All but two G.O.P. senators voted against a resolution to stop the president from expanding his military campaign against drug traffickers to include land targets inside Venezuela.
The group, which has taken aim at Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani over his criticism of Israel, is facing backlash after unveiling a website where New Yorkers could report incidents of antisemitism.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has drawn criticism from some Jewish organizations for his positions on Israel, many of which were once considered unthinkable for an elected official in New York.
Helping propel Abigail Spanberger’s dominant win in the Virginia governor’s race Tuesday are dissatisfied rural voters who have supported Donald Trump.
Spanberger’s victory was largely driven by massive turnout in northern and eastern Virginia's urban areas. But she picked up support across the state’s deep-red central and western counties, where Trump’s tariffs have hit the manufacturing and agricultural industries especially hard. Even as her GOP opponent won most of those places, Spanberger posed the best performance by a statewide Democratic candidate in several cycles, according to a POLITICO analysis of voting data in the localities classified as “rural” by the federal government.
Rural voters are dissatisfied with economic conditions, including Trump’s erratic tariff threats that have impacted farmers throughout the country. The result was a rude awakening for some rural-state Republicans, who have long relied on large margins in these deep-red areas.
“Last night, honestly, was an awakening for a lot of folks,” said Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.V.) Wednesday. “If you don't pick up on what really happened last night, the margin of victory … then I think you're living in a cave.”
Spanberger outperformed Kamala Harris’ margin in 48 of Virginia’s 52 rural localities. And according to exit polling, she won 46 percent of rural voters — an 8-point deficit to Republican rival Winsome Earle-Sears, and a 19-point swing from 2021 Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe’s 27-point disadvantage.
And she accomplished that after emphasizing Trump’s tariffs on the campaign trail.
Now national Democrats, feeling bullish after Tuesday’s big wins, are praising Spanberger’s performance in rural areas as a blueprint for the party in the upcoming midterms, when netting three seats will hand them control of the House.
“Last night’s results show Democrats can win back rural voters with a relentless focus on affordability,” said Eli Cousin, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, on Wednesday. “The results are also a massive warning sign for House Republicans … who have made life harder for rural Americans by rubber stamping cost-spiking tariffs and voting to put rural hospitals and health clinics at risk of closure.”
Spanberger, the first woman elected governor in Virginia’s history, deviated from party orthodoxy by spending significant time campaigning in the deep-red rural pockets of the state, even as recently as last week. Her messaging there focused almost exclusively on the economic issues ailing rural America during the first nine months of the Trump administration, including the seismic impact of tariffs and the fallout on rural health care from Medicaid cuts.
“People are so tired about the chaos right now from the federal government,” said Roberta Thacker-Oliver, the rural caucus chair for Virginia Democrats. “She sent a message about the everyday things, about lowering costs for people.”
Democrats see Spanbergers’ strategy as a template for the 2026 midterms. As Republicans eye redrawing more favorable House districts across the country, an aggressive push Democrats are starting to challenge, the minority party’s chances at retaking control of Congress will increasingly rely on its ability to compete in rural districts.
Chris Sloan, political director for the Democratic Governors Association, attributed Spanberger’s win to “a relentless focus on the economy and affordability.”
“These are issues that resonated with voters everywhere,” he added, “and we took advantage of that.”
A New York Times analysis of satellite imagery and air traffic control communications found that U.S. military planes began operating out of the Central American country in mid-October.
Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman, is a leading ally of President Trump who has gone to great lengths to criticize Ms. Hochul and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
The investigation into Muriel E. Bowser, which is being handled by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, could face significant hurdles because of the known facts of the case and recent turmoil inside the Justice Department.
Two Democrats have already announced their campaigns to replace Representative Nancy Pelosi in her San Francisco district, and others may join the race soon.
Shareholders approved a plan to grant Mr. Musk shares worth nearly $1 trillion if he meets ambitious goals, including vastly expanding the company’s stock market valuation.
The A.I. company faced pushback after a top executive raised the idea of government aid, amid concerns that the A.I. industry is headed toward a dangerous bubble.
More details have emerged about the circumstances surrounding the release in error of convicted sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif as a hunt continues for the missing prisoner.
He is one of two men separately released by mistake from Wandsworth Prison in the past week. William (Billy) Smith has since handed himself in.
