezers, dishwashers, hair curling tongs, grills, elevators, bridge and railway structures, agriculture equipment and wind turbines. Continue reading...

JD Vance confirms White House seriously considering invoking 1807 insurrection act as Trump heads to Israel. Key US politics stories from Sunday 12 October at a glance.The Trump administration is considering ways to invoke emergency powers, including utilising the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would allow president Donald Trump to deploy troops on US soil in the event of major unrest.Despite legal pushback, vice-president JD Vance has confirmed the White is seriously considering the idea. The president's looking at all of his options," he told NBC's News's Meet the Press on Sunday, adding that we are talking about this because crime has gotten out of control in our cities". Continue reading...

US president says Middle East will normalize' before he boarded flight to Israel for world leaders' peace summitThe war in Gaza has ended and the Middle East is going to normalize", Donald Trump said on Sunday as he flew to Israel, which was waiting for Hamas to release Israeli hostages as world leaders were gathering to discuss the next steps toward peace.The war is over, you understand that," Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One as he began a flight from Washington DC to Israel. Continue reading...

The Panthers stunned the Cowboys, the Steelers demolished the Browns and the Rams crushed the RavensJaguars 0-0 Seahawks 4:20, 1st quarterOoh and that's a bad miss. Trevor Lawrence overthrows a wide open receiver deep downfield but then recovers on 3rd down to move the chains with a strike to Johnny Mundt. Continue reading...

Vice-president calls crime out of control' in US cities as Trump faces legal battles for use of federal forcesThe White House is talking about invoking the Insurrection Act that would allow the deployment of military troops on US soil to quell domestic unrest amid legal challenges over the moves, JD Vance confirmed on Sunday.Vance was asked on NBC News's Meet the Press whether Donald Trump was seriously considering invoking the emergency power to deploy national guard forces and even the US military in domestic settings. Continue reading...

Mass shooting occurred early on Sunday at Willie's Bar and Grill on idyllic St Helena islandA mass shooting at a crowded bar on an idyllic South Carolina island has left four people dead and at least 20 injured, officials say.The shooting occurred early Sunday at Willie's Bar and Grill on St Helena island, officials said. A large crowd was at the scene when sheriff's deputies arrived and found several people suffering from gunshot wounds. Continue reading...

Airports post delays and cancellations in advance of anticipated coastal flooding and strong windsA nor'easter churned its way up the east coast on Sunday, with New Jersey declaring a state of emergency and some airports posting delays and cancellations in advance of anticipated coastal flooding and strong winds, as another storm system struck farther south with heavy rain and flooding.The greatest effects are going to be the coastal flooding potential, especially for areas from north-eastern North Carolina northward to much of the New Jersey coast," said meteorologist Bob Oravec with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland. Continue reading...

Studies show widespread errors in AI-generated work, as employers fail to train staff properlyArtificial intelligence sure has been taking a lot of flak lately.Only 8.5% of the 48,000 people recently surveyed by accounting firm KPMG said that they always" trust AI search results. Another report from Gartner found that more than half of consumers don't trust AI searches, with most reporting significant" mistakes. Continue reading...

A half-century ago, CBS's own president was boasting of his support for an antidemocratic political project. Our new book uses never-before-reported documents to tell the story of a scheme to undermine accountability journalismIf you only just started paying attention to the inner workings of the media industry, you might think America's information environment transformed overnight.In the past few months, a president extracted settlements from media giants as his apparatchiks vowed state retribution against his opponents - all as they defunded public media at a time when the president's biggest boosters own the algorithms that decide what information is amplified and suppressed. Continue reading...

Blaise Ingoglia was handpicked by the Republican Florida governor to lead an assault on municipal spendingThe words of Blaise Ingoglia, the Ron DeSantis loyalist handpicked to lead the Republican Florida governor's Doge-style assault on local government spending, could not have been more prophetic.Expect a knock on the door from us," Ingoglia warned on 1 October as he announced upcoming audits for Democratic-run cities and counties whose excessively wasteful" pecuniary habits displeased the DeSantis administration. Continue reading...

Experts say El Salvador president's intervention comes as Trump is employing tactics used by autocrats abroadDonald Trump is not known for taking advice, especially from foreign leaders who often seek to flatter and compliment the US president.But El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has followed a different tack by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching corrupt judges". Continue reading...

The establishment left's attachment to rigid rules leaves the party out of touch and failing to meet the momentIn early August, dozens of Democratic lawmakers fled Texas for Illinois, denying Republicans the quorum needed to pass new congressional maps projected to give the party as many as five additional seats. Their absence paralyzed the state legislature, turning a walkout into political resistance and drawing national attention.As the standoff dragged on, Gavin Newsom, California's governor, offered an unorthodox countermove: a proposal to suspend his state's independent redistricting commission and draw maps designed to hand Democrats a comparable advantage. He unveiled the plan with spectacle, mimicking Donald Trump's signature style through all-caps declarations, a mocking nickname for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (KaroLYIN") and AI-generated celebrity endorsements.Ryan W Powers is a legal analyst who writes a weekly newsletter on democracy, dissent and the law Continue reading...

Experts say the move could eliminate the federal government's power to cancel educational loansOfficials in the Trump administration are reportedly weighing the possibility of selling portions of the federal government's $1.6tn student loan portfolio to private investors, which experts say could carry risks for both taxpayers and borrowers - potentially reshaping the student loan landscape in unpredictable ways.Senior officials at the education and treasury departments have been engaged in internal conversations about offloading select, high-performing segments of the government's student debt holdings, according to a Politico report this week. These loans are part of the larger portfolio owed by roughly 45 million borrowers nationwide. Continue reading...

