week ending Nov 1

As Fed mulls the end of QT, what lessons have been learned? - The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to announce guidance on the end of its quantitative tightening program later Wednesday. As that process draws to a close, experts are questioning when and how the central bank should use its balance sheet to smooth economic stress in the future.

• Key Insight: Market watchers expect the central bank to announce an end to its QT program soon, signaling the close of the Fed's large-scale asset purchases during the pandemic. Economists have varying feelings about the program, with some urging the Fed to reconsider future purchases of mortgage-backed securities.
• Expert Quote: "You can argue about whether it's good or not. I think it's OK to do emergency things in times of crisis, but you have to stop doing them when the crisis is over." — Alex Pollock, senior fellow, Mises Institute.
• What's at stake: Critics of the Fed's QE program in 2020 say its aftermath contributed to rising home prices and worsening affordability.

As the Federal Open Market Committee is slated to announce its near-term interest rate decision later today, market watchers are also expecting an announcement about when the central bank will stop allowing securities on its balance sheet to mature.

Federal Reserve cuts rates for second time as shutdown stalls key data - The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the second consecutive month Wednesday as questions swirl about the true strength of the U.S. economy. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the panel of Fed officials in charge of monetary policy, reduced its baseline interest rate to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent, cutting it by 0.25 percentage points. Officials voted 10 to 2 in favor of the rate cut, with Fed board member Stephen Miran instead supporting a larger 0.5 percentage point cut, and Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Schmid supporting no move at all. After months of keeping interest rates steady despite pressure from President Trump, Fed officials changed course in September. The FOMC began bringing interest rates down in the last month and suggested in projections that they would likely do so again at least once more before the end of the year. But Fed officials had to make Wednesday’s decision without key federal economic data amid the ongoing government shutdown. With the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) mostly shuttered during the shutdown, the Fed had no federal jobs report for October to guide them. Instead, the FOMC had to rely on a patchwork of private-sector data, a delayed consumer price index (CPI) and the Fed’s regular surveys of businesses and nonprofits for the latest insight on the economy. “Although some important federal government data have been delayed due to the shutdown, the public and private-sector data that have remained available suggests that the outlook for employment and inflation has not changed much since our meeting in September,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks to reporters. “Conditions in the labor market appear to be gradually cooling and inflation remains somewhat elevated.” Despite the wild card of a lack of federal data, Wall Street traders and analysts expected the Fed to cut rates Wednesday as central bankers face a difficult crossroads. The U.S. labor market has slowed significantly throughout 2025, adding an average of just 29,000 jobs a month. The unemployment rate has risen to 4.3 percent from 4 percent in January, and the rate of hiring has slowed to levels not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation has also steadily risen since the summer, hitting an annual rate of 3 percent in September, according to the latest CPI data. “There is no risk-free path for policy as we navigate the tension between our employment and inflation goals,” Powell said at the National Association for Business Economics conference in Philadelphia earlier this month. With lawmakers nowhere close to ending the shutdown as of Wednesday afternoon, the Fed could have to make upcoming decisions without the benefit of federal data as well. The White House said last week that the BLS would not produce another CPI report until the government shutdown ends, having only reopened to make sure the Social Security Administration had adequate data for the annual cost-of-living adjustment to federal benefits. Powell said that while the Fed would be able to pick up on major shifts in the economy without federal data, it wouldn’t have “the detailed feel of things” it typically has in most cases. He added that another rate cut in December “far from” a “forgone conclusion,” citing the major differences among Fed officials about the path ahead and concerns about the lack of clear data. “We just don’t know what we’re going to get. If there is a very high level of uncertainty, then that could be an argument in favor of caution about moving, but we’ll have to see how it unfolds.”

Fed Cuts 25bps, Ends QT As Expected; Two FOMC Officials Dissent | ZeroHedge (8 graphs) Since the last FOMC meeting (on Sept 17th), Gold has dramatically outperformed across asset-classes (even with its recent plunge) followed by US equities. Oil prices have tumbled the most while the dollar and bonds have risen in value. Bitcoin is basically unchanged since the last FOMC meeting, having collapsed after reaching record highs intramonth... The market has grown more dovish since the last Fed meeting, now fully pricing in a 25bps cut today (and is almost certain that December will see another 25bps cut)... More notably, rate-cut expectations have barely changed since the last FOMC with 46bps of cuts priced in for 2025 and 69bps more priced in for 2026... Finally, before we get to the meat and potatoes of today's statement, we note that Goldman Sachs models show monetary policy at its most dovish in years... And bear in mind that financial conditions have never been 'easier'... So as we detailed in the FOMC preview, the two main questions for traders today is:

• 1) will the statement/presser provide support for the market's current dovish future take (given the market's anticipation of a 25bps cut, Goldman notes that it would likely be a high bar for the FOMC to change its plan on the basis of alternative data, and in any case the data have not given them any reason to), and,
• 2) will Powell officially announce the end of QT, as we discussed extensively in recent weeks (here and here), as a result of deteriorating conditions in money markets, the Fed is expected to announce changes to its balance sheet program. Fed Chair Powell suggested that the level of reserves will likely hit an ample level within a couple of months, although as we highlighted, the combination of reserves and reverse repos is now the lowest it has been since 2020 resulting in a creeping increase in the SOFR rate.

Meanwhile, usage of the Fedʼs repo facility has picked up, suggesting that some participants may be growing tighter on cash. With that in mind, here are the key headlines from the FOMC Statement:

• The FOMC cut the federal funds rate target range by 25 bps to 3.75%-4.00%, as expected.
• The vote was 10-2, with two opposing dissenters (see below).
• The Fed announced that QT (aka the run-off of Treasury securities from the Fed’s balance sheet currently capped at $5 billion per month) would conclude on December 1, as also became consensus in recent days as a result of turmoil in funding markets.
• There were twp dissenting votes, one from Fed Governor Stephen Miran in favor of a 50-bps cut, and one from Jeffrey Schmid, who voted for no rate cut.

• The Fed statement maintains description of the labor market, noting that “job gains have slowed, and the unemployment rate has edged up but remained low through August,” adding “more recent indicators are consistent with these developments” and “downside risks to employment rose in recent months”

Here is a statement redline... […] ... where the key highlights are the following:

• Replacing that economic activity has "moderated" with "expanding at a moderate pace", which is actually a bullish revision.
• Noting that while job gains have slowed "this year", the unemployment rate has edged up but "remained" low and added that"through August, more recent indicators are consistent with these developments."
• On inflation, the Fed added that inflation has moved up "since earlier this year" and remains somewhat elevated.
• On QT, the Fed said that the Committee "decided to conclude the reduction of its aggregate securities holdings on December 1", which is a bit later than some had expected, as November had emerged as the target month for QT ending.

In its implementation note, the Fed clarified the details of how QT will end: "Effective October 30, 2025, the Federal Open Market Committee directs the Desk to:

• Undertake open market operations as necessary to maintain the federal funds rate in a target range of 3-3/4 to 4 percent.
• Conduct standing overnight repurchase agreement operations with a minimum bid rate of 4.0 percent and with an aggregate operation limit of $500 billion.
• Conduct standing overnight reverse repurchase agreement operations at an offering rate of 3.75 percent and with a per-counterparty limit of $160 billion per day.
• Roll over at auction the amount of principal payments from the Federal Reserve's holdings of Treasury securities maturing in October and November that exceeds a cap of $5 billion per month. Redeem Treasury coupon securities up to this monthly cap and Treasury bills to the extent that coupon principal payments are less than the monthly cap.Beginning on December 1, roll over at auction all principal payments from the Federal Reserve's holdings of Treasury securities.
• Reinvest the amount of principal payments from the Federal Reserve's holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) received in October and November that exceeds a cap of $35 billion per month into Treasury securities to roughly match the maturity composition of Treasury securities outstanding. Beginning on December 1, reinvest all principal payments from the Federal Reserve's holdings of agency securities into Treasury bills.
• Allow modest deviations from stated amounts for reinvestments, if needed for operational reasons."

Fed's rate cut trajectory unclear as dueling dissents emerge --The Federal Reserve's interest rate-setting committee Wednesday voted to cut short-term interest rates by 25 basis points, as most market watchers had predicted. It also announced a December end to its quantitative tightening program, which was also expected.

• Key Insight: The October Federal Open Market Committee cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, but comments from Chair Jerome Powell caught market watchers off guard, casting doubt on the likelihood of another rate cut in December.
• Expert Quote: "There were strongly differing views about how to proceed in December. A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion — in fact, far from it." — Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
• What's at stake: Labor market data, yet to be released by the BLS due to the government shutdown, can have a meaningful impact on whether or not the central bank moves once more to cut rates in December.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to reduce interest rates by 25 basis points Wednesday, but the emergence of dissents on the committee makes the chance of another quarter-point cut in December less certain.

Ron Johnson blocks Democratic bill to pay all federal employees during shutdown - Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) objected to a request by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) last Thursday for the Senate to immediately consider and pass a bill to pay all federal workers, members of the military and federal contractors during the 2025 government shutdown. It was one of two Democratic-sponsored bills to pay federal workers during the shutdown that Johnson rejected on the floor. The True Shutdown Fairness Act, sponsored by Van Hollen, would also prevent the Trump administration from attempting mass layoffs of federal workers during the shutdown, employee restructurings known as reductions in force. The Military and Federal Employee Protection Act, sponsored by Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), would allow all military service members, federal employees and contractors to receive the pay that they have missed so far during the shutdown. It would not pay government workers beyond the date of the measure’s enactment. Johnson blocked both measures, arguing they were too complex to approve by unanimous consent. Van Hollen’s request came shortly before the Senate was slated to vote on a bill from Johnson to pay active-duty members of the military and other federal employees who have been required to work during the shutdown. “We should not be punishing federal employees for something they had nothing to do with. They’re not responsible. They’re innocent bystanders,” he said. Johnson noted there was a lot of overlap between Van Hollen’s bill and his own Shutdown Fairness Act. He suggested Van Hollen support the procedural motion to allow the Senate to proceed to his own bill, so it could be debated and amended — and perhaps even passed — on the Senate floor. Johnson said simply approving Van Hollen’s bill by unanimous consent without review and debate would not be the right approach. “Passing it by unanimous consent is not the way to get it done,” he said. Peters took to the floor right after Van Hollen to offer another proposal to pay federal workers during the shutdown. Johnson objected to that measure, as well. Peters’s Military and Federal Employee Protection Act would ensure that military service members, federal employees and federal contractors would receive the paychecks they have missed so far during the shutdown. The bill would not pay federal employees beyond the date of the measure’s enactment. Peters’s staff noted that many federal employees have already missed a check and that his bill would fast-track payments, requiring them to be sent out within seven days of the measure’s enactment.

Military pay in jeopardy as shutdown continues and $8 billion dries up Time is running out to find the next solution to get service members paid during the government shutdown, as the $8 billion the Trump administration found to cover troops’ paychecks is due to run out at the end of the month. After Senate Democrats sank a vote Thursday on Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wis.) bill to pay active-duty military personnel and federal employees required to work during the shutdown, troops, sailors and Air Force members may not receive their Oct. 31 paycheck.Now, with the shutdown into its fourth week and no end in sight, the administration will need to figure out where to pull additional funds from if it wants its forces to be paid, should Congress fail to come up with a solution in time. “While I am grateful President Trump paid service members thus far, I am concerned that money will run out by the end of October and our military won’t get paid on time,” said Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), a former Navy helicopter pilot who last month introduced a stand-alone military pay bill, the Pay Our Troops Act. The bill has made little movement. Trump on Oct. 11 directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to pay service members’ midmonth paychecks by using $8 billion in previously appropriated Pentagon funds meant for research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E). But that pay cycle cost roughly $6.5 billion, leaving only $1.5 billion leftover for the looming Oct. 31 payday, which is expected to cost $6 billion to $7 billion, according to Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “My understanding is that the initial money pulled from the RDT&E account was only sufficient to cover the Oct. 15th payroll,” he told The Hill. Harrison said there are plenty of other accounts with carryover funding from previous years that Pentagon leadership can tap to keep the pay flowing for months, but at the end of the day, “they are just robbing Peter to (literally) pay Paul,” he said. “Once funding is restored, they will need to move this money back into the accounts it came from.” The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill as to whether officials have identified any other payroll sources. The upcoming deadline appears to have lawmakers on both sides of the aisle worried, after senators voted 54-45 against advancing legislation from Johnson that would have guaranteed pay for essential federal workers, including members of the military, during the government shutdown. Georgia’s Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock joined Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) in breaking ranks in voting for the Republican bill, known as the Shutdown Fairness Act, which needed 60 votes to move forward. Though federal employees are guaranteed back pay once the government reopens, the bill would have given some relief to federal workers going without pay before that happens. But Democrats — who have held firm in demanding that Republicans extend soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies and negotiate an end to the shutdown with them — saw the bill as extending the shutdown by taking pressure off Republicans to negotiate. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) on Thursday called Johnson’s bill “a ruse,” warning it would give the White House too much power to determine which federal workers get paid and which remain furloughed. “We will not give Donald Trump a license to play politics with people’s livelihoods,” Schumer said. Democrats instead wanted a bill from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), which would pay all federal workers during the shutdown. That legislation also was blocked Thursday. “Republicans are hell-bent on letting Trump pick winners and losers here, but every federal worker, servicemember, and federal contractor deserves to get paid,” Van Hollen said in a statement. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters he voted down Johnson’s bill as “we should pay all of our essential workers, not just our military, but also ICE and TSA and air controllers without the president picking and choosing his favorites.” Making matters more tricky, the Senate is set to leave town Thursday afternoon until Monday, and Trump will be embarking on a multiday trip to Asia beginning Friday. Asked if Republicans have an alternative if the troops are not paid by Oct. 31, Johnson told reporters that Trump “only has so much latitude” in pulling funding from other areas as he did earlier this month. “There’s only so many pots of money that he has the authority,” he told reporters. “He’s not a king, you know, he only has so much authority.”

Sen. Ron Johnson offers proposal to pay essential and furloughed workers during shutdown -- Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.), the lead Senate Republican negotiator on a bill to pay key federal workers during the shutdown, says he has offered Democrats a proposal to pay all federal workers — essential and furloughed federal employees — while federal departments and agencies are shuttered. Johnson told The Hill that he believes Senate GOP leadership supports his offer, but he says the proposal will be discussed in more detail at the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon Tuesday. “Are they going to take ‘yes’ for an answer?” Johnson said of whether his Democratic colleagues would accept the latest offer. “We’re willing to add furloughed workers,” he said, calling it a “big” concession. “Pay them up front. They’re going to get paid anyway,” Johnson said, noting that under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, furloughed federal workers are guaranteed back pay for the time they miss on the job during a shutdown. “We need to put that vote on the floor,” he said. “Get it all approved by the White House and our leadership.” He said Republican senators would discuss it in more detail Tuesday afternoon. “Hopefully that will be the conference position and we’ll start voting on this stuff,” he added. Johnson emphasized that the bill he’s proposing would not “add to or detract from the president’s authority in terms of managing the workforce.” In other words, it would not prohibit President Trump from laying off federal workers or restructuring the federal workforce. Johnson said that there’s no way Trump would sign a bill that diminishes his authority, and noted that the courts are currently weighing legal challenges to Trump’s power to fire federal workers. Asked if Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and other members of Senate GOP leadership have bought into his proposal, Johnson told The Hill: “I believe so.” But he cautioned that “we have to get the actual language and make sure that the White House doesn’t have a problem with it — I don’t think they would.” Democrats last week blocked Johnson’s Shutdown Fairness Act, which would pay only essential workers, including military service members and air traffic controllers, during the shutdown. It failed on a vote of 54-45, but three Democrats voted for it: Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (Ga.). Ossoff is a top GOP political target in the 2026 midterm election. Johnson’s concession to Democrats represents a significant move from his position last week, when he objected to two Democratic requests for unanimous consent to approve legislation to pay all federal workers during the length of the shutdown, along with those who have missed paychecks so far. He is negotiating with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), the lead Democratic sponsor of one of those competing proposals.

Government shutdown could end because of disgust with both Democrats, Republicans - Democratic and Republican strategists and pollsters agree that the government shutdown, which will hit the 30-day mark this week, is a growing liability for both parties, which could push congressional leaders to look for an off-ramp to the stalemate soon. Republicans passed a clean continuing resolution and can argue that Democrats triggered the shutdown by voting for the same type of straightforward funding bill they passed 13 times when they controlled the White House and Senate under President Biden. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have to worry that Republicans as the party in control of Washington will get hit hardest because the party in power typically gets the credit or blame for whatever happens on their watch. “What we’re seeing primarily is disgust with the system as a whole and a pox on both your houses,” Whit Ayres, a prominent Republican pollster, said of polls on the shutdown. “Most Americans can’t understand why the federal government can’t function effectively enough to pass a budget and keep the government open.” He said Democrats are playing a weak hand in demanding a permanent extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies and a restoration of nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts, given they’re in the Senate and House minority. “The Democrats don’t control either house of Congress or the presidency, so it’s kind of hard to think that shutting the government down is going to get the majority that controls all three to do something they don’t want to do,” Ayres said. Democratic strategists acknowledge that the political dynamics of the shutdown are complex and the fight could backfire on them if it drags on for too long and their party is seen as refusing to compromise. Polls show that more Americans blame Republicans than Democrats for the shutdown, but the political advantage that Democrats enjoyed on the issue earlier this month is starting to evaporate. A Reuters/Ipsos poll of 4,385 U.S. adults published last week found that 50 percent of respondents blamed Republicans more while 43 percent blamed Democrats. And 51 percent of voters not affiliated with either of the major parties blamed Republicans while 34 percent blamed Democrats. Both parties are taking damage from the bitter fight in Washington. A Gallup poll conducted during the first two weeks of October found that Congress’s approval rating has sunk from 26 percent to a dismal 15 percent over the past month. Democratic strategists say they have a “built-in” advantage on the issue because the Democratic Party is viewed as the pro-government party, but the longer the shutdown drags on, the more their advantage dwindles.

SNAP emerges as flash point in government shutdown fight The battle over food stamps has emerged as the latest flash point in the fierce partisan clash over government spending. Republicans in Congress are increasingly highlighting the imminent shortfall facing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in a bid to pressure Democrats to help end the ongoing shutdown. They say Democrats, by opposing the GOP’s stopgap spending bill, are threatening undue harm to some of the nation’s poorest people. Democrats have countered with charges of hypocrisy, noting the Republicans’ long history of seeking to dismantle federal programs benefiting low-income people, including SNAP. They’re pointing, as recent evidence, to the steep cuts to SNAP adopted this year as part of President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” The impasse is well-entrenched, and the impacts on SNAP are already surfacing, as some states have stopped accepting new applications and others are warning that funding for benefits will dry up before month’s end. If the shutdown extends into November, the impact would be even more severe for the more than 40 million low-income people who benefit from the nutrition subsidies. In the best-case shutdown scenario, those people are expected to receive smaller payments to help cover grocery bills. In the worst case, they will get nothing. Indeed, a number of states are already warning that SNAP payments will cease altogether. Those dynamics have heightened the warnings from advocates about the detrimental effects of withholding SNAP benefits in an already volatile economy, and they’ve heightened the pressure on Congress to come to a budget agreement before those effects are fully realized. The issue has also fueled the daily bouts of Capitol Hill finger-pointing over which party bears the blame for the shutdown — and the subsequent threat to SNAP. “Forty-two million people across America are gonna suffer from [not getting] those SNAP benefits that they count on right before Thanksgiving, because Chuck Schumer and Democrats are so angry with President Trump that they just want to find a way to say no,” Rep. Steve Scalise (La.), the House Republican whip, told reporters this week. “This is having real impacts on real families.” Democrats have fired back, incredulous that the same Republicans who have sought for decades to shrink the federal government and slash low-income programs are now claiming to be the guardians of those very things. “They are now trying to reimagine themselves as the champions of federal workers — as the champions of food programs and health care — when all they have done is take an axe to all of that since they came into office?” Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), the Democratic whip, said Wednesday. Democrats are pointing specifically to the Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the massive package of tax cuts and spending priorities that GOP leaders muscled through Congress and into law over the summer. Much of the Democratic criticism of that bill has focused on the hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts featured in the legislation. But with SNAP benefits under threat during the shutdown, Democrats are now highlighting the law’s steep SNAP cuts, which the Congressional Budget Office has estimated to be $186 billion over the next decade. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that Trump and Republicans “literally stole this money from the mouths of hungry children, seniors, veterans and families” in order to help cover the cost of providing tax cuts to wealthy GOP supporters. “That’s the reason why the American people are at risk of going hungry — millions of them,” Jeffries told reporters outside the Capitol. A big question looming over the debate remains how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency that oversees SNAP from Washington, intends to manage the program in the coming weeks. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins warned last week that the department lacks the funds “to provide SNAP for 40 million Americans come Nov. 1.” “Democrats are putting free healthcare for illegal aliens and their political agenda ahead of food security for American families,” she charged. But the USDA has not clarified whether it intends to tap a SNAP contingency fund to pay benefits during the shutdown. That fund currently contains between $5 billion and $6 billion, according to advocates and congressional aides who monitor the issue. That’s shy of the almost $8 billion needed to pay full benefits through the month of November, but would allow for partial payments to help defray grocery costs through the shutdown.

Federal SNAP benefits won’t be paid in November: What happens next? – “The well has run dry,” a notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reads, warning the federal government will not be sending out November food assistance as the government shutdown continues.SNAP, formerly called the Food Stamp Program, is funded by the federal government but administered by states. The USDA’s shutdown contingency plan allows the agency to tap into reserve funding to keep SNAP operating if the federal government remains shut for longer than a month. However, the Trump administration said it would not do that.“At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats,” the USDA notice said.Cutting off food assistance leaves more than 40 million people hanging in the balance. About 1 in 8 Americans rely on SNAP to buy food. The WIC program, which provides food assistance to low-income pregnant women, mother and babies, is also poised to run out of money, affecting about 7 million people.Each U.S. state is reacting to the news differently. While some are tapping into emergency funds to keep benefits flowing, others are directing residents to seek out help from food banks and charities.Virginia declared a state of emergency in order to free up emergency funds. New York is issuing $41 million in emergency food aid. Colorado’s governor requested the state legislature use up to $10 million from the state’s general fund to support food banks and tide over food assistance.In California, benefits were expected to be disrupted, but Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is fast-tracking $80 million in funds for food banks. California will also be deploying National Guard troops to help distribute food.“This is serious, this is urgent – and requires immediate action,” Newsom said.Arkansas and Oklahoma, on the other hand, are advising recipients to identify food pantries and other groups that help with food.“Oklahoma Human Services urges households to plan ahead and carefully budget,” the state agency said in a press release.Similarly, Georgia and Utah are letting residents know not to expect new November benefits, but they should still be able to use any leftover benefits that weren’t used in October.For all SNAP beneficiaries in any state, their EBT cards will still work in November. Any unused benefits from prior months will roll over and the balance will still be accessible after Nov. 1.The USDA has said it will not be reimbursing states that use their own money to keep SNAP benefits flowing during the shutdown.

Mike Johnson claims SNAP contingency funds 'not legally available' - Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Monday that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency funds are not “legally available” to cover benefits during the shutdown. At a press conference, Johnson cited a legal analysis from the Trump administration that argued the emergency funds cannot be used to cover the lapse in funding set to take effect next month, since the funds are “finite” and must previously have been appropriated for use. “I got a summary of the whole legal analysis, and it certainly looks legitimate to me,” Johnson told a reporter when asked whether the administration should tap into the billions of dollars in reserve, earmarked by Congress to fund SNAP in emergencies. “The contingency funds are not legally available to cover the benefits right now,” he continued. “The reason is because it’s a finite source of funds. It was appropriated by Congress, and if they transfer funds from these other sources, it pulls it away immediately from school meals and infant formula. … It’s a trade-off.” The Speaker added: “There has to be a preexisting appropriation for the contingency fund to be used, and Democrats blocked that appropriation when they rejected the clean continuing resolution.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is sitting on more than $5 billion in a contingency fund earmarked by Congress to fund SNAP in emergencies. But the department says it won’t use those funds to cover benefits if the government shutdown extends beyond Oct. 31 — a move that appears designed to maximize the pressure on Senate Democrats to support a GOP spending bill to reopen the government. The USDA said the contingency fund was designed to respond to unforeseen events, such as natural disasters, and the current shutdown doesn’t qualify because it was manufactured by Democrats, according to a memo. To spend the money on SNAP benefits during such an event, the USDA argued, would be illegal. The memo contradicts a since-deleted shutdown plan prepared by USDA earlier in the year, saying the department is legally obligated to pay SNAP benefits in the event of a shutdown. Democrats have blasted the move. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called it “a disgusting dereliction of duty that the Trump administration would knowingly rip food out of the mouths of 42 million children, seniors and veterans.” But Johnson sought to pin blame on Democrats on Monday, saying SNAP could be funded if Democrats agree to the GOP proposal to reopen the government. “So the way to make this stop immediately is for, we just need a handful. We need five more Democrats in the Senate to do the right thing. Wake up and say, ‘I’m going to say no to the Marxist far-left pressure, and I’m going to do what’s right by the people, the 42 million Americans in this country who rely upon this essential nutrition assistance,’” Johnson said at his press conference.

Food stamp SNAP funding expiration set to impact 40 million Americans as shutdown hits one month mark - More than 40 million low-income food assistance beneficiaries are expected to receive less help with grocery bills — or no help at all — in the coming days.The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is threatening to withhold billions of dollars in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency funding, which Congress has already allocated for emergency scenarios, if the government shutdown stretches into November.There is between $5 billion and $6 billion currently in that fund, experts say. That’s not enough to cover the estimated $8 billion in SNAP benefits due out next month, but it would allow for partial payments to help low-income Americans defray food costs. On Friday, however, the USDA released guidance saying it won’t use those funds to cover SNAP benefits if the government shutdown extends beyond Oct. 31 — a move that appears designed to maximize the pressure on Senate Democrats to support a GOP spending bill to reopen the government. In a memo, first reported by Axios, the USDA said the reason is simple: The contingency fund was designed to respond to unforeseen events, like natural disasters, and the current shutdown doesn’t qualify because it was manufactured by Democrats. To spend the money on SNAP benefits during such an event, the USDA argues, would be illegal. “[T]he contingency fund is a source of funds for contingencies, such as the Disaster SNAP program, which provides food purchasing benefits for individuals in disaster areas, including natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, that can come on quickly and without notice,” the memo reads.The memo contradicts the shutdown plan prepared by USDA earlier in the year, which said the department is legally obligated to pay SNAP benefits in the event of a shutdown. “Congressional intent is evident that SNAP’s operation should continue since the program has been provided with multi-year contingency funds that can be used for State Administrative Expenses to ensure that the State can also continue operations during a Federal Government shutdown,” that policy read.The plan has since been deleted. And Brooke Rollins, the secretary of the USDA, had forecast the new policy in recent days, saying the burden is on Senate Democrats to liberate those funds by voting to end the shutdown. “You’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families, of hungry families, that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown,” Rollins told reporters recently. Democrats and other SNAP supporters have denounced the shift, saying the law is clear: USDA must release the contingency funds. And they’re hammering the administration for not acting sooner to ensure that benefits don’t run out. “It could have, and should have, taken steps weeks ago to be ready to use these funds,” Sharon Parrott, the head of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said in a statement. “Instead, it may choose not to use them in an effort to gain political advantage.”

Speaker Mike Johnson: GOP working on Republican health care plan amid shutdown -- Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) is working with the chairs of three House committees to compile a Republican health care plan as the government shutdown nears the one-month mark and Democrats demand action on expiring ObamaCare subsidies. “Republicans have been working on a fix for health care, we’ve been doing this for years,” Johnson said in a press conference on Monday when asked about the coming “health care cliff.” He held up a copy of a policy framework developed when he was chair of the Republican Study Committee from 2019 to 2020, asserting that “these ideas have been on paper for a long time.” The heads of those House committees of jurisdiction involved in the health care plans would be Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), and Education and Workforce Chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich.). Republicans have come under intense pressure from Democrats on the issue of health care, and there have been signs that some in the GOP see it as a vulnerability ahead of next year’s midterms. Enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are set to expire at the end of the year, and millions of Americans are receiving notifications in the mail about sharply rising premiums. Prominent GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.), have sounded the alarm about the effects of rising insurance rates, which come after Republicans passed funding cuts to Medicaid as part of their tax and spending reconciliation bill. Republicans, however, say they will not negotiate on the ACA subsidies until Democrats vote to reopen the government — and they have never voted for the expiring subsidy enhancements signed into law under former President Biden. Johnson has said that the subsidy expiration was always going to be something that lawmakers negotiate before the end of the year, but he voiced his opposition to those expiring subsidies. “The expiring ObamaCare subsidy at the end of the year is a serious problem,” Johnson said. “If you look at it objectively, you know that it is subsidizing bad policy. We’re throwing good money at a bad, broken system, and so it needs real reforms.” Johnson said it is not appropriate to address the health care subsidies on a simple stopgap government funding measure “because it’s very complicated to fix.” “But Republicans have a long list of ideas. Leader Scalise has been working with the chairmen of our three committees of jurisdiction — putting all of that, formulating all that, grabbing the best ideas that we’ve had for years, to put it on paper and make it work,” Johnson said. “But we know we’re going to have to arm wrestle with Democrats. Why? Because many of them are avowed to get us to a single-payer system,” Johnson said. “They do love socialism, my friends.”

WSJ urges Republicans to end ObamaCare subsidies during shutdown - The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal is urging Republicans in Congress to end health care subsidies introduced as part of ObamaCare as the party tries to negotiate an end to the government shutdown, which has stretched into its fourth week. “Despite longtime Democratic political dominance on healthcare, more voters may be noticing for the first time in years that the Affordable Care Act is a debacle that has made care worse and more expensive,” the Journal wrote as part of an editorial published Tuesday. The newspaper accused Democrats in Congress of attempting to “extort the GOP into extending enriched ObamaCare subsidies that were sold as temporary pandemic support.” “Do taxpayers — many of whom pay for their own coverage at work — want to underwrite baby boomer early retirement? Maybe the politics here aren’t as obvious as Democrats assume,” the Journal argued. More than a decade after the former president’s signature health care legislation was signed into law, “[I]t’s still a product few deem worth buying unless they’re protected from the cost,” the Rupert Murdoch-owned outlet added. “The political and media ground have changed in the past 10 years,” it said. “… An underappreciated question of the shutdown is whether the GOP will re-enter the debate on healthcare — and go on offense on ObamaCare’s failures.” Since President Trump took office in January, the Journal has been sharply critical of the new administration and urged Republicans in Congress to push back on the president’s policies on issues ranging from trade to federal law enforcement and matters of national security.

Many voters say health care unaffordable, are open to new insurance system: Poll -- New polling has found that the majority of voters say health care in the U.S. is unaffordable and are open to a health insurance system that doesn’t tie coverage to employment.Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit that works to eliminate medical debt and supports policies to prevent new debt, sponsored the poll, which was led by the nonpartisan research firm PerryUndem. Along with a national survey, focus groups were also asked for their opinions on health care.The poll was provided first to The Hill. The survey found that 69 percent of voters believe that health care is not affordable today, with that figure remaining relatively consistent across parties. Thirty-five percent of participants said they currently owed money or have debt due to medical or dental expenses. The same percentage said they had skipped or delayed medical care in the last year due to fears of medical debt. Survey participants were asked whether they made at least one of eight material sacrifices in the past year in order to meet their financial goals. These included eating less food, skipping vacations, putting more of their expenses on credit cards, falling behind on bills and borrowing money from friends and family. Among those surveyed, 68 percent said they had engaged in at least one of those practices, with 43 percent saying they’d eaten less or bought less expensive, less healthy foods. One participant, a 43-year-old uninsured white woman in West Virginia, said in the survey, “I go to a food pantry and I work three jobs. You know what I mean? It’s hard, and it shouldn’t be that hard. I don’t have time to spend with my kids. I don’t have time to do things, because I have to work to eat, you know, and that’s what makes it hard for me.” “This is a common ground issue that you know is resonating with people. Health care is clearly unaffordable,” Allison Sesso, president and CEO of Undue Medical Debt, told The Hill. “What I thought was really interesting is really the focus on insurance,” Sesso added. “Seventy-four percent saying that insurance is failing to protect them from medical debt. And I think that that, to me, is a little bit new. Not that it’s new that insurance isn’t working that great, but that such a large percentage of voters on both sides of the aisle were pointing that out as one of the biggest failures.” Sixty-three percent of participants said they blamed insurance companies the most for medical debt, which was very distantly followed by pharmaceutical companies at 12 percent and hospitals at 9 percent. Seventy-six percent of voters said they agreed with the statement: “We need to switch to a different system of health insurance where people can change jobs or become self-employed and not have to worry about losing their health insurance.” “They want to see a system that doesn’t tie them so tightly to their jobs, because it prevents them from moving around,” Sesso said. “And, you know, if you’re not sick, you’re sort of punished to stay at the job, and you don’t have the ability to be sort of self-employed, that you have to sort of hold on to that job for the insurance aspect of it When it came to addressing medical debt, 76 percent said they wanted their states to pass laws shielding them from medical debt. Measures that received significant support included limiting the interest rate allowed on medical debt, limiting the ability of collection agencies to take a person’s belongings due to medical debt and requiring hospitals to use the same user-friendly application for financial assistance. Eighty-one percent said they supported the creation of a state-funded health plan that would give residents a more affordable option than commercial plans. Seventy-seven percent of voters said they would feel more positive about state elected officials if they passed laws with these measures and 75 percent said they would be more likely to vote for someone if they passed these laws. The ongoing discourse over health insurance and ensuring people can afford it is what is currently keeping the federal government shut down. The current shutdown is already the second-longest in U.S. history, and Democrats are refusing to budge unless a deal is struck to extend enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans.

Federal union urges Congress to end shutdown, pass clean funding bill - The largest union representing federal workers is calling for an end to the government shutdown, as it hits Day 27.In a Monday release, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley said “it’s time” for Congress to immediately pass a clean continuing resolution (CR) to reopen the government.“No half measures, and no gamesmanship,” Kelley said. “Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today.”The AFGE, according to its website, represents more than 800,000 workers in “nearly every” federal government agency. The agencies with the most AFGE members include the departments of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security and Defense, as well as the Social Security Administration.The union has filed lawsuits on behalf of furloughed and laid-off workers throughout the shutdown, including Oct. 3, when it sued the Education Department over automatic email responses from agency employees blaming congressional Democrats for the shutdown.The shutdown, which started Oct. 1, is already the second-longest in U.S. history. The record is the 35-day shutdown of President Trump’s first term. As of Friday, at least 670,000 federal workers have been furloughed since the funding lapse began, with roughly 730,000 working without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Many federal workers received paychecks Oct. 10 for a pay period through Sept. 30, but were not paid last Friday.According to the Defense Manpower Data Center, there were more than 1.34 million active-duty military personnel as of the end of August. While the Pentagon, using $8 billion in previously appropriated funds for research, development, test and education, paid service members Oct. 15, that money runs out at the end of the month. On Sept. 19, the House passed a GOP-backed CR, deemed “clean” and “nonpartisan” by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Only one Democrat, Maine Rep. Jared Golden, voted for the measure.The funding proposal, though, has failed 12 times in the Senate, with only a handful of Democrats backing it. Democrats have insisted on including a permanent extension of subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in any bill to reopen the government. Republicans, meanwhile, said they prefer to negotiate on the ACA credits after the shutdown ends.

NOAA hurricane hunter crews, researchers flying without pay - The NOAA pilots and scientists flying aboard hurricane hunter aircraft into Hurricane Melissa’s 185-mile per hour winds are not being paid during the government shutdown, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed Tuesday.“Due to the ongoing federal government shutdown and last week’s failed measure in the Senate to pay essential workers, no NOAA employees are being paid at this time,” NOAA spokesperson Kim Doster said in an emailed statement. Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica as a Category 5 storm at roughly 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, according to NOAA’s National Hurricane Center. Melissa is expected to be the most powerful storm on record to pass through the Caribbean.The federal government’s hurricane hunters have continued to fly despite the shutdown. At least two missions — one operated by NOAA on Monday and the second by the Air Force on Tuesday — were aborted when pilots experienced dangerous turbulence passing through the hurricane.The government shutdown, now in its 28th day, has resulted in the furloughs of “nonessential” employees, including at NOAA. But National Weather Service staffers and other employees working on forecasts and other duties monitoring extreme weather are required to keep working.Rick Spinrad, the former NOAA administrator who has been critical the Trump administration’s management of NOAA, said, “Flying repeatedly through a powerful hurricane is a true test of one’s mettle. Doing so without any assurances of being paid is solid testimony to one’s service to their country.” The program is jointly run by NOAA and the Air Force. Both agency’s planes have been tested by the sheer power of Melissa’s winds.The Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, which flies hurricane hunter aircraft from Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, posted Tuesday on the social media site X that its crew returned to the Caribbean island of Curaçao after experiencing heavy turbulence while entering the storm’s eye wall. On Monday, a NOAA-operated aircraft aborted its flight into Melissa’s eye wall after experiencing severe turbulence, according to NOAA. That plane, nicknamed Kermit, is a Lockheed WP-3D Orion turboprop. The plane landed at Lakeland, Florida, where it was inspected before returning to service, according to Doster.

Republicans may go nuclear to end the shutdown -What was once a far-fetched fear is now looking increasingly plausible, even likely: That Senate Republicans will blow up the filibuster to end the government shutdown.This would be the ultimate nuclear option, toppling the last major hurdle to single party rule in Washington.By removing the 60-vote threshold for most Senate votes, the current Republican majority — and any future Senate majority of either party — would be empowered to ram its agenda through without so much as consulting the other party. Despite the dangers, Republicans are openly entertaining it. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said last week that he is “not willing to see children in my state go hungry … over some Senate procedure.” And Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said of ending the filibuster, “If we can’t get anything done, that’s what [Democrats] are gonna force.” There are three reasons this scenario is becoming more likely. First, Democrats have no leverage. In any negotiation, leverage only exists when the other side wants something, and President Trump doesn’t place a high value on reopening the government. To him, the shutdown is an opportunity to act unilaterally, fire government workers, and save money. That’s why he has said he won’t even negotiate until Democrats pass a continuing resolution to end the shutdown.Second, Democratic leaders view backing down as politically impossible. The far left already sees them as incapable of standing up to Trump, and they cannot bear the perception of losing this standoff right as midterm season kicks off. This is why Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has broken with longstanding practice by refusing to accept a clean continuing resolution, potentially creating the very conditions that bring about his worst nightmare: Republicans ending the shutdown on their terms. Third, the real-world impacts of the shutdown are about to get worse. State and local programs like food assistance and public health clinics will begin to shutter. The broader economy will suffer. And with the issue of Affordable Care Act subsidies unresolved, millions will see higher premiums or disrupted coverage just as open enrollment begins.As this happens, public pressure on the Senate will escalate, and the nuclear option may feel like the path of least resistance for Republican leaders. For his part, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) vowed back in January that he would preserve the filibuster during his tenure. But notably, he has yet to reiterate that pledge during the shutdown. Trump has also stayed mum so far, but we know he pressed Republicans to drop the filibuster during his first term and that Senate Republicans have braced for him to make the same demand again. He may soon have his excuse.But going nuclear would have devastating and permanent consequences. Once it has been removed, neither party will have any incentive to reimpose it while in power.The filibuster exists to force the Senate to be what it was intended to be: a deliberative body, the greatest in the world. Eliminating it would destroy the last guardrail that forces compromise and restrains each party’s worst impulses. Even a narrow carveout to end this shutdown would set a precedent that will be used by future majorities — Democratic or Republican — to ram through sweeping legislation. The resulting policy actions would drive our citizenry further down the road of division and rage.

What to know about Timothy Mellon, who reportedly donated $130M to pay troops amid shutdown - The anonymous donor who gave the Defense Department $130 million to partially cover the salaries of military personnel amid the government shutdown was identified as billionaire Timothy Mellon, The New York Times reported. Mellon, an 83-year-old resident of Saratoga, Wyo., has donated frequently to President Trump and Republican groups in recent years. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump, while not naming Mellon, called the anonymous donor a “friend” who “doesn’t really want the recognition.” “That’s what I call a patriot,” the president said. Neither the White House nor Pentagon has publicly acknowledged the Times’s report identifying Mellon as the anonymous donor. The Hill requested comment on the report from the Pentagon but was referred to the White House. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Mellon donated nearly $2 million to MAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports the president, in late April. He also donated $1 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to getting Republicans elected to Congress, in early March. Mellon, according to the FEC, first donated to Trump’s campaign in September 2016, less than two months before he defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in his first White House run. He also donated $140 million to MAGA Inc. last year and gave $2,900 to Vice President Vance’s initial Senate run in 2021. In 2023 and 2024, Mellon donated more than $25 million to a super PAC aligned with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign. He also donated $2,800 to National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard’s Democratic presidential campaign in 2019. Comes from famous family The son of Paul Mellon and Mary Conover Brown, Mellon is an heir to his family’s fortune. He is the great-grandson of Thomas Mellon, the founder of Mellon Bank, and the grandson of former Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon — who faced an impeachment inquiry in 1932 amid allegations of corruption. As of February 2024, the Mellon family’s net worth is $14.1 billion, according to Forbes. The Washington Post reported in 2020 that Mellon, in his 2015 self-published autobiography, called the social safety net “Slavery Redux” and said Black Americans were “even more belligerent” after such programs were expanded in the 1960s and 1970s. In an interview with The New York Times later that year, Mellon deflected when asked about his financial support for Trump. “I’ll contribute to [Trump] or [former President] Biden or whoever I want to,” he told the outlet. “I don’t have to say why.” Donation raises legal questions The $130 million donation, according to chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, was accepted under the department’s “general gift acceptance authority.” “The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of Service members’ salaries and benefits,” Parnell told The Hill in an emailed statement Friday. More than 1.3 million active-duty personnel are scheduled to receive paychecks on Friday. Ahead of troops’ Oct. 15 payday, Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use $8 billion in Pentagon research, development, test and evaluation funds to compensate service members. The midmonth payments, though, cost roughly $6.5 billion. That leaves only $1.5 billion left over for Friday’s paychecks, which are expected to cost between $6 billion and $7 billion, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Todd Harrison told The Hill earlier this month. The $130 million donation would net to roughly $50 per troop this pay cycle, based on the Oct. 15 totals. But the donation raises legal questions. According to the Antideficiency Act, federal agencies are barred from “obligating or expending federal funds in advance or in excess of an appropriation, and from accepting voluntary services.” The act requires agency heads to report violations to the president and Congress.

Air traffic controllers, missing first paycheck, warn ‘system less safe’ -The National Air Traffic Controllers Association is warning that air traffic will be made less safe by the government shutdown, which forced air traffic controllers on Tuesday to miss their first paychecks.“America’s air traffic controllers are now having to focus on how they put gas in the car, how do they take care of their children, how do they pay for child care,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said during a Tuesday news conference, as reported by The New York Times. “That makes the system less safe,” he added. In the last month, travelers have suffered from flight delays due to air traffic controllers calling out from work. Earlier this month, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox Business Network that the share of delays stemming from staffing issues has jumped from its typical mark of 5 percent to 53 percent amid the shutdown. “Air traffic controllers have to have 100 percent of focus 100 percent of the time. And I’m watching air traffic controllers going to work,” Daniels said at the press conference, according to CBS. “I’m getting the stories. They’re worried about paying for medicine for their daughter. I got a message from a controller that said, ‘I’m running out of money. And if she doesn’t get the medicine she needs, she dies. That’s the end,'” he added.

Some senators stranded in DC because of flight delays amid government shutdown - Some senators are finding themselves stranded in Washington, D.C., at the end of the Senate workweek because of delays at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport linked to the monthlong government shutdown. The Senate held its last vote of the week at 1:35 pm Thursday and, as usual, senators raced out of the Capitol to catch their flights home for the weekend. But some lawmakers were in for a rude awakening when they discovered that their flights have been delayed because of the shutdown that has put a severe strain on air traffic controllers around the country, including at National Airport. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) revealed to reporters that he would be stuck in D.C. longer than expected because of the turmoil at National Airport and warned that flight problems are likely to get worse in the days and weeks ahead. “I’m delayed,” Thune told reporters when asked if he was impacted by the traffic snarl. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground delay at National Airport on Thursday because of “staffing” issues, although it lifted the hold by the afternoon. Departures have been delayed 90 minutes as a result.

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski votes 'no' on motion to adjourn to protest shutdown --Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Thursday voted against the Senate adjourning for the weekend as the monthlong government shutdown inches toward another week. With the Senate adjourned, she called it “business as usual.” “This is a missed opportunity to stay in town and hammer out an agreement,” Murkowski said in a post on the social media site X. “I asked to be recorded as a ‘no’ on the motion to adjourn. We shouldn’t be going home. Just ask the air traffic controllers at [Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport].” After senators held their last vote for the week, several raced out of Capital Hill to return to their respective homes. But some, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), found their flights were delayed because of the lack of air traffic controllers, a consequence of the shutdown. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground delay at National Airport due to “staffing” issues. The ground delay was lifted, though departures were delayed 90 minutes.

Trump prepared to starve tens of millions of Americans by allowing food stamp funding to run out Saturday - The month-long government shutdown is rapidly turning into a social catastrophe, as funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, is set to expire on November 1. The program provides essential food aid to around 42 million Americans living near or below the official poverty line. Its cutoff would mark, in the words of the CEO of Hunger Free America quoted in The Guardian, “the greatest hunger catastrophe in America since the Great Depression, and I don’t say that as hyperbole.” The immediate impact of the cutoff will vary by state, since SNAP is jointly administered by federal and state agencies. Pennsylvania and Texas have already sent out messages warning recipients that their benefits may be shut off, while the government of Louisiana, one of the poorest states in the country, has announced it is searching for alternative sources of funding to mitigate the impact. SNAP currently has roughly $6 billion in contingency funds, enough to finance the program for most of November. At the beginning of the shutdown, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) stated that it was legally required to use those funds to continue operating SNAP during the government shutdown. However, that document has now been deleted from the agency’s website, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). The agency now claims it is legally prohibited from using the contingency funding, on the specious grounds that such funds are intended only for natural disasters or similar emergencies. The administration argues that the government shutdown, which it blames on the Democrats, does not qualify. A large notice on the USDA website now declares: “Bottom line, the well has run dry … We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.” The claim that Democrats are demanding funding for healthcare for undocumented immigrants and for gender affirming care is false, and it is illegal under the Hatch Act to post such transparently partisan messages on an official government website. This language is part of the White House’s fascist rhetoric as part of its plans for dictatorship. In reality, the hunger crisis is being deliberately manufactured by the Trump administration. It is going to allow tens of millions to go hungry as a form of political blackmail over the shutdown, through which Trump is seeking to seize control of the federal budget process from Congress and consolidate executive power. This is part of a broader policy of class war. Trump has already enacted more than $180 billion in cuts to SNAP over the next decade under his “Big Beautiful Bill” passed this summer. Even without the shutdown, new eligibility restrictions set to take effect next month would have reduced or eliminated payments for roughly half of all recipients.

More Americans blame Trump, GOP for ongoing shutdown: WaPo poll - A new poll released on Thursday found more Americans are blaming President Trump and GOP lawmakers in Congress than Democrats as the government shutdown hits the one-month marker. The Washington Post-ABC survey found that 45 percent of U.S. adults say the president and Republicans are to blame for the federal shuttering while 33 percent of survey respondents say they blame Democrats. Twenty-two percent of participants said they were not sure who to hold responsible for the shutdown. One Republican strategist previously told The Hill the president has shown no sign of reversing course amid the closure as most of his agenda remains intact. “He gets to still run the government,” the strategist said. “He’s getting to do all the things he wants to do anyway. Deportations haven’t slowed. The Donald Trump agenda is still being carried out. He’s not hurt by this from an agenda standpoint.” Members of the House, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), have pushed for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to bring the lower chamber back in session, but the leader has not budged. “The White House has no incentive to fold,” the source close to Trump World said. “Congressional Republicans might. But the White House certainly doesn’t.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) offered to hold a vote on health care subsidies in exchange for Democrats’ support on a stopgap bill. However, House Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said party members would need more than a verbal agreement to move forward.

Trump tells Democrats to ‘do something’ ahead of ObamaCare premiums spike - President Trump late Thursday once again slammed ObamaCare, demanding that Democrats “do something” ahead of an imminent spike in Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums amid the federal funding impasse. “As I have said for years, OBAMACARE IS A DISASTER! Rates are going through the roof for really bad healthcare!!! Do something Democrats!!!” the president wrote in a Truth Social post. His comment comes as the government shutdown nears the one-month mark. Senate Democrats have refused to pass a stopgap bill unless their Republican counterparts agree to extend ACA subsidies that will expire at the end of the year. Open enrollment begins on Nov. 1 and if the subsidies are not extended, experts expect health care costs to skyrocket. Americans 60 years and older with an income of $65,000 could pay $920 more a month in 2026, according to estimates from the health research nonprofit KFF analyzed by The New York Times. That means monthly premiums for that group could cost $1,380 if the tax credits expire. GOP lawmakers have attempted to repeal ObamaCare since its passage in 2010 — most recently in 2017. Now, Republicans are saying they will agree to extend the subsidies at the center of Democrats’ demands with “reforms.” “The expiring ObamaCare subsidy at the end of the year is a serious problem. If you look at it objectively, you know that it is subsidizing bad policy. We’re throwing good money at a bad, broken system, and so it needs real reforms,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said at a Monday press conference. Two weeks ago, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said a vote on ACA subsidy extensions was guaranteed if Senate Democrats would agree to fund the government, but House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) argued that his counterparts “can’t be trusted on a wing and a prayer.” “We need a real path forward to address the crisis that Republicans have visited upon the American people in terms of health care, the cost of living and affordability…,” he added in an Oct. 16 appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “They’ve [Republicans] enacted the largest cuts to Medicaid in American history, hospitals, nursing homes, community based health centers are closing because of Republican policies all across the country.”

Senate Republicans, Democrats looking for ‘off-ramp’ to end shutdown next week - Senate Republicans and Democrats are trying to hammer out a proposal to end the 30-day government shutdown as soon as next week, as some centrist Democrats argue behind the scenes that their party has successfully highlighted rising health care costs and it’s time to end the stalemate. Shutdown fatigue on Capitol Hill is growing as the government stoppage approaches the one-month mark, and the pain is increasing. With open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) health insurance marketplace set to begin next month, some Democrats say the higher costs are already baked in because Republicans have steadfastly refused to negotiate a deal to extend enhanced subsidies that are due to expire at the end of December. “My assessment is that we’ve won anything that we can possibly win and the costs of continuing the shutdown are going to be felt by people who are going to food banks and federal employees,” said one Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to argue that any political benefit of extending the shutdown is about to be outweighed by the harms inflicted on ordinary Americans. A huge factor in this thinking is that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are due to expire Saturday, putting 42 million Americans at risk of not having enough to eat. The conviction that Americans are now aware that Republicans have declined to extend health insurance subsidies and the fear that consequences of the shutdown are about to get dramatically worse have Democratic senators looking for a face-saving exit from the standoff over the next week. “The open-enrollment period is beginning on Saturday and tragically the Republicans have won their battle to increase health care costs on the American people. That is the result of the position that they’ve taken in this negotiation. Now we know that the American people’s health care costs are going to go up because the Republican Party in Washington is refusing to extend the ObamaCare tax credits,” said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), a member of the Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over health insurance tax subsidies. “Democrats have won a victory because we have demonstrated that we are fighting for health care for all Americans,” he said. Some Democratic senators are privately speculating that if their party does well in the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia scheduled for Tuesday, they can declare a political victory and begin to finalize the endgame for reopening government. Virginia, which will be a Senate battleground in 2026, is home to approximately 140,000 federal employees. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) says voters are “well aware” that their health insurance premiums are going up in 2026 in part because Republicans don’t want to extend the ACA’s enhanced insurance premium subsidies. “People are well aware of it on a personal basis,” he said of the Democrats’ argument that Republicans are driving up health care prices by not addressing the expiring subsidies. The other factor Democrats are weighing is pressure from the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers, to pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government. Everett Kelley, the union’s president, said in a statement Monday that “both parties have made their point” and it’s time to pass a clean stopgap funding measure to “end this shutdown today.”

Federal judge orders Trump administration to pay SNAP benefits out of contingency fund - A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute money owed to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program "as soon as possible," just one day before funding for SNAP was set to lapse. U.S District Judge John McConnell's ruling from the bench came shortly after another federal judge in a separate case said that the Trump administration's plan not to pay out SNAP benefits beginning on Nov. 1 due to the ongoing federal government shutdown was "unlawful" but stopped short of ordering the Trump administration to disburse funds. Ruling in favor of a group of cities and community organizations that sued over the cuts, McConnell said that the USDA must fund SNAP using money in a contingency fund. But, he added that if the department finds that the money in the contingency fund is insufficient, then the agency must use other funding sources to make those payments. “There is no doubt that the six billion dollars in contingency funds are appropriated funds that are without a doubt necessary to carry out the program’s operation,” McConnell said in his oral ruling. “The shutdown of the government through funding doesn’t do away with SNAP. It just does away with the funding of it. There could be no greater necessity than the prohibition across the board of funds for the program’s operations.” McConnell added, “there is no doubt, and it is beyond argument, that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food for their family." McConnell addressed the Trump administration's argument that contingency funds might be needed for other reasons in the near future, like in the aftermath of a hypothetical hurricane. "It’s clear that when compared to the millions of people that will go without funds for food versus the agency’s desire not to use contingency funds in case there’s a hurricane need, the balances of those equities clearly goes on the side of ensuring that people are fed,” the judge said.

Trump says he has asked court to 'clarify' SNAP ruling with funding set to lapse - President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration's lawyers are not sure they have the legal authority to pay federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during the government shutdown and said he has asked for clarity from the courts in the wake of two recent decisions. "Our Government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available, and now two Courts have issued conflicting opinions on what we can and cannot do," Trump said in a post on his social media platform Friday evening. "If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay," Trump said, referring to the shifting of funds that has been used to pay troops as the shutdown has stretched on. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the SNAP program, is scheduled to freeze SNAP payments starting Nov. 1 due to the ongoing government shutdown. SNAP generally requires $8.6 billion in funding every month to provide 41 million Americans benefits and administer to the program. Trump's post came hours after a federal judge in Rhode Island temporarily ordered the Trump administration to continue SNAP funding."The court is orally at this time, ordering that USDA must distribute the contingency money timely, or as soon as possible, for the November 1 payments to be made," said U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. After an hour-long emergency hearing, Judge McConnell ruled that the suspension of SNAP funding is arbitrary and likely to cause irreparable harm, citing the "terror" felt by Americans who are scrambling to meet their basic nutritional needs. "There is no doubt, and it is beyond argument, that irreparable harm will begin to occur -- if it hasn't already occurred -- in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food for their family," he said.In a filing after the judge's oral order, the Trump administration said it was "expeditiously attempting to comply" with Judge McConnell's order. Citing the lack of a public recording or transcript of Friday's emergency hearing, DOJ lawyers asked McConnell to confirm the parameters of his decision to ensure they comply. "Clarity as to the Court's ruling is critical to ensure that Defendants can comply with the Court's order while avoiding an operational collapse," DOJ lawyers wrote. Judge McConnell ordered the Trump administration to continue paying for the program using emergency funds, and to notify the court by Monday how SNAP will be funded. Ruling that stopping SNAP funding violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the funding decision was arbitrary and capricious, Judge McConnell said, "There has been no explanation, legitimate or otherwise that's consistent with the APA as to why the contingency funds should not be used." A coalition of local governments, nonprofits, small businesses, and workers' rights organization filed suit Thursday to challenge the pause in funding, arguing that the Trump administration has "needlessly plunged SNAP into crisis" by suspending benefits beginning Friday, despite having emergency funds that could be tapped. "Americans will not be able to feed their families, food pantries will be overwhelmed, organizations will be forced to divert resources from core programs to accommodate those in need of assistance, and small businesses will lose substantial revenue that is critical to maintaining their labor force and supplier relationships," they wrote in their lawsuit. The coalition has argued that the lapse of funding will cause irreparable harm and violates a federal law that prohibits arbitrary government actions.

Nearly 42 million Americans lose their food stamp benefits - Millions of low-income Americans are losing access to food aid as the nation’s largest anti-hunger program goes dark for the first time. Congress failed to reopen the government before funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ran out Saturday. A federal judge, in an eleventh-hour decision, directed the Trump administration to use emergency funds to pay for food aid in November — but even that wasn’t enough to prevent the immediate lapse of benefits, which officials say could take weeks to resume. “I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible ... even if we get immediate guidance, it will unfortunately be delayed while States get the money out,” President Donald Trump wrote on social media Friday evening. “If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding.” For now, states, food banks and nonprofit organizations are scrambling to backfill the loss of critical federal dollars, however temporary it may be, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. “It’s going to get ugly fast,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters this week. The unprecedented pause in benefits reveals just how difficult it has become for Washington to find common ground on previously bipartisan issues, from food aid to health care. SNAP, which serves nearly 42 million people, has always been funded during government shutdowns, including in Trump’s first-term. “I don’t know that I can describe the level of anxiety from a family that doesn’t know if they’re going to be able to put food on the table or not,” said Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján, whose home state of New Mexico has the nation’s highest rate of SNAP participation, with more than one in five people relying on the program. Trump administration officials have insisted that they don’t have the authority to tap emergency money for SNAP and that they don’t have enough funds on hand to support the estimated $9 billion needed for November benefits. It’s unclear whether officials will appeal the Friday ruling requiring them to pay up. Even if they comply with the court order, it will still take days and, in some states, weeks to get SNAP benefits to low-income Americans, especially since the administration has not stood up a system to disperse any partial funds since the shutdown began one month ago. “The sooner the USDA just does the right thing, follows the law, the sooner [participants] will get the benefits. But there could easily be a few day delay because of their intransigence,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said in an interview after the court decision Friday.

‘All Eyes on Washington’ as Israel Repeatedly Violates Ceasefire – Report - The Israeli premier, Benjamin Netanyahu’s order for “powerful strikes” to be carried out on Gaza on Tuesday has raised questions on whether the US would hold him accountable for maintaining the ceasefire, The Intercept reported. The order, which came just four days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio toured a new US military base in Israel, resulted in the killing of over 100 Palestinians, including 46 children.Citing the Associated Press, the report noted that Israel had informed the US administration before conducting Tuesday’s strikes. This, the report added, presented “the question of whether the U.S. would hold Netanyahu accountable for the latest round of ceasefire violation.” Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel Program at the Arab Center, Washington DC, said “All eyes now are going to be on Washington.” He added, “Would they really be a referee that calls balls and strikes fairly? Or were they just there for decoration and were they just going to allow the Israelis to get away with murder, as they always have?”Israel blamed Hamas for an alleged attack targeting Israeli soldiers in Rafah on Tuesday, a claim denied by Hamas.The report stated that the allegation was the latest in a string of instances in which the Israeli government “pushed the notion” that Hamas was violating the ceasefire, including the accusation that Hamas was intentionally delaying the return captives’ bodies.It’s a claim “on which even the U.S. has cast doubt,” according to the Intercept, citing Vance last week as having urged “a little bit of patience,” due to the challenge of uncovering bodies buried under the rubble of Gaza’s destroyed buildings. Israel is also still limiting the amount of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and has continued to block the Rafah border – all violations of the ceasefire. “They are trying to push the Palestinians to react,” Ramy Abdu, chair of Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, told The Intercept. “This is their strategy, they want Palestinians to do anything to react just to complete their mission,” he added. Abdu stressed that “If Israel has the genuine intention to bring their hostages back, then it will facilitate every effort to get them back, not articulating these kinds of stories and fabricated images.” Munayer pointed out that Israel’s resumed attacks were not new, with it having restarted attacks during previous ceasefires in November 2023 and January this year. He emphasized that the Israelis “are now trying to create a narrative that Hamas violated the ceasefire and therefore the agreement’s off.” “Is the international community going to buy that?” Munayir asked. Since the US-brokered ceasefire began on October 10, Israeli forces have killed 211 people and injured 597, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Report: Israel Launched Airstrike in Gaza on Saturday After Getting US Approval - Israel launched an airstrike in Gaza on Saturday after notifying the US and getting approval to launch the attack, the Israeli news site Ynet has reported.The Israeli military launched the strike in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza, claiming it targeted a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) who was planning an attack on the IDF, a claim PIJ strongly denied.PIJ said in a statement that the claim that its military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, was preparing an attack was “a pure false claim and fabrication through which the occupation seeks to justify its aggression and violation of the ceasefire.” PIJ, which supported the ceasefire deal, called on mediating countries to “compel” Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza.The strike wounded four Palestinians, according to the al-Awda Hospital. “The hospital has received four injured people following the Israeli occupation’s targeting of a civilian car in the al-Ahli Club area in Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza,” the hospital said.The Ynet report said the alleged PIJ operative who was targeted was wounded, not killed. According to Israeli sources, the strike came after Israel passed intelligence to the US, and the attack was only launched after coordination with US Central Command (CENTCOM), which included notifying CENTCOM Commander Adm Brad Cooper. CENTCOM has established a military post in southern Gaza where it is overseeing the Gaza ceasefire.US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was also briefed on the strike right after it was launched. The attack marked the first time that Israel and the US used a new mechanism to coordinate on military action in Gaza under the ceasefire deal. Hamas, a signatory to the ceasefire deal, called the Israeli strike a “clear violation” of the agreement.In response to the report and criticism of the US-Israel relationship, Israeli officials said they were coordinating with the US but insisted Israel doesn’t need “approval” to bomb Gaza.According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israel also launched a drone strike on Friday that killed two Palestinians, and there’s no sign that Israel coordinated with the US on the attack. Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that Israeli forces have killed at least 93 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect, including four who were killed over the previous 48 hours.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Calls Out Israel for Slaughtering Dozens of Children in Gaza - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on Wednesday called out Israel for its heavy bombardment in Gaza and the killing of dozens of children in the Strip.“Israel’s military said Wednesday that the ceasefire was back on in Gaza after it killed 104 people, including 46 children, according to local health officials,” Greene wrote on X. “46 CHILDREN!!! Are these not war crimes?”Israel’s heavy airstrikes that began on Tuesday pounded targets across Gaza and also killed 20 women, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry said that another 253 people were wounded, including 78 children and 84 women.In recent months, Greene has been outspoken in her opposition to US military aid to Israel and has introduced bills attempting to strip assistance to Israel from the annual Pentagon spending bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act .Back in July, Greene became the first Republican in Congress to label Israel’s campaign in Gaza a genocide. “It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” she said. Greene has also clashed with the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC after it attacked her in response to her criticism of Israel. “The truth is AIPAC needs to register as a foreign lobbyist by US law because they are representing the secular government of nuclear armed Israel 100%!!!” Greene wrote on X in August.

Barrack Warns Lebanon This Is ‘Last Chance’ to Disarm Hezbollah - US envoy Tom Barrack is heading to Lebanon this week, and according to reports he plans to tell officials this will be the last time, and that Lebanon has “one last chance” to fully disarm Hezbollah and enter into direct negotiations with Israel. While this is in keeping with Barrack’s rhetoric, the narrative has several obvious problems, including that the last time he was in Lebanon (only last week), he informed them that Israel had rejected a Lebanese proposal for direct negotiations on the grounds that they didn’t want to commit to ending daily attacks on Lebanon. Barrack threatens an Israeli invasion of Lebanon several times a month of late, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Israel is already deploying ground troops into Lebanon and attacking them regularly, both of which the existing ceasefire is meant to preclude. US envoy Morgan Ortagus is in Lebanon Monday, and her meetings centered heavily on trying to get Israel to actually comply with the ceasefire they agreed to back in November, and which the US is meant to help oversee. Parliament speak Nabih Berri pushed for more monitoring of ceasefire violations, while Lebanese President Joseph Aoun insisted that southern villagers should be allowed to rebuild their homes after they were destroyed by Israel last year. That too seems to be a non-starter, however, as Israeli officials were quoted in the media saying there is “no reason” for the Lebanese to try to rebuild any of the destroyed villages, because Israel will just destroy them again. The Israeli plan, such as it is, is to outright depopulate southern Lebanon, creating what is being called a “Trump Zone” which will be occupied by the US military and where subsidized industry and permanent Israeli military bases will replace the existing towns and villages. Several questions are unanswered, including who would be working in this industry since the plan includes expelling the entire population.

