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  • Fall brings out spooky things, including spiders

    Fall brings out spooky things, including spiders

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    They’re creepy and they’re crawly and altogether spooky. That’s why spiders are associated with Halloween. Have you ever noticed this time of the year spider webs become more prevalent?

    What You Need To Know

    • Females are the larger spiders

    • Warmer fall weather means larger spiders

    • Wolf spiders are common across the United States


    In fact, check any doorway outside and you’ll likely run into a web. I opened the door to let Boomer, the dog, out and inadvertently destroyed a web created by a spider. Several hours later, the web was repaired and intact.

    Spider facts

    The lifecycle of the arachnid begins in the spring with hatching. Spiders that survive into adulthood are big enough to spin webs by the fall.

    Webs are not only created to catch food but also for females to lay eggs. The spiders we typically see spinning those geometric webs in the fall are females.

    Some spider species are solo creatures and often travel alone, unless during mating. If you see two spiders grouped together, the larger of the two is the female.

    Male spiders provide the genetic material and once mating is complete, female spiders typically consume them.

    Warmer temperatures means larger spiders

    Some species of spiders die when the temperatures drop below freezing. However, if it’s a warm fall, these spiders have more time to eat and grow, leading to bigger spiders.

    Other spiders have evolved to survive the colder temperatures, either by seeking shelter indoors or in a pile of leaves or rocks. Once they find this spot, they will go into a state of diapause, slowing down or suspending their body processes into dormancy.

    Brown recluse

    A venomous spider commonly found in the Midwest and South-Central U.S. is called the Brown Recluse spider. The name “recluse” is fitting, as these spiders are often found hiding in unused drawers, basements, closets, garages or attics.

    Before wearing garments found in these locations, including shoes and boots, be sure to inspect them and shake them out to rid of the arachnids. This spider species is quite social, meaning there could be more hiding nearby.

    The females lay their eggs in their untidy webs, but spend little of their time in them.

    These spiders are identified by the violin shape of their heads and are usually observed running or walking around.

    If you think you have a Brown Recluse spider problem in your home, it is best to call in the professionals with a licensed exterminator. 

    Wolf spiders

    This type of spider does not behave like a typical spider. In fact, it got its name because of its ability to run down its prey like a wolf and its large appearance. They don’t spin webs to catch their food.

    The female wolf spider attaches her egg sac to herself and carries it around on the bottom of her abdomen. After the eggs hatch, she will then carry her babies on her back.

    Wolf spiders will only bite if provoked, but their bites are harmless to humans. They are common all over the United States, including Hawaii, and are found in all different habitats, including woodlands, shrublands, as well as coastal forests and even alpine meadows. They like to find warm places to hibernate so don’t be surprised to find them hiding under furniture or in the basement. 

    A Wolf spider was found in the basement. Spectrum News/Stacy Lynn

    Tips to keep spiders away

    Like any insect, these arachnids will find their way into your home by any means necessary, but this will offer you the best way to keep the majority at bay.

    • Seal any cracks or small holes
    • Seal all entryways
    • Remove webs as soon as they appear
    • Keep a clean kitchen free of food and crumbs
    • Turn off exterior lights as much as possible because lights attract bugs and bugs will attract spiders 

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Meteorologist Stacy Lynn

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  • Republicans hold edge in effort to retake US Senate – WTOP News

    Republicans hold edge in effort to retake US Senate – WTOP News

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    Democrats always knew they faced a difficult political map to retain their narrow majority in the U.S. Senate this election year.

    Visit WTOP’s Election 2024 page for our comprehensive coverage. Listen live to 103.5 FM for the latest. Sign up for WTOP’s Election Desk newsletter for headlines and analysis from now until Inauguration Day.

    Democrats always knew they faced a difficult political map to retain their narrow majority in the U.S. Senate this election year.

    Maryland’s U.S. Senate seat opened up with the retirement of longtime Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, but it was initially not considered in play, since voters hadn’t elected a Republican senator in more than four decades.

    But that changed when former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan became the GOP nominee in the race against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

    Democratic leaders suddenly had to consider how much they were going to spend on a race the party originally felt they could easily win.

    Overall contributions to the candidates have soared to well over $80 million, easily making it the most expensive U.S. Senate race in the state’s history.

    Alsobrooks has sought to blunt the popularity of the former governor by emphasizing the importance of the race in national terms, pointing out that Republicans can retake control of the U.S. Senate, by just flipping a few states.

    Hogan has distanced himself from former President Donald Trump and has pledged not to undermine abortion rights in a state where registered Democrats far outnumber Republicans.

    While political analysts say Hogan has run a solid campaign, he always faced an uphill battle in a state that is very blue.

    The latest polls indicate he trails Alsobrooks, but he’s also forced Democrats to put a lot of resources into her campaign.

    And Democrats have plenty of challenges in other states, as they try to hold onto their 51-49 majority.

    Senate control runs through Big Sky country 

    Democrats were dealt a blow when Sen. Joe Manchin announced he was not going to seek reelection in West Virginia. He also left the Democratic Party to become independent.

    Election 2024 West Virginia Senate
    FILE – West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice checks out the stage with his dog, “Babydog,” before the Republican National Convention, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

    Republican Gov. Jim Justice is now heavily favored to become West Virginia’s newest senator in a state that is deep red, flipping the seat to the GOP.

    That would mean Democrats could only lose one more seat out of 33 other contests.

    Republicans are feeling increasingly confident that the seat could be the one held by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana.

    “The Republicans really should be able to flip the Senate this year,” said Kyle Kondik, with Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia.

    While Kondik noted nothing in politics is guaranteed, it does appear Tester is in trouble.

    Montana is also a very red state and Tester has bucked the political odds for many years.

    But Tester is now widely considered one of the most endangered Democrats, as he fights to stay in office against Republican Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and businessman.

    Polls indicate he trails Sheehy and Sabato’s Crystal Ball has moved the race from “tossup” to “leans Republican.”

    The stakes are so high that more than $240 million has been spent on the race, which comes out to over $300 per registered voter in the state.

    No other state has had more money spent per voter than Montana.

    Other races to watch

    Republicans are hoping to do more than flip two seats and their candidates have closed the polling gap in several other races.

    In Pennsylvania, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey is facing a tough challenge from Republican former hedge fund manager Dave McCormick, who lost the GOP Senate nomination two years ago to Dr. Mehmet Oz.

    Election 2024 Pennsylvania Senate
    This combination of photos taken in Pennsylvania shows Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., left, at a campaign event, Sept. 13, 2024,and David McCormick, the Republican nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, at a campaign event, April 25, 2024, in Harrisburg. (AP Photo)

    Oz, a celebrity surgeon, was defeated by Democrat John Fetterman.

    McCormick has been gaining in recent polls and Casey recently started running an ad in which he notes he supported former President Trump’s effort to put tariffs on China.

    In another battleground state, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin has also not shied away from noting in an ad that she worked to get Trump to sign her “Made in America” bill to help the manufacturing industry.

    Baldwin is in a competitive race with Republican Eric Hovde, a banking executive.

    The Senate seat in Michigan is open, with the retirement of longtime Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

    Rep. Elissa Slotkin is trying to keep the seat in the Democratic column, in another race that appears to be close.

    Republican Mike Rogers, a former Michigan congressman who at one time chaired the House Intelligence Committee, is running against Slotkin.

    “There’s some real upside potential for Republicans to get beyond 51 seats,” Kondik said.

    One potential bright spot for Democrats may be in Texas, a state where the party for years has been trying to win back a Senate seat.

    Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is still favored, but Democratic Rep. Collin Allred has been getting closer in recent polls.

    Allread, a former NFL linebacker, has been able to raise a lot of money.

    But Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke also had strong fundraising in 2018 and Cruz narrowly defeated him.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Mitchell Miller

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  • How weather can influence voters on Election Day

    How weather can influence voters on Election Day

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    There’s a reason Election Day is on the first Tuesday of November. And it has (just about) everything to do with the weather.

    Election Day falls on the first Tuesday of November because it comes after the fall harvest and before winter’s harshest conditions typically move in.

    And weather traditionally plays at least a marginal role in determining an election’s winner and loser.

    What You Need To Know

    • Lower Election Day turnout has traditionally favored Republicans

    • Some studies even show an increase in raw votes for Republicans in lousy weather

    • Impactful rain appears likely for some parts of the U.S. in this year’s election


    Dating back to America’s first elections in the 1700s, weather has played a big role in election turnout. Day-long journeys to polling places are the reason that Election Day falls on a Tuesday, and you can probably imagine the challenges that befuddled voters trudging through horseback on mud-laden roads.

    But even with modern conveniences of electricity and cars, lousy weather still plays an outsized part in determining the winners of an election.

    And in the modern political era, lousier weather and lower voter turnout typically translates to sunnier results for Republicans.

    A rainy sky is (traditionally) a Republican’s delight

    Several studies in the modern political era point to the GOP’s advantage when bad weather goes up and turnout goes down.

    Those studies also show that Republicans are typically higher turnout voters, meaning suppressed turnout because of bad weather tends to specifically reduce the number of Democratic or Democratic-leaning voter groups.

    Why is that the case? So-called “peripheral voters,” who are less inclined to vote for a variety of reasons, tend to vote Democrat. If rain is a significant inconvenience, such as having to walk in it to a polling place because they don’t have transportation, they’ll skip voting.

    The 2007 study “The Republicans Should Pray for Rain: Weather, Turnout, and Voting in U.S. Presidential Elections” indicated that rain and snow slightly reduced turnout—and benefitted Republicans.

    “We find that, when compared to normal conditions, rain significantly reduces voter participation by a rate of just less than 1% per inch, while an inch of snowfall decreases turnout by almost 0.5%,” said the 2007 study. “Poor weather is also shown to benefit the Republican Party’s vote share.”

    That study also argued that different weather could have altered the outcomes of the 1960 and 2000 presidential elections.

    Precipitation isn’t everything

    Rain and snow get most of the attention, but another study that looked at the 2004 election explored other factors. It found that sunshine and mild temperatures lowered turnout overall. In fact, for every 10-degree rise in temperature, voting probability dropped by 0.6%.

    The study’s author speculates some people chose to enjoy the weather while they could, rather than use that time to go vote.

    That’s not always the case, though. Election Day 2020 was a beautiful day weather-wise with very little precipitation, with the exception of the Northeast and parts of the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West.

    (NOAA)

    According the to U.S. Census Bureau, the 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout of the 21st Century. Although, most of the surge was due to an increase in mail-in voting.