The BBC has established Kaddour-Cherif was released on 29 October, the day after being found not guilty of a breach of the sex offenders' register's requirements, but he was still facing other charges and should have remained in custody.
The prison officers' representatives said a clerical error meant there was no warrant from the court to hold him - and he was released.
This release comes after a series of prosecutions and court appearances by him dating back two years.
These cases came about three years after the Algerian national was flagged in February 2020 as a probable visa overstayer, having entered the UK legally on a visitor's visa in 2019.
It is not clear what, if any, steps were taken five years ago to remove him from the country.
We know from government statements that the 24-year-old was in the early stages of deportation at the time of his release.
Outstanding criminal cases would be a reason for any proposed removal from the UK to have been delayed by the Home Office.
The releases of Kaddour-Cherif and William Smith come just weeks after migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu, who arrived in the UK on a small boat, was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford in Essex.
Court records reveal that the 24-year-old has been accused of 11 offences since September 2023 - his conviction and sentence for an indecent exposure, committed in March 2024, being one of them.
Another offence he admitted was assault of a police officer. He pleaded guilty to that offence and possession of cocaine, both also committed in March 2024, at a hearing in February this year.
He separately admitted a relatively minor charge of assaulting a man in public, receiving a conditional discharge plus an order to pay the victim £100 in compensation.
In July 2024, Kaddour-Cherif admitted the indecent exposure allegation.
His sentencing for that was put off a number of times - and in October 2024 Westminster Magistrates' Court remanded him in custody in relation to that matter.
He was held in Wormwood Scrubs prison in west London and then received an 18-month community order and was placed on the sex offender register for five years. That register requires an offender to report there whereabouts to the police.
Recent events
By June 2025, records show Kaddour Cherif was inside Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, near Heathrow Airport.
That suggests there was a plan to remove him from the UK.
But by late July he had left that institution. We know this because he was arrested in September by the Met Police on suspicion of breaching the sex offenders' register - the allegation being that he had failed to notify officers that he had left custody.
After that arrest, he was taken to Wandsworth Prison, from where he was later accidentally released.
The Metropolitan Police said it was not made aware of his release until 4 November.
That came after after he had been found not guilty of the alleged breach of the sex offender register's requirements. Kaddour-Cherif had denied the charge and City of London Magistrates' Court dismissed the case against him.
But Mark Fairhurst, from the Prison Officers' Association, told BBC News he believes there was a clerical error by the court.
He said governors were not aware, after that acquittal, that Kaddour-Cherif had further court dates on other matters.
"It's my understanding that there was a mix up with the warrants," he said.
"So when that person returned from court, we didn't actually have the authority to hold him in custody, because we didn't have a further warrant which outlined those further charges.
"So somewhere along the way, there's been a clerical error."
Pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered outside the stadium, ahead of the match
The policing operation under way around the controversial Aston Villa match against Maccabi Tel Aviv is "unprecedented", Birmingham's police commander has said.
More than 700 officers are out in the city for the Uefa Europa League match, which kicks off at 20:00 GMT, alongside police horses, dogs, drones and roads units.
Ch Supt Tom Joyce said at least half a dozen groups were expected to protest including pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups as well as the far right.
"We police football matches a lot. We police protests a lot. We deal with all sorts of public order scenarios, but certainly the level of interest, the level of concern around this match is pretty unprecedented," he said.
PA Media
The team bus arrived a couple of hours before kick-off
Outside the stadium, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered before the game, waving flags and banners calling for an end to violence in Gaza.
Five flatbed vehicles were driven past the ground prior to kick-off of the Europa League match, carrying electronic billboards showing messages opposing antisemitism.
One of the messages, beside a Star of David, read "Ban hatred not fans" while another carried a quote from Thierry Henry saying football is not about goals but bringing people together.
Extremist fans
Aston Villa announced last month that no Maccabi Tel Aviv fans would be welcome at the match, a decision made by Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group following intelligence from West Midlands Police.
At least half a dozen groups were expected to protest
On Thursday, numbers of officers from the West Midlands force were boosted by police from 10 forces across the country.
Ch Supt Joyce said police had prepared for the possibility of people turning up looking for a fight.
"We've absolutely planned for that contingency," he said.
"We recognise that those groups who won't engage with this are probably turning up with different motives to those who want to protest lawfully.
"The policing operation you can see is partly a reflection of the need to deal with that."