US Launches Two More Airstrikes in Somalia as It Continues To Bomb the Country at a Record Pace - US Africa Command on Monday announced that its forces launched two more airstrikes in Somalia as the Trump administration continues to bomb the country at a record pace. The command said that both strikes targeted the ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region, where the US is backing local forces. One strike was launched on October 24 and the other onOctober 26. AFRICOM said both attacks were conducted about 53 miles southeast of the Gulf of Aden port city of Bossaso. AFRICOM offered no other details as it has stopped sharing casualty estimates and assessments on civilian harm since April. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said. Puntland officials have said they intensified operations against ISIS militants in the Cal-Miskaad mountains with support from AFRICOM. According to a report from Garowe Online, there have been “relentless airstrikes” against ISIS militants in the region with multiple casualties reported, but the report didn’t provide a number.

US Bombs Somalia for Three Consecutive Days - The US has launched three more airstrikes in Somalia over three consecutive days, according to press releases from US Africa Command, as the Trump administration continues to bomb the country at a record pace. AFRICOM said that it launched an airstrike on October 26 that targeted al-Shabaab about 25 miles north of the southern port city of Kismayo. That same day, the US-backed Somali government said a “precision airstrike” killed an al-Shabaab leader, though the town it said he was targeted in, Bu’ale, is more than 100 miles north of Kismayo, so it’s unclear if it was the same strike. AFRICOM offered no other details about the strike as it stopped sharing casualty estimates and assessments on potential civilian harm earlier this year. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said.The command also announced two separate strikes in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region, launched on October 27 and October 28. AFRICOM said both strikes targeted the ISIS affiliate in the region and were launched about 53 miles southeast of the Gulf of Aden port city of Bosasso, and shared no other details. Puntland is not under the control of the US-backed federal government, so the US backs local forces in the region. AFRICOM previously announced airstrikes in Puntland on October 24 and October 26 as Puntland’s security forces said they were intensifying operations against ISIS fighters hiding in caves in the Cal-Miskaad mountains. Puntland officials claim that the ISIS militants are largely defeated, something they’ve been saying for months. But local sources told Garowe Online that the militants are still entrenched in the area and have resorted to guerrilla tactics and are constantly moving between caves and valleys.

Calls Grow for US To End Arms Sales to the UAE Amid RSF Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher - Calls are growing for the US and other countries to end arms sales to the United Arab Emirates over its support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the militia that has been executing civilians following its takeover of the city of el-Fasher in Sudan’s western Darfur region. While the UAE has previously denied arming the RSF, there has been extensive reporting about its covert weapons pipeline to the group, and British and Chinese-made weapons sold to Abu Dhabi have ended up in the hands of RSF fighters. “As we witness horrific scenes in El-Fasher, the UAE continues arming the RSF — which the US has determined is committing genocide. Enough. We must pass my bill to block arms sales to the UAE until it stops fueling the RSF’s war crimes in Sudan,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said this week, according to Truthout. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the top Democrat of the House Armed Services Committee, has also called for the passing of legislation he introduced that would cut off US arms sales to countries that supply the RSF and its opponent, the Sudan Armed Forces, which has also committed atrocities in the conflict. “This is unacceptable. My Sudan legislation would cut off US defense sales to external actors funding the conflict in Sudan. It’s also why I will continue holding all major US arms sales going to the UAE while it continues to arm the RSF. The U.S. must do all we can to help end this devastating conflict,” Meeks said.

Amnesty Urges US Bombing of Yemen Migrant Detention Facility To Be Investigated as a War Crime - Amnesty International said on Wednesday that the US bombing of a migrant detention facility in Yemen earlier this year amounted to an indiscriminate attack and should be investigated as a war crime.The US strike was launched on April 28 and killed 68 African migrants who were detained at the facility in Yemen’s northern Saada province. The attack was part of the US military’s bombing campaign in Yemen that was conducted from March 15 to May 15, which was dubbed “Operation Rough Rider,” and killed more than 250 civilians.Amnesty said in a report on the strike that it “did not find any evidence that the migrant detention centre was a military objective or that it contained any military objectives.”The report, which involved interviews with 15 Ethiopian migrants who survived the attack, also pointed out that the US should have been aware that the strike would result in heavy civilian casualties since the Saudi military, with support from the US, bombed the same facility in 2022 and killed more than 90 civilians. “Given the air strike killed and injured civilians, the US authorities should investigate this attack as a war crime. The result of the investigation, including any conclusions related to civilian casualties and efforts to respond to them, should promptly be made public,” Amnesty said.Operation Rough Rider involved another mass civilian casualty event, the US bombing of the Ras Issa fuel port in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, which occurred on April 17. The strikes killed 84 civilians, mainly workers at the port, according to Airwars. When the US announced the attack on the port, it did not allege that it was hitting a military target. US Central Command justified the bombing of vital civilian infrastructure by saying the Houthis, who govern an area where about 70% to 80% of Yemenis live, “profit” off fuel that enters the port.

Zelensky Says Ukraine Working To Expand Long-Range Strikes Inside Russia - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Ukraine was working to expand long-range attacks inside Russia with a focus on targeting oil refineries.Zelensky said he held a meeting with arms manufacturers that produce long-range weapons. “We reviewed the effectiveness of our long-range strikes over a defined period and the results achieved,” he wrote on X.“Russian oil refining is already paying a tangible price for the war—and will pay even more. We set tasks to expand the geography for the use of our long-range capabilities,” the Ukrainian leader added. So far, the US has denied Zelensky’s request for Tomahawk missiles, which are nuclear-capable and have a range of over 1,000 miles. But according to media reports, the US has been helping Ukraine with strikes deep inside Russia, including its drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that the US has been providing intelligence for the drone attacks, and one source told the paper that Ukraine’s drone force is the “instrument” the US is using to achieve the goal of undermining the Russian economy and pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin toward a settlement to end the war. The US has also imposed new sanctions on Russian oil companies. President Trump recently denied a report that said the US approved Ukrainian missile strikes inside Russia, but Ukraine’s military recently claimed that it used British-provided Storm Shadow missiles, which require US targeting data, in a strike on a Russian chemical plant. While vowing to expand attacks inside Russia, Ukraine continues to lose territory in the battle in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have recently entered the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk Oblast. Russia’s demands for a peace deal include Ukraine ceding Donetsk and the sliver of territory it controls in Luhansk, an offer President Trump has reportedly told Zelensky to accept.

Ukraine Will Receive $2 Billion More In US Weapons In Coming Months - The US Ambassador to the North Atlantic Alliance urged Russia to end the war in Ukraine, claiming that President Donald Trump has “more cards to play.” Amb. Matthew Whitaker said Trump could impose new sanctions on Russia, and $2 billion in US weapons would arrive in Ukraine in the coming months. "Right now, we have set up a system where the commitments kind of are rolling forward. You know, we have probably another $2 billion or more to bring in the next several months," Whitaker told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. "And we fully expect that that will be done here very soon. We have a foreign ministers meeting at the beginning of December, which will most likely kind of top that off."He continued, "And then, as we get into 2026 the key is sustainment. The key is the $12 or $15 billion that are that are needed to buy the critical armaments needed by Ukraine to defend themselves and to continue this fight at the front line is going to be raised. It's going to be US weapons."The $12 to $15 billion that Whitaker said the West could provide to Ukraine next year is a small fraction of what Kiev says it will need to wage the war. "The cost of this war as of now is a challenge for us. The price of one year is $120 billion. Sixty billion comes from the Ukrainian budget. And I need to find 60 [billion] for next year," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained in September.The US Ambassador to NATO also touted the recent sanctions Trump slapped on Russia’s two largest oil companies. He suggested the President could add more sanctions or increase military support for Ukraine in the future."President Trump holds all the cards; this is just one card that he’s playing. There are many more," Whitaker said. In a separate interview with Fox News, the American ambassador claimed Russia is weak and should end the war as soon as possible. "The Russians should end this senseless war as soon as they possibly can – it’s not going to get better for them. Trump’s going to continue to play these cards, like these significant oil sanctions."

What to know about Putin's 'Skyfall' nuclear missile test -Russia’s claimed successful test of a new nuclear capable cruise missile last week has drawn international concern and condemnation from President Trump on Monday. The weapon, tested last week, with the results announced by Moscow on Sunday, purportedly flew 8,700 miles, according to a video released by the Kremlin. That would mean the missile, known as the Burevestnik, is capable of dropping atomic bombs anywhere in the world. In the video, a camouflage-clad Russian President Vladimir Putin said the weapon was “indeed a unique weapon that no other country possesses.” What’s more, Russia has claimed the missile can’t be stopped by current air defenses. But Trump criticized the test, telling reporters it was “inappropriate” to be holding such displays when he’s been trying to get Moscow to come to the table and negotiate an end to its war in Ukraine. “You’ve got to get the war ended. A war that should have taken one week is now in its soon fourth year,” Trump said while traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo. “That’s what you ought to do, instead of testing missiles.” He added: “We test missiles all the time. They’re not playing games with us, and we’re not playing games with them either.” Little is known about the Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered missile named after a type of sea bird known in English as a storm petrel but code-named “Skyfall” by NATO. In the video released by Russia, Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov tells Putin that the Burevestnik spent 15 hours in the air and “that’s not the limit.” Norway said Monday that the test took place on an archipelago in the Barents Sea. “We can confirm that Russia has conducted a new test launch of the long-range cruise missile Skyfall (Burevestnik) on Novaya Zemlya,” Vice Adm. Nils Andreas Stensoenes, head of Norway’s Intelligence Service, told Reuters in a statement. Putin first said that Moscow was working on the weapon in March 2018, claiming then that it would have an unlimited range and would be undetectable. But the West has criticized it as a waste of money by the Kremlin and potentially a major environmental risk due to a nuclear mini-reactor that powers the engine that could be greatly unreliable. Observers describe the development of the missile as largely political. Russia also would be the first country to have a missile powered in such a manner – essentially a miniature nuclear power plant heating air to power the engine. The U.S. and the then-Soviet Union tried to develop the technology during the Cold War but the two both abandoned their efforts due to concerns experts point to today.

US Will Begin Conducting Nuclear Weapon Tests Again, Trump Says - The United States will begin conducting nuclear weapons testing again after decades of rejecting the practice, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday. President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit at the Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Oct. 29, 2025. Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images “Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “That process will begin immediately.” Nuclear tests in the atmosphere, space, or underwater have been banned since the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty, which permitted continued underground nuclear testing for several decades. The United States last conducted a nuclear weapons test underground in September 1992. That year, President George H.W. Bush announced that the United States would undertake a unilateral moratorium on all nuclear weapons testing, including those conducted underground. Trump tied the decision to resume nuclear testing to his first administration’s efforts to keep the United States’ nuclear arsenal on par with those of Russia and China. “The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office. Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years,” Trump wrote. It’s unclear from his Truth Social post whether the resumed tests would be conducted underground, underwater, in the atmosphere, or in space.

Trump's nuclear test directive to counter Putin divides Congress - President Trump’s decision to restart nuclear weapons testing as a warning to Moscow is being cheered by his Republican allies in Congress, while Democrats fume over what they describe as a dangerous and misguided retaliation. It’s an unsurprising public divide and represents another example of how partisan positioning has Congress speaking on opposite sides of national security and foreign policy issues. While Republicans are praising Trump for pushing back on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling, Democrats are questioning the utility, safety, financing and precedent of such a step. “It would be a mistake for us to do this because we have nothing, we have very little to gain,” said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee with oversight of America’s nuclear arsenal. “If we did a test and then China decided, OK, I’m going to start testing. They’ll start testing their nuclear weapons, then their strategic forces capability gets much better,” Kelly told reporters Thursday. “We have zero to gain. This would be a gift to China.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), another member of the subcommittee, questioned why Republicans are not concerned over how much money is required to carry out the president’s directive if their focus is on lowering federal spending. “The Department of Defense has a long history of understating costs and claiming shorter timelines for these giant nuclear programs. They sell Congress on a rosy picture of how it will all work out,” she said. “As soon as Congress signs on the dotted line, the costs start going up, and the time to completion stalls, rolling further and further out … Republicans should be just as outraged as Democrats over the DOD’s lack of honesty about how this program is operating.” But Republicans are standing resolutely with the president, who announced his decision to resume nuclear weapons testing in a Truth Social post Thursday morning in South Korea, shortly before he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and shortly after Putin boasted of testing new nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable missiles. “This is not escalatory,” said Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, calling Putin a “mad man” trying to push Trump’s boundaries. “Nobody believes he’s [Putin] going to use nuclear weapons … having said that, he’s been doing this all along trying to intimidate Trump. I think Trump was saying, I’m not intimidated about it.”

Russia Says It Will Respond If the US Starts Testing Nuclear Weapons - Russia on Thursday warned that it would respond if the US began testing nuclear weapons, comments that came after President Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he had ordered the US War Department to start tests. It’s unclear from President Trump’s post if he meant the testing of nuclear-capable missiles, something the US regularly does, or actually detonating nuclear bombs, which the US hasn’t done since 1992. The president said that he ordered the Pentagon to “start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis” as other countries. Russia has recently tested a nuclear-capable missile and a nuclear-capable underwater drone, but there have been no known recent detonations of nuclear weapons by any nation. Since the 1990s, all nuclear-armed states, except North Korea, which last detonated a nuclear bomb in 2017, have maintained a moratorium on detonating nuclear weapons. “The United States is a sovereign nation and has the right to make sovereign decisions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to Trump’s post. “However, I would like to recall President Putin’s repeatedly stated position: if anyone breaks the moratorium, Russia will respond in kind.” The US and Russia are signatories to the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), but it hasn’t been ratified by all parties, including the US. Russia ratified the CTBT in 2000 but revoked it in 2023, saying it was “mirroring” the US position. Both powers have ratified the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which is in force and prohibits all nuclear test detonations except for those conducted underground. Peskov also said Russia hasn’t received any notification from the US about a future nuclear weapons test and that Moscow wasn’t aware of any other country that has recently detonated a nuclear bomb. “In his statement, President Trump mentioned that other countries are purportedly involved in testing nuclear weapons. Until now, we were unaware that anyone was engaged in the testing,” he said. Daryl G Kimball, the Executive Director of Arms Control Today, strongly criticized Trump’s post and noted that it would take years to actually resume the detonation of nuclear weapons. “Trump is misinformed and out of touch. The U.S. has no technical, military, or political reason to resume nuclear explosive testing for the first time since 1992. It would take at least 36 months to resume contained nuclear tests underground at the former test site in Nevada,” Kymball wrote on X.

US To Remove Some Troops From Eastern Europe - The US will be removing some troops from Eastern Europe, US and Romanian officials said on Wednesday, a move that’s angered Russia hawks even though the Pentagon is still leaving a substantial number of forces in the region.US Army Europe and Africa said in a statement that the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division will be redeployed to their home base in Kentucky and will not be replaced. According to Foreign Policy, the brigade has about 3,000 troops in Europe and is stationed across Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria.“This is not an American withdrawal from Europe or a signal of lessened commitment to NATO and Article 5. Rather, this is a positive sign of increased European capability and responsibility,” US Army Europe and Africa said in its statement. “Our NATO allies are meeting President Trump’s call to take primary responsibility for the conventional defense of Europe. This force posture adjustment will not change the security environment in Europe.”

Donald Trump escalates military presence in Caribbean - The Trump administration is accumulating a massive U.S. military presence in the Caribbean, deploying warships, surveillance planes and fighter aircraft as it continues to blow up alleged drug-trafficking boats in the waters around South America. The main target for the flurry of activity appears to be Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the administration has called an “illegitimate leader.” The country’s attorney general said over the weekend there is “no doubt” that Trump wants to topple Maduro’s regime. On Friday, the Department of Defense (DOD) ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its escort ships to head to the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) area of responsibility, significantly expanding the U.S. military presence there, which already counts around 10,000 U.S. forces supporting counternarcotics operations. Earlier this month, Trump confirmed he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. The U.S. flew B-52 Stratofortress bombers near the coast of Venezuela. And last week, two Air Force B-1 bombers flew near Venezuela’s airspace. “So I think that’s another example of the president trying to scare the pants off of Nicolás Maduro and his top generals in order to hopefully create … some sort of breaks within the regime, which might lead to a change that might be more favorable to an opening with the opposition,” said Christopher Hernandez-Roy, the deputy director and senior fellow of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He called the B-52 bombers that flew for hours off the Venezuelan coast an action meant “to intimidate” the country and it’s military. He said the U.S. “seems to be telegraphing some sort of imminent kinetic action inside Venezuela.” “And while that has not yet taken place, it seems to be, it seems that the administration has been closer to that, but I think that they would prefer their pressure to lead to some sort of internal fissures within the government that might lead to a change of government without the U.S. actually having … to engage in military activities on the actual territory of Venezuela,” he said in an interview with The Hill last week. Trump and his close allies have raised the prospects of the U.S. conducting land strikes in Venezuela as the White House has ramped up pressure against Maduro, accusing him of being the leader of Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government and that traces its roots to Venezuela. Over the weekend, Trump signaled land strikes could come soon. “We’re going to see with Venezuela. I can tell you one thing. We stopped all drugs from coming in by sea. I will stop all drugs from coming in by land very shortly. You’ll see that starting. They’re not going to want to do it. You’re going to see drugs stopping into our country,” the president told reporters Saturday. Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said Trump promised to “take on” the drug cartels while campaigning during the 2024 election and that he has “taken unprecedented action to stop the scourge of narcoterrorism that has resulted in the needless deaths of innocent Americans.” “All of these decisive strikes have been against designated narcoterrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores, and the President will continue to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country,” Kelly said in a statement to The Hill on Monday. Maduro accused the administration on Friday of “fabricating” a war against him after the Pentagon ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier with more than 4,500 sailors, to sail to Southcom after being docked in the Adriatic Sea. It carries a squadron of F/A-18 Super Hornets and helicopter squadrons.

US military buildup in Caribbean continues -The buildup comes as it continues to blow up alleged drug-trafficking boats in the waters around South America. The main target for the flurry of activity appears to be Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the administration has called an “illegitimate leader.” The country’s attorney general said over the weekend there is “no doubt” that Trump wants to topple Maduro’s regime.On Friday, the Defense Department (DOD) ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its escort ships to head to the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) area of responsibility, significantly expanding the U.S. military presence, whichalready counts around 10,000 U.S. forces supporting counternarcotics operations. “So I think that’s another example of the president trying to scare the pants off of Nicolás Maduro and his top generals in order to hopefully create … some sort of breaks within the regime, which might lead to a change that might be more favorable to an opening with the opposition,” said Christopher Hernandez-Roy, the deputy director and senior fellow of Americas Program at Center for Strategic and International Studies. He called the B-52 bombers that flew for hours off the Venezuelan coast action meant “to intimidate” the country and its military. He said the U.S. “seems to be telegraphing some sort of imminent kinetic action inside Venezuela.”Trump and his close allies have raised the prospects of the U.S. conducting land strikes in Venezuela as the White House has ramped up pressure against Maduro, accusing him of being the leader of Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government, that traces its roots to Venezuela. Over the weekend, Trump signaled land strikes could come soon. “We’re going to see with Venezuela. I can tell you one thing. We stopped all drugs from coming in by sea. I will stop all drugs from coming in by land very shortly. You’ll see that starting. They’re not going to want to do it. You’re going to see drugs stopping into our country,” the president told reporters Saturday.Maduro accused the administration on Friday of “fabricating” a war against him after the Pentagon ordered USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier with over 4,500 sailors, to sail to SouthComm after being docked in the Adriatic Sea. It carries a squadron of F/A-18 Super Hornets and helicopter squadrons.The president initially said last week that the administration may go to Congress for authorization to strike drug cartels that are smuggling on land. But a day later, he dismissed the need to ask Capitol Hill lawmakers for a declaration of war for attacks against alleged cartel boats, operations that have raised questions among senators in both parties and have taken place off the coast of Venezuela and in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

US Bombs Four Alleged Drug Boats in the Eastern Pacific, Killing 14 - The US military bombed a total of four alleged drug boats in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced. The series of attacks marks the first time that the US has bombed multiple boats in one day, and it brings the total number of vessels the US has struck since the campaign started on September 2 to 14, including eight that were hit in the Caribbean near Venezuela and six targeted in the Eastern Pacific. As usual, Hegseth offered no evidence to back up the claim that the boats were carrying drugs and provided no information about the people who were killed, whom he labeled “narco-terrorists,” a term the Trump administration is using to justify the extrajudicial executions for an alleged crime that doesn’t receive the death penalty in the United States. Video of the strikes released by Hegseth. Hegseth said 14 “narco-terrorists” were killed, bringing the total number of executions at sea to 57, according to numbers released by the administration. Hegseth also said that one person survived the strike and that Mexican authorities accepted responsibility for rescuing the survivor.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that Mexico had rescued one person, and the Mexican Navy said it was conducting search-and-rescue operations about 400 miles southwest of the Mexican city of Acapulco. Sheinbaum has previously criticized the US bombing campaign targeting boats in the region, saying that she does not “agree” with the policy. “There are international laws on how to operate when dealing with the alleged illegal transport of drugs or guns on international waters, and we have expressed this to the government of the United States and publicly,” Sheinbaum said at a press conference last week.

US Conducts Third Bomber Flight Off the Coast of Venezuela - Two US B-1B Lancer bombers departed the US and flew near the coast of Venezuela on Monday, according to flight tracking data, in the latest US provocation aimed at the country and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro.The flight marks the third time US bombers have flown near Venezuela since October 15, signaling that the provocations will be a regular occurrence. According to Air & Space Forces Magazine, the bombers took off from the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota and refueled over Florida on their way to the Caribbean.Flight trackers show that the bombers flew parallel to Venezuela’s coast, south of small islands that are part of Venezuela’s territory. All of the US bombers that have made the flight to the waters near Venezuela since October 15 have kept their transponders on, meaning they wanted to be seen.The latest bomber flight comes after the US War Department announced it was deploying an aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, and its strike group to the waters near Venezuela, which will mark a significant escalation of US firepower in the region.Reports have indicated the US is preparing to bomb Venezuela amid US strikes on boats in the region, and while drug trafficking is the pretext, US officials have made clear that the real goal is regime change. President Trump has also confirmed that he signed off on the CIA conducting covert operations inside Venezuela.The Venezuelan government claimed on Sunday that it captured mercenaries linked to the CIA who were coming from Trinidad and Tobago, where the US just docked a warship. The Venezuelan government said that it determined a “false-flag attack is underway from waters bordering Trinidad and Tobago, or from Trinidad or Venezuelan territory itself.”

Intel Democrats press Gabbard on Trump administration boat strikes -- Leading Intelligence Committee Democrats are accusing the Trump administration of leaving them in the dark on strikes in the Caribbean that have killed more than 40 people, demanding information about the intelligence community’s role. The letter requests the legal justifications for the strikes, which has targeted a series of boats the Trump administration has claimed without evidence are ferrying drugs off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. “Despite our repeated requests, the intelligence committees have received virtually no information about the Intelligence Community’s support for these operations,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Md.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on each chamber’s Intelligence Committee, wrote to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. “We have not been told which agencies are providing intelligence support, the nature of that assistance, or the amount of IC resources and personnel dedicated to this effort,” they continued. “Nor have we been advised about the IC’s role in collecting and analyzing intelligence after the strikes to assess the identities of those targeted, the type and quantity of drugs that may have been onboard, and the impact of the strikes.” The strikes have exacerbated tensions in the region, with Colombian President Gustavo Petro accusing the U.S. of murder after an operation in Colombian waters that he said killed a “lifelong fisherman.” The deaths “are not war casualties, they are murders,” he said Friday on social media. The lawmakers asked for more information about how the intelligence community has been involved in the military strikes, including any “post-strike assessment.” “Good intelligence is critical to ensure that these operations do not kill innocent people with no connection to the drug trade. There have already been public reports that these strikes have killed individuals who were not affiliated with any drug trafficking organization,” they wrote. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), previously criticized the strikes, noting that similar operations carried out by the U.S. Coast Guard fail to find drugs in about a quarter of interdicted boats. “We can’t have a policy where we just blow up ships where we don’t even know the people’s names,” or whether they actually are transporting drugs, he said earlier this month. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to request for comment.

Venezuela Takes Action Against Trinidad & Tobago Over Hosting US Warship -- Venezuela considers Trinidad and Tobago's cooperation with the US military as the Trump White House prepares for possible military action against the Caracas government to be a hostile act.This after on Sunday the USS Gravely, which is outfitted with guided missiles, arrived in Trinidad to conduct joint exercises with Trinidad’s navy, but which was seen as a deep provocation by Caracas. For starters, Venezuela's vice president Delcy Rodriguez said that key energy agreements with Trinidad and Tobago have been effectively canceled."Rodriguez, who is also Venezuela’s minister of hydrocarbons, said she would ask President Nicolas Maduro to withdraw from a 2015 agreement that enables neighboring countries to carry out joint natural gas exploration projects in the waters between both nations," AP detailed. After this, President Maduro declared, "I have approved the measure."The USS Gravely is actually one of the very US naval vessels which has been involved in the campaign to destroy alleged drug trafficking speedboats off the Venezuelan coast."The prime minister of Trinidad has decided to join the war mongering agenda of the United States," Vice President Rodriguez said on national television Monday.By Tuesday, Venezuela declared Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to be persona non grata amid the escalating tensions.Venezuela’s National Assembly quickly voted to impose the measure against Persad-Bissessar, formally barring her from entering the country.

US Deploying Aircraft Carrier Strike Group Near Venezuela as Regime Change Push Heats Up - The US military is deploying an aircraft carrier to the waters near South America as the Trump administration continues its military buildup in the Caribbean and its push toward war with Venezuela.Sean Parnell, a US War Department spokesman, wrote on X on Friday that the USS Gerald Ford and its strike group, which includes five destroyers, will be heading to US Southern Command’s area of responsibility to “bolster US capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere.”The Gerald Ford has been deployed in the Mediterranean Sea, and according to a ship tracker, it is currently off the coast of Croatia in the Adriatic Sea. According to USNI News, it would take the aircraft carrier at least a week to reach SOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility from Croatia. The deployment of the aircraft carrier and accompanying warships will mark a significant escalation of US military power in the region amid reports that the US is soon planning to bomb Venezuela with the goal of ousting President Nicolas Maduro. The US has been stepping up the military pressure on Venezuela by flying bombers near its coast and continuing its bombing campaign against alleged drug boats in the region. A US Navy destroyer, the USS Gravely, has also arrived in Trinidad and Tobago for joint exercises near the coast of Venezuela.Also on Friday, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the 10th US airstrike against a boat that he claimed was carrying drugs. The Pentagon has provided no evidence to back up its claims about what the boats it has been bombing are carrying, and has also not provided any information about the identities of the people it has been killing, who are labelled as “narco-terrorists” to justify their extrajudicial execution.

US Intelligence Offered Maduro's Pilot Huge Reward To Divert Plane To Awaiting Federal Agents - At a moment that hawkish US lawmakers are already saying "Maduro's days are numbered" - some of US intelligence's dirty tricks toward accomplishing regime change in Venezuela have been revealed. According to a fresh and detailed Associated Press report, a US federal agent covertly tried to recruit Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's personal pilot in a scheme to nab the Venezuelan leader and bring him to the United States, where he would face drug smuggling charges and even potential 'terrorism'-related charges. Three current and former US officials, as well as a Venezuelan opposition figure, said that Homeland Security agent Edwin Lopez met Maduro's pilot, General Bitner Villegas, in the Dominican Republic in 2024. "In exchange, the agent told the pilot in a clandestine meeting, the aviator would be made a very rich man," the AP says, and there was exchange of contact information. The pilot was offered money and protection for what would be a very daring and risky operation if he were to agree to it. "All he had to do was surreptitiously divert the Venezuelan president’s plane to a place where U.S. authorities could nab the strongman," the report says. Gen. Villegas was encouraged to "be Venezuela’s hero", and at one point could have possibly received up to $50 million - which is the amount of a published DOJ reward for Maduro's capture - if he had gone though with accomplishing the scheme. The AP notes that the story has been revealed soon on the heels of President Trump recently approving the return of CIA covert operations to Venezuela, to seek to undermine Caracas.

US Sanctions Colombia's President Petro Amid Spat Over Boat Strikes - The Trump administration announced on Friday that it was imposing sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro amid a spat between the Colombian leader and President Trump over the US bombing campaign against boats in Latin America. In a statement on the sanctions, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Petro of allowing “drug cartels to flourish” and refusing to stop the activity of the cartels, allegations the Colombian president denied. “Fighting drug trafficking for decades — and doing so effectively — has brought me this measure from the government of the very society we helped so much to curb its cocaine consumption,” Petro said in response to the sanctions.The US sanctions also targeted Petro’s eldest son, his wife, and Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, who also denied the allegations against him. Benedetti suggested he was targeted for defending Petro against US claims that he was involved in drug trafficking.“In this country, no one buys the story that I am a drug trafficker,” Benedetti said. “For the US, a non-violent statement is the same as being a drug trafficker. Gringos go home.”Washington and Bogotá have a long history of military cooperation, and the US designated Colombia as a major non-NATO ally in 2022, the same year Petro came into office. Petro’s term expires in August 2026, and under a 2015 change to the Colombian constitution, he cannot run for a second term.Petro and Trump have clashed over other issues, including deportation flights, and the Colombian leader has been very critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and US support for it. During a speech at a pro-Palestine protest in New York during the UN General Assembly, Petro said US troops should “disobey” orders related to Gaza, prompting the Trump administration to revoke his visa.

US Bombs 15th Alleged Drug Boat in Latin America - The US military has bombed another alleged drug boat in the waters of Latin America, according to astatement from US War Secretary Pete Hegseth.Hegseth said the vessel was targeted in the Eastern Pacific and provided no evidence to back up the claims that it was carrying drugs. He claimed the strike killed four “narco-terrorists,” a term the Trump administration is using to justify the extrajudicial executions at sea. The attack brings the total number of boats the US has bombed since September 2 to 15, and the total number of people killed in the campaign to 61, according to numbers released by the Trump administration. Eight boats were hit in the Caribbean, and seven were targeted in the Eastern Pacific. Video of the strike released by Hegseth. A day earlier, Hegseth announced the bombing of four boats in a single day and said one survivor was rescued by the Mexican government, signaling the US is escalating the campaign. Hegseth has made clear that the bombings won’t stop and has drawn parallels to the US War on Terror, which continues to this day.

Report: US Military Officials Involved in Latin America Campaign Required To Sign Non-Disclosure Agreements - US military officials involved in the Trump administration’s military campaign in Latin America have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing US officials.The report said the request is highly unusual, since US military officials are already required to keep secrets from the public, though it also acknowledged that the Pentagon has previously used NDAs under the leadership of War Secretary Pete Hegseth.The news comes as members of Congress have complained about the Trump administration’s lack of transparency about the campaign, which has involved bombing alleged drug-running boats and a substantial military buildup, and a push toward a regime change war to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.The US War Department has not provided any evidence to back up its claims about what the boats it has been bombing are carrying and hasn’t provided any information about the people it has been killing in strikes that amount to extrajudicial executions at sea.In an interview on Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who has been very critical of the bombing campaign, affirmed that Congress hasn’t received any information about the people the Pentagon has been targeting. “No one said their name. No one said what evidence. No one said whether they’re armed. And we’ve had no evidence presented,” Paul said. “So, at this point, I would call them extrajudicial killings.” The Reuters report comes after the news that Adm. Alvin Holsey, the head of US Southern Command who has overseen the military operations in the Caribbean, is stepping down just one year into his command, another highly unusual move. According to The New York Times, he has raised concerns about the US military mission and the bombing of the alleged drug boats.

Pentagon Tells Congress It Doesn't Know Who It's Killing in Latin American Boat Strikes - US War Department officials don’t know the identities of the 61 people who have been extra-judicially executed in US military strikes on boats in the waters near Venezuela and in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, POLITICO reported on Thursday, citing House Democrats who attended a classified briefing on the campaign.“[The department officials] said that they do not need to positively identify individuals on these vessels to do the strikes, they just need to prove a connection to smuggling,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA). “When we tried to get more information, we did not get satisfactory answers.”While the Trump administration has cited overdose deaths in the US related to fentanyl to justify the bombing campaign, lawmakers were told in the briefing that the boats that have been targeted were allegedly smuggling cocaine, though the Pentagon has not provided evidence to back up its claims about what the vessels were carrying.“They argued that cocaine is a facilitating drug of fentanyl, but that was not a satisfactory answer for most of us,” Jacobs said.The briefing on Thursday came after the Pentagon shut out Democrats from another briefing it held with Republicans a day earlier, which left Democratic senators fuming. Democrats who attended Thursday’s briefing said Pentagon lawyers were pulled from the meeting at the last minute.“Am I leaving satisfied? Absolutely not. And the last word that I gave to the admiral was, ‘I hope you recognize the constitutional peril that you are in and the peril you are putting our troops in,'” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) told reporters after the briefing, according to CNN. Jacobs said that, based on what she was told, even if Congress authorized the bombing campaign, it would still be illegal. “[T]here’s nothing that we heard in there that changes my assessment that this is completely illegal, that it is unlawful and even if Congress authorized it, it would still be illegal because there are extrajudicial killings where we have no evidence,” she said.Criticism of the US bombing campaign has also come from Republicans, most prominently from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). “No one said their name, no one said what evidence, no one said whether they’re armed, and we’ve had no evidence presented,” Paul said this week of the people who have been targeted. “They summarily execute people without presenting evidence to the public … so it’s wrong.”Paul has joined Senate Democrats in introducing a War Powers Resolution aimed at preventing the Trump administration from starting a war with Venezuela amid threats of US strikes on the country aimed at ousting President Nicolas Maduro and a major US military buildup in the region. A vote on the bill is expected to happen next week.

2 US Navy aircraft go down in South China Sea -Two U.S. Navy aircraft went down in the South China Sea in separate incidents Sunday, according to the U.S. Pacific Fleet. All of the crew members in both incidents were successfully recovered by search and rescue units, it said. The first incident involved a U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, which went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting routine operations, U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement posted on social media. All three crew members were rescued in that incident, which took place around 2:45 p.m. local time Sunday. About 30 minutes later, U.S. Pacific Fleet said an F/A Super Hornet fighter assigned to the “Fighting Redcocks” of Strike Fighter Squadron 22 also went down while conducting routine operations from the USS Nimitz. The helicopter that had gone down earlier was also from the Nimitz. Both crew members successfully ejected and were also safely recovered by search and rescue teams, U.S. Pacific Fleet said. The incidents took place as President Trump is on a trip to Asia. He was leaving Malaysia Monday and on his way to Japan. All personnel involved in both incidents are safe and in stable condition, the Pacific Fleet said. It added that both incidents are under investigation.

DOGE staffer set to replace admiral leading Navy’s research office -- The senior head of a Navy office that helps organize critical research and funding for the service has been replaced by a 33-year-old former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee who previously pressed for thousands of job cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus was booted as chief of naval research for Rachel Riley, a former partner at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company who joined HHS as part of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency in January, The Bulwark first reportedThursday. Rich Danker, HHS assistant secretary for public affairs, confirmed Riley’s move to the Navy but did not say when she left the department, telling The Hill in a statement, “We appreciate the work Rachel Riley did for HHS to improve and right size the agency across its structure, programs, and grants.” Rothenhaus, who had been in the top post at the Office of Naval Research since June 2023 overseeing billions of dollars in grants, has been moved to an unknown position. His replacement is highly unusual given that the office — created by Congress in 1946 to fund Navy and Marine Corps research — is typically run by a two-star admiral with extensive experience in technology, science, and engineering. Rothenhaus is an engineering duty officer who oversaw command control computers, communications and intelligence before he took over the Naval research office. His official biography still lists him as the chief of naval research. Riley, a Rhodes Scholarship recipient, has no apparent naval experience and has reportedly had a tumultuous several months working in the Trump administration.She was the main push behind an attempt to lay off nearly 8,000 HHS employees at the end of September, but agency officials rejected the plan, Politico first reported last week. She has also come under fire along with Brad Smith for their secretive handling of firings at HHS this spring; they failed to share data files with career staff responsible for carrying out layoffs, creating confusion, according to Politico. In addition, she pushed in September for the near dismantling of the National Institutes of Health Center for Scientific Review, run by 500 employees to review grant applications at the health research agency, Politico reported. Her LinkedIn profile lists her job experience as working for eight and a half years at McKinsey, rising to partner before starting to work for the HHS in January. “I have been working on a range of confidential projects since Inauguration,” her profile states.

3-star general steps down amid reported friction with Pete Hegseth, Dan Caine - A three-star general who worked on the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Joint Staff, Lt. Gen. Joe McGee, is retiring from the role after reported friction with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine. “General McGee is retiring, and the War Department is grateful for his service,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed Thursday in a statement to The Hill. McGee, who retired from his post earlier this month, was the director for strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Staff, advising Caine on long-term military strategy. McGee objected to Hegseth and Caine on a range of issues, including the Trump administration’s strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and the Russia-Ukraine war, according to CNN, which first reported on McGee’s departure. McGee was nominated to be the director of the Joint Staff but was never renominated during the current administration, according to CNN. Parnell pushed back on the report, saying “CNN’s claims regarding his retirement are 100 percent fake news.” News of McGee’s ouster comes as the Trump administration has steadily escalated its actions and rhetoric toward the Venezuelan government, quietly shifting roughly 10,000 troops in addition to warships, fighter jets and a nuclear submarine to the Caribbean in support of what officials say are counternarcotics operations. It also marks the latest senior official Hegseth has pushed out since taking office in January. More than a dozen senior military officials have been fired, forced to retire or moved to less visible roles since the start of the year, including former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. CQ Brown; the first female chief of naval operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti; the directors of the National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency; the former director of the Joint Staff; the head of U.S. Southern Command (Southcom); and the top uniformed lawyers for the Army and Air Force.

US ICE agents seize British journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi --The Trump administration has detained and revoked the visa of prominent British journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi, threatening him with deportation. Hamdi, a vocal critic of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, was arrested on Sunday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at San Francisco International Airport. London-based Hamdi is managing director of global risk and intelligence company International Interest, which “advises on political environments across the globe”. He appears regularly as an expert Middle East analyst and commentator on British TV networks including the BBC, Sky News and Channel 4. Hamdi is a frequent guest on Al Jazeera English, a channel available in over 150 countries. As do millions internationally, Hamdi describes Israel’s onslaught against the Palestinians as a genocide. Sami Hamdi [Photo: Sami Hamdi/X] Sami’s father, Mohamed Hechmi Hamdi, was also a journalist and a political activist. Under the threat of persecution, Mohamed Hamdi, an opponent of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s dictatorial regime in Tunisia, fled to London seeking refuge, via Algeria and Sudan. Sami Hamdi graduated from SOAS University in the UK capital. Hamdi was detained as he began a speaking tour, having already made several appearances at events sponsored by the Council on American‑Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation. The day prior to his detention he spoke at the annual gala for the CAIR chapter in Sacramento. He was seized as he prepared to board a domestic flight to Florida where he was to address the gala for CAIR’s chapter in Tampa the next day. Hamdi was denounced as a terrorist by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin who posted on X, “Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country”. She added, “This individual’s visa was revoked and he is in ICE custody pending removal.” Hamdi has previously made multiple entries into the United States, holding lawful immigration status through a valid visa. The BBC noted in its report on his arrest that “DHS, ICE, and the State Department did not answer the BBC’s request for evidence of Hamdi’s alleged support of terrorism.” Hamdi’s legal team stated on Monday that Hamdi “is currently being detained at Golden State Annex in California. We know he is safe, and his legal team — made up of CAIR-CA, MLFA [Muslim Legal Fund of America], and attorney Hassan Ahmad — are determining next steps.” CNN reported that Hamdi’s wife Soumaya told them “he has been held for more than 24 hours ‘without recourse to legal representation or consular assistance.’ Soumaya added, ‘He is effectively being held incommunicado’”. In a statement issued Sunday CAIR explained that Hamdi was seized earlier that day “apparently in response to his vocal criticism of the Israeli apartheid government during his ongoing speaking tour… everyone should recognize that arresting a British citizen legally visiting the United States because he dared to criticize a foreign nation’s genocide is our government’s latest blatant affront to free speech.”

DHS attacks Washington Post over report on misleading footage of immigration operations -The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attacked The Washington Post over a report about footage of immigration operations the outlet characterized as misleading. The Post reported Wednesday that an August DHS post, in which a department staffer says that federal officers were on the job “day and night to arrest, detain and deport vicious criminals from our nation’s capital,” featured multiple clips from operations months prior and outside the District of Columbia.“What a dishonest, slanted, and fundamentally inaccurate piece from @WashingtonPost,” the DHS wrote in a post Wednesday on social platform X, featuring a screenshot of a report from the Post.”Brutal assaults, and attacks by antifa terrorists have surged against our officers for months now, and the Washington Post has completely ignored them,” the department added. Clips of operations, such as those used in the DHS video in question, have been used by administration officials in a minimum of six pro-President Trump immigration agenda videos put out within the last three months, according to the Post.Dan Lamothe, a journalist for the Post, shot back at the DHS in a post Wednesday on X, saying that the DHS’s post “includes only a Washington Post headline.” “Here’s the actual story, laying out detailed reporting with receipts,” Lamothe added, featuring a link to the report.

Donald Trump tells National Guard to form rapid response units in every state - The National Guard is building a “quick reaction force” (QRF) of some 23,500 troops trained in crowd control and civil disturbance that can be ready to deploy to U.S. cities by early next year, according to a leaked memo reported by multiple outlets Wednesday. The Oct. 8 memo, signed by National Guard Bureau Director of Operations Maj. Gen. Ronald Burkett, orders the Guard from nearly every U.S. state, Puerto Rico and Guam to train 500 service members. States with smaller populations such as Delaware will have 250 troops in its force, while Alaska will have 350 and Guam will have 100, Task & Purpose reported. A previous Pentagon memo issued in September, and revealed by The Guardian, had mandated that the Washington, D.C., National Guard create a “specialized military police battalion” within it “dedicated to ensuring safety and public order in the Nation’s capital as the circumstances may necessitate.” The latest document also stipulates that the Pentagon will send military trainers to the states and territories so the QRFs will be operational by Jan. 1, 2026. Each state also will be given “100 sets of crowd control equipment to be used to support this requirement,” such as Tasers, pepper spray, batons, and body shields.The Trump administration has increasingly moved to use the U.S. military to push his political agenda domestically via sending National Guard troops into largely Democrat-run cities under the claim of helping fight crime. President Trump in an Aug. 25 executive order mobilized the D.C. National Guard to the nation’s capital over the objections of city leaders. Trump at the time claimed the city’s crime was out of control, despite data showing that rates had dropped over the past two years. In their more than two months in the city, guard members have largely been helping with “beautification” efforts such as picking up trash and laying mulch.Trump has also activated the National Guard Los Angeles to quell largely peaceful protests over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities in the city and has attempted to send them to Portland, Ore. and Chicago, among other cities, but so far has been blocked by the courts.A National Guard spokesperson told Task & Purpose that the bureau is coordinating with the Pentagon and the U.S. states and territories “in planning that will implement the direction” Trump laid out in the Aug. 25 order. The creation of national QRFs is not unprecedented, but they usually occur after serious emergencies such as when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005.“This is different because we’re essentially establishing a unit for space to respond to civilian activities,” a Guard member told Task & Purpose. “We are ready to go when we’re called upon. We’re not asked to stand up an entire unit ready to quell dissent at any moment.”The troops are to be trained in how to “form Squad-sized Riot Control Formation,” how to “employ a Riot Baton as a Member of a Riot Control Formation,” and how to “Supervise a Riot/Crowd Control Operation,” as well as de-escalation of force techniques, according to the memo. Each state must report monthly on its progress via an online defense readiness reporting system.

Donald Trump signs critical minerals deal with Japan -President Trump on Monday signed an agreement with Japan to ramp up cooperation on the processing of critical minerals and rare earth materials, underscoring a major priority of his trip to Asia.Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi signed off on the agreement, which outlines how the two countries are “intensifying their cooperative efforts” to accelerate the processing of critical minerals.The critical minerals agreement states the two countries will provide financial support for mining projects within six months. Critical minerals are used in electronics and day-to-day products. The two leaders also signed an agreement that vowed cooperation toward “a new golden age for the U.S.-Japan alliance.”The critical minerals signing with Japan comes two days after the U.S. signed agreements with Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia outlining cooperation on the processing and exports of critical minerals. Access to critical minerals has re-entered the spotlight after China earlier this month said it was tightening controls on exports of the materials. The issue is expected to come up later this week when Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

Donald Trump aims to boost US energy sales to China after Xi Jinping talks -President Trump is eyeing an energy deal with China, he said in a social media post Thursday. He said in a post on Truth Social that Beijing has agreed to begin purchasing U.S. energy and that a “very large scale transaction” related to oil and gas from Alaska “may take place.” “Chris Wright, Doug Burgum, and our respective Energy teams will be meeting to see if such an Energy Deal can be worked out,” he added, referring to the secretaries of Energy and the Interior, respectively. The announcement comes as part of a larger trade agreement announced between the U.S. and China, but it also marks Trump’s latest attempt to try to sell U.S. energy abroad. In addition, he said progress had been made with China regarding rare earth elements — minerals that can be used in a variety of applications, including electronics, health care and batteries. These minerals can be difficult to come by because they tend to occur in small deposits and can be expensive to mine. China had previously announced restrictions on rare earth exports. “All of the rare earth has been settled — and that’s for the world,” Trump said. “That roadblock is gone now. There is no roadblock at all on rare earth,” added the president, who recently completed a multi-day trip to East Asia. Trump said the U.S. and China have a one-year agreement “and we’ll extend it after a year.” China is a particular minerals hub, home to processing facilities that get these elements ready for other issues. Trump has also long been on a quest for rare earth elements, also pushing the issue with countries including Ukraine.

Explaining Trump’s energy bet: Win on gas, lose on renewables - The U.S. and China are headed in opposite directions on energy. That divergence will be on display when the presidents of the world’s leading gas and renewable producers meet Thursday. President Donald Trump has doubled down on fossil fuels since returning to the White House, serving as salesman-in-chief as he pressures allies and trade partners into buying more American oil and gas. The approach contrasts sharply with China, which under President Xi Jinping has emerged as a clean energy superpower. China is rapidly expanding its renewable capacity while flooding global markets with solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles.The two strategies are increasingly in tension, particularly in Asia, where energy consumption is expected to soar as economies expand in the coming years.“The U.S. and China, moving forward, are trying to sell rival energy export models with the U.S. built around fossil fuels and the Chinese built around cheap renewables,” said Gregory Brew, an energy analyst at the Eurasia Group. “It’s unclear who’s going to come out ahead.”The already fractious relationship has grown even frostier in Trump’s second term. The president imposed sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods early this year. Beijing retaliated with a ban on critical minerals shipments to the U.S. and stopped buying American soybeans and shiploads of liquefied natural gas. Trump and Xi are expected to meet in South Korea on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in what would be their first face-to-face meeting since Trump’s first term.Energy is a top-tier issue for both countries, as both target Asian market for their exports. Electricity demand in Southeast Asia alone is expected to double by 2050, while Asia more broadly is set to account for about half of global growth in gas demand by the end of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency.Many countries in the region feel torn between the U.S. and China. Leaders are wary of shifting too aggressively in the direction of one or the other, said Ben Cahill, the lead oil and gas analyst at the University of Texas, Austin’s Center for Energy and Environmental Systems. The U.S. and China are appealing to consumers for different reasons. American LNG is increasingly cheap, thanks to a wave of new supply expected to come online in the coming years. Chinese-made solar panels are easy to install and limit countries’ exposure to the fluctuations in global gas prices. “It’s not a binary decision that countries make,” Cahill said. Gas could be especially appealing to countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand, all of which have gas infrastructure. But the falling price of solar technologies, coupled with the reliability of batteries, could be increasingly attractive to countries in the futureGlobal LNG supply is expected to increase 50 percent by 2030, thanks to a new generation of export terminals that are set to come online in the U.S. and Qatar, according to the International Energy Agency. That’s a recipe for lower gas prices and higher demand. Gas prices are expected to be 40 percent lower globally over the next five years, compared to the previous five, according to IEA, prompting a 9 percent jump in global gas consumption by 2030. Much of that growth is expected to come from Asia.“The best way to increase gas penetration in Southeast Asia is to make it more abundant and cheaper,” Cahill said. “I think we’re heading in that direction.” Yet there are limits to LNG’s growth. Even if gas is increasingly a bargain, building the regasification terminals that are needed to import it are expensive. India, the second-largest energy consumer in Asia, has limited LNG import capacity. Trump has pushed India to invest in LNG, but the country has so far resisted, analysts said.

‘China still holds all the cards’: Trump, Xi reach rare earths deal - President Donald Trump on Thursday said he reached a tentative deal after an “amazing” meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that will offer a reprieve — but not necessarily a long-term solution — from China’s vise grip on rare earths needed for EVs, planes and military equipment. Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters that Xi vowed to suspend Beijing’s restrictions on rare earth exports under a “one-year agreement” that will likely be “routinely extended.”“We have a deal,” said Trump after meeting with Xi in South Korea. “Now in a year we’ll renegotiate the deal, but I think the deal will go on for a long time.” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who was also aboard the flight, added: “They’re not going to impose the rare earth controls that they proposed, President Trump and President Xi came to an understanding.”

President Trump Says He Had a 'Truly Great' Meeting With China's Xi - President Trump said on Thursday that he had a “truly great” meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, a sign that trade tensions between Washington and Beijing may ease.“I had a truly great meeting with President Xi of China. There is enormous respect between our two Countries, and that will only be enhanced with what just took place. We agreed on many things, with others, even of high importance, being very close to resolved,” the president wrote on Truth Social. Trump said that Xi agreed China would purchase “massive amounts” of soybeans and other farm products from the US, hold off on its restrictions on the export of rare earth minerals, and “work diligently” to stem the flow of fentanyl to the US. In exchange, Trump said he would reduce fentanyl-related tariffs on China from 20% to 10%, bringing the effective tariff rate on Chinese imports from 57% to 47%.While a formal trade deal wasn’t reached, Trump said he expects one to be inked “pretty soon,” and that he will be visiting Beijing in April 2026, with Xi expected to travel to the US after that. In remarks to each other, both leaders struck very respectful, conciliatory tones.“China and the United States should be partners and friends. That is what history has taught us and what reality needs,” Xi told Trump, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. Xi acknowledged recent “frictions” between the US and China but said that he and Trump should be able to handle them. “In the face of winds, waves, and challenges, we should stay the right course, navigate through the complex landscape, and ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship of China-U.S. relations,” Xi added.

With GOP Help, Senate Votes To Block Trump's 50% Tariffs On Brazil - With the support of a handful of Republican senators led by outspoken constitutionalist Rand Paul, the Senate on Tuesday passed a measure to nullify the 50% tariffs that President Trump imposed on Brazil. The resolution does that by terminating Trump's July 30 declaration of a national emergency -- a declaration he used to supersede Congress's tariff authority granted by the US Constitution. While it isn't likely to clear the House, the measure spotlights growing bipartisan hostility to Trump's worldwide tariff spree and its effects on US consumers and businesses. The resolution passed by a 52 to 48 vote, with Republicans Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Mitch McConnell (KY) and Thom Tillis (NC) joining Kentucky's Paul in helping to push it over the top. Two more votes on similar resolutions are expected in the next week, aimed at negating tariffs on Canada and a global tariff that hits 100 countries. Coffee prices have surged 22%. We’re taxing the world’s best coffee exporters:
🇧🇷 Brazil — 50%
🇨🇴 Colombia — 10%
🇨🇭 Switzerland — 39%
Economics 101: Tariffs don’t punish producers — they punish consumers. pic.twitter.com/BFOoA8pwwf
Brazil is a notable case because the United States already had a trade surplus with the South American country -- something that Tillis said figured heavily in his vote. “I’ve had a big concern with the Brazil one in particular, since we have a trade surplus with them. That’s the only one I’m considering,” he said. Trump imposed the sanctions after accusing Brazil of becoming "an international disgrace" over its prosecution of its former president and Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro, over an alleged conspiracy to undo the country's 2022 election results (sound familar?). "It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!" Trump wrote in a letter to Brazilian President Lula da Silva a few weeks before imposing the sanctions.

Senate passes resolution to end Trump’s global tariffs; 4 Republicans side with Dems --- Four Republican senators voted with Democrats on Thursday to approve a bipartisan resolution to repeal President Trump’s global tariffs, including steeper rates on long-time allies such as the European Union, Japan and South Korea. Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), the GOP sponsor of the resolution, and Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted for it. The same proposal failed in the Senate in late April on a 50-49 vote after Vice President Vance cast the tiebreaking vote to defeat it. Critically, McConnell and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), who voted Thursday for the resolution, missed the vote in the spring. The one-page Senate joint resolution simply declares that the national emergency declaration that Trump invoked on April 2, which the president dubbed “Liberation Day,” to authorize sweeping reciprocal tariffs on countries cross the globe would be “terminated” on the date of its enactment. Passage of the measure is a symbolic victory for critics of Trump’s trade policies, but it will have little practical effect as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is unlikely to bring it up for a vote in the House and Trump is certain to veto anything that curtails his power. Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the lead Democratic sponsor of the resolution, said Trump’s tariffs have increased costs for ordinary Americans. “American families are being squeezed by prices going up and up and up. More than three-quarters of families say their monthly expenses have increased by more than $100 a month,” he said on the floor. McConnell in a statement released earlier this week warned that “tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive.” “The economic harms of trade warns are not the exception to history, but the rule. And no cross-eyed reading of Reagan will reveal otherwise,” he added, referring to Trump’s pique over a television ad funded by the Canadian state of Ontario that used the words of President Reagan to criticize the president’s tariff policies, and ad that Trump claimed mischaracterized Reagan’s words. The Senate voted earlier this week to terminate Trump’s steep tariffs on Canada and Brazil. Neither of those bills, however, are expected to get a vote in the House.

US Revokes Approval For 13 Mexican Airline Routes, Citing Violations Of Aviation Agreement -The U.S. Department of Transportation on Oct. 28 revoked its approval for 13 Mexican airline routes into the United States, citing similar treatment by Mexico that has yet to be addressed.It also said it was revoking U.S. access for all Mexican “belly cargo” flights that carry both passengers and cargo in and out of Mexico City’s Felipe Angeles International Airport.The order also cancels current or planned flights by Mexican airlines Aeromexico, Volaris, and Viva Aerobus.In issuing the order, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that Mexico “illegally canceled and froze U.S. carrier flights for three years without consequences.” The Epoch Times' Melanie Sun goes on to note that the department said Mexico has violated the two nations’ bilateral aviation agreement since 2022, when it revoked routes for U.S. passenger carriers and banned U.S. cargo operations from using Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport. U.S. airlines were forced to land at Felipe Angeles International Airport, which is 26 miles out of the city.Duffy also proposed prohibiting Mexican passenger airlines from transporting belly cargo between Juárez Airport and the United States, which would take effect in about three months if finalized.The department said the restrictions were a result of Mexico’s continued noncompliance and “may impact travel plans for American citizens.” It advised passengers to contact their carrier for specific information regarding their flights.“Until Mexico stops the games and honors its commitments, we will continue to hold them accountable. No country should be able to take advantage of our carriers, our market, and our flyers without repercussions,” Duffy said.The disapproved flights are the Aeromexico service between Mexico City Juárez and San Juan; Volaris service between Juárez and Newark, New Jersey; Viva Aerobus’s proposed services between Felipe Angeles and Austin, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Orlando; and Aeromexico’s current service between Felipe Angeles and Houston and McAllen, Texas.

Bessent says TikTok deal finalized -- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the U.S. and China have finalized an agreement on TikTok that would allow the popular social media platform to remain available in the U.S. “In Kuala Lumpur, we finalized the TikTok agreement in terms of getting Chinese approval,” Bessent told Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria.” “And I would expect that would go forward in the coming weeks and months, and we’ll finally see a resolution to that.” “And I would expect that would go forward in the coming weeks and months, and we’ll finally see a resolution to that.” President Trump approved the deal last month after receiving the “go-ahead” from Chinese President Xi Jinping. Under the agreement, TikTok will be spun off into a separate U.S. entity, majority owned by American investors such as Oracle and Silver Lake. The deal seeks to limit the role of TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to comply with a 2024 law requiring the firm to divest from TikTok or face a ban on U.S. networks and app stores. The app’s future remained in limbo for nine months, as Trump repeatedly delayed enforcement of the divest-or-ban law in an effort to reach a deal to “save” TikTok, which he had promised to do during his 2024 campaign. China, meanwhile, has continued to offer more tepid assessments of the status of the TikTok deal. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Thursday that Beijing had agreed to work with the U.S. to resolve issues related to TikTok.

Donald Trump's ballroom plan and East Wing demolition: 5 takeaways - The East Wing of the White House is no more. Aerial imagery showed the wing of the nation’s most famous building, used by first ladies for decades, has been razed. In its place, President Trump intends to erect a new ballroom. Trump’s argument is that the room that is currently the largest in the White House, the East Room, is not big enough for major ceremonies. But there has been plenty of criticism about the new project and the way Trump has gone about it. Specifically, he had not previously suggested the East Wing would be entirely demolished to facilitate the new structure. When Trump first proposed the idea of a new ballroom, he pegged the cost at $200 million. The sum has now increased to $300 million. Asked about the increase at Thursday’s media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “With any construction project, there are changes over time as you assess what the project is going to look like — and we’ll continue to keep you apprised of all of those changes. But just trust the process. This is going to be a magnificent addition to the White House for many years to come.” Leavitt also emphasized a number of times that there would be no cost to taxpayers. That’s because Trump is soliciting private donations to build the ballroom. The White House has released a list of donors. It includes prominent people such as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman. It also encompasses a number of corporations, including Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Google, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft and Palantir. While those donors do indeed alleviate any burden on the taxpayers, critics have complained that the process opens the door for companies and individuals to throw money into the coffers in the hope of buying favor with the president. The new ballroom is expected to be 90,000 square feet, which Trump has said will be enough to accommodate roughly 1,000 people. This is in stark contrast to the 200-person capacity of the East Room. To be clear, the East Room is in the main, central structure of the White House and is unaffected by the demolition of the separate East Wing. The new ballroom should obviate the need for use of tents on the South Lawn of the White House for big events. However, some concerns have been expressed about the sheer size of the new structure. As The New York Times noted, its overall size is far greater than the executive residence, which clocks in at 55,000 square feet. There are also more generalized concerns among Trump’s critics that the new structure will be crude or garish — the same complaints have shadowed him throughout his prepolitics career in real estate. It’s no surprise the political reaction to Trump’s project has cleaved along partisan lines. Democrats have blasted the new ballroom as a “vanity project,” as it was termed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has called the erasure of the East Wing “heartbreaking.” The opposition party has also sought to cast Trump as fixated on the renovations while being cut off from more important concerns facing the nation at large. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote on social media, “Oh you’re trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing? Donald Trump can’t hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom.” Republicans, meanwhile, have mostly praised the project, or at least evinced a shoulder-shrugging casualness about it. “You’ve got a builder who has [any] eye for construction and for excellence. What better person would you want to renovate the White House?” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told The Associated Press.

Melania Trump privately raised concerns about East Wing demolition: Report --First lady Melania Trump privately raised concerns about demolishing the East Wing of the White House for President Trump’s new ballroom, according to The Wall Street Journal. The outlet also reported, citing administration officials, that the first lady distanced herself from the move, telling associates it was not her project. The demolition, images of which have captured headlines, lays the groundwork for construction of the president’s $300 million ballroom, which the administration describes as “a bold, necessary addition” to the executive mansion. The administration has faced backlash from critics over the demolition, which was completed Thursday. The East Wing has traditionally been home to the first lady’s office and her staff. It was most recently home to Melania Trump’s office, the offices of the White House social secretary and calligrapher, as well as the movie theater and the presidential bunker.

White House East Wing was home to theater, bunker, offices; Here’s what White House loses with East Wing’s demolition -Demolition of the White House’s East Wing, itself a source of multiple controversies for more than 200 years, was completed Thursday.Excavators were spotted starting Monday tearing it apart.It was home to first lady Melania Trump’s office, the offices of the White House social secretary and calligrapher, as well as the movie theater and the presidential bunker.The staff members of those offices were relocated to other parts of the White House, CNN reported. The demolition will set the stage for construction of a $300 million ballroom, “a bold, necessary addition” to the executive mansion, the Trump administration said in a statement issued Tuesday.The East Wing’s razing was met with criticism both by preservationists and by more than half of the American public. In death, the East Wing has come full circle, as it received criticism at the time of its birth during early 1800s. (detailed history of East Wing follows)

Jacqueline Kennedy Garden removed for Trump’s White House ballroom: What was it used for? – The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden appears to be the latest victim of President Trump’s plans for a White House ballroom where the East Wing once was. Satellite images published by Ars Technica (as well as aerial images from a commercial flight out of DC) appeared to show the Kennedy Garden completely torn up as of last week. In photos taken Sunday, construction equipment and debris were seen where the garden’s trees, bushes and I.M. Pei-designed pergola were once located.A representative for the U.S. National Park Service was not immediately available to confirm whether any of the plants or the pergola were being relocated.The garden, located just south of the East Terrace Colonnade, was dedicated in honor of Jacqueline Kennedy in 1965, to honor her efforts to revive the outdoor spaces of the White House while her husband was in office. “This garden, every detail of it, reflects the unfailing taste of the gifted and gracious Jacqueline Kennedy,” then-first lady Lady Bird Johnson said upon its dedication.Throughout the years, the White House’s Jacqueline Kennedy Garden had been used as an outdoor events space for awards ceremonies and receptions, including events hosted by first lady Melania Trump. Her predecessor, Jill Biden, had hosted an event honoring caregivers of wounded veterans at the space in 2023, as well as a reception area during the White House Easter Egg Roll, where she read to some of the children. Hillary Clinton also once used the garden as a temporary sculpture area, honoring Native American artists while displaying their work.

• First lady Laura Bush gives a tour of the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden at the White House for members of the media Friday, April 16, 2004 in Washngton. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
• First lady Jill Biden urges the crowd to greet people before reading to children in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden on Monday, April 10, 2023, during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
• First lady Melania Trump participates in flag decorating during a Take Our Child to Work Day event in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden at the White House, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
• The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden is seen with the White House behind it in Washington Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009. Tens of thousands of people are expected to stream through the White House gates this weekend for a rare opportunity to see the fragrant roses, blue salvias and towering, decades-old trees that beautify the president’s back yard. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
• President Donald Trump, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, speaks to the Independent Community Bankers Association, Monday, May 1, 2017, in the Kennedy Garden of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
• A soccer goal net is set up on the lawn of the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden of the White House, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
• First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton pauses at Doug Hyde’s “Flag Song” in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden at the White House Wednesday, Nov. 5, 1997 as she opened an exhibition “Twentieth Century American Sculptures at the White House: Honoring Native Americans.” (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
• First lady Laura Bush gives a tour of the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden at the White House for members of the media Friday, April 16, 2004 in Washngton. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
• First lady Jill Biden urges the crowd to greet people before reading to children in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden on Monday, April 10, 2023, during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
• First lady Jill Biden urges the crowd to greet people before reading to children in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden on Monday, April 10, 2023, during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy (later Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis), was among the most vocal critics of Trump’s destruction of the gardens his grandmother re-established. “My grandmother saw America in full color — Trump sees black and white,” Schlossberg wrote on Instagram. “Where she planted flowers, he poured concrete. She brought life to the White House, because our landmarks should inspire and grow with our country. In his post, Schlossberg shared a photo of his uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., playing in the White House’s Rose Garden as a young boy. He juxtaposed the picture with an image of the same area under construction earlier this year, when President Trump had it replaced with a tiled patio area.