    The U.S. Census Bureau states that “in 2020, 43% of voters cast ballots by mail and another 26% voted in person before Election Day. In 2016, 21% mailed in their ballots and 19% voted in person prior to Election Day.”

    What’s the outlook for 2024?

    This year’s Election Day forecast could be more eventful than that of 2020. A sweeping cold front looks likely to bring rain, wind, and snow to some throughout the day. Let’s have a closer look.

    In the Southeast, more mild weather is in the cards for Election Day. Highs will be warm and reach into the 80s for places like Florida, the Carolinas and Tennessee. There could be some rain across the Tennessee Valley.

    As we go north, a system could pass through the Northeast Tuesday, bringing with it potential for rain, wind and even higher elevation snow.

    Election Day forecast across the country.

    Election Day forecast across the country.

    In the Midwest and Plains is likely where our front will be located on Election Day. Showers and storms will be possible from Minnesota, Kansas and as far south as Texas. Temperatures will also range wildly depending on which side of the front you’ll be located.

    Out in the West, mountain snow is possible in the Rockies. Toward the coast, more favorable weather is expected with cool, but dry conditions.

    As we get closer to the date, we will have an even better idea of the forecast so be sure to keep checking in.

    Check your local forecast here.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Spectrum News Weather Staff

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  • Robinhood launches presidential election trades

    Robinhood launches presidential election trades

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    The stock-trading app Robinhood will allow customers to bet on the outcome of November’s election.

    The so-called presidential election event contracts are launching with a small group of customers Monday, allowing them to trade based on who they think will win the 2024 presidential election.

    What You Need To Know

    • The stock-trading app Robinhood will allow customers to bet on the outcome of November’s election

    • The so-called presidential election event contracts are launching with a small group of customers Monday, allowing them to trade based on who they think will win the 2024 presidential election

    • An event contract is a forecast contract, the value of which depends on a specific event happening by a specific time; they are based on yes or no answers to a question about the event

    • For the Robinhood presidential election contract, the questions are: Will Kamala Harris win the U.S. presidential election in 2024 and Will Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election in 2024? 


    An event contract is a forecast contract, the value of which depends on a specific event happening by a specific time. They are based on “yes” or “no” answers to a question about the event. 

    For the Robinhood presidential election contracts, the questions are: “Will Kamala Harris win the U.S. presidential election in 2024?” and “Will Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election in 2024?” Customers can only own “yes” contracts for one candidate.

    “We’ve heard from our customers that having access to the market in real time is essential,” the company said in a statement on its website announcing the new presidential event contracts. “We believe event contracts give people a tool to engage in real-time decision-making, unlocking a new asset class that democratizes access to events as they unfold.”

    Those who trade in the presidential election contracts will receive $1 for every contract they own if their candidate is certified in January and nothing if they are not. Robinhood charges one cent per contract. 

    The Robinhood announcement comes as the presidential campaign enters its final week, with Harris and Trump neck and neck in the polls.

    Last month, a federal appeals court allowed the prediction exchange platform Kalshi to offer Congressional Control Contracts, enabling buyers to bet on which political party will control the Senate and House following next month’s election. 

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • FACT FOCUS: Trump repeated election lies in his interview with Joe Rogan. Here are the facts

    FACT FOCUS: Trump repeated election lies in his interview with Joe Rogan. Here are the facts

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    In his three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Donald Trump dug in on his false claims about voting, election fraud and his loss in the 2020 presidential election. Rogan helped encourage some of these claims.

    The interview, released late Friday, came on the same day that the former president, on his social media network, re-posted threats to prosecute lawyers, voters and election officials he deems to have “cheated” in the 2024 election.

    Here’s a look at some of the claims by the Republican nominee for president and the truth.

    Trump did lose the 2020 election

    WHAT TRUMP SAID: “I won by like — they say I lost by like — I didn’t lose.”

    THE FACTS: Trump did lose in 2020 to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump’s claims that fraud cost him the race were investigated repeatedly.

    Trump’s own attorney general said there were no signs of significant fraud. The Republican-run state Senate in Michigan, one of the swing states where Trump claimed fraud occurred, came to the same conclusion after a lengthy investigation. An investigation by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau in Wisconsin, ordered by the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature in another state Trump claimed to have been defrauded from winning, also found no substantial fraud.

    Rogan chortled when Trump was arguing, correctly, that his loss was close. Trump lost the election narrowly in six swing states. If about 81,000 votes had flipped, Trump could have won Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin and gotten enough support in the Electoral College to remain president.

    Trump misstated that margin as 22,000 votes.

    Judges ruled against Trump on the merits repeatedly

    WHAT TRUMP SAID: “What happened is judges don’t want to touch it. They would say, ‘you don’t have standing.’ They didn’t rule on the merits.”

    THE FACTS: That’s not true. Trump and his supporters lost more than 50 lawsuits trying to overturn the election.

    A group of Republican-affiliated election lawyers and legal scholars reviewed all 64 of the Trump lawsuits challenging the 2020 election and found only 20 of them were dismissed by judges before a hearing on the merits. In 30 cases, the rulings against Trump came after hearings on the merits.

    In the remaining 14 cases, the report for Stanford University’s Hoover Institution found, Trump and his allies dropped their lawsuits before they even got to the merits phase. “In many cases, after making extravagant claims of wrongdoing, Trump’s legal representatives showed up in court or state proceedings empty-handed, and then returned to their rallies and media campaigns to repeat the same unsupported claims,” the report states.

    Almost every state already uses paper ballots

    WHAT TRUMP SAID: “We should go to paper ballots.”

    THE FACTS: Trump and Rogan both argued that voting machines are unreliable and that the United States should rely on paper ballots. Trump even cited his billionaire tech mogul supporter Elon Musk’s enthusiasm for such a change.

    Almost all of the country already made that switch, however.

    In 2020, more than 90% of the election jurisdictions in the U.S. used paper ballots, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The next year, the federal Election Assistance Commission changed its guidelines to recommend every jurisdiction use paper.

    The only state not to use a voting system with paper ballots or a paper trail of any sort is Republican-run Louisiana.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    Republicans and Democrats encouraged mail voting during the pandemic

    WHAT TRUMP SAID: “They used COVID to cheat.”

    THE FACTS: Trump’s central argument is that a grand Democratic conspiracy changed voting procedures during the coronavirus pandemic to make mail voting more popular and that the conspirators then rigged the election against him through those mail votes. That’s not what happened.

    When the pandemic first hit during the 2020 presidential primary in March, Republican and Democratic election officials quickly switched to encourage mail voting to avoid crowded polls. This was relatively uncontroversial until Trump turned against it, claiming it would lay the seeds for potential fraud.

    In doing so, Trump was returning to his usual playbook, claiming that any election he doesn’t win is fraudulent. He made that claim about the first contest he lost, Iowa’s 2016 Republican caucus. He even claimed he lost the popular vote in 2016 because of voting by illegal immigrants, though a presidential commission he empaneled to find evidence of it disbanded without finding any proof.

    The 2020 election was free of significant fraud

    THE FACTS: Isolated cases of voters fraud have long occurred, but in modern times have not reached the levels needed to sway a national election. An Associated Press review found fewer than 475 cases in all six battleground states that Trump lost by more than a combined 300,000 votes — far too little to change the outcome.

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  • Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 33, truck ramming near Tel Aviv kills 1

    Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 33, truck ramming near Tel Aviv kills 1

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    Israeli strikes on northern Gaza have killed at least 33 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said Sunday, as Israel’s offensive in the hard-hit and isolated area entered a third week and the U.N. secretary-general called the plight of Palestinians there “unbearable.” Israel said it targeted militants.

    In a separate development, a truck rammed into a bus stop near Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding more than 30. Israeli police said the attacker was an Arab citizen of Israel. The ramming occurred outside a military base and near the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

    What You Need To Know

    • Palestinian officials say Israeli strikes on northern Gaza have killed at least 33 people, mostly women and children
    • Israel’s offensive in the hard-hit and isolated north entered a third week Sunday
    • The U.N. secretary-general calls the plight of Palestinians there “unbearable”
    • In a separate development, Israeli medics say a truck rammed into a bus stop near Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding more than 30
    • Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader says Israeli strikes on the country over the weekend “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation. It was Israel’s first open attack on its archenemy

    Iran’s supreme leader, meanwhile, said Israeli strikes on the country on Saturday in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation. It was Israel’s first open attack on its archenemy.

    That exchange of fire has raised fears of an all-out regional war pitting Israel and the United States against Iran and its militant proxies, which include Hamas and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground invasion earlier this month after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.

    Two Israeli strikes killed eight people in Sidon city in southern Lebanon, with 25 wounded, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. One strike hit a residential building, according to footage taken by an Associated Press reporter.

    The Israeli military said four soldiers, including a military rabbi, were killed in fighting in southern Lebanon, without providing details. It said five other personnel were severely wounded. An explosive drone and a projectile fired from Lebanon wounded five people in Israel, authorities said.

    Netanyahu says strikes on Iran achieved Israel’s goals

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his first public comments on the strikes said “we severely harmed Iran’s defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles that are aimed toward us.”

    Satellite images showed damage to two secretive Iranian military bases, one linked to work on nuclear weapons that Western intelligence agencies and nuclear inspectors say was discontinued in 2003, and another linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program. Iran on Sunday said a civilian had been killed, with no details. It earlier said four people with the military air defense were killed.

    Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 85-year-old supreme leader, said “it is up to the authorities to determine how to convey the power and will of the Iranian people to the Israeli regime.” Khamenei would make any final decision on how Iran responds.

    Later Sunday, protesters disrupted a speech by Netanyahu at a nationally broadcast ceremony for victims of Hamas’ attack on southern Israel last year that sparked the war in Gaza. People shouted “Shame on you” and forced Netanyahu to stop his speech. Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for the failures that led to the’ attack and hold him responsible for not yet bringing home remaining hostages.

    An Israeli official said Mossad chief David Barnea is traveling to Qatar for cease-fire and hostage release talks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details.

    Truck ramming in Israel wounds dozens

    In Ramat Hasharon, northeast of Tel Aviv, the truck slammed into a bus as Israelis were returning to work after a holiday, leaving some people stuck under vehicles.

    Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said six of the wounded were in serious condition. The Ichilov Medical Center reported that one person had died.

    Asi Aharoni, a police spokesperson, told reporters the attacker had been “neutralized,” without saying if the assailant was dead.

    Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group praised the attack but did not claim it.