We haven't seen Ice attack any large-scale festivals directly,' said a community leader from the Pilsen neighborhoodAs marathoners gather at the starting line in Chicago on Sunday morning, organizers, business owners and runners are cautiously optimistic that the increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) activity the city has seen in recent weeks won't dampen the celebrations.The race will begin and end at Grant Park - the famous public park downtown where Chicago's adopted son, Barack Obama, gave his victory speech on election night in 2008 - and take in the shores of Lake Michigan and 29 city neighborhoods. Continue reading...

Employees express growing anxiety over their pay - and the future of their jobs - amid the US government shutdownWith no end of the federal government shutdown in sight, an estimated 750,000 workers remain furloughed. Hundreds of thousands more are working without pay. They are being held hostage by a political dispute", according to union leaders, as Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked.In the Oval Office on Tuesday, Donald Trump suggested that furloughed employees would not necessarily receive back pay - despite a legal guarantee - prompting further unease throughout the federal workforce. There are some people that don't deserve to be taken care of, and we'll take care of them in a different way," the US president said. Continue reading...

Trump's latest tariff tantrum and rising fears of an AI bubble have very quickly borne out Kristalina Georgieva's claim that uncertainty is the new normal'

A helicopter flying above a popular southern California beach suddenly began spiralling out of control, losing altitude and crashing into a row of palm trees as beachgoers looked on. The Huntington Beach fire department said five people were taken to hospital including two who had been in the helicopter and were pulled from the wreckage after the crash on Saturday

Five people taken to hospital after crash at Huntington Beach in front of beachgoersA helicopter flying above a popular southern California beach suddenly began spiralling out of control, eventually losing altitude and crashing into a row of palm trees as beachgoers looked on.

Donald Trump says he has directed the defence secretary to release funds on 15 October. Key US politics stories from 11 October at a glanceDonald Trump claimed he had found a way to pay US military troops despite the federal government shutdown, saying he had instructed his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, to release funds.Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: I am using my authority, as commander-in-chief, to direct our secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to get our troops PAID on October 15." Continue reading...

Troops can stay under federal control, as US senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth decry being barred access to Ice facilityThe national guard troops Donald Trump sent to Illinois can remain in the state and under federal control but can't be deployed, an appeals court ruled on Saturday.The appeals court granted a pause in the case until it can hear further arguments. Continue reading...

President claims he found a way to pay troops and directed Pentagon chief to release funds on 15 OctoberDonald Trump claimed on Saturday that he had found a way to pay US military troops despite the ongoing federal government shutdown, saying he had instructed his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, to release funds.Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: I am using my authority, as commander-in-chief, to direct our secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to get our troops PAID on October 15." Continue reading...

After a one-of-one season without precedent in NBA or WNBA history, the unstoppable Aces star has made a credible entry into the GOAT discussion before her 30th birthdayA'ja Wilson's one-of-one season didn't end merely with confetti so much as a deeper confirmation. When her Las Vegas Aces finished off a four-game sweep of the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night to become only the second team in WNBA history to win three titles in a four-year span, the final horn felt less like a climax than a verdict: the best team of the era led by the best player of the era. When the dust settled the 29-year-old from Columbia, South Carolina, had achieved a quadrafecta no player in the NBA or WNBA had ever managed: winning the scoring title, the Most Valuable Player award, Defensive Player of the Year honors and MVP of the finals in the same year.Thanks to Wilson, a team who'd looked like the next great American sports dynasty before slipping from their perch a year ago was back at the mountaintop. But anyone who watched the front half of the season knows this was the least expected of Aces' three banners. For most of the year Las Vegas didn't give the appearance of a playoff team let alone a champion. They staggered through injuries and misfires, dropped coin-flip games and wore the tightness of a group playing beneath its standard. If dynasties are supposed to hum, this one coughed and sputtered. Continue reading...

Until recently, Daca allowed undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children to live and work legallyThe Trump administration has once again put Dreamers on a rollercoaster ride.The federal government is sending mixed signals about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca), a popular program devised under Barack Obama that had until recently allowed undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children to live and work legally without serious risk of deportation. Continue reading...

Major League Soccer is proving a fertile ground for a growing band of Australian players and coachesThere is perhaps no greater reminder that Australia is a faraway island nation with limited global influence than the fact so many Australians pore over a niche form of online football content known as Aussies Abroad'.While the likes of Ned Zelic and Paul Okon were hardly the first Australian players to move to Europe, their arrivals at Borussia Dortmund and Club Brugge in the early 1990s coincided with a surge of interest in how Aussie footballers were performing overseas. Continue reading...

Former president was diagnosed in May with aggressive form' of cancer and was already taking hormone medicationJoe Biden is receiving radiation therapy for his prostate cancer that was diagnosed in May, a spokesperson for the former US president said on Saturday morning.As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment, the spokesperson said. The news was first reported by NBC. Continue reading...

Party sticks to its guns on healthcare and says it's willing to hold out - much to the delight of its progressive supportersWhen he sat down to talk about the US government shutdown with reporters from a closely read political newsletter this week, Chuck Schumer sounded as if he were relishing his standoff with the Republicans.Every day gets better for us," he told Punchbowl News. As the shutdown got under way, Schumer explained, the Republicans believed that Democrats would quickly fold and vote to reopen the government, but instead they had stuck to their guns for a week and a half, demanding an array of concessions on healthcare and other issues. Continue reading...