Harris blasts Trump ballroom as SNAP benefits cut off: ‘Are you f‑‑‑ing kidding me?’ - Former Vice President Kamala Harris is ripping President Trump for building a new ballroom at the White House as the government shutdown threatens the distribution of food aid benefits. “Are you f‑‑‑ing kidding me?” Harris exclaimed during an interview on Jon Stewart’s Comedy Central podcast “The Weekly Show” released Thursday. “This guy wants to create a ballroom for his rich friends while completely turning a blind eye to the fact that babies are going to starve when the SNAP benefits end in just hours from now,” Harris said, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Funding for SNAP — which gave benefits to an estimated 41.7 million Americans in fiscal 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture — runs out Friday. “I’m not going to be distracted by oh, does the guy have a big f‑‑‑ing hammer? What about those babies!” Harris said. Her remarks came in response to Stewart’s mention of the demolition of the East Wing and a question from “The Daily Show” host about whether there were any lessons to be learned from the way the president has operated. The demolition of the East Wing last week to clear space for a $300 million ballroom has sparked a wave of criticism. Trump has repeatedly defended the project, saying the 90,000-square-foot ballroom will be funded through private donations and will serve as a “beautiful” space to host world leaders. Harris, who details her campaign’s loss to Trump in the 2024 presidential election in her book “107 Days,” said the Democratic Party shouldn’t solely be fixated on Trump. “How Democrats should be thinking about leadership and getting through this moment is, yes, fighting what’s wrong, doing like what we’re doing to fight against redistricting. But also we’ve got to understand that we cannot just be focused on Donald Trump,” Harris said. “We need to not only be against something, but also we need to be understanding of how we got here, and that it’s a bigger apparatus, and not just the one guy,” she told Stewart.

Trump makes plans for arch to be built near Lincoln Memorial as entry to DC - President Trump on Wednesday detailed plans for an arch to be built near the Lincoln Memorial at the entrance to Washington, the latest instance of Trump’s efforts to give the capital a makeover. Trump spoke about the plans during a dinner for donors contributing to cover the cost of a planned White House ballroom. The president said the arch would be built along the Arlington Memorial Bridge across from the Lincoln Memorial. “It’s going to be really beautiful. I think it’s going to be fantastic,” Trump said, holding up models of the arch to show attendees. “There’s a rendering of what it will look like. You have three sizes.” “Whichever one would look good. I happen to think the large one,” Trump added. Trump did not provide additional details, such as how much the arch would cost, whether the city approved of the project or what the timeline might be. Plans for the arch first began circulating in recent days after Trump shared a rendering on social media and after models were spotted on his desk in the Oval Office. The president, a former real estate developer, has rapidly sought to put his stamp on the White House and Washington since taking office. He has paved over the grass in the Rose Garden, put in new marble tile in the White House Palm Room, put up presidential portraits along the colonnade and redecorated the Oval Office with new portraits and gold trimmings.

Senate overturns Biden's Arctic drilling restrictions - The Senate on Thursday voted to overturn a Biden administration plan that would have restricted drilling in the Arctic. The vote was 52-45. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) joined Republicans in voting in favor. The 2022 Biden administration plan in question made about 52 percent of land available for drilling in an area known as the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. A previous Trump administration plan would have allowed drilling in 82 percent of the petroleum reserve. “This will benefit North Slope communities with jobs & economic growth, and support their tax base to improve access to essential services like water and sewer systems and clinics,” sponsor Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said in a post on the social platform X in September. If the House takes up the resolution, it’s likely to pass with the GOP majority and would also be expected to have President Trump’s support. The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska was set aside in 1923 by former President Harding as an emergency oil reserve for the Navy. It is now managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Biden administration argued that by shrinking the lands available for drilling, it was protecting areas of ecological significance. The vote was held under the Congressional Review Act, which allows the Senate to vote to overturn regulations with a simple majority, bypassing the filibuster. Add as preferred source on Google

Trump makes Laura Swett FERC chair. What will be her focus? - President Donald Trump on Thursday designated Laura Swett chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, marking the agency’s third leadership change in nine months. Swett — a Republican who previously served as an adviser and attorney at FERC and an energy litigator at the firm Vinson & Elkins — will replace Democrat David Rosner at the commission’s helm. The White House had confirmed its intention to elevate her earlier this month. Swett’s appointment came three days after she was sworn in as a commissioner and the same day Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed the panel to propose new rules for speeding the interconnection of “large loads,” such as data centers. to the grid. “DOE requests, in this case, that the Commission adopt final rules by the end of April, which, in FERC world, is really fast,” said Devin Hartman, director of energy and environmental policy at the R Street Institute, a center-right think tank. The Senate confirmed Swett and David LaCerte to join FERC in recent weeks. Both passed along party lines in a broader package of nominees. The change in leadership may slow progress at FERC in the near term, including on Wright’s requests and a long-awaited rule guiding the co-location of large energy users with power plants. Republican Mark Christie tried to address that issue chair earlier this year, but may not have been able to get enough support before his August departure, said Ari Peskoe, executive director of Harvard Law School’s Environmental Policy Initiative. Last month, Rosner reiterated the commission was working on such a rule, but added that there were “lots of different opinions” at play. Tim Furdyna, a partner at law firm K&L Gates, said, “I think there’s always going to be an initial delay in acting on some items, just as a matter of practical necessity. Swett’s going to need to staff her office, get up to speed on what matters are pending before the commission.” Hartman, a former FERC staffer who worked with Swett at the commission, agreed. “Not knowing who the so-called permanent FERC chair would be” made it difficult for “FERC to stay ahead of the industry and make sure rules are keeping up with load growth and technological gains,” he said. But the heightened confidence that Swett will be chair for a longer period should help FERC move faster over the long run, said Hartman. “Now you have a new chair coming in who’s going to have a clear agenda, and that will provide some direction to staff and internal prioritization,” Hartman said. Energy experts say Swett and Rosner, who remains a FERC commissioner, are likely to share similar priorities. Rosner’s two-month stint as chair — now the second shortest in the agency’s history — saw deliberations on co-location and issue orders expediting natural gas infrastructure. “I think a big, high priority for Laura Swett is to continue that process, as opposed to really establishing anything new there,” Furdyna said.

Inside EPA’s hunt for employees who signed the dissent letter - EPA was rocked this summer when dozens of employees signed an open letter blasting the Trump administration’s disregard for science and agency staff.Then came the probe: Senior political appointees and career officials went to work to find and later punish critics in EPA’s ranks. Emails obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act shed light on the internal investigation that began within hours of the EPA “Declaration of Dissent” going public on June 30. In the following days, the administration sifted through names of those who had signed the letter, shared legal advice and responded by placing close to 150 employees on administrative leave while their computers and email accounts were searched.By summer’s end, most were suspended without pay while some were fired. The effort was designed to silence further dissent at the agency, according to EPA employees granted anonymity because they fear retaliation.Michael Molina, the top political appointee in the Office of Mission Support, said he wouldn’t forget who signed the dissent letter.“I have screen shots of every name on my phone,” Molina said in a July 3 email.An EPA employee said the administration’s investigation was incompetent and sloppy, repeatedly sending the wrong documents to staff, disclosing personal information and misspelling email addresses. They weren’t surprised that Molina had screenshots of the names signed on the dissent letter.“We have seen time and time again the lengths this administration will go to suppress free speech, even if they fumble the entire way,” said the staffer.Stephanie Rapp-Tully, a partner at law firm Tully Rinckey, reviewed Molina’s email and said the political appointee was collecting evidence as part of the agency’s investigation, which is standard for such probes. Nevertheless, she said, there was an undercurrent to the message.“It does have a tone of, ‘Because you sign this letter, you will face an action,’” Rapp-Tully said. In response to questions for this story, EPA spokesperson Brigit Hirsch said in that late June, the agency “became aware of a number of names listed on the letter.” “Following this, EPA worked to identify and confirm the scope of employee involvement of these individuals,” Hirsch saidEPA officials dug through the signatories. In an email the day following the dissent letter’s release, Helena Wooden-Aguilar, then deputy assistant administrator for workplace solutions, said she did “some color coding” of 215 names on the letter.She found 160 were current EPA employees. That included 18 who were already leaving, having opted into the administration’s “deferred resignation” program.The scope of EPA’s investigation, however, spread. “The list has increased as of this am,” Wooden-Aguilar said in a July 2 email.Stand Up for Science, the nonprofit group that helped organize the dissent letter, would take down from the internet the attached names. But the agency was not deterred in finding the signers.Krysti Wells, another senior mission support official, said in a July 3 email there is “a site called Wayback Machine where you can look up archived websites.”“We looked up the site and recovered the names on the site as of this morning (and downloaded the site into the attached PDF),” she said.

EPA flush with cash for ‘priority’ staff - EPA has billions of dollars on hand to stay open through the government shutdown and is using it to fund a new approach to this funding lapse: sending some staffers home while many others stay on to support the president’s priority projects. In recent weeks, agency staff who work in areas that the Trump administration has deprioritized — like emissions reporting and grants — have been sent home without pay until Congress and the White House iron out their differences on government spending. Others who are working to roll back regulations or approve permits for projects across the country are still coming to work and are getting paid.This bifurcated furlough model isn’t the way EPA usually handles a lapse in appropriations. And it’s not spelled out in the agency’s shutdown contingency plan, which would have furloughed a majority of the employees who are still working, leaving them in the dark on who will continue working and for how long. “This selective application across different parts of the agency — to try to put your thumb on the scale of what the agency could do, what it could not do — is an unusual step,” said Stan Meiburg, who held various senior leadership roles over a 39-year career at EPA. “This is very different from past experiences.” In previous years, most EPA staffers knew which bucket they fell into. A fraction of employees would continue working because they were political appointees, their jobs were deemed vital for public safety or their positions were funded through mechanisms other than annual congressional appropriations. The rest — more than 90 percent of EPA’s workforce, on average — would receive an email from the administrator telling them there were enough leftover, or “carryover,” funds to cover their paychecks for the next week or so. Then they would be furloughed once those funds were exhausted.But this year, most, if not all, employees received a notice upon the start of the shutdown that said they will continue working until “the Agency determines that you are no longer needed to perform exempted activities or that funds are no longer available during the shutdown,” according to copies of the notice reviewed by POLITICO’s E&E News. The notice gave no indication of when available funds would dry up.About 10 days into October, a handful of employees received furlough notices, marking the first wave of what staffers are calling a “phased” furlough approach. Ten days later, nearly three weeks into the shutdown, a second, much larger wave hit.EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said during multiple broadcast interviews it was the largest wave so far, with the agency sending furlough notices last Monday to approximately 4,000 employees — roughly a quarter of its pre-shutdown workforce.“The way that we are able to manage our carryover funding, we are doing this in a way to make sure those employees who are working, have been working, are going to get paid,” Zeldin said during an interview with Scripps News on Friday. “Hopefully this shutdown doesn’t last forever, but as long as the carryover funding exists, then our employees will get paid.”EPA staff don’t know when the next wave of furlough notices might come or which programs would be affected, according to several staffers who were granted anonymity because they fear retribution. And some say even their senior career supervisors don’t appear to know.The agency “might be a couple weeks or so away from what might be that next round, which would be even larger,” Zeldin said during an interview with Fox Business last week. Zeldin did not say, and EPA’s press office did not answer follow-up questions regarding, which staffers and how many would be affected. “At the political level they are picking and choosing who goes and who stays,” said one EPA employee.

House Dems push Treasury to consider climate risk - --House Democrats are seeking assurances from the Treasury Department that the agency will continue considering the risks climate change poses to the economy.In a Friday letter led by Reps. Sean Casten of Illinois and Juan Vargas of California, 46 Democrats called on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to continue monitoring climate change’s effect on financial systems.The letter comes after the department last month disbanded the Climate-Related Financial Risk Committee and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Advisory Committee — two staff-level bodies affiliated with the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). That oversight council is the arm of the Treasury Department tasked with monitoring U.S. economic stability.The committees, the House Democrats said, “played a critical role in informing financial regulators about the increasing threat that climate change poses to our economy.”

Quality of decisions made by CDC vaccine advisers has nose-dived, former voting members say - An independent review of recent decisions made by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reveals that its policymaking maturity rating fell from an overall score of 100% to 58% from April to September this year."Since 1964, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has shaped US vaccine policy but recently underwent significant structural and procedural changes affecting recommendation quality," the authors wrote. The evaluation of ACIP processes, deliberations, and votes, published yesterday in Vaccine, was penned by 14 former ACIP voting members working as the Immunization Scientific Advisory Collaborative. The new group is one of a number of organizations that have stepped in to produce evidence-based evaluations of current vaccine policies and identify areas requiring procedural and scientific correction."States have also started to issue their own vaccine recommendations, leading to fragmentation of the vaccine landscape," the authors noted.In June, all 17 sitting ACIP members were fired and were later replaced with new members—including vaccine skeptics and those with limited or no relevant experience—by US Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr.In addition to using a standardized tool for assessing national vaccine advisory groups' development and functionality to examine ACIP policymaking, the authors also analyzed evidence presented, processes, and vaccine recommendations. Over the study period, ACIP's policymaking maturity rating dropped from an overall score of 100% (considered "leading edge") to 58% ("developing" or "intermediate) (range, 25% to 75%). The most affected subindicators were membership, disclosures and conflict-of-interest processes, independence from members' primary workplaces, access to external experts, decision-making processes, government consideration and solicitation, and implementation, all of which plummeted to "basic" or "developing."The report cited multiple transparency violations during the September ACIP meeting, including the failure to consult liaison organizations with medical expertise in vaccine implementation and posting the agenda late and then making unannounced, unjustified changes to it. "Poorly framed policy questions were followed by a lack of systematic application of standard protocols (e.g., GRADE methodology and Evidence to Recommendations framework)," the authors wrote. "Voting members appeared to have discussed issues behind closed doors, which is inappropriate and procedurally against the rules."Specifically, the committee recommend shared clinical decision making for COVID-19 vaccines, restricted access to combined first-dose measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccines, and postponed voting on removing the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine. Although the vote to require a prescription for COVID-19 vaccines failed, "it revealed a concerning lack of understanding regarding national prescribing practices and the potential impact on vaccine access," the report said. "In 2024-2025, 90% of adults who received a COVID-19 vaccine did so at a pharmacy, and this requirement could have restricted their access."The authors also noted that, during the vote to remove the recommendation for the MMRV vaccine for children younger than 4 years, several members said they didn't understand what they were voting for."Although 85% of children already receive separate MMR and varicella vaccines according to data from the 2023 CDC National Immunization survey, the vote to remove MMRV vaccine as a first dose for children under age four years may disrupt clinical practice by eliminating a combined-dose option preferred by some parents to reduce the number of injections," the report said. The authors identified four concerns that they said limit ACIP's ability to make effective vaccine policy recommendations: (1) removal of choice for previously recommended vaccines, limiting opportunities to improve health; (2) focus on theoretical vaccine harms using low-quality data; (3) loss of vaccine science and clinical expertise; and (4) less transparency and independence. "Discussions reflected poor understanding of process, inadequate grasp of science, and a focus on low-quality safety data, excluding well-recognized components and standards for vaccine policy making," the team wrote. "Once a leading authority in US public health prevention policy, ACIP has experienced a decline in credibility following a series of missteps and a shift in emphasis from vaccine policy development to concerns about vaccine-related harms," they concluded. "To maintain public trust and ensure effective immunization policy, ACIP must restore rigorous, evidence-based, and independent decision making."

Donald Trump undergoes MRI, cognitive test at Walter Reed - President Trump told reporters Monday he went underwent an MRI and a cognitive test during his “secondary” physical at Walter Reed earlier this year. The president did not detail the reason for the MRI, saying the full results were made public and the exam was “perfect.” “I got an MRI, it was perfect,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One while en route to Japan. “Nobody has ever given you reports like I gave you, and if I didn’t think it was going to be good, either, I would let you know negatively,” Trump added. “I wouldn’t run, I’d do something. But the doctors said some of the best reports for the age, some of the best reports they’ve ever seen.” Trump also revealed he underwent a cognitive test after suggesting the likes of Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) undergo similar exams after suggesting both have low IQs. “You give her an IQ test. Have her pass, like, the exams that I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed,” Trump said referring to Ocasio-Cortez. “I took — those are very hard — they’re really aptitude tests, I guess, in a certain way.” “The first couple of questions are easy. A tiger, an elephant, a giraffe, you know. When you get up to about five or six, and then when you get up to 10 and 20 and 25, they couldn’t come close to answering any of those questions,” Trump added. The president’s comments come after he underwent a medical evaluation for a “semiannual physical” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center earlier this month. Trump’s physician Sean Barbabella said Trump continues to “demonstrate excellent overall health.” Barbabella also said the president underwent “advanced imaging, laboratory testing and preventative health assessments” during the visit. In July, Barbabella said the president was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, “a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70” following an appointment. “Additionally, recent photos of the president have shown minor bruising on the back of his hand, Barbabella wrote. ”This is consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin, which is taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regimen. This is a well-known and benign side effect of aspirin therapy.”

Steve Bannon fuels latest talk of third Trump term - President Trump and his allies are flirting with the idea of a Trump 2028 bid, with the president refusing to rule out the possibility and some influential supporters signaling they are prepared to test the constitutional limits that allow presidents to serve just two elected terms. Talk of Trump running again in 2028 has repeatedly bubbled up, with the president making tongue-in-cheek remarks about it during interviews, appearances with GOP lawmakers and White House events.. It picked up steam again after Steve Bannon, a Trump ally and former top adviser, said in a recent interview there was a “plan” to keep Trump in office. The president on a Monday flight to Japan played coy when asked about the idea. He said he’d “love” to run again, though he ruled out an idea floated by some supporters to run as a vice presidential candidate and then take over after the election, and he propped up two potential successors in Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “I would love to do it. I have the best numbers ever. … Am I not ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me. All I can tell you is we have a great group of people,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Trump, who would be 82 in 2028, has spoken about the prospect of running for a third term — something prohibited by the 22nd Amendment — at least a half dozen times during the first nine months of his second term. Some Trump supporters see it as a way to rile up critics while keeping the attention on the president, who is a lame duck heading toward 2028. “It’s just a troll as far as I’m concerned,” said one Republican strategist. But Trump himself has said he is not joking about the idea, and some opponents view the third term talk as part of a pattern of Trump trampling norms and amassing power. Trump spent weeks after the 2020 election falsely claiming the result was fraudulent, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol to stop the certification of former President Biden’s victory. The latest chatter around Trump seeking a third term stems largely from comments Bannon, who does not work for the White House or Trump’s political operation, made to The Economist in a recent interview. “Well he’s going to get a third term. So, Trump ‘28, Trump is going to be president in ‘28 and people ought to just get accommodated with that,” Bannon told the news outlet. “There’s many different alternatives,” Bannon said when asked about the 22nd Amendment. “At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is.”

Crockett accepts Trump’s cognitive test challenge on Kimmel’s show: ‘If he’s down, I’m down’ --Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) says she’ll accept President Trump’s challenge to take a cognitive test, knocking him for having time to “troll” her with questions about her intelligence during the federal government shutdown.“Listen, if he’s down, I’m down,” Crockett said during a Wednesday appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” when asked about Trump daring her to take a cognitive test. “I know that he can’t seem to find himself in the Oval Office to make sure that he can end this shutdown, but he does have time to troll me,” Crockett, 44, said.Trump told reporters this week he underwent an MRI and a cognitive test during a physical exam in early October. “The first couple of questions are easy. A tiger, an elephant, a giraffe, you know. When you get up to about five or six, and then when you get up to 10 and 20 and 25, they couldn’t come close to answering any of those questions,” Trump said, adding that the doctors described his results as some “of the best reports for the age.” “They have Jasmine Crockett — a low IQ person. They have — AOC [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] is low IQ,” Trump said of the New York Democrat. “Have her pass, like, the exams that I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed,” the 79-year-old president said. The people whom Trump derides as “low IQ,” Crockett told Kimmel, “tend to be women, and they tend to be women of color.” Crockett then identified a picture of an elephant and repeated a series of five words back to Kimmel, as the late-night host mocked Trump’s challenge. “I want to warn you: There are going to be questions that favor him, like, ‘How do you get ketchup out of a bottle?’ And ‘What’s the difference between a windmill and a ceiling fan?’ So this is not going to be easy,” Kimmel said. “With that said, you accept his challenge?” he asked Crockett. “I absolutely accept it,” she replied. “In the event of a tie, are you open to situp contest?” Kimmel asked. “Well, absolutely, I don’t know that [Trump] can sit up. So yes,” Crockett said.

Supreme Court's conservative majority targets Voting Rights Act: What comes next - The Supreme Court’s conservative majority has several avenues at its disposal as it appears poised to limit a central provision of the Voting Rights Act.As the justices consider Louisiana’s congressional map, a rare reargument at the high court, expectations are growing that the Supreme Court’s decades-old framework that forces states to draw additional majority-minority districts under the key provision will be reined in one way or another.At the center of the arguments is Section 2 of the law, which prohibits voting practices that result in racial minorities having less opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice.Republican-led states have increasingly criticized the Supreme Court’s framework for spurring endless litigation and pushing states to unconstitutionally consider race to comply. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, during oral arguments earlier this month, repeatedly suggested ruling that race-based redistricting remedies have reached their logical end point. Kavanaugh raised it to three different arguing lawyers.It’s a similar rationale to the court’s 2013 decision that struck down another Voting Rights Act provision, which created a formula to require jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to get preclearance from the Justice Department before enacting new voting rules. It would also be in the vein of the court’s decision invalidating affirmative action in college admissions. When the court had endorsed affirmative action in 2003, it expressed an expectation that it wouldn’t be necessary in 25 years. “This Court’s cases in a variety of contexts have said that race-based remedies are permissible for a period of time, sometimes for a long period of time, decades in some cases,” Kavanaugh said at last week’s argument. “But that they should not be indefinite and should have a end point.”

GOP senators disconcerted by Donald Trump push for $230M from Justice Department - Reports this week that President Trump is demanding the Justice Department pay him $230 million in compensation for wrongful prosecution are making Republican senators uncomfortable amid the 24-day government shutdown. GOP senators, including members of the Judiciary Committee, don’t know how to respond to the story, which broke Tuesday in The New York Times, that Trump is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the Justice Department and that his former defense lawyer is in a position to sign off on the settlement. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary panel, which has oversight of the Justice Department, said while Trump may be entitled to some compensation, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche should not be the person signing off on a settlement, given his ties to Trump. “He shouldn’t decide, because he’s his former lawyer,” Graham said when asked whether Blanche should recuse himself from the decision on whether to pay Trump for damages related to the investigations of former special counsel Jack Smith. But Graham says the president has a right, just as any American does, to seek compensation if the Justice Department’s investigation and prosecution were deemed to be damaging and wrongful. “He has a right to make a claim if he was wronged,” he said. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) warned Wednesday that the political “optics” of Trump receiving a windfall payment from the Justice Department raise “concerns,” and he said the timing of the news was “horrible” because hundreds of thousands of federal workers aren’t getting paid because of the shutdown. “At the very least, it’s horrible timing, given that we’re in a shutdown,” Tillis told reporters outside the Judiciary Committee hearing room. “I got a lot of optics concerns, and I just don’t know if there’s precedent for it. There doesn’t seem to be,” he said. Tillis warned Justice Department officials that they need to “follow the rules” in approving any damages to Trump, given Blanche’s previous position as Trump’s defense attorney. “If there’s precedent, that’s the beginning of the discussion,” Tillis said Thursday. “If there isn’t precedent for this sort of thing, I don’t think this is the time to establish it.” On the question of whether Blanche should recuse himself, Tillis said: “He’s got to confirm with whatever recusal rules are there or customs.” “He’s got to follow the rules,” Tillis advised. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she has yet to understand all the details surrounding the possible payout to Trump but called the arrangement “very irregular.” “I don’t know a thing about it so I’m not going to comment, but it sounds very irregular to me,” she said. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said she couldn’t imagine the administration signing off on a $230 million payment to Trump, given the optics concerns raised by other Republicans such as Tillis. “There are probably a lot of people who feel like they’ve been wrongfully prosecuted by the federal government. I’m not sure that that’s even possible,” she said of a large compensation payment to the president. “I would highly doubt that.” “I can’t see that happening,” she added. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said he doesn’t want to judge whether Blanche’s past role as Trump’s defense lawyer poses a conflict of interest but appeared open to the idea Trump could receive payment for damages from the government. But Cramer, a staunch Trump ally, warned a payout to the president OK’d by his subordinates at the Justice Department could give liberal Democrats “a good talking point” ahead of the next election. Cramer said Trump “probably should get something for wrongful prosecutions,” but he said he would leave it to the American Bar Association and other legal ethics experts to decide whether it’s appropriate that Blanche has power to sign off on the settlement, given his professional ties to Trump’s legal defense. Cramer said most voters won’t be bothered by a financial settlement between the Justice Department and Trump, though he acknowledged the millions of Americans who showed up at “No Kings” rallies this past weekend would be sure to seize on it as the latest cause for outrage. “The man, woman on the street, they know Donald Trump, they elected Donald Trump. Nothing about this, I don’t think, is either surprising or concerning to them,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good talking point for the No Kings crowd.”

Ro Khanna says justice for is coming for former Prince Andrew - Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Thursday warned that the now-former Prince Andrew, whom King Charles III stripped of his remaining royal titles, would face justice. Andrew, the king’s younger brother who will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, lost his titles over his ties to convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. “Thanks to the courageous survivors of Epstein’s abuse, justice is coming to Andrew,” Khanna posted on social platform X. “If you abused children alongside Epstein, you will face justice. That is what @RepThomasMassie and I are fighting for. We will not rest,” he said, referring his colleague Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). Khanna shared the press release issued by Buckingham Palace, which stated that he will move from his Windsor estate Royal Lodge residence into “private accommodation.” “These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegation against him,” the statement continued. “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain, with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.” Massie also shared the statement on X, calling it a “victory for victims.” “However, it appears that rich and powerful men in the United States have immunities and privileges exceeding those of Royalty in Britain,” Massie wrote. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) “is avoiding a vote on releasing Epstein files by keeping the House in recess. It’s not a hoax.” Khanna and Massie filed a discharge petition in September for a bill that would require the Justice Department to publicly disclose files and information related to Epstein. Among those who said they would sign the petition is Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.). Despite winning a special election to succeed her father in the House of Representatives, Johnson has yet to swear her into office. Grijalva’s signature would be the 218th needed for the discharge petition to go into effect. Grijalva’s endorsement will force a House floor vote on the proposal over the objections of Johnson and other GOP leaders, who are siding with President Trump in opposition to the bill. Massie, a frequent critic of Trump, has accused other Republicans of protecting pedophiles to prevent any embarrassing revelations from seeing the light of day. “I do believe that Trump is not implicated,” Massie said last month. “[But] I believe that Trump is trying to protect rich and powerful people who are his friends, and that is why this material is not getting released.”

Musk launches Grokipedia, AI-powered alternative to Wikipedia -- Elon Musk launched Grokipedia on Monday as an alternative to the nonprofit-powered Wikipedia. Musk’s version is backed by xAI but still uses Wikipedia as a source on most subjects. The subsections and citations on Grokipedia resemble that of its predecessor but refrain from reporting on topics critical of Musk, its maker. For example, no mention of his gesture resembling a Nazi salute made on stage during a celebration of President Trump’s inauguration or ties to the development of toxic waste spread at data center for xAI in Memphis, Tenn., could be found in the search engine. The site offers 885,279 articles so far. It’s the fruition of an effort first announced in late September with the goal of developing a “massive improvement over Wikipedia,” Musk previously wrote in a post on the social platform X.In the past, he’s called the site “Wokipedia” following similar accusations from GOP lawmakers in Congress and White House AI czar David Sacks, who slammed the site as “hopelessly biased.” “An army of left-wing activists maintain the bios and fight reasonable corrections,” Sacks alleged on X. “Magnifying the problem, Wikipedia often appears first in Google search results, and now it’s a trusted source for AI model training. This is a huge problem.” However, The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, defended itself from those claims last month in a statement that said, “Wikipedia informs; it does not persuade.” Lauren Dickinson, a spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation, doubled down on those remarks Monday. “Unlike newer projects, Wikipedia’s strengths are clear: it has transparent policies, rigorous volunteer oversight, and a strong culture of continuous improvement. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, written to inform billions of readers without promoting a particular point of view,” Dickinson said in a statement reported by The Verge.”Wikipedia’s knowledge is – and always will be – human. Through open collaboration and consensus, people from all backgrounds build a neutral, living record of human understanding – one that reflects our diversity and collective curiosity. This human-created knowledge is what AI companies rely on to generate content; even Grokipedia needs Wikipedia to exist,” she added.

Anthropic draws fire from White House with AI warnings - Anthropic has been a rare voice within the artificial intelligence (AI) industry cautioning about the downsides of the technology it develops and supporting regulation — a stance that has recently drawn the ire of the Trump administration and its allies in Silicon Valley. While the AI company has sought to underscore areas of alignment with the administration, White House officials supporting a more hands-off approach to AI have chafed at the company’s calls for caution. “If you have a major member of the industry step out and say, ‘Not so much. It’s OK that we get regulated. We need to figure this out at some point,’ then it makes everyone in the industry look selfish,” said Kirsten Martin, dean of the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. “The narrative that this is the best thing for the industry relies upon everyone in the industry being in line,” she added. This tension became apparent earlier this month when Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark shared a recent speech on “technological optimism and appropriate fear.” He offered the analogy of a child in a dark room afraid of the mysterious shapes around them that the light reveals to be innocuous objects. “Now, in the year of 2025, we are the child from that story and the room is our planet,” he said. “But when we turn the light on we find ourselves gazing upon true creatures, in the form of the powerful and somewhat unpredictable AI systems of today and those that are to come.” “And there are many people who desperately want to believe that these creatures are nothing but a pile of clothes on a chair, or a bookshelf, or a lampshade,” Clark continued. “And they want to get us to turn the light off and go back to sleep.” Clark’s remarks were quickly met with a sharp rebuke from White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks, who accused Anthropic of “running a sophisticated regulatory capture strategy based on fearmongering” and fueling a “state regulatory frenzy that is damaging the startup ecosystem.” He was joined by allies like venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who replied to the post on the social platform X with “Truth.” Sunny Madra, chief operating officer and president of the AI chip startup Groq, also suggested that “one company is causing chaos for the entire industry.” Sriram Krishnan, a White House senior policy adviser for AI, criticized the response to Sacks’s post from the AI safety community, arguing the country should instead be focused on competing with China. Sacks later doubled down on his frustrations with Anthropic, alleging that it has been the company’s “government affairs and media strategy to position itself consistently as a foe of the Trump administration.” He pointed to previous comments from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, in which he reportedly criticized President Trump, as well as op-eds that Sacks described as “attacking” the president’s tax and spending bill, Middle East deals and chip export policies. “It’s a free country and Anthropic is welcome to its views,” Sacks added. “Oppose us all you want. We’re the side that supports free speech and open debate.” Amodei responded last week to what he called a “recent uptick in inaccurate claims about Anthropic’s policy stances,” arguing the AI firm and the administration are largely aligned on AI policy. “I fully believe that Anthropic, the administration, and leaders across the political spectrum want the same thing: to ensure that powerful AI technology benefits the American people and that America advances and secures its lead in AI development,” he wrote in a blog post. He cited a $200 million Department of Defense contract Anthropic received earlier this year, in addition to the company’s support for Trump’s AI action plan and other AI-related initiatives. Amodei also acknowledged that the company “respectfully disagreed” with a provision in Trump’s tax cut and spending megabill that sought a 10-year moratorium on state AI legislation. In a New York Times op-ed in June, he described the push as “understandable” but argued the moratorium was “too blunt” amid AI’s rapid development, emphasizing that there was “no clear plan” at the federal level. The provision was ultimately removed from the bill by a 99-1 vote in the Senate. He pointed to similar concerns about the lack of movement on federal AI regulation in the company’s decision to endorse California Senate Bill 53, a state measure requiring AI firms to release safety information. The bill was signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) late last month. “Anthropic is committed to constructive engagement on matters of public policy,” Amodei added. “When we agree, we say so. When we don’t, we propose an alternative for consideration. We do this because we are a public benefit corporation with a mission to ensure that AI benefits everyone, and because we want to maintain America’s lead in AI.”

Amazon laying off 14,000 corporate jobs amid AI push - Amazon said Tuesday that it is cutting about 14,000 corporate roles as the e-commerce giant expands its investment in AI. Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, said in a blog post that the layoffs are part of an effort to continue “reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets.” “This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones),” Galetti wrote in the message that was initially shared with Amazon employees. “We’re convicted that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business,” she continued. As of July, Amazon employed nearly 1.55 million workers. Its corporate workforce is smaller than its warehouse workforce, accounting for about 350,000 roles, according to CNBC. The latest cuts represent a 4 percent reduction on the corporate side. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy hinted at this development in June, when he said the company expected to reduce its corporate workforce in the next few years due to efficiency gains from AI. “As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done,” Jassy said at the time. “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs.”

Jerome Powell: AI boom is not a bubble, could ‘absolutely’ affect job market - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday he did not believe the massive growth in artificial intelligence (AI) investment and spending was a bubble. At a press conference following the Fed’s latest rate cut, Powell contrasted the explosive growth of AI companies with the dot-com bubble of the 2000s. “This is different,” Powell said, explaining that leading AI companies actually have a track record to show for their sky-high valuations, unlike the scores of firms that went bust during the start of the century. “These [AI] companies, the companies that are so highly valued, actually have earnings and stuff like that,” Powell said. While the defunct giants of the dot-com bubble were “ideas rather than companies,” Powell said, the leading companies in AI are building out actual infrastructure through data centers and tech development. “The investment we’re getting in equipment and all those things go into creating data centers and feeding the AI, it’s clearly one of the big sources of growth in the economy,” Powell said. A growing number of influential tech and financial figures, including leading AI executives, have warned of a potential bubble within the AI industry after years of exponential growth. Investment in AI has been one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy, particularly as President Trump’s tariffs stifle growth in other areas of the economy. Policymakers have also become increasingly concerned about the potential impact AI could have on the job market, particularly after a string of major companies announced plans to cut staff, driven partly by developments in the technology. “You see a significant number of companies either announcing that they are not going to be doing much hiring or actually doing layoffs,” Powell said. “And much of the time they’re talking about AI and what it can do. So we’re watching that very carefully.” “It could absolutely have implications for job creation,” he added.

Starling rolls out new AI scam advisor tool --The U.K. bank's "Scam Intelligence" tool uses Google's Gemini to analyze images and texts for red flags, aiming to reduce losses from authorized push payment fraud.

• Key insight: Starling Bank launched "Scam Intelligence," a generative AI tool that lets customers upload images and texts to check for signs of common payment scams.
• What's at stake: The move is driven by strict U.K. regulations that require banks to reimburse customers for most authorized push payment fraud, which cost U.K. victims £450 million in 2024.
• Forward look: This contrasts sharply with the U.S., where banks are generally not liable for APP fraud, highlighting a growing global divergence in tackling social engineering scams.

Overview bullets generated by AI with editorial review

Character.AI to ban children from talking with chatbots - Character.AI plans to ban children from talking with its AI chatbots starting next month amid growing scrutiny over how young users are interacting with the technology. The company, known for its vast array of AI characters, will remove the ability for users under 18 years old to engage in “open-ended” conversations with AI by Nov. 25. It plans to begin ramping down access in the coming weeks, initially restricting kids to two hours of chat time per day. Character.AI noted that it plans to develop an “under-18 experience” in which teens can create videos, stories and streams with its AI characters. “We’re making these changes to our under-18 platform in light of the evolving landscape around AI and teens,” the company said in a blog post, underscoring recent news reports and questions from regulators. The company and other chatbot developers have recently come under scrutiny following several teen suicides linked to the technology. The mother of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III sued Character.AI last November, accusing the chatbot of driving her son to suicide. OpenAI is also facing a lawsuit from the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who took his own life after engaging with ChatGPT. Both families testified before a Senate panel last month and urged lawmakers to place guardrails on chatbots. The Federal Trade Commission also launched an inquiry into AI chatbots in September, requesting information from Character.AI, OpenAI and several other leading tech firms. “After evaluating these reports and feedback from regulators, safety experts, and parents, we’ve decided to make this change to create a new experience for our under-18 community,” Character.AI said Wednesday. “These are extraordinary steps for our company, and ones that, in many respects, are more conservative than our peers,” it added. “But we believe they are the right thing to do.” In addition to restricting children’s access to its chatbots, Character.AI also plans to roll out new age assurance technology and establish and fund a new nonprofit called the AI Safety Lab. Amid rising concerns about chatbots, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Tuesday that would bar AI companions for children. The bill from Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) would also require AI chatbots to repeatedly disclose that they are not human, in addition to making it a crime to develop products that solicit or produce sexual content for children. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law a similar measure late last month, requiring chatbot developers in the Golden State to create protocols preventing their models from producing content about suicide or self-harm and directing users to crisis services if needed. He declined to approve a stricter measure that would have barred developers from making chatbots available to children unless they could ensure they would not engage in harmful discussions with kids.

Capitalism Is Shoving AI Down Our Throats Because It Can't Give Us What We Actually Want - Caitlin Johnstone - At some point capitalism lost the ability to give us new things that we need and started giving us new things we don’t need, and now it’s giving us new things we never needed and don’t even really want. Nobody needs all this generative AI crap. We were doing fine with online search functions and the ability to write and make art for ourselves. Only the most shallow and vapid of individuals find any appeal in the idea of talking to a chatbot like a companion, consuming “art” generated by a computer program, or letting the technology of some plutocratic megacorporation do their thinking, researching and expressing for them. The economy is now balancing on a giant bubble of a fledgeling industry that is already underperforming expectations and hitting points of diminishing returns on multiple fronts, all while being really bad for the environment. And it doesn’t improve anyone’s life in any meaningful way. Nobody asked for this. And it’s not like people aren’t asking for things; capitalism just doesn’t have the ability to give them the things they are asking for. World peace. Affordable housing. Good health. Fast and efficient public transportation systems. Solutions to the various environmental catastrophes that status quo human behavior is driving us toward. The ability to have our needs met without spending all our time at work. Care for the needful. General human thriving. These are not demands that a system driven by the pursuit of profit for its own sake can supply. When capitalism first showed up it delivered plenty of new things which people had a need and a desire for that weren’t available under previous systems like feudalism. The greatly increased material abundance and explosions of scientific and technological innovation ushered in with the dawn of capitalism caused human quality of life to improve by leaps and bounds. But now we’re at a point where that just isn’t happening anymore. Things have stagnated, and we’re starting to backslide. People are getting dumber, sicker, lonelier, and more and more miserable. And the profit-driven systems we live under have no answers, besides throwing increasingly shitbrained technology at us so we can distract ourselves from how fucked up everything has gotten. We are being driven into dystopia and annihilation by systems of our own making. We’re meant to be the smartest species on earth, but we locked ourselves in our invention — a self-reinforcing labor camp that makes us miserable — and then we get all huffy when people dare to question if it’s the only way of doing things. Literally every other species is smarter than us. Amoebas are having a better time of it. This will change when humanity replaces capitalism with something better, in the same way we replaced feudalism with the superior system of capitalism. I don’t know what that system is going to look like, but it’s going to have to involve a move from a model that is driven by competition to one that is driven by collaboration. That’s the only way humanity will be able to channel all its brilliance toward the immense project of overcoming all the obstacles we now face as a species, along with all terrestrial organisms. Until then, all we can do is try to help awaken as many of our fellow humans as possible to the reality of our circumstances. Use every means at our disposal to teach people how dire our plight is, how deceived we’ve been by the propaganda and indoctrination of the empire we live under, how sorely change is needed, and that a better world is possible. Once we get enough eyes open, we’ll have the numbers to force things to change.

Sanders: Government should break up OpenAI - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he believes the government should break up OpenAI, underscoring his concerns about AI’s potential impact on the job market and interpersonal relationships. When asked by Axios’s Alex Thompson whether the ChatGPT maker should be split up, he said, “I do, but it’s a deeper issue than that. We need to take a deep breath and understand it’s like a meteor coming. We’ve got to be prepared to deal with all of its complexity.” In the interview released Friday, Sanders voiced concerns about the “enormous transformational impact” of AI on the economy and the potential for “massive” job loss. “I want to see us rebuilding manufacturing in America, but it ain’t going to do any worker any good if that manufacturing work is done by robots,” he said. “I want to see small businesses develop. I want to see creativity out there in the economy. Ain’t going to do any good for the younger people if the entry level jobs are taken over by AI.” “I’ll tell you Mr. Musk and Mr. Bezos and Mr. Ellison, the richest guys in this world, are investing huge amounts of money in AI and robotics,” he continued. “And if you think they give a damn about the needs of working class people, you would be mistaken.” Predictions about the impacts of AI on the labor market have varied widely, with some, like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, suggesting it could wipe out a large portion of entry-level white-collar jobs in the next few years. However, experts have underscored that jobs data has yet to show the effects of AI. “In terms of what it does to us as human beings, there are products now being sold as ‘You don’t need to relate to a human being anymore. You will have somebody hanging around your neck as your AI buddy,’” Sanders added. “In a country where there’s a lot of emotional distress, I really worry about that … how we relate to each other as human beings.” The Vermont senator’s comments about an “AI buddy” appear to allude to products like Friend, a wearable AI companion whose advertising campaign in the New York subway has drawn scrutiny and sparked conversations about the future of AI. Sanders separately voiced concerns about superintelligent AI, technology that surpasses human intelligence. Several prominent figures, including AI pioneers Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, recently signed onto a statement calling for a ban on the development of superintelligence until there is “broad scientific consensus that it will be done safely and controllably.”

AI models for drug design fail in physics - State-of-the-art AI programs can support the development of drugs by predicting how proteins interact with small molecules. However, a new study by researchers at the University of Basel published in Nature Communicationshas shown that these programs only memorize patterns, rather than understanding physical relationships. They often fail when it comes to new proteins that would be of particular interest for innovative drugs. Proteins play a key role not only in the body, but also in medicine: they either serve as active ingredients, such as enzymes or antibodies, or they are target structures for drugs. The first step in developing new therapies is therefore usually to decipher the three-dimensional structure of proteins. For a long time, elucidating protein structures was a highly complex endeavor, until machine learning found its way into protein research. AI models with names such as AlphaFold or RosettaFold have ushered in a new era: They calculate how the chain of protein building blocks, known as amino acids, folds into a three-dimensional structure. In 2024, the developers of these programs received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The latest versions of these programs go one step further: They calculate how the protein in question interacts with another molecule—a docking partner, or ligand, as experts call it. This could be an active pharmaceutical ingredient, for example. "This possibility of predicting the structure of proteins together with a ligand is invaluable for drug development," says Professor Markus Lill, who researches methods for designing active pharmaceutical ingredients. However, the apparently high success rates for the structural prediction puzzled Lill and his staff. Especially since there are only about 100,000 already elucidated protein structures together with their ligands available for training the AI models—relatively few compared to other training data sets for AI. "We wanted to find out whether these AI models really learn the basics of physical chemistry using the training data and apply them correctly," says Lill. The researchers modified the amino acid sequence of hundreds of sample proteins in such a way that the binding sites for their ligands exhibited a completely different charge distribution or were even blocked entirely. Nevertheless, the AI models predicted the same complex structure—as if binding were still possible. The researchers pursued a similar approach with the ligands: they modified them in such a way that they would no longer be able to dock to the protein in question. This did not bother the AI models either. In more than half of the cases, the models predicted the structure as if the interferences in the amino acid sequence had never occurred. "This shows us that even the most advanced AI models do not really understand why a drug binds to a protein; they only recognize patterns that they have seen before,"

The chat will see you now: Managing patients' needs for an on-demand health care industry -Five years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, much of medical care went virtual. For 48% of Medicare users, some appointments turned into webcam visits, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In 2024, 25% still had at least one telemedicine visit.But one promising form of telemedicine is underutilized in the U.S., compared with countries such as England and China, according to new research from Texas McCombs: initial question-and-answer evaluations. For a fee less than the cost of a full visit, a doctor can begin the diagnosis and referral process, based on a patient's written or recorded responses. Ultimately, the research finds, such screenings help more patients see doctors in person and promote better health outcomes. "It turns out that it does a better match," says Ashish Agarwal, professor of information, risk, and operations management. "You go to the right doctor, and it helps you in the long run."Such Q&A platforms, such as Teladoc and Doctor on Demand, most often use text. A person with a medical issue gets paired with a doctor who determines what type of care is most appropriate: such as a real-time virtual consultation or an offline visit. The chat might include a patient's images sent to the doctor and a diagnosis, but it's not meant as a substitute for specialized medical care.Agarwal and fellow IROM professor Guoming Lai analyzed data from a Chinese health care platform that was launching a Q&A service."The platform was grappling with the issue that we have a lot of doctors, we have a lot of patients, and we want to improve the matching process," Agarwal says.With Yixuan Liu of China Europe International Business School, Shanghai, and Weihua Zhou of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, the researchers looked at whether Q&A chats ended up as substitutes for medical care, cannibalizing from offline visits and online consultations."On-Demand Healthcare Platforms: Impact of Question and Answer Service on Online Consultations and Offline Appointments" is published in Information Systems Research.The opposite turned out to be true. After Q&As, the analysis showed, patients were more likely to follow up with a visit to a clinic or hospital or to schedule a virtual appointment.

• Q&A services increased online consultations with doctors by 2% and increased offline appointments by 4.3%.
• Patients spent 6.6% more on online consultations after having engaged with a doctor on a Q&A platform.

The reason is that Q&As armed patients with better information, Agarwal says. "When it comes to medical issues, you're dealing with complex information. Sometimes you don't even know what you're looking for. That is where a service like this is very useful."The Q&As also had spillover effects, leading more patients to seek care from other doctors or specialists in addition to the ones they initially engaged with. Agarwal hopes the results might encourage more doctors to participate in such platforms, making it easier to match a patient with the right doctor.A future possibility is automated service, he says. Artificial intelligence might engage in the initial conversation or assist a doctor in their assessment. By using AI to help triage care for patients, platforms might help to alleviate the challenge of matching with live doctors."If you are using an AI agent, it can scale up," he says. "So maybe the concern about matching would not be there."Five years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, much of medical care went virtual. For 48% of Medicare users, some appointments turned into webcam visits, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In 2024, 25% still had at least one telemedicine visit. But one promising form of telemedicine is underutilized in the U.S., compared with countries such as England and China, according to new research from Texas McCombs: initial question-and-answer evaluations. For a fee less than the cost of a full visit, a doctor can begin the diagnosis and referral process, based on a patient's written or recorded responses. Ultimately, the research finds, such screenings help more patients see doctors in person and promote better health outcomes. "It turns out that it does a better match," says Ashish Agarwal, professor of information, risk, and operations management. "You go to the right doctor, and it helps you in the long run." Such Q&A platforms, such as Teladoc and Doctor on Demand, most often use text. A person with a medical issue gets paired with a doctor who determines what type of care is most appropriate: such as a real-time virtual consultation or an offline visit. The chat might include a patient's images sent to the doctor and a diagnosis, but it's not meant as a substitute for specialized medical care. Agarwal and fellow IROM professor Guoming Lai analyzed data from a Chinese health care platform that was launching a Q&A service. "The platform was grappling with the issue that we have a lot of doctors, we have a lot of patients, and we want to improve the matching process," Agarwal says. With Yixuan Liu of China Europe International Business School, Shanghai, and Weihua Zhou of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, the researchers looked at whether Q&A chats ended up as substitutes for medical care, cannibalizing from offline visits and online consultations. "On-Demand Healthcare Platforms: Impact of Question and Answer Service on Online Consultations and Offline Appointments" is published in Information Systems Research. The opposite turned out to be true. After Q&As, the analysis showed, patients were more likely to follow up with a visit to a clinic or hospital or to schedule a virtual appointment. Q&A services increased online consultations with doctors by 2% and increased offline appointments by 4.3%. Patients spent 6.6% more on online consultations after having engaged with a doctor on a Q&A platform. The reason is that Q&As armed patients with better information, Agarwal says. "When it comes to medical issues, you're dealing with complex information. Sometimes you don't even know what you're looking for. That is where a service like this is very useful."

Trump ally slams Donald Trump's pardon of Binance's Changpeng Zhao --Venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, a key supporter of President Trump, suggested Thursday that the president was “terribly advised” on his decision to pardon Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. “I love President Trump; this is possibly the greatest admin of my lifetime — except for these pardons,” Lonsdale wrote Thursday in a post on social platform X, just hours after Trump issued Zhao clemency. “If I’m calling balls and strikes, these are hit-by-pitches!! POTUS has been terribly advised on this; it makes it look like massive fraud is happening around him in this area,” he added.Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 for failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and ultimately served a four-month prison sentence. Binance paid $4.3 billion to settle various related charges with the Justice Department. The White House, in announcing Zhao’s pardon, suggested he was “prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.” The move immediately faced backlash from those who underscored Binance’s recent dealings with World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture launched last year by Trump and his sons. In May, the Emirati investment firm MGX invested $2 billion in Binance using the crypto firm’s new stablecoins. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution Friday to condemn Zhao’s pardon, calling on Congress “to use its authority to stop this form of corruption.” “President Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is just the latest example of the president’s use of the pardon power as a means of rewarding wealthy donors and allies, and enriching himself,” Schiff said in a statement. “This latest abuse of power erodes public trust and makes a mockery of equal justice under the law.” Several of Trump’s other pardons have drawn scrutiny, including his recent decision to commute the sentence of former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) last week. Santos was serving a seven-year prison sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Democratic senators demand answers on Binance pardon -The lawmakers suggest ties between the former Binance chief and the Trump family could have led to the pardon. Key insight: Lawmakers suggest a sequence of deals and cryptocurrency related business ties to Trump and his allies raise the appearance of a quid pro quo.

Crypto banks guardedly hopeful about 'skinny' master accounts Anchorage Digital Bank, Custodia Bank and Erebor Bank could be among the first recipients of limited, special-purpose payment accounts recently floated by Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller.

• Key insight: So-called "skinny" Fed accounts could grant direct Fed-rail access to crypto-focused banks.
• What's at stake: Banks relying on BaaS revenue risk disintermediation and margin pressure.
• Forward look: The Fed will propose a rule, solicit comments, and could finalize it within roughly a year.

Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

BankThink JPMorgan's move on crypto collateral is a watershed moment for banks -- Last week, reports emerged that JPMorgan is planning to allow clients to pledge bitcoin and ether tokens as collateral for loans by year-end. Reports that JPMorgan is planning to allow the use of crypto collateral against loans are good news for the crypto market. But Noelle Acheson argues that it's even better news for bank lending.

In the stablecoin revolution, the US risks losing its lead to Japan -The U.S. cannot assume its early lead in stablecoins will last. Dollar-pegged tokens dominate today, but Japan's clear regulations and institutional adoption could mean yen stablecoins dominate tomorrow, writes Maghnus Mareneck, of Cosmos Labs. Stablecoins have become too important to leave unregulated. With a market capitalization ofUS$278 billion in August 2025, they represent one of blockchain's strongest use cases. Stablecoins enable instant payments, seamless settlement and liquidity in global crypto markets. Once niche tools for traders, they now attract policymakers and financial institutions, with governments exploring regulation or issuing their own. At the center lies a crucial question: Should stablecoins be led by governments or markets for the most sustainable outcome? The United States cannot assume its early lead in stablecoins will last. Dollar-pegged tokens dominate today, but Japan's clear regulations and institutional adoption could mean yen stablecoins dominate tomorrow.

Banks urge scrutiny of fintech trust charter applications --As the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency receives a spurt of applications for national trust charters from crypto and payments firms, bank trade groups are urging regulators to ensure proposed activities fit within the statutory limits of the charter and the law. Key insight: Banking sector voices warn fintech firms may be using national trust charters to gain access to banking privileges without full regulation or deposit insurance protection.

Banks make the case for 'single, risk-based' capital standard - Banks are urging federal banking regulators to simplify and relax upcoming capital rules, warning that current proposals could overburden lenders and therefore constrain credit to households and businesses.

• Key insight: Banks want a single, risk-based capital calculation, which they say would replace the more complicated arrangement now in place and free up capital for lending.
• Supporting data: Dual capital calculations exceed global standards, banks say.
• Forward look: Regulators will consider these suggestions as they reissue rules to reduce overlaps, boost competitiveness and phase in capital changes gradually.

Capital One, PNC, Truist and, U.S. Bancorp are urging regulators to cut duplicative calculations and align U.S. rules with global standards, a longstanding preference for banks but one that will likely find a warm reception from a deregulation-focused Trump administration.

OCC proposes rescinding recovery plan rule for mid-sized banks --A proposal from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would roll back Biden-era recovery planning rules for banks, leaving them with broad discretion to determine their own recovery protocols. Key Insight: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will rescind many rules governing large banks' recovery plans, continuing a broader trend among financial regulators toward reducing compliance burdens.

Kennedy threatens 'no' vote for Hill over workplace scandal --At least one Republican lawmaker said they may not support Travis Hill's nomination to permanently lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. over the agency's workplace culture scandal, potentially delaying or imperiling a critical piece of President Donald Trump's financial policy vision.

• Key insight: Lawmakers across both parties continued to express concerns about the FDIC's persisting workplace culture scandal, pressing acting Chair Hill in a confirmation hearing for demonstrable progress reports, under threat of withholding their votes for his confirmation.
• Expert quote: "I heard you talk about transparency and accountability, those are pretty words," Kennedy said. "I want to know who's been fired. I want to know who's been prosecuted. If your name came up in front of me right now, I wouldn't vote for it."
• Forward look: Hill's confirmation, which requires a simple majority vote in the Senate, could be held up if Republicans are not satisfied with the progress at the agency.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked acting Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Travis Hill, who has been tapped to lead the agency permanently by President Trump, for a report within 30 days about progress made in the agency's sexual harassment scandal, saying his vote is contingent on that report.

Florida community bank says regulatory action is imminent - A Florida community bank that recently shuttered a problematic Small Business Administration lending program says it will likely get hit with regulatory actions in connection with its credit administration, strategic planning and capital preservation.

• Key insight: A community bank that recently ended a program offering SBA loans of up to $150,000 is facing scrutiny from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
• Expert quote: "We take our regulatory obligations very seriously and are fully committed to meeting the highest operational standards," said BayFirst Financial CEO Thomas Zernick.
• Supporting data: BayFirst's nonperforming assets comprised 1.97% of its total assets at the end of the third quarter, compared with 1.79% three months ago and 1.38% on Sept. 30, 2024.

BayFirst Financial, which has reported problems with SBA loans, expects to reach an agreement with its regulators in connection with credit administration and other issues.

Court halts compliance with CFPB's final open banking rule -- A district court has agreed to halt compliance with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Biden-era open banking rule while the Trump administration pursues its own rule.

Consumers urge CFPB to protect data in open banking plan The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received nearly 14,000 comments on its plan to write a new open banking rule that would potentially allow banks to charge fees for access to personal financial data. In comment letters on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rulemaking on personal financial data rights, consumers begged the agency to protect their data from misuse.

• Key Insight: The CFPB is reading through thousands of comments as it writes a new rule on personal financial data rights.
• What's at Stake: The CFPB opened a new rulemaking after JPMorganChase started charging fees to data aggregators.
• Supporting Data: Small banks want an exemption for banks with $10 billion in assets or less from a requirement to create and maintain a third-party developer interface.

CFPB kills two Biden-era nonbank registries, citing costs -- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is rescinding two rules issued under former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra that required nonbanks to register court orders, plus terms and conditions of contracts.

CalPERS Faces $330 Million Loss On Clean Energy Investment -The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), which manages pensions for state employees, has suffered a staggering 71 percent loss on a $468 million private equity investment in clean energy. The pension fund, currently only 79 percent funded, relies on California taxpayers and the state government to cover the 21 percent shortfall. With an overall pension gap of roughly $180 billion, CalPERS’ approach to private equity investing has come under increased scrutiny. CalPERS committed $465 million to the CalPERS Clean Energy & Technology Fund (CETF) in 2007, ultimately contributing $468,423,814. As of March 31, 2025, the investment’s remaining value has fallen to $138,045,373, representing a loss of more than $330 million. During this period, private equity firms were paid at least $22 million in fees and costs. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, CalPERS reported overall returns of 11.6 percent, with private equity returning 14.3 percent and public equity 16.8 percent. Marc Joffe, a public finance expert and visiting fellow at the California Policy Center, questioned the rationale behind investing heavily in riskier private equity when public equity returns were nearly equivalent. “Returns were similar … so why go through all the trouble? If you can get these kinds of returns on the public markets, why bother with all the complexities and the illiquidity involved in private equity?” Joffe said. Joffe also criticized the CETF investment as an example of the potential pitfalls of combining private equity with ESG (environmental, social, and governance) objectives. “A very opaque investment choice appears to have been chosen because of its green credentials, and yet it’s now generated a huge loss for taxpayers and retirees,” he said. CalPERS spokesman Abram Arredondo defended the investment strategy, attributing the losses to earlier management decisions. “The CalPERS Clean Energy & Technology Fund dates back to 2007, before the pension fund’s board and staff worked together to tightly focus our private equity strategy,” Arredondo said. “Since then, we have diversified our investments to reduce risk, selected the highest performing asset managers, and lowered fees by entering into co-investments.” Arredondo added that fees have been reduced by 10 percent since 2022 and emphasized that private equity has historically been a strong performer for CalPERS. “The private equity class has been our best performer for the past 20 years, and we believe our members deserve access to its income-producing opportunities,” he said. While private equity has occasionally outperformed public markets, experts warn that the sector’s high fees can erode returns and expose investors to significant risk.

California's Retirement Fund Lost 71% Of $468M Investment In Clean Energy And Won't Say How - The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) lost roughly 71% of its $468 million investment in a clean-energy and technology private equity fund - and won’t explain how. The losses highlight growing concerns about the pension giant’s private equity strategy, which relies heavily on opaque, illiquid investments and leaves taxpayers ultimately on the hook. According to state records analyzed by the Center Square, the CalPERS Clean Energy & Technology Fund (CETF), launched in 2007, has seen its value fall from a total commitment of $468.4 million to $138 million as of March 31, 2025. That represents aloss of more than $330 million, even after paying $22 million in fees and costs to private equity managers. CalPERS’ overall returns for fiscal 2024–2025 were 11.6%, with public equities returning 16.8% and private equity 14.3%. The similar performance between the two asset classes has raised questions about whether the complexity and cost of private equity are worth it. “If you can get these kinds of returns on the public markets, why bother with all the complexities and the illiquidity involved in private equity?” said Marc Joffe, a public finance expert and visiting fellow at the California Policy Center, in an interview with The Center Square.Joffe said the CETF losses underscore “the combined dangers of private equity and ESG investment,” describing it as an opaque strategy that appears driven by “green credentials” rather than returns. “CalPERS would be better off focusing on a diverse portfolio of publicly traded equities to get better long-term returns,” he said. CalPERS created CETF during the early years of the Obama administration, when government and investors poured billions into clean-energy ventures. According to PEI reports, the fund was managed by Capital Dynamics, which focused heavily on U.S. solar energy projects. Capital Dynamics’ then–managing director Benoit Scaysbrook defended the fund’s narrow focus, saying the team preferred to specialize in solar projects rather than take a generalist approach to renewables. But many solar ventures of that era collapsed amid competition from low-cost Chinese producers. “Once a rock star in the solar industry, evergreen solar was not able to keep up with the competition from China,” a Capital Dynamics–sponsored book on clean energy investing later noted. The best-known casualty of that boom, Solyndra, left taxpayers with more than $500 million in losses after its government-backed factory shut down. CalPERS spokesman Abram Arredondo said CETF predated the fund’s current approach. “The CalPERS Clean Energy & Technology Fund dates back to 2007, before the pension fund’s board and staff worked together to tightly focus our private equity strategy,” Arredondo wrote to The Center Square.He said CalPERS has since diversified investments, selected higher-performing asset managers, and reduced fees through co-investments. “Since that time [2022], we have reduced fees by 10 percent. The private equity class has been our best performer for the past 20 years and we believe our members deserve access to its income-producing opportunities.” Despite this defense, CalPERS remains only 79% funded, according to its own data, leaving $180 billion in unfunded liabilities, based on estimates from the Reason Foundation. That gap leaves California taxpayers indirectly responsible for any shortfall.

Auto lenders are on the lookout for credit washing scams - Credit washing scams are increasing dramatically among automotive loans, according to TransUnion. Getty Images What’s been referred to in the industry as a credit washing scam tactic appears to be growing in popularity in auto loans – including some fraudsters who on paper resemble borrowers with sound, low-risk credit. This according to a new study from Chicago-based credit reporting bureau TransUnion. “Credit washing is a type of fraud that’s related, obviously, to a credit report. It has existed in the past, but it continues to be a growing concern,” Satyan Merchant, SVP, auto and mortgage business leader at TransUnion, said in a phone interview with WardsAuto. What happens in credit washing is that a crooked account holder contests adverse information on their credit report – something that lowers their credit score, like a delinquency or default. This leads to claims that the information causing damage to their credit score is in error, or the result of identity theft, and they are being falsely penalized. In a nutshell, the scammers often claim they’ve been scammed. Fraudsters are aware that credit bureaus receiving such a complaint commonly are obliged temporarily to stop factoring that credit account into the holder’s credit score, while the credit bureau investigates the claim. Lenders call this “data suppression” on the account holder’s credit report. “We – not just us, but all the credit bureaus – do need to provide that opportunity … to make any fixes as needed,” Merchant said. From the point of view of potential fraud, the problem is that suppressing the negative data gives a temporary boost to the account holder’s credit score, he said. When the score improves, that can be the signal for a scammer to take advantage of the temporarily inflated credit score and get an auto loan they have no intention of repaying. Fraud experts say that identity theft often involves a long process. The holder of a stolen, fake, or synthetic identity starts out with small accounts, which they keep paid-up. Gradually, they add more and bigger purchases, mimicking a legitimate borrower, with an improving credit score. An auto loan is often the biggest and final phony loan in this scheme, before the scammer “busts out” and disappears with the car and whatever else they may have purchased fraudulently. According to TransUnion, incidents of “data suppression related to fraud allegations” were up 228% in July 2025, versus January 2024. There are legitimate claims of fraud within those numbers, but the numbers likely include crooked credit washers, too. Merchant said that all credit bureaus are refining ways to identify credit-washing scammers faster. One giveaway could be that scammers tend to file a complaint regarding the one account in their credit history which, if suppressed, gives the biggest possible temporary boost to the credit history overall, Merchant said. TransUnion said in the study, “Credit washing is a new concern lenders need to watch.”

MBA:Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest Weekly Survey - From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey - Mortgage applications increased 7.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 24, 2025. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 7.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 7 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 9 percent from the previous week and was 111 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 4 percent compared with the previous week and was 20 percent higher than the same week one year ago. “Mortgage rates decreased for the fourth consecutive week, with the 30-year fixed rate down to 6.3 percent, its lowest level since September 2024. This recent decline in rates spurred the second consecutive week of increased refinance activity, driven mainly by conventional refinance applications,” “The ARM share of applications, which had been trending higher, dipped below 10 percent last week, as lower rates prompted more borrowers to choose fixed rate loans. Additionally, the average loan size of a refinance application remained elevated at $393,900, as borrowers with larger loan sizes continue to be sensitive to rate movements. Purchase applications increased compared to a holiday-shortened week across most loan types. However, USDA applications fell more than 26 percent, impacted by the ongoing government shutdown.” ... The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($806,500 or less) decreased to 6.30 percent from 6.37 percent, with points decreasing to 0.58 from 0.59 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The first graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index. According to the MBA, purchase activity is up 20% year-over-year unadjusted. Purchase application activity is still depressed, but above the lows of 2023 and slightly above the lowest levels during the housing bust. The second graph shows the refinance index since 1990. The refinance index has increased from the bottom as mortgage rates declined.

Housing October 27th Weekly Update: Inventory Up 1.0% Week-over-week, New High for 2025 - --Altos reports that active single-family inventory was up 1.0% week-over-week. Inventory usually starts to decline in the fall and then declines sharply during the holiday season. The first graph shows the seasonal pattern for active single-family inventory since 2015. The red line is for 2025. The black line is for 2019. Inventory was up 17.9% compared to the same week in 2024 (last week it was up 16.2%), and down 6.5% compared to the same week in 2019 (last week it was down 8.1%). Inventory started 2025 down 22% compared to 2019. Inventory has closed more most of that gap, but it appears inventory will still be below 2019 levels at the end of 2025. This second inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research. As of October 24th, inventory was at 868 thousand (7-day average), compared to 859 thousand the prior week. This is a new high for 2025! Mike Simonsen discusses this data and much more regularly on YouTube.