    Palestinians have carried out scores of stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks over the years. Tensions have soared since the war in Gaza began. Israel has carried out regular military raids into the occupied West Bank that have left hundreds dead. Most appear to have been militants killed during shootouts with Israeli forces, but Palestinians taking part in violent protests and civilian bystanders have also been killed.

    ‘Horrific circumstances’ in northern Gaza

    The Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service said 11 women and two children were among the 22 killed in strikes late Saturday on several homes and buildings in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. It said another 15 were wounded. The Israeli military said it carried out a strike on militants.

    A Health Ministry official, Hussein Mohesin, said 11 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Israeli army did not immediately comment. Israel has struck a number of such shelters, often killing women and children, saying it targets militants hiding among civilians.

    Israel has waged a massive air and ground offensive in northern Gaza since early October, saying Hamas militants have regrouped there. Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled to Gaza City in the latest wave of displacement.

    Aid groups have warned of a catastrophic situation in northern Gaza, which has suffered the heaviest destruction of the war. Israel has severely limited the entry of basic humanitarian aid in recent weeks, and the three remaining hospitals in the north — one raided over the weekend — say they have been overwhelmed by waves of wounded.

    The U.N. secretary-general in a statement by his spokesperson noted “harrowing levels of death.” The International Committee of the Red Cross on Saturday described the civilian population in “horrific circumstances.”

    The war began when Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s border wall and stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023. They killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, around a third of whom are believed to be dead.

    Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

    The offensive has devastated much of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people have crowded into squalid tent camps, and aid groups say hunger is rampant.

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    Associated Press

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  • Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 33, truck ramming near Tel Aviv kills 1

    Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 33, truck ramming near Tel Aviv kills 1

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    Israeli strikes on northern Gaza have killed at least 33 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said Sunday, as Israel’s offensive in the hard-hit and isolated area entered a third week and the U.N. secretary-general called the plight of Palestinians there “unbearable.” Israel said it targeted militants.

    In a separate development, a truck rammed into a bus stop near Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding more than 30. Israeli police said the attacker was an Arab citizen of Israel. The ramming occurred outside a military base and near the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

    What You Need To Know

    • Palestinian officials say Israeli strikes on northern Gaza have killed at least 33 people, mostly women and children
    • Israel’s offensive in the hard-hit and isolated north entered a third week Sunday
    • The U.N. secretary-general calls the plight of Palestinians there “unbearable”
    • In a separate development, Israeli medics say a truck rammed into a bus stop near Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding more than 30
    • Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader says Israeli strikes on the country over the weekend “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation. It was Israel’s first open attack on its archenemy

    Iran’s supreme leader, meanwhile, said Israeli strikes on the country on Saturday in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation. It was Israel’s first open attack on its archenemy.

    That exchange of fire has raised fears of an all-out regional war pitting Israel and the United States against Iran and its militant proxies, which include Hamas and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground invasion earlier this month after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.

    Two Israeli strikes killed eight people in Sidon city in southern Lebanon, with 25 wounded, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. One strike hit a residential building, according to footage taken by an Associated Press reporter.

    The Israeli military said four soldiers, including a military rabbi, were killed in fighting in southern Lebanon, without providing details. It said five other personnel were severely wounded. An explosive drone and a projectile fired from Lebanon wounded five people in Israel, authorities said.

    Netanyahu says strikes on Iran achieved Israel’s goals

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his first public comments on the strikes said “we severely harmed Iran’s defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles that are aimed toward us.”

    Satellite images showed damage to two secretive Iranian military bases, one linked to work on nuclear weapons that Western intelligence agencies and nuclear inspectors say was discontinued in 2003, and another linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program. Iran on Sunday said a civilian had been killed, with no details. It earlier said four people with the military air defense were killed.

    Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 85-year-old supreme leader, said “it is up to the authorities to determine how to convey the power and will of the Iranian people to the Israeli regime.” Khamenei would make any final decision on how Iran responds.

    Later Sunday, protesters disrupted a speech by Netanyahu at a nationally broadcast ceremony for victims of Hamas’ attack on southern Israel last year that sparked the war in Gaza. People shouted “Shame on you” and forced Netanyahu to stop his speech. Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for the failures that led to the’ attack and hold him responsible for not yet bringing home remaining hostages.

    An Israeli official said Mossad chief David Barnea is traveling to Qatar for cease-fire and hostage release talks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details.

    Truck ramming in Israel wounds dozens

    In Ramat Hasharon, northeast of Tel Aviv, the truck slammed into a bus as Israelis were returning to work after a holiday, leaving some people stuck under vehicles.

    Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said six of the wounded were in serious condition. The Ichilov Medical Center reported that one person had died.

    Asi Aharoni, a police spokesperson, told reporters the attacker had been “neutralized,” without saying if the assailant was dead.

    Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group praised the attack but did not claim it.

    Palestinians have carried out scores of stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks over the years. Tensions have soared since the war in Gaza began. Israel has carried out regular military raids into the occupied West Bank that have left hundreds dead. Most appear to have been militants killed during shootouts with Israeli forces, but Palestinians taking part in violent protests and civilian bystanders have also been killed.

    ‘Horrific circumstances’ in northern Gaza

    The Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service said 11 women and two children were among the 22 killed in strikes late Saturday on several homes and buildings in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. It said another 15 were wounded. The Israeli military said it carried out a strike on militants.

    A Health Ministry official, Hussein Mohesin, said 11 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Israeli army did not immediately comment. Israel has struck a number of such shelters, often killing women and children, saying it targets militants hiding among civilians.

    Israel has waged a massive air and ground offensive in northern Gaza since early October, saying Hamas militants have regrouped there. Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled to Gaza City in the latest wave of displacement.

    Aid groups have warned of a catastrophic situation in northern Gaza, which has suffered the heaviest destruction of the war. Israel has severely limited the entry of basic humanitarian aid in recent weeks, and the three remaining hospitals in the north — one raided over the weekend — say they have been overwhelmed by waves of wounded.

    The U.N. secretary-general in a statement by his spokesperson noted “harrowing levels of death.” The International Committee of the Red Cross on Saturday described the civilian population in “horrific circumstances.”

    The war began when Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s border wall and stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023. They killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, around a third of whom are believed to be dead.

    Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

    The offensive has devastated much of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people have crowded into squalid tent camps, and aid groups say hunger is rampant.

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  • Dodgers beat Yankees 6-3 in thrilling World Series opener

    Dodgers beat Yankees 6-3 in thrilling World Series opener

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    LOS ANGELES — A nail-biter all night with a Hollywood ending. Game 1 of Yankees-Dodgers certainly delivered.

    Freddie Freeman hit the first game-ending grand slam in World Series history with two outs in the 10th inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees in a drama-filled opener Friday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Hobbled by a badly sprained ankle, Freeman homered on the first pitch he saw — an inside fastball from Nestor Cortes — and raised his bat high before beginning his trot as the sellout crowd of 52,394 roared

    • It was reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s stunning homer that lifted Los Angeles over the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium — one of the most famous swings in baseball lore

    • “Might be the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve witnessed some great ones,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts marveled
    • Freeman, an eight-time All-Star who missed three games during the National League playoffs because of his bum ankle, didn’t have an extra-base hit this postseason until legging out a triple in the first inning Friday

    “Might be the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve witnessed some great ones,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts marveled.

    Hobbled by a badly sprained right ankle, Freeman homered on the first pitch he saw — a 92 mph inside fastball from Nestor Cortes — and raised his bat high before beginning his trot as the sellout crowd of 52,394 roared.

    “I cannot believe what just happened,” Roberts said. “That’s what makes the Fall Classic a classic, right, because the stars come out and superstars make big plays, get big hits, in the biggest of moments. … I’m speechless right now.”

    It was reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s stunning homer that lifted Los Angeles over the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium — one of the most famous swings in baseball lore.

    Gibson, sidelined by leg injuries, came off the bench and connected against Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley.

    “I played the whole game, though,” Freeman said with a smile.

    Freeman, an eight-time All-Star who missed three games during the National League playoffs because of his bum ankle, didn’t have an extra-base hit this postseason until legging out a triple in the first inning Friday.

    “Actually felt pretty good,” said Freeman, who will donate his game spikes to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. “The last six days we treated it really well. I’ve been feeling pretty good. Right when I ran out to give high-fives to my teammates, I felt pretty good, because that was the first time I ran all week. So, ankle’s good.”

    After the home run, Freeman ran over to his father.

    “I was just screaming in his face. I’m sorry, dad,” Freeman said, laughing. “He’s been there since I was a little boy, throwing batting practice to me every day. So this is a moment, it’s my dad’s moment.”

    Giancarlo Stanton launched a two-run homer for New York in this much-hyped, star-studded matchup between two of baseball’s most storied and successful franchises — the third straight World Series opener to go extra innings.

    “You can’t sit here and mope. You can’t sit here and complain. You can’t shoulda, coulda, woulda,” Yankees slugger Aaron Judge said. “It’s time to go to work. We lost this game. Learn from it. See where we can improve and go out there and win the next one.”

    In the top of the 10th, Anthony Volpe grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop, scoring Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third after he stole two bases, to give New York a 3-2 lead.

    The speedy Chisholm singled off winning pitcher Blake Treinen and then stole second. Following an intentional walk to Anthony Rizzo, Chisholm swiped third base uncontested as Treinen was slow to the plate with Max Muncy playing deep at third.

    Tommy Edman made a diving stop to his left on Volpe’s grounder, but couldn’t get it out of his glove initially. He tossed to second to get Rizzo out as Chisholm came flying home with the go-ahead run.

    But the Dodgers weren’t done.

    Gavin Lux walked against losing pitcher Jake Cousins with one out in the bottom of the 10th and went to second on Edman’s infield single to second. Defensive replacement Oswaldo Cabrera knocked down the ball with his glove but it leaked into the outfield.

    That brought up star slugger Shohei Ohtani, a left-handed hitter. Yankees manager Aaron Boone went to his bullpen again for Cortes, a lefty starter who hadn’t pitched since Sept. 18 because of an elbow injury.

    After missing the AL playoffs, Cortes was added to the World Series roster Friday.

    “I ran into the (batting) cage and I told the guys in the cage, this game should have been the first baseball game ever on pay-per view,” Dodgers center fielder Kiké Hernández said.

    Left fielder Alex Verdugo made a running catch in foul territory to retire Ohtani on Cortes’ first pitch. Verdugo’s momentum sent him tumbling over the low retaining wall, advancing both runners one base because by rule it became a dead ball when Verdugo wound up in the stands.

    With first base open, New York intentionally walked Mookie Betts to load the bases and set up a lefty-on-lefty matchup of Cortes against Freeman.

