Federal grand jury refuses to indict couple found with guns outside ICE facility

Federal grand jury refuses to indict couple found with guns outside ICE facility

Chicago Sun-Times reports: With an unusually loud bang of his gavel Wednesday morning, a federal magistrate judge agreed to dismiss charges against a Chicago couple found lawfully carrying loaded pistols last month outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview. A grand jury on Tuesday returned a “no bill” in the case of Ray Collins and Jocelyne Robledo, a prosecutor explained. In doing so, the grand jurors refused to hand up an indictment in the high-profile case resulting…

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Rubio lied: Starving children scream for food as aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

Rubio lied: Starving children scream for food as aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

The Associated Press reports: Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family’s food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food. On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher’s little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: “No one has died” because of his government’s…

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Threat to global markets: Risks posed by AI bubble and Federal Reserve losing credibility

Threat to global markets: Risks posed by AI bubble and Federal Reserve losing credibility

The Guardian reports: The Bank of England has warned there is a growing risk of a “sudden correction” in global markets as it raised concerns about soaring valuations of leading AI tech companies. Policymakers said there were also threats of a “sharp repricing of US dollar assets” if the Federal Reserve lost credibility in the eyes of global investors. It comes as Donald Trump’s continues to attack the US central bank and threaten its independence. Continued hype and optimism about…

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How to save the American democratic experiment

How to save the American democratic experiment

John Fabian Witt writes: As democracy in the United States spirals into a widening gyre of distrust, demagogy and violence, a question has been loosed in minds across America: How does this all end? The historical analogies seem bleak. Germany’s interwar political dysfunction looms largest because of its descent into fascism. Yet there is a more hopeful example, overlooked though much closer at hand: the United States of a century ago. At the outset of the 1920s, a wave of…

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The activists tracking ICE in Los Angeles

The activists tracking ICE in Los Angeles

Oren Peleg writes: On a crisp September morning in Los Angeles, Elijah Chiland, Victor Maldonado, and four other volunteers of the Harbor Area Peace Patrol gathered at Wilmington Waterfront Park, just outside the city’s port. “If you would have told me at the beginning of the summer that, three months into this, we would be waking up at ungodly hours to fight fascism, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Maldonado said. At 6 A.M., they piled into two cars and drove…

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No, Trump doesn’t have the legal authority to deploy troops to wherever he wants

No, Trump doesn’t have the legal authority to deploy troops to wherever he wants

Stephen I. Vladeck writes: President Trump’s escalating efforts to deploy armed troops onto the streets of several American cities run by Democratic officials are raising a question courts have been all but completely able to avoid since the Constitution was drafted: Can presidents unleash the armed forces on their own people based on facts that they contrive? The text of the relevant statutes doesn’t answer that question. But our constitutional ideals, to say nothing of common sense, should — and…

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Federal agents taunted Chicago woman to ‘do something, b—-’ before shooting her, attorney claims

Federal agents taunted Chicago woman to ‘do something, b—-’ before shooting her, attorney claims

Chicago Sun-Times reports: Body-camera video of a Border Patrol agent involved in the shooting of a woman who was allegedly chasing agents in Brighton Park over the weekend shows an officer saying, “Do something, b—-,” before pulling over and shooting the woman five times, the woman’s attorney said in federal court Monday. The video appears to contradict the government’s allegation that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire on her late Saturday morning on Kedzie…

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OMB tries to evade law that Trump signed guaranteeing backpay to furloughed feds

OMB tries to evade law that Trump signed guaranteeing backpay to furloughed feds

Government Executive reports: The Office of Management and Budget on Friday quietly revised a shutdown guidance document to remove references to a law passed in 2019 to guarantee that all federal workers are provided backpay at the conclusion of a lapse in appropriations. Prior to Oct. 3, OMB’s Frequently Asked Questions During a Lapse in Appropriations document highlighted the Government Employees Fair Treatment Act, the law enacted in 2019 as part of the deal to end the 35-day partial government…

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Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time

Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time

The Guardian reports: The world’s wind and solar farms have generated more electricity than coal plants for the first time this year, marking a turning point for the global power system, according to research. A report by the climate thinktank Ember found that in the first six months of 2025, renewable energy outpaced the world’s growing appetite for electricity, leading to a small decline in coal and gas use. The world generated almost a third more solar power in the…

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Only 1% of people are eating a healthy and sustainable diet, major report finds

Only 1% of people are eating a healthy and sustainable diet, major report finds

BBC Science Focus reports: A major report on the global food system has found that less than 1 per cent of the world is eating a diet that’s good for the planet and human health. But switching to a healthier eating pattern could prevent up to 15 million premature deaths per year, while cutting global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 per cent. These are the findings of a report by the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission. The report brings together…

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Trump’s plan to invoke the Insurrection Act

Trump’s plan to invoke the Insurrection Act

Robert Reich writes: The direction we’re going is either martial law or civil war. Americans from so-called “red” states, with the backing of their Republican governors and legislatures, are on the brink of using lethal force against Americans in so-called “blue” states, whose Democratic governors and legislatures strongly oppose the moves. I pray we don’t come close to this but Trump has now ordered the deployment of 400 members of the Texas National Guard to several states, including Oregon and…

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Donald Trump is destroying the Constitution

Donald Trump is destroying the Constitution

Chris Edelson writes: Donald Trump has effectively declared war on U.S. cities that he perceives as enemy territory, expanding the military offensive he started this summer in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Last week, he ordered federal troops to Portland, Oregon, instructing them to use “full force” if necessary in order to respond to what he falsely described as a “war ravaged” city. After threatening to send the Texas National Guard to Chicago for over a month, the first wave of troops is set to deploy this week. Trump has also…

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It’s time for California’s soft secession

It’s time for California’s soft secession

Clara Jeffery writes: California, and the country, cannot await the outcome of the midterms to repel Trump’s siege on democracy. More drastic action is required. Unfortunately, especially as Trump berates generals and admirals on “the enemy within” and suggests they use US cities as “training grounds,” it’s all too easy to imagine a world where the commanders of California’s military bases are compelled to choose sides. (If you think such scenarios are out of the realm of possibility, ask yourself…

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Trump officials can’t keep their mouths shut about DOJ’s biggest prosecutions — putting cases in jeopardy

Trump officials can’t keep their mouths shut about DOJ’s biggest prosecutions — putting cases in jeopardy

Politico reports: President Donald Trump is deploying the Justice Department to punish and prosecute his perceived enemies and advance his political agenda. But his color commentary — and that of senior members of his administration — about the cases is threatening to derail them in court. Public comments by Trump and high-ranking officials including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have already become flashpoints in high-profile cases. Judges overseeing criminal proceedings against Luigi Mangione, charged with…

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