Final Look at Housing Markets in September and a Look Ahead to October Sales - Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Final Look at Housing Markets in September and a Look Ahead to October Sales. A brief excerpt: After the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) releases the monthly existing home sales report, I pick up additional local market data that is reported after the NAR. This is the final look at local markets in September. There were several key stories for September:
• Sales NSA are down 0.2% YoY through September, and sales in 2024 were the lowest since 1995!
• Sales SAAR (seasonally adjusted annual rate) have bounced around 4 million for almost 3 years.
• Months-of-supply is above pre-pandemic levels (this is the highest level for the month of September since 2015).
• The median price is up 2.1% YoY, and with the increases in inventory, some regional areas will see further price declines - and we might see national price declines later this year or in 2026.
Sales at 4.06 million on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis were at the consensus estimate.
Sales averaged close to 5.32 million SAAR for the month of September in the 2017-2019 period. So, sales are about 24% below pre-pandemic levels. In September, sales in these markets were up 7.8% YoY. The NAR reported sales NSA were up 8.2% year-over-year in September (close). Important: There were one more working days in September 2025 (21) as in September 2024 (20). So, the year-over-year change in the headline SA data was lower than the NSA data suggested (there are other seasonal factors). ... More local data coming in November for activity in October!

Case-Shiller: National House Price Index Up 1.5% year-over-year in August - S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for August ("August" is a 3-month average of June, July and August closing prices). This release includes prices for 20 individual cities, two composite indices (for 10 cities and 20 cities) and the monthly National index. From S&P S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Index Records Annual Gain in August 2025
• The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index posted a 1.5% annual gain for August, down from a 1.6% rise in the previous month.
• Housing wealth eroded in real terms for the fourth consecutive month, with the 1.5% national gain falling well short of 3% inflation.
• Nineteen of 20 metros declined month-to-month in August, with only Chicago posting a gain, signaling broad weakness beyond typical seasonal patterns.
The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 1.5% annual gain for August, down from a 1.6% rise in the previous month. The 10-City Composite showed an annual increase of 2.1%, down from a 2.3% increase in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a year-over-year increase of 1.6%, down from a 1.8% increase in the previous month. New York again reported the highest annual gain among the 20 cities with a 6.1% increase in August, followed by Chicago and Cleveland with annual increases of 5.9% and 4.7%, respectively. Tampa posted the lowest return, falling 3.3%. ... The pre-seasonally adjusted U.S. National, 10-City Composite, and 20-City Composite Indices continued to report negative month-over-month change in August, posting -0.3% for U.S. national index and -0.6% for both 10-City and 20-City Composite indices. After seasonal adjustment, all three indices posted a month-over-month increase of 0.2%. ... "August's data shows U.S. home prices continuing to slow, with the National Index up just 1.5% year- over-year," . "This marks the weakest annual gain in over two years and falls well below the 3% inflation rate. For the fourth straight month, home values have lost ground to inflation, meaning homeowners are seeing their real wealth decline even as nominal prices inch higher. "The National Index rose 1.5% over the past year, with most of that gain coming in the recent six months (up 1.5%) while the prior six months were essentially flat. The 20-City Composite gained 1.6% annually and the 10-City rose 2.1%, both continuing their deceleration from earlier in the year. The first graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted Composite 10, Composite 20 and National indices (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000). The Composite 10 index was up 0.2% in August (SA). The Composite 20 index was up 0.2% (SA) in August. The National index was up 0.2% (SA) in August. The second graph shows the year-over-year change in all three indices. The Composite 10 NSA was up 2.1% year-over-year. The Composite 20 NSA was up 1.6% year-over-year. The National index NSA was up 1.5% year-over-year. Annual price changes were below expectations.

Newsletter: Case-Shiller: National House Price Index Up 1.5% year-over-year in August - Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Case-Shiller: National House Price Index Up 1.5% year-over-year in August: Excerpt: S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for August (”August” is a 3-month average of June, July and August closing prices). June closing prices include some contracts signed in April, so there is a significant lag to this data. Here is a graph of the month-over-month (MoM) change in the Case-Shiller National Index Seasonally Adjusted (SA). The MoM decrease in the seasonally adjusted (SA) Case-Shiller National Index was at 0.21% (a +2.5% annual rate). This followed five consecutive MoM decreases in the seasonally adjusted index. On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices increased month-to-month in 11 of the 20 Case-Shiller cities. San Francisco has fallen 8.2% from the recent peak, Phoenix is down 5.7% from the peak, Tampa down 4.2% and Miami down 3.6%.

Leading Construction Indicator Signals Data Center Buildout Tsunami Nears -A leading indicator of U.S. non-residential construction activity, published monthly by Dodge Construction Network, shows continued strength in commercial and institutional planning, primarily driven by the data center buildout tsunami that is set to gain serious momentum in 2026. Goldman analysts, led by Susan Maklari, noted that the Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) rose 3% in September, moderating from +5% in August and +21% in July. Year over year, DMI surged 60%, led by a 75% jump in institutional projects (notably healthcare and public) and a 53% increase in commercial activity (driven by data centers and retail). Maklari spotted a major divergence in the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) that weakened further to 43.3 (from 47.2), indicating contraction in architectural activity even as project inquiries moved higher. She said the divergence between the DMI and ABI is due to large-scale data center and public-sector projects that dominate the construction world. DMI is a leading indicator because construction projects typically take 12+ months to move from planning to groundbreaking; the index is viewed as a 9- to 12-month leading indicator of construction spending. This indicates that all the data center spending headlines this year will move from planning to groundbreaking in 2026. In May, we cited a note from UBS analyst Steven Fisher that forecasted the Trump-era construction boom in AI data centers wouldn't filter into the real economy until next year (read report). "More slowing before reacceleration in 2026," Fisher told clients, adding, "We expect stimulus and structural forces to drive the rebound, while cyclical factors remain weak."

October Forecast: Vehicle Sales Down Sharply Due to Decline in EV Sales --From J.D. Power: October New-Vehicle Sales Decline as EV Pull-Ahead Reverses; EV Share Falls to 5.3% Following Incentive Expiration Brief excerpt: Total new-vehicle sales for October 2025, including retail and non-retail transactions, are projected to reach 1,249,800, a 6.9% decrease year-over-year, according to a joint forecast from J.D. Power and GlobalData. October 2025 has 27 selling days, the same as October 2024. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) for total new-vehicle sales is expected to be 15.1 million units, down 1.1 million units from October 2024. Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power: “October’s results reflect a notable, but expected decline in the new-vehicle sales pace, due almost entirely to sales of electric vehicles. “The expiration of federal EV credits on Sept. 30 caused EV shoppers to pull ahead their purchases, driving a significant increase in EV sales and inflating the overall industry sales pace. In September, EVs accounted for 12.9% of new-vehicle retail sales, the highest ever, and well above the 8.5% recorded a year earlier. Now that the federal EV credit has expired, the industry is dealing with the consequences of those accelerated purchases. In October, EVs represent just 5.2% of new-vehicle retail sales. On a volume basis, EVs account for 1.0 million of the 1.2 million-unit decline in the industry sales pace compared with a month ago. From Haig Stoddard at Omdia (pay site): Forecast Decline in October US Light Vehicle Sales Likely to Continue in November, December US light vehicle sales are forecast to decline 3.6% year-over-year in October, only the second downturn this year. However, downturns are forecast to continue due to lean inventory, a rising mix of higher priced vehicles, and the end of the EV credit. This graph shows actual sales from the BEA (Blue), and J.D. Power's forecast for October (Red). On a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis, the J.D. Power forecast of 15.1 million SAAR would be down 7.9% from last month, and down 6.3% from a year ago. All of Q4 will likely be difficult for vehicle sales.

Curtis Sliwa not backing down from NYC mayoral race amid polling, pressure— Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa said he will not drop out of New York City’s mayoral race despite trailing in polls and facing pressure to withdraw, insisting voters should decide the election rather than “billionaires, influences and insiders.”“I don’t know how many times I have to say it. I’m the only Republican candidate. I’m the law and order candidate,” Sliwa said during an interview on “The Hill on NewsNation” from Staten Island. “Why would I want to drop out?”Sliwa’s polling average currently stands at 17%, according to Decision Desk HQ, nearly half his 28% showing when he lost the mayoral race four years ago. The race has drawn extraordinary early voting turnout, with roughly five times as many ballots cast compared to 2021, as progressive Democrat Zohran Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo battle for City Hall.President Donald Trump recently suggested Sliwa “is not going to win” and questioned whether his continued candidacy helps Cuomo against Mamdani, whom Trump labeled a “communist.” Trump said he would “rather have a Democrat than a communist” leading the city.

Number of homeless New York City public school students reaches a new high - Recently released data collected by Advocates for Children of New York documents that during the 2024-2025 school year, a total of 154,000 New York City public school students were homeless, a new record. The annual total has exceeded 100,000 for the last 10 years. The large majority of them, 65,000, slept in shelters, a record high, or lived in crowded multi-family homes. Out of more than 900,000 students in the public schools, nearly 1 in 7 were homeless during the last school year, the highest proportion on record. This barbaric condition is a testament to the chronic lack of affordable housing in the city. To grasp the scale of the problem, the city’s homeless student population alone would itself number among the 20 largest school districts in the country. The majority of homeless students, more than 82,000, live in overcrowded households. The city is notorious for such unsafe living conditions for adults as well as children, which all too often lead to tragedy such as devastating fires with multiple injuries and/or deaths and severe disruptions of already precarious lives. Another 65,000 students lived in city homeless shelters. The remainder live in hotels, motels or on the street. The situation in New York City is but one example of conditions across the country. A recent national survey found that more than 1.3 million students are homeless. Available apartments in the city are at their lowest point in nearly 60 years. At the same time, median rents are at a record high. In a new report, the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD) warns that New York City could see a major wave of affordable housing losses in the coming years as long-term affordability agreements, which are based on past municipal assistance, expire. A recent report estimates that the city will need over half a million new housing units to meet expected demand by 2030. The Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York reports that one in every three New York renters will soon have to pay at least 50 percent of their income for housing. This situation will only worsen due to the Trump administration’s cut in federal housing aid. In New York City alone, as of August 2025 more than 350,000 men, women and children were homeless, based on data collected by the Coalition for the Homeless. The baseless right-wing claim that a flood of immigrants is “destroying” the city, including by Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, causing, among other problems, the rise in student homelessness, is refuted by the fact that the escalating numbers of homeless children began long before the recent immigrant arrivals. Not surprisingly, homeless students suffer academically from their impoverished and unstable living conditions. Recent state testing revealed that nearly 80 percent of homeless students in grades 3 through 8 were deficient in reading and math. Nearly 40 percent did not graduate from high school and one in eight dropped out, three times the rate of their housed peers. Half of homeless students have a high rate of absenteeism, which means that they missed at least one out of every 10 days. Again, not surprisingly, the “problem” of student homelessness is not evenly distributed across the city but instead is concentrated within its poorer neighborhoods, including East Harlem in Manhattan, Brownsville and Bushwick in Brooklyn, and High Bridge and Grand Concourse in the Bronx. This is further exacerbated by the fact that the uneven distribution of homeless shelters and public schools means that many of these students have to travel long distances to reach their schools. Forty percent of families are placed in shelters in a different borough from where the children go to school.

Character.AI to ban children from talking with chatbots - Character.AI plans to ban children from talking with its AI chatbots starting next month amid growing scrutiny over how young users are interacting with the technology. The company, known for its vast array of AI characters, will remove the ability for users under 18 years old to engage in “open-ended” conversations with AI by Nov. 25. It plans to begin ramping down access in the coming weeks, initially restricting kids to two hours of chat time per day. Character.AI noted that it plans to develop an “under-18 experience” in which teens can create videos, stories and streams with its AI characters. “We’re making these changes to our under-18 platform in light of the evolving landscape around AI and teens,” the company said in a blog post, underscoring recent news reports and questions from regulators. The company and other chatbot developers have recently come under scrutiny following several teen suicides linked to the technology. The mother of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III sued Character.AI last November, accusing the chatbot of driving her son to suicide. OpenAI is also facing a lawsuit from the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who took his own life after engaging with ChatGPT. Both families testified before a Senate panel last month and urged lawmakers to place guardrails on chatbots. The Federal Trade Commission also launched an inquiry into AI chatbots in September, requesting information from Character.AI, OpenAI and several other leading tech firms. “After evaluating these reports and feedback from regulators, safety experts, and parents, we’ve decided to make this change to create a new experience for our under-18 community,” Character.AI said Wednesday. “These are extraordinary steps for our company, and ones that, in many respects, are more conservative than our peers,” it added. “But we believe they are the right thing to do.” In addition to restricting children’s access to its chatbots, Character.AI also plans to roll out new age assurance technology and establish and fund a new nonprofit called the AI Safety Lab. Amid rising concerns about chatbots, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Tuesday that would bar AI companions for children. The bill from Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) would also require AI chatbots to repeatedly disclose that they are not human, in addition to making it a crime to develop products that solicit or produce sexual content for children. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law a similar measure late last month, requiring chatbot developers in the Golden State to create protocols preventing their models from producing content about suicide or self-harm and directing users to crisis services if needed. He declined to approve a stricter measure that would have barred developers from making chatbots available to children unless they could ensure they would not engage in harmful discussions with kids.

Hundreds of Michigan high school students walk out to oppose fascist Turning Point USA club - On Wednesday, October 22, students at Royal Oak High School (ROHS) in suburban Detroit conducted a walkout/sit-in to oppose the establishment of a Turning Point USA club at their school. Founded in 2012 by fascist operative Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last month, Turning Point USA is a billionaire-funded organization set up, in its own words, to “combat modern liberalism on college campuses.” In reality, it fights to spread anti-communism, antisemitism, racism and anti-gay bigotry to young people. The walkout came just a few days after millions of people across the United States rallied in every major city and town for the second time this year against the fascistic Trump administration under the banner “No Kings.” These were the largest political protests in American history so far. Seventeen-year-old senior Leilani Hamilton prepared the Royal Oak walkout by posting a call to action on Instagram and printing flyers. She explained to this reporter how it happened: “The day before, about 6 p.m., I saw a post on Instagram saying there was a Turning Point club at our school now. In the comments they were saying this is a hate group. This was the first time I heard about Turning Point.” Leilani quickly read more online about Turning Point and Charlie Kirk. “He says blacks have less brain power than white people, and abortion is as bad as the holocaust,” she explained. “Turning Point will put students and teachers in danger.” She decided to call for a walkout. “I printed out 25 flyers and I made a post on Instagram. It got reposted on ROHS snap story [on Snapchat]. That’s hundreds of students who saw it there.” When Leilani got to school in the morning, “students wanted to get stacks of flyers from me.” At the start, “it was a group of about 70 students, and by the end of the day it was 277 students. We had a sign-in sheet. Students walked out in the middle of class to come join us.” Many teachers supported the walkout, she said. “They had a teacher meeting right before, and they decided they weren’t going to try to stop us. A lot of teachers agree with it. My math teacher thanked me.” “It was going to be just a walkout, but it rained, so we did a sit-in. It started in the cafeteria, and the principal came in, and then the superintendent.” In the end, the school officials convinced the students to move their sit-in to the auditorium, where they remained until the end of the day. Royal Oak Schools superintendent John Tafelski later confirmed in a statement that the Turning Point club would be allowed to go ahead at the school, claiming “under the federal Equal Access Act of 1984, the district cannot regulate student groups based on the content of their speech—whether religious, political, philosophical, or otherwise.”

JD Vance spars with Mississippi college students at Turning Point USA event -- Vice President Vance went toe-to-toe with college students at the University of Mississippi on Wednesday in a nod to his friend, the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Vance and Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, addressed thousands of students at an arena on the university’s campus as part of a Turning Point USA tour. Vance fielded questions from attendees, just as Charlie Kirk did at numerous “Prove Me Wrong” events during Turning Point USA college events. “Please don’t be nervous if you need to work through a question. Think through it, speak it,” Vance said. “We’re all here to have a nice conversation, and we’re all supportive of it.” In one of the evening’s more contentious exchanges, a student pressed Vance on several issues. They asked Vance how he balances his intercultural marriage, about restrictive immigration policies, and whether they are fair to those who went through the process to enter the country. “I don’t mean to cause a scene here,” she said at one point. “We’re not close to causing a scene, don’t worry,” Vance responded. Vance later drew applause when he told the questioner his job as vice president “is not to look out for the interests of the world; it’s to look out for the people of the United States.” One student asked Vance whether President Trump had a conflict of interest in setting policy toward Israel because one of his top donors, Miriam Adelson, was a staunch advocate of pro-Israel policies. Vance said he did not see a conflict of interest, noting Adelson is open about her views. One attendee asked Vance about the issue of requiring Christianity in public schools, while another asked the vice president how he planned to extend an olive branch to Democrats to close the social and political divide in the country. Vance noted he had areas of agreement with Democrats on policy, including on breaking up corporate monopolies. At one point, those in attendance chanted “48” at Vance, a nod to a potential 2028 run to serve as the 48th president. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, ladies and gentlemen,” Vance said.

University Of Colorado TPUSA Student Leader Attacked After Antifa Posted "Hit List" As Democratic leaders like Rep. Dan Goldman (D, N.Y.) insist that Antifa does not exist as a group, two Antifa groups — Front Range Antifa and Colorado Springs Antifa — put out a hit list poster on a University of Colorado sophomore and leader in Turning Point USA. He was promptly attacked by a person in the signature Antifa black outfit on roller blades who used a hockey stick to mete out the punishment.According to a press release, Boulder Police are looking for a suspect accused of attacking a 19-year-old Turning Point USA student leader near the University of Colorado, Boulder on Thursday evening. The attacker is suspected to be an Antifa member and to have followed the victim in the premeditated attack. The suspect is described as dressed in “all black clothing, a black ski mask, and had a green Gatorade bottle with an orange top in his back right pants pocket. He was skating with a hockey stick. The suspect fled the scene after the victim called 911, and Boulder Police and CU Police officers searched the area but did not locate him.” Police added:“In the interest of transparency, detectives are also confirming that they are aware that the victim was the subject of some social media posts and a digital flyer circulated by others prior to last night’s incident. Whether these played a role in the reported assault is part of the investigation, and police are not commenting further on this finding.”The Antifa flyer accused the sophomore of being “an active member” of “neo-Nazi organizations” and is “responsible for white supremacist, antisemitic, and anti-LGBTQ vandalism on campus and across Boulder,” and also “participated in a white supremacist boxing tournament.” The Boulder Students for a Democratic Society reportedly shared the flyer on their social media. They encouraged followers to “share widely” and tag the school to notify them of a “Nazi activist on CU Boulder campus.” The TPUSA student was not seriously injured, but the point was made by Antifa that any critics can be tracked down and attacked. Recently, in a debate with my colleague Professor Mary Ann Frank on free speech, I objected when she repeated the often-used claim on the left that “if you oppose Antifa, you are by definition a fascist.” I noted that many in the free speech community have been threatened by this group, which is the most violent, anti-free speech movement in the United States.

DeSantis: New College of Florida debate prize to be named after Charlie Kirk (WFLA) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a speech and debate competition award and scholarships at a news conference Monday at New College of Florida.DeSantis was joined by Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, Florida Department of Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas and New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran.The grand prize of the competition, which will be held next April at the college, will be named after political commentator Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot while hosting a debate event on a university campus last month. The winner will also receive a $50,000 scholarship. The runner up will receive a $25,000 scholarship. Semifinalists will receive a $15,000 scholarship.The quarterfinalists will receive a $10,000 scholarship. DeSantis said the move aligns with his administration’s education policies promoting civics education.“We have worked hard by to make Florida the national model for civics education,” DeSantis said. “The Florida Civics and Debate Initiative reflects our commitment to fostering students’ appreciation for America’s founding principles. The champion of the next FCDI state championship will take home the Charlie Kirk prize, renamed in honor of a young man who embodied the principles of patriotism, civil discourse, and open debate. The generous scholarship awards for the winner and other top competitors will be a great memorial to Kirk’s legacy.” In addition to the debate prize, New College of Florida officials will also erect a statue of Kirk on campus.

Testimony begins in Ohio teachers’ pension trial --– Testimony got underway Monday in a case that calls into question the ethics of two leaders of the state teachers’ pension fund.The chairman of the State Teachers Retirement System board, Rudy Fichtenbaum, and former board member Wade Steen are accused of teaming up to improperly move control of most of the fund to a private investment firm known as QED. As was clear from the opening statements, the state is accusing Fichtenbaum and Steen of failing to act in the best interest of Ohio’s 500,000 active and retired teachers, but the defense’s case relies on questioning whether the STRS staff itself is properly handling the $90 billion pension fund.Testimony got underway in Franklin Common Pleas Court in a case that could bring to light investment strategies for the embattled state teachers’ pension fund. In opening statements, Fichtenbaum and Steen were accused by the prosecution of backing a risky investment scheme in what is alleged to be a “backroom deal.” Both men claimed to be looking out for Ohio’s teachers. Steen was the first witness called to the stand by the state. Attorneys are asking the court for an injunction that would remove Fichtenbaum from the board and prevent both men from ever serving again on the STRS board.

Kennedy: No sufficient evidence for Tylenol-autism link - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said there is not “sufficient” evidence that Tylenol causes autism, softening warnings he and President Trump have repeatedly made to discourage the medicine’s use by pregnant women and young children. During a press conference Wednesday, Kennedy reiterated that pregnant women should use Tylenol only when “absolutely necessary.” “We’ve all said from the beginning that the causative association between Tylenol given in pregnancy … is not sufficient to say it definitely caused autism, but it is very suggestive,” Kennedy said. “And so there should be a cautious approach to it, and that’s why our message to patients, to mothers, to people who are pregnant, the mothers of young children, is consult your physician, and we have asked physicians to minimize the use to one that’s absolutely necessary,” Kennedy added. The secretary’s comments came more than a month after he and Trump held a press conference in September to specifically warn pregnant women against taking the medication, without citing any scientific evidence. Trump at the time repeatedly told women to “tough it out” rather than take Tylenol for fever or pain during pregnancy. During a Cabinet meeting earlier this month, Kennedy linked circumcision and autism because of the administration of Tylenol, and he said anyone who opposed the theory was motivated by hatred for Trump.

Prenatal alcohol exposure rewires the brain and fuels compulsive behavior, new study finds -Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), a leading cause of neurodevelopmental disorders, may affect as many as 1 in 20 school-aged children in the United States. Despite its prevalence, the exact brain circuit responsible for FASD's hallmark symptom—cognitive inflexibility, or the inability to adjust thoughts and behaviors to new environments—has largely remained a mystery. A new study led by Dr. Jun Wang and co-authored by Dr. Rajesh Miranda, professors at Texas A&M University's Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine, observed that alcohol consumption both during pregnancy and around the time of birth significantly impairs an offspring's brain development—particularly in regions that govern decision-making—while also increasing the risk of compulsive alcohol use later in life. "We've identified a specific brain cell in offspring affected by early alcohol exposure that's directly linked to problems with flexible thinking and impulse control, and this gives us a clear target for better understanding and eventually developing more effective treatments of FASD. "Our findings represent a major step forward in FASD research. By uncovering how early alcohol exposure changes brain chemistry, we're able to move from describing symptoms to transitioning into treating root causes." By pinpointing the exact brain circuits affected by prenatal alcohol exposure, the study opens possibilities for targeted therapies aimed at restoring normal cognitive and behavioral flexibility in individuals with FASD. The findings also reinforce longstanding public health messages about the risks of drinking alcohol during pregnancy or around the time of birth. "Even limited alcohol consumption during sensitive developmental windows can have profound and lifelong consequences," Wang said.

Previously unknown genetic cause of microcephaly identified -Microcephaly is a congenital malformation that leads to a significantly reduced brain size and is often accompanied by developmental delay. An international research team led by Dr. Tran Tuoc from the Department of Human Genetics at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has discovered a previously unknown genetic cause for this condition. Mutations in the EXOSC10 gene—a central component of the RNA degradation complex ("exosome")—cause primary microcephaly. The work is published in the journal Brain. During human brain development, neural stem cells must balance self-renewal and differentiation to build the cerebral cortex—the brain's outer layer responsible for cognition and perception. If this balance is disturbed, malformations occur. "Recent advances in genome sequencing and genetic engineering are transforming our understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders," Dr. Tran Tuoc says. He and his team identified de novo EXOSC10 mutations in patients with microcephaly through genomic screening of individuals with cortical malformations. To uncover how these mutations affect brain development, they generated conditional mouse models that reproduce the human mutations. In the developing mouse brain, partial loss of EXOSC10 led to premature differentiation of neural stem cells into neurons, reducing the pool of progenitors. "This reduced the stem cell population, and the cerebral cortex remained smaller—closely mirroring the patients' phenotype," says first author Dr. Pauline Ulmke. Using RNA sequencing and RNA immunoprecipitation analyses, the researchers found that EXOSC10 normally degrades key transcripts of the Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway, such as Scube1 and Scube3. When EXOSC10 function was reduced, these transcripts accumulated, leading to aberrantly high Shh activity. "Notably, reducing Shh signaling in mutant mice largely rescued cortical size, pinpointing excessive Shh activity as the main driver of microcephaly in this context," concludes Dr. Ulmke.

How our brain understands human actions - How do we recognize and interpret what others are doing—whether they're greeting a friend, preparing a meal together or doing sports? A new study has tackled this question by creating a model of how humans perceive and categorize actions. Using a carefully selected set of 768 short video clips depicting 256 types of human actions, more than 6,000 participants rated how similar these actions seemed to them. Based on these ratings, the researchers built a multidimensional model showing how different activities are related in our minds. Their study is published in the journalCommunications Psychology. Their analysis uncovered 28 meaningful dimensions—such as social interaction, handcraft, or the presence of several people in a scene—that capture the essential ways in which we perceive and categorize human actions. This framework offers new insights into how our brains organize the rich variety of actions we observe every day and paves the way for future behavioral and neuroimaging research on perception, communication, and social understanding.

Changing the 'packaging' of DNA in neurons can turn memories on or off in mice - Our experiences leave traces in the brain, stored in small groups of cells called engrams. Engrams are thought to hold the information of a memory and are reactivated when we remember, which makes them very interesting for research on memory and age- or trauma-related memory loss. At the same time, scientists know that the biology of learning is accompanied by epigenetic changes, which refers to the ways the cell regulates genes by adding chemical "sticky notes" to DNA. But the question of whether the epigenetic state of a single gene in turn can cause a memory to change has thus far remained unanswered. A team led by Professor Johannes Gräff at EPFLs Laboratory of Neuroepigenetics has combined CRISPR-based gene control with a technique that tags engram cells in mice. They focused on Arc, a gene that helps neurons adjust their connections to other neurons. By targeting the control region of Arc, the team asked whether flipping its epigenetic "switch" could directly change memory. The work appears in Nature Genetics. The researchers developed specialized, CRISPR-based tools that could either dial down or boost Arc activity in memory neurons. Some, like the KRAB-MeCP2 tool, were designed to switch off gene activity by adding repressive marks that make the DNA less accessible, while others opened the DNA and turned the gene on. These tools were essentially an "epigenetic switch" for the Arc gene. They then used harmless viruses to deliver these tools directly into the hippocampus of mice, a brain region central for storing and retrieving memory. The mice were then trained to link a specific place with a mild foot shock. By changing the epigenetic state of Arc in the neurons, the scientists could see whether the animals remembered the shock or not. They also added a "safety switch" that could undo the editing and reset the memory state. The study showed that epigenetically silencing Arc in engram cells made the mice not learn, while boosting it made their memory stronger. These changes could be reversed in the same animal, showing that this epigenetic "switch" can dial memory expression up or down. Even memories that were already several days old, which are usually hard to change, could be modified. On the molecular level, the editing caused changes in gene activity and DNA packaging that matched the behavioral effects.

AI models for drug design fail in physics - State-of-the-art AI programs can support the development of drugs by predicting how proteins interact with small molecules. However, a new study by researchers at the University of Basel published in Nature Communicationshas shown that these programs only memorize patterns, rather than understanding physical relationships. They often fail when it comes to new proteins that would be of particular interest for innovative drugs. Proteins play a key role not only in the body, but also in medicine: they either serve as active ingredients, such as enzymes or antibodies, or they are target structures for drugs. The first step in developing new therapies is therefore usually to decipher the three-dimensional structure of proteins. For a long time, elucidating protein structures was a highly complex endeavor, until machine learning found its way into protein research. AI models with names such as AlphaFold or RosettaFold have ushered in a new era: They calculate how the chain of protein building blocks, known as amino acids, folds into a three-dimensional structure. In 2024, the developers of these programs received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The latest versions of these programs go one step further: They calculate how the protein in question interacts with another molecule—a docking partner, or ligand, as experts call it. This could be an active pharmaceutical ingredient, for example. "This possibility of predicting the structure of proteins together with a ligand is invaluable for drug development," says Professor Markus Lill, who researches methods for designing active pharmaceutical ingredients. However, the apparently high success rates for the structural prediction puzzled Lill and his staff. Especially since there are only about 100,000 already elucidated protein structures together with their ligands available for training the AI models—relatively few compared to other training data sets for AI. "We wanted to find out whether these AI models really learn the basics of physical chemistry using the training data and apply them correctly," says Lill. The researchers modified the amino acid sequence of hundreds of sample proteins in such a way that the binding sites for their ligands exhibited a completely different charge distribution or were even blocked entirely. Nevertheless, the AI models predicted the same complex structure—as if binding were still possible. The researchers pursued a similar approach with the ligands: they modified them in such a way that they would no longer be able to dock to the protein in question. This did not bother the AI models either. In more than half of the cases, the models predicted the structure as if the interferences in the amino acid sequence had never occurred. "This shows us that even the most advanced AI models do not really understand why a drug binds to a protein; they only recognize patterns that they have seen before,"

The chat will see you now: Managing patients' needs for an on-demand health care industry -Five years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, much of medical care went virtual. For 48% of Medicare users, some appointments turned into webcam visits, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In 2024, 25% still had at least one telemedicine visit.But one promising form of telemedicine is underutilized in the U.S., compared with countries such as England and China, according to new research from Texas McCombs: initial question-and-answer evaluations. For a fee less than the cost of a full visit, a doctor can begin the diagnosis and referral process, based on a patient's written or recorded responses. Ultimately, the research finds, such screenings help more patients see doctors in person and promote better health outcomes. "It turns out that it does a better match," says Ashish Agarwal, professor of information, risk, and operations management. "You go to the right doctor, and it helps you in the long run."Such Q&A platforms, such as Teladoc and Doctor on Demand, most often use text. A person with a medical issue gets paired with a doctor who determines what type of care is most appropriate: such as a real-time virtual consultation or an offline visit. The chat might include a patient's images sent to the doctor and a diagnosis, but it's not meant as a substitute for specialized medical care.Agarwal and fellow IROM professor Guoming Lai analyzed data from a Chinese health care platform that was launching a Q&A service."The platform was grappling with the issue that we have a lot of doctors, we have a lot of patients, and we want to improve the matching process," Agarwal says.With Yixuan Liu of China Europe International Business School, Shanghai, and Weihua Zhou of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, the researchers looked at whether Q&A chats ended up as substitutes for medical care, cannibalizing from offline visits and online consultations."On-Demand Healthcare Platforms: Impact of Question and Answer Service on Online Consultations and Offline Appointments" is published in Information Systems Research.The opposite turned out to be true. After Q&As, the analysis showed, patients were more likely to follow up with a visit to a clinic or hospital or to schedule a virtual appointment.

• Q&A services increased online consultations with doctors by 2% and increased offline appointments by 4.3%.
• Patients spent 6.6% more on online consultations after having engaged with a doctor on a Q&A platform.

The reason is that Q&As armed patients with better information, Agarwal says. "When it comes to medical issues, you're dealing with complex information. Sometimes you don't even know what you're looking for. That is where a service like this is very useful."The Q&As also had spillover effects, leading more patients to seek care from other doctors or specialists in addition to the ones they initially engaged with. Agarwal hopes the results might encourage more doctors to participate in such platforms, making it easier to match a patient with the right doctor.A future possibility is automated service, he says. Artificial intelligence might engage in the initial conversation or assist a doctor in their assessment. By using AI to help triage care for patients, platforms might help to alleviate the challenge of matching with live doctors."If you are using an AI agent, it can scale up," he says. "So maybe the concern about matching would not be there."Five years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, much of medical care went virtual. For 48% of Medicare users, some appointments turned into webcam visits, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In 2024, 25% still had at least one telemedicine visit. But one promising form of telemedicine is underutilized in the U.S., compared with countries such as England and China, according to new research from Texas McCombs: initial question-and-answer evaluations. For a fee less than the cost of a full visit, a doctor can begin the diagnosis and referral process, based on a patient's written or recorded responses. Ultimately, the research finds, such screenings help more patients see doctors in person and promote better health outcomes. "It turns out that it does a better match," says Ashish Agarwal, professor of information, risk, and operations management. "You go to the right doctor, and it helps you in the long run." Such Q&A platforms, such as Teladoc and Doctor on Demand, most often use text. A person with a medical issue gets paired with a doctor who determines what type of care is most appropriate: such as a real-time virtual consultation or an offline visit. The chat might include a patient's images sent to the doctor and a diagnosis, but it's not meant as a substitute for specialized medical care. Agarwal and fellow IROM professor Guoming Lai analyzed data from a Chinese health care platform that was launching a Q&A service. "The platform was grappling with the issue that we have a lot of doctors, we have a lot of patients, and we want to improve the matching process," Agarwal says. With Yixuan Liu of China Europe International Business School, Shanghai, and Weihua Zhou of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, the researchers looked at whether Q&A chats ended up as substitutes for medical care, cannibalizing from offline visits and online consultations. "On-Demand Healthcare Platforms: Impact of Question and Answer Service on Online Consultations and Offline Appointments" is published in Information Systems Research. The opposite turned out to be true. After Q&As, the analysis showed, patients were more likely to follow up with a visit to a clinic or hospital or to schedule a virtual appointment. Q&A services increased online consultations with doctors by 2% and increased offline appointments by 4.3%. Patients spent 6.6% more on online consultations after having engaged with a doctor on a Q&A platform. The reason is that Q&As armed patients with better information, Agarwal says. "When it comes to medical issues, you're dealing with complex information. Sometimes you don't even know what you're looking for. That is where a service like this is very useful." The Q&As also had spillover effects, leading more patients to seek care from other doctors or specialists in addition to the ones they initially engaged with. Agarwal hopes the results might encourage more doctors to participate in such platforms, making it easier to match a patient with the right doctor. A future possibility is automated service, he says. Artificial intelligence might engage in the initial conversation or assist a doctor in their assessment. By using AI to help triage care for patients, platforms might help to alleviate the challenge of matching with live doctors. "If you are using an AI agent, it can scale up," he says. "So maybe the concern about matching would not be there."

CDC's Martin Kulldorff questions school vaccine mandates - Martin Kulldorff, chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in an interview Thursday he believes vaccine mandates for schools are “not necessary.” In an interview with Politico, the ACIP’s influence on school vaccine policy was noted and Kulldorff was asked how he wanted the committee to approach the issue. “ACIP should make recommendations based on what we think is best for children. I don’t think we should be involved at all in mandating any vaccines. That’s not our role,” Kulldorff said. “More generally about mandates, I think mandates of the COVID vaccine were very detrimental, and I think that’s one of the big driving forces behind what we see now in public health. Those mandates were both unscientific and unethical.” Last month, Florida moved to ban all school vaccine mandates in the state. The decision drew pushback from some Republicans in Congress, with Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) calling it a “horrible idea.” The outlet noted that the ACIP’s recommendations are cited in state laws and asked Kulldorff if something needed to change if he didn’t believe it was the panel’s role to be involved in vaccine mandates. “I don’t know. Good question,” Kulldorff said. “Sweden has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. People are very confident in the vaccine schedule they have in Sweden. There are no mandates in schools. So I think mandates are not necessary. You can have high vaccination coverage without mandates.”

Kids exposed to COVID in utero may be at higher risk for autism, other brain problems --A new study suggests that children of mothers who had COVID-19 during pregnancy are at 29% higher risk of neurodevelopmental conditions such as speech delays, motor disorders, and autism by age 3, although the overall odds are likely low and may well have ebbed since the pandemic peak.Massachusetts General Hospital researchers analyzed data on 18,124 live births at Mass General Brigham from March 2020 through May 2021. The study authors noted that other types of infection in pregnant women have been tied to an elevated risk of a range of childhood neurodevelopmental disorders and that animal studies have found that immune-system activation in pregnancy can disrupt fetal brain development. The findings were published yesterday in Obstetrics & Gynecology.A total of 8% of uninfected women had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose during pregnancy, compared with 2% of their infected counterparts. Only 13 infections were identified in women who had received at least one dose. Of all infections, 65.0% occurred in the third trimester of pregnancy.Of the 861 children whose mothers had COVID-19 while pregnant, 16.3% were diagnosed as having at least one neurodevelopmental condition by age 3, compared with 9.7% of the 17,263 children from COVID-negative pregnancies. After adjusting for maternal age, race, insurance and hospital type, and preterm birth, COVID-19 infection in pregnancy was linked to a 29% higher risk of a neurodevelopmental disorder in children.Boys were at 43% higher risk than girls, and the risk was greatest (36%) when exposure occurred during the third trimester. Other risk factors were Hispanic ethnicity, public insurance, preterm birth, and delivery in an academic medical center rather than a community hospital.The most common diagnoses were speech and language disorders, developmental motor-function disorder, autism, and disorders of psychological development disorders. COVID-19 infection during pregnancy was associated with a higher rate of preterm delivery (13.5% vs 10.0%) and slightly lower birth weights. "These findings highlight that COVID-19, like many other infections in pregnancy, may pose risks not only to the mother, but to fetal brain development," senior author Andrea Edlow, MD, of Mass General Brigham, said in a news release. "They also support the importance of trying to prevent COVID-19 infection in pregnancy and are particularly relevant when public trust in vaccines—including the COVID-19 vaccine—is being eroded."

Analysis: Last year's COVID vaccines protected well against severe illness - The updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccines provided 57% protection against hospitalization and death, although their effectiveness waned over time, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine. The study assessed effectiveness against infection, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalization. Protection against infection and ED visits was 45%. The study was based on outcomes seen among Nebraskan residents during the 2024-25 respiratory virus season and used hospital discharge data from member hospitals of the Nebraska Hospital Association and data from death certificates from the Nebraska Office of Vital Records.Of 237,203 individuals included in the study, 86,594, 148,429, and 2,180 received the updated Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Novavax vaccines, respectively. In total, 12,860 SARS-CoV-2 infections, 3,330 COVID-19–related ED visits, 1,566 related hospitalizations, and 189 COVID-19–related deaths were reported. Overall protection against infections peaked at 4 weeks after vaccination, dropping significantly by 20 weeks, but protection levels were similar for all Omicron subvariants circulating during the study period.According to the authors, vaccine effectiveness against infection reached 44.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 37.7% to 50.9%) 4 weeks postvaccination, declined to 35.5% (95% CI, 30.2% to 40.5%) at 10 weeks, and further dropped to 16.7% (95% CI, 8.4% to 24.2%) by 20 weeks.Protection against ED visits, a sign of more serious illness, was much more durable; 45.1% at 4 weeks, 42.9% at 10 weeks, and 39.1% at 20 weeks. For hospitalization or death, effectiveness reached 57.3% at 4 weeks and dropped to 34.0% at 20 weeks. "Our study showed that the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines were effective, especially against severe outcomes, although their effectiveness waned over time," said Dan-Yu Lin, PhD, senior study author, in a press release. "Our study also showed that vaccine effectiveness was similar against different Omicron subvariants. Thus, the 2025-2026 vaccines, which target similar omicron subvariants as the 2024-2025 vaccines did, will likely have similar effectiveness."

Serious mental illness tied to increased risk of long COVID -Adults with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or recurrent major depressive disorder—especially those who are older, Black or Hispanic, have chronic conditions, have public health insurance, or were hospitalized during infection—are at elevated risk for long COVID, according to an analysispublished yesterday in JAMA Network Open.To determine whether adults with serious mental illness (SMI) are more vulnerable to long COVID (also called postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 [PASC]) than those without SMI, a team led by a Weill Cornell Medicine researcher conducted a longitudinal cohort study from March 2020 to April 2023.The study was based on the electronic health records of more than 1.6 million COVID-19 patients aged 21 years and older from 30 days to 6 months after infection. The average patient age was 52 years, 61.4% were women, 12.6% were Black, 13.5% were Hispanic, and 51.3% were White. A total of 15.9% of participants had an SMI, and 24.8% developed PASC. Those with an SMI were at a 10% higher risk for PASC (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.08 to 1.11). "The increased COVID-19 infection and mortality risks of adults with SMI are due in part to limited general medical care access, treatment adherence challenges, and the presence of comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes," the researchers wrote. A PASC risk factor was older age compared with ages 22 to 34 years (OR for 35 to 44 years, 1.04; OR for 45 to 64, 1.11; OR for 65 and older, 1.18). Other contributing factors were Black or Hispanic versus White race (Black OR, 1.08; Hispanic OR, 1.12), chronic disease versus none (OR for Charlson Comorbidity Index [CCI] scores of 1 to 3, 1.13; OR for scores of 4 or higher, 1.23), hospitalization for infection versus none (OR, 1.80; hospitalization with ventilation, 2.17). Relative to public health insurance, commercial insurance was tied to lower odds of PASC (OR, 0.85).

International air travel—especially packed flights—fueled flu, COVID-19 spread during pandemic, researchers say --A new study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases links higher intercontinental airline passenger flight volumes to both influenza activity and COVID-19 case and death rates, suggesting that short-term travel restrictions and in-flight interventions could slow disease transmission when coupled with public health measures. Flights from Asia played a larger role in disease spread, the study found.University of Hong Kong researchers analyzed monthly global passenger numbers and surveillance data on flu and COVID-19 in 78 countries and US states from January 2019 to July 2024. Then they used a modeling framework to assess the relationship between flight volumes and disease activity while adjusting for differences in country-level public health efforts."Air travel plays a crucial role in infectious disease spread, creating unprecedented pathways for pathogens to cross global boundaries within hours," the authors wrote. "The confined environment of aircraft cabins creates ideal conditions for respiratory disease transmission."Greater flight volumes were significantly tied to higher flu activity and COVID-19 case and death rates, with the strongest association with flights from Asia. The effects were consistently stronger for COVID-19 than for flu and were more pronounced in countries with more-relaxed disease-mitigation measures.Higher flight volumes from Asia were linked to 21% higher rates of flu transmission (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.21), and North American and European flight volumes also appeared to facilitate pathogen spread. Greater flight volumes from Asia (IRR, 1.72), Europe (IRR, 1.45), and North America (IRR, 1.21) were also all significantly tied to increased COVID-19 case rates. Relative to global flights, domestic flights were less strongly and consistently associated with disease transmission, which the authors said likely reflected the availability of alternative within-country transportation options.Higher international passenger numbers—especially on Asian flights—directly increased infectious disease importation frequency, driving community spread in destination countries."Asia serves as a critical epicentre for respiratory virus emergence and evolution, with East, South, and Southeast Asia functioning as important reservoirs for novel influenza strains and viral diversity," the researchers wrote. "The region's dense population centres, proximity of humans to livestock, and ecological conditions create ideal environments for viral emergence and reassortment."

Clinical trial presents promising DNA-encoded therapy for long-lasting protection against COVID-19 -A new way to deliver protective antibodies against COVID-19 was tested in a Phase I clinical trial. Instead of injecting pre-made antibodies into patients, this approach encouraged the body to produce its own antibodies to fight off the disease-causing viruses. In this study, the researchers injected DNA-encoded monoclonal antibody (DMAb)—synthetic plasmid DNA carrying genetic instructions for antibodies—that can neutralize SARS-CoV-2 directly into muscle tissue of 44 healthy adults aged 18–60 years. The outcomes demonstrated a clear proof-of-concept for DMAb, as the platform was safe and well tolerated with no product-related adverse events. The findings are published in Nature Medicine. mRNA vaccines, which played a pivotal role in controlling the pandemic, continue to serve as the primary line of defense against COVID-19. However, the vaccines do not trigger an adequate immune response in some people, which leaves them vulnerable to infections. Studies have shown that monoclonal antibody (mAbs) therapies that use lab-made proteins to mimic natural antibodies to trigger an immune response to attack specific targets can be a promising alternative. Current mAb treatments, while powerful, come with practical challenges. These therapies rely on delicate proteins that must be kept cold from the lab to the patient, making global distribution especially in low-resource areas quite difficult. Their protection fades over time, pushing scientists to search for ways to make their effects last longer in the body. The researchers presented synthetic DMAbs as the potential solution to the existing problems. DMAbs are cheaper to produce mAbs and rely on DNA-encoded instructions to generate antibodies within the body rather than on pre-made proteins. As a result, the platform can be easily scaled and transported without cold-chain storage.

New coronavirus subspecies with SARS-CoV-2–like mutation discovered in Brazilian bat --Scientists have identified a new coronavirus subgenus in a Brazilian bat with a feature that, as in the related SARS-CoV-2 virus, allows it to invade human cells, per a non–peer-reviewed study published on the preprint server bioRxiv.The Pteronotus parnellii bat (Parnell's mustached bat) harbored the BRZ batCoV virus, which the researchers say has likely been silently circulating in Latin America for some time, given limited sampling in the region.Bats are considered important hosts of betacoronaviruses such as SARS-CoV (which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS), SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), and MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS). "The high diversity of viruses in bats therefore positions them as a key taxonomic group for zoonotic disease surveillance," the investigators wrote.The researchers, from Japan and Brazil, collected intestinal tissue samples from 70 bats from three locations from May to August 2019 and digitally studied the virus's genetic sequence. The process revealed a distinct subgenus with a functional furin cleavage site (FCS) on its spike protein and a unique amino acid sequence motif that differs from that of SARS-CoV-2 by only one amino acid. The discovery hints that the mutation isn't uncommon, the authors said. Indeed, FCS have been identified in the surface proteins of other RNA viruses. "Comparative structural analysis identified other betacoronaviruses in bats with furin cleavage sites at the S1/S2 junction, suggesting that this region is a structurally permissive 'hotspot' for cleavage site incorporation," the study authors wrote. "Our study provides a broader understanding of the phylogenetic and functional diversity of bat coronaviruses as well as their zoonotic potential." The results underscore the importance of RNA virus surveillance in South American bats and "highlight the importance of elucidating FCS acquisition events as a central molecular mechanism that shapes the pathogenicity and host range of these viruses," they concluded.

Canadian Scientist's Secret Work On Wuhan Bat Virus Could Have Caused Covid, New Revelations In Book - In his new book Under Assault, historian and former Canadian national security analyst Dennis Molinaro uncovers evidence that Chinese-Canadian scientist Dr. Xiangguo Qiu secretly collaborated on a 2019 Wuhan "bat filovirus" research project that some Western intelligence agencies — including the CIA, with varying degrees of confidence — assess to have likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic. While The Bureau has previously reported on Qiu's links to Wuhan's "Batwoman," Shi Zhengli, Molinaro's findings — drawn from redacted CSIS records, open-source intelligence, and parliamentary disclosures — take the case significantly further, situating Qiu's compromise within the broader escalation of Chinese intelligence collection in Canada since 2000, and highlighting Ottawa's conspicuous lack of capacity — or will — to enforce against Beijing's incursions. His reconstruction shows how Canada's top-security National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg became deeply enmeshed with Chinese military and bioweapons program scientists, culminating in what Molinaro describes as "a biosecurity collaboration of the highest strategic importance to the People's Republic of China." As in a number of explosive cases explored in Under Assault, Molinaro offers careful caveats distinguishing what is proven, what is plausible, and what demands further investigation. But in raising the possibility that a Canadian scientist may have directly or indirectly contributed to a man-made virus responsible for millions of deaths, Molinaro breaks new ground — no current or former Canadian national security professional has made such an assertion so plainly before. "Let's put all this together and consider the implications," Molinaro writes after laying out the sequence of evidence. "Qiu secretly works with the Wuhan lab overseeing a gain-of-function project about bat filoviruses, and months later COVID-19 is unleashed on the world, with this lab being at the centre of the lab-leak theory. Canada then partners for a vaccine with CanSino — a company connected to the PLA, one of the officials of which Qiu had secretly worked with on vaccine research. If the lab-leak theory is ever confirmed, one has to ask: Did a Canadian researcher who was secretly assisting China have a role in the creation and breakout of COVID-19, and then did the Canadian government try to buy a vaccine from a PRC company that the same researcher had assisted and that has connections to China's military?" Molinaro situates the Qiu affair within a broader continuum of Chinese espionage operations in Canada. "The frequency of China's spying on Canada seemed to be increasing through the turn of the millennium," he writes, describing how Beijing's intelligence activities evolved from traditional political influence and industrial theft into targeted scientific infiltration — often leveraging financial inducements and patriotic sentiment within the overseas Chinese diaspora. He traces this pattern through earlier cases, including aerospace engineer Su Bin's theft of Boeing designs from British Columbia and in Toronto, Klaus Pflugbeil's alleged sale of Tesla battery technology to Chinese interests in New York— both involving illicit technology transfers to the PRC. In each case, Molinaro notes, Canadian authorities failed to act until U.S. agencies intervened. Citing former FBI agent Justin Vallese, who commented after the Su Bin investigation, "I don't know how many Su Bins there are," Molinaro extends the warning. Canada's open, well-funded research system — long a source of national pride — has become a global magnet for exploitation by the Chinese Communist Party's technology-gathering apparatus. Against that backdrop, Molinaro lays out the case in Winnipeg. He reconstructs CSIS findings showing that in early 2019, Qiu and several Chinese collaborators were approved by a PRC evaluation committee to conduct a project at the Wuhan Institute of Virology — China's first P4-level biosafety laboratory. The project, Molinaro quotes, aimed to "assess cross-species infection through the creation of synthetic virus strains," placing Qiu in charge of "overall planning." It was a classic gain-of-function experiment — the deliberate development of viral strains in a lab before they evolve in nature. Another researcher was assigned "project design," another "animal infection," and one, whose name remains redacted, was known to have worked on bat viruses similar to SARS.

WHO's priorities shaped by its reliance on grants from donor organizations, study suggests -The World Health Organization's (WHO's) priorities are being skewed by its increasing reliance on donations from organizations such as the Gates Foundation (previously known as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), which must be spent on specific health challenges favored by the donors, suggests a study published in the journal BMJ Global Health. Between 2000 and 2024, more than half of the US $5.5 billion donated by the Gates Foundation to WHO was directed toward vaccine-related projects and polio, while relatively little funding was spent on other issues considered to be important by WHO. The Gates Foundation has become WHO's second biggest source of funding in recent years, contributing 9.5% of WHO's revenues between 2010 and 2023. Its largest funder was the United States, but earlier this year the US announced it would withdraw from WHO from January 2026. Germany and the UK were third and fourth largest WHO funders, respectively. Although it is widely assumed that the Gates Foundation's financial power allows it to exert influence over WHO's work program, little research has been undertaken to track exactly how its grants are spent. To address this, the authors extracted data from the Gates Foundation website on all its grants to WHO between 2000 and 2024 to determine the number and value of grants, and the diseases, health issues and activities they funded. Between 2000 and 2024, the Gates Foundation made 640 grants worth US $5.5 billion to WHO. In total, 6.4% of all grants made by the Gates Foundation during this period went to WHO. More than 80% of the Gates Foundation's grants to WHO (US $4.5 billion) were targeted at infectious diseases and almost 60% (US $3.2 billion) were spent on polio. More than half of the Foundation's money (US $2.9 billion) was used to fund vaccine programs and related projects. Relatively little funding from the Gates Foundation was directed towards non-communicable diseases, strengthening health systems, and broader determinants of health, despite their importance to WHO strategy and global health more generally. Just US $11.8 million (0.2%) was spent on water and sanitation and US $37.4 million (0.7%) on health systems strengthening. Less than 1% of the Foundation's funding went towards non-communicable diseases, despite them being responsible for 74% of global deaths with 77% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. WHO's budget comes from two sources—assessed contributions from member states, calculated according to a country's wealth and population, plus voluntary contributions or extra-budgetary funding from member states and non-state organizations. Around nine-tenths of the income comes from voluntary or extra-budgetary funding, and almost all of this money is "earmarked," i.e. given on the condition that it funds activities and projects defined by the donor. The way WHO is funded limits its ability to fulfill its strategic goals, the authors say. "Assessed contributions from member states are nowhere near the level needed to fund its strategic priorities, so WHO must rely on earmarked voluntary contributions from donors," they say. "Consequently, activities and areas that donors favor receive more resources than are required, while those they are not interested in do not get enough." And the situation could worsen if the United States—WHO's largest donor—carries through with its threat, announced in January 2025, to withdraw from WHO. While it is easy to blame major donors like the Gates Foundation for undermining WHO's independence by pursuing its agenda through WHO, the authors say, "We should not, however, lose sight of the fact that it is the member states' failure to increase assessed contributions in line with WHO's needs over the last four decades that has created a situation in which the organization is forced to rely on voluntary contributions from donors." They add, "WHO has asked for more flexible and sustainable funding, warning that without fundamental changes to the way it is financed, it will be unable to achieve its strategic aims. If the member states continue to ignore these exhortations, then WHO will remain vulnerable to the influence of external donors and will struggle to address the full spectrum of contemporary global health challenges."

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson knowingly selling carcinogenic talcum powder prompts UK’s biggest class action - For decades, pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson sold its popular talcum powder in the US, Canada, the UK, India and globally as an antidote to skin irritation or nappy rash after bathing. Johnson’s baby powder, with its distinctive aroma redolent of cleanliness and purity, was used by adults as well as children. Mothers sprinkled it liberally on their babies, not knowing that the cloud of white dust could harbour a deadly carcinogen. Johnson and Johnson (J&J) knew this but sought to cover up the fact that their product was contaminated with asbestos and was allegedly killing its customers, declare the claimants in the legal case. Three thousand people in the UK are now taking a class action against the multinational on the grounds that they knowingly sold tainted baby powder, which they charge was responsible for either their own cancers or that of relatives. It is the biggest action of its kind in British legal history. The legal suit in the UK mirrors that pursued against the company in the US, where juries have awarded plaintiffs billions of dollars in compensation. One claimant with terminal mesothelioma in Connecticut was recently awarded $25 million, though this is under appeal. The UK claim rests on internal company documents and scientific reports, brought by KP Law against J&J and its subsidiary Kenvue Ltd. The companies are denying the claim. However, during court proceedings internal documents were presented revealing that J&J were aware since the 1960s that their product contained asbestos fibres and took measures to conceal this. Talc or talcum is composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, mined in many countries including Brazil, India, China, the US, France, South Korea and Finland. It is used in cosmetic products like lipsticks, eyeshadow and face make-up. It is also used extensively in industry in the production of plant food, paint, cement and disinfectants. The problem with this mineral is that it is frequently found in the same location as asbestos, also used widely in industrial products, and in building materials for its fire-retardant properties. Asbestos is a scientifically proven carcinogen when its tiny needle-like fibres are inhaled, leading to fatal mesothelioma or lung cancer as well as asbestosis. A 1973 internal memorandum admitted the occasional presence of small amounts of actinolite or tremolite (types of asbestos) in the mineral talc, which was the main ingredient of J&J’s baby powder. It states, “Our baby powder contains talc fragments classifiable as fibre. Occasionally sub-trace quantities of tremolite or actinolite are identifiable (optical microscope) and these might be classified as asbestos fibre.” Company officials toyed with the idea of patenting a technique to remove asbestos from talcum powder but decided otherwise as this would expose their knowledge that talc was contaminated with asbestos fibres. One executive stated, “We may wish to keep the whole thing confidential rather than allow it to be published in patent form and thus let the whole world know.” The BBC reported that they spoke to J&J subsidiary Kenvue—formerly its Consumer Healthcare division. A Kenvue spokesperson explained that they were unable to find a method to decontaminate the talc. There followed decades of coverup at the expense of the health of talcum powder users. Rather than alerting the relevant government bodies and withdrawing the product, J&J embarked on an aggressive marketing campaign to increase sales in the 1970s and 1980s, emphasising its purity and gentleness, even for new-born babies. The product was not withdrawn until 2020 in the US and Canada and 2023 worldwide. J&J still sell baby powder, using a cornstarch substitute for talc.

'Forever chemical' PFHpA identified as risk factor for severe liver disease in adolescents --Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, working within the Southern California Superfund Research and Training Program for PFAS Assessment, Remediation and Prevention (ShARP) Center, have uncovered compelling evidence that exposure to perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), a lesser-known member of the PFAS family of "forever chemicals," is linked to a significantly higher risk and severity of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in adolescents with obesity. The study, published in Communications Medicine, integrates clinical data from adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery with advanced 3D liver models to reveal the biological mechanisms by which PFHpA may drive disease progression. The researchers examined blood samples from 137 adolescents enrolled in Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery, the largest U.S. study of pediatric bariatric surgery. They found that adolescents with twice the amount of PFHpA in their blood faced an 80% greater likelihood of being diagnosed with MASLD compared to their peers with lower levels. Teens with higher exposures also showed more advanced liver injury, including inflammation and fibrosis—early signs of disease progression that can eventually lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, or even liver cancer. To strengthen these findings, the team tested PFAS on laboratory-grown liver spheroids using doses comparable to typical human exposure, showing that PFHpA disrupts critical biological pathways, including inflammation, oxidative stress and lipid metabolism. This dual approach allowed the researchers to connect exposure to the mechanism, producing a distinctive molecular signature of PFHpA-related liver damage. MASLD, once referred to as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, is one of the most common liver disorders in young people, affecting an estimated five to 10% of U.S. children and adolescents and more than 30% of those with obesity. It is also a condition on the rise, placing many young people at risk of severe long-term health consequences, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The fact that exposure to PFHpA can worsen this trajectory is particularly concerning given how widespread these chemicals are. PFAS are used in products ranging from food packaging and waterproof clothing to cosmetics and nonstick cookware, and they contaminate drinking water supplies across the country. Nearly half of all U.S. water systems are now believed to contain detectable PFAS levels.

Animal study links regional PFAS levels to male reproductive impacts -New research from the University of Newcastle has revealed that PFAS levels matching those found in the Williamtown contamination zone could significantly alter male reproductive health in animals—even without visibly damaging sperm. Led by the University's Professor Brett Nixon and Dr. Jacinta Martin, the pre-clinical study exposed subjects to PFAS-contaminated water at concentrations reflecting real-world environmental exposure in areas of Williamtown in NSW. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are synthetic chemicals that persist in the environment and accumulate in living organisms. Mounting evidence suggests they may pose risks to human health, including impacts on male fertility. The latest findings in animals raise concerns about the potential long-term and generational effects of PFAS exposure. Published today in Communications Biology, the findings are based on pre-clinical studies on mice and reveal:

• Developing sperm count dropped—day-to-day sperm production decreased during the PFAS exposure period.
• Male hormone levels fell—testosterone and DHT (dihydrotestosterone; a potent androgen hormone derived from testosterone), which are vital for sperm production, were reduced.
• Sperm carried hidden changes—molecules that help regulate gene expression were altered.
• Embryo development was disrupted—early embryos showed abnormal gene expression.
• Sperm still functioned normally—they could move, survive, and fertilize eggs in lab conditions, despite the molecular changes.

The study highlights a potential new mechanism of harm: PFAS may not damage sperm directly, but instead alter the molecular signals sperm carry—signals that are crucial for healthy embryo development. "This is the first time we've shown that PFAS exposure at environmentally relevant levels—equivalent to those detected in Williamtown—can change the molecular makeup of sperm with potential implications for disrupting embryo development," Professor Nixon said. "What's striking is that the sperm still looked and functioned normally in lab conditions. But beneath the surface, they were carrying molecular changes that could affect the next generation. "We also found lower levels of testosterone and DHT in male mice exposed to PFAS, and daily sperm production decreased too." "We discovered there were some changes to gene expression which could impact the health of the embryo," Dr. Martin said. "One of the predicted changes we noticed was related tobody size—and the potential for offspring fathered by PFAS exposed animals to be born, or grow, significantly larger than normal." These findings echo human studies showing lower sperm counts in men with high PFAS exposure and suggest that paternal PFAS exposure alone could have consequences for children, even if the children themselves are not directly exposed."Our study was based on a real-world environmental exposure. We emulated the levels and types of PFAS found in samples from a ground water monitoring well—not a drinking water source—located in the Williamtown contamination zone," Dr. Martin said. "The subjects in our study were exposed to PFAS via contaminated water consumed over a 12-week period." "It's especially relevant for communities like Williamtown, where PFAS contamination has been a long-standing concern,"

RSV season is here. Here’s what you need to know -- Katelyn Jetelina | Your Local Epidemiologist | Substack - After an unusually quiet October for respiratory viruses, an RSV wave is starting to take hold. Flu remains remarkably low, and Covid-19 transmission is at one of the lowest points we’ve seen in months. Although CDC data remain paused because of the federal government shutdown, emergency department records compiled by PopHIVE show RSV activity is starting to climb, especially among children under four. This follows a familiar pattern: the virus first hits the youngest children (particularly those under one year) before spreading to adults, often about a month later. Don’t rely on wastewater yet to gauge RSV spread—infants wear diapers, so RSV trends appear much later in wastewater data. RSV places a massive burden on families and health systems every year. The youngest children are hit hardest—about five in every 1,000 kids under five are hospitalized each year, a rate much higher than for flu or Covid-19. The younger the child, the greater the risk, as tiny airways struggle to move air when inflamed. RSV burden tends to be less severe for adults, but it can still cause serious illness for those with weakened immune systems or underlying heart or lung conditions. Each year in the U.S., RSV is responsible for an estimated:

• 3.6-6.5 million outpatient visits
• 190,000-350,000 hospitalizations
• 10,000-23,000 deaths

The great news: we have several effective options for protection, something scientists have been working toward since the 1960s. It’s not too late to get vaccinated. Monoclonal antibodies (for infants) work essentially immediately, and the vaccines take about two weeks to take hold. Quick RSV FAQ:

• How contagious is RSV? Each infected person spreads RSV to about three others (R₀ ≈ 3). So it’s less contagious than Covid-19, but more than flu.
• How is it spread? Mainly through the air via the nose, so masking could help you, but unfortunately, it’s pretty inevitable for infants.When are people contagious? Usually for about a week. People can be contagious a day or two before they start showing signs.
• Is there an RSV test? Yes. There’s also one at-home test that distinguishes between flu, RSV, and Covid-19, though it requires mailing a sample to a lab. The recommendations are generally the same for most respiratory viruses, though: Rest, hydrate, and reach out to your healthcare provider for guidance.
• Is there treatment? There’s no specific antiviral medication for RSV. Care focuses on symptom relief, like oxygen therapy in severe cases.
• How long is someone protected after infection? Not long. RSV is adept at evading immunity, so reinfections are common, even within a single season. One long-term study found children didn’t experience milder cases until their third RSV infection. In adults, repeat infections tend to be milder until older age.
• Should I worry about Guillain-Barré Syndrome from the older adult vaccine? There is a small but real safety signal for Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)—about 10 additional cases per 1 million doses of Pfizer and GSK vaccines. This risk has not been observed with Moderna’s RSV vaccine (mRESVIA). For most, the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks, but it’s always worth discussing with your doctor.

Measles continues to do what it does best: find unvaccinated pockets of people. The national counts exceeded 1,600 last week, the highest count in more than 30 years. There are three active outbreaks: Utah/Arizona, South Carolina, and Minnesota. All are among communities with low vaccination levels. Mpox (or monkeypox). Two years after the U.S. declared the emergency over, you may start seeing headlines again. That’s because three unrelated, severe cases of a different strain—called Clade 1—recently appeared in California. Epidemiologists are paying close attention, as these cases suggest community spread (not linked to travel to Africa), something the U.S. has never seen before. This strain has generally been rare and quiet in Africa, but it’s begun spreading more rapidly. In the U.S., the details of the three cases are surprisingly sparse, but they were adults and are recovering. Your risk remains extremely low.