    “I was on time for the heater,” Freeman said.

    His drive into the right-field pavilion sent Dodgers fans into a frenzy. It was the third walk-off homer in World Series history for a team that was trailing, following Gibson’s shot and Joe Carter’s drive for the Toronto Blue Jays that won the 1993 World Series against Philadelphia.

    Nelson Cruz hit the only other game-ending grand slam in postseason history, for Texas in the 2011 American League Championship Series against Detroit.

    “That’s stuff, you’re 5 years old in the backyard right there,” Freeman said. “That’s a dream come true, but it’s only one. We’ve got three more.”

    This is the 12th time the Yankees and Dodgers are meeting in the World Series, the most frequent matchup in major league annals, but their previous October clash was 43 years ago.

    While the Dodgers are seeking their eighth title and second in five years, the Yankees are in the Fall Classic for the first time since winning No. 27 in 2009.

    The first Series with a pair of 50-home run hitters in Judge (58) and Ohtani (54) opened quietly as Gerrit Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner, and Jack Flaherty dueled through four scoreless innings. Judge struck out swinging in his first three at-bats before hitting a single off Brusdar Graterol with two outs in the seventh.

    Ohtani was 0 for 3 before ripping a double off the right-field wall in the eighth. He raced to third on the play when second baseman Gleyber Torres mishandled Juan Soto’s throw, which became costly when Ohtani scored on a sacrifice fly by Betts that tied it 2-all.

    With two outs in the ninth, Torres sent a long drive to left-center. A fan wearing a Dodgers jersey reached over the wall and caught the ball. Umpires ruled fan interference and gave Torres a double, a call confirmed on video replay. The fan immediately left the area.

    Soto was intentionally walked before Judge popped out against Treinen to end the inning.

    The Dodgers broke through for a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Hernández tripled past Soto in right field and scored on Will Smith’s sacrifice fly.

    The Yankees answered right back in the sixth. Soto singled leading off before Judge struck out swinging for the third time. Stanton followed with a 412-foot shot to left off Flaherty for his 17th career postseason homer. Stanton grew up in the nearby San Fernando Valley, not far from Flaherty’s hometown of Burbank.

    Stanton, the ALCS MVP, connected on a knuckle-curve that hung slightly at the bottom of the strike zone. His sixth homer in 11 games this postseason came off his bat at 116.6 mph.

    After last weekend’s pennant-clinching win at Cleveland, Stanton said, “This ain’t the trophy I want. I want the next one.”

    The Yankees then loaded the bases. Chisholm singled off Anthony Banda and stole second. After Rizzo struck out, Volpe was intentionally walked. Austin Wells reached on an infield single that Edman smothered with a dive to save a run before Verdugo struck out swinging against his former team.

    Fernando Valenzuela, the 1981 NL Cy Young Award winner and Rookie of the Year who died earlier this week at age 63, was honored with a moment of silence before the game.

    Up next

    Game 2 is Saturday evening at Dodger Stadium, with Yankees LHP Carlos Rodón pitching against $325 million rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

    Rodón is 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA in three starts this postseason, with 22 strikeouts over 14 1/3 innings. Yamamoto is 1-0 in three postseason starts with a 5.11 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings.

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  • Dodgers beat Yankees 6-3 in thrilling World Series opener

    Dodgers beat Yankees 6-3 in thrilling World Series opener

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    LOS ANGELES — A nail-biter all night with a Hollywood ending. Game 1 of Yankees-Dodgers certainly delivered.

    Freddie Freeman hit the first game-ending grand slam in World Series history with two outs in the 10th inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees in a drama-filled opener Friday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Hobbled by a badly sprained ankle, Freeman homered on the first pitch he saw — an inside fastball from Nestor Cortes — and raised his bat high before beginning his trot as the sellout crowd of 52,394 roared

    • It was reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s stunning homer that lifted Los Angeles over the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium — one of the most famous swings in baseball lore

    • “Might be the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve witnessed some great ones,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts marveled
    • Freeman, an eight-time All-Star who missed three games during the National League playoffs because of his bum ankle, didn’t have an extra-base hit this postseason until legging out a triple in the first inning Friday

    “Might be the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve witnessed some great ones,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts marveled.

    Hobbled by a badly sprained right ankle, Freeman homered on the first pitch he saw — a 92 mph inside fastball from Nestor Cortes — and raised his bat high before beginning his trot as the sellout crowd of 52,394 roared.

    “I cannot believe what just happened,” Roberts said. “That’s what makes the Fall Classic a classic, right, because the stars come out and superstars make big plays, get big hits, in the biggest of moments. … I’m speechless right now.”

    It was reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s stunning homer that lifted Los Angeles over the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium — one of the most famous swings in baseball lore.

    Gibson, sidelined by leg injuries, came off the bench and connected against Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley.

    “I played the whole game, though,” Freeman said with a smile.

    Freeman, an eight-time All-Star who missed three games during the National League playoffs because of his bum ankle, didn’t have an extra-base hit this postseason until legging out a triple in the first inning Friday.

    “Actually felt pretty good,” said Freeman, who will donate his game spikes to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. “The last six days we treated it really well. I’ve been feeling pretty good. Right when I ran out to give high-fives to my teammates, I felt pretty good, because that was the first time I ran all week. So, ankle’s good.”

    After the home run, Freeman ran over to his father.

    “I was just screaming in his face. I’m sorry, dad,” Freeman said, laughing. “He’s been there since I was a little boy, throwing batting practice to me every day. So this is a moment, it’s my dad’s moment.”

    Giancarlo Stanton launched a two-run homer for New York in this much-hyped, star-studded matchup between two of baseball’s most storied and successful franchises — the third straight World Series opener to go extra innings.

    “You can’t sit here and mope. You can’t sit here and complain. You can’t shoulda, coulda, woulda,” Yankees slugger Aaron Judge said. “It’s time to go to work. We lost this game. Learn from it. See where we can improve and go out there and win the next one.”

    In the top of the 10th, Anthony Volpe grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop, scoring Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third after he stole two bases, to give New York a 3-2 lead.

    The speedy Chisholm singled off winning pitcher Blake Treinen and then stole second. Following an intentional walk to Anthony Rizzo, Chisholm swiped third base uncontested as Treinen was slow to the plate with Max Muncy playing deep at third.

    Tommy Edman made a diving stop to his left on Volpe’s grounder, but couldn’t get it out of his glove initially. He tossed to second to get Rizzo out as Chisholm came flying home with the go-ahead run.

    But the Dodgers weren’t done.

    Gavin Lux walked against losing pitcher Jake Cousins with one out in the bottom of the 10th and went to second on Edman’s infield single to second. Defensive replacement Oswaldo Cabrera knocked down the ball with his glove but it leaked into the outfield.

    That brought up star slugger Shohei Ohtani, a left-handed hitter. Yankees manager Aaron Boone went to his bullpen again for Cortes, a lefty starter who hadn’t pitched since Sept. 18 because of an elbow injury.

    After missing the AL playoffs, Cortes was added to the World Series roster Friday.

    “I ran into the (batting) cage and I told the guys in the cage, this game should have been the first baseball game ever on pay-per view,” Dodgers center fielder Kiké Hernández said.

    Left fielder Alex Verdugo made a running catch in foul territory to retire Ohtani on Cortes’ first pitch. Verdugo’s momentum sent him tumbling over the low retaining wall, advancing both runners one base because by rule it became a dead ball when Verdugo wound up in the stands.

    With first base open, New York intentionally walked Mookie Betts to load the bases and set up a lefty-on-lefty matchup of Cortes against Freeman.

    “I was on time for the heater,” Freeman said.

    His drive into the right-field pavilion sent Dodgers fans into a frenzy. It was the third walk-off homer in World Series history for a team that was trailing, following Gibson’s shot and Joe Carter’s drive for the Toronto Blue Jays that won the 1993 World Series against Philadelphia.

    Nelson Cruz hit the only other game-ending grand slam in postseason history, for Texas in the 2011 American League Championship Series against Detroit.

    “That’s stuff, you’re 5 years old in the backyard right there,” Freeman said. “That’s a dream come true, but it’s only one. We’ve got three more.”

    This is the 12th time the Yankees and Dodgers are meeting in the World Series, the most frequent matchup in major league annals, but their previous October clash was 43 years ago.

    While the Dodgers are seeking their eighth title and second in five years, the Yankees are in the Fall Classic for the first time since winning No. 27 in 2009.

    The first Series with a pair of 50-home run hitters in Judge (58) and Ohtani (54) opened quietly as Gerrit Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner, and Jack Flaherty dueled through four scoreless innings. Judge struck out swinging in his first three at-bats before hitting a single off Brusdar Graterol with two outs in the seventh.

    Ohtani was 0 for 3 before ripping a double off the right-field wall in the eighth. He raced to third on the play when second baseman Gleyber Torres mishandled Juan Soto’s throw, which became costly when Ohtani scored on a sacrifice fly by Betts that tied it 2-all.

    With two outs in the ninth, Torres sent a long drive to left-center. A fan wearing a Dodgers jersey reached over the wall and caught the ball. Umpires ruled fan interference and gave Torres a double, a call confirmed on video replay. The fan immediately left the area.

    Soto was intentionally walked before Judge popped out against Treinen to end the inning.

    The Dodgers broke through for a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Hernández tripled past Soto in right field and scored on Will Smith’s sacrifice fly.

    The Yankees answered right back in the sixth. Soto singled leading off before Judge struck out swinging for the third time. Stanton followed with a 412-foot shot to left off Flaherty for his 17th career postseason homer. Stanton grew up in the nearby San Fernando Valley, not far from Flaherty’s hometown of Burbank.

    Stanton, the ALCS MVP, connected on a knuckle-curve that hung slightly at the bottom of the strike zone. His sixth homer in 11 games this postseason came off his bat at 116.6 mph.

    After last weekend’s pennant-clinching win at Cleveland, Stanton said, “This ain’t the trophy I want. I want the next one.”

    The Yankees then loaded the bases. Chisholm singled off Anthony Banda and stole second. After Rizzo struck out, Volpe was intentionally walked. Austin Wells reached on an infield single that Edman smothered with a dive to save a run before Verdugo struck out swinging against his former team.

    Fernando Valenzuela, the 1981 NL Cy Young Award winner and Rookie of the Year who died earlier this week at age 63, was honored with a moment of silence before the game.

    Up next

    Game 2 is Saturday evening at Dodger Stadium, with Yankees LHP Carlos Rodón pitching against $325 million rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

    Rodón is 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA in three starts this postseason, with 22 strikeouts over 14 1/3 innings. Yamamoto is 1-0 in three postseason starts with a 5.11 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings.