PA Media
Police are working to keep about half a dozen groups apart
Officers were deployed to the city centre by 13:30, amid reports of some protesters arriving early.
Police are using Section 60 powers in an area stretching from Aston and Perry Barr to Birmingham New Street and the city centre, which started at midday and run until 03:00 on Friday.
Ahead of the game, those living and working in the city near Villa Park saw shops and schools close early.
Meanwhile, Jewish Villa fan Elliot Ludvig said he was apprehensive about attending the match.
Mr Ludvig, who will attend with his son, told the BBC: "I'm apprehensive about what's going to happen. I'm apprehensive about the potential for violence for one thing.
"I'm apprehensive about various unpleasantries that we might encounter along the way, both outside the stadium and inside the stadium."
EPA
More than 700 police are out on in the city for the match, which has caused controversy for weeks
'Football unites us'
He said his other major emotion was "disappointment".
"Is it worth going to a football game to potentially put myself at some sort of risk and or expose my son to to all sorts of unpleasantries which you might not want to?," he asked.
Those who called for calm included one fan group, the Punjabi Villans, which urged people to respect each other and for everyone to get home safely, posting on social media: "We're in this together. Football unites us."
Elliot Ludvig said he was apprehensive and disappointed
On Wednesday night, the chief executive of Maccabi Tel Aviv said it was "incredibly sad" his side's fans could not be there, adding: "Politics should never be drawn into football."
Planned protests include two by supporters of Palestine, who have been calling for the match to be called off.
The BBC has also been told a Maccabi Solidarity Rally has also been organised to coincide with the match.
"The calls to cancel this match have been ignored despite the risks that it carries, therefore we must urge activists to unite in protest against this match," he said.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Britain, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Kashmir solidarity campaign and Palestinian Forum in Britain had called for the match to be cancelled and jointly organised one of the protests.
Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar were killed in the 29 July 2024 attack
The families of the three girls murdered in the Southport attacks have condemned the killer's parents for failing to take responsibility and "staying silent" when they knew how dangerous their son was.
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed by Axel Rudakubana, then 17, in a knife attack in 2024.
The girls' families said "deeply distressing" evidence from the killer's parents, heard at the Southport Inquiry, showed "this tragedy was not inevitable. It was the result of neglect".
The killer's parents apologised to the families at the hearing, saying they were "profoundly sorry" for their "failure".
Elsie's parents, Jenni and David Stancombe, said they believed the killer's parents, Alphonse Rudakubana and Laetitia Muzayire, "should be held to account for what they allowed to happen".
"They knew how dangerous he was, yet they stayed silent," they said.
"They failed not only as parents but as members of our society."
The killer's parents "knew his behaviour was escalating" in the months, weeks, and days before the attack, they said, "and still, they did nothing".
They accused them of showing "no real remorse or acceptance of the devastation their son caused".
PA Media
The girls' families said the evidence at the inquiry into the killings was "deeply distressing"
Alex and Sergio Aguiar said the system had failed their beloved Alice, Bebe and Elsie.
"This tragedy was not inevitable," they said.
"It was the result of neglect - neglect by those who should have known better, and by a system that repeatedly ignored warning signs.
"The institutions and authorities whose role it is to safeguard children failed in their most essential function and because of those failures, we have lost everything."
Bebe's parents, Lauren and Ben King, added: "What we're struggling to comprehend is not just [the killer's parents'] failure then, but their failure now - to acknowledge, to take responsibility, to face up to what they allowed to happen.
"But this isn't just about the actions of one family.
"This is about the repeated failings of agencies and professionals who should have known better - who did know better - and still did nothing."
'Desperately sorry'
The statements followed Mr Rudakubana and Ms Muzayire giving evidence at the public inquiry into the killings.
The couple who gave their evidence via videolink, which could be heard but not seen by the public and press, both apologised to the victims' families.
Ms Muzayire, who moved to the UK from Rwanda with her husband in 2002, said her family had come to the inquiry with "broken hearts".
"There are no words that can ever be enough to express our grief and remorse for the children whose lives were taken or forever changed by our son's actions," she said.
She said there were "many things" she and her husband wished they had done differently.
"[For] our failure, we are profoundly sorry," she added.
During his second day of evidence, Mr Rudakubana said he was "desperately sorry" for the families of the victims, and was "so ashamed" he "lost the courage to save their little angels".