New data show hefty primary care RSV burden in young kids, older adults -Two Dutch studies evaluating rates of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in younger and older age-groups reveal substantial primary-care burdens in both.The adjusted pooled incidence of RSV among preschool children in primary care settings was 62.8 per 1,000 people in the decades leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, with higher rates in younger children and clinics rather than in emergency departments (EDs), a meta-analysis of 27 studies in high-income countries (HICs) suggests. For the study, published yesterday in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research in Utrecht used yearly population-based RSV incidence from 27 studies used in their previous systematic review as input parameters. The data were collected from 1992 to 2019 and included 10 countries in Europe, North America, and Oceania. The team accounted for the effect of age group, care settings, and data-collection periods on RSV incidence in children younger than age 5 to generate robust pooled incidence estimates. m"Compared to other healthcare settings, the estimated incidence in primary care is higher than community-based estimates (24.3 per 1,000) and substantially exceeds hospital-based estimates in HICs (6.0 per 1000)," the researchers wrote. RSV rates in the included studies ranged from 0.8 to 330 per 1,000 people in ambulatory care and from 7.5 to 144 per 1,000 in EDs. The estimated adjusted pooled RSV rate in primary care settings was 62.8 per 1,000 people but was higher in outpatient settings (108.1 per 1,000) than in EDs (35.8 per 1,000). Estimated age-stratified incidence fell with increasing age, at 86.5, 80.3, 60.7, and 36.5 per 1,000 for children younger than 6 months, 0 to 1 year, 0 to 2 years, and 0 to 5 years, respectively."The overall estimated RSV incidence was 62.8 per 1000, with rates around three times higher in ambulatory care compared to EDs," the authors wrote. Another study in the same journal evaluated the clinical and socioeconomic burden of RSV infections in older adults in primary care, finding it on par with that of influenza. Investigators from University Medical Center Utrecht conducted a prospective cohort study during two respiratory virus seasons (2022-23 and 2023-24) in Italy and the Netherlands. A total of 703 adults aged 60 years and older seeking primary care for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) were tested for RSV and flu and completed questionnaires on days 1, 14, and 30.RSV-positivity rate ranged from 10% to 17% across seasons and 11% and 13% by country. Of all adults, 13.2% tested positive for RSV, 14.2% were diagnosed as having flu, and 0.3% had both. On average, RSV patients were 76 years old, 63% had at least one underlying illness (most often cardiovascular or respiratory disease), and average length of illness was 17 days. The most common symptom was cough, reported by 98% and 32% on days 1 and 30, respectively. Repeat primary care visits occurred in 33 of 87 RSV patients (38%), emergency department referral in 4/88 (5%), and hospitalization in 2/88 (2%). The average costs per RSV episode were €78.1 ($104) and €279.7 ($373) from a healthcare system and societal perspective, respectively. In total, 57% of employed RSV patients reported missing work due to illness, and 6% indicated that a partner, family member, of other caregiver missed work to care for them. Prescription drug use was reported in 61% of RSV episodes, with antibiotics (40%) and systemic steroids (21%) being most common. Over-the-counter drug use was reported in 54%. The annual RSV-ARI incidence was 10.3 episodes per 1,000 person-years. RSV patients were significantly older and had fever, muscle pain, and fatigue less often than flu patients, but clinical and socioeconomic burdens were comparable.

Louisiana officials waited months to alert public about deadly pertussis outbreak, investigation finds -Louisiana officials waited 2 months after the state's first pertussis (whooping cough)-related deaths in years—which occurred by late January—to encourage vaccination and more than 3 months to issue a statewide health alert on May 1 this year, NPR, in conjunction with KFF Health News, reported today.Such delays for a record outbreak are not typical, according to Georges Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association."Particularly for these childhood diseases, we usually jump all over these," said Benjamin. "These are preventable diseases and preventable deaths."In late January, physicians at a Louisiana hospital warned their colleagues that two infants had died in the pertussis outbreak. Shortly thereafter, on February 13, Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, MD, ended the state's general promotion of vaccines and vaccination events. Local media reported the pertussis deaths on February 17. They were the state's first pertussis-related deaths since 2018. In March, after inquiries from NPR and KFF Health News about the growing number of pertussis cases, the health department put out its first social media communications about the outbreak. Then on May 1, the health department issued what appears to be its only official alert to physicians. The next day, it issued its first press release, and then officials held a press conference about pertussis on May 14. By then, 42 people had been hospitalized for pertussis since the outbreak began, three fourths of them unvaccinated. More than two thirds of those hospitalized were babies under 1 year old. As of September 20, the state had 387 pertussis cases in 2025, eclipsing the previous 35-year high of 214 cases in 2013."The risk of pertussis is always there, but when you have two infant deaths it's a really good opportunity to communicate that this is a real threat to the health of children,"

Measles outbreak in South Carolina grows; Canada’s elimination status threatened --The Upstate South Carolina measles outbreak has grown by 2 more cases, raising the state total to 25. Health officials said both infections were linked to close contacts of known cases, who had been under quarantine at home following exposures at two schools with a high percentage of unvaccinated students.Of the state’s 25 cases, 22 have occurred as part of the Upstate outbreak.New York’s Rockland County has reported its second measles case in the past 3 months. The cases are notable as Rockland County was the site of a large 2018-19 measles outbreak and is home to a significant unvaccinated population.This new case is not connected to the previous measles case in August, county health officials said.The new patient reported a rash shortly after returning from an international trip last week.Today marks 1 year of continuous measles transmission in Canada, a cycle of virus activity that threatens the country's elimination status.Canada has had more than 5,100 cases since fall 2024, more than double the number recorded in the past 25 years combined. The country eliminated measles in 1998, but that status is now in jeopardy as elimination status requires an absence of local virus transmission for at least 12 months.According to CNN, the Pan American Health Organization will assess the elimination status of several North American countries at an annual meeting next month.About 90% of the cases reported in Canada in the last year have been in unvaccinated residents, and all but 157 cases have been associated with the outbreak that began in October 2024 in Ontario.Finally today, The Jerusalem Post is reporting that an eighth child has died from measles in an ongoing nationwide outbreak in Israel.The child was a 2-year-old girl. All deaths in this outbreak have been in unvaccinated children under age 3 years.

Suspected measles case-patient refuses testing in Salt Lake County - Southern Utah has become the epicenter of measles activity in the United States in the past 2 months, but so far, Salt Lake County has not reported any infections. But a new probable case reported by the Salt Lake County Health Department changes that.Officials said a Salt Lake County resident is likely the area’s first case of measles but is refusing to submit to confirmatory testing. "The patient has declined to be tested, or to fully participate in our disease investigation, so we will not be able to technically confirm the illness or properly do contact tracing to warn anyone with whom the patient may have had contact," said Dorothy Adams, MPA, executive director at the health department, in a press statement. "But based on the specific symptoms reported by the healthcare provider and the limited conversation our investigators have had with the patient, this is very likely a case of measles in someone living in Salt Lake County."

Quality of decisions made by CDC vaccine advisers has nose-dived, former voting members say - An independent review of recent decisions made by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reveals that its policymaking maturity rating fell from an overall score of 100% to 58% from April to September this year."Since 1964, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has shaped US vaccine policy but recently underwent significant structural and procedural changes affecting recommendation quality," the authors wrote. The evaluation of ACIP processes, deliberations, and votes, published yesterday in Vaccine, was penned by 14 former ACIP voting members working as the Immunization Scientific Advisory Collaborative. The new group is one of a number of organizations that have stepped in to produce evidence-based evaluations of current vaccine policies and identify areas requiring procedural and scientific correction."States have also started to issue their own vaccine recommendations, leading to fragmentation of the vaccine landscape," the authors noted.In June, all 17 sitting ACIP members were fired and were later replaced with new members—including vaccine skeptics and those with limited or no relevant experience—by US Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr.In addition to using a standardized tool for assessing national vaccine advisory groups' development and functionality to examine ACIP policymaking, the authors also analyzed evidence presented, processes, and vaccine recommendations. Over the study period, ACIP's policymaking maturity rating dropped from an overall score of 100% (considered "leading edge") to 58% ("developing" or "intermediate) (range, 25% to 75%). The most affected subindicators were membership, disclosures and conflict-of-interest processes, independence from members' primary workplaces, access to external experts, decision-making processes, government consideration and solicitation, and implementation, all of which plummeted to "basic" or "developing."The report cited multiple transparency violations during the September ACIP meeting, including the failure to consult liaison organizations with medical expertise in vaccine implementation and posting the agenda late and then making unannounced, unjustified changes to it. "Poorly framed policy questions were followed by a lack of systematic application of standard protocols (e.g., GRADE methodology and Evidence to Recommendations framework)," the authors wrote. "Voting members appeared to have discussed issues behind closed doors, which is inappropriate and procedurally against the rules."Specifically, the committee recommend shared clinical decision making for COVID-19 vaccines, restricted access to combined first-dose measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccines, and postponed voting on removing the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine. Although the vote to require a prescription for COVID-19 vaccines failed, "it revealed a concerning lack of understanding regarding national prescribing practices and the potential impact on vaccine access," the report said. "In 2024-2025, 90% of adults who received a COVID-19 vaccine did so at a pharmacy, and this requirement could have restricted their access."The authors also noted that, during the vote to remove the recommendation for the MMRV vaccine for children younger than 4 years, several members said they didn't understand what they were voting for."Although 85% of children already receive separate MMR and varicella vaccines according to data from the 2023 CDC National Immunization survey, the vote to remove MMRV vaccine as a first dose for children under age four years may disrupt clinical practice by eliminating a combined-dose option preferred by some parents to reduce the number of injections," the report said. The authors identified four concerns that they said limit ACIP's ability to make effective vaccine policy recommendations: (1) removal of choice for previously recommended vaccines, limiting opportunities to improve health; (2) focus on theoretical vaccine harms using low-quality data; (3) loss of vaccine science and clinical expertise; and (4) less transparency and independence. "Discussions reflected poor understanding of process, inadequate grasp of science, and a focus on low-quality safety data, excluding well-recognized components and standards for vaccine policy making," the team wrote. "Once a leading authority in US public health prevention policy, ACIP has experienced a decline in credibility following a series of missteps and a shift in emphasis from vaccine policy development to concerns about vaccine-related harms," they concluded. "To maintain public trust and ensure effective immunization policy, ACIP must restore rigorous, evidence-based, and independent decision making."

Deadly multistate Listeria outbreak tied to prepared pasta meals expands -Seven new illnesses and two additional deaths have been reported in multistateListeria outbreak tied to prepared pasta meals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday in updates.A total of 27 people in 18 states have been infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes, with 25 hospitalizations and 6 deaths. One pregnancy-associated infection resulted in fetal loss. Deaths have been reported in Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, Texas, and Utah.The illness-onset dates range from August 6, 2024, to October 16, 2025. Patient ages range from 4 to 92 years, with a median age of 74 years. Two thirds of patients are women. The outbreak has been linked to prepared meals that include pre-cooked pasta made by Nate's Fine Foods, which does not sell its products directly to consumers. On September 30, the company expanded its recall of certain lots of pre-cooked pasta after a sample of linguini collected from a frozen meal made by FreshRealm tested positive for the outbreak strain of Listeria. The strain matched one identified earlier in pasta from a FreshRealm chicken alfredo meal.According to the CDC, of the 13 people who have been interviewed by state and local public health officials, 7 reported eating precooked meals purchased from Walmart and Kroger, and 4 specifically reported chicken fettucine alfredo. Two people also reported eating deli salads from other stores. Among the products that have been recalled are Sprouts Farmers Market Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad, Scott & Jon's Shrimp Scampi with Linguini Bowls, and Trader Joe's Cajun Style Blackened Chicken Breast Fettucine Alfredo."CDC and states are working to get information on whether sick people ate recalled food or if additional foods may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes," the FDA said. "Consumers should double check their refrigerators and freezers for recalled foods."

Fresh peaches sold at Trader Joe’s, Kroger recalled over listeria risk — Two types of California-grown peaches sold across the U.S. have been recalledfor potential listeria contamination, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The recall includes fresh white, yellow and “peppermint” peaches from Moonlight Companies which were sold at grocery stores across the country including Trader Joe’s and Kroger stores such as Mariano’s, Pick n Save, Metro Market, Dillons, Baker’s, Gerbes, King Soopers, City Market, Fry’s, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Ralphs, Food4Less, FoodsCo, QFC, and Smith’s stores. The peaches were sold under Kroger branding at Kroger stores, according to the FDA. The fruit was sold both individually and in multi-packs between Sept. 16 and Oct. 29, 2025. For individually-sold fruit, look out for PLU stickers 4401 and 4044. The FDA has lot numbers and UPC codes for multi-packs in the recall notice. If your packages or stickers specify “Washington” or “Organic,” that fruit isn’t in the recall, the FDA said. Trader Joe’s had the peaches on store shelves between Sept. 24, 2025 and Oct. 28, 2025 in the following states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Vermont. Kroger says the stores that sold the recalled peaches are located in Georgia; South Carolina; Auburn, Alabama; Greater Cincinnati (including Northern Kentucky and Dayton, Ohio plus South Eastern Indiana); Central and Northwest Ohio; Northwestern Virginia panhandle; Michigan; Indiana (except SE Indiana, -Evansville-); Illinois; Eastern Missouri; Greater Louisville area (including Indiana) and Lexington, Kentucky; Hopkinsville and Bowling Green, Kentucky; Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee; Huntsville, Alabama; Greater Memphis area, Tennessee; Arkansas; Mississippi; Western Kentucky; North Carolina; Virginia; Eastern West Virginia; Eastern Kentucky; Southeastern Ohio; Texas and Louisiana. Listeriosis, or listeria, is a serious infection typically caused by eating food that contains the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, according to the CDC. The FDA warns contracting listeria can lead to death in young children, elderly people or those with compromised immune systems. Healthy people “may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea,” the recall states. Infection can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths for pregnant people.

UTIs linked to contaminated food, new study finds - Urinary tract infections (UTIs) have long been associated with sexual activity and poor hygiene, but a new study found that nearly 1 in 5 infections were linked to contaminated meat. The results of the four-year study, published in the American Society of Microbiology Journal Thursday, showed that 18 percent of UTIs in the patient population were linked to E. coli strains of animal origin. Among the so-called foodborne UTIs, the highest risk of exposure was from chicken and turkey. While the over 5,700 samples were collected from patients with UTIs and grocery stores in Southern California, the authors say the risk isn’t confined to the Golden State. “Urinary tract infections have long been considered a personal health issue, but our findings suggest that they are also a food safety problem,” said Lance B. Price, senior author of the peer-reviewed study and professor of environmental and occupational health at the George Washington University, in a news release. “This opens up new avenues for prevention, especially for vulnerable communities that bear a disproportionate burden,” Price continued. “This is why we should be investing more, not less, in research about the social determinants of health. Your risk of infection should not depend on your ZIP code.” People living in low-income areas had a 60 percent higher risk of foodborne UTIs compared to those in wealthier neighborhoods, the study found, with older men and women being especially vulnerable. E. Coli can cause severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting, and people can be exposed to the strain from undercooked or contaminated food like raw vegetables or meat, according to the Mayo Clinic. The elderly and children are a particularly vulnerable population should they be exposed to this strain, which could result in kidney failure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that UTIs are “common infections that happen when bacteria, often from the skin or rectum, enter the urethra and infect the urinary tract.”

Nearly 1 in 5 urinary tract infections tied to E coli in meat - New research suggests that nearly 1 in 5 urinary tract infections (UTIs) in Southern California may be caused by strains of Escherichia coli that originated in food-producing animals.For the study, a team led by scientists at George Washington University and Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) conducted molecular analysis of more than 5,700 extraintestinal pathogenicE coli (ExPEC) isolates collected from UTI patients and retail meat samples from stores in the neighborhoods where those patients lived. Using comparative genomic analysis and a model they developed to infer the host origin of each isolate, they found that 18% of the UTIs were linked to ExPEC strains that came from the meat. They also discovered that UTIs in patients from high-poverty neighborhoods were 60% more likely to be caused by these zoonotic (animal-to-human) ExPEC strains. The findings were published yesterday in the journal mBio."These findings underscore the contribution of zoonotic ExPEC to the UTI burden in Southern California and the need for targeted interventions to reduce risk in vulnerable communities," the study authors wrote.The findings build on research that Lance Price, PhD, and his colleagues have been conducting for more than a decade. In a study published in 2018, they found that a strain of E coli that has caused serious UTIs around the world was prevalent in chicken and turkey meat. Then, in a follow-up study in 2023 that used similar methods to the current study, they found that 8% of E coli isolates from human UTIs in Flagstaff, Arizona, were linked to retail meat sold in local stores and likely originated from food-producing animals.Foodborne E coli is generally associated with gastrointestinal illness and certain diarrhea-causing strains, such as Shiga toxin–producing E coli, are tracked by industry and US health officials to make sure they are not contaminating the food supply and posing a risk to people. But the research Price and his colleagues have been conducting suggests that foodborne ExPEC strains that enter the urinary tract are an underappreciated cause of the 8 million UTIs diagnosed each year in the United States. Although most UTIs are mild, they can progress to more serious invasive infections and sepsis if the infection gets into the bloodstream."When most people hear E coli, they think about diarrhea and these dramatic foodborne outbreaks," he said. "But the kind that kills the most people are the extraintestinal pathogenic E coli, the kind that live in the gut with no symptoms. If it gets in the urinary tract, it has these special features that allow it to cause disease."The investigators also sequenced 3,379 E coli isolates collected from retail samples of chicken, turkey, beef, and pork that were bought weekly from major grocery chains in the region. E coli contamination was highest in turkey samples (82%), followed by chicken (58%), pork (54%), and beef (47%), and was higher in meat samples from stores in high poverty areas.."When we see E coli in people that are carrying these chicken-adaptive mobile genetic elements, we can not only say that it came from chicken, but it probably came from chicken recently," Price explained.The model estimated that 17.7% of the human clinical E coli isolates originated from food-producing animals, primarily chickens and turkeys. The researchers also found that a subset of E coli lineages, primarily those from poultry products, appeared to have "enhanced capacity" to cause zoonotic UTIs. Urine samples from women were significantly more likely to have zoonotic ExPEC strains than samples from men (19.7% vs 8.5%). But what was even more surprising was that highest proportion of zoonotic ExPEC isolates (21.5%) was identified in patients from high-poverty areas. "After adjusting for age, sex, and race/ethnicity, individuals residing in a high-poverty area had a 1.6-fold increased risk of zoonotic ExPEC infections compared to those in low-poverty areas," the authors wrote. Although the factors underlying the correlate between the poverty rate and foodborne UTIs isn't entirely clear and needs further study, Price says he has some ideas. He notes that when he first began this line of research, he noticed that the chicken he bought from stores in poorer neighborhoods in Washington, DC, tended to be poorly packaged and "bloated with saline" that was likely contaminated with bacteria and could leak onto other groceries.Although they didn't compare retail meat packaging in stores from different neighborhoods in this study, Price says he would like to see if that could be a factor. "I do think that you could have the poorest-quality products in the poorest packaging being marketed in the poorest neighborhoods," he said. "It's a question worth investigating."For now, though, Price says recognizing meat as a potential source of exposure to zoonotic E coli could help reduce the burden of UTIs. One place to start would be for industry or regulatory agencies to start testing meat for other types of E coli, and not just the toxigenic strains that cause gastrointestinal illness."Almost every piece of chicken or ground turkey I test has E coli in it," he said. "We should be doing more to decrease contamination."Until that happens, he added, consumers should follow safe food-handling procedures, including thorough cooking of meat, washing hands and surfaces, and avoiding cross-contamination."When you open that package, just assume you've splattered some bacteria in your kitchen; assume every piece of meat is contaminated, and handle it that way," he said.

How bacteria that cause inflammatory colitis outmaneuver our body's defenses -This Institute of Science Tokyo infographic depicts the precise molecular mechanisms by which Shigella bacteria counteract our body's defensive responses, revealing a multistep cascade mechanism. Bacteria use multiple defense mechanisms to survive in the host body. Shigella bacteria that cause colitis disable multiple host defense pathways using three specialized effector proteins, as reported by researchers from Japan. They found that these effectors suppress inflammation, block apoptosis, and prevent necroptosis in human cells, allowing the pathogen to replicate. This study offers new insights that could help develop vaccines and targeted therapies to manage inflammatory colitis. Shigellosis, an acute intestinal infection that manifests as severe inflammatory colitis (inflammation of the colon), is a significant public health challenge. Caused by Shigella bacteria, it is especially prevalent in developing countries and areas with poor sanitation, affecting millions of adults and children alike. The resulting illness, which can range from mild to life-threatening, puts a substantial strain on health care systems and remains a leading cause of diarrheal mortality globally. Shigella flexneri, the species responsible for most cases of shigellosis, possesses unique evolutionary adaptations that allow it to thrive within the human intestine. The body's first response to harmful bacteria is inflammation—a rapid defensive action to recruit immune cells and wall off the infection. If that fails, host cells deploy a second, drastic measure: intentional cell death (apoptosis and necroptosis). Recent research has shown that Shigella can actively counteract both of these strategies using proteins called effectors. However, the precise mechanisms these bacteria use to achieve this feat are not fully understood. In a new study, a research team led by Associate Professor Hiroshi Ashida and Professor Toshihiko Suzuki from the Department of Bacterial Infection and Host Response of the Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences at Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo), Japan, sought to tackle this knowledge gap. Their latest paper, published in The EMBO Journal on September 10, 2025, describes in great detail the highly specialized effectors S. flexneri uses to circumvent our body's defenses. . First, they found that Shigella releases an effector OspI, which deactivates the protein Ubc13. This has two main consequences: it suppresses the NF-κB inflammatory pathway, thus preventing early inflammation, but also induces apoptosis through the caspase-8 (casp-8) pathway. To counteract this form of cell death, Shigella then releases OspC1, an effector that modifies casp-8 via ADP-riboxanation and prevents apoptosis. Host cells detect this disturbance of casp-8, resulting in the induction of necroptosis as a backup defense. Finally, Shigella also blocks necroptosis using the OspD3 effector, which degrades the key proteins, receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase (RIPK) 1 and RIPK3. Together, these three effectors neutralize a big part of the early strategies our bodies rely on to limit the extent of bacterial invasions. "These findings highlight a clever multilayered manipulation that pathogenic bacteria use to evade and exploit the host's defense mechanisms," remarks Ashida. By clarifying these intricate bacterial–host interactions, this study will help scientists come up with effective ways to combat shigellosis, reducing the burden of this dangerous condition.

International team to investigate natural human resistance to Salmonella --An international team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Liverpool has received an award of £4.56 million (US $6.06 million) for a 5-year research program that will explore natural human protection against Salmonella.The award from Wellcome Discovery will enable the team to investigate the role that microbial composition, nutrient use, and dietary factors play in resistance to colonization bySalmonella Typhimurium, which typically causes gastroenteritis but is also a leading cause of invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS) disease, a severe bloodstream infection. The work will build on the findings from a previous study, in which some healthy volunteers who were deliberately exposed to a beverage containing Salmonella Typhimurium showed complete resistance to colonization.Modeling studies estimate that iNTS caused 594,000 infections and 79,000 deaths in 2019, primarily in young children in sub-Saharan Africa. The researchers say one of the ultimate objectives of the study is to develop microbiota-based therapies that could prevent infection and reduce reliance on antibiotics

Study links race, inequality to higher risk of drug-resistant infections -A new study suggests race, ethnicity, and income inequality in high-income countries (HICs) are associated with a higher risk of drug-resistant infections, researchers reported yesterday in JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance.In a systematic scoping review, researchers from the UK Health Agency and Imperial College London reviewed literature on health inequalities and the risk of antibiotic-resistant infections in HICs that was published from 2010 through February 2024. Although antibiotic use is the primary driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), previous studies have highlighted the intersection between poverty, social deprivation, health inequalities, and AMR, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of the study was to explore how these factors may influence AMR risk in HICs. Of the 331 papers reviewed, 18 were included in the final analysis. Twelve of the studies were conducted in the United States, and the rest were from the United Kingdom (2), New Zealand (2), Australia (1), and Europe (1). The most frequently identified pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus (13 studies) and Escherichia coli (5). Ethnicity/race was the most frequently cited element of health inequality (11), followed by deprivation (7) and age (7). In the United States, Black patients had methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) rates that were two to three times higher than White patients, despite declines in overall MRSA rates. In Australia and New Zealand, indigenous and Maori/Pacific Peoples had a higher burden of MRSA than other ethnic groups. Similar racial disparities were also observed for streptococcal infections, with higher rates of penicillin-resistant S pneumoniae observed in Hispanic patients than in non-Hispanic Whites in the United States. Drug-resistant E coli infections were more prevalent in Maori populations in New Zealand and in low-income or high-deprivation groups in the United States and Europe, while income inequality correlated with resistance in Enterococcus, Klebsiella, and Pseudomonas across Europe.

Analysis suggests cigarette butts are a source of antibiotic-resistance genes -A new study suggests cigarette butts are an "overlooked yet potent" source of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), Chinese researchers reported today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.For the study, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences collected cigarette butts, plant litter, and soil from 105 urban green spaces and 35 cities across China and analyzed them for the presence of ARGs and bacterial pathogens using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. They were interested in studying cigarette butts because they come into direct contact with the opportunistic and pathogenic bacteria within the smoker's oral cavity, are ubiquitous in the environment, and contain substances that can leach into the environment."Urban greenspaces are key recreational areas for picnicking, exercise, and children's activities, yet they are frequently contaminated with discarded cigarette butts," the study authors wrote. "We hypothesize that cigarette butts create a favorable niche for the proliferation and persistence of ARGs and potential pathogens due to their unique combination of human-derived microbiota and chemical contaminants."In total, 1,356 ARG subtypes spanning 29 antibiotic-resistance classes were identified, with 1,209 occurring in cigarette butts. The abundance of ARGs in cigarette butts was 1.24-fold higher than in plant litter and 1.48-fold higher than in soil, and also exceeded ARG levels found on other artificial surfaces, such as buildings. The researchers detected 95 potential pathogens in cigarette butts, which was twice as many as they found in plant litter and three times as many as in soil. Clinically relevant, ARG-enriched pathogens in cigarette butts included Enterobacter, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas.

Quick takes: Nipah vaccine project, global decline in cholera, avian flu in US wild birds | CIDRAP

• CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, announced yesterday a $7.3 million partnership with the Serum Institute of India and the University of Oxford to create the world's largest Nipah virus vaccine reserve — up to 100,000 doses of the University of Oxford's ChAdOx1 NipahB vaccine. The money will initially help fund a phase 2 trial in a Nipah-affected country. "By advancing clinical testing and manufacturing thousands of vaccine doses against one of the world's deadliest viral pathogens, in a region where the virus persistently occurs, we're creating a state of readiness against Nipah outbreaks," said Amadou Sall, PhD, CEPI's executive director of manufacturing and supply chain, in a CEPI press release. Nipah virus has a high case-fatality rate, killing 75% of those infected.
• Cholera activity dropped significantly across the globe last month, according to a new a multi-countryoutbreak report from the World Health Organization (WHO) published today. In September cases were down 27% from August, while cholera-related deaths declined 37%. From January 1 to September 28, a total of 518,324 cholera cases and 6,508 deaths were reported from 32 countries across five WHO regions. Though September brought a decline in activity, 2025 has seen an increase in cholera-related deaths, surpassing last year's total of 6,028 fatalities.
• Today the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported roughly 50 new detections of highly pathogenic avian flu in more than a dozen states. Utah had 14 reports of sickened birds, mostly in Weber and Davis counties, including Canada geese, a great horned owl, and a mallard. Alaska's North Slope County recorded four infections in common ravens, and Grant County, Washington, reported seven detections in waterfowl.

Quick takes: More Rift Valley fever in Senegal, mpox clade 1b threat, avian flu on California duck farm

• Senegal has now recorded 302 confirmed cases, including 26 deaths, in its growing Rift Valley fever outbreak. In total, 227 patients have recovered, the Ministry of Health said in its most recent update. The outbreak has now spread to eight regions in the country, most recently Thies. Last week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the outbreak’s case-fatality rate as 7.9%. Rift Valley fever usually affects livestock but can spread to people via contact with the body fluids of infected animals or through mosquito bites.
• The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published an updated technical assessment for mpox clade 1b, saying the probability of importation into the United Kingdom has increased from medium to high as person-to-person transmission has now been documented outside of Africa (Europe and North America.) But officials said onward transmission in the United Kingdom is likely to be controlled somewhat by some levels of immunity from natural infection or vaccination among the at-risk population of men who have sex with men.
• The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced one new highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) detection on a commercial duck farm in Sonoma County, California. A total of 57,300 birds were affected.

First West Nile death of 2025 confirmed in LA County The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health late last week confirmed the first West Nile Virus death of the year in a resident of San Fernando Valley, who was hospitalized and died from neurologic illness following a severe West Nile virus infection. “This tragic loss reminds us how dangerous mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile virus and dengue can be,” said Muntu Davis, MD, MPH, Los Angeles County Health Officer in a press release. “Protect yourself and your neighbors by using insect repellent, getting rid of standing water where mosquitoes breed, and keeping window and door screens in good repair. Small actions like these can make a big difference in preventing illness.”So far this year Los Angeles County has documented 14 West Nile virus cases, with half coming from the San Fernando Valley region.According to county officials, peak mosquito season lasts from June to November in Los Angeles County. Most people infected with the virus don't have symptoms, but about 1 in 5 develop a fever and other symptoms such as headache, body aches, joint pain, and vomiting. About 1 in 150 of those infected will have severe symptoms that may include high fever, stiff neck, muscle weakness, and sometimes a rash.

AI and citizen science reveal potential first detection of invasive malaria mosquito in Madagascar -- Researchers from the University of South Florida have used artificial intelligence and citizen science to identify what may be the first specimen of Anopheles stephensi—an invasive and deadly malaria-carrying mosquito—ever detected in Madagascar. The study, led by USF scientists Ryan Carney and Sriram Chellappan, demonstrates how AI-powered image recognition and public participation can transform global disease surveillance. Anopheles stephensi poses a growing threat across Africa because it thrives in urban environments, breeding in artificial containers such as tires and buckets rather than natural puddles like native Anopheles mosquitoes. Its spread could put an additional 126 million people at risk of malaria in Africa alone. The breakthrough came from a single photo submitted by local residents in Antananarivo through NASA's GLOBE Observer app. The image, showing a mosquito larva found in a tire, was later analyzed using AI algorithms trained on thousands of authenticated mosquito images. The system identified the larva as Anopheles stephensi with over 99% confidence. Supporting this classification, more than 100 other Anopheles larvae were discovered nearby in similar artificial containers the same day, though not photographed. While official detection requires genetic testing—no longer possible because these specimens were immediately destroyed—if this species identification is correct, it would represent the first evidence of Anopheles stephensi in Madagascar. That same year, the country experienced a doubling of malaria cases and deaths. Mosquitoes are the most dangerous animals on the planet, infecting over 700 million people each year with various pathogens. Malaria remains the deadliest, annually killing nearly half a million children under the age of five. The implications of the research extend far beyond Africa, as the need to be vigilant and proactive in the surveillance of malaria vectors is becoming increasingly important domestically. In 2023, the U.S. experienced local outbreaks of malaria for the first time in two decades. Florida had more cases than all other states combined, once again making the state ground zero for mosquito-borne diseases in the continental U.S.

Avian Flu detected on more Minnesota turkey farms -Over the weekend the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported more detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial and backyard poultry flocks. Notably, two large commercial turkey farms were hit in Minnesota, the nation's top turkey producer and the current epicenter of HPAI activity. A commercial turkey farm was affected in Meeker County with 132,500 birds reported avian flu, as was a producer in Otter Tail County with 36,900 birds. A commercial broiler chicken facility in Georgia's Gordon County also reported avian flu, affecting 139,000 birds. Infected backyard flocks in Montana and Michigan were also reported. And three farms had confirmed HPAI in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which has had several recent detections. The flocks ranged in size from 1,000 to 45,900 poultry.Avian flu activity is increasing across the country. In the past 30 days, confirmations have been made in 64 flocks, including 30 commercial flocks and 34 backyard flocks, with 3.57 million birds affected in the outbreaks. Minnesota has seen the highest jump in activity, with 665,720 birds affected.

Avian flu detected in house mice in Washington state -Six house mice in Grant County, Washington, have been identified as having avian influenza, a mammal detectionthat is likely linked to increased avian influenza among wild birds in the same county. According to an update from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the mice were collected on October 15.Grant County, which is west of Spokane, recently had seven avian flu detections in wild birds, including several ducks and waterfowl. Those detections occurred on October 23.Avian influenza detections in both wild birds and commercial poultry have skyrocketed in recent weeks as birds migrate south.

Review: Human H5N1 avian flu cases can be asymptomatic, and the virus likely spreads among people -Asymptomatic human avian influenza A(H5N1) infections occur, and person-to-person transmission is likely in some settings, reveals a scoping review by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers.The study, published yesterday in JAMA Network Open, involved a search for studies on confirmed highly pathogenic H5N1 infection published through August 25, 2025."Since 1997, more than 1,000 infections with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus among humans have been reported globally," the researchers wrote. "Given ongoing A(H5N1) outbreaks in animals, understanding the frequency of A(H5N1) virus infections among asymptomatic persons can inform public health risk assessments and infection prevention guidance."The team identified 10 reports of 18 asymptomatic human H5N1 infection, including 2 with molecular and serologic confirmation (MSC) and 16 with molecular confirmation alone (MC). The two MSC cases occurred in adults in Pakistan and Vietnam who were identified through investigations of household contacts of index H5N1 patients; one patient was also exposed to infected chickens, and the other is believed to have been infected through human-to-human spread, because they had no contact with sick or dead poultry. Neither MSC patient had used personal protective equipment when in close contact with an infected household member or chickens. Of the 16 MC patients (14 adults and 2 children), 11 were identified through enhanced surveillance of people exposed to poultry infected with H5N1 (8 in Bangladesh, 2 in Spain, and 1 in the United Kingdom), and the remaining 5 patients (3 in Vietnam and 2 in Cambodia) were identified through contact tracing."Asymptomatic human infections with A(H5N1) virus have been infrequently reported, with most cases identified through enhanced surveillance or household contact investigations of persons with known exposure," the authors noted. "Robust data collection is needed from persons with possible asymptomatic A(H5N1) virus infection to inform future public health responses."

A one-shot flu vaccine can beat avian flu strains before they appear - Scientists have developed a proof-of-concept vaccine that could offer broad protection against all known and emerging variants of highly pathogenic avian influenza (A5) viruses, including those that have yet to evolve. This kind of one-shot blanket protection could significantly improve our defenses against the threat of a future pandemic. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (A5) viruses are a significant global health concern. They have caused infections in birds, dairy cows, and poultry, and have jumped to humans, causing serious illnesses and fatalities. Our current defenses rely on continually updating strain-specific vaccines, a slow, reactive process that requires waiting for new variants to emerge before matching vaccines can be developed and deployed. This leaves populations at risk during the early stages of an outbreak. The challenge for vaccine makers is that the virus's surface protein, hemagglutinin (HA), is constantly changing or antigenically evolving, making it difficult to design a vaccine against all strains. So complex and unpredictable is the evolution of A5 viruses that the World Health Organization has recommended 48 new candidate vaccines since 2006. In a study published in the journal Nature, Mathilde Rochard of Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands and her team describe how they developed a method to design a vaccine that targets all strains rather than a single one.

Third Wyoming hunt area in past month tests positive for CWD - For the third time this month, Wyoming has documented a first-time chronic wasting disease (CWD) detection in another hunting area. Yesterday, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department confirmed that a hunter-harvested mule deer buck tested positive for CWD in Mule Deer Hunt Area 153 in the Pinedale Region, located in the western part of the state. "Mule Deer Hunt Area 153 is bordered by CWD-positive Mule Deer Hunt Areas 142 (detected in 2023), 144 (detected in 2021), 152 (detected in 2019) and 154 (detected in 2023)," the press release said. "Mule Deer Area 153 is part of the Sublette Mule Deer Herd. CWD was first detected in this herd in 2017." The previous detections announced this month were noted in cow elks in Elk Hunt Area 116 in the northeastern corner of Wyoming, near Casper, and in Elk Hunt Area 61 in the northwestern part of the state, near Cody. A fatal neurologic disease affecting cervids such as elk, deer, and moose, CWD spreads via infectious misfolded proteins called prions, which can be transmitted from animal to animal and through environmental contamination.

Gray wolf numbers fall to their lowest level in a decade in far northern Minnesota -A string of mild winters and scarce deer may have taken their toll on northern Minnesota's wolves. The wolf population in and around Voyageurs National Park dropped to roughly 100 this year, its lowest point in more than a decade, according to an annual survey from the Voyageur's Wolf Project. Researchers estimated there were 45 wolves per 1,000 square-kilometers in the woods around Voyageurs, down from 55 in 2024 and 65 in 2023. The dip is part of the natural ebb and flow between predator and prey, said Tom Gable, the project lead of the Voyageurs Wolf Project. The wolf population in the area is still healthy and will likely climb again as deer numbers rebound, he said. "It follows a fairly typical pattern," he said. The winters of 2022 and 2023 were unusually severe in northern Minnesota, with deep snowpacks lasting well into spring. That snow, especially when it lingers into April and May, is tough on deer. "Deer can weather deep snow for a month or two, but if it drags into spring it really starts to challenge them," Gable said. That's because they've already burned through most of their fat reserves to survive the winter. The snow makes it harder for them to move, requiring more energy to get around and evade wolves. Eventually, the deer become a relatively easy meal. Gable said the deer population in the Voyageurs area was cut in half by the spring of 2023, following the two severe winters. Mild winters, on the other hand, are extremely difficult for wolves. Without snow on the ground to slow them down, deer stay fast and energized and better able to elude predators. All other sources of food for the wolves, including beavers, fish and blueberries, are inaccessible. The wolves burn through their fat reserves by the spring and struggle to raise their pups. The winter of 2024 was one of the mildest ever recorded in northern Minnesota. Another mild winter in 2025 brought very little snow, as well.

California kills 4 wolves, removes pack after Sierra cattle attacks -- California wildlife officials euthanized four gray wolves in Sierra Valley and plan to relocate three more to a wildlife sanctuary, after months of nonlethal efforts failed to prevent livestock attacks that cost ranchers tens of thousands of dollars and terrified residents. The dramatic steps will have the effect of moving the entire Beyem Seyo pack away from Sierra Valley, where the wolves had become habituated to preying on cattle—to a degree that state conservation officials describe as highly unusual for the protected apex predators. The euthanizations, which occurred earlier in October, marked the first time in more than a century that California officials have killed wolves, which remain protected under both state and federal endangered species laws. Environmentalists called the decision a tragedy. "It's hard, and it weighs on you," Charleton H. Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. "This decision was not made lightly." The situation highlights a problem that is playing out throughout the West as environmental protections allow wolves to begin to return to the landscape after they were hunted to near-extinction. Some states have removed wolves from protected species lists and begun to allow them to be hunted anew. Federal protections for wolves have also been relaxed in some western states. In California, Sierra Valley's experience with wolves comes against a backdrop of growing concern about wildlife predators in California, as coyotes, mountain lions and bears—along with wolves—are increasingly coming into contact with human communities. The state is beginning a process of re-evaluating protections for the gray wolf, but the move is likely to be contentious, with environmentalists arguing for stringent protections, and some residents of rural areas terrified of what could go wrong if a pack becomes used to eating livestock and living near humans. Three of the wolves euthanized last week in Sierra Valley were adults. They were tranquilized from the air before receiving lethal injections from biologists on the ground, Bonham said. A few days earlier, a six-month-old pup was mistaken for an adult and killed unintentionally, officials said, by a firearm shot from a helicopter. The Beyem Seyo pack—three adults and six juveniles—killed 87 cattle between late March and mid-October, according to Bonham, hunting more livestock in seven months than the roughly 200 wolves in neighboring Oregon attacked in an entire year. The unrelenting attacks, followed by bloody discoveries nearly every morning, created panic and distrust among local ranchers and strained law enforcement resources in the bucolic valley 100 miles northeast of Sacramento. "This dynamic with this particular pack is far outside the known experience in any other western state," Bonham said.

Greens sue to get a belated ESA decision on Olympic marmots - Environmentalists sued the Fish and Wildlife Service Wednesday for missing a deadline over whether to provide Endangered Species Act protections to Olympic marmots. Citing existential threats that include climate change and predatory coyotes, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition in May 2024 asking the federal agency to list the species as threatened or endangered. The Fish and Wildlife Service then missed the deadlines for making an ESA decision, according to the new lawsuit. “These adorable Pacific Northwest marmots need Endangered Species Act protections because not even the mighty Olympic Mountains can shield them from climate change and coyotes,” said Aaron Kunkler, with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Protecting Olympic marmots will also make sure the beautiful alpine meadows they call home survive into the future.” The missed-deadline lawsuit filed in Seattle’s federal courthouse catches the Fish and Wildlife Service where it is often most vulnerable, as the Endangered Species Act sets out a series of deadlines in black and white.

A new city has been crowned the ‘rattiest’ city in the US, according to annual rankings— Big cities are populated by hundreds of thousands of people, but a larger, hidden population lurks in the shadows. Depending on where you are in the country, there could be millions of rats just beneath your feet. Pest control companies can’t pin down an exact number of rats in the world but estimate there is about one to two rats per person. There are roughly 8.2 billion people on Earth right now, which means with a one-to-one ratio, there would be 8.2 million rats. But that number can easily balloon to 16.4 billion with more generous estimates of two-to-one. There’s an old saying that you are never more than six feet away from a rat, and that’s especially true if you live in some of the biggest cities in the country. This is because rodents love to live off the waste left by humans. So, where you find a lot of humans, you’ll find a lot of rats. Pest control company Orkin released its annual rankings for the “rattiest” cities in the United States. To find this, Orkin tracks all of the rodent services requested by owner-occupied residences over the past year, which offers a snapshot of the cities with the highest levels of reported rodent activity. Historically, Chicago has occupied the No.1 spot every year that Orkin has released its annual rankings, which it has been reporting for over a decade. But this year, there is a new city being crowned the “rattiest” — Los Angeles. Orkin cites that growing warm climates can help a rat’s survivability rate, so hotter cities are seeing themselves fly up the rankings, giving Los Angeles the slight edge over Chicago this year. Chicago falls to No. 2 in the rankings, followed by New York and San Francisco. Rounding out the top five is Hartford, Conn., which wasn’t even listed in the top 10 in last year’s rankings Here’s Orkin’s full list of the top 25 “rattiest” cities in the U.S.

Ranchers agreed to leave a national park. Then RFK Jr. got involved. - Point Reyes National Seashore — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a wellness influencer and a pioneering dairy farmer joined forces earlier this year to upend a landmark deal that stopped most cattle operations at this park north of San Francisco. In January, a decadelong fight over whether cattle nurtured or damaged a pastoral park on the Pacific Ocean appeared to close with a settlement that retired most of the cattle ranches and dairy farms. Now, even as barns come down and families move away, a small group of ranchers aligned with Kennedy is urging the Trump administration to again rewrite the Point Reyes story and order the National Park Service to re-embrace the region’s ranching roots. “It was the first glimmer of hope that I had that we could do something,” said Albert Straus, a dairyman in the region who first helped get Kennedy involved. Point Reyes National Seashore lies on the coast north of the Golden Gate Bridge, where the skies are often moody and overcast, and the people in Marin and Sonoma counties vote blue far more often than red. Environmental groups for years said the cattle polluted the land and the seashore should be managed instead for indigenous wild elk, as well as for visitors from the Bay Area’s bustling cities. Ranchers whose families worked the land for generations countered that their operations represented the best kind of agriculture: small farms raising cattle that grazed the coastal grasslands. Years of lobbying and litigation ended in the last days of the Biden administration, when the Nature Conservancy helped broker an estimated $40 million deal between 11 of the farming families, environmental groups and the National Park Service to phase out most ranching and dairy farming in Point Reyes. But within weeks, Kennedy quietly launched an effort to thwart it, according to three people who spoke with the health secretary and other members of the administration. The Point Reyes cattle debate seems tailor-made for Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda — which in part emphasizes small farms and weaning people off processed foods — while pitting him against former allies in the environmental community. Kennedy has told people he’s enlisted Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who dispatched Wyoming lawyer and Interior political appointee Karen Budd-Falen to broker a Point Reyes solution. A member of Budd-Falen’s team has recently visited Point Reyes and spoken with local ranchers, according to three people familiar with the meetings. A group of bull tule elk with big antlers stand in grass with the ocean in the background at the Point Reyes National Seashore. What the Trump administration could pull off isn’t clear. Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, declined to comment. The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Kennedy’s involvement. Most of the ranchers in the settlement have closed their operations and moved away or are in the process of doing so. They’ve also taken payments and signed an agreement to leave. When Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee in April launched a probe into the settlement, seven of the participating ranchers and dairy farmers sent a letter to lawmakers asking them to back down. They called the agreement the only “viable option” after years of litigation and uncertainty. But one of those ranchers, Kevin Lunny, said he hopes the Trump administration will provide a new generation of ranchers a fresh start in Point Reyes. Lunny’s grandfather bought a dairy in Point Reyes in 1947. After agreeing to the settlement in January, Lunny and his family moved to a property outside of Sacramento with just a handful of cows as a memento of their ranching past. “It’s OK if we’re gone,” he said in an interview. “We made a decision, and we have to live with it, and it’s sad. We would love to think that we could be there, but someone should be there.” Rep. Jared Huffman, the ranking Democratic member of the House Natural Resources Committee, whose district includes Marin County, said he doubted the administration would succeed in solving what’s long been a thorny legal dispute. A former environmental lawyer, Huffman said he wasn’t pleased that the Trump administration was weighing changes to a hard-won and difficult agreement. “At the end of the day, you’re going to probably land back on something just like this settlement,” he said in an August interview. “The question is, will these poor ranching families that have been put through the ringer be collateral damage?”

Africa's wildlife has lost a third of its natural 'power', study warns -Africa's ecosystems are running on less than two-thirds of the natural energy they once had, according to new Oxford-led research published today in Nature. The study reveals a dramatic loss of wildlife "power" across the continent—the energy that drives vital ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling and seed dispersal—posing growing risks to biodiversity and the livelihoods that depend on it.These findings come as world leaders prepare for COP30 in Brazil next month, where nature and climate will be in focus. By mapping how energy flows through African wildlife food webs, the researchers found that total ecological energy has fallen by more than one-third since pre-colonial times, largely due to the decline of large-bodied species such as elephants, rhinos, and lions that once shaped and sustained the continent's ecosystems."The most important, and alarming, result is the collapse of ecosystem functions performed by Africa's megafauna," said Dr. Ty Loft, lead author of the study and a researcher at Oxford's Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography and the Environment. "Large wild animals are ecological engineers. Their roles can't simply be replaced by smaller species or livestock. The loss of these giants has the potential to transform Africa's ecosystems and landscapes."The study uses an "ecosystem energetics" approach that quantifies how energy flows through food webs—from sunlight captured by plants to the animals that consume it. Using data from more than 3,000 bird and mammal species across 317,000 landscapes covering forests, savannas, and deserts, the researchers combined six major ecological datasets, including a new Biodiversity Intactness Index for Africa built with local expert knowledge.This energy-based lens reveals not only how much biodiversity has been lost, but how that loss affects the very functioning of nature. While large mammalshave suffered the greatest declines, smaller species such as rodents and songbirds now dominate Africa's remaining energy flow."Energy flow is the shimmering web that holds together an ecosystem," said Professor Yadvinder Malhi, co-author of the study and also at Oxford's Environmental Change Institute. "By mapping how this web weakens or strengthens as animals decline or recover, we can see how life itself is reorganizing across the continent. This approach turns the concept of biodiversity loss into something physically meaningful."

Six new bat species discovered in protected forests of the Philippines -- Just in time for Halloween, six new bat species have been discovered by researchers from the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Field Museum in Chicago, and Lawrence University in Wisconsin. This nocturnal—and slightly spooky—group of mammals is incredibly diverse, and the discovery adds to the thousands of known bat species. Formally described as new species through the examination of physical and genetic characteristics, these six new species from the Philippines are commonly known as tube-nosed bats. "This latest research serves to illustrate how much remains unknown about the countless species with which we coexist," says Dr. Judith Eger, Curator Emeritus of Mammals at ROM. "Expanding our knowledge of biodiversity is essential to understanding and managing our environment on behalf of humanity and the other species on which the vitality of our planet depends." "Before we started our research, there were only two species of tube-nosed bats reported from the Philippines," says Dr. Burton Lim, Assistant Curator of Mammals at ROM. "We confirmed the presence of one of those species, plus another closely related species previously unknown to science. The other previously reported species was actually not present in the Philippines, but we did find five new species that were masquerading as it!" The six new bat species—Murina alvarezi, Murina baletei, Murina hilonghilong, Murina luzonensis, Murina mindorensis, and Murina philippinensis—were identified as separate species through a combination of morphological examination and genetic testing. Researchers examined tooth pattern, skull shape, fur banding and other visible characteristics, and conducted genetic analyses in the ROM Laboratory of Molecular Systematics. Tube-nosed bats (genus Murina) are insect-eating bats found throughout Asia that depend on forested areas for roosting and are therefore at risk from deforestation. The Philippines, as a country of many large and small islands, is home to remarkably diverse habitats and was known to have 79 species of bats—even before this current discovery. How bat species of the genus Murina in the Philippines differ from those from other regions in Southeast Asia has been a ROM research focus for many years. The ROM bat collection is among the most extensive in the world and includes dried skins with skeletons and ethanol-preserved specimens. In addition, the collection contains 15,000 frozen tissue specimens from 30 countries, representing 15 of the world's 21 bat families, 120 of 220 genera, and 400 of 1,400 species. This current research, now published in the international journal of animal taxonomy Zootaxa, adds six more new species of bats known to science, and their corresponding nucleotide sequences have been deposited in GenBank. With many diverse forest environments in the Philippines, more new bat species are likely to be discovered in the future.

Australian Mountain Dragon faces 'nowhere left to go' as climate warms -Climate change is driving many of Australia's native reptiles toward extinction, and the answers to their future survival may lie in the fossil record. New research published today in Current Biology originates from an international collaboration with Museums Victoria Research Institute and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. The study reveals that the endangered Australian Mountain Dragon (Rankinia diemensis) has been driven into increasingly smaller and more isolated populations over thousands of years as a result of changing climate conditions. The study combines fossil evidence from natural history museums with genetic data from preserved specimens to uncover how the species has responded to major environmental changes in the past and what this means for its future. Dr. Jane Melville, senior curator of terrestrial vertebrates at Museums Victoria Research Institute, said the research shows the species has been pushed up the mountains by climate change. "About 20,000 years ago during the last glacial period, Mountain Dragons occupied a much wider range across southeastern Australia, including regions such as Kangaroo Island and Naracoorte in South Australia," said Dr. Melville. "Today, those populations have vanished. The remaining populations in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania have a reduced distribution and are more genetically isolated than in the past, and if global temperatures continue to rise, these lizards will eventually have nowhere left to go." Reptiles are particularly vulnerable to climate change because they cannot actively regulate their body temperature. Similar distribution and genetic patterns have been observed in other species, such as the blotched blue-tongue lizard, Tiliqua nigrolutea, suggesting that multiple reptile species across southeastern Australia may face the same fate.

Why honey bees overthrow their queen - Known as supersedure, the process occurs when the tens of thousands of worker bees in a colony sense their queen is no longer laying enough eggs and coordinate to replace her with a new, healthier queen. While this survival strategy helps wild colonies adapt, it can spell trouble for managed hives, leading to gaps in egg-laying, weaker colony populations and ultimately less pollinating and honey production. Now, researchers at the University of British Columbia have made an important discovery that illuminates why these revolts occur and how they're coordinated with such remarkable synchronicity. Published recently in PNAS, the research team found that common viral infections shrink a queen's ovaries, reducing both her egg-laying capacity and her production of methyl oleate, a pheromone that normally keeps workers loyal. When methyl oleate levels drop, workers will "smell" the queen's weakness and begin preparing her successor. "A healthy queen can lay as many as 850 to 3,200 eggs per day, which is more than her whole body weight," . "But in our experiments, virus-infected queens laid fewer eggs and produced less methyl oleate. That pheromone reduction seems to be the signal to workers that a queen is no longer fit to continue." Bees pollinate about one-third of the world's crops, making them essential to healthy food systems, food security and the health of people and communities worldwide. The research highlights how viral infections are a driving factor behind these challenges, disrupting the delicate balance of chemical signals that maintain order in a hive. Importantly, the findings also point to a practical way for beekeepers to intervene and manage supersedure. In proof-of-concept field trials, colonies given synthetic pheromone blends that included methyl oleate were much less likely to rear new queens compared to colonies that received blends without it. "That could be a big deal for beekeepers," said Dr. Foster. "Supersedure can be disruptive and costly, but supplementing colonies with methyl oleate could help stabilize hives during periods when continuous productivity is most important." The findings open the door to new management strategies for commercial beekeepers dealing with viral outbreaks, especially during periods of peak pollination or honey production to prevent untimely queen loss."Our research really emphasizes how virus infections in queens can be a major problem for beekeepers," said first author Dr. Alison McAfee, a research associate at UBC's Michael Smith Laboratories and North Carolina State University. "Previous studies showed that failing queens were heavily infected with viruses, and now we know that those infections can lead to supersedure, which is risky for the colony and expensive for beekeepers to manage."

Report calls for $14 billion investment to protect and restore kelp forests worldwide -An international team is calling for a US $14 billion investment to protect and restore one of the planet's most valuable and overlooked marine ecosystems, kelp forests. Published by UNSW researchers and the Kelp Forest Alliance, the research establishes a clear financial benchmark for global kelp conservation. The study is published in the journal Biological Conservation. The funding is needed to achieve the Kelp Forest Challenge, a global mission to protect three million hectares and restore one million hectares of kelp forests by 2040. Kelp forests fringe nearly a third of the world's coastlines, sheltering fisheries, absorbing carbon, and supporting biodiversity worth an estimated US $500 billion per year. Yet as much as 60% of global kelp forests have declined over the past half-century due to ocean warming, pollution, and overgrazing by sea urchins. The $14 billion target represents a middle-ground scenario—"ambitious but achievable"—and helps align kelp conservation with the UN Climate Champion's Ocean Breakthrough Initiative. Lead author Dr. Aaron Eger says establishing a tangible funding goal is essential for mobilizing action and tracking progress. "Kelp forests are truly the fabric of our cold-water seas, but they've long been invisible in national and global conservation finance. "It varies year to year, but for every dollar invested in kelp conservation in Australia, our country invests 10–100 dollars into coral reefs. This mismatch is despite the fact that 2/3rds of Australians live right next door to a kelp forest. "Setting a clear target sets the agenda and really stresses the fact that we cannot do this alone. We need everyone in society to pitch in and meet this goal." If realized, the investment would secure kelp forests for future generations—protecting biodiversity, stabilizing coastlines, and sustaining livelihoods from Tasmania to Norway to California.

Insufficient sunlight exposure linked to higher rates of suicide - As the days are getting shorter, many people suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a kind of depression associated with the change of seasons and reduced hours of daylight in the fall and winter. Despite this well-documented phenomenon, researchers have established a positive correlation between length of day and suicide rates. Suicide rates are, counterintuitively, highest in springtime. A new study by Shinsuke Tanaka, assistant professor in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources' (CAHNR) Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, approached the connection between sunlight and suicide from a different angle. This work was published in the Journal of Health Economics. "The literature has shown a positive association between sunlight and suicide, and I thought that just doesn't make sense," Tanaka says. "It's got to be something related to the seasonality." Rather than looking at the hours of daylight throughout the year, Tanaka used 25 years of meteorological data at the county level from throughout the continental United States to assess the connection between sunny days and suicide rates. Using this approach, Tanaka found a strong correlation between more sunlight exposure and lower suicide rates. "This is the first empirical evidence to show the negative association between sunlight and suicide," Tanaka says. "So, it highlights the mental health benefits of sunlight exposure." The data Tanaka looked at used NASA satellite information to measure the amount of solar radiation that reaches Earth's surface in each county—essentially a measure of how sunny it was on a given day. This is a fundamental shift from previous studies. "The literature predominantly used daylight hours, the difference between sunrise and sunset, as a proxy for sunlight," Tanaka says. "That's a difference with our study. When it rains, when it's cloudy, the sunlight goes down. I used a more precise measure of solar energy that reaches the surface." Tanaka found that if sunlight exposure decreased by one standard deviation, the suicide rate increased by 6.76%. This estimate captures the combined impacts in the previous and current month. This effect size is comparable to other known risk factors such as firearm regulations, the existence of suicide prevention programs, and unemployment. "Our estimates are pretty comparable to those estimates," Tanaka says. "So, sunlight has a pretty big impact, just like other major interventions." Tanaka also found that Google searches for terms like "depression" and "suicide" increased when the amount of sunlight decreased. This is a major addition to the literature on suicide risk factors as suicide remains the only major cause of death in the U.S. that is increasing rather than decreasing over time. "Studies have shown that people are spending more time indoors and that's not good," Tanaka says. "We have to think about the costs and benefits of sunlight exposure and get a good amount of sunlight exposure for our mental health."

Rare Flash Flood Emergency declared in Lake County after 480 mm (19 inches) of rain, Florida – (video) More than 19 inches (483 mm) of rain fell within a few hours across Lake County, Florida, on October 26, 2025, prompting the National Weather Service in Melbourne to issue a rare Flash Flood Emergency. Severe thunderstorms caused extensive inundation in Central Florida, submerging vehicles and closing roads in Eustis, Mount Dora, and Titusville. Flood Warnings remain in effect along the St. Johns River as additional storms affect the region on October 27. Rain gauges and radar estimates indicated between 250 and 480 mm (10–19 inches) of rain fell in less than six hours, prompting the National Weather Service (NWS) in Melbourne to issue a Flash Flood Emergency for the region. Vehicles were submerged on State Route 46 near Sanford, while roads in downtown Eustis, Mount Dora, and Titusville were closed due to standing water. Two sinkholes were reported near Eustis, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department. Despite extensive flooding, local schools in Lake County operated on a normal schedule on Monday, and no injuries had been reported as of the morning of October 27. The river at Astor, spanning Lake and Volusia counties, had already reached minor flood stage and was expected to rise to moderate flood stage early in the week, with water levels around 0.94 m (3.1 feet). Upstream, the St. Johns River above Lake Harney in Seminole County was forecast to crest near 2.53 m (8.3 feet) by October 31. The NWS advised residents along the river to prepare for continued flooding through the week as additional rainfall was forecast for Monday afternoon and evening. A Flood Watch remained in effect through 20:00 EDT (00:00 UTC on October 28) for east-central Florida, from Daytona Beach to Vero Beach. The flooding was associated with a slow-moving upper-level low-pressure system that crossed the Gulf Coast over the weekend, drawing deep tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and producing training thunderstorm bands over the peninsula. The same system had caused severe weather and power outages in Texas on October 25 before moving eastward. Hydrological forecasts from NWS Melbourne indicated the St. Johns River would remain above flood stage through the upcoming weekend, with minor to moderate flooding likely to persist in low-lying communities. Residents were urged to avoid flooded roads and heed local emergency instructions.

Catastrophic and life-threatening winds, flooding and storm surge forecast as Category 5 Hurricane Melissa nears Jamaica landfall - (videos) Hurricane Melissa reached Category 5 strength on Monday, October 27, 2025, becoming the third Category 5 hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. On the forecast track, the center of Melissa will be near or over Jamaica late tonight or early Tuesday, cross eastern Cuba Tuesday night or early Wednesday, and then move near or over the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos on Wednesday. After that, the cyclone could reach the vicinity of Bermuda on Thursday night. Satellite image of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa at 14:50 UTC on October 27, 2025.

• Jamaica: Do not venture out of your safe shelter. Catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides are likely today through Tuesday, October 28. Catastrophic winds in the eyewall have the potential to cause total structural failure, especially in higher elevation areas, tonight and early Tuesday. This will result in extensive infrastructural damage, long-lasting power and communication outages, and isolated communities. Life-threatening storm surge and damaging waves are expected along the southern coast through Tuesday.
• Haiti and the Dominican Republic: Catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and landslides are expected across southwestern Haiti and southern portions of the Dominican Republic through midweek. In Haiti, extensive infrastructural damage and isolation of communities is likely. Tropical storm conditions are expected late Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Eastern Cuba: Heavy rainfall, with life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding and landslides, is expected to begin today. Life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds are expected late Tuesday and Tuesday night. Preparations should be rushed to completion.
• Southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos: Hurricane conditions, life-threatening storm surge, and heavy rainfall are possible on Wednesday. Residents should follow the advice given by local officials and be sure to have preparations complete by Tuesday night.

The National Hurricane Center designated Melissa as a Category 5 hurricane at 05:00 EDT (09:00 UTC) on October 27. At the time, the system was located about 210 km (130 miles) south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and 505 km (315 miles) south-southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. Maximum sustained winds (averaged over one minute) had increased to 260 km/h (160 mph), with higher gusts. The estimated minimum central pressure dropped to 917 hPa as the storm moved westward at 5 km/h (3 mph). The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season now ranks second for the number of Category 5 hurricanes, with three recorded. The only season with more is 2005, which produced four Category 5 hurricanes. Before 2025, the 2005 season was the only one on record with more than two Category 5 storms. satellite image of category 5 hurricane melissa at 1440 utc on october 27 2025. The system is forecast to take a slow turn toward the northwest and north is expected today and tonight, followed by a northeastward acceleration beginning on Tuesday and continuing through at least Thursday, October 29. Hurricane Melissa is forecast to make landfall over Jamaica on Monday night or early Tuesday. Destructive winds, storm surge, and catastrophic flooding are expected to intensify across Jamaica through the day as the storm nears landfall. Category 5 Hurricane Melissa forecast track by National Hurricane Center (NHC) as of October 27, 2025 Image credit: NHC Rainfall totals of 380 to 760 mm (15 to 30 inches) are forecast for Jamaica by Wednesday, October 29, with localized totals of up to 1 000 mm (40 inches). Additional rainfall of 200 to 400 mm (8 to 16 inches) is forecast for southern Hispaniola through Wednesday, with localized totals of up to 1 000 mm (40 inches) possible. Heavy rainfall of 250 to 380 mm (10 to 15 inches), with locally higher totals of up to 500 mm (20 inches), is forecast for eastern Cuba through Wednesday. Heavy rainfall will lead to catastrophic flooding and life-threatening landslides in all affected regions as the storm moves closer to Jamaica. The Jamaican government has ordered evacuations for parts of the capital, Kingston, and the entire island has been declared “threatened.” Prime Minister Andrew Holness has ordered the immediate evacuation of several vulnerable communities across the island. Jamaica’s Minister of Local Government, Desmond McKenzie, told local media that all 881 shelters on the island are open. Hurricane Melissa has already killed four people across Hispaniola and could be the strongest hurricane to ever hit Jamaica, according to the BBC. At least three people are known to have died, and hundreds of homes have been flooded in Haiti as Melissa brought torrential rainfall to Hispaniola. One person was reported dead in the Dominican Republic. YouTube video Local media identified the victim as a 79-year-old man who was swept away by floodwaters in the capital, Santo Domingo. A 13-year-old boy has also been reported missing after being dragged away by strong currents while swimming in the sea. Multiple rescues were conducted after people became trapped in their cars due to rising floodwaters.

Hurricane Melissa is now the strongest storm on the planet this year --- What Jamaica will face as Category 5 hurricane makes landfall:

• • Strongest storm this year: Melissa underwent extreme rapid intensification over the weekend and continues to strengthen. The rare Category 5 has winds of 175 mph, with stronger gusts, making it the strongest storm on the planet this year.
• • Jamaica’s worst hurricane: Melissa’s outer bands are lashing Jamaica with wind and rain. Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for vulnerable coastal areas of Jamaica. Melissa has already killed three people in Haiti and one person in the Dominican Republic.
• • Catastrophic impact: Up to 40 inches of rain, 13 feet of storm surge and 160 mph sustained winds will cause “extensive infrastructure damage” that will cut off communities, the National Hurricane Center warned.