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    Associated Press

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  • Gambling is ‘public health threat,’ panel of experts says

    Gambling is ‘public health threat,’ panel of experts says

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    Gambling has emerged as “a neglected, understudied, and expanding public health threat” throughout the world, a panel wrote in The Lancet medical journal Thursday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Gambling has emerged as “a neglected, understudied, and expanding public health threat” throughout the world, a panel wrote in The Lancet medical journal Thursday

    • The Lancet’s Public Health Commission on gambling wrote in its report that the growth of the gambling industry has been fueled by online gaming, easier access through mobile devices, legalization and the introduction of commercial gambling to new areas

    • As a result, 46.2% of adults and 17.9% of adolescents are estimated to have gambled globally in the past year, according to the commission’s analysis

    • Arguing that balancing public health and economic interests is crucial, the commission issued a series of recommendations

    The Lancet’s Public Health Commission on gambling wrote in its report that the growth of the gambling industry has been fueled by online gaming, easier access through mobile devices, legalization and the introduction of commercial gambling to new areas.

    As a result, 46.2% of adults and 17.9% of adolescents are estimated to have gambled globally in the past year, according to the commission’s analysis. That translates into about 80 million of the nearly 450 million adults who placed bets experiencing a gambling disorder or problematic gambling, the report said.

    Some form of gambling is now legal in more than 80% of countries, with betters’ net losses projected to reach nearly $700 billion by 2028, the report said. And with online access, gambling is available everywhere, the authors added. 

    “Gambling can inflict substantial harm on individuals, families, and communities,” the commission wrote. “Beyond the obvious danger of financial losses and financial ruin, these harms can include loss of employment, broken relationships, health effects, and crime-related impacts. Gambling can heighten the risk of suicidality and domestic violence.”

    The report’s authors wrote that the consequences of the digitalization of the gambling industry — which also includes highly targeted advertising — have not yet been fully recognized. They said that the industry has developed partnerships with media and social media companies and sports leagues that make it part of a “corporate ecosystem” that “wields substantial influence over policy” and regulation.

    The gambling industry has staved off broader policy changes by focusing its narrative on individual responsibility, the commission wrote. 

    “However, framing the problem in this way and narrowly focusing policy attention on a small subset of the people who gamble draws attention away from industry practices and corporate behaviour,” the authors wrote in the U.K.-based journal. “We must also seriously examine the structures and systems that govern the design, provision, and promotion of gambling products.”

    Governments, meanwhile, are conflicted because of the tax revenues they collect from legal betting, the panel wrote.

    Arguing that balancing public health and economic interests is crucial, the commission issued a series of recommendations. They include effective regulation in all countries, even those where wagering is not legal, including bans or restrictions on gambling access, marketing and sponsorships. 

    The commission recommended regulatory provisions that would protect children and young people by enforcing minimum age requirements and mandatory identification. According to The Lancet’s analysis, more than 10% of adolescents have gambled online despite a widespread agreement that commercial betting among adolescents should be prohibited.

    The authors also call for affordable, universal support and treatment for gambling harms and campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers. And they suggested international coordination to develop strategies aimed at helping protect people from gambling harms.

    “Our conclusion is clear: gambling poses a threat to public health, the control of which requires a substantial expansion and tightening of gambling industry regulation,” the commission said. “Timely response to this growing worldwide threat necessitates concerted action at intergovernmental, national, and regional government levels.

    Joe Maloney, senior vice president for strategic communications at the American Gaming Association, a trade industry group for U.S. casinos, said in a statement to Spectrum News the “regulated U.S. gaming industry works diligently with state regulators to foster a safe and responsible environment for consumers,” adding it has in recent years “made significant investments towards advancing responsible gaming initiatives, expanding available consumer resources, and developing tools to promote safer gambling.”

    “We firmly support ongoing discussions and the adoption of best practices to ensure the continued implementation of effective safeguards,” Maloney said.

    Note: This article was updated to include the statement from the American Gaming Association.

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    Ryan Chatelain

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  • Judge orders Virginia to restore 1,600 voter registrations

    Judge orders Virginia to restore 1,600 voter registrations

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    A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to restore more than 1,600 voter registrations that she said were illegally purged in the last two months in an effort to stop noncitizens from voting.

    What You Need To Know

    • A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to restore more than 1,600 voter registrations that she said were illegally purged in the last two months in an effort to stop noncitizens from voting

    • The injunction was sought by the Justice Department, which claimed the voter registrations were wrongly canceled during a 90-day quiet period ahead of the November election that restricts states from making large-scale changes to their voter rolls to prevent errors

    • The Justice Department and private groups, including the League of Women Voters, said many of the 1,600 voters whose registrations were canceled were in fact citizens whose registrations were canceled because of bureaucratic errors or simple mistakes like a mischecked box on a form

    • State officials said they will appeal, and Virginia’s Republican attorney general Jason Miyares criticized the ruling



    U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles granted an injunction request brought against Virginia election officials by the Justice Department, which claimed the voter registrations were wrongly canceled during a 90-day quiet period ahead of the November election that restricts states from making large-scale changes to their voter rolls.

    State officials said they will appeal.

    The Justice Department and private groups, including the League of Women Voters, said many of the 1,600 voters whose registrations were canceled were in fact citizens whose registrations were canceled because of bureaucratic errors or simple mistakes like a mischecked box on a form.

    Justice Department lawyer Sejal Jhaveri said during an all-day injunction hearing Thursday in Alexandria, Virginia, that’s precisely why federal law prevents states from implementing systematic changes to the voter rolls in the 90 days before an election, “to prevent the harm of having eligible voters removed in a period where it’s hard to remedy.”

    Giles said Friday that the state is not completely prohibited from removing noncitizens from the voting rolls during the 90-day quiet period, but that it must do so on an individualized basis rather than the automated, systematic program employed by the state.

    State officials argued unsuccessfully that the canceled registrations followed careful procedures that targeted people who explicitly identified themselves as noncitizens to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

    Charles Cooper, a lawyer for the state, said during arguments Thursday that the federal law was never intended to provide protections to noncitizens, who by definition can’t vote in federal elections.

    “Congress couldn’t possibly have intended to prevent the removal … of persons who were never eligible to vote in the first place,” Cooper argued.

    The plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit, though, said that many people are wrongly identified as noncitizens by the DMV simply by checking the wrong box on a form. They were unable to identify exactly how many of the 1,600 purged voters are in fact citizens — Virginia only identified this week the names and addresses of the affected individuals in response to a court order — but provided anecdotal evidence of individuals whose registrations were wrongly canceled.

    Cooper acknowledged that some of the 1,600 voters identified by the state as noncitizens may well be citizens, but he said restoring all of them to the rolls means that in all likelihood “there’s going to hundreds of noncitizens back on those rolls. If a noncitizen votes, it cancels out a legal vote. And that is a harm,” he said.

    Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, issued an executive order in August requiring daily checks of DMV data against voter rolls to identify noncitizens.

    State officials said any voter identified as a noncitizen was notified and given two weeks to dispute their disqualification before being removed. If they returned a form attesting to their citizenship, their registration would not be canceled.

    Prior to Youngkin’s executive order, the state did monthly checks of the voter rolls against DMV data, in accordance with a state law passed in 2006.

    Youngkin said the Justice Department was wrongly targeting him for upholding a law that was followed by his predecessors, including Democrats, even if they didn’t take the extra step of ordering daily checks as he did in his executive order.

    “Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls.,” Youngkin said in a statement after Friday’s hearing.

    Giles, for her part, questioned the timing of Youngkin’s executive order, which was issued on Aug. 7, the very beginning of the 90-day quiet period required under federal law.

    “It’s not happenstance that this was announced exactly on the 90th day” of the quiet period, she said Friday from the bench.

    Her injunction requires voter registrations be restored for all of those canceled as a result of Youngkin’s executive order, and that letters be sent out within five days informing those voters of their restored status. The letters will also include a note of caution informing those individuals that if they are indeed noncitizens, that they are barred from casting ballots under federal law.

    The plaintiffs had asked the judge to grant those voters an extension of the deadline to request absentee ballots, but Giles denied that request, saying it would result in confusion.

    “We may not be able to achieve everything we would want,” she said.

    Virginia’s Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, issued a statement after Friday’s hearing criticizing the ruling.

    “It should never be illegal to remove an illegal voter,” he said. “Yet, today a Court – urged by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice – ordered Virginia to put the names of non-citizens back on the voter rolls, mere days before a presidential election.”

    U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who had alterted Justice Department officials to the removals. praised the ruling.

    “Governor Youngkin’s purges have served only one purpose – to disenfranchise thousands of lawfully voting citizens of the Commonwealth. That stops today,” he said.

    Nearly 6 million Virginians are registered to vote.

    A similar lawsuit was filed in Alabama, and a federal judge there last week ordered the state to restore eligibility for more than 3,200 voters who had been deemed ineligible noncitizens. Testimony from state officials in that case showed that roughly 2,000 of the 3,251 voters who were made inactive were actually legally registered citizens.

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    Associated Press

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  • Judge upholds dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin

    Judge upholds dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin

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    SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico judge has upheld her decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.

    In a ruling Thursday, state District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer stood by her July decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin. She said prosecutors did not raise any factual or legal arguments that would justify reversing her decision.

    The case was thrown out halfway through trial on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense in the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust.”

    Baldwin’s trial was upended by revelations that ammunition was brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins’ killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammo unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers say investigators “buried” the evidence in a separate case file and filed a successful motion to dismiss.

    Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey can now decide whether to appeal to a higher court.

    Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for “Rust,” was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.

    A judge in April sentenced movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to the maximum of 1.5 years at a state penitentiary on an involuntary manslaughter conviction in Hutchins’ death.

    Gutierrez-Reed also has asked Judge Marlowe Sommer to dismiss her involuntary manslaughter conviction or convene a new trial on allegations prosecutors failed to share evidence that might have been exculpatory.

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    Associated Press

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  • Crew-8 returns home in splashdown off Florida’s coast

    Crew-8 returns home in splashdown off Florida’s coast

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    FLORIDA — After conducting various experiments and working onboard the International Space Station for seven months, NASA and SpaceX’s Crew-8 returned home in a splashdown off the coast of Florida early Friday morning.


