The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has lost hundreds of veteran attorneys since Harmeet Dhillon took over, replaced in many cases by inexperienced loyalists. The division's enforcement power is now being pointed at the president's political priorities instead.
— via NPR, Ryan Lucas
A competitive Washington House race has both sides nursing wounds: the Democratic incumbent has alienated part of her own base, while her Trump-backed challenger is fighting anti-incumbent headwinds against the party in power.
— via NPR, Saige Miller
Thousands of would-be protesters detained before a single march could begin. Delhi police locked down the capital to stop a planned mass demonstration against Modi's government.
— via NPR, The Associated Press
Israel and Hamas agreed to stop fighting a year ago, but residents describe near-constant strikes and restrictions since. The truce Trump announced has not meant peace on the ground, Palestinians say.
— via NPR, Anas Baba
Trump says Putin agreed by phone to sell the U.S. diesel, loosening years of pressure on Moscow. The move comes as the White House scrambles to bring down fuel prices before the midterms.
— via NPR, The Associated Press
A Republican donor says Kimberly Guilfoyle asked for $100,000 in exchange for access to senior Trump officials, then never delivered. Amna Nawaz talks with Eric Deters, the donor making the claim, about what he paid and what he says the U.S. ambassador to Greece promised.
— via PBS NewsHour, Amna Nawaz
Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize Friday for defending international law under siege. Hours later, the Trump administration sanctioned the ICC where she once served as judge.
— via PBS NewsHour, Nick Schifrin
ICE officers fired seven rounds at a Dominican man with a 5-year-old in his car, hitting him near the neck, after he drove into their vehicles, officials say. Mamdani and Hochul pushed Trump's administration to release him and the body camera footage; both requests were denied.
— via PBS NewsHour, Rebecca Santana, Associated Press
None of the Democrats in line to chair committees next year could keep their jobs under Republican term-limit rules, which cap chairmanships at three terms. Some in the caucus, including Rep. Eugene Vindman, want to adopt similar limits; veterans like Richie Neal and Frank Pallone, each a decade-plus into their posts, call the idea undemocratic.
— via PBS NewsHour, Kevin Freking, Associated Press
Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, competing for an open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, are set for their first campaign debate Thursday after weeks of sparring both online…
— via PBS NewsHour, Joey Cappelletti, Associated Press
An ICE officer fired seven rounds at a man pulling into a parking spot in Manhattan, hitting him near the ear while his 5-year-old was in the car. Federal agents later pulled the wounded man from his hospital bed, defying pleas from the mayor and governor to let him go.
— via PBS NewsHour, Philip Marcelo, Associated Press
Dropping a mail ballot in a regular box near Election Day carries more risk than taking it to a post office counter, officials say. Recent processing changes could delay postmarks enough to get a late ballot tossed out.
— via NPR, Hansi Lo Wang
A Hudson Valley Republican's re-election bid is shaping up as a bellwether for which party controls the House. His district sits squarely in toss-up territory, with November's outcome hinging on it.
— via NPR, Elena Moore
Ken Paxton has taken nearly 1,000 state-funded security trips since 2015, costing $3.3 million, but only 1 in 6 had any documented business purpose. Records tie just 138 trips to official duties, while dozens of unexplained visits line up with properties he and his family's trust own in Utah, Florida and beyond.
— via ProPublica, Zach Despart
The economy tops the list for 84% of midterm voters, but the real split shows up elsewhere: Democrats are 56 points more likely than Republicans to call Trump investigations a priority, and 61% of all voters say they dislike politicians who back data centers near them.
— via Pew Research, Reem Nadeem
Federal agents wounded a person in a Manhattan neighborhood Thursday, witnesses describing gunshots, screaming and masked officers in Homeland Security gear. ICE badges were visible on scene; Mayor Mamdani says he's demanding Trump end all ICE operations in the city.
— via PBS NewsHour, Associated Press
Iowa's 2nd Congressional District, open since Rep. Ashley Hinson's Senate bid, gets its first head-to-head Thursday night. Democrat Lindsay James and Republican Joe Mitchell debate live at 8 p.m. EDT in a district Cook rates Lean R.
— via PBS NewsHour, Dan Cooney
Republicans hold a $1 billion cash edge, but waiting until September to spend it means some groups now pay more than five times what early bookers locked in. In Texas alone, one pro-Trump PAC was charged $450,000 for a single football-game ad spot that a Democratic campaign ran in the same market for $50,000.
— via PBS NewsHour, Steven Sloan, Associated Press
Congress is demanding the AAU explain itself: by Oct. 21, the youth sports giant must tell House investigators how many abuse allegations it fields yearly and how many coaches it disciplines, numbers it has refused to give reporters. Lawmakers say they're seeing echoes of the Larry Nassar scandal in how the 760,000-member organization handles misconduct claims.
— via ProPublica, Molly Hensley-Clancy