US embassies across the Caribbean issued advice for US citizens on Monday as Hurricane Melissa barreled toward Jamaica.Here is a summary of their guidance:

• The US Embassy in Jamaica told US citizens potentially in the path of Hurricane Melissa to be prepared to shelter in place, adding that the embassy will still be available for “limited emergency services” until Friday.
• The US Embassy in The Bahamas said US citizens who could be in Melissa’s track should consider departing now “while flights are available and departure is still possible” or be prepared to shelter in place.
• The US Embassy in Haiti warned that any travel is conducted “at your own risk,” but ultimately issued similar advice for US citizens in risky areas: “Leave now while some flights are still available or be prepared to shelter in place.”
• The US Embassy in Cuba said that it couldn’t guarantee the safety of US citizens traveling to airports, borders or during onward travel. It also suggested US citizens either “leave now” or be prepared to take shelter.

Hurricane season is winding down across most of the Atlantic, but in the Caribbean it’s normal for storms like Melissa to form in late October or November. As the rest of the Atlantic cools, the Caribbean stays warm. Its waters hold heat well into autumn, providing the energy hurricanes need to form and strengthen.At the same time, stronger winds high in the atmosphere — part of the jet stream — shift southward as the seasons change. Those fast winds create disruptive wind shear that tears potential storms apart across the open Atlantic, but the Caribbean often remains a pocket of calmer air farther south.That lingering warmth and calmer atmosphere make the Caribbean one of the few places where hurricanes can still form late in the year — even after much of the Atlantic has gone quiet. Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on November 30. Once Melissa moves past Jamaica, the storm’s flood threat will spread across the northern Caribbean through midweek.

• Much of southern Cuba will see at least a foot of rain with locally higher amounts of 20 to 30 inches.
• Parts of the central and southeastern Bahamas should see 4 to 8 inches as Melissa tracks north by midweek, with localized totals of 12 inches.
• Rain will continue in Southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic too, with an additional 6 to 8 inches possible early this week. That’s on top of the torrential rain that’s fallen in the past few days.

Much of the northern Caribbean will face widespread flooding, impassable roads and a significant landslide risk through at least Wednesday.Even as Melissa weakens slightly over land, its rainfall footprint will expand, so places far from the center could still experience significant flooding.Melissa remains a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 175 mph as of 5 p.m. ET but could potentially strengthen further in the coming hours, according to the National Hurricane Center.The hurricane has jogged a bit west of its forecast track in the past few hours, so its predicted landfall point in Jamaica has shifted slightly, too. Landfall is now expected near Black River, in the southwestern portion of the island, sometime after sunrise Tuesday morning. Melissa is still likely to be a ferocious Category 5 hurricane at landfall, though minor fluctuations in its top wind speed until that point are possible. Beyond Jamaica, Melissa is still forecast to slam Cuba as a major hurricane late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. From there, it will impact portions of the Bahamas and surrounding areas.A hurricane warning is now in effect for the southeastern and central Bahamas while a tropical storm warning is in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands. These warnings indicate powerful wind gusts are likely to start within 36 hours.

Hurricane Hunters release video of heavy turbulence inside Hurricane Melissa’s eye - NOAA Hurricane Hunters shared a video experienced above normal turbulence levels while going inside the eye of Hurricane Melissa forcing them to return due to safety concern on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. The U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, known as the “Hurricane Hunters,” experienced above-average turbulence while flying into the eye of Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday morning and were forced to turn back. A video shared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows the pilots and the crew experiencing heavy turbulence in the cabin of the WP-3D Orion “Kermit” while going into the eye of the hurricane. The team was forced to return to its operating location in Curacao after experiencing “forces stronger than normal” that warranted a safety inspection before they could continue, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron wrote on social media. A similar situation arose on Monday, when a “Hurricane Hunters” flight left the storm early, the National Hurricane Center said. However, the Hurricane hunters flew back to the eye of the storm multiple times to collect data. They also reported whats called the “stadium effect”; where the plane was encircled by the tall clouds of the eye wall, giving the appearance of being inside a stadium. “As of today, NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters have flown nearly 80 flight hours for this storm, and have deployed more than 200 dropsondes along with 12 uncrewed aerial systems,” NOAA said on Wednesday, October 29. According to the agency, dropsondes measure vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed as they fall from the aircraft to the surface. The data collected by these high-flying meteorological stations can help improve hurricane track and intensity forecasts by up to 20%.

NOAA hurricane hunter crews, researchers flying without pay - The NOAA pilots and scientists flying aboard hurricane hunter aircraft into Hurricane Melissa’s 185-mile per hour winds are not being paid during the government shutdown, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed Tuesday.“Due to the ongoing federal government shutdown and last week’s failed measure in the Senate to pay essential workers, no NOAA employees are being paid at this time,” NOAA spokesperson Kim Doster said in an emailed statement. Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica as a Category 5 storm at roughly 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, according to NOAA’s National Hurricane Center. Melissa is expected to be the most powerful storm on record to pass through the Caribbean.The federal government’s hurricane hunters have continued to fly despite the shutdown. At least two missions — one operated by NOAA on Monday and the second by the Air Force on Tuesday — were aborted when pilots experienced dangerous turbulence passing through the hurricane.The government shutdown, now in its 28th day, has resulted in the furloughs of “nonessential” employees, including at NOAA. But National Weather Service staffers and other employees working on forecasts and other duties monitoring extreme weather are required to keep working.Rick Spinrad, the former NOAA administrator who has been critical the Trump administration’s management of NOAA, said, “Flying repeatedly through a powerful hurricane is a true test of one’s mettle. Doing so without any assurances of being paid is solid testimony to one’s service to their country.”The program is jointly run by NOAA and the Air Force. Both agency’s planes have been tested by the sheer power of Melissa’s winds.The Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, which flies hurricane hunter aircraft from Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, posted Tuesday on the social media site X that its crew returned to the Caribbean island of Curaçao after experiencing heavy turbulence while entering the storm’s eye wall.“During the event, the aircraft briefly experienced forces stronger than normal due to turbulence,” officials said in the post. “While this does not automatically indicate damage, standard safety procedures require an inspection before returning to operations.”On Monday, a NOAA-operated aircraft aborted its flight into Melissa’s eye wall after experiencing severe turbulence, according to NOAA. That plane, nicknamed Kermit, is a Lockheed WP-3D Orion turboprop. The plane landed at Lakeland, Florida, where it was inspected before returning to service, according to Doster.The hurricane hunter program operates 12 aircraft. The Air Force Reserve flies Lockheed Martin WC-130Js for their missions, while NOAA relies on two aging Lockheed Martin WP-3D Orions, according to the Government Accountability Office, which issued a report on the program in March. NOAA also uses a Gulfstream IV jet to fly at higher altitudes for reconnaissance purposes.Doster said both of NOAA’s Orion aircraft — nicknamed Kermit and Miss Piggy — are functional and ready for operations Wednesday. Kermit is the primary platform for Melissa flights, and N43RF Miss Piggy is in a backup role. The Gulfstream jet had not been assigned Tuesday, according to NOAA.

Hurricane Melissa Forecast: Catastrophic, Historic Jamaica Strike Begins | Weather.com - Melissa will be one of the most devastating hurricanes on record in Jamaica, with widespread flooding, landslides and destructive winds. Flooding rain is also a grave concern in Hispaniola and Cuba. Hurricane Melissa — a Category 5 hurricane — has turned to the northeast and will start to move toward Jamaica as it begins a catastrophic, historic strike on Jamaica with life-threatening flash flooding, landslides, destructive winds and storm surge. Melissa's torrential rain will also trigger catastrophic flooding in Haiti, and it will later strike eastern Cuba and the southeastern Bahamas. Hurricane Melissa's center is about 150 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica. The hurricane's forward speed is under 5 mph, which is the main driver behind some of its biggest threats.After the storm reached Category 5 intensity Monday morning and experienced gradual strengthening through the day, Melissa is expected to fluctuate in intensity during the next 12 to 24 hours as the storm potentially undergoes an eyewall replacement cycle. Even if Hurricane Melissa does weaken slightly ahead of landfall to a strong Category 4 hurricane, it will make little to no difference in the level of damage experienced by Jamaica, according to the National Hurricane Center.Bands of heavy rain and tropical storm conditions have arrived in Jamaica, while heavy rain is also streaming into southern Haiti. Melissa underwent extreme rapid intensification from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane in just 24 hours from Saturday morning through Sunday morning. It then became the third Category 5 hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season early Monday morning as lightning lit up the hurricane's eyewall.The National Hurricane Center is warning that up to 40 inches of rain could fall in southern Hispaniola and Jamaica through Wednesday.That torrential rainfall is likely to trigger catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding and landslides in Jamaica and Haiti, especially in hilly and mountainous terrain, according to the National Hurricane Center.In addition to the rainfall flood threat, the NHC is forecasting a storm surge of 9 to 13 feet above ground level east of where Melissa is forecast to make landfall along the southern coast of Jamaica early TuesdayThis surge is likely to affect parts of Jamaica's capital city, Kingston, including Norman Manley International Airport, as Yale Climate Connections' Jeff Masters noted.In eastern Cuba, up to 25 inches of rain could trigger potentially catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides, and a life-threatening storm surge of 7 to 11 feet above ground level could occur along the southeast Cuban coast with landfall.And in the southeast Bahamas, including the Turks and Caicos, a 4 to 6-foot storm surge, along with up to 10 inches of rain is likely to produce serious flooding.Though both Category 4 and 5 hurricanes are intense and dangerous, Melissa is expected to make landfall in Jamaica at Category 5 intensity early Tuesday, then could still be a major hurricane at the time of eastern Cuba's landfall. The storm is likely to still be a hurricane as it passes through the southeastern Bahamas. According to NOAA's historical database, though eight other Category 4 or 5 hurricanes have tracked within 60 nautical miles of Jamaica, there is no record of such an intense hurricane making a landfall there. Only two other Category 5 hurricanes have previously tracked this close to Jamaica since the mid-19th century: Allen in 1980 and Ivan in 2004.

Hurricane Melissa makes catastrophic landfall in Jamaica with destructive winds, life-threatening flooding -- Hurricane Melissa made its catastrophic landfall along the southwestern coast of Jamaica on Tuesday afternoon, lashing the Caribbean island nation with destructive winds and torrential rain, leading to life-threatening flooding and landslides as millions of residents pray for safety while remaining sheltered in place. According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), landfall occurred at 1 p.m. ET near New Hope, Jamaica, as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 185 mph. Since landfall, Melissa's wind speeds have dropped to 165 mph and the eye of the storm is expected to continue to pass over western Jamaica over the next several hours. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) started issuing hourly advisories as the storm was moving onshore, warning people that that was the "last chance to protect your life.""This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation," the NHC said. "Take cover now! Failure to adequately shelter may result in serious injury, and loss of life. Residents in Jamaica that experience the eye should not leave their shelter as winds will rapidly increase within the backside of the eyewall of Melissa."And for the second day in a row, a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft was forced to abort its mission from inside Hurricane Melissa due to extreme turbulence."During the event, the aircraft briefly experienced forces stronger than normal due to turbulence," officials said. "While this does not automatically indicate damage, standard safety procedures require an inspection before returning to operations."For days, Jamaica’s government has been warning its residents and visitors to make preparations ahead of the monster storm’s landfall, and people have been rushing to stock up on food and water to sustain them through what will likely be long-duration power and communication outages due to the storm's ferocious impacts. However, fears are growing that the Category 5 hurricane’s destructive 185-mph winds may be too strong for buildings to handle, and officials are warning that those winds will likely lead to "total structural failure" near the path of Melissa’s powerful core. Hurricane Melissa has been slowly spinning to the south of Jamaica, moving erratically over the warm waters of the Caribbean. But now Melissa is interacting with a cold front that pulled the storm to the north-northeast and northeast on a path that will likely slice through the middle of the island. Most people across Jamaica have been seeking shelter inside sturdy structures, but Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said shelter occupancy has been low in some parishes. Officials said there are more than 800 shelters open for residents, with 382 occupied. Officials said about 12,000 residents are in shelters across the island by Tuesday. "Jamaica, this is not the time to be brave. I have been saying for a week, don’t bet against Melissa,"said Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond Mckenzie. Time quickly ran out for those who had still not made it into shelters on Tuesday morning, as conditions deteriorated rapidly across Jamaica. FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross provides the latest on the monstrous Hurricane Melissa, which is expected to bring winds over 170 MPH and up to 30 inches of rain to Jamaica. "Remain sheltered," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory. "Catastrophic flash flooding, landslides and destructive winds will continue through today, causing widespread infrastructure damage, power and communication outages and isolated communities." And along the southern coast of Jamaica, a life-threatening storm surge and damaging waves lashing beaches are likely. The NHC issued an ominous warning to residents of Jamaica in its latest forecast discussion: "Failure to act may result in serious injury or loss of life." FOX Weather Correspondent Robert Ray has been on the ground in Jamaica since last week and got a firsthand look at what the government and residents were doing to prepare for Hurricane Melissa. He spoke with Jamaica’s Minister of Labor and Social Security, Pearnel Charles, Jr., who said the country had been making every effort to save lives ahead of the storm’s worst impacts. "We’ve asked persons to not wait until it gets too difficult to evacuate or save you," he said. "If there is ever a time to listen and to take action, this is now." Jamaica’s emergency operations center has been activated, resources have been pre-positioned to immediately begin recovery efforts after the storm passes, and residents in low-lying areas have been evacuated. Those evacuation orders, which include areas like Port Royal in Kingston, where Ray was reporting over the weekend and into Monday, will remain in effect until conditions improve.

Historic Hurricane Melissa Moving Towards Cuba, Bahamas Following Catastrophic Strike On Jamaica | Weather.com -- Hurricane Melissa is now moving toward Cuba, the Bahamas and Bermuda as a major storm with the potential to bring hurricane-force winds, heavy rain and rough seas as the storm departs Jamaica after a Category landfall there. The devastating hurricane made landfall earlier this afternoon near New Hope, Jamaica, as a Category 5 with winds of 185 mph and a pressure of 892 mb, a historic strike that will lead to months and years of recovery. This landfall will go down in the record books as one of the strongest anywhere in the Atlantic Basin. Hurricane Melissa's eye is back in the Caribbean sea between Jamaica and eastern Cuba as a Category 4 hurricane. Weakening has begun due to interaction with the mountains of Jamaica and Cuba, the danger on the islands is far from over. With hurricane-force winds extending up to 30 miles from the center, that means its eyewall with the most intense winds continue in parts of Jamaica. Winds will gradually come down in the coming hours across Jamaica, but flooding could last for days.The National Hurricane Center is warning that up to 40 inches of rain could fall in southern Hispaniola and Jamaica through Wednesday. Most of this rain has already fallen in those islands, but the runoff and transportation of water through rivers could take a long time.That torrential rainfall is likely to trigger catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding and landslides in Jamaica and Haiti, especially in hilly and mountainous terrain, according to the National Hurricane Center. Tropical-storm-force and hurricane-force winds could continue for several more hours in Jamaica. In addition to what has already occurred today, these winds are capable of "extensive infrastructural damage" including "total structural failure" as well as "long-lasting power and communication outages" that could leave communities isolated, according to the NHC. In addition to the heavy rain, storm surge could be forced ashore by the storm's strong winds in western Jamaica and eastern Cuba through this evening. On the western side of Jamaica, a 2 to 4 foot surge is possible near Montego Bay. Water levels from the ocean will gradually decrease this evening throughout all of Cuba.. Next, it will push into eastern Cuba as still a major hurricane tonight or early Wednesday before quickly moving through the southeast Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Wednesday at hurricane strength. In eastern Cuba, up to 25 inches of rain could fall through Wednesday, with potentially catastrophic flash flooding and landslides. And in the southeast Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, up to 10 inches of rain could fall through Wednesday night, with flash flooding expected. In eastern Cuba, a life-threatening storm surge of 8 to 12 feet above ground level could occur along the southeast Cuban coast with landfall. And in the southeast Bahamas, including the Turks and Caicos, a 5 to 8-foot storm surge is forecast Wednesday.

Cubans flee the coast as Hurricane Melissa looms -- Under sheets of rain and laden with possessions, residents of southeast Cuba fled inland Tuesday—escaping the peril of the coast before Hurricane Melissa's arrival. Carrying loved ones and a handful of quickly snatched belongings, families trekked along narrow paths slick with mud and fringed by dense greenery, heading to relative safety. Others, visibly distraught, squeezed onto crowded buses—gripping handrails and bags—or loaded onto lorries waiting to be spirited away. Already, curtains of rain, dark skies, and raging seas have touched Cuba. "It scares me, but what scares me even more is being away from home and having everything I own taken away," 82-year-old Floraida Duany told AFP. The storm is expected to make landfall on the island in the early hours of Wednesday. Cubans are used to such tempests. But this is one of the strongest storms to hit the Caribbean in years. For days, residents of Santiago de Cuba, the second city, have been making preparations. Men hacked loose branches off trees and piled them to be taken away, for fear they would become projectiles capable of claiming life or limb. Vendors shuttered buildings, and neighbors queued at stands, stuffing bags with fruit and provisions. Fuel shortages and power cuts are expected. Residents filled jugs and buckets before the water was shut off, knowing the electric company planned to cut power once the winds exceeded 60 kilometers per hour. In the city's main park, silence replaced the usual buzz of activity. By Tuesday, it was time to evacuate. On the coastal road at Playa Canizo, a man in a straw hat and sodden fatigues, clasping an equally wet suitcase, thrust out his left arm, hoping for a ride to safety. Troops joined the evacuation effort, lifting the elderly into trucks and guiding families toward shelters. One soldier aided an older woman, her body wrapped in a poncho as the clouds thickened above. Melissa's winds are forecast to hit Cuba at more than 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour, threatening to rip through homes and topple trees.

Caribbean reels from 'unprecedented' hurricane destruction -Cubans waded through flooded, debris-strewn streets Wednesday as Hurricane Melissa blasted across the Caribbean, leaving 30 dead or missing in Haiti and devastating swaths of Jamaica. Headed for the Bahamas and Bermuda as a weakened but still threatening storm, Melissa left behind "unprecedented" devastation in Jamaica, according to a UN official, and untold misery to Cuba. "It has been a very difficult early morning," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on social media, citing "extensive damage" on the island, battling its worst economic crisis in decades. Residents in Cuba's east struggled through flooded and collapsed homes and inundated streets, with windows smashed, power cables downed and roofs and tree branches torn off amid intense winds. Some carried loved ones unable to walk for themselves and arms full of quickly gathered belongings. Hurricane Melissa hit Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles (195 kilometers) per hour, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), which urged residents to "remain sheltered" even as the storm left the island headed north. "In the Bahamas, residents should remain sheltered," the center warned, and in Bermuda, "preparations should be underway and be completed before anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds." In Jamaica, UN resident coordinator Dennis Zulu told reporters Melissa had brought "tremendous, unprecedented devastation of infrastructure, of property, roads, network connectivity." Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the tropical island famed for tourism a "disaster area" but said there have yet to be confirmed deaths caused by the storm. "Our teams are on the ground working tirelessly to rescue, restore, and bring relief where it's needed most... To every Jamaican, hold strong. We will rebuild, we will recover," he said on X. "We have rescue and response teams heading to affected areas along with critical lifesaving supplies. Our prayers are with the people of the Caribbean," Secretary of State Marcu Rubio said on X, without mentioning ideological foe Cuba. At least 20 people in southern Haiti, including 10 children, were killed in floods caused by the hurricane earlier this week, according to civil defense agency head Emmanuel Pierre. Ten more were missing. Hurricane Melissa tied the 1935 record for the most intense storm ever to make landfall when it battered Jamaica on Tuesday, according to data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Lisa Sangster, a 30-year-old communications specialist in Kingston, said her home was devastated. "My sister... explained that parts of our roof was blown off and other parts caved in and the entire house was flooded," she told AFP. In the Cuban town of El Cobre, rescue workers attempted Wednesday to reach 17 people, including children and elderly people, trapped by rising floodwaters and a landslide, according to state media. "The rescuers arrived quickly. They called us, but couldn't cross because the road is blocked." The full scale of Melissa's damage is not yet clear. A comprehensive assessment could take days with communications networks badly disrupted across the region. Jamaican government minister Desmond McKenzie said several hospitals were damaged, including in Saint Elizabeth, a coastal district he said was "underwater."

Hurricane Melissa impacts southeastern Bahamas, after dozens killed across Caribbean - Hurricane Melissa left dozens dead and widespread destruction across Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti on Wednesday, knocking out power and forcing residents from their homes in inundated towns, and it continues to pass through the Bahamas as a weakened storm.Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center, said Melissa began affecting the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday. Authorities in the Bahamas were evacuating dozens of people from the archipelago’s southeast corner ahead of Melissa’s arrival as a Category 1 storm. Melissa’s center is forecast to move through southeastern Bahamas later Wednesday, generating up to 7 feet (2 meters) of storm surge in the area. By late Thursday, the storm is expected to pass just west of Bermuda. The extent of the damage from Melissa was unclear Wednesday as widespread power outages and dangerous conditions persisted in affected areas. The hurricane initially made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. A record storm for Jamaica: Melissa was the strongest storm to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago. It tore off roofs and caused fallen trees, landslides and heavy flooding. As of Wednesday, more than 25,000 people were packed into shelters, and the country’s education minister said 77% of the island was without power. The number of people killed across Haiti rose to 25, with 18 others missing, Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said Wednesday. Numbers of dead and missing in Haiti often fluctuates in the early days following major natural disasters. Eight deaths have been reported in Jamaica and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing. Human-driven climate change made the catastrophic hurricane that hit Jamaica and tore through Cuba and other nearby countries this week four times more likely and intensified its wind speed 7%, scientists said in a new flash study. Today’s climate has made it likely that storms like Melissa make landfall in Jamaica once every 1,700 years; in a cooler world, that might be once every 8,000 years, according to researchers at Imperial College London —using the Imperial College Storm Model that has often been included in other rapid studies. It also boosted winds by 11 mph (18 kph).The flash analysis estimated that the hurricane would have been about 12% less damaging in a world without climate change, the result of burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. Rapid studies aren’t typically peer-reviewed but use peer-reviewed methods. These studies have also previously attributed heightened aspects of flooding in Europe and deadly rainfall in the southeast U.S. to climate change.

Hurricane Melissa Passing Bermuda After Historic Jamaica Landfall --Hurricane Melissa will quickly pass Bermuda days after its historic Category 5 landfall in Jamaica and southeast Cuba lashing, before it becomes a North Atlantic non-tropical low this weekend. The devastating hurricane made landfall early Tuesday afternoon near New Hope, Jamaica, as a Category 5 with winds of 185 mph and a pressure of 892 millibars, a historic strike that will lead to months and years of recovery. This landfall will go down in the record books as one of the strongest anywhere in the Atlantic Basin. Melissa is now accelerating in the open Atlantic and near Bermuda after plowing through the southeast Bahamas Wednesday. There are still a few leftover bands of rain lingering across portions of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but those should come to an end soon. Hurricane Melissa is expected to make its closest pass to Bermuda soon at Category 1 or 2 intensity, where a hurricane warning is in effect. Tropical storm force winds will develop in Bermuda soon, and hurricane conditions are expected for a very short time. Some coastal flooding is possible in Bermuda through tonight in areas where winds blown onshore. Fortunately, Melissa is moving much faster now as it moves farther north, so only about an inch of rain is expected in Bermuda, and conditions should improve quickly later Friday morning. After that, Melissa should morph into a post-tropical low over the North Atlantic, brushing Newfoundland, Canada, Friday night. Coupled with the jet stream, its remnants could bring some wind and rain to Ireland and the United Kingdom early next week.

Jamaica declared a disaster area after Hurricane Melissa leaves over half a million without power – (videos) The historic landfall of Hurricane Melissa over Jamaica on October 28, 2025, has left behind a trail of destruction, prompting authorities to declare the island a disaster area on October 29. Over half a million people were left without power as Melissa ripped through the island. While some fatalities have been reported in Jamaica, official confirmation is yet to be made. Category 5 Hurricane Melissa made historic landfall over southwestern Jamaica near New Hope at 17:00 UTC (12:00 local time) on October 28. Melissa is one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported maximum sustained winds of about 295 km/h (185 mph) and a minimum central pressure of 892 hPa, at the time of landfall. Melissa was the strongest storm to hit Jamaica since records began in 1851. The system formed from a tropical wave in mid-October over the eastern Atlantic. Warm sea-surface temperatures above 29°C (84°F), low vertical wind shear, and favorable upper-level outflow promoted rapid intensification as the system moved west. On October 27, the storm strengthened explosively south of Hispaniola and reached Category 5 intensity before landfall along Jamaica’s southern coast.Thousands of homes were destroyed or had their roofs lost due to the destructive winds from Melissa. The hardest hit Parishes included Clarendon, Saint Catherine, and the Manchester parish. Nearly 15 000 people were in shelters in Jamaica, and some 540 000 customers, or 77%, were without power, officials said. Approximately 6 000 people were residing in 382 official shelters. Evacuation centers remain open in southern and central parishes, where floodwaters and debris have delayed return to homes. Hospitals in Kingston and Mandeville sustained damage but continued limited operations under backup power. The Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston remained closed through October 29 due to runway flooding, while Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay resumed partial service later that day. Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared states of emergency in seven heavily affected parishes, calling the destruction “unprecedented in scope.” The entire island of Jamaica was declared a disaster area by the Prime Minister. An all-clear was issued on October 29, after the storm passed through the island, signaling all utility companies to commence restoration and recovery operations. While fatalities have been reported in Jamaica, the exact number remains unclear. At least three fatalities have been confirmed in Jamaica as of October 29, while over 30 have been reported in total.National response teams, including the Jamaica Defence Force, Fire and Rescue Service, and public works crews, began clearing debris and restoring critical access routes. The government’s National Emergency Operations Centre remains fully activated.The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) deployed assessment teams, while the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and World Food Programme (WFP) initiated logistics for emergency relief.The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced technical assistance to support power restoration and supply chain recovery. Neighboring governments in the Caribbean also offered material and medical suppoOfficial damage assessments are ongoing and will be available as recovery operations continue. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) reported that restoration priorities include power and water supply, reopening main transport corridors, and clearing debris from urban centers. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education began damage assessments on hospitals and schools. The Bank of Jamaica and the Ministry of Finance are conducting a national economic loss assessment. As of this report, no verified damage estimate has been released. Severe crop losses have been reported. Banana, sugarcane, and poultry production in southern parishes are among the worst hit. The Hurricane later made a second landfall near Santiago de Cuba, at Chivirico, as a Category 3 Hurricane. As of 11:00 EDT (15:00 UTC) on October 29, Melissa was located about 245 km (152 miles) south of the Central Bahamas and approximately 1 615 km (1 003 miles) southwest of Bermuda.Maximum sustained winds (averaged over one minute) reached 155 km/h (96 mph). The storm’s estimated minimum central pressure was 974 hPa, and it was moving northeast at 22 km/h (14 mph).Melissa is forecast to move across the southeastern or central Bahamas today and pass near or to the west of Bermuda later on October 30.Heavy rainfall will continue tapering off this afternoon across eastern Cuba. Storm total rainfall of 250 to 510 mm (10 to 20 inches), with isolated maxima up to 635 mm (25 inches) over mountainous terrain, is expected.Across the Southeast Bahamas, storm total rainfall of 125 to 250 mm (5 to 10 inches) is expected today, likely resulting in areas of flash flooding. For the Turks and Caicos, 25 to 75 mm (1 to 3 inches) of rain is expected. Heavy rainfall may begin to affect Bermuda on October 30.Rainfall has diminished across Jamaica; however, additional scattered showers remain possible, with 50 to 100 mm (2 to 4 inches) of additional rainfall expected.This will bring storm total amounts to 300 to 610 mm (12 to 24 inches), with isolated areas reaching 760 mm (30 inches) over mountainous terrain. Ongoing catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides are expected to continue through tonight, according to the NHC.

Tornado-like devastation stretches for miles in Black River after Hurricane Melissa’s historic landfall, Jamaica - (video) Newly released aerial footage from Black River, St Elizabeth Parish, shows widespread wind destruction after Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on October 28, 2025, with maximum sustained winds of 295 km/h (185 mph). The footage reveals entire neighborhoods flattened, with damage resembling that of a large tornado outbreak. Aerial views of destruction in Jamaica caused by Category 5 Hurricane Melissa - October 2025. Credit: Government of Jamaica/Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management. Hurricane Melissa made landfall near Black River, St Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, at approximately 10:15 LT (15:15 UTC) on October 28, as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 295 km/h (185 mph) and a minimum central pressure of 915 hPa. This was the strongest hurricane to strike Jamaica on record, causing catastrophic damage across the southern and central parishes. The newly released aerial footage from Black River, a coastal town and parish capital of St Elizabeth, one of the landfall points, shows extensive tornado-like wind damage. Entire residential areas and coastal infrastructure, including the hospital, police station, and 300-year-old St John’s Parish Anglican Church, were destroyed or severely damaged. Downed trees and power lines stretch for miles inland, with local authorities describing the impact as beyond anything in living memory. Melissa is blamed for the deaths of at least 44 people, with some unofficial reports mentioning over 50, including 33 from flooding and landslides in Hispaniola and at least 8 in Jamaica. As of 09:00 UTC on October 30, the center of Hurricane Melissa was located about 345 km (215 miles) northeast of the central Bahamas and 1 105 km (685 miles) southwest of Bermuda. The system had maximum sustained winds of 165 km/h (105 mph) and was moving north-northeast at 33 km/h (21 mph). Slight strengthening is possible today as Melissa accelerates toward Bermuda, where a Hurricane Warning is in effect. Melissa is expected to pass northwest of Bermuda tonight, then transition into a strong post-tropical cyclone while approaching southeastern Newfoundland late Friday. Hazardous surf and rip currents remain a threat across the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, and Bermuda through the next 24–36 hours.

Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba pick up the pieces after Melissa’s destruction (AP) — The rumble of large machinery, whine of chain saws and chopping of machetes echoed through communities across the northern Caribbean on Thursday as they dug out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa and surveyed the damage left behind. In Jamaica, government workers and residents began clearing roads in a push to reach dozens of isolated communities in the island’s southeast that sustained a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record. Stunned residents wandered about, some staring at their roofless homes and waterlogged belongings strewn around them. “I don’t have a house now,” said Sylvester Guthrie, a resident of Lacovia in the southern parish of St. Elizabeth, as he held onto his bicycle, the only possession of value left after the storm. Emergency relief flights began landing at Jamaica’s main international airport, which reopened late Wednesday, as crews distributed water, medicine and other basic supplies. Helicopters dropped food as they thrummed above communities where the storm flattened homes, wiped out roads and destroyed bridges, cutting them off from assistance. “The entire Jamaica is really broken because of what has happened,” Police said at least 14 people have died in Jamaica, and they expected the death toll to keep rising. In one isolated community, residents pleaded with officials to remove the body of one victim tangled in a tree. More than 13,000 people remained crowded into shelters, with 72% of the island without power and only 35% of mobile phone sites in operation, officials said. People clutched cash as they formed long lines at the few gas stations and supermarkets open in affected areas. Water trucks have been mobilized to serve many of Jamaica’s rural communities that are not connected to the government’s utility system, Water Minister Matthew Samuda said. In Cuba, heavy equipment began to clear blocked roads and highways and the military helped rescue people trapped in isolated communities and at risk from landslides. No deaths were reported after the Civil Defense evacuated more than 735,000 people across eastern Cuba ahead of the storm. Residents were slowly starting to return home Thursday. The town of El Cobre in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba was one of the hardest hit. Home to some 7,000 people, it is also the site of the Basilica of Our Lady of Charity, the patron saint of Cuba who is deeply venerated by Catholics and practitioners of Santería, an Afro-Cuban religion. “We went through this very badly. So much wind, so much wind. Zinc roofs were torn off. Some houses completely collapsed. It was a disaster,” said Odalys Ojeda, a 61-year-old retiree, as she looked up at the sky from her living room where the roof and other parts of the house were torn away. Even the basilica wasn’t spared. “Here at the sanctuary, the carpentry, stained glass and even the masonry suffered extensive damage,” Father Rogelio Dean Puerta said. A televised Civil Defense meeting chaired by President Miguel Díaz-Canel did not provide an official estimate of the damage. However, officials from the affected provinces — Santiago, Granma, Holguín, Guantánamo, and Las Tunas — reported losses of roofs, power lines and fiber optic telecommunications cables, as well as roads cut off, isolating communities, and heavy losses in banana, cassava and coffee plantations. Many communities were still without electricity, internet and telephone service because of downed transformers and power lines. In an unusual statement Thursday, the U.S. State Department said the United States was “ready to assist the Cuban people.” A press release said the U.S. “is prepared to provide immediate humanitarian assistance directly and through local partners who can deliver it more effectively to those in need.” The statement did not specify how the cooperation would be coordinated or whether contact had been made with the Cuban government, with which it maintains a bitter conflict that includes six decades of economic and financial sanctions. Melissa also unleashed catastrophic flooding in Haiti, where at least 30 people were reported killed and 20 others were missing, mostly in the country’s southern region. Some 15,000 people also remained in shelters. Laurent Saint-Cyr, president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, said officials expect the death toll to rise and noted that the government was mobilizing resources to search for people and provide emergency relief. Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said Hurricane Melissa killed at least 20 people, including 10 children, in Petit-Goâve, where more than 160 homes were damaged and 80 others destroyed. Steven Guadard said Melissa killed his entire family in Petit-Goâve, including four children ranging in age from 1-month to 8-years-old. Michelet Dégange, who has lived in Petit-Goâve for three years, said Melissa left him homeless. “There is no place to rest the body; we are hungry,” he said. “The authorities don’t think about us. I haven’t closed my eyes since the bad weather began.” When Melissa came ashore in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane with top winds of 185 mph (295 kph) on Tuesday, it tied strength records for Atlantic hurricanes making landfall, both in wind speed and barometric pressure. Melissa was a Category 2 storm with top sustained winds near 105 mph (165 kph) Thursday night and was moving northeast at 32 mph (51 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane was centered about 260 miles (420 kilometers) west-southwest of Bermuda. Melissa brushed past the southeast Bahamas on Wednesday, forcing officials to evacuate 1,400 people ahead of the storm. Melissa was forecast to pass near or to the west of Bermuda late Thursday and may strengthen further before weakening Friday. Bermuda’s international airport was to close Thursday evening and reopen Friday at noon, while all schools on the wealthy British territory were ordered closed.

Five more Outer Banks homes fall into the sea, bringing month’s total to 15 – video and slides - Five unoccupied houses in Buxton, North Carolina, collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean on October 28, 2025, according to the National Park Service, bringing the month’s total to 15 homes lost along the Outer Banks. Photo of debris associated with house collapse at 46016 Cottage Avenue, Buxton on October 28, 2025 Five unoccupied houses in the village of Buxton, Hatteras Island, collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean on October 28, according to the National Park Service (NPS), bringing the month’s total to 15 homes lost along the Outer Banks. The NPS said two homes fell in the morning, at 10:45 local time (LT) and 11:00 LT, and three more in the afternoon, with two collapsing within 15 minutes of each other. Photographs released by the NPS show the remains of wooden stilt structures scattered along the surf zone. Park officials confirmed that all structures were unoccupied and uninhabitable at the time. The agency attributed the collapses to ongoing coastal erosion driven by wind, waves, tides, storms, and rising sea levels. The late-October incident followed a sequence that began on September 30, when six Buxton homes collapsed amid heavy surf generated by Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda. Additional collapses occurred in early October, including two more in Buxton and one in Rodanthe, the only outlier beyond Buxton. Local coverage identified repeatedly affected streets in Buxton, including Ocean Drive and Cottage Drive, where multiple houses have fallen since September. Many of the structures were built decades ago on previously stable dunes that have since retreated several dozen metres (about 100 feet) due to shoreline erosion. Officials said no injuries were reported. Dare County and the NPS continue to monitor erosion and structural risk along Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Mitigation discussions include a planned beach-nourishment project in 2026 and potential managed-retreat options for high-risk properties. According to coastal geomorphologists, collapses of this kind arise from several interacting processes such as long-term shoreline retreat, short-term storm-driven sand loss, nearshore wave patterns, and human alterations to sediment supply. Dr. Laura Moore, professor of coastal geomorphology at the University of North Carolina, told FOX Weather that erosion on the Outer Banks is a “complicated natural process” and that attempts to halt it often fail because “the ocean inevitably wins.” County officials said that immediate priorities remain public safety and debris removal, while longer-term planning will address the growing exposure of the Buxton coastline.

Severe floods hit Hue and Da Nang, leaving at least one dead and thousands isolated, Vietnam - Heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding and landslides across central Vietnam on October 27, 2025, affecting Hue City, Da Nang, and Quang Nam Province. At least one child died in Da Nang as rivers overflowed, hundreds of residents were evacuated, and water levels in Hue rose above alarm level 3 after more than 24 hours of intense rain. Torrential rainfall continued across central Vietnam on October 27, producing severe flooding and landslides in the provinces of Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, and Quang Nam. The prolonged downpours inundated urban and mountainous areas, caused river levels to surge, and forced large-scale evacuations. Hue City recorded widespread flooding by midday Monday as major streets, including Le Quy Don, To Huu, and Nguyen Hue, were submerged under 0.5–1 m (1.6–3.3 feet) of water. Cars were stranded, and rescue teams used boats to navigate the inundated streets. According to the Hue Civil Defense Command, both the Huong and Bo Rivers exceeded alarm level 3, reaching heights comparable to the 2023 floods. Hydroelectric and irrigation reservoirs in Thua Thien Hue were ordered to discharge water to maintain structural safety. Preliminary readings from the provincial rain-gauge network Vrain indicated accumulations of several hundred millimetres across the province. An unverified station reading at the summit of Bach Ma Mountain in Phu Loc Commune suggested up to 1 300 mm (51 inches) within 24 hours. However, this figure has not been confirmed by the Vietnam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration (VMHA). By noon, authorities had evacuated at least 730 people from low-lying wards including Hoa Chau, An Cuu, Thanh Thuy, Thuy Xuan, and Duong No to designated shelters. Chairman Phan Thien Dinh of the Hue City People’s Committee ordered ward officials to prioritize the evacuation of vulnerable residents and maintain supplies of food and medical materials. Military and police forces were placed on 24-hour standby. According to the Vietnam News Agency, a 10-year-old schoolboy drowned in Tra Tap Commune, Da Nang, on the evening of October 26 after slipping into a drainage pipe while playing near floodwaters. Local rescue forces continued to assist 447 villagers in Thuong Duc Village as rising rivers isolated more than 3 800 people. The Da Nang-based Storm and Flood Prevention Centre reported that continuous rainfall since last week has saturated soils, increasing the risk of new landslides on nine major routes in mountainous communes. Sections of National Road 24 near Ca Da Bridge were blocked by erosion, halting traffic between Da Nang and Quang Ngai. In Hoi An, located downstream in Quang Nam Province, water levels along the Hoai River flooded parts of the ancient town. Residents used boats to travel between An Hoi Sculpture Park and the Old Quarter as authorities warned of further rises on the evening of October 27. In a related weather-linked incident, the cargo vessel Thai Ha 8888 carrying 5 900 metric tons of cement from Nghi Son Port in Thanh Hoa Province to Van Phong Port in Khanh Hoa Province sank early on October 27 off Lang Co, approximately 2 km (1.2 miles) from Son Cha Island near Da Nang. The ship encountered rough seas around 03:00 LT (20:00 UTC on October 26). All eight crew members, including captain Nguyen Van Dong, evacuated in two lifeboats and were rescued by the vessel Long Son 38 at 06:00 LT (23:00 UTC on October 26). Officials reported that the captain was unable to close a 15 000-liter diesel tank before abandoning ship. Environmental teams are monitoring for possible fuel leakage and preparing containment measures. Provincial meteorological offices warned that saturated soils, full reservoirs, and elevated river levels could prolong the flood situation through late October 28 if additional rainfall occurs. Mountain districts remain under high landslide risk advisories. The combined reports from the Hue Civil Defense Command and the Vietnam News Agency confirm that central Vietnam is experiencing one of its most significant rainfall events of 2025, with impacts extending from the central coast to the highland foothills.

Record Vietnam rains kill seven and flood 100,000 homes -Flooding triggered by record heavy rains in central Vietnam this week killed at least seven people and inundated more than 100,000 homes, the environment ministry said on Wednesday. Vietnam's coastal provinces have been lashed by heavy rains since Sunday, with a record of up to 1.7 meters (five feet seven inches) falling over 24 hours. Seven people have been killed and another five are missing, the ministry said in a report. More than 150 landslides had been reported, 2,200 hectares (5,400 acres) of crops destroyed and a total of 103,525 houses flooded, it said. Many of the more than 21,000 people who were evacuated from the flood zone began to return home as water receded in the central coastal city of Hue on Wednesday morning. However, more rain was reported by midday, forcing the local hydropower plant to discharge its reservoirs. Central Danang province was also forecast to experience more flooding in the next two days, with Danang city's rivers swollen to alarming levels, the environment ministry said. Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather events such as storms and floods more deadly and destructive. Natural disasters, mostly storms, floods and landslides, left 187 people dead or missing in Vietnam in the first nine months of this year. More than 240,000 hectares of crops were destroyed and 38,000 houses collapsed or were damaged, the General Statistics Office said. Total economic losses were estimated at more than $610 million.

Heat Advisory in effect for southern California - A Heat Advisory is in effect for parts of southern California from Tuesday morning through Wednesday evening, October 28 to 29, 2025. The NWS San Diego office issued a Heat Advisory on Monday, covering the San Bernardino and Riverside County Valleys–The Inland Empire, the San Diego County Inland Valleys, and the Orange County inland areas. Inland valleys across Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties are forecast to reach up to 34°C (94°F) on Tuesday, October 28, and 36°C (97°F) on Wednesday, October 29. The advisory will remain active from 11:00 local time (LT) on Tuesday through 19:00 LT on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard office has extended its existing advisory for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, covering inland coastal areas, the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, and the Santa Monica Mountains. Maximum temperatures near 34°C (93°F) are forecast, with the advisory in effect from 10:00 LT on Tuesday through 19:00 LT on Wednesday.

Early-season freeze impacts large parts of the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and New Mexico - Widespread Freeze Warnings are in effect across the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and parts of New Mexico on Thursday, October 30, 2025, with temperatures forecast to drop to −6°C to −2°C (20°F–28°F). This is the first significant freeze of the season across the southern High Plains. The warnings remain valid through early Friday morning as clear skies and light winds enable rapid radiational cooling. Residents are advised to protect plants, pipes, and pets. US Map: Temperatures (°F) at 08:30 UTC on October 30, 2025. A strong cold front moving southward across the central United States has brought the first widespread freeze of the 2025–26 cold season to the southern High Plains. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued Freeze Warnings across the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, and much of eastern and central New Mexico, valid through the morning of October 31. Early Thursday temperatures are expected to range between −6°C and −2°C (20°F–28°F) across most lowland areas, with colder pockets possible in valleys and higher elevations. This represents values about 8°C (14°F) below the late-October climatological average, marking the strongest early-season cold outbreak so far this autumn. According to the NWS Amarillo, the combination of clear skies, light winds, and a cold, dry air mass will allow efficient overnight cooling. Similar conditions are reported by the NWS Albuquerque, where radiational losses under a surface high-pressure ridge are forecast to produce sub-freezing temperatures across central New Mexico, including the Rio Grande Valley. Meteorological analysis from the NOAA Weather Prediction Center (WPC) shows the cold air mass originated in the northern Rockies and central Plains, following a midweek frontal passage. The system continues to advance southeastward under a building surface ridge extending into the Southern Plains. Model guidance (GFS and ECMWF 00:00 and 06:00 UTC runs) maintains below-normal temperatures through the weekend, with daytime highs expected to remain 5–10°C (9–18°F) below seasonal norms. The NWS advises residents to take protective measures for plants, pipes, and outdoor animals. Agricultural agencies warn that unharvested crops and ornamental vegetation could sustain damage due to freezing temperatures lasting several hours. Water utilities across parts of New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle have issued precautionary notices for rural customers regarding exposed plumbing. No significant precipitation or wind impacts are forecast during this period, as the air mass remains dry and stable. Temperatures are expected to gradually moderate by early next week as southerly flow returns to the region.

Global Carbon Emissions To Fall, Paris Climate Goals Still Missed - Global greenhouse gas emissions are projected to fall by about 10% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels, marking the first anticipated decline ever forecast by the United Nations. Despite this progress, the world remains far from achieving the 1.5°C limit on global warming set under the Paris Agreement. “Humanity is now clearly bending the emissions curve downwards for the first time, although still not nearly fast enough,” Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said Tuesday. “We have a serious need for more speed.” Carbon emissions are already affecting communities and economies worldwide, with droughts, storms, and heatwaves causing thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damages each year. Closing the gap between current emissions trajectories and the levels scientists deem necessary is a major challenge facing nations at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil next month. The projected decline is based on pledges from countries responsible for roughly 80% of global emissions. However, it falls short of the 60% reduction by 2035 that experts say is needed to limit warming to 1.5°C and avoid catastrophic climate impacts. “This report lays bare a frightening gap between what governments have promised and what is needed to protect people and planet,” said Melanie Robinson, global climate, economics, and finance program director at the World Resources Institute. “While the transition to a low-carbon economy is underway, it’s clear that countries need to shift from a jog to an all-out sprint.” On Tuesday, the UNFCCC also released its NDC Synthesis Report, which compiles countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)—plans outlining climate action under the Paris Agreement. NDC submissions were due in 2025, but only 64 countries, accounting for about a third of global emissions, had submitted theirs by September 30, enabling the UN to calculate this report. China, the world’s largest emitter, has pledged to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by 7% to 10% over the next decade, though it has not formally submitted its NDC. The European Union is set to finalize its plan on November 4, in time for COP30 but too late for the current report, while India has yet to announce its timeline. Included in the 64 submissions were Brazil, the UK, Norway, and a U.S. plan submitted under former President Joe Biden, although its implementation is uncertain under the current administration. If fully implemented, the NDCs analyzed could reduce emissions by 17% from 2019 levels by 2035. Under these plans, emissions in participating countries would peak before 2030 and decline sharply thereafter, with most aiming to reach net zero by 2050—key steps to prevent dangerous warming. The UNFCCC noted that for the first time, most climate plans now cover all sectors of the economy, demonstrate greater credibility, and address not only emissions reduction but also adaptation, finance, technology transfer, capacity-building, and economic losses caused by climate change. This year’s report does not provide a global temperature estimate for the end of the century due to the limited number of submissions. Last year, the UN projected a 2.1°C to 2.8°C rise by 2100 compared with pre-industrial levels. An updated report, expected in the coming days, may include a temperature forecast.

House Dems push Treasury to consider climate risk - --House Democrats are seeking assurances from the Treasury Department that the agency will continue considering the risks climate change poses to the economy.In a Friday letter led by Reps. Sean Casten of Illinois and Juan Vargas of California, 46 Democrats called on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to continue monitoring climate change’s effect on financial systems.The letter comes after the department last month disbanded the Climate-Related Financial Risk Committee and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Advisory Committee — two staff-level bodies affiliated with the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). That oversight council is the arm of the Treasury Department tasked with monitoring U.S. economic stability.The committees, the House Democrats said, “played a critical role in informing financial regulators about the increasing threat that climate change poses to our economy.”

Climate change inaction being paid for in millions of lives every year, global findings suggest -New global findings in the 9th annual indicator report of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change reveal that the continued overreliance on fossil fuels and failure to adapt to climate change is being paid in people's lives, health, and livelihoods, with 12 of 20 indicators tracking health threats reaching unprecedented levels. The report says failure to curb the warming effects of climate change has seen the rate of heat-related deaths surge 23% since the 1990s, to 546,000 a year. In 2024 alone, air pollution from wildfire smoke was linked to a record 154,000 deaths, while the global average transmission potential of dengue has risen by up to 49% since the 1950s. Authors say 2.5 million deaths every year are attributable to the air pollution that comes from continued burning of fossil fuels. This is also straining national budgets—as fossil fuel prices soared, governments collectively spent 956 billion US dollars on net fossil fuel subsidies in 2023. Meanwhile, oil and gas giants keep expanding their production plans—to a scale three times greater than a livable planet can support. While some governments backtrack on climate commitments, the report also exposes the life-saving impact of action already underway. An estimated 160,000 lives are being saved annually from the shift away from coal and the resultant cleaner air, while renewable energy generation reached record-highs. As health threats from climate change reach unprecedented levels and political backsliding on climate action threatens to stall progress, the 2025 Report of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change issues a fresh clarion call for "all hands on deck" to accelerate and intensify efforts to simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and adapt to climate change. "This year's health stocktake paints a bleak and undeniable picture of the devastating health harms reaching all corners of the world—with record-breaking threats to health from heat, extreme weather events, and wildfire smoke killing millions. The destruction to lives and livelihoods will continue to escalate until we end our fossil fuel addiction and dramatically up our game to adapt," warned Dr. Marina Romanello, Executive Director of The Lancet Countdown at University College London. She added, "We already have the solutions at hand to avoid a climate catastrophe—and communities and local governments around the world are proving that progress is possible. From clean energy growth to city adaptation, action is underway and delivering real health benefits—but we must keep up the momentum. "Rapidly phasing out fossil fuels remains the most powerful lever to slow climate change and protect lives. At the same time, shifting to healthier, climate-friendly diets and more sustainable agricultural systems would massively cut pollution, greenhouse gases and deforestation, potentially saving over ten million lives a year." The 9th Lancet Countdown annual indicator report, led by University College London, and produced in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), represents the work of 128 leading experts from 71 academic institutions and UN agencies globally. Published in The Lancet ahead of the 30th UN Conference of the Parties (COP), the report provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of the connections between climate change and health, including new metrics which record deaths from extreme heat and wildfire smoke, the coverage of urban blue spaces (rivers, lakes, and coastlines), health adaptation funding and individual engagement with health and climate change.

'Derailment' warning as world faces threats to its ability to act on climate change --With global warming breaching 1.5°C—and Earth system tipping points, such as the widespread dieback of warm-water coral reefs, now being reached—the consequences of climate change are guaranteed to escalate.The new report—by the Strategic Climate Risks Initiative (SCRI), the University of Exeter, University College London's Climate Action Unit, and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)—says this could create a vicious cycle in which dealing with climate impacts gets in the way of action to tackle the underlying problem.This could keep the world off a trajectory for emissions reductions that keeps temperatures below the 2°C target set in Paris in 2015.The researchers say this "derailment risk" is dangerously overlooked.Their work is the culmination of a two-year project that engaged hundreds of science and policy experts and officials around the world to consider how to "navigate the new climate reality."Comparing the world's fight against climate change to sailors facing a deadly storm, lead author Laurie Laybourn, from SCRI and Exeter's Global Systems Institute, said, "Until now, the job has been to persuade the crew that the storm is coming, to change course, and to tackle the vested interests who don't want to do this."We have taken some climate action—the bearing has changed, with huge progress made in clean technology—but now we are entering the figurative and literal 'storm' of 1.5°C overshoot."At this point, navigating becomes harder—our ability to act is pulled in different directions by worsening climate impacts and their chaotic consequences. These could distract us from rapid decarbonization, keeping us on a trajectory to global disaster."So, we need a strategy to get focused, stay focused, and navigate to safety."Laybourn said we often assume our ability to deal with climate change will only increase, when in fact humanity could become "too distracted by climate chaos to focus fully on climate action."He added, "This situation—which we call derailment—is like sailors becoming overwhelmed by a storm and so losing their ability to navigate, or even stay afloat."

Wastewater Treatment Sludge Storage Emerges As Major Greenhouse Gas Source - Greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants may be more than twice as high as earlier estimates, according to a new study by Linköping University. Using drones equipped with custom sensors, researchers directly measured methane and nitrous oxide emissions, revealing substantial underreporting. “Certain greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants have been unknown. Now that we know more, we also understand better how to reduce them,” said Magnus Galfalk, docent at Tema M – Environmental Change, who led the study published in Environmental Science and Technology. Wastewater treatment plants handling sewage from households and industries are thought to contribute roughly 5 percent of manmade methane and nitrous oxide emissions, based on figures from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These estimates are derived from emission factors linked to the number of households served, rather than direct measurements, which the new study highlights as a critical limitation. “Currently, reported emissions remain static regardless of actual reductions achieved. Reporting based on real measurements would make it easier for municipalities to demonstrate the benefits of mitigation investments,” Galfalk said. The research team, including Professor David Bastviken, used specially built drones to measure methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions at twelve Swedish wastewater treatment plants that employ anaerobic digestion for sludge processing. The results indicated emissions approximately 2.5 times higher than the IPCC’s calculations. Most of the emissions occurred after the digestion stage, during sludge storage before it is repurposed as fertilizer. Methane release during storage was significantly underestimated in previous models. The study also revealed unexpectedly high levels of nitrous oxide—a potent greenhouse gas with nearly 300 times the climate impact of carbon dioxide per kilogram. “The climate impact from nitrous oxide emissions from sludge storage is as significant as that from methane, which was not previously recognized. This is a major source that requires closer attention,” Galfalk said. The authors recommend that future emission reporting for wastewater treatment facilities rely on direct measurements. This approach would allow municipalities to track improvements more accurately and highlight the effectiveness of mitigation strategies.

South Africa's coal mines are leaking methane, and no one knows how much -- Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. It is released from natural sources (like wetlands) and human activities (coal mining, and oil and gas production). It is also emitted by agriculture (especially livestock and rice paddies), and decomposing waste in garbage dumps.Methane traps over 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it is released. It is responsible for about 30% of the warming the planet has experienced since the Industrial Revolution began in the 1760s.South Africa is the seventh-largest coal producer in the world. Coal accounts for about 73% of the country's energy. Although it is beginning to be phased out, the coal industry still matters for employment and local economy activity.In coal mines, methane is naturally trapped within coal seams and the surrounding rock. When the coal is extracted, this gas is released into the atmosphere—both during active mining operations and from abandoned and closed mines—polluting the air and putting communities' health at risk. Coal mine methane leaks also raise the risks of explosions in mines.South Africa's plan to fight global warming has so far focused on reducing its biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions: carbon dioxide from the coal-heavy economy. There has been very little research into methane being emitted by coal mines. We are engineers and energy and mining specialists who worked with theSwaniti Initiative, a think tank focused on policy, governance and community issues to drive practical, long-term improvements. Together with our co-author, Ph.D. candidate Nicola Wills, we set out to fill the gap in the research: to understand how much methane is really leaking from South Africa's coal mines, and what could be done to stop this. We reviewed existing research and policy documents on South Africa's coal sector. We also ran workshops with experts to gather insights, and understand what options are available globally to reduce coal mine methane, and whether they could work in South Africa. Our research found that South Africa does not have reliable or up-to-date records of methane emissions from its coal mines and there are few projects to reduce coal mine methane. South Africa has a carbon tax. Climate and mine-safety laws exist. But, apart from the tax, it has no dedicated policies that explicitly target methane emissions from coal mining (including closed and abandoned mines). Methane is also hardly mentioned in South Africa's Just Energy Transition Investment Plan to move the country away from coal-fired power to renewable energy or its nationally Determined Contribution (its global commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions). When mines and other companies report on their own methane emissions, this is patchy and often not made public. This leaves huge gaps. For example, official government data put methane emissions from coal mining at 0.06 million tonnes in 2022. But the Global Energy Monitor, International Energy Agency, research studies and satellite observations put the real number between 0.6 million and 1.1 million tonnes.

OH Bill Passes House to Create Carbon Capture/Pore Space Law -- Marcellus Drilling News - Ohio House Bill (HB) 170, which authorizes Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) by injecting captured CO2 into subsurface “pore space,” passed the Ohio House and has advanced to the Ohio Senate. The bill establishes a state regulatory framework, delegating to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) the authority to govern Class VI injection wells. This bill, if it becomes law (as seems likely), has significant implications for both drillers and landowners.

Sinking Indian megacities pose 'alarming' building damage risks -Sinking land is quietly destabilizing urban infrastructure in India's largest cities, putting thousands of buildings and millions of people at risk, according to Virginia Tech scientists. Groundwater overuse is a critical driver of the problem, said Susanna Werth, assistant professor of geosciences who co-authored the paper published in Nature Sustainability. "When cities pump more water from aquifers than nature can replenish, the ground quite literally sinks," Werth said. "Our study shows that this overexploitation of groundwater is directly linked to structural weakening in urban areas." Using satellite radar data from 2015–23, the research team assessed differential ground sinking, or subsidence, in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, covering more than 13 million buildings and home to nearly 80 million people. Results revealed that 878 square kilometers of urban land, or about 339 square miles, is sinking, with nearly 1.9 million people exposed to subsidence rates greater than 4 millimeters per year. The study estimates that 2,406 buildings in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai are already at high risk of structural damage. If current subsidence trends continue, over 23,000 buildings could face a very high risk within the next 50 years. Land subsidence compounds the threats from flooding and earthquakes. When the ground beneath a city sinks unevenly, it weakens foundations, damages utility lines, and amplifies structural vulnerability. "The silent strain we see today could lead to tomorrow's disasters if cities do not adapt their infrastructure and groundwater management policies," "Our research shows how satellite-based ground mapping techniques can reveal risks that are otherwise hidden until collapse occurs," "Investing in adaptation now, through groundwater regulation, resilient design, and proactive monitoring, will save lives and resources in the long run." The findings extend beyond India, warning that subsidence-driven building damage is an emerging global urban challenge. As more cities depend on stressed aquifers and expand rapidly, subsidence will continue to erode infrastructure resilience worldwide.

Inside EPA’s hunt for employees who signed the dissent letter - EPA was rocked this summer when dozens of employees signed an open letter blasting the Trump administration’s disregard for science and agency staff.Then came the probe: Senior political appointees and career officials went to work to find and later punish critics in EPA’s ranks. Emails obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act shed light on the internal investigation that began within hours of the EPA “Declaration of Dissent” going public on June 30. In the following days, the administration sifted through names of those who had signed the letter, shared legal advice and responded by placing close to 150 employees on administrative leave while their computers and email accounts were searched.By summer’s end, most were suspended without pay while some were fired. The effort was designed to silence further dissent at the agency, according to EPA employees granted anonymity because they fear retaliation.Michael Molina, the top political appointee in the Office of Mission Support, said he wouldn’t forget who signed the dissent letter.“I have screen shots of every name on my phone,” Molina said in a July 3 email.An EPA employee said the administration’s investigation was incompetent and sloppy, repeatedly sending the wrong documents to staff, disclosing personal information and misspelling email addresses. They weren’t surprised that Molina had screenshots of the names signed on the dissent letter.“We have seen time and time again the lengths this administration will go to suppress free speech, even if they fumble the entire way,” said the staffer.Stephanie Rapp-Tully, a partner at law firm Tully Rinckey, reviewed Molina’s email and said the political appointee was collecting evidence as part of the agency’s investigation, which is standard for such probes. Nevertheless, she said, there was an undercurrent to the message.“It does have a tone of, ‘Because you sign this letter, you will face an action,’” Rapp-Tully said. In response to questions for this story, EPA spokesperson Brigit Hirsch said in that late June, the agency “became aware of a number of names listed on the letter.” “Following this, EPA worked to identify and confirm the scope of employee involvement of these individuals,” Hirsch saidEPA officials dug through the signatories. In an email the day following the dissent letter’s release, Helena Wooden-Aguilar, then deputy assistant administrator for workplace solutions, said she did “some color coding” of 215 names on the letter.She found 160 were current EPA employees. That included 18 who were already leaving, having opted into the administration’s “deferred resignation” program.The scope of EPA’s investigation, however, spread. “The list has increased as of this am,” Wooden-Aguilar said in a July 2 email.Stand Up for Science, the nonprofit group that helped organize the dissent letter, would take down from the internet the attached names. But the agency was not deterred in finding the signers.Krysti Wells, another senior mission support official, said in a July 3 email there is “a site called Wayback Machine where you can look up archived websites.”“We looked up the site and recovered the names on the site as of this morning (and downloaded the site into the attached PDF),” she said.

EPA flush with cash for ‘priority’ staff - EPA has billions of dollars on hand to stay open through the government shutdown and is using it to fund a new approach to this funding lapse: sending some staffers home while many others stay on to support the president’s priority projects. In recent weeks, agency staff who work in areas that the Trump administration has deprioritized — like emissions reporting and grants — have been sent home without pay until Congress and the White House iron out their differences on government spending. Others who are working to roll back regulations or approve permits for projects across the country are still coming to work and are getting paid.This bifurcated furlough model isn’t the way EPA usually handles a lapse in appropriations. And it’s not spelled out in the agency’s shutdown contingency plan, which would have furloughed a majority of the employees who are still working, leaving them in the dark on who will continue working and for how long. “This selective application across different parts of the agency — to try to put your thumb on the scale of what the agency could do, what it could not do — is an unusual step,” said Stan Meiburg, who held various senior leadership roles over a 39-year career at EPA. “This is very different from past experiences.” In previous years, most EPA staffers knew which bucket they fell into. A fraction of employees would continue working because they were political appointees, their jobs were deemed vital for public safety or their positions were funded through mechanisms other than annual congressional appropriations. The rest — more than 90 percent of EPA’s workforce, on average — would receive an email from the administrator telling them there were enough leftover, or “carryover,” funds to cover their paychecks for the next week or so. Then they would be furloughed once those funds were exhausted.But this year, most, if not all, employees received a notice upon the start of the shutdown that said they will continue working until “the Agency determines that you are no longer needed to perform exempted activities or that funds are no longer available during the shutdown,” according to copies of the notice reviewed by POLITICO’s E&E News. The notice gave no indication of when available funds would dry up.About 10 days into October, a handful of employees received furlough notices, marking the first wave of what staffers are calling a “phased” furlough approach. Ten days later, nearly three weeks into the shutdown, a second, much larger wave hit.EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said during multiple broadcast interviews it was the largest wave so far, with the agency sending furlough notices last Monday to approximately 4,000 employees — roughly a quarter of its pre-shutdown workforce.“The way that we are able to manage our carryover funding, we are doing this in a way to make sure those employees who are working, have been working, are going to get paid,” Zeldin said during an interview with Scripps News on Friday. “Hopefully this shutdown doesn’t last forever, but as long as the carryover funding exists, then our employees will get paid.”EPA staff don’t know when the next wave of furlough notices might come or which programs would be affected, according to several staffers who were granted anonymity because they fear retribution. And some say even their senior career supervisors don’t appear to know.The agency “might be a couple weeks or so away from what might be that next round, which would be even larger,” Zeldin said during an interview with Fox Business last week. Zeldin did not say, and EPA’s press office did not answer follow-up questions regarding, which staffers and how many would be affected. “At the political level they are picking and choosing who goes and who stays,” said one EPA employee.