    What You Need To Know

    • It took Crew-8 more than 30 hours before splashing down off of Florida’s coast
    • It will be a long and wild ride home, with intense speeds and temperatures
    • It will take Crew-8 more than 30 hours for a splashdown off Florida’s coast

    Estimated Splashdown Countdown

    Crew-8 members NASA astronauts Cmdr. Matthew Dominick, pilot Michael Barratt, and mission specialists Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin returned home in SpaceX’s Dragon space capsule Endeavour near Pensacola at around 3:29 a.m. ET to the cheers of NASA and SpaceX teams heard during a live feed.

    For the crew, it was an estimated 34-hour commute home after undocking from the International Space Station at 5:05 p.m. ET, Wednesday.

    Before this new undocking date was announced, (more on that down below), NASA stated that depending on the time of the undocking and other factors like weather conditions, it could have taken between six to 39 hours for the Crew-8 to return to Earth.

    For a long time, NASA did not reveal which of the various splash zones Crew-8 would be landing in because they had to monitor the weather forecast, but in the end, the Endeavour returned to Earth near Pensacola.  

    As Endeavour was floating in the Gulf Coast, crews raced in fast boats to inspect the spacecraft before towing it to SpaceX’s recovery vessel Megan before it scooped up the capsule. Once on board, all four space travelers got out of the capsule to waves before being inspected by medical personnel.

    Then they will take a helicopter ride to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

    The ride back home

    SpaceX Dragon specs:

    • Height: 26.7 feet tall

    • Diameter: 13 feet fall

    • Number of engines: 8

    • Passengers: It can carry up to 7 people

    • Parachutes: 2 drogue + 4 main = 6 parachutes

    The Dragon was fully autonomous from the moment it undocked from Harmony to the splashdown, yet the crew could take control if needed.

    “After performing a series of departure burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison the trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately 34 hours later on Friday, October 25,” explained SpaceX and NASA.

    And it was one heck of a ride. Using a series of parachute deployments, the Dragon slowed down from an orbital speed of about 17,500 mph (2,816 kph) to 350 mph (482 kph) to about 16 mph (25 kph) when it softly landed off the coast of Florida.

    And things were a bit toasty for the Dragon has it experienced temperatures of 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,927 degrees Celsius) once it entered Earth’s atmosphere, but special shielding and the air conditioning system kept the crew safe and cool.

    As the Dragon was screaming over, some lucky people may have heard a sonic boom.

    Learn all about sonic booms here.

    Trying to return home

    Crew-8 members NASA astronauts Cmdr. Matthew Dominick, pilot Michael Barratt, and mission specialists Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin took off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center back in March.

    They spent their time conducting a series of experiments, but they were originally supposed to return home in August, but the mission was extended several times, especially as NASA investigated Boeing’s troubled Starliner capsule.  

    What was supposed to be an eightish-day mission for Starliner’s Cmdr. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams in June turned into a months-long odyssey as their craft suffered from thruster issues and helium leaks.

    NASA kept pushing their stay on the ISS as engineers launched an investigation, which resulted in the Crew-8 staying onboard longer in case an emergency occurred, where Wilmore and Williams would have needed SpaceX’s Dragon to return home.

    Eventually, the Starliner returned home without its crew. And Crew-9, which was launched to the ISS last month, will return to Earth with the Starliner pair in February 2025.

    Williams was made commander of Expedition 72. An expedition means the current crew in the International Space Station.

    And the International Space Station has gotten crowded these last few months. Usually it holds about seven people, plus any guests who plan on being there for a short time. But between the Starliner crew, Crew-8, Crew-9 and Soyuz MS-25, there are a total of 11 people.

    NASA and SpaceX were set to see Crew-8 undock on Sunday, Oct. 13, and splashing down on Monday, Oct. 14, but Hurricane Milton changed their plans.

    Other undocking dates were issued — Oct. 18, Oct. 20 and Oct. 21 — but weather conditions were unfavorable for the different splashdown zones.

    Late on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 22, NASA stated that the new undocking date was Wednesday, Oct. 23.

    However, poor weather was still a concern for undocking, with the U.S. space agency recently considering Tuesday night for the undocking. But as of Tuesday afternoon, the new date was given Wednesday but it all depended on the weather conditions.

    “Forecasters have seen improvement in expected weather at some of the landing sites off the coast of Florida and continue to monitor conditions while considering splashdown sites and exact timing. The next weather briefing is scheduled for 9 a.m., Wednesday,” NASA stated.

    Follow the Dragon

    Watch the splashdown

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    Anthony Leone

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  • RNC rebuilding legal operation after Trump allies’ failed efforts in 2020

    RNC rebuilding legal operation after Trump allies’ failed efforts in 2020

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    The last time Donald Trump ran for president, the lawyers most directly involved in his efforts to overturn the election wound up sanctioned, criminally prosecuted or even sued for millions of dollars.

    What You Need To Know

    • The last time Donald Trump ran for president, some of the lawyers most directly involved in his efforts to overturn the election wound up disbarred, criminally prosecuted or sued for millions

    • This time, Republican party leaders are aiming to turn the page from that chaotic and failed effort and say they’ll have a professional legal operation

    • Democrats are warning of a renewed potential to undermine confidence in the electoral process

    • Republicans and Democrats are already fighting in court over election rules, but the Trump team finds itself under a particularly intense microscope given the aftermath of the 2020 race
    • That’s when longshot legal efforts to challenge the results were dismissed by judges as frivolous

    This time around, Republican party leaders are working to present a more organized, skilled legal operation even as Trump continues to deny he lost the 2020 election and sows doubt about the integrity of the upcoming one.

    “It has been very important to make sure that in every aspect, we are going to have a fully professional operation,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley told The Associated Press.

    As Republicans and Democrats fight in court over election rules, the Trump team finds itself under a particularly intense microscope given the aftermath of the 2020 race when meritless legal efforts challenging the results were repeatedly rejected by judges appointed by presidents of both political parties. Scrambling to undo the results, Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a violent clash with law enforcement.

    The chaotic court challenges were pushed by a loosely organized group of lawyers who ascended in Trump’s orbit after experienced, establishment attorneys who had advised the then-president during the campaign backed away from his false claims of widespread fraud. This year, the Republican National Committee has launched a coordinated “election integrity” initiative that involves the recruitment of thousands of lawyers, polling-place monitors and poll workers, who officials insist will operate within the law.

    “What we have seen in court over the course of the last six months and as we’ve ramped up to these 130-plus lawsuits is a testament to making sure that we’re working with the states and working with the courts to get a really truly, responsible program up and running,” Whatley added.

    But there’s no guarantee that a well-credentialed team will equal better results if the arguments are again rooted in baseless claims, or that the effort, like in 2020, won’t be co-opted after the election by different attorneys.

    A new legal team takes shape

    Among the lawyers with prominent roles are Steven Kenny, the RNC’s senior counsel, who worked at the high-powered law firm of Jones Day; Gineen Bresso, who was nominated by then-President George W. Bush to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and later became chair; and Josh Helton, general counsel for Mike Huckabee’s 2016 presidential campaign.

    David Warrington, who represented Trump during the congressional Jan. 6 investigation, has also been involved in lawsuits, including one in Michigan challenging the designation of voter registration agencies.

    The RNC’s litigation so far has been aimed at ensuring voter ID requirements; asserting that non-citizens are improperly voting; and challenging what they see as lax rules on mail-in and absentee voting.

    Democrats have sounded alarms about the election integrity initiative, calling it an effort to sow distrust in the process and pave the way to cry foul if Trump loses. They have warned that election deniers installed in voting-related positions may refuse to certify legitimate results. And they’ve assembled a team of veteran attorneys, including longtime Democratic lawyer Marc Elias, and filed their own lawsuits, including challenging Georgia rules they fear could be used by Trump allies to delay or avoid certification. A judge last week invalidated seven of the rules.

    The flurry of litigation is hardly surprising in a competitive election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, that could turn on about a half-dozen battleground states.

    Familiar figures from 2020 have resurfaced

    Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who participated in a January 2021 phone call in which Trump implored Georgia officials to “find” enough votes to declare him the winner, has championed lawsuits challenging rules on how overseas voters, including military members abroad, cast their ballots. (On Monday, judges in North Carolina and Michigan rejected efforts to disqualify ballots of certain overseas voters.)

    The RNC earlier this year named Christina Bobb to head its election integrity division. A former reporter for the conservative One America News Network, Bobb has been indicted by Arizona’s attorney general, accused of joining an effort to promote a slate of Trump electors after the 2020 election even though Democrat Joe Biden won the state. Her attorney, Thomas Jacobs, said Bobb “had no involvement in the arrangements to select or present these alternate electors” and would seek to dismiss the charges.

    Trump has been criminally charged with trying to overturn the 2020 election, yet his continued insistence that the contest was marred by fraud has been adopted by many within the party even though judges, election officials and Trump’s own attorney general found no evidence of that.

    Trump says there’s no evidence of cheating so far in 2024

    In May, Charlie Spies, a veteran election law attorney with ties to Mitt Romney and Ron DeSantis, resigned as the RNC’s chief counsel after about two months. He made waves at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference by saying there was “zero evidence” a voting machine software glitch had caused thousands of votes to switch in the 2020 election.

    Whatley said in a radio interview in the weeks after the 2020 election that there was “massive fraud.” But he has largely avoided using Trump’s characterization of Biden’s victory, and said in one 2021 interview that Biden “absolutely” was legitimately elected.

    Standing together Monday in North Carolina, Trump praised Whatley as having been “very much into stopping the steal” in 2020. Though Trump has said he hasn’t seen evidence of cheating in 2024, he has repeatedly raised doubts about the process, telling his supporters they need to turn out to make the result “too big to rig.”

    Among the established Republican political lawyers who resisted the legal challenges in 2020 was Justin Riemer, a lawyer for John McCain’s 2008 campaign who was later chief counsel for the RNC but clashed with Trump allies after the election. He warned an RNC colleague in a November 2020 email that the legal efforts were getting “laughed out of court.”

    “It’s setting us back in our fight for election integrity and they are misleading millions of people who have wishful thinking that the president is going to somehow win this thing,” Riemer wrote in the email about Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, two lawyers who helped engineer Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.

    Consequences for Trump-allied lawyers

    Giuliani was disbarred in New York and Washington; Ellis lost her law license in Colorado. The two, along with Sidney Powell, another lawyer central to advancing Trump’s claims, were among 19 people charged in Fulton County, Georgia, with conspiring to overturn the election.

    Both Powell and Ellis pleaded guilty.

    Giuliani was ordered to pay $148 million to two former Georgia poll workers who sued him over lies he spread about them in 2020 that upended their lives. He subsequently filed for bankruptcy.