Nicholas Bowen KC, representing the bereaved families, told him: "They have complete disdain for your excuses and the manner in which you have answered questions."
Mr Bowen was then stopped by inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford, who told him: "That's not appropriate at all."
The girls' parents issued their statements as the inquiry concluded its first phase. A second phase of the inquiry is expected to focus on the risk posed by young people with a fixation or obsession with acts of extreme violence.
Rudakubana, 18, is serving a minimum 52-year sentence for the murders.
Brazilian President Lula warned of "extremist forces" when he addressed world leaders at the global climate summit
President Trump was under attack on Thursday as world leaders lined up to criticise his stance on climate change ahead of the global COP30 summit.
The US leader, who is absent from the gathering in the Amazonian city of Belém, was called a liar for his rejection of climate science and being "against humankind" for his rollback of key climate policies.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged the waning political consensus on the issue. He said climate change was once a unity issue but "today however, sadly that consensus is gone".
Over the next two weeks countries will try and negotiate a new deal on climate change, with a particular focus on channelling more money to forest protection.
Many leaders from the world's largest nations – India, Russia, US and China - are notably absent from this year's summit.
And whilst President Trump isn't attending this meeting in Belém, his views on climate change are certainly on the minds of many of the other leaders present.
Speaking at the UN in September, the US president said that climate change was "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world".
Without naming the US leader, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil warned of "extremist forces that fabricate fake news and are condemning future generations to life on a planet altered forever by global warming".
The leaders of Chile and Colombia went further, calling the US president a liar, and asking other countries to ignore US efforts to move away from climate action.
But while Trump-bashing went down well with the audience, getting agreement on new steps to tackle warming is proving much harder.
Only a few dozen leaders have turned up here in Belém, and a majority of countries have failed to submit new plans to cut carbon emissions, the root cause of rising temperatures.
Anderson Coelho/Getty Images
Belém, a Brazilian city nestled in the Amazon rainforest, is the host for this year's COP30 climate summit
Despite UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer acknowledging that global political support for the climate movement is waning, he told the gathering of those that were present: "My message is that the UK is all in."
However, on Wednesday night, in a blow to the Brazilian hosts, the UK chose to opt out of its flagship $125bn (£95bn) fund to support the world's rainforests.
President Lula hoped that $25bn could be raised for the Tropical Forests Forever Facility from public sources – mainly from developed countries like the UK – to support governments and communities protecting the world's rainforests like the Amazon and the Congo Basin.
The protection of these ecosystems is crucial for tackling climate change - they cover just 6% of the world's land, yet store billions of tonnes of planet-warming gases and host half of the planet's species.
The move by the UK has come as a surprise as it had been heavily involved in the fund's design, and launched a global commitment for countries to halt deforestation by 2030 when it hosted the COP summit in Glasgow in 2021.
Lord Zach Goldsmith, who worked on the issue when he was former environment minister, told the BBC's PM programme: "The assumption was that the UK would be a leading participant and at the last minute the UK has walked away. It has caused real frustration to put it mildly here in Brazil.. the Brazilian government behind the scenes is furious."
The decision also seems at odds with the stance of the Prince of Wales. Also addressing leaders on Thursday he declared the fund "a visionary step toward valuing nature's role in climate stability" and shortlisted it for his £1m Earthshot Prize.
Countries will negotiate on how to raise finance to support those impacted by climate change
Prince William tried to encourage leaders to overcome their differences and move forward with action.
"I have long believed in the power of urgent optimism: the conviction that, even in the face of daunting challenges, we have the ingenuity and determination to make a difference, and to do so now," he said.
And he urged them to take action for the sake of their children and grandchildren.
"Let us rise to this moment with the clarity that history demands of us. Let us be the generation that turned the tide - not for applause, but for the quiet gratitude of those yet to be born," he said.
From Monday, countries will spend two weeks negotiating further action on climate change - with crucial questions on how to raise finance previously pledged for those already impacted by the worst impacts of climate change.
The last few weeks have seen devastating extreme weather globally.
Hurricane Melissa, which hit the Caribbean last week, is one of the strongest the island nations have ever experienced - resulting in the deaths of more than 75 people.
Recent analysis from Imperial College has suggested that climate change increased the extreme rainfall associated with the Category 5 hurricane by 16%.
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