Explaining Trump’s energy bet: Win on gas, lose on renewables - The U.S. and China are headed in opposite directions on energy. That divergence will be on display when the presidents of the world’s leading gas and renewable producers meet Thursday. President Donald Trump has doubled down on fossil fuels since returning to the White House, serving as salesman-in-chief as he pressures allies and trade partners into buying more American oil and gas. The approach contrasts sharply with China, which under President Xi Jinping has emerged as a clean energy superpower. China is rapidly expanding its renewable capacity while flooding global markets with solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles.The two strategies are increasingly in tension, particularly in Asia, where energy consumption is expected to soar as economies expand in the coming years.“The U.S. and China, moving forward, are trying to sell rival energy export models with the U.S. built around fossil fuels and the Chinese built around cheap renewables,” said Gregory Brew, an energy analyst at the Eurasia Group. “It’s unclear who’s going to come out ahead.”The already fractious relationship has grown even frostier in Trump’s second term. The president imposed sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods early this year. Beijing retaliated with a ban on critical minerals shipments to the U.S. and stopped buying American soybeans and shiploads of liquefied natural gas. Trump and Xi are expected to meet in South Korea on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in what would be their first face-to-face meeting since Trump’s first term.Energy is a top-tier issue for both countries, as both target Asian market for their exports. Electricity demand in Southeast Asia alone is expected to double by 2050, while Asia more broadly is set to account for about half of global growth in gas demand by the end of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency.Many countries in the region feel torn between the U.S. and China. Leaders are wary of shifting too aggressively in the direction of one or the other, said Ben Cahill, the lead oil and gas analyst at the University of Texas, Austin’s Center for Energy and Environmental Systems. The U.S. and China are appealing to consumers for different reasons. American LNG is increasingly cheap, thanks to a wave of new supply expected to come online in the coming years. Chinese-made solar panels are easy to install and limit countries’ exposure to the fluctuations in global gas prices. “It’s not a binary decision that countries make,” Cahill said. Gas could be especially appealing to countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand, all of which have gas infrastructure. But the falling price of solar technologies, coupled with the reliability of batteries, could be increasingly attractive to countries in the futureGlobal LNG supply is expected to increase 50 percent by 2030, thanks to a new generation of export terminals that are set to come online in the U.S. and Qatar, according to the International Energy Agency. That’s a recipe for lower gas prices and higher demand. Gas prices are expected to be 40 percent lower globally over the next five years, compared to the previous five, according to IEA, prompting a 9 percent jump in global gas consumption by 2030. Much of that growth is expected to come from Asia.“The best way to increase gas penetration in Southeast Asia is to make it more abundant and cheaper,” Cahill said. “I think we’re heading in that direction.” Yet there are limits to LNG’s growth. Even if gas is increasingly a bargain, building the regasification terminals that are needed to import it are expensive. India, the second-largest energy consumer in Asia, has limited LNG import capacity. Trump has pushed India to invest in LNG, but the country has so far resisted, analysts said.

Western high-speed rail line asks Trump for $6B as costs balloon - --Brightline, the company building the country’s first privately owned high-speed rail system, has asked the Trump administration for a $6 billion loan to help with rising construction costs on its line between Las Vegas and Southern California.The project’s price tag has jumped from $12 billion to $21 billion, according to federal documents, and the extra cost was one reason the company in September applied for a loan from the Federal Railroad Administration. Brightline CEO Michael Reininger defended the move as necessary in the current economic environment. In an interview with POLITICO’s E&E News, he said his company wasn’t the only one contending with higher construction costs. “We’ve definitely seen the impacts of a challenging construction market, and we’re not alone — many others are experiencing cost increases as well,” he said. “We work every day to be as smart as possible in finding ways to mitigate the consequences of those cost increases, so that we can continue to advance the project.”

EV sales plummet as tax incentives vanish - This Halloween, the federal government is offering zero treats to electric vehicle buyers. And it’s produced a frightening result for EV advocates: Americans lurched back to buying traditional gas guzzlers.EV sales are on track to face-plant to slightly less than 6 percent of new car sales in October, the first month after the Trump administration phased out the Biden-era $7,500 tax incentive. That’s less than half the rate from September, according to a report by research firm J.D. Power and data firm GlobalData that made full-month conclusions from earlier sales.You’d have to go back to 2022 to find EV sales at that level. But analysts consoled that the figures aren’t as bad as they could have been and that they will probably get better.“We’re going to still keep some momentum,” said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, an industry analyst at Cox Automotive, on a webinar Tuesday about EV sales.

Detroit shifts back to gas-powered cars and trucks as EV era ends - The two major U.S. automakers say they will earn hefty profits by shifting back to building gas-powered pickup trucks and SUVs and through the Trump administration’s plan to roll back vehicle pollution standards. In earnings reports and calls last week, Ford and General Motors said they are shifting back to building gas-powered pickup trucks and SUVs, which are the most profitable vehicles they sell, to cut their losses on EVs.“We expect to reduce EV losses in 2026 and beyond,” General Motors CEO Mary Barra said in a letter to shareholders. She added, “As I have said, electric vehicles remain our North Star.”Wall Street cheered the news.

Study finds EVs quickly overcome their energy-intensive build to be cleaner than gas cars -Making electric vehicles and their batteries is a dirty process that uses a lot of energy. But a new study says that EVs quickly make up for that with less overall emissions through two years of use than a gas-powered vehicle.The study also estimated that gas-powered vehicles cause at least twice as much environmental damage over their lifetimes as EVs, and said the benefits of EVs can be expected to increase in coming decades as clean sources of power, such as solar and wind, are brought onto the grid.The work by researchers from Northern Arizona University and Duke University, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS Climate, offers insight into a transportation sector that makes up a big part of U.S. emissions. It also comes as some EV skeptics have raised concerns about whether the environmental impact of battery production, including mining, makes it worthwhile to switch to electric."While there is a bigger carbon footprint in the very short term because of the manufacturing process in creating the batteries for electric vehicles, very quickly you come out ahead in CO2 emissions by year three and then for all of the rest of the vehicle lifetime, you're far ahead and so cumulatively much lower carbon footprint,"

Energy agency predicts increase in electricity cost to heat homes - Heating U.S. homes with electricity is expected to be more costly this winter, especially when compared with natural gas or heating oil, federal officials estimate.In projections published this month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said the average U.S. consumer who relies on electricity to heat their residence will see expenditures rise 4 percent to $1,133 from November through March 2026. During that period, the price of electricity per kilowatt hour is expected to be 5 percent higher overall, the EIA said.The cost of electricity varies geographically. People in the Northeast will pay an additional 24 cents or more per kilowatt hour — the highest rates in the country — and fork over a total of $1,519 this winter. By comparison, people in the South will pay between 14.68 cents and 15.54 cents per kilowatt hour, for a total of $1,031 over the same period, according to EIA estimates.About 42 percent of U.S. households reported using electricity to heat their living space, the EIA said, citing U.S. Census information.Households that use other forms of energy will fare better this winter, the agency said. Natural gas prices will grow by only 1 percent to 3 percent this winter, while the actual expenditures by consumers won’t grow by more than 2 percent. Both heating oil and propane are expected to drop in price, said the EIA, an analytical agency within the Energy Department.

Hilliard residents raise concern over fuel cell addition to data center - — Hilliard City Council and residents are opposing an energy project linked to the Amazon data center. The company plans to install over 200 fuel cells at its facility off Scioto Darby Creek Road. “I think if people sit back and don’t say anything, that’s not going to change anything,” resident Chris Ighnat said. “So, we’re looking to change what’s happening over there.”Chris Ighnat is behind a petition that’s already received over 600 signatures urging council to appoint special counsel and file an appeal to stop construction.At Monday night’s city council meeting they approved a motion to hire an outside law firm that specializes in environmental impact issues. They have until Nov. 8 to file their appeal. “We were pleased with the level of support from city council today but it’s a big fight,” resident Ted Cannelongo said.The city of Hilliard originally opposed the natural gas fuel cell power plant that Amazon Web Services and AEP Ohio plan to use to power multiple data centers in Hilliard near homes and schools but the state ultimately has the final say and approved it anyway. “The way that this got approved, the approvals did not follow suit, the notifications, the communication, and overall, the transparency was not there,” Ighnat said. Several residents spoke during public comment Monday night. They raised concerns surrounding long-term health impacts because the fuel cells will be powered by a large gas pipelines. Residents say there are too many unanswered questions about how this project could affect families living nearby. “The CO2 is probably the biggest one,” Ighnat said. “Fire safety. Right. Norwich Township has not received any plan from AEP or Amazon about how they’re going to handle whatever may happen over there. There’s health and respiratory concerns, diminishing home values.”In a statement, AEP Ohio said: “AEP Ohio appreciates the relationship we have with the Hilliard community. We remain committed to maintaining those relationships as we deliver innovative solutions for our customers that are safe and comply with all laws and regulations applicable to their operation — in this case, an onsite fuel cell system at a customer’s site. Fuel cells have proven to be a safe, clean solution for customers’ energy needs. Per regulatory approvals for this project, AEP Ohio will ensure that local first responders are trained on potential fuel cell emergencies. Fuel cells have low emissions characteristics, since they do not provide energy through combustion, and any emissions will be within the limits set by the Ohio EPA.” In a statement, Amazon said: “We work with local utilities to access the energy needed to meet the needs of our customers. This includes collaborating with a diverse set of stakeholders to deliver highly reliable electricity from local power grids along with enabling new carbon-free generation sources like solar and wind. In some instances, such as in Franklin County, the local utility will deploy fuel cells as an interim solution to power a small portion of our overall data center operations while we await completion of larger scale transmission and distribution upgrades in Ohio.” While this technology is touted as a green technology, it hasn’t really been deployed at this scale in North America and there also really aren’t requirements in place right now to perform the kind of impact studies, run the dispersion modeling, to understand exactly what the health impacts are,” Cannelongo said. Those same fears were shared by councilmembers who said they felt blindsided by the state’s decision to move the project forward without local approval.“We all understand the need for energy in the United States and across the world, actually,” Hilliard City Councilmember Les Carrier said. “But you can’t just be throwing up 1.5 million pounds of CO2 a day into the air next to a neighborhood to school without some kind of measurement of what that means.”AEP Ohio and AWS plan to begin construction on the fuel cell system in January, to be completed around September 2027. The project is slated to be temporary until AEP Ohio can catch up with demands on the grid.“This fight’s just warming up,” Carrier said. “We need to reach out, get to other communities and make sure that there’s some balance in this approach.”

Trump makes Laura Swett FERC chair. What will be her focus? - President Donald Trump on Thursday designated Laura Swett chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, marking the agency’s third leadership change in nine months. Swett — a Republican who previously served as an adviser and attorney at FERC and an energy litigator at the firm Vinson & Elkins — will replace Democrat David Rosner at the commission’s helm. The White House had confirmed its intention to elevate her earlier this month. Swett’s appointment came three days after she was sworn in as a commissioner and the same day Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed the panel to propose new rules for speeding the interconnection of “large loads,” such as data centers. to the grid. “DOE requests, in this case, that the Commission adopt final rules by the end of April, which, in FERC world, is really fast,” said Devin Hartman, director of energy and environmental policy at the R Street Institute, a center-right think tank. The Senate confirmed Swett and David LaCerte to join FERC in recent weeks. Both passed along party lines in a broader package of nominees. The change in leadership may slow progress at FERC in the near term, including on Wright’s requests and a long-awaited rule guiding the co-location of large energy users with power plants. Republican Mark Christie tried to address that issue chair earlier this year, but may not have been able to get enough support before his August departure, said Ari Peskoe, executive director of Harvard Law School’s Environmental Policy Initiative. Last month, Rosner reiterated the commission was working on such a rule, but added that there were “lots of different opinions” at play. Tim Furdyna, a partner at law firm K&L Gates, said, “I think there’s always going to be an initial delay in acting on some items, just as a matter of practical necessity. Swett’s going to need to staff her office, get up to speed on what matters are pending before the commission.” Hartman, a former FERC staffer who worked with Swett at the commission, agreed. “Not knowing who the so-called permanent FERC chair would be” made it difficult for “FERC to stay ahead of the industry and make sure rules are keeping up with load growth and technological gains,” he said. But the heightened confidence that Swett will be chair for a longer period should help FERC move faster over the long run, said Hartman. “Now you have a new chair coming in who’s going to have a clear agenda, and that will provide some direction to staff and internal prioritization,” Hartman said. Energy experts say Swett and Rosner, who remains a FERC commissioner, are likely to share similar priorities. Rosner’s two-month stint as chair — now the second shortest in the agency’s history — saw deliberations on co-location and issue orders expediting natural gas infrastructure. “I think a big, high priority for Laura Swett is to continue that process, as opposed to really establishing anything new there,” Furdyna said.

DOE Pushes FERC to Adopt Rule to Quickly Connect AI Data Centers -- Marcellus Drilling News - The Trump administration wants to win the race for artificial intelligence (AI) with China. The administration is pulling out all the stops to ensure the U.S. is #1 in AI. That means building new data centers. Last Thursday, Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) Chris Wright took the unusual step of sending a directive to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), instructing the agency to initiate rulemaking procedures to rapidly accelerate the interconnection of large loads, including data centers. Wright even included his own proposed rule for FERC to adopt (spoon-fed)

Columbia Gas of Ohio faces capacity strain amid data center boom - Columbia Gas of Ohio sees on-site gas power plants for data centers as an emerging opportunity, but executives say system strain – much like the electric grid’s constraints – is making things more complicated. There are two types of gas pipelines – large interstate lines and smaller lines that transport gas to customers, including homes and commercial businesses.

Ohio's data centers will impact many Ohioans -Randi Pokladnik - Ohio is witnessing the construction of an unprecedented amount of data centers in the state. Columbus is ranked the 10th largest data center region in North America. However, some communities are pushing back against these enormous facilities. Jerome Township Trustees voted in September for a nine-month moratorium on “receipt, processing, issuance, or approval of any application for a zoning certificate” for data centers. Some of the concerns expressed by communities located close to data centers include: the noise, water usage, acres of land transformed into industrial centers, exposure to air pollution from power generation, high voltage transmission lines cutting through communities and farmlands, and probable increases in their utility bills due to the increases in power consumption. Data centers require an enormous amount of water for cooling purposes. “The Central Ohio Regional Water Study, an analysis of regional water needs by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and relevant state agencies, similarly showed water and wastewater demand will be on the rise in the coming decades due to the surging number of data centers,” a report from Gongwer noted.Data centers can consume up to five million gallons per day; the equivalent of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Columbus is one of many major cities across the nation that has been sinking due to water withdraws. Additionally, these data enters also use large quantities of PFAS-gas or f-gas chemicals. The compounds have been linked to cancer, birth defects, decreased immunity, high cholesterol, kidney disease, and a range of other serious health problems.They are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down in the environment and they are also potent greenhouse gases.The compounds are used in the cooling phase and also to manufacture some semiconductors. Currently the Trump administration is moving to “fast-track” data centers by “expedited chemical review” for compounds used at data centers. The communities in central Ohio will certainly be affected by the explosion of data centers in the region, however, communities in SE Ohio will also be affected.Data centers require large amounts of electricity and 56 % of that energy will be from fossil fuels.According to a report from the Ohio River Valley Institute, “A 100 MW data center, assuming it operates at 70% max capacity over a year, will use 613,200 MWh of electricity. Producing that much electricity from natural gas will consume over 4.4 billion cubic feet of gas. This would emit roughly 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of nearly 60,000 typical passenger cars.” It is estimated that U.S. data centers produced 105 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the past year. The natural gas (methane) needed to power these centers will come from fracked gas.Appalachian counties will be facing more health and environmental impacts from fracking. These include; air and water pollution, more Class II injection wells, and excessive surface water withdraws. One fracked well can require from 2 to 16 million gallons of water depending on the length of the lateral drilled.The Ohio Department of Natural Resources keeps data on the amount of surface and groundwater used by fracking companies in Ohio. Harrison County saw 853,000,000 gallons of surface water withdrawn for fracking in 2023. That represents seventy-eight percent of the total water usage in the county.Carroll County saw seventy percent of its total water usage in 2023 go towards fracked wells, and Jefferson County had 421,000,000 gallons of surface water used for fracking in 2023. Ironically these same counties experienced record-breaking droughts in 2024 as well as 2025.Harrison County was in the exceptional drought range for most of the summer of 2024, yet we witnessed water being withdrawn from woodland streams and pumped to fracking well pads all across the county. More fracking means more radioactive brine wastes being produced and injected into Class II wells.The Ohio Department of Natural Resources oversees everything related to fracking including issuing permits for Class II wells. ODNR is being questioned about their ability to regulate the over 200 Class II radioactive brine injection wells, most of which are located in Washington, Athens, Meigs, and other Appalachian counties.The wastes from these wells have been known to migrate into areas far beyond the injection site into oil production wells andgroundwater. The 2022 passage of HB 507 during a lame duck session opened up state lands to fracking.Ohioans have watched as their precious state parks are leased out to fracking companies.These data centers will only encourage more fracking resulting in more destruction of our parks.Wildlife sanctuaries like Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area and Salt Fork State Park will be sacrificed to power artificial intelligence.Ohio’s Appalachian region is no longer a bucolic setting of small rural communities; it is an industrial zone littered with wells pads and fracking infrastructure.Soon, communities in central Ohio will experience the same degradation as data centers transform their towns into industrial landscapes.

OH Rep. Wants to Formally Recognize NatGas, Nukes as Clean & Green -- Marcellus Drilling News - One of the ways the Democrat left continues to wage war against fossil energy is to redefine terms. The left claims clean and green *only* applies to unreliable renewable energy sources—sources that require child labor working in detestable conditions in mining camps in foreign countries, far from the eyes of the leftists that tout renewable energy. We who support fossil energy have a unique opportunity with control of the White House and Congress: let’s permanently, in law, define clean and green to include both natural gas and nuclear power. Ohio Congressman Troy Balderson has proposed a bill that will do just that.

OH Bill Would Force Siting Board to Favor NatGas Over Renewables -Marcellus Drilling News - Proposed Ohio legislation, Senate Bill (SB) 294, seeks to redefine “clean energy” to include natural gas, a fossil fuel, and, according to lefties, a major contributor to mythical global warming. At the same time, the bill would declare renewable sources like wind and solar “unreliable.” SB 294 would compel the Ohio Power Siting Board to favor energy projects it deems both clean and reliable, effectively prioritizing natural gas power plants. The bill’s sponsors argue this leverages Ohio’s substantial shale gas reserves and provides a cleaner alternative to coal.

Ohio GOP bill declares natural gas is 'clean energy' the state should favor - Natural gas – a fossil fuel that’s one of the biggest contributors to global climate change – would be considered “clean energy” that’s favored during Ohio’s permitting process, under new legislation proposed Tuesday. That same legislation would also declare that renewable energy sources like wind and solar power are not “reliable” because they depend on wind and sun, unlike coal or gas plants that can run nonstop. The legislation may be more than just wordplay – it would “force” the Ohio Power Siting Board, which considers permit applications for energy projects in the state, to favor projects that the bill deems are both clean and reliable, as sponsoring Sen. Mark Romanchuk, a Richland County Republican, described it in an interview. The term ‘clean energy’ in common conversation refers to sources of electricity or fuel that don’t release carbon dioxide, greenhouse gasses or other pollutants into the atmosphere. That’s mainly solar, wind or, depending on who you ask, nuclear power.House Bill 294 would turn the phrase on its head, at least legally. It would grant ‘clean energy’ status to natural gas, the common term for methane. When methane is burnt, it emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the biggest driver of global warming. Methane also tends to leak when it’s extracted and transported, and is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide in the short run. The legislation is in its early stages and would need to win supporting votes in the Senate, House and from the governor to become law. The exact legal weight of the change proposed in HB294 is unclear. The legislation cites a section of state law that spells out the regulatory process for developers to apply for permits for energy siting projects like gas-fired power plants (the Lordstown Energy Center being one example). How the law plays out would be determined by state regulators at the Ohio Power Siting Board who are appointed by the governor, and the Ohio Supreme Court, which is under firm 6-1 Republican control.HB294 says it declares to be state policy that Ohio:

• “Employ affordable, reliable, and clean energy sources,” whose definitions are tailored around natural gas
• “Ensure … the state prioritizes domestic production”
• “Prioritiz[es] infrastructure necessary to deliver energy to Ohio customers,” presumably a reference to gas pipelines

The legislation is reminiscent of the so-called“chicken bill” of 2022, where Republican lawmakers loaded up a bill once focused on niche poultry policy with late-breaking amendments, including one that dubiouslydeclared natural gas a “green energy.” By the time Gov. Mike DeWine signed the legislation, it included other amendments that enabled the current practice of fracking for natural gas in state parks and established legal protections for the use of pesticides.Ohio produces more natural gas than all but six states, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That’s thanks to the shale boom that started around 2010. The gas industry says itcontributes tens of billions of dollars to Ohio’s economy each year. Sen. George Lang, one of the Republican co-sponsors, said in committee that natural gas is a cleaner energy source than coal. And Ohio, which sits on massive shale fields underground, should leverage that advantage amid spiking power demands nationwide driven by artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and an uptick in manufacturing. “We need a tremendous amount of energy to succeed in business,” he said to lawmakers on the Senate Energy Committee. In an interview, Romanchuk said Ohio law already considers natural gas to be “green” energy, and he said the new definition is “tied in” to the federal Clean Air Act, landmark environmental legislation that sets ambient air quality standards in the U.S. Since 2009, the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency hasinvoked the Clean Air Act to limit carbon emissions in the U.S. Romanchuk also suggested that while wind and solar power don’t produce greenhouse gasses when they’re operational, the process of building and constructing those operations might. “Leading up to that, there’s always some sort of environmental impact,” he said. Euclid Democratic Sen. Kent Smith said in an interview it’s disingenuous to describe natural gas as “clean.” But if the bill is just about pro-gas political messaging, maybe he’ll support it. But if it’s tipping the scales further towards the gas industry when it comes to permitting decisions, the Democrats will likely oppose it.

Strs Ohio Buys 39,535 Shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG - Strs Ohio (State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio) increased its position in Cheniere Energy, Inc. by 23.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,535 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 39,535 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned 0.09% of Cheniere Energy worth $50,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy company reported $7.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $4.95. The firm had revenue of $4.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a $0.555 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Cheniere Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.68%. Cheniere Energy, Inc, an energy infrastructure company, primarily engages in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses in the United States. It owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. The company also owns Creole Trail pipeline, a 94-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal with several interstate and intrastate pipelines; and operates Corpus Christi pipeline, a 21.5-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with various interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines.

Vallourec Star gets tax break to bring 40 new jobs to Youngstown - WFMJ.com - The Ohio Tax Credit Authority on Monday approved a seven-year job creation tax credit for Youngstown manufacturer Vallourec Star, LP, a move expected to result in 40 new full-time positions. The credit, valued at 1.126 percent of new payroll, supports Vallourec Star's plan to expand its current operations to manufacture a new line of high-quality steel pipe. The new positions are projected to generate more than $2.3 million in new annual payroll for the Mahoning Valley region.Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik announced the approval today as part of a package of 12 projects across the state. In total, the projects reviewed by the Tax Credit Authority and regional partner JobsOhio are expected to create 1,126 new jobs, retain 2,686 existing jobs, and result in more than $2 billion in total investment statewide. The Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber (YWRC) sent the following statement on this expansion."Vallourec’s proposed expansion reflects continued confidence in the Valley’s workforce and business environment. This investment would strengthen our industrial foundation and grow the local supply chain at companies like Brilex Industries and City Machine Technologies. This also would further solidify the Valley as the supply chain capital of the Utica Shale."Vallourec Star supplies the Oil Country Tubular Goods market globally from its Youngstown base, which has a long history in steel production. The manufacturer’s facility in the city’s Brier Hill neighborhood utilizes an electric arc furnace for steelmaking, pipe rolling, heat treatment, and specialized threading processes.

Ohio Launches $100M Fund for Natural Gas, Nuclear Infrastructure --Marcellus Drilling News - Yesterday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and JobsOhio (a private nonprofit economic development corporation) launched the $100 million JobsOhio Energy Opportunity Initiative, a five-year fund to bolster economic development through energy production. The initiative will provide grants and low-interest loans to qualifying companies to offset costs related to natural gas, power generation, and nuclear power, specifically Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

MPR Building New Sand Storage Along Ohio River in Belmont County -- Marcellus Drilling News - Here’s a neat company we haven’t written about in 4 1/2 years: MPR Supply Chain. It’s a family-owned and operated riverfront transloading facility located in Bellaire, Ohio, at mile markers 92.5 and 93.7 on the Ohio River. MPR’s facility is a Gateway Distribution Point, located minutes from major north-south and east-west transportation routes and within 24 hours of two-thirds of the population of both the United States and Canada, including some of the largest material-consuming regions in the country. MPR moves a LOT of frac sand for the Marcellus/Utica industry through its facility, and has been for 10 years. MPR just broke ground on an expansion.

Leaking Eureka Williamsport Plant Begins Hauling Wastewater to OH -- Marcellus Drilling News - On August 17, Eureka Resources’ Williamsport Second Street facility (one of the three plants previously operated by Eureka) leaked some of its stored untreated wastewater, which ended up in the nearby Susquehanna River via a storm drain (see ‘Black Goop’ Spills into Susquehanna River from Closed Eureka Plant). As of mid-September, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) reported nearly all of the spill that could be gathered had been collected (see PA DEP: Spill Cleanup at Eureka Williamsport Plant Nearly Complete). With the cleanup now complete, it’s time to haul away the wastewater..

Gulfport eyes Q3 gains after plan to expand oil/gas drilling - Gulfport Energy, headquartered in Oklahoma City, will release its third-quarter earnings report Nov. 4, following an aggressive plan to expand drilling operations.The company allocated $75 million to $100 million after the second quarter to acquire additional acreage for oil and gas development. Investors are eager to see if those efforts delivered early results.Gulfport reported strong operational growth across its core regions in Q2.The company brought 14 gross wells online – eight targeting Ohio’s Utica shale, four in the Marcellus, and two in Oklahoma’s SCOOP play.Production climbed 8% from the first quarter, averaging 1,006.3 million cubic feet of gas equivalent per day. Liquid output increased 26% to 19,200 barrels daily, signaling rising efficiency and improved well performance.Financially, Gulfport posted $184.5 million in net income and $212.3 million in adjusted EBITDA, with $231.4 million in operating cash flow.President and CEO John Reinhart credited the company’s momentum for driving new investments.“We are pleased to announce our plans to allocate $75 million to $100 million toward targeted discretionary acreage acquisition opportunities in the coming months and anticipate this investment will expand our high-quality, low-breakeven inventory by more than two years. This represents the highest level of leasehold investment at Gulfport in more than six years, reinforcing our ongoing commitment to organically grow our inventory runway and increase development optionality.”While much of Gulfport’s drilling takes place in Ohio’s Utica and Marcellus formations, Oklahoma remains a key component of its portfolio. The company continues development in the SCOOP Woodford and SCOOP Springer formations, both known for consistent natural gas production and strong well economics.

Expand Energy 3Q Added 7,500 Acres to “Core Marcellus” in OH, WV -- Marcellus Drilling News - During the third quarter, Expand Energy, formed by the merger of Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy in late 2024, significantly expanded its portfolio by acquiring 82,500 new acres across the Marcellus and Haynesville shale plays for approximately $235 million. The company added approximately 7,500 acres in the Marcellus in Ohio and West Virginia for $57 million, which can accommodate over 40 well locations. The larger acquisition involved 75,000 acres in the western Haynesville for $178 million, with the potential for over 200 locations. Expand, which produced 7.33 Bcfe/d (92% natural gas), reported strong financial results for the quarter, including nearly $3 billion in revenue and a profit of $547 million. The company produced 7.2 Bcfe/d in 2Q25. Expand is the largest natural gas producer in the country.

Appalachian Pure-play E&Ps Bolting on Acreage to Stay Ahead of Looming LNG, AI Demand --Appalachian natural gas producers are expanding their positions and again announcing plans to boost output ahead of a wave of expected demand growth being driven by LNG exports and power generation.
Line chart showing NGI’s Appalachia Regional Average Daily Natural Gas Prices from November 2024 to November 2025, with sharp price spikes above $12.00/MMBtu in early 2025 followed by a gradual decline and stable trading between $2.00 and $4.00/MMBtu later in the year. At A Glance:
CNX, Antero among producers adding acreage
Antero adding spot rig to test production speed
Most Appalachian operators targeting higher output
CNX Resources Corp., another Appalachian pure-play, said Thursday it has acquired 23,000 acres for $50 million to tap the Utica Shale resources below properties it acquired earlier this year from Apex Energy II LLC in southwestern Pennsylvania.

39 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 20 – 26 --Marcellus Drilling News -- After the high number of new permits issued two weeks ago, we thought last week the new permit number would sink (fast) for sure. But no! For the week of October 20 – 26, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica *increased* from the previous week. There were 39 new permits issued across the three M-U states last week, up from the 37 issued two weeks ago. Pennsylvania issued 23 new permits last week, up from 19 the previous week. Ohio issued 11 permits, a slight decrease from 13 two weeks ago. And West Virginia issued 5 new permits, the same number as two weeks ago. Just, wow! ASCENT RESOURCES | BELMONT COUNTY | BRADFORD COUNTY | BUTLER COUNTY | EQT CORP | EXPAND ENERGY | GREENE COUNTY (PA) | GUERNSEY COUNTY | HARRISON COUNTY | LYCOMING COUNTY | MARSHALL COUNTY | PENNENERGY RESOURCES | PENNSYLVANIA GENERAL ENERGY | REPSOL | SENECA RESOURCES | TIOGA COUNTY (PA)

EnCap Secures $2 Billion to Advance PennEnergy’s Marcellus Gas Expansion - EnCap Investments has closed a $2 billion continuation vehicle for PennEnergy Resources. The fund will support development of PennEnergy’s Marcellus Shale assets, expand its natural gas inventory, and fund bolt-on growth opportunities in a favorable gas market. (P&GJ) — EnCap Investments L.P. has closed a $2 billion continuation vehicle to support the long-term development of PennEnergy Resources, LLC, marking the largest capital raise for a continuation structure in the upstream energy sector to date. The vehicle, managed by EnCap, allows existing and new investors to extend their participation in PennEnergy’s Marcellus Shale assets while providing fresh growth capital for future expansion and bolt-on opportunities. The fund is anchored by Andros Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs Alternatives’ Vintage Strategies, with additional commitments from EnCap Energy Capital Fund XII, the EnCap General Partner, and PennEnergy management. The new financing ensures that PennEnergy, a Pittsburgh-based independent focused on Marcellus Shale natural gas production, can continue to develop its high-quality, long-life resource inventory amid a constructive gas market. The structure provides investors with continued exposure to one of the largest and most productive dry gas basins in North America. Jason DeLorenzo, Managing Partner at EnCap, said the strong investor response underscores confidence in both PennEnergy’s assets and EnCap’s long-term investment approach. “This transaction highlights the high-quality nature of PennEnergy’s business and the strong partnerships we’ve built across our investor base.” The $2 billion continuation vehicle will also provide flexibility for strategic acquisitions and infrastructure optimization across PennEnergy’s operational footprint, positioning the company to capture growth in domestic and LNG-linked gas demand. EnCap, one of North America’s leading energy private equity firms, has raised more than $40 billion across its energy-focused funds since its founding in 1988. The firm continues to deploy capital into upstream and midstream ventures aligned with long-term natural gas and energy transition trends.

Minor Wastewater Spill of 340 Bbls at EQT Pad in Greene County, PA -- Marcellus Drilling News - EQT Corporation self-reported a wastewater spill at its Secretariat Well Site in Gilmore Township (Greene County), PA, on October 3. Multiple spots were found after the completions crew removed its containment apparatus from the pad. EQT immediately got to work remediating the site and has (so far) removed 340 barrels of wastewater (14,280 gallons) and 21.5 roll-off boxes of dirt. EQT reported the spill to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as soon as it was observed on October 3. A DEP inspector finally showed up on October 10.

Strong Supply, Softer Exports Drive Record U.S. Propane Inventories -- The EIA reported a 2.5 MMbbl build in total U.S. propane/propylene inventories for the week ended October 24 — the largest storage level since recordkeeping began in 2011 and well above industry expectations for an increase of 722 Mbbl and the average build of 283 Mbbl. Storage levels were 14% higher than the same period last year, which was the five-year high. Total U.S. propane/propylene stocks reached a record 105.7 MMbbl, about 4.2 MMbbl (4%) above the same week in 2024 and the five-year maximum. Inventories were also 12.7 MMbbl (14%) above the five-year average, underscoring continued strength in supply heading into winter. PADD 3 propane inventories increased by 1.7 MMbbl last week, lifting total stocks in the region to 62.6 MMbbl — the highest level since recordkeeping began in 2011. Inventories were 3.7 MMbbl (6%) above the same week in 2024 and above the five-year maximum. Stocks were also 10.4 MMbbl (20%) higher than the five-year average, highlighting sustained strength in Gulf Coast supply heading into the winter season. Weekly propane exports reported by the EIA averaged 1.65 MMb/d, down 243 Mb/d from the previous week. Exports were below the recent four-week average of 1.89 MMb/d but remained above the 1.58 MMb/d reported in the same week last year. The decline reflects slightly weaker near-term loadings, though overall export levels remain strong by historical standards. The pullback in exports likely contributed to the Gulf Coast’s inventory build, adding to already high storage levels heading into the winter season.

Radicals Sue FERC for Reissuing NESE “Zombie” Pipeline Certification -- Marcellus Drilling News - In May, pipeline giant Williams filed a 246-page request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expedite the reissuance of a certificate for the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project, a billion-dollar-plus project designed to increase Transco pipeline capacity and flows of Marcellus gas heading into New York City and other northeastern markets (see Williams Files Request Asking FERC to Reissue NESE Cert in NY, NJ). In late August, FERC did just that (see FERC Reissues NESE Pipeline Project Certificate for NY, NJ). Radical anti-fossil fuel groups asked FERC for a “rehearing” to reconsider the decision. FERC didn’t agree to rehear its decision, resulting in a lawsuit.

All We Are Saying ... Is Give (NESE) a Chance – Can Williams Finally Build Its New York City Pipeline? - This past spring — 10 years after Williams Cos. first proposed the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE) and one year after it scrapped plans for it — the effort to add 400 MMcf/d of natural gas pipeline capacity into New York City and Long Island was revived, thanks largely to a changing political climate in Washington, DC. Since then, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has re-approved the project and regulators in New York and New Jersey have been mulling over whether to issue water-quality permits for the $1-billion-plus plan. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss Williams’s renewed push to get NESE permitted and built — and the uncertainty still ahead.As we said in Fight Song, it took nine years, an act of Congress and a Supreme Court ruling — yes, really! — for the developers of Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to take their 303-mile, 2-Bcf/d project from announcement to startup. Well, Williams’s plan to build NESE was, like the plan by EQT Midstream Partners and other developers of MVP, first unveiled way back in 2015, but unlike MVP it still isn’t up and running. Williams was successful in securing a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for the project from FERC in 2019. However, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) both rejected the midstreamer’s applications for Water Quality Certification under Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act, citing (among other things) concern about the project’s impact on aquatic resources. Williams appealed those denials but walked away from it all in April 2024 when FERC’s CPCN was about to expire.Fast-forward to March of this year when, just before a planned White House meeting with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, President Trump tweeted that he would no longer allow New York to block important infrastructure projects like NESE and the Constitution Pipeline project in upstate New York, adding, “We will use federal approval!” In April, the Trump administration put more pressure on Hochul by issuing a stop-work order on the massive Empire Wind project off Long Island, which was fully permitted and under construction. But that move was rescinded in May when the governor promised that state agencies would give pipelines and other fossil-fuel-related projects a fair hearing.Williams announced soon thereafter that it had decided to revive the left-for-dead NESE project with new applications to FERC, DEC and DEP. At the same time, Williams said it would pursue a possible revival of the 125-mile, 650-MMcf/d Constitution Pipeline in upstate New York, but only if Northeastern governors invited it “with the red carpet rolled out,” in the words of Williams’s then-CEO (and now executive chairman) Alan Armstrong. [The Constitution project, which was approved by FERC in 2014 but denied a New York water-quality permit in 2016 and effectively canceled in 2020, would run from northeastern Pennsylvania to west of Albany, NY, where it would tie into the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) and Iroquois Pipeline systems to bring gas east and south to Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island. More on Constitution in a moment.]Before we delve further into NESE’s current status and prospects, we should describe what the project involves. First of all, it would be the latest in a series of enhancements that Williams has been making to its 10,000-mile-plus Transco system, which runs between South Texas and New York City. We’ve blogged extensively the past couple of years about Williams’s ongoing efforts to increase southbound capacity on Transco between New Jersey and the Southeast — see our recent Don’t Stop Believin’ for more — but the company had previously made a number of improvements to the uppermost reaches of the Transco system that feed the Big Apple.For example, back in 2013, Williams completed its Northeast Supply Link project, adding 250 MMcf/d of eastbound capacity on Transco’s mainline and Leidy systems. That project included 12 miles of 42-inch-diameter pipeline in new loops, or parallel lines, in Pennsylvania’s Lycoming and Monroe counties and in Hunterdon County, NJ, as well as 26 miles of pipeline upgrades and new or upgraded compression stations. Over the next four years, Williams also completed its Rockaway Delivery Lateral, Northeast Connector and New York Bay Expansion projects, each of which enabled more Marcellus-sourced gas to flow into New York City. The NESE project would give the region’s gas grid another boost. As in the original plan several years ago, the recently revived project would involve installing 10 miles of 42-inch-diameter pipeline looping (parallel piping) along Transco in Lancaster County, PA (red line labeled #1 to lower-left in Figure 1 above); a 3.4-mile, 26-inch-diameter onshore loop of the Lower New York Bay Lateral (LNYBL) in Middlesex County, NJ (red line labeled #2 within small box in upper-right and in inset map); and a 23-mile, 26-inch offshore loop of LNYBL itself (red line labeled #3 in upper-right and in inset map). That last segment would run to the offshore Rockaway Transfer Point, an existing interconnection between the LNYBL (long blue line under New York Harbor) and the Rockaway Delivery Lateral (short blue line from eastern end of #3 to long, narrow Rockaway Peninsula). The Rockaway lateral connects to National Grid’s distribution system in Brooklyn. Also planned are additional compression at a station in Chester County, PA, and a new 32,000-horsepower compressor station in Somerset County, NJ. The overall project, slated for completion in Q4 2027, would provide 400 MMcf/d of firm transportation capacity to gas utility National Grid’s service territory in three of New York City’s five boroughs (Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens) and on Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties. NESE is still two state water-quality permits shy of what it needs. In New York, DEC this summer held a 40-day comment period but — despite the objection of NESE’s opponents — no public hearings on Williams’s application. (Back in 2019, DEC held two such hearings.) The agency is expected to announce soon whether it will issue a water-quality certification this time around. In New Jersey, DEP in September held a virtual public hearing on the revived NESE application and a subsequent public comment period that is now closed. Like its counterpart in New York, DEP is expected to issue its decision regarding a water-quality permit sometime soon. Finally, regarding the possible resuscitation of the Constitution Pipeline (red line in Figure 2 above), Williams has so far made no commitment. Still, the company recently submitted permit applications to agencies in Pennsylvania and New York. Also, Williams’s website states that it plans to submit applications to FERC in 2025, with the expectation of receiving the commission’s approval in August 2026, starting construction in Q4 2026, and bringing the new pipeline online in April 2028.

MVP Asks FERC to Approve Expanded Capacity by Extra 600 MMcf/d --In July 2024, EQT announced a plan to expand capacity along the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from 2.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) to 2.5 Bcf/d (see EQT’s Game Plan Changed – Keep MVP & Expand Extra 0.5 Bcf/d). In July of this year, the company said it had concluded an open season (where new customers may claim the expanded capacity) and was already preordering equipment for the expansion, ahead of an official filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see EQT Ordering Equipment to Expand MVP from 2.0 to 2.5 Bcf/d). Yesterday, EQT announced that it had finally submitted its official request to FERC. However, the company upped the requested capacity from 500 to 600 MMcf/d (or 0.6 Bcf/d). Cool!

MVP Boost Expected to be 0.6 Bcf/d -EQT announced that the MVP Boost expansion will be 0.6 Bcf/d, rather than the 0.5 Bcf/d previously announced, as the open season was oversubscribed. EQT announced during its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday that the open season on the expansion of Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) has been strong and oversubscribed. The expansion, which the company calls the “MVP boost,” is being upsized to 0.6 Bcf/d, higher than the previously announced 0.5 Bcf/d. All of the project’s volumes will be delivered to utilities in the Southeast under 20-year capacity reservation fee contracts. We have shown in the weekly NATGAS Appalachia report that while MVP flowed near capacity this past winter, utilization has averaged only 71% from April through the present as seen in the graph above due to downstream constraints on Transco South of Station 165. EQT’s Toby Rice stated that these bottlenecks “will be solved when the Transco southbound and northbound expansion projects are completed in 2027 and 2028." This refers to Transco’s Southeast Supply Enhancement and Northeast Supply Enhancement, which are expected to increase the line’s capacity. The MVP Southgate project will also help to debottleneck the area south of Station 165.

Columbia Gulf Transmission Natural Gas Prices Under Pressure amid Pipeline Work; LNG Feed Gas Flows Volatile - Key insights on the natural gas market provided by NGI's price and data analysts. Chart showing Columbia Gulf Mainline and South Louisiana regional average daily natural gas prices compared with Cameron LNG feed gas deliveries from August to October 2025, illustrating price stability amid variable LNG demand.

• Columbia Gulf Mainline spot prices jumped 14.0 cents to $3.14/MMBtu on Monday (Oct. 27) before dropping 1.5 cents on Tuesday and another 7.5 cents as of midday Wednesday. Columbia Gulf Mainline prices have averaged $2.86/MMBtu through the month, below both the South Louisiana Regional Avg. and benchmark Henry Hub, according to NGI’s Daily Historical Data.
• The softening in Columbia Gulf Mainline prices could be tied to planned maintenance at Columbia Gulf Transmission’s (CGT) Rayne Compressor Station, in Acadia Parish, LA, that began Tuesday. The work reduced delivery capacity at Cameron LNG to 650 MMcf/d, with CGT anticipating possible curtailments to interruptible, secondary firm and primary firm services through the end of the scheduled work on Friday. Cameron Interstate Pipeline (CIP) is expected to continue to provide a majority of the gas for production.
• Notably, net feed gas deliveries to Cameron LNG plunged to under 30 MMcf/d on Monday after averaging 2.06 Bcf/d over the last 30 days, according to Wood Mackenzie and pipeline electronic bulletin board data. Net flows from both CGT and CIP increased to 910,000 MMcf/d Wednesday even as maintenance continued.
• Meanwhile, CGT also began work farther upstream at the Grayson Compressor Station, reducing capacity through StanSEG, in Powell, KY, to between 1.93 Bcf/d and 1.98 Bcf/d, or by an estimated 17% of designed capacity. This work is expected to last through Nov. 7 and could potentially impact prices farther downstream, albeit to a lesser degree.
• With mostly mild weather still in play ahead of the winter, several U.S. LNG facilities are operating at reduced capacity. Over the past week, feed gas deliveries have fluctuated between 14.73 Bcf/d to as much as 16.72 Bcf/d, NGI’s LNG Export Flow Tracker shows.

U.S. Feedgas Demand Continues to Soar -All 18 Blocks at Venture Global’s Plaquemines now authorized to take feedgas, pushing U.S. LNG feedgas demand higher. - U.S. LNG feedgas demand continues to climb as terminals begin ramping up for peak winter production and commissioning volumes at Plaquemines rose. Last week, U.S. LNG feedgas demand averaged 16.6 Bcf/d (see blue-dotted line below), up 0.4 Bcf/d from the prior week, primarily driven by higher intake at Sabine Pass, along with increases at Corpus Christi and Plaquemines. Cove Point intake is consistent with previous winter peaks, while Sabine Pass and Cameron are higher than summer levels but not yet at full winter highs. Intake at Corpus Christi increased slightly last week, though it remains somewhat below typical levels. Calcasieu Pass and Freeport also continue to operate slightly below full contracted levels. Freeport Train 2 tripped offline on October 22 due to a compressor issue but was restarted quickly, with feedgas only impacted that day. Intake at the commissioning Plaquemines LNG terminal ticked up last week and was above 3.7 Bcf/d over the weekend, a new record high. Venture Global was given permission to introduce feedgas at Liquefaction Block 17. Now, all 18 blocks at the terminal are authorized to take feedgas and produce LNG.

FERC gives Louisiana gas export project 4-year extension - Developers of a natural gas export terminal planned in southwestern Louisiana now have four additional years to finish construction and place the project in service.In a decision Tuesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted a time extension request for the Commonwealth LNG project — moving the deadline to complete the facility from November 2027 to the end of 2031.“Based on the facts presented in the request and the case record, Commonwealth is granted an extension of time,” said Olubukola Pope, a branch chief in FERC’s Office of Energy Projects.Commonwealth asked for the extra time earlier this month, saying that despite the company’s efforts, “development of the Project has been delayed due to extenuating circumstances outside of Commonwealth’s control.” In its letter, a lawyer for Commonwealth cited the 2024 remand of FERC’s authorization order and its “unprecedented, historic delay” in securing a license from the Department of Energy to export to countries that lack a free trade agreement with the U.S.

Golden Pass Ramping by Year’s End as ExxonMobil Builds Global LNG Portfolio -ExxonMobil remains firmly committed to expanding its LNG portfolio, with the Golden Pass export terminal in Texas on track to begin operations around the end of the year, according to CEO Darren Woods. At A Glance:

• LNG demand forecast to double by 2050
• Cornerstone of long-term strategy
• Finding new resources still key

Cheniere Accelerates Corpus Christi LNG Ramp-up, Breaks Daily Output Record --Cheniere Energy Inc.’s management team expects a fourth train at its Corpus Christi LNG (CCL) expansion project to come online a month ahead of schedule and be completed by the end of this year. Chart titled “North America LNG Export Flow Tracker” showing U.S. LNG export volumes through October 30, 2025. The chart tracks daily U.S. LNG deliveries in million Dth, with volumes fluctuating between roughly 15.5 and 17.6 million Dth from October 21–30. Facility-level data lists Corpus Christi, Sabine Pass, and Plaquemines, LA, as top exporters. A U.S. map highlights LNG export terminals and locations in Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Canada, and Mexico. At A Glance:
Corpus Christi expansion ahead of schedule
Single-day LNG production record hit
Advancing over 100 Mt/y of expansion projects

You Need to Calm Down – Increasing Texas/Louisiana Production to Feed Ever-Growing List of LNG Plants - Several large-scale LNG export projects have reached a final investment decision (FID) this year along the U.S. Gulf Coast, with most expected to start up between 2029 and 2031. They will be supported by new pipeline capacity to deliver natural gas from producing areas, but how and where will production increase to meet this new demand? In today’s RBN blog, we detail the movement of gas throughout Texas and Louisiana and highlight the key findings in the newest edition of our Arrow Model Released monthly, the Arrow Model is a comprehensive analytical tool that explains shifting natural gas flows and market dynamics in Texas and Louisiana. Built for energy professionals, it delivers key insights and forecasts into pipeline capacity, price impacts, and directional trends — helping you understand what’s changing and why. The projects that have taken FID this year will add a combined 64.5 million tons per annum (MMtpa; equal to about 8.5 Bcf/d) of export capacity. They include:

• Venture Global’s CP2 (yellow diamond in Figure 1) in Louisiana, with a capacity of 15 MMtpa (1.95 Bcf/d) and a 2027 startup.
• Woodside’s Louisiana LNG (red diamond), with a Phase 1 capacity of 16.5 MMtpa (2.2 Bcf/d) and a 2029 online target.
• The Midscale expansion trains (Trains 8 and 9) at Cheniere’s Corpus Christi (orange diamond), with a combined capacity of 3 MMtpa (0.4 Bcf/d); they are expected to start up in 2029.
• Sempra’s Port Arthur 2 (green diamond) in Texas, with an initial capacity of 13 MMtpa (1.7 Bcf/d) and commercial operation slated for startup in 2030.

Last but not least, NextDecade’s Rio Grande project (purple diamond) will be getting bigger, expanding with Trains 4 and 5 with a capacity of 6 MMtpa each (0.8 Bcf/d). Train 4 is expected to start up in the second half of 2030, with Train 5 following in the first half of 2031.These projects are being supported by huge expansions of pipeline capacity, as a number of pipelines have either reached FID or announced expansions beyond their original intended capacity in 2025. The Traverse (dashed red-and-black line in Figure 2 below) and Pelican (dashed magenta-and-black line) pipelines, which were originally expected to have a capacity of 1.75 Bcf/d, each said more recently that their capacity would be 0.75 Bcf/d higher. Traverse is scheduled to start up in Q1 2027, with Pelican to follow in Q2 2027. The latter will help flow more gas to the Sabine River, LA, region, which has the largest concentration of LNG export facilities. The CP Express pipeline (dashed purple-and-black line) was announced the same day as Venture Global’s CP2 project, which will be directly linked to that line. The pipeline will have a capacity of 2.2 Bcf/d and come online in Q4 2027. The 1.5-Bcf/d Hugh Brinson Pipeline (dashed dark-green-and-black line; see Hugh Do You Love?), which is expected to begin service in 2026, will expand by another 0.7 Bcf/d in 2027. This will bring more gas out of the Permian, mitigating the kind of oversupply in that region that pushed cash prices to record negative lows recently.The 1.5-Bcf/d Trident Pipeline (dashed yellow-and-black line; see Over The Hump), which is expected to be online in Q1 2027, will also expand by 0.5 Bcf/d in 2028. Trident will move gas from west of Houston to the Texas side of the Sabine River, through what is now one of the most constrained areas in the gas market, helping to ensure that the new gas coming out of the Permian will be able to reach the region of increasing demand. More gas will also be moving east from the Permian, as the Eiger Express Pipeline (dashed orange-and-black line; see Climb Ev’ry Mountain) recently took FID and will have a capacity of 2.5 Bcf/d when it begins service in mid-2028. Finally, the Mustang Express pipeline is expected to start up in 2029 also with a capacity of 2.5 Bcf/d (dashed turquoise-and-black line; see Mustang Sally), relieving some of the same constraints as Trident. These pipeline expansions mean that 9.9 Bcf/d of incremental natural gas will be able to make its way around the Texas and Louisiana region toward LNG exports. The addition of the LNG projects created a big problem in our modeling. Specifically, there needed to be a lot more natural gas production to meet the incremental demand, but where would it come from? Our previous scenario had a base-price assumption of $3.75/MMBtu, but at that price we were not seeing nearly enough production. There have also been concerns that the flattening profile of Permian crude oil production would leave gas production flat as well. For this latest production outlook, we increased our base-price assumption to $4.25/MMBtu with an expectation that all of this LNG demand will necessitate a price bump of at least that much. Note that in this scenario, we show the LNG plants running at or near full capacity, with some adjustments to account for the seasonality of maintenance cycles, and assume that the global LNG market will be able to absorb the additional supply. [That scenario also assumes a modest outlook for demand growth tied to data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) applications.] But how does our revised base-price assumption change expected gas production in the Haynesville and Permian and where those volumes move? Haynesville production is forecast to grow by 7 Bcf/d between 2025 and 2032, an increase of 1 Bcf/d per year, or a 6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Production on the Louisiana and Texas sides of the Haynesville will continue to grow at about the same rate, although the absolute increase for the Louisiana side will be bigger (5 Bcf/d) as it starts from a higher base. This production is able to make its way to most of the LNG projects along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. It is very valuable production, being geographically close to so many of the export facilities starting up. Permian production, in turn, is forecast to rise by 9 Bcf/d between 2025 and 2032, an increase of 1.2 Bcf/d per year, or 4.2% CAGR. In Don’t Worry, Be Happy, we detailed how NGL and gas production can continue to increase even as crude production flattens out. In fact, the blog post highlights that due to the increasing gas-to-oil ratio (GOR), gas production could stay flat or increase — even if Permian oil production falls. This is because the wells in the Permian are getting gassier over time and producers are drilling in gassier areas.Other producing regions include the Barnett Shale, whose natural gas production is forecast to be flat. Gas production in the Eagle Ford is forecast to grow, but by a much smaller amount than in the Haynesville. Total production growth in South Texas (primarily Eagle Ford) will be about 1.9 Bcf/d between 2025 and 2032, about 4% CAGR, or about 270 MMcf/d per year.Egress out of the Permian has been a particular concern, but the pipeline announcements over the last 10½ months indicate that the new capacity will largely remove most of the constraints. Figure 3 below shows the flows along various egress corridors in the Permian and how they are expected to change over time. Each pipeline corridor, or Arrow, is labelled with a letter from A to G, and aggregates capacity and flows on all the pipes included in that Arrow.

US natgas prices jump 4% on colder forecasts, record LNG export feedgas — U.S. natural gas futures jumped about 4% on Monday on forecasts for colder weather and more demand over the next two weeks than previously expected, and near-record flows of gas to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants. Front-month gas futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 13.8 cents, or 4.2%, to settle at $3.442 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). Traders noted that a small output increase in recent days and ample amounts of fuel in storage weighed on prices earlier in the day. The U.S. National Hurricane Center projected Hurricane Melissa would batter Jamaica, Cuba, the Bahamas and Bermuda as it moves northeast from the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean over the next week. The system is not currently expected to hit the U.S. mainland during that time. LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 states fell to 107.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in October, down from 107.5 bcfd in September and a record monthly high of 108.0 bcfd in August. On a daily basis, however, output has held near a three-week high of around 108.0 bcfd over the past four days. That compares with a daily record high of 109.2 bcfd on July 28. Record output earlier this year allowed energy companies to inject more gas into storage than usual. There is currently about 5% more gas in storage than normal for this time of year. Meteorologists forecast temperatures across the country will remain mostly near normal through November 11. With the weather turning seasonally colder, LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would rise from 108.7 bcfd this week to 109.4 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were higher than LSEG's outlook on Friday. The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants has risen to 16.6 bcfd so far in October, up from 15.7 bcfd in September and a monthly record high of 16.0 bcfd in April. On a daily basis, LNG export feedgas hit an all-time high of 17.4 bcfd on Sunday, topping the prior record of 17.3 bcfd on Saturday, with flows to Venture Global LNG's 3.2-bcfd Plaquemines plant in Louisiana at a record 3.9 bcfd. LNG plants can pull in more gas than they can turn into LNG because they use some of the fuel to power equipment.

US natural gas prices fall over 2% on profit-taking, mild weather outlook — U.S. natural gas futures fell more than 2% on Tuesday in volatile trade ahead of the expiration of the November contract, pressured by profit-taking and shifting weather forecasts that pointed to softer heating demand. Front-month gas futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 9.7 cents, or 2.8%, to settle at $3.345 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). The contract expires on Wednesday. "With the options expiring, there's probably some battleground there that's causing some of that price volatility. ... We're just seeing some profit-taking ahead of the storage report," "This pullback is driven by short-term weather model changes, but with strong LNG demand and higher baseline consumption, there's still upside potential. We're bullish overall but need normal weather to support prices," Hurricane Melissa was expected to bring catastrophe as it makes landfall in Jamaica with storm surges, flash floods and landslides in the worst storm to hit the Caribbean island this century, a U.N. weather official said on Tuesday. The Category 5 storm, the strongest possible on the Saffir-Simpson scale, will bring wind gusts of over 300 km/h (186 mph) and widespread devastation to the island, where authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations. Even though storms can boost U.S. gas prices by cutting output along the U.S. Gulf Coast, they are more likely to reduce prices by shutting LNG export plants and knocking out power to homes and businesses. About 40% of the power generated in the U.S. comes from gas-fired plants. "Although injections will likely be declining seasonally for a couple of weeks into next month, latest weather forecasts are now favoring only a modest reduction in the current 164 bcf surplus that could provide a significant cushion against colder-than-normal temps until December when the temperature factor will take on a greater importance," Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand is set to rebound as new supply entering the market is expected to push prices down and spur interest from price-sensitive buyers, trading executives at the Asia Gas Markets Conference said on Tuesday. U.S. natural gas prices are down more than 5% so far this year after surging 44.5% in 2024. The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants has risen to 16.6 bcfd so far in October, up from 15.7 bcfd in September and a monthly record high of 16.0 bcfd in April.

US Natural Gas Futures Soar to Six-Month High on LNG Export Surge - (Reuters) – U.S. natural gas futures jumped about 4% on Friday to a six-month high, on near-record flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants, as output dropped and forecasters expected more demand over the next two weeks than they did previously. Front-month gas futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 16.8 cents, or 4.2%, to $4.124 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their highest close since April 3. For the first time in four weeks, the contract remained technically overbought for a second straight day. For the week, the front-month was up about 25%, its biggest weekly percentage gain since a record of around 33% in May 2024. Last week, the contract rose 10%. For the month, the contract was up about 25%, its biggest monthly percentage gain since February. It gained 10% last month. Crude futures have dropped 12% over the past three months, so the oil-to-gas ratio, the level where oil trades compared with gas, narrowed to 15-to-1, its lowest since December 2022. On an energy equivalent basis, oil should only trade six times over gas. So far in 2025, crude prices have averaged about 19 times over gas, down from 33 times over gas in 2024 and 21 times over gas during the prior five years (2019-2023). LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 states fell to 107.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in October, down from 107.5 bcfd in September and a record monthly high of 108.0 bcfd in August. Record output earlier this year allowed energy companies to inject more gas into storage than usual. There is about 4% more gas in storage than normal for this time of year. Meteorologists forecast temperatures across the country will remain mostly warmer than normal through November 15, which should limit heating demand. LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would hold around 108.9 bcfd this week and next before rising to 109.8 bcfd in two weeks. The forecasts for this week and next were higher than LSEG’s outlook on Thursday. The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants rose to 16.6 bcfd so far in October from 15.7 bcfd in September and surpassing the monthly record high of 16.0 bcfd in April. On a daily basis, LNG feedgas was on track to rise to 17.9 bcfd on Friday, which would top the current record of 17.3 bcfd on October 25.

Trump administration halts plans for Atlantic oil drilling leases -- The US Government has scrapped plans to sell offshore oil and gas leases along the US East Coast following concerns raised by Republican leaders in the south-east, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Previously, the administration had considered a broader strategy for offshore drilling rights, which included potential sales from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic. However, the proposal sparked immediate criticism from environmental groups and Republican stakeholders, who feared its negative impact on tourism in the region. This concern mirrors the challenges faced during President Trump’s first term when a similar initiative to open the Atlantic for drilling was abandoned due to widespread opposition. The draft programme from the Interior Department may still undergo revisions before its public release, with officials expected to advance the proposal in a few weeks. This marks the initial step in a lengthy process to establish a new five-year schedule for offshore oil and gas leasing.

BP says fire extinguished at Indiana oil refinery; multiple units down (Reuters) - A fire ignited at BP's 440,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana, before it was extinguished on Friday morning, the company said. The blaze at the largest refinery in the U.S. Midwest caused gasoline prices to spike in parts of the region. The fire resulted from an operational incident, and there were no injuries, the company said in an emailed statement. It did not elaborate on the incident. Reuters earlier reported multiple units were offline, according to two market sources that were citing data from consultancy Wood Mackenzie. The refinery was actively flaring, the controlled burning of excess gas, early on Friday, one of the sources said, citing a Wood Mackenzie camera feed of the plant. Wood Mackenzie confirmed it had issued an alert to clients saying the 255,000-bpd crude distillation unit, associated 60,325-bpd vacuum distillation unit, 100,000-bpd cat feed hydrotreater, and 24,300-bpd hydrotreater were shut during the early morning. In addition, the 115,000-bpd fluid catalytic cracker was shut on Thursday evening, Wood Mackenzie said in the alert. The crude distillation unit could be down for at least a week, two sources said. BP said the community may have heard internal refinery sirens and noticed flaring, but the company did not immediately respond to questions about the plant's operational status. The refinery in mid-September began planned maintenance work on its units, including the 90,000-bpd crude processing unit and a 65,000-bpd fluid catalytic cracker, according to industry monitor IIR. The planned turnaround was expected to last for two months. In August, the refinery took multiple units offline for more than a week due to flooding caused by a severe thunderstorm overnight. The refinery produces a wide range of liquid fuels, including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. "Great Lakes spot gasoline prices spiking on the BP refinery fire overnight, could lead to prices cycling soon. For now, wholesale prices pointing to about a 20c/gal rise," Gasoline prices in Midwest spot markets had also jumped earlier this week due to tightening supplies, as multiple regional refineries have taken units offline for maintenance, traders said.

Water shortage threatens Texas refining hub - One of the largest petrochemical and refining hubs along the Gulf Coast is facing its most severe water shortage in history, raising concerns among industrial and residential consumers. Corpus Christi, Texas, has been under major drought restrictions since last December. And city water officials estimate they’ll reach a Level 1 water emergency late next year — a status triggered when the city has 180 days before water demand outstrips water supply. That could lead to water curtailments for industrial users, which could cause some plants to shut down operations for the length of the curtailment, said Bob Paulison, executive director of the Coastal Bend Industry Association. “Other plants that have more flexibility and can accept some curtailment for longer periods of time, they may shut down units and parts of the plant,” Paulison said. “It depends on which plants you’re talking about and how long and how much of a curtailment there is.” A water emergency in Corpus Christi would be the first of its kind for a refining and petrochemical focal point in the region along the Gulf of Mexico, which President Donald Trump renamed the Gulf of America. The water issues are now being watched by the fossil fuel industry, water managers and residents who live in industrial areas that are increasingly prone to drought. The Gulf Coast has the capacity to refine about 10 million barrels of crude a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration — more than 900,000 barrels of which are processed in the Corpus Christi area as of Jan. 1. Most of the water used to refine that oil comes from the city of Corpus Christi’s water system, which also serves more than 500,000 customers across a seven-county region in South Texas. Large-volume water users, which mostly include petrochemical plants and refineries, used more than 1.1 billion gallons of water in September, according to the city. That was more water than residential and commercial customers used combined. The city has waffled on a massive desalination plant that, if built, could produce up to 30 million gallons a day of fresh water. City council members voted in September against moving forward with design plans for the plant because of ballooning costs. But this month, the council voted to spend millions of dollars to secure water from a potential desalination project that would be operated by another entity. As that plan remains in limbo, some environmental and civil groups say the growth of refining and petrochemical manufacturing in the area has imperiled drinking water supplies for people. Jake Hernandez, a Coastal Bend field organizer with the Texas Campaign for the Environment, said the burden of curbing water use thus far has fallen more on residents than on major industrial companies. He pointed to water use restrictions now under effect for residents — who are not allowed to wash their cars at home or water their lawns most days — versus the lack of restrictions faced by refiners and petrochemical plants. “Industrial users get to continue to use as much water as they please, right?” Hernandez said. “What I think is really upsetting is that people are recognizing that there’s mistreatment, that there’s a difference in how we as residents are viewed in regards to where the water should go.” Clean water is crucial to processing crude and creating petrochemicals, said Susan Bell, vice president of oil commodity markets with the Rystad Energy research firm. Refineries use steam as a heat transfer mechanism to provide varying levels of heat to different levels of the refining process, Bell said. It’s used as a coolant throughout crude refining and petrochemical manufacturing. It’s used as a feedstock for hydrogen production and is key for the process of steam-methane reforming, which creates hydrogen out of natural gas. Most infrastructure at refineries and chemical plants are unable to use seawater or briny water, as it could corrode pipes and machinery, Bell said. Typically, that means they draw their freshwater supplies from municipal sources or from rivers, like the Nueces River that feeds into Corpus Christi Bay, she said. That means water cutbacks would mean companies would have to scale back their operations, Bell said. “It’s very difficult to operate these facilities reliably if you’re under water curtailment,” Bell said. “You really do have to scale back your throughput.” The two storage facilities managed by Corpus Christi Water, the city’s water provider, sat at about 11.7 percent of capacity as of Thursday, according to an online posting. Hernandez said growth in manufacturing, which includes petrochemical production and refining, has contributed to the city’s current water crisis. “These large industrial water users are driving this drought forward and making this sort of a manufactured incident, because our water consumption from our industrial users is so high,” Hernandez said. But Paulison said the increases in industrial water use alone cannot explain the huge dip in output from the area’s water supply streams. When the city approved selling water to industrial users in recent years, he said, it looked like the water system could provide enough water to meet all the system’s needs. “The point everybody is missing is even with those increases in demand, we should be well within range that our system is reliably producing enough water, but it’s not,” Paulison said. “We think based on publicly available data that the lake system is underperforming.” Based on the current rate, city officials estimate there could be a full-blown water emergency by November 2026 — and that the city could empty its main storage facilities by April 2027.

The extent of an oil spill in Galveston is not yet known, Coast Guard says – Federal and state authorities are cleaning up an oil spill in the Port of Galveston after a ship collided with a pier late Tuesday night, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. A ship from ForestWave Navigation BV, a Dutch shipping company, allegedly struck Pier 32, the Coast Guard said. The oil spill was stopped, but authorities say they don't know how much oil went into the water before that. ForestWave did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. No one was injured, according to a news release from the Coast Guard, which said it had not received any reports about impacts to wildlife. The Coast Guard as well as the Texas General Land Office are working with ForestWave to respond to the spill. The Coast Guard said the air and safety of the area are being monitored. Bob Stokes, the president of the Galveston Bay Foundation, told Houston Public Media he had limited concern about the extent of the spill, though he had not seen the scope of the damage firsthand. "It didn't look like a major spill to me at all," Stokes said. "One concern is that it was very windy [Wednesday], and it's hard to contain oil by booms when it's windy." In an effort to reduce the impact of the spill, the Galveston Ship Channel was closed from Gulf Copper to Pelican Island Bridge. That area includes where many cruise ships dock along Galveston Island.

Oil spill contained after vessel strikes pier in Galveston, Coast Guard says — The U.S. Coast Guard and the Texas General Land Office are responding to an oil discharge near Galveston after a vessel struck Pier 32 at the Port of Galveston on Tuesday night. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a report at approximately 9:50 p.m. of fuel oil spilling from a vessel following a collision with the pier. The source of the spill has been secured, though the exact amount of oil discharged remains under investigation. The Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office and the vessel's operator, Forestwave Navigation BV, deployed personnel and equipment to the scene. As a precautionary measure, the Galveston Ship Channel was closed from Gulf Copper to the Pelican Island Bridge to minimize the spill's impact. Responders are continuously monitoring air quality and assessing safety conditions in the affected area. No injuries or impacts to wildlife have been reported so far. The Coast Guard is asking mariners to report any oil sightings to the National Response Center at 800-424-8802. The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.

Diesel Prices Surge Amid U.S. Sanctions On Russian Oil Giants - Retail diesel prices in the United States have registered the third-largest weekly increase this year, according to the Department of Energy (DOE) and Energy Information Administration (EIA). The national average for diesel climbed to $3.718 per gallon, up 9.8 cents from the previous week—the largest jump since a 20.4-cent surge on June 23. This increase erased the modest gains of the prior two weeks and lifted the benchmark price above the level seen three weeks ago at $3.711 per gallon. The new figures, effective Monday and released Tuesday, reflect the immediate market reaction to recent U.S. sanctions targeting Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. The sanctions, announced by the Trump administration, have shifted sentiment in global oil markets. Market responses were swift. Ultra-low sulfur diesel on the CME commodity exchange jumped 4.38 cents per gallon to $2.2496 on Wednesday. The following day saw an even larger gain, with prices rising 15.34 cents to $2.24964 per gallon—a one-day increase unprecedented since December 22, 2022. While the raw cent increase was slightly smaller than that 2022 spike, the percentage gain was notably higher. By Monday, prices settled at $2.4361 per gallon, with early Tuesday trading showing a minor decline of less than one cent. Analysts say the sanctions’ impact is twofold. First, U.S. assets of Rosneft and Lukoil are effectively frozen, including any holdings exceeding 50% ownership. More consequential, however, are secondary sanctions. According to Treasury guidance, entities engaging in transactions with the designated Russian firms risk facing sanctions themselves. This provision signals a warning to countries purchasing Russian oil, such as India, and has driven up global prices as buyers look for alternative suppliers. The sanctions have also affected European markets. Diesel and gasoil—heavily supplied by Russia—have seen price increases amid supply concerns. Energy consulting firm Energy Aspects noted that the spread between first- and second-month gasoil contracts on the ICE commodity exchange widened, indicating inventory worries. However, the firm projected easing balances from December onward, forecasting global stockpiles in December 2025–January 2026 to exceed the five-year average by 22 million barrels, assuming workarounds for Russian diesel can be found. Rising OPEC+ crude production and strong refinery margins are also expected to bolster supply in the Atlantic basin. U.S. diesel inventories present a mixed picture. For the third week of October, non-jet distillate stocks—approximately 90% diesel—stood at 115 million barrels, higher than the same period over the past three years but below pre-pandemic levels, which ranged from 120 million barrels in 2019 to 152 million barrels in 2016.

Hawaii Signs Deal with Jera, Potentially Reviving LNG Import Option -Hawaii Gov. Josh Green has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Jera Co. Inc., one of the world’s largest LNG buyers.
Bar chart titled “Net Value of Hawaii’s Potential LNG Transition” showing estimated benefits and costs in billions of dollars. Benefits include $1.5 billion in fuel cost savings, $0.5 billion in avoided deferred hydrogen capital costs, and $0.1 billion in incremental O&M cost savings, totaling $2.1–$2.2 billion. Costs total $1.4 billion in capital costs.. At A Glance:
Hawaii explores LNG as bridge fuel
Japan’s Jera partners on energy shift
Study shows LNG may cut costs

Equinor Sees U.S. LNG Wave Easing Price Volatility, Warns of Political Ceiling on Exports --Equinor ASA is anticipating a wave of LNG supply, mostly from the United States, to cool global price volatility, but management warned not to overestimate the “political” limit rising Henry Hub prices could have on the rapid export expansion. Line chart titled “NGI’s Henry Hub Forward Fixed Price Curve” showing projected U.S. natural gas prices from late 2025 through 2027. The curve begins near $3.40/MMBtu, rises above $4.00/MMBtu in early 2026, peaks around $4.85/MMBtu in early 2027, then declines to near $3.40/MMBtu mid-2027 before modestly recovering. The chart illustrates expected volatility in Henry Hub gas futures over the two-year outlook. At A Glance:
Gas demand growth up 3%
Realized Euro gas price averaged $11.40
U.S. LNG capacity seen rising

More U.S. LNG Lands in Europe as Cargoes Divert to Capture Stronger Prices --Europe is heading into what could be its last high-stakes winter before a wave of new LNG supply loosens global natural gas markets and ushers in a calmer post-crisis era. Chart titled “Estimated Sabine Pass / Europe (Gate) 12-Month Forward LNG Arbitrage Curves” showing projected LNG arbitrage spreads between U.S. Henry Hub and Europe’s TTF through November 2026. The graph compares Variable Cost Only and Total Cost arbitrage curves, both fluctuating between roughly $5.5 and $6.5/MMBtu. The data table below lists monthly Henry Hub futures, shipping costs, landed costs, and corresponding arbitrage spreads, with highest spreads in early 2026. At A Glance:
Europe thought in the clear after winter
LNG supply expansion accelerating in 2026
Focus shifting toward Asia

Brazil Tops October Latin America LNG Imports as Prices Dip below Europe’s TTF -- Brazil was the main buyer of LNG in the Latin America and Caribbean region in October as the country continued a broad strategy to diversify its energy mix and increase supply security.Chart displaying Latin America DES LNG prices dated October 30, 2025, with delivery price data for Argentina’s Escobar, Brazil’s Pecem, Chile’s Quintero, Colombia, Mexico’s Altamira and Manzanillo, and Panama’s Costa Norte terminals, showing slight declines for December through February. At A Glance:
Latin America imports up month/month
U.S. supplies 72% of Brazil October LNG imports
Petrobras pursues South American gas links

Rising U.S. Exports Keeping a Lid on Global Natural Gas Prices — LNG Recap --European and Asian natural gas prices continued to trade in a narrow range on Monday amid stable fundamentals. Table showing U.S. Gulf Coast LNG netback prices comparing benchmark futures settlements, estimated shipping costs, and export margins to key global markets including Japan/Korea, Northwest Europe, and the Title Transfer Facility. The chart illustrates month-by-month LNG price relationships, freight rate assumptions, and Henry Hub margin differentials used to evaluate U.S. LNG export competitiveness. At A Glance:
TTF, JKM rangebound
U.S. feed gas deliveries at 17 Bcf/d
U.S. cargo loadings near all-time high

U.S. LNG to Supply One-third of Global Market by 2030, Tightening Price Spreads -- Asian and European LNG hub prices are expected to converge by the end of the decade, shrinking the profit margin of U.S. LNG amid a massive supply boom, according to the latest International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast. Chart showing North America’s operational and sanctioned LNG facility peak export capacity from 2016 to 2033, compiled by NGI using U.S. Department of Energy data. The stacked bar graph highlights U.S., Canadian, and Mexican LNG projects including Sabine Pass, Corpus Christi, Cameron, Freeport, Calcasieu Pass, Plaquemines, Golden Pass, LNG Canada, and Rio Grande LNG, illustrating steady capacity growth exceeding 40 Bcf/d by 2033. At A Glance:
IEA estimates 65 Bcm global LNG surplus
TTF, JKM five-year average seen dropping by 40%
U.S. export capacity set to grow 13.9 Bcf/d by 2029

How Trump Pressures the World Into Burning More Oil and Gas - As COP30 nears, the US’s pressure to keep fossil fuels relevant may empower petrostates, potentially giving them more leverage at the UN talks. The world was on the brink of a climate milestone: adopting a global carbon tax for the shipping industry. Countries had spent years crafting the plan, hoping to throttle planet-warming pollution from cargo vessels. They had every reason to think the measure would pass when the International Maritime Organization (IMO) met in mid-October. Enter Donald Trump. After returning to the White House for a second term, the president and his top officials undertook a monthslong campaign to defeat the initiative. The US threatened tariffs, levies and visa restrictions to get its way. A battery of American diplomats and cabinet secretaries met with various nations to twist arms, according to a senior US State Department official, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly. Nations were also warned of other potential consequences if they backed the tax on shipping emissions, including imposing sanctions on individuals and blocking ships from US ports. Under that Trump-led pressure—or intimidation, as some describe it—some countries started to waver. Ultimately, a bloc including the US, Saudi Arabia and Iran voted to adjourn the meeting for a year, killing any chance of the charge being adopted anytime soon. The US “bullied otherwise supportive or neutral countries into turning against” the net-zero plan for shipping, says Faïg Abbasov, a director at the European advocacy group Transport & Environment. With its intense lobbying at the IMO, the Trump administration was “waging war against multilateralism, UN diplomacy and climate diplomacy.” Since his return to Washington, Trump has used trade talks, tariff threats and verbal dressing-downs to encourage countries to jettison their renewable energy commitments (and buy more US oil and liquefied natural gas in the process). Just 10 months into his second term, the campaign is showing surprising success as key figures and countries increasingly buckle under the determined pressure. Oil and gas supporters champion the president’s ambition. They say he’s helped reset the global conversation around climate change and given a welcome political opening to banks, corporations and other governments that wanted to back away from some sustainability targets in the face of growing electricity demand. “President Trump is sort of providing the banks, the European Union and others cover for tempering their climate ambitions,” says Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, an advocacy group. “He gives these countries the ability to say, ‘Hey, I’m just trying to go along with the United States here. That’s why I’m buying all this LNG.’” But in the eyes of environmental advocates and leaders who depend on multilateralism as a means for global climate action, Trump is unfairly asserting his will on a world that’s running out of time to rein in emissions and avert the worst consequences of global warming. “They’re clearly casting a much wider net to the climate destruction than they did the first time,” says Jake Schmidt, a senior strategic director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “They have more people engaged in it, and they obviously had more time to plan for it.” The strong-arming is happening on multiple fronts. Among the biggest is trade, where Trump has already compelled Japan, South Korea and the EU to pledge to spend on American energy and energy infrastructure. Japan, for instance, agreed to invest $550 billion on US projects, and talks are underway to steer some of that funding to a $44 billion Alaska gas pipeline and export site. South Korea has pledged roughly $100 billion in US energy purchases. The EU, meanwhile, has vowed to spend some $750 billion buying American energy, including LNG, to secure lower tariffs on its exports to the US. Analysts have questioned whether those sales will fully materialize, since they’d require Europe to more than triple its annual energy imports from the US. But the public commitment by itself was a stunning move for a bloc that’s led the world in pushing policies to combat climate change—including by setting binding targets for slashing planet-warming pollution, establishing a “green deal” plan to shed fossil fuels and slapping a tariff on carbon-intensive imports. Trump administration officials have seized on the US-EU trade deal to urge other changes. For instance, Energy Secretary Chris Wright is pressuring the bloc to relax curbs on the methane footprint of imported gas. The EU is already easing corporate sustainability requirements so fewer companies are compelled to limit their environmental harms, a retrenchment that came after pressure from Germany and other European stakeholders as well as the White House. Meanwhile the US administration has been goading the International Energy Agency to shuffle its leadership and urged the IEA to reinstate forecasts that show a rosier outlook for fossil fuel demand. It has pressed multilateral development banks to prioritize fossil fuels over climate adaptation and clean energy projects when their financing of those green initiatives has become critical given widespread foreign aid cuts. And Trump himself has berated countries that aren’t falling in line. In a September speech to the United Nations General Assembly, he chided nations for setting policies around what he called the “hoax” and “con job” of climate change, warning that they can’t be “great again” without “traditional energy sources.” He’s also told UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to reject wind turbines and embrace the North Sea’s oil riches. It’s a marked acceleration from term-one Trump. During his first four years in the White House, Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda amounted to rally cries of “drill, baby, drill” and slow steps to encourage more domestic oil and gas production. This time around, the president’s approach has global reach—and far fewer limits. And when it comes to international agreements relating to energy and climate, “the US has an interest in divide and rule, and thus breaking the potential for cooperation,” says Abby Innes, an associate professor in political economy at the London School of Economics. Whether or not US officials attend COP30 in November, the US president’s influence will loom large. “Countries like Saudi Arabia feel emboldened by Trump to promote fossil fuels,” says Linda Kalcher, founder of the Strategic Perspectives think tank and a veteran of the annual UN climate summits. One European diplomat said the main goal now at COP30 is just to avoid being bullied. To be sure, other countries haven’t followed the US exodus from the Paris Agreement, and the deployment of clean energy is still soaring globally. Even tax incentive phaseouts and project cancellations in the US are only slowing, not stopping, the country’s adoption of wind and solar power. And while multinational companies may be dialing down their green rhetoric, analysts say many are still quietly cleaning up their supply chains and operations to keep selling in California, Europe and other places demanding more sustainability. And in a perverse twist for a US president who’s decried the world’s reliance on China, other nations are increasingly linking arms with Beijing as they bid for zero-emission energy tech. “When it comes to dealing with China, whether it’s countries or companies, politicians and executives tell me: ‘Better the devil that you know,’” says Ioannis Ioannou, an associate professor at the London Business School whose research focuses on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. “It offers more stability than the Trump administration.”

Senate overturns Biden's Arctic drilling restrictions - The Senate on Thursday voted to overturn a Biden administration plan that would have restricted drilling in the Arctic. The vote was 52-45. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) joined Republicans in voting in favor. The 2022 Biden administration plan in question made about 52 percent of land available for drilling in an area known as the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. A previous Trump administration plan would have allowed drilling in 82 percent of the petroleum reserve. “This will benefit North Slope communities with jobs & economic growth, and support their tax base to improve access to essential services like water and sewer systems and clinics,” sponsor Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said in a post on the social platform X in September. If the House takes up the resolution, it’s likely to pass with the GOP majority and would also be expected to have President Trump’s support. The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska was set aside in 1923 by former President Harding as an emergency oil reserve for the Navy. It is now managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Biden administration argued that by shrinking the lands available for drilling, it was protecting areas of ecological significance. The vote was held under the Congressional Review Act, which allows the Senate to vote to overturn regulations with a simple majority, bypassing the filibuster. Add as preferred source on Google

Brazil Tops October Latin America LNG Imports as Prices Dip below Europe’s TTF -- Brazil was the main buyer of LNG in the Latin America and Caribbean region in October as the country continued a broad strategy to diversify its energy mix and increase supply security.Chart displaying Latin America DES LNG prices dated October 30, 2025, with delivery price data for Argentina’s Escobar, Brazil’s Pecem, Chile’s Quintero, Colombia, Mexico’s Altamira and Manzanillo, and Panama’s Costa Norte terminals, showing slight declines for December through February. At A Glance:
Latin America imports up month/month
U.S. supplies 72% of Brazil October LNG imports
Petrobras pursues South American gas links

Dow to Clarify Fate of Fort Saskatchewan Ethane Cracker Expansion in the New Year -- Dow, one of the world’s largest petrochemical companies, announced in its third quarter earnings conference call that it will provide clarity regarding an expansion of its ethane cracker located in Fort Saskatchewan, AB in early 2026. The expansion, dubbed the Path2Zero project (artist rendition below), originally sanctioned in November 2023, would more than double the existing cracker’s output of ethylene and other co-products would require a commensurate significant expansion in its consumption of ethane as feedstock (see Shock to the System for further details). The expansion would include additional emission abatement technologies to generate net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions with an estimated total cost of C$11 billion (US$8.1 billion). In April 2025, Dow announced an indefinite delay to the expansion citing uncertainties in global economic activity and whether it could time the expansion with growth in polyethylene demand. The company also noted that it remained committed to the expansion but did not provide any specifics as to a timeline that might determine the fate of the project (see Wish You Were Here for additional analysis). In its third quarter earnings conference call of October 23, Dow’s senior management stated that it will provide an update regarding the expansion in its fourth quarter earnings release on January 29. In addition, management again noted that the delay is not a cancellation and that it remains committed to the long-term strategic rationale that led to the initial sanctioning of the project in November 2023. Under the initial proposal, the Path2Zero project was planned as a two-stage expansion of the existing Dow ethane cracker that would result in a net increase in its ethane consumption from ~95 Mb/d in 2024 to ~205 Mb/d by 2029 (+110 Mb/d). This increase, when combined with small gains in ethane demand expected elsewhere in Alberta, should have increased the province’s total ethane consumption to ~385 Mb/d (+42%) by 2029 (red column in chart below). Given the delays, the exact timing and scope of any increase in ethane consumption remains uncertain, as well as the knock-on effects for other projects in Alberta that were directly or indirectly tied to the Dow expansion.

Shell Eyeing LNG Canada Export Edge to Asian Markets amid Gulf Coast FIDs -- North America remains central to Shell plc’s LNG growth strategy, but Canada offers a key shipping advantage to Asia as the Gulf Coast becomes overrun with export projects, CEO Wael Sawan Thursday. Line chart comparing daily natural gas prices at Henry Hub, NOVA/AECO C, and Westcoast Station 2 from October 2024 through October 2025, showing volatility early in 2025 and stabilizing trends into late 2025. At A Glance:
LNG Canada nears second train start
Groundbirch gas production flexible
Integrated gas income up 28%

ExxonMobil Fined £176,000 For Unplanned Flaring At Mossmorran Plant - ExxonMobil has been fined £176,000 after pleading guilty to breaching pollution control regulations at its Mossmorran chemical plant in Fife, Scotland, following a series of unplanned flaring incidents in April 2019. The Crown Office confirmed that the violations occurred between April 7 and April 26, 2019, and were heard at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday. Prosecutors said the flaring was required for five days after an unexpected shutdown at the plant, which was triggered when a remaining boiler failed due to a faulty cable, causing a loss of steam balance. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) received more than 900 complaints from local residents regarding dark smoke and intense noise, with some describing it as similar to a jet engine. Many residents expressed fear of a potential explosion due to the prolonged flaring. While ExxonMobil had processes in place designed to prevent such incidents, prosecutors found these were not followed to a sufficient standard, resulting in breaches of environmental legislation. Iain Batho, leading environmental matters for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), emphasized the seriousness of the breaches: “The impact of the unplanned flaring from Mossmorran in April 2019 was both preventable and unacceptable, causing substantial stress and anxiety to nearby residents. Large global companies will ultimately be held accountable for breaches of environmental law in Scotland.” \ Flaring, the controlled burning of excess gas, is a necessary safety measure to prevent gas build-up within plants. In this case, several boilers and furnaces were taken offline for maintenance, and the shutdown of the final operational boiler necessitated continuous flaring for safety until operations could resume, a process that took approximately five days. “For nearly a week, communities around the Mossmorran site were impacted by unacceptable and preventable flaring. The volume of complaints, the highest ever received by Sepa for a single environmental event, illustrates the disruption and anxiety caused.” ExxonMobil has apologized for the incident and highlighted improvements made since 2019. The company has invested over £250 million to enhance operational reliability and reduce flaring, including the installation of an enclosed ground flare system, which operates without detectable smoke, noise, or vibration.

Oilfield Services Firm Petrofac Collapses - After years of restructuring and cost-cutting efforts, UK-listed oilfield services group Petrofac on Monday filed for administration, following the termination of its biggest contract. Petrofac’s directors have applied to the High Court of England and Wales to appoint administrators to Petrofac,said the company, which provides infrastructure and engineering services to the oil and gas, renewables, and power supply industries. When appointed, administrators will work alongside Executive Management to preserve value, operational capability and ongoing delivery across the Group’s operating and trading entities, Petrofac said today. The collapse was triggered by last week’s announcementof Dutch electricity grid operator TenneT that it had exercised its right to partial termination of a major contract related to the Petrofac scope. TenneT signed in March 2023 a framework cooperation agreement with a consortium consisting of Hitachi Energy and Petrofac for six 2 gigawatt (GW) projects out of the total of fourteen 2-GW grid connection systems that TenneT will realize via the 2GW Program.However, Petrofac, which has been undergoing a financial restructuring since 2024, has not been able to meet its contractual obligations, leading to TenneT terminating the Petrofac scope. “At the same time, a solution has been put in place involving a consortium of Hitachi Energy and a replacement contract,” TenneT said last week. Today, Petrofac noted that “Having carefully assessed its options, and the impact of TenneT’s decision to terminate Petrofac’s scope of work on the 2GW programme in the Netherlands, the Directors of Petrofac Limited (the Group’s ultimate holding company) have applied to the High Court of England and Wales to appoint administrators to Petrofac Limited.” More than 2,000 job are at risk in Scotland because of Petrofac’s collapse, Sky News reported on Monday. Yet, sources close to Petrofac told Sky News that they hope Petrofac’s North Sea operations could soon find a buyer. Petrofac’s collapse and potential job losses come as the UK government is being urged to avoid accelerating the decline of North Sea oil and gas production through policies, especially the windfall tax on operators.

Exclusive: US excludes Rosneft Germany from Russia sanctions, German minister says (Reuters) - The U.S. government has provided written assurances that the German business of Russia's Rosneft would be exempt from new energy sanctions because the assets are no longer under Russian control, Germany's economy minister said. Katherina Reiche said the United States issued a "Letter of Comfort" early on Tuesday, acknowledging that Rosneft's operations in Germany had been fully separated from the Russian parent company. Germany had sought clarity from Washington after President Donald Trump's administration introduced sanctions that bar Western banks and clients from engaging with listed Russian firms. "A letter of comfort to this effect has been in place since three o'clock this morning," Reiche told Reuters, adding that even though the exemption was not limited in time, further clarifications were pending. Reiche said the letter of comfort removed any uncertainty for customers as to whether they could be affected by U.S. sanctions when doing business with Rosneft's German subsidiaries. A spokesperson for the economy ministry, in a separate statement, said talks with the U.S. government continued to permanently stave off U.S. sanctions against Rosneft's German assets. Berlin had argued the refineries, under German state trusteeship since 2022, are "decoupled" from the parent group, while being essential for the nation's fuel supply. Among the assets is the PCK refinery in Schwedt, one of Germany's largest, accounting for over 12% of fuel processing capacity in the country. PCK Schwedt, in which Rosneft owns 54.17%, is also a major employer in Brandenburg, a region experiencing rising support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Apart from the majority stake in PCK Schwedt, Rosneft's German activities also include a 24% stake in the MiRo and a 28.57% stake in the Bayernoil refineries.

Suez Canal blocked after sanctioned tanker carrying Russian oil grounded in key waterway | Upstream Twenty ships still held back after incident.

Satellite Data Reveals Surge in Oil and Gas Methane Emissions -Global satellite-detected methane emissions from the onshore upstream oil and gas sector increased in late 2024 and early 2025, reversing a steady decline since 2020, with a 40% year-on-year increase in carbon footprint from detected plumes. Regional differences are stark, with China's emissions surging by nearly one-third, the US seeing a 4% rise, and Russia experiencing a 5% drop due to lower production volumes; aging infrastructure in Central Asian and North African countries also contributes significantly to methane footprints. Despite policy uncertainties and rollbacks in some regions, methane reduction has become a top priority for producers due to its high warming potential, with countries like India stepping up management efforts, while seasonal patterns and detection factors influence measured emissions. Global satellite-detected methane emissions from the onshore upstream oil and gas sector ticked up late last year and into the first quarter of 2025, reversing a steady decline since 2020. Rystad Energy analysis, supported by satellite detection, highlights stark regional differences: China’s emissions surged nearly one-third year on year, while the US recorded a smaller rise of 4%. Russia, on the other hand, posted a 5% drop in the first quarter, largely due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict leading to lower production volumes. Detected methane plumes – clouds of concentrated methane (CH?) gas released into the atmosphere – revealed variations in emission density and rate for different regions. Roughly 45,000 plumes were detected in the first quarter of 2025, increasing by 14,000 from the same quarter in 2024. These plumes carried a combined carbon footprint of about 45 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO?e) – a 40% increase year on year. A large portion of detected plumes can be seen in areas such as the Middle East, North Africa, China , Russia and North America – and several countries within these regions have high production volumes, which result in low methane intensity despite high absolute methane emissions. Conversely, aging infrastructure at processing facilities, compressor stations and well operations could be contributing a disproportionately high methane footprint in several Central Asian and North African countries relative to their share of global hydrocarbon production. Upstream oil and gas production is a major source of emissions, responsible for about 20% of all human-caused methane leaks into the atmosphere. The biggest challenge is detection but, once found, most can be fixed, unlike carbon dioxide [CO?], which largely comes from combustion and is harder to avoid. That’s why methane reduction has become a top priority for producers. With a shorter atmospheric lifespan but far greater warming potential than CO?, companies need to shift from long-term strategies to immediate action, making methane abatement a near-term focus. A lot of large leak events are also not found in most exploration and production [E&P] company reporting, which needs to be addressed,

Oil prices climb as U.S.–China trade framework boosts market optimism - Oil prices rose in early Asian trading on Monday after U.S. and Chinese officials outlined a trade-deal framework, easing global economic concerns and boosting investor sentiment. The agreement between the world’s top two oil consumers is seen as a step toward reducing trade tensions that have weighed on global growth and energy demand. Brent crude futures gained 46 cents, or 0.7%, to $66.40 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 46 cents, or 0.75%, to $61.96 by 0027 GMT. The gains follow a strong week in which Brent surged 8.9% and WTI rose 7.7%, fueled by new U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia’s energy sector. According to Haitong Securities, market sentiment has improved as easing U.S.–China tensions and sanctions on Russia counterbalance earlier fears of crude oversupply. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that both sides had reached a “very substantial framework” for a trade deal during talks in Kuala Lumpur, which will pave the way for meetings between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping later this week. Bessent confirmed the framework includes the avoidance of 100% U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and the deferral of China’s rare-earth export controls. Trump also expressed optimism, saying he expects to finalize a deal during meetings in China and the United States. Analysts, however, cautioned that potential oversupply risks remain. “If sanctions on Russian energy prove less effective than anticipated, downward pressure on prices could return,” said Yang An of Haitong Securities. Still, optimism over trade diplomacy and sanctions-driven tightening continues to support oil prices in the near term.

Framework Agreed to Avoid 100% U.S. Tariffs on Chinese Goods - The oil market traded lower on Monday amid some skepticism that U.S.-China trade deal framework would increase demand for oil and expectations that OPEC+ will make another increase of about 157,000 bpd at its meeting this coming weekend. On Sunday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. and China agreed to a framework for a trade deal that could avoid 100% U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and achieve a deferral of China’s rare-earth export controls in trade discussions this week. The oil market was more skeptical of a possible trade deal than the equities market, which rallied to new highs. The crude market opened higher and quickly traded to a high of $62.17. However, the market sold off to a low of $60.67 in overnight trading. The market later bounced off its low and retraced most of its losses as it traded back towards the $62.00 level by mid-day. The market later erased some of its gains and settled in a sideways trading range ahead of the close. The December WTI contract ended the session down 19 cents at $61.31 and the December Brent contract settled down 32 cents at $65.62. The product markets ended the session in mixed territory, with the heating oil market settling up 3.3 cents at $2.4361 and the RB market settling down 23 points at $1.9204. Sources stated that eight OPEC+ nations are leaning towards making another modest increase in oil output for December when they meet on Sunday as Saudi Arabia pushes to reclaim market share. Two sources said the group was likely to agree on Sunday to increase December output targets by another 137,000 bpd, while the other two sources gave no estimate. The producer group most recently decided to raise targets by 137,000 bpd for November. U.S. President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin should end the war in Ukraine instead of testing a nuclear-powered missile, adding that the U.S. had a nuclear submarine positioned off Russia’s coast. On Sunday, Russia’s President said that Russia had successfully tested its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, a nuclear-capable weapon Moscow says can pierce any defense shield, and will move towards deploying the weapon. On Saturday, Reuters reported that the Trump administration has prepared additional sanctions it could use to target key areas of Russia’s economy if Putin continues to delay ending Moscow’s war in Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped to add a trade deal with China to a number of pacts he has already struck during a visit to Asia this week. President Trump announced deals with four Southeast Asian countries during the first stop in Malaysia and will conclude his trip in a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. U.S. officials said negotiators from the world’s top two economies agreed on a framework on Sunday for a deal to pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls. IIR Energy reported that U.S. oil refiners are expected to shut in about 981,000 bpd of capacity in the week ending October 31st, increasing available refining capacity by 111,000 bpd.

Oil settles lower as OPEC plans to increase oil output (Reuters) - Oil prices settled marginally lower on Monday as OPEC's plans to increase oil output once again outweighed hopes of a trade deal framework between the U.S. and China and renewed U.S. sanctions on Russia. Brent crude futures were down about 32 cents, or nearly 0.5%, at $65.62 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures closed 19 cents or 0.3% lower at $61.31. Both contracts fell around 1% in early trade. Eight OPEC+ nations are leaning towards making another modest increase in oil output for December when they meet on Sunday as Saudi Arabia pushes to reclaim market share, four sources familiar with the talks said. U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are due to meet on Thursday to decide on that could pause tougher U.S. tariffs and China's rare-earth export curbs, easing market jitters around a trade war. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that U.S. and Chinese officials had hashed out a "substantial framework" for a trade deal that could avoid 100% U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and achieve a deferral of China's rare-earth export controls in trade discussions this week. "Crude futures are taking a breather from last week's steep rally as President Trump is meeting with Chinese President Xi and staff for trade negotiations on Thursday to hopefully finalize most differences," The United States hit Russia's major oil companies with sanctions on Wednesday, which could hurt Russia's oil exports if enforced and be a positive for crude prices, Kissler added. "While the futures market has added in additional trade with China and less crude exports from Russia, traders remain cautious as to how much this will actually affect global supplies," Concerns over lacklustre demand have weighed on the market, with Brent falling to its lowest since May earlier this month, but renewed sanctions on Russia from the U.S. along with stronger-than-expected U.S. demand have helped buoy prices. "The hope for bulls is that U.S. consumption continues to recover, otherwise it seems the drift lower seen so far today is likely to intensify," OPEC and its allies have changed course this year by reversing previous production cuts to regain market share, helping in part to keep a lid on oil prices. Iraq, the OPEC group's biggest overproducer, was in negotiations over the size of its quota within its available capacity of 5.5 million barrels per day, oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said at an oil conference on Monday. The fire at Iraq's Zubair oilfield on Sunday did not impact exports from the country, he added. Last week, Brent and WTI rose 8.9% and 7.7%, respectively, on U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia. "There are likely some continued challenges for Russian oil to enter the market, but it depends on how sanctions will be enforced,"

Oil Prices Slip As OPEC+ Output Hike Plans Offset US-China Trade Deal Optimism -- Global oil prices slipped slightly on Tuesday as optimism around a potential trade breakthrough between the United States and China was offset by reports that OPEC+ may move to increase production later this year. Meanwhile, investors remained cautious, assessing the impact of fresh sanctions imposed on Russia. Brent crude futures edged down by 3 cents to settle at $65.59 a barrel around 9:30 AM, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped by 5 cents to $61.26, reported Reuters. Analysts said traders were juggling multiple market signals, balancing renewed trade optimism against the prospect of rising supply. “Traders weighed up progress in US-China trade talks and the broader outlook for supply,” ANZ said in a morning note. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the news agency revealed that OPEC+, which includes members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, is considering another modest output hike in December. The alliance had previously cut production for several years to stabilise prices, but began reversing those cuts in April. Market sentiment was also buoyed by the anticipation of a potential US-China trade agreement. The world’s two largest oil consumers are set to see their leaders, President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, meet in South Korea on Thursday. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said Beijing hoped Washington could “meet it halfway” to pave the way for constructive dialogue. The renewed diplomatic engagement between the two economic giants raised hopes of a demand recovery for crude oil, which had been weighed down by global economic uncertainty and trade tensions over the past year. Adding to the market’s mixed mood were new sanctions from Washington targeting Russian oil majors, including Lukoil and Rosneft, in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The sanctions marked the first major move against Russia’s energy sector during Trump’s second term. Following the move, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, announced plans to sell its international assets, a significant shift in the country’s corporate landscape. Despite the headlines, market analysts noted that the immediate impact of these sanctions on oil supply would likely be limited. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), commented that while sanctions on key oil exporters could push up crude prices, the effect would be tempered by the industry’s surplus production capacity. Last week, Brent and WTI futures recorded their strongest weekly gains since June, spurred by geopolitical developments and tightening inventories. However, analysts at Haitong Securities noted that the new sanctions would have only a short-term effect, with oversupply expected to continue putting downward pressure on prices.

Oil falls 1% as investors assess Russia sanctions, OPEC+ output plans - Oil prices fell by more than 1% on Tuesday in a third day of declines as investors assess the effect of U.S. sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies along with a potential OPEC+ plan to raise output. Brent crude futures were down 93 cents, or 1.4%, to $64.69 a barrel at 1137 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 84 cents, or 1.4%, at $60.47. “Traders weighed up progress in U.S.-China trade talks and the broader outlook for supply,” ANZ said in a morning note. Brent and WTI last week registered their biggest weekly gain since June, reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft. Investors continue to chew over how effective those sanctions on Russia might be. “The oil market is still debating whether the latest sanctions will impact Russian oil exports or not, with market players reducing somewhat the supply risk premium built in last week,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. The effect of sanctions on oil-exporting countries will be limited because of surplus capacity, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Tuesday. Following the U.S. sanctions, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, said on Monday it would sell its international assets. This is the most consequential action so far by a Russian company in the wake of Western sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine, which started in February 2022. Meanwhile, Indian refiners have not placed new orders for Russian oil purchases since sanctions were imposed, as they await clarity from the government and suppliers, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. OPEC+, which groups the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, is leaning toward another modest output boost in December, four sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. Having curbed production for several years in a bid to support the oil market, the group started reversing those cuts in April. Investors will watch the prospect of a trade deal between the U.S. and China, the world’s two biggest oil consumers, with Trump and President Xi Jinping due to meet on Thursday in South Korea. Beijing hopes Washington can meet it halfway to “prepare for high-level interactions” between the two countries, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call on Monday.

Traders Discounted the Impact of the U.S. Sanctions Against Russia -- The crude market sold off 1.9% on Tuesday, posting its third consecutive down day, as traders discounted the impact of the U.S. sanctions imposed against Russia’s Lukoil and Rosneft, while a potential OPEC+ plan to increase their output at their meeting this weekend weighed on sentiment. The head of the IEA said the effect of sanctions on oil exporting countries will be limited because of surplus capacity. The oil market posted a high of $61.50 on the opening and continued to trend lower, posting a low of $59.76 by mid-day. The market later retraced some of its losses ahead of the close. The December WTI contract settled down $1.16 at $60.15 and the December Brent contract settled down $1.22 at $64.40. The product markets ended the session in mixed territory, with the heating oil market settling down 4.89 cents at $2.3872 and the RB market settling up 48 points at $1.9252. The International Energy Agency’s Executive Director, Fatih Birol, said sanctions on oil-exporting countries could push up crude prices but the effect will be limited because of surplus capacity. He said that while sanctions could push prices upward, the effect is limited with oil prices holding at around $60/barrel due to a huge amount of surplus capacity. He said “Today, despite so many political tensions around the world, Middle East, Russia, Ukraine, major economic, trade wars, oil prices are still $60, exactly what we said.” He added “The oil and gas markets will enter a very distinct period, which is in the absence of major geopolitical tensions, we are going to see lower oil and gas prices.” Many Indian refiners have paused new orders for Russian oil since U.S. sanctions were imposed on Russia’s Lukoil and Rosneft last week as they await clarity from the government and suppliers, with some turning to the spot market for alternatives. An Indian government source said Indian companies will not buy Rosneft or Lukoil crude oil supplied by traders after the two Russian producers were hit by U.S. sanctions. The source said it is difficult to predict when Indian companies will place new orders for Russian oil. However, state-run Indian Oil said it would not stop buying Russian oil as long as it is complying with sanctions. Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Ukraine was ready for peace talks anywhere besides Russia and Belarus if those talks ended the war, but that its forces would “take no steps back” on the battlefield to cede territory. He also urged U.S. lawmakers to pass tougher sanctions on Russia, and said Ukraine would need stable financing from its European allies for another two or three years. The Kremlin said that Russia offered top quality energy at a good price and so its partners would decide for themselves whether or not to buy Russian energy after the United States imposed sanctions on Russia’s top oil companies. The CEO of Saudi Aramco, Amin Nasser, said crude oil demand was strong even before sanctions were imposed on Russia’s Rosneft and Lukoil and that Chinese demand was still healthy.

Crude Oil Futures Dip Despite Drop In US Inventories - Crude oil futures edged lower on Wednesday morning, even after industry data indicated a notable decline in US oil inventories. During the initial hour of trading on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), November crude oil futures were quoted at 5,323 rupees, down 0.13% from Tuesday’s close of ₹5,330. December futures traded at 5,308 rupees, a decline of 0.11% from the previous session. Internationally, Brent crude for January delivery fell 0.11% to $63.76, while December West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slipped 0.10% to $60.09 by 9:57 AM IST. The drop in prices came despite data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showing that US crude oil inventories fell by 4 million barrels in the week ending October 24, surpassing the previous week’s decline of 2.98 million barrels. The United States remains one of the world’s largest crude consumers. Market participants are awaiting official figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), scheduled for release later on Wednesday. The report is expected to provide a more precise assessment of US crude stock levels. Investor attention is also focused on US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s announcement regarding policy rates, with expectations of a 25-basis-point rate cut. Additionally, global markets are closely monitoring an upcoming meeting between the US and Chinese presidents, where trade tariff issues are likely to be discussed.

Oil Prices Slide As Sanctions, Oversupply Concerns Weigh On Market - International oil prices extended their decline for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, as investors weighed the potential impact of U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil sector alongside ongoing concerns over global oversupply. During the Asian trading session, Brent crude fell below $65 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude hovered near $60 per barrel, marking a cumulative drop of more than 2% over recent days. In the United States, industry data revealed a roughly 4-million-barrel decrease in nationwide crude inventories, accompanied by reductions in gasoline and distillate stocks. However, Cushing, Oklahoma—the key oil storage hub—recorded a rise in inventories, highlighting regional disparities in supply and demand dynamics. Market sentiment remains cautious amid a prolonged period of declines, with oil prices falling for three straight months. Investors are closely watching OPEC+, which is scheduled to meet this weekend. Analysts widely expect the group to approve further production increases, potentially exacerbating oversupply concerns. Trade developments are also influencing market behavior. Ongoing negotiations between the United States and several Asian countries are being closely monitored for potential implications on crude flows and demand. “The current fundamentals of the oil market remain bearish: OPEC+ continues to increase supply, and the market is edging further into an oversupply situation,” said Warren Patterson, Head of Commodity Strategy at ING Group Singapore. “However, sanctions against Russia remain the biggest uncertainty, and we need more time to observe their actual impact.” Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department added Russian energy giants Rosneft and Lukoil to its sanctions list. Market participants are assessing how these measures may affect global crude distribution, while U.S. officials emphasize that the goal is to pressure Russia without causing a spike in global oil prices. In Asia, Indian state-owned refiners are evaluating the feasibility of continuing purchases of discounted Russian crude through channels not restricted by sanctions. Investor caution is further amplified by the approaching Federal Reserve policy meeting. Markets generally anticipate a 0.25 percentage point rate cut, which could influence risk appetite across commodities and other assets. On the European front, diesel futures have seen their premium over Brent crude climb to a near 20-month high, reflecting supply concerns driven by Russian sanctions and refinery outages. Analysts warn that this dynamic could tighten Europe’s refined product market in the near term. Technical indicators point to further pressure on crude. WTI crude has closed lower for three straight days, breaking below the $60.50 support level. The MACD shows increasing downward momentum, while the RSI hovers around 40, indicating that oil is not yet oversold and that additional declines are possible. Analysts suggest that if prices slip below $59.80, a new round of declines could target the $58 mark. Conversely, a recovery above $61.30 may prompt a short-term rebound, with resistance levels around $62.50 to $64. In summary, crude oil prices are currently biased toward weakness in the short term, with medium-term direction likely to hinge on the outcomes of the OPEC+ meeting and Federal Reserve interest rate policy.

WTI Selloff Stalls After Large Inventory Draws; US Crude Production Hit A New Record High -Oil prices held steady after a three-day drop as investors assessed the impact of Western sanctions against leading Russian crude producers, alongside a mixed industry estimate of US inventory changes. President Trump will follow through and enforce harsh new sanctions against Moscow to pressure Vladimir Putin into negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, according to Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO. Indian state-owned refiners are considering whether they can continue to take some discounted Russian oil after the measures were imposed, though some processors will pause purchases for now. On Tuesday, Indian Oil Corp. said it is “absolutely not going to discontinue” purchases of Russian crude as long as it complies with international sanctions. “The market is now trying to assess the longer-term impact of the additional sanctions, which will be determined by the quantity of actual barrels removed from supply,” Standard Chartered analysts including Emily Ashford said in a note. Overnight prices stabilized after API showed across the board big inventory draws... API:

• Crude -4.0mm
• Cushing
• Gasoline -6.35mm
• Distillates -4.36mm

DOE

• Crude -6.86mm (-900k exp) - biggest draw in 7 weeks
• Cushing +1.334mm
• Gasoline -5.94mm - biggest draw since Oct 2024
• Distillates -3.36mm

The official inventory data confirmed the API's report with large drawdowns in inventories across crude and the products... Source: Bloomberg US Crude production rose to a new record high last week WTI rallied modestly on the big crude draw Oil is on track to notch a third monthly decline, with prices dragged lower by expectations of a global surplus as OPEC+ raises production. Key alliance nations are set to hold discussions this weekend, and may sign off on another supply increase. Traders are also tracking progress toward a US-China trade deal, with Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping due to meet on Thursday.

Oil settles higher on large drop in US stockpiles, trade optimism (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday after data showed U.S. crude and fuel inventories drew down more than expected last week, and as U.S. President Donald Trump's optimistic tone over upcoming talks with his Chinese counterpart helped ease economic jitters. Brent crude futures rose 52 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $64.92 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 33 cents, or 0.6%, to close at $60.48. U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate fuel stockpiles each fell more last week than analysts had expected, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday. Crude oil stocks fell by nearly 7 million barrels, the data showed, far exceeding the 211,000-barrel drop that was forecast. The big decline forced a reassessment of expectations that the oil market is headed for a large surplus, with the OPEC+ group raising output and U.S. production at record levels. "Where's the glut?" Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn said after the report. "The longer the glut doesn't hit, the more we will question whether it exists," he said. The EIA data also showed strong implied oil demand, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said. Combined with the decline in inventories, the EIA report was very positive for crude oil prices, he said. Trump predicted a good outcome from his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which are scheduled to take place on Thursday at a summit in South Korea. Also at that summit, the U.S. and South Korea finalized details of a fraught trade deal. The optimistic note about U.S.-China talks and the deal with South Korea could help alleviate some concerns of a slump in economic activity from Trump's tariffs and trade wars, which have raised concerns around oil demand and weighed on commodity prices in recent months. Still, other concerns continue to plague the global economic outlook. A divided U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, but Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the central bank meeting struck a note of caution on what lies ahead. Brent and WTI last week registered their biggest weekly gains since June after Trump imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting major oil companies Lukoil (LKOH.MM), opens new tab and Rosneft (ROSN.MM), opens new tab. However, doubts that sanctions would offset oversupply and talk of another OPEC+ output increase pressured prices; both benchmarks fell 1.9%, or more than $1, in the previous session. OPEC+, the world's largest group of oil-producing nations, is leaning towards a modest output boost in December, four sources familiar with the talks said, with two sources citing an additional 137,000 bpd.

Crude oil futures decline as Trump signals nuclear testing readiness - The HinduBusinessLine -Crude oil futures traded lower on Thursday morning as US President Donald Trump expressed his readiness to engage in nuclear weapons testing. Trump’s post on Truth Social came just minutes before his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. At 9.57 am on Thursday, January Brent oil futures were at $64.06, down by 0.40 per cent, and December crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $60.19, down by 0.48 per cent. November crude oil futures were trading at 5342 rupees on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹5372, down by 0.56 per cent, and December futures were trading at ₹5330 rupees against the previous close of ₹5362, down by 0.60 per cent. In a post on social media platform Truth Social, Trump said: “The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office. Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years. Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.” The proposed meeting between Presidents of US and China is expected to focus on the tariff-related issues between these two nations. Trade tensions in the past few months had an impact on the price of commodities such as crude oil. Market players feel that a positive outcome from the meeting could help boost demand for energy-related commodities. Meanwhile, official data from the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) showed a decline in US crude oil inventories for the week ending October 24. According to EIA, US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 6.9 million barrels for the week ending October 24. Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 5.9 million barrels from last week, and distillate fuel inventories decreased by 3.4 million barrels last week. Total products supplied in the US over the last four-week period averaged 20.8 million barrels a day, down by 0.9 per cent from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.7 million barrels a day, down by 4.2 per cent from the same as the last year period. Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 4 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, down by 1.5 per cent from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied was up 7.6 per cent compared with the same four-week period last year. In their Commodities Feed for Thursday, Warren Patterson, Head of Commodities Strategy of ING Think, and Ewa Manthey, Commodities Strategist, said the oil market had a choppy session on Wednesday, still trying to digest the impact of Russian sanctions amid an increasingly comfortable balance as markets head into 2026. However, a set of bullish numbers from the US EIA weekly inventory report ensured crude oil prices closed higher, with Brent settling 0.81 per cent higher on the day. US EIA reported that US crude oil inventories fell by 6.86 million barrels over the last week. It was driven by the Gulf Coast, where crude inventories declined by just shy of 10 million barrels. Lower imports were behind the inventory draw, with total crude imports falling 867,000 barrels a day week-on-week to the lowest level since February 2021, while Gulf Coast imports hit a record low, they said. The decline in gasoline inventories occurred despite exports falling 363,000 barrels a day. Stronger domestic demand provided support, with implied gasoline demand increasing 470,000 barrels a day week-on-week, while refiners also reduced their utilisation rates by 2 percentage points to 86.6 per cent, they said. November nickel futures were trading at ₹1277 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹1327, down by 3.79 per cent. On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), April turmeric (farmer polished) contracts were trading at ₹13114 in the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹12948, up by 1.28 per cent. December cottonseed oilcake futures were trading at ₹2939 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹2937, up by 0.07 per cent.

Tariff Cuts on China to Resume U.S. Soybean Purchases - Sprague Energy -The oil market ended the session slightly higher after it traded mostly sideways for much of the day as traders assessed the potential trade truce between the U.S. and China. President Donald Trump agreed to cut tariffs on China to 47% from 57% in a one-year deal in exchange for China resuming U.S. soybean purchases, keeping rare earths exports flowing and cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade. The crude market continued to gradually trade lower in overnight trading and sold off to a low of $59.64 by mid-morning. However, the market bounced off its low and retraced its losses as it posted a high of $60.79 in afternoon trading as the market refocused on the larger than expected draws reported by the EIA on Wednesday. The oil market traded in sideways trading range ahead of the close. The December WTI contract settled up 9 cents at $60.57 and the December Brent contract settled up 8 cents at $65.00. The product markets ended the session higher, with the heating oil market settling up 3.57 cents at $2.46 and the RB market settling up 2.97 cents at $2.0034. U.S. President Donald Trump hailed a meeting with China’s Xi Jinping as “amazing” and “12” on a 10-point scale, but the agreement the two leaders reached appears to be no more than a fragile truce in a trade war with root causes still unresolved. The framework announced on Thursday includes China resuming soybean purchases, suspending its rare earth export curbs for a year and the U.S. lowering tariffs on China by 10% broadly rewinds ties to the status that existed before President Trump’s “Liberation Day” offensive triggered tit-for-tat escalation. President Trump said that tariffs on Chinese imports would be cut to 47% from around 57% by halving the rate of levies related to trade in fentanyl precursor chemicals to 10% from 20%. However, absent from the talks were the big issues cited by President Trump as he launched his tariffs in April, China’s industrial policies, manufacturing over-capacity, and its export-led growth model. China sees this as a stepping stone to a bigger meeting where they can stabilize the relationship. The two leaders agreed to two follow-up visits next year. During the meeting, China’s President Xi Jinping said China and the United States should not fall into a “vicious cycle of retaliation” against each other. U.S. Energy Secretary Wright said Thursday the U.S. is prepared to sell more oil and natural gas to China if China reduces its purchases from Russia. Meanwhile Trump posted to social media Thursday suggesting a “very large scale transaction may take place concerning the purchase of Oil and Gas from the Great State of Alaska.” ANZ raised its three month crude oil price target to $70/barrel. It sees the U.S. move to sanction Russian oil companies presenting a significant increase in the risks to oil supply. It expects OPEC+ to approve another 137,000 bpd increase in supply for December given the increased risks to Russian supply. It expects any impact to Russian oil exports to be relatively short-lived, capping any further upside to oil prices.

Oil prices steady as investors assess US-China trade truce (Reuters) - Oil prices held steady on Thursday as investors assessed a potential trade truce between the United States and China after U.S. President Donald Trump lowered tariffs on China following a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea. Brent futures rose 8 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $65.00 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 9 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $60.57. Trump agreed to reduce tariffs on China to 47% from 57% in a one-year deal in exchange for Beijing resuming U.S. soybean purchases, keeping rare earths exports flowing and cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade. PVM analyst Tamas Varga said investors see the announced agreement between China and the U.S. as more of a de-escalation of tension than a structural change in the relationship. Oil majors Shell and TotalEnergies posted quarterly profit falls of 10% and 2% respectively on Thursday, dragged down by lower oil prices, though Shell beat expectations, helped by better trading results in its huge gas division. Also helping to boost the economic outlook, the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered interest rates on Wednesday, in line with market expectations. However, it signalled that it might be the last cut of the year as the ongoing government shutdown threatens data availability. Lower interest rates reduce consumer borrowing costs and could boost economic growth and oil demand. "The Fed's decision underscores a broader turn in its policy cycle – one that favours gradual reflation and support over restraint, providing a tailwind to commodities sensitive to economic activity," Rystad Energy's chief economist Claudio Galimberti said in a note. In Europe and Asia, meanwhile, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged. The euro zone economy grew a touch more quickly than expected in the third quarter, lifted by buoyant growth in France and Spain that more than offset faltering exports and persistent struggles in Germany's oversized industrial sector. In Germany, however, gross domestic product stagnated in the third quarter, data showed on Thursday, highlighting the struggle Europe's biggest economy faces in regaining momentum as exports dwindle. Both crude benchmarks were on track to decline by around 3% in October, which would be their third consecutive month of losses following concerns about oversupply. In the U.S., crude output hit a weekly record high of around 13.6 million barrels per day (bpd) last week. Investors said they were looking ahead to an OPEC+ meeting scheduled for November 2, where the alliance will likely announce another 137,000 bpd supply hike for December. OPEC+ includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies like Russia. In a series of monthly increases, eight OPEC+ members had boosted output targets by a total of more than 2.7 million bpd - or about 2.5% of global supply. In Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, the budget deficit widened to 88.5 billion riyals ($23.60 billion) in the third quarter, a 160% rise from the previous quarter as spending increased and revenues fell, the finance ministry said on Thursday.

Oil Prices Dip As Global Markets React To China’s Weak Data And Strong U.S. Dollar -- Oil prices retreated on Friday as weak economic data from China, a firmer U.S. dollar, and expectations of rising global supply combined to dampen market sentiment. Traders anticipate that China’s imports could decline as manufacturing activity slows, while the OPEC alliance prepares to raise production levels. Brent crude slipped to $63.96 per barrel, representing a 0.07% decrease from Thursday’s close at $64.01. Similarly, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures eased by 0.11% to $60.06, down from the previous $60.13 per barrel. This comes after the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) reduced its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday to a range between 3.75% and 4%. While the move was widely expected, Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that another rate cut in December was not guaranteed, stating that the decision “is not a foregone conclusion.” Following Powell’s remarks, the U.S. dollar strengthened, adding downward pressure on oil prices as a stronger greenback makes crude more expensive for buyers using other currencies. Adding to the bearish tone, new data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics revealed that factory activity contracted for the seventh consecutive month in October. The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slipped to 49.0 from 49.8 in September—below the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction. The continued slump in China’s manufacturing sector underscores the fragility of its economic recovery, despite recent optimism following a temporary truce in the U.S.-China trade dispute. Meanwhile, U.S. commercial crude inventories dropped by 6.9 million barrels last week to 416 million barrels, significantly exceeding analysts’ expectations of a 900,000-barrel draw. Strategic petroleum reserves rose slightly by 500,000 barrels to 409.1 million, while gasoline stocks fell by 5.9 million barrels to 210.7 million. Market focus now shifts to the OPEC+ meeting scheduled for November 2, where the alliance is expected to announce an additional production increase of 137,000 barrels per day for December. Analysts believe that the combination of weak demand indicators and rising supply could keep oil prices under pressure in the short term, even as global economic recovery efforts continue.

Oil prices dip for third month - – Oil prices edged lower on Friday, marking a third consecutive monthly decline, as a stronger U.S. dollar curbed investor appetite for commodities and growing global supply offset the impact of Western sanctions on Russian exports. Brent crude futures slipped 33 cents, or 0.51%, to $64.67 a barrel by 0027 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 35 cents, or 0.58%, to $60.22. Analysts said the dollar’s strength, following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks that a December rate cut was “not guaranteed,” weighed heavily on oil and other commodities. Both Brent and WTI are on track to fall around 3% in October, pressured by expectations that production increases from OPEC and other major producers will outpace demand growth. Sources said OPEC+ is leaning towards a modest output boost in December, with members already having raised their combined targets by over 2.7 million barrels per day — about 2.5% of global supply — in recent months. Data also showed rising output from leading producers. Saudi Arabia’s crude exports hit a six-month high of 6.4 million barrels per day in August, while U.S. production reached a record 13.6 million bpd last week, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that China had agreed to begin purchasing U.S. energy, potentially including oil and gas from Alaska. However, analysts expressed doubts about the scale of the impact, noting that Alaska accounts for just 3% of U.S. crude output and that any LNG purchases would likely be market-driven.

Oil ends slightly up, trade choppy on report, denial of US attack plan on Venezuela (Reuters) - Oil prices settled slightly higher after a wild trading session on Friday, popping up as media reports said U.S. air strikes on Venezuela could begin within hours and then retreating after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a denial on social media. Brent crude futures settled at $65.07 a barrel, up 7 cents, or 0.11. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $60.98 a barrel, up 41 cents, or 0.68%. "Is this Donald Trump's trick or treat?" said Phil Flynn, senior analyst for Price Futures Group. He noted that earlier this year, Trump denied reports of a planned attack on Iran before carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic Republic. "There definitely was an impact on the market when the first report of a planned attack on Venezuela came out," Flynn said. "If there is an attack over the weekend, prices will spike on Monday." The U.S. has deployed a task force centered around the nation's largest aircraft carrier, Gerald Ford, off the coast of Venezuela, far beyond the needs of attacking drug traffickers on small boats, the focus of U.S. naval activity in the Caribbean in recent weeks. "It's pretty clear something is afoot there," "For oil traders, it's a classic situation of buy now and ask questions later." The U.S. dollar was near three-month highs against major currencies, making purchases of dollar-denominated commodities such as oil more expensive. Meanwhile, sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, may reduce its December crude price for Asian buyers to multi-month lows, sounding a bearish note. Oil slipped after an official survey showed China's factory activity shrank for a seventh month in October. Brent and WTI are set to fall 2.6% and 2%, respectively, in October with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and major non-OPEC producers ramping up output. More supply will also cushion the impact of Western sanctions disrupting Russian oil exports to its top buyers China andIndia.A Reuters survey forecast Brent will average $67.99 per barrel in 2025, about 38 cents above last month's estimate. WTI is expected to average $64.83, slightly above September's estimate of $64.39. OPEC+ is leaning toward a modest output boost in December, people familiar with the talks said ahead of the group's meeting on Sunday.. Kilduff said most of the OPEC+ members except for Saudi Arabia were unable to add much to their production. "Pretty much there is nothing they can add that is going to be meaningful beyond what the Saudis can do," In August, Saudi Arabia's crude exports hit a six-month high of 6.407 million bpd, data from the Joint Organization Data Initiative showed. A U.S. Energy Information Administration report also showed record production of 13.6 million bpd last week. Trump said on Thursday that China has agreed to begin the process of purchasing U.S. energy and that a very large-scale transaction may take place involving the purchase of oil and gas from Alaska. However, analysts remained skeptical as to whether the U.S.-China trade deal will boost Chinese demand for U.S. energy.

IDF Chief on Gaza: 'The War Is Not Yet Over' - The head of the Israeli military said on Monday that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza isn’t over until all the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages are recovered and suggested the “campaign against Hamas” would continue after that.“The war is not yet over; we must complete our sacred mission of bringing the fallen hostages home and continue the campaign against Hamas,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said at a military conference, according to The Times of Israel.While there has been a de-escalation in Gaza, Israeli forces have continued launching attacks since the ceasefire deal was signed on October 10, killing at least 95 Palestinians in that time, according to numbers from Gaza’s Health Ministry, and the IDF currently controls about 58% of Gaza’s territory. Comments from President Trump have also made clear that Israeli officials are eager to restart the full-scale genocidal campaign, and would do so if he gave the word. Zamir’s comments came on the same day that Hamas returned another Israeli body, leaving a total of 12 deceased hostages under the rubble in Gaza. Israel has handed over at least 195 Palestinian bodies to Gaza in exchange, including many that could not be identified and were buried in a mass grave. It was clear when Israel signed the ceasefire deal that recovering all of the Israeli bodies would take time, but the Israeli government attempted to use Hamas’s lack of access to all of the hostage remains to blow up the deal, and continues to claim that the Palestinian group is delaying the process. But Hamas has continued to expand its efforts, and reportedly entered Israeli-controlled parts of Gaza with the International Committee of the Red Cross to search for remains on Monday. According to the Israeli news site Ynet, Hamas has conveyed that it has located the remains of seven to nine Israeli bodies and is working to excavate them. The report also said that Israel is asking the US for permission to expand its occupation of Gaza as a “sanction” against Hamas for the time it is taking to find the bodies.

Netanyahu Orders 'Immediate and Powerful' Attacks on Gaza, Over 100 Killed - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli military to “immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” his office said in a statement, signaling the Gaza ceasefire deal is about to collapse.Israel is claiming that its forces in Rafah came under attack by Hamas fighters, and Palestinians on the ground reported hearing gunfire and strikes in the south, but Hamas has said that it had “no relation to the shooting incident in Rafah and reaffirms its commitment to the cease-fire agreement.” Israel currently controls about 58% of Gaza’s territory, and Netanyahu has reportedly decided to take over more territory.After Netanyahu’s announcement, a series of airstrikes were reported in Gaza City and Khan Younis. According to Al Jazeera, witnesses said a “massive” strike hit near the Al-Shifa Hospital. At least 100 people have been killed, and pictures and videos show that at least 46 children are among the dead and wounded. Netanyahu’s statement also came after Israel accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire deal over claims that it was delaying and staging the recovery of the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages. Before the agreement was signed, Israeli officials acknowledged that the bodies would take time to find, andCNN cited officials who said some remains may never be found. Israel released a video on Tuesday that it said showed Hamas burying a body and then bringing in the Red Cross to recover it, but according to Israeli media, the US didn’t buy Israel’s claim that the footage showed that Hamas violated the ceasefire and objected to Israel launching airstrikes. Then, the alleged attack took place in Rafah, and Netanyahu renewed airstrikes. Israel has also impeded efforts to recover more bodies by refusing to allow Turkish and Qatari teams to enter the Strip and help locate and retrieve remains, according to two Arab officials speaking toThe Times of Israel. The initiative would have also involved representatives from Israel, the US, and Egypt aiding in the effort.

Israel Declares Gaza Ceasefire Back on After It Kills Over 100 Palestinians, Including 46 Children - The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that it was re-implementing the ceasefire in Gaza after unleashing heavy airstrikes across the Strip that, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, killed at least 104 Palestinians, including 46 children, and 20 women, though it bombed the Strip again later in the day. The escalation came after Israel claimed that its troops in Rafah came under attack, which killed one Israeli soldier. Israel accused Hamas of being behind the attack, but according to Israeli media, the IDF doesn’t know if the attack was approved by Hamas leadership or if it was carried out independently by a cell of Palestinian fighters isolated in the Israeli-occupied area. For its part, Hamas denied involvement and said that it had “no relation to the shooting incident in Rafah and reaffirms its commitment to the cease-fire agreement.” Israel claimed that the bombardment that killed mostly women and children targeted 30 “terror commanders.” Israeli media reports said that Israel was ready to launch heavy airstrikes in Gaza before the incident and Rafah over claims that Hamas was violating the deal based on a video Israel said showed Hamas staging the discovery of an Israeli body. But the US said there was no evidence Hamas breached the deal and objected to the escalation. Israel has been violating the Gaza ceasefire deal since it went into effect on October 10 by not allowing the agreed-upon number of aid trucks to enter the Strip, and has also continued attacks in Gaza, killing about 100 before the major escalation on Tuesday. Later on Wednesday, Israel launched another airstrike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, killing at least two people. Despite the breaches, the US hasn’t offered any public criticism of Israel’s actions and has backed the massive bombardment. “They killed an Israeli soldier. So the Israelis hit back. And they should hit back,” President Trump said on Wednesday. Vice President JD Vance also downplayed the Israeli bombardment as a “little skirmish” but also appeared to acknowledge that the US wasn’t confident Hamas was behind the attack in Rafah that killed an Israeli soldier. “We know that Hamas or somebody else within Gaza attacked an IDF soldier. We expect the Israelis are going to respond — but I think the President’s peace is going to hold,” he said.

Israeli Minister Suggests the IDF Should Shoot Children Near the 'Yellow Line' in Gaza - Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir suggested that the Israeli military should shoot Palestinian children in Gaza who approach the so-called “yellow line,” referring to the line Israeli troops withdrew to when the ceasefire went into effect.According to Israeli media, he made the comments during a recent security cabinet meeting. A military official who attended the meeting said that the IDF’s policy is to shoot any adults who cross the line and arrest a “child with a donkey.”In response, Ben Gvir said, “Why not shoot a child with a donkey?” Israel’s Channel 4 reported that he also urged the Israeli military to “shoot children and donkeys too,” saying that Israel must “stop being merciful.”Another Israeli official in the meeting then asked, “Who should be shot first—the child or the donkey?” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz concluded the conversation by saying, “Anyone who approaches the fence should know that they may be harmed.”Throughout its genocidal war in Gaza, the Israeli military has created kill zones by setting arbitrary lines that Palestinians on the ground are not aware of. An Israeli soldier recently detailed killing Palestinians, including children, who crossed one of the lines the IDF set in northern Gaza, where people were waiting for aid.The IDF has marked the yellow line by placing large concrete blocks 200 meters apart from each other, but when the ceasefire went into effect, it wasn’t marked at all, and the IDF killed dozens of Palestinians it claimed crossed the invisible boundary. In one incident, the IDF bombed a vehicle that allegedly crossed the line, killing 11 people, including seven young children.

Israel Is Backing Four Anti-Hamas Militias in IDF-Controlled Gaza - Israel is backing four militias that plan to fight against Hamas and are currently operating under the watch of the IDF in the Israeli-controlled part of Gaza, Sky News reported on Saturday. Hossam al-Astal, the leader of one of the groups based in southern Gaza, said that all four groups are part of a coordinated effort to take over Gaza. “We are all for the new Gaza. Soon, we will achieve full control of the Gaza Strip and will gather under one umbrella,” he told Sky News.The