    “All of that,” said UCLA law professor Rick Hasen, “should be a deterrent to a thinking lawyer who might want to replicate something like that.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Home sales fell in September to slowest pace in almost 30 years

    Home sales fell in September to slowest pace in almost 30 years

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    Sales of existing homes in the United States have dropped to their lowest level since 1995, the National Assn. of Realtors reported Wednesday. Sales fell 1% in September and are down 3.5% from a year earlier.

    What You Need To Know

    • Existing home sales fell 1% in September and are down 3.5% from a year earlier, according to the National Assn. of Realtors

    • While sales fell, prices have continued to increase; he median price of an existing home for sale increased 3% in September compared with a year earlier to $404,500

    • The number of unsold existing homes increased 1.5% in September compared with a month earlier and 23% compared with a year ago

    • Homes are now sitting on the market an average of 28 days — up from 26 days in August and 21 days in September 2023


    “Home sales have been essentially stuck at around a four-million-unit pace for the past 12 months, but factors usually associated with higher home sales are developing,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. 

    “There are more inventory choices for consumers, lower mortgage rates than a year ago and continued job additions to the economy,” Yun said. “Perhaps some consumers are hesitating about moving forward with a major expenditure like purchasing a home before the upcoming election.”

    While sales fell, prices have continued to increase. The median price of an existing home for sale increased 3% in September compared with a year earlier to $404,500. It was the 15th consecutive month of price increases. 

    Mortgage rates are also increasing. As of October 17, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.44% — up from 6.32% a week earlier.

    The number of unsold existing homes increased 1.5% in September compared with a month earlier and 23% compared with a year ago. Homes are now sitting on the market an average of 28 days — up from 26 days in August and 21 days in September 2023.

    “More inventory is certainly good news for home buyers as it gives consumers more properties to view before making a decision,” Yun said. 

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Trump targets hardcore partisans, Harris goes after moderates

    Trump targets hardcore partisans, Harris goes after moderates

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    In battleground Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris warned that democracy and reproductive rights were at stake as she campaigned alongside a former Republican congresswoman. 

    Going to the same state the day before, Donald Trump served French fries at a closed McDonald’s.

    As the 2024 presidential contest speeds to its conclusion on Nov. 5, Harris and Trump are embracing wildly different strategies to energize the coalitions they need to win. Both are making bets that will prove prescient or ill-advised.

    What You Need To Know

    • As the 2024 presidential contest speeds to its conclusion, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are embracing wildly different strategies

    • Both are racing to energize the coalitions they need to win the presidency on Nov. 5

    • Trump’s team has largely abandoned traditional efforts to target moderate voters in the final days before the election

    • His campaign is focusing instead on his base of fiery partisans and low-propensity voters — especially young men — with tough talk at rallies and media appearances


    Trump’s team has largely abandoned traditional efforts to broaden his message to target moderate voters, focusing instead on energizing his base of fiery partisans and turning out low-propensity voters — especially young men of all races — with tough talk and events aimed at getting attention online.

    Harris is leaning into a more traditional all-of-the-above playbook targeting the narrow slice of undecided voters that remain, especially moderates, college-educated suburbanites, and women of all races and education. More than Trump, she is going after Republican women who may have supported rival Nikki Haley in this year’s GOP primary and are dissatisfied with the former president.

    “It’s all pieces of a very complex puzzle,” Harris senior campaign adviser David Plouffe said this week. “This would all be a simpler exercise if you can focus just on one voter cohort. You can’t. And you got to make sure you know you’re doing well enough with all of them so that when you put all that together it adds up to 50%.”

    Trump’s team sees it as a much simpler equation.

    His aides insist that efforts to maximize turnout from Trump’s hardcore base do not mean he’s ignoring swing voters, even if he’s not tailoring a different message to reach them.

    “I just think that there’s a misunderstanding on what’s motivating those people,” Trump political director James Blair said. “I mean, the fact is the economy’s motivating those people. Those people overwhelmingly think that they’re worse off than they were four years ago … So then the question becomes: Who’s better equipped to fix it?”

    The divergent strategies underscore the stark differences between the candidates themselves, in personality and policy.

    Harris, a former California senator who would be the first female president, has promised to include a Republican in her Cabinet, while prioritizing efforts to protect democracy, reproducctive rights and the middle class. Trump, a former president, has vowed to fight for the working class as well. He also has promised a campaign of retribution against his politial enemies with an administration packed with loyalists.

    One point on which both camps agree: The election will be decided by voters in just seven swing states, a political map that has not shifted significantly or narrowed as Election Day speeds into view. They are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.

    One Harris adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy, described the situation as “still terrifyingly close in all seven.”

    Trump rejects the traditional pivot to the middle

    Trump is speaking largely to his loyal Republican base at the expense of moderate voters, especially suburban women. He peppers his rallies with profanity, personal insults against Harris and ominous talk of “enemies within.”

    He has said repeatedly over the last week that Democrats like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., represent a more serious threat to the United States than China and Russia do.

    Trump has also rejected recent opportunities to speak to more traditional audiences, turning down an interview with CBS’ popular “60 Minutes” and refusing to debate Harris for a second time unless it was moderated by Fox News, home to several of his favorite conservative hosts.

    Instead, his campaign is scheduling appearances on podcasts and online shows geared towards young men — especially working-class Hispanic and Black men, who typically vote less frequently and tend to favor Democrats.

    He’s attended sporting events including mixed-martial arts fights and football games, putting him in front of audiences who don’t typically engage with traditional media outlets.

    Josh Rouse, a 28-year-old Black man and registered Republican, said he’s only recently been drawn to politics. He didn’t vote in 2016, but voted for Trump in 2020.

    “If anything, I think it’s important to remember we’re all people, regardless of whether you’re white or Black,” said Rouse, who works in roofing and attended Trump’s rally in Greenville, North Carolina, this week. “It doesn’t matter who you are. He speaks to all of us.”

    Trump’s team has also created viral moments in non-political settings like his trip to McDonald’s on Sunday, part of an extended campaign to cast doubt on Harris’ work history at the fast-food franchise. Trump also went to Coachella, California, and will host a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday — both in heavily Democratic states but where the related media attention and online content would surely reach swing-state voters.

    Trump has kept an aggressive schedule. He is set to visit every battleground state this week save Wisconsin.

    Harris makes Republicans part of her persuasion playbook

    Backed by an avalanche of campaign cash, Harris is holding in-person events but also launching a sprawling door-knocking operation, hyper-targeted online ads and a carefully designed media strategy to reach specific voting blocs.

    Harris’ team believes that roughly 10% of voters in the battleground states are still persuadable, either because they are truly undecided or because their support for Trump is soft. The campaign vows to keep trying to persuade such voters until the final minutes of in-person voting.

    Her team sees the possibility of significant growth among Republican, college-educated, suburban women alienated by Trump’s extreme rhetoric. Even small shifts in swing states could have massive electoral implications.

    The Harris campaign quickly produced digital ads last week highlighting Trump’s description of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as “a day of love.” And Harris spent most of Monday campaigning in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin alongside Liz Cheney, a Republican House leader during Trump’s presidency who swung sharply against him after Jan. 6.

    Harris is scheduled to visit Houston for an event Friday with women who have been affected by the state’s ban on all abortions, which took effect after the Supreme Court, including three justices nominated by Trump, overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She’ll be going there after spending time in Georgia, which banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

    Nicolette Milholin, 45, of Mont Clare, Pennsylvania, said she considered herself a political independent until Trump was elected in 2016.

    “To me, democracy is at stake,” Milholin said at a Harris event this week in Chester County, Pennsylvania. “We have a party that was built for a family and a dynasty. And then we have a party here represented by Kamala Harris, that was built for our country.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Wrong-way driver passes vice presidential motorcade in Wisconsin

    Wrong-way driver passes vice presidential motorcade in Wisconsin

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    A suspected drunken driver going the wrong way on the interstate nearly struck a vehicle containing Vice President Kamala Harris Monday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Sister station WISN obtained video from about 8:20 p.m. Monday showing the driver getting onto Interstate 794 via an offramp. The white car heads west into the eastbound lanes just as the motorcade is approaching on what was an otherwise closed-off freeway. The vehicle is seen moving to the left lanes as the first squad at the head of the motorcade passes by. Each of the more than a dozen vehicles then drives past the car until the final ones, driven by Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Deputies, make a traffic stop. The driver has been identified as a 55-year-old Milwaukee man, whom WISN did not identify as of early Wednesday morning because he had yet to be formally charged. According to an arrest report obtained by WISN, when the man was told by a deputy he’d “almost struck a vehicle in the VPOTUS’ motorcade, he was extremely surprised and had no recollection of entering the freeway or coming close to striking another vehicle. He also stated he did not have any intention of harming Vice President Kamala Harris or anybody related to her campaign.” According to the report, the man failed several field sobriety tests and had an open beer can in his vehicle. He was arrested for drunken driving and second-degree recklessly endangering safety. He remained in jail Tuesday night without bail, awaiting a hearing. The Harris campaign referred any questions regarding the incident to the United States Secret Service. “The U.S. Secret Service is aware of the incident involving a motorist traveling in the opposite direction on the highway while the Vice President was in her motorcade. We are grateful to the Milwaukee Sheriff’s Office for their response which allowed them to stop the motorist and take the driver into custody for DUI,” Secret Service Spokesperson Joe Routh told WISN.

    MILWAUKEE —

    A suspected drunken driver going the wrong way on the interstate nearly struck a vehicle containing Vice President Kamala Harris Monday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

    Sister station WISN obtained video from about 8:20 p.m. Monday showing the driver getting onto Interstate 794 via an offramp. The white car heads west into the eastbound lanes just as the motorcade is approaching on what was an otherwise closed-off freeway.

    The vehicle is seen moving to the left lanes as the first squad at the head of the motorcade passes by. Each of the more than a dozen vehicles then drives past the car until the final ones, driven by Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Deputies, make a traffic stop.

    The driver has been identified as a 55-year-old Milwaukee man, whom WISN did not identify as of early Wednesday morning because he had yet to be formally charged.

    According to an arrest report obtained by WISN, when the man was told by a deputy he’d “almost struck a vehicle in the VPOTUS’ motorcade, he was extremely surprised and had no recollection of entering the freeway or coming close to striking another vehicle. He also stated he did not have any intention of harming Vice President Kamala Harris or anybody related to her campaign.”

    According to the report, the man failed several field sobriety tests and had an open beer can in his vehicle.

    He was arrested for drunken driving and second-degree recklessly endangering safety. He remained in jail Tuesday night without bail, awaiting a hearing.

    The Harris campaign referred any questions regarding the incident to the United States Secret Service.

    “The U.S. Secret Service is aware of the incident involving a motorist traveling in the opposite direction on the highway while the Vice President was in her motorcade. We are grateful to the Milwaukee Sheriff’s Office for their response which allowed them to stop the motorist and take the driver into custody for DUI,” Secret Service Spokesperson Joe Routh told WISN.

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  • Former Abercrombie & Fitch chief arrested on federal sex trafficking charges

    Former Abercrombie & Fitch chief arrested on federal sex trafficking charges

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    Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man were arrested Tuesday on charges of luring dozens of men into sex parties held around the world, sometimes by dangling the promise of modeling for the clothing retailer.

    Jeffries, partner Matthew Smith and their employee James Jacobson “operated an international sex trafficking and prostitution business” from 2008 to 2015, using Jeffries’ status, wealth and a web of household staffers to fulfill the couple’s sexual desires and keep it all secret, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn.

    What You Need To Know

    • A spokesperson for federal prosecutors says former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries and two other men have been arrested on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges

    • Jeffries, partner Matthew Smith and their employee James Jacobson “operated an international sex trafficking and prostitution business” from 2008 to 2015, using Jeffries’ status, wealth and a web of household staffers to fulfill the couple’s sexual desires and keep it all secret, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn

    • They come after years of sexual misconduct allegations from young people who said Jeffries lured them with promises of modeling work and then pressed them into sex acts

    • Jeffries’ attorney says he will “respond in detail to the allegations after the indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate, but plan to do so in the courthouse — not the media”


    The charges follow sexual misconduct allegations, made in lawsuits and the media, from young people who said Jeffries promised modeling work and then pressed them into sex acts.

    Jeffries’ attorney, Brian Bieber, said by email he would “respond in detail to the allegations after the indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate, but plan to do so in the courthouse — not the media.”

    Messages seeking comment were sent to attorneys for Smith and Jacobson.

    Jeffries and Smith were arrested in Florida and were due to make an initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon in West Palm Beach. Jacobson was arrested in Wisconsin and due in court in St. Paul, Minnesota. Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace and FBI and police officials were set to hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

    Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson are charged with sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

    According to the indictment, they paid for dozens of men to travel within the U.S. and internationally to engage in commercial sex with them and other men in New York and at hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco and St. Barts. The indictment describes sexual bacchanals in which the recruited men were given drugs, lubricant, condoms, costumes, sex toys and, sometimes, erection-inducing penile injections that caused painful, hourslong reactions.

    The defendants led the men to believe that attending the events would help their careers, including their chances of getting Abercrombie modeling gigs — or that not complying could harm their prospects, the indictment says.

    Jeffries and Smith employed Jacobson to recruit and hire the men, who typically had to undergo “tryouts” by having sex with Jacobson first, according to the indictment. It says other, unnamed household staffers also helped facilitate the events, including by acting as security and providing alcohol, muscle relaxants, Viagra and other items.

    Jeffries became CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch in 1992 and left in 2014. The New Albany, Ohio-based company declined to comment on his arrest. 

    Abercrombie last year said it had hired an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation after a report on similar allegations was aired by the BBC.

    The BBC investigation included a dozen men who described being at events involving sex acts they said were staged by Jeffries and Smith, often at his home in New York and hotels in London, Paris and elsewhere.

    The BBC report also described Jacobson as a middleman who recruited men for the events. He told the news outlet at the time that he hadn’t engaged in and didn’t know of “any coercive, deceptive or forceful behavior.”

    A lawsuit filed in New York last year accused Abercrombie of allowing Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organization during his 22-year tenure. It said that Jeffries had modeling scouts scouring the internet for victims, and that some prospective models became sex-trafficking victims. At the time, Bieber declined to comment on the allegations. 

    Abercrombie & Fitch traces its roots to a hunting and outdoors goods store that was founded in 1892. By the time Jeffries arrived a century later, the brand was a retail also-ran.

    He was credited with transforming it into a darling of turn-of-the-millennium teen mall culture, known for its nouveau-preppy aesthetic — and for some controversy surrounding it. Jeffries alienated some customers by talking about how the company went after attractive kids who could fit into its clothes. 

    After the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession, A&F’s popularity started to fade again. By the time Jeffries left, a hedge fund had pushed the company’s board to replace him because of the company’s lagging performance. But the company has rebounded in recent years.

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    Associated Press

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  • Harris and Trump campaigns appeal to right-leaning, religious voters

    Harris and Trump campaigns appeal to right-leaning, religious voters

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    Both the Harris and Trump campaigns are intensifying their efforts in battleground states with just two weeks left until Election Day.Former President Donald Trump will campaign for a second straight day in North Carolina after making his pitch to Christian voters a day prior. He postponed a speech at a gun rights conference in Georgia and scheduled a last-minute rally in the Tar Heel state Tuesday as some polling suggests Harris is gaining support there.In a rally before faith leaders in the battleground state, Trump touched on culture war issues, including transgender and parental rights.”Christians will not be safe with Kamala Harris as president,” Trump warned. “Your religious liberty will be gone. Your free speech will be gone, your Second Amendment will be gone, and parental rights will be gone forever.”Earlier, Trump surveyed storm damage and repeated false claims about FEMA misusing taxpayer money.”They spent a lot of money on having illegal people come into our country,” Trump said.Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris made her pitch to Trump-hesitant voters in three “Blue wall” states Monday.In separate events in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, she campaigned alongside a familiar but unlikely ally, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, (R) Wyoming. Both aimed their messages at Trump-wary voters in counties that could decide the election.”We might not agree on every issue but she is somebody you can trust,” Cheney said. “You can vote your conscience and never have to say a word to anybody. There will be millions of Republicans who do that on November 5th.”While Harris will not hold public events, she will sit for an interview that will air Tuesday night on NBC Nightly News.In her place, former President Barack Obama and running mate Tim Walz will host a rally in Wisconsin where in-person, early voting kicks off.Republicans are also holding events to encourage early voting in favor of Trump. His campaign is pushing for all forms of voting, including by mail and in-person, to maximize votes. Trump lost Wisconsin by just under 21,000 votes in the 2020 election.

    WASHINGTON —

    Both the Harris and Trump campaigns are intensifying their efforts in battleground states with just two weeks left until Election Day.

    Former President Donald Trump will campaign for a second straight day in North Carolina after making his pitch to Christian voters a day prior. He postponed a speech at a gun rights conference in Georgia and scheduled a last-minute rally in the Tar Heel state Tuesday as some polling suggests Harris is gaining support there.

    In a rally before faith leaders in the battleground state, Trump touched on culture war issues, including transgender and parental rights.

    “Christians will not be safe with Kamala Harris as president,” Trump warned. “Your religious liberty will be gone. Your free speech will be gone, your Second Amendment will be gone, and parental rights will be gone forever.”

    Earlier, Trump surveyed storm damage and repeated false claims about FEMA misusing taxpayer money.

    “They spent a lot of money on having illegal people come into our country,” Trump said.

    Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris made her pitch to Trump-hesitant voters in three “Blue wall” states Monday.

    In separate events in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, she campaigned alongside a familiar but unlikely ally, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, (R) Wyoming. Both aimed their messages at Trump-wary voters in counties that could decide the election.

    “We might not agree on every issue but she is somebody you can trust,” Cheney said. “You can vote your conscience and never have to say a word to anybody. There will be millions of Republicans who do that on November 5th.”

    While Harris will not hold public events, she will sit for an interview that will air Tuesday night on NBC Nightly News.

    In her place, former President Barack Obama and running mate Tim Walz will host a rally in Wisconsin where in-person, early voting kicks off.

    Republicans are also holding events to encourage early voting in favor of Trump. His campaign is pushing for all forms of voting, including by mail and in-person, to maximize votes. Trump lost Wisconsin by just under 21,000 votes in the 2020 election.

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  • Railroad Norfolk Southern tops third-quarter forecasts

    Railroad Norfolk Southern tops third-quarter forecasts

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    Railroad Norfolk Southern’s streamlined operations delivered strong earnings last quarter, even excluding boosts from insurance payouts related to the disastrous derailment in East Palestine and the sale of two rail lines.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Atlanta-based railroad recorded a $287 million gain on the sale of rail lines in Virginia and North Carolina, and for the second quarter in a row it collected more insurance payments than it paid out for last year’s derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border

    • Norfolk Southern earned $1.099 billion, or $4.85 per share in the quarter, the company said, which is up from a year ago

    • The railroad redoubled its efforts to lower costs in the spring, hiring Chief Operating Officer John Orr to help reduce the number of times railcars get switched and enable Norfolk Southern to operate fewer, longer trains

    The Atlanta-based railroad recorded a $287 million gain on the sale of rail lines in Virginia and North Carolina, and for the second quarter in a row it collected more insurance payments than it paid out for last year’s derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

    Norfolk Southern earned $1.099 billion, or $4.85 per share in the quarter, the company said. That’s up significantly from a year ago, when profits were hurt by mounting costs related to the derailment. Excluding one-time items, the railroad earned $737 million, or $3.25 per share, beating the $3.15 forecast by analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

    New CEO Mark George, who took over last month, isn’t expected to implement any strategic changes because he helped craft the plan a couple years ago that calls for keeping more employees on hand during a downturn, so the railroad can respond better when the economy recovers.

    “It’s really about building out consistent, safe, reliable service with a network that’s resilient and can bounce back from events,” like it did when Norfolk Southern got all its major lines running again within 72 hours after Hurricane Helene hit, said George, who was promoted from Chief Financial Officer after Alan Shaw was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with an employee.

    Norfolk Southern has been in the spotlight ever since the February 2023 derailment in East Palestine triggered a national focus on railroad safety. Earlier this year, the railroad also had to fend off a takeover bid from investment firm Ancora Holdings. The investor ultimately won only three seats, insufficient to make the sweeping changes it sought.

    The railroad redoubled its efforts to lower costs in the spring, hiring Chief Operating Officer John Orr to help reduce the number of times railcars get switched and enable Norfolk Southern to operate fewer, longer trains. Its operating expenses fell 34% to $1.46 billion.

    “We’re seeing the results. And I don’t have a whole lot of patience for lack of execution or acceptance of mediocrity,” George said.

    The railroad’s revenue of $3.05 billion was just below analysts’ expectation for $3.09 billion.

    Norfolk Southern is one of the nation’s largest railroads, with tracks crisscrossing the Eastern United States.

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    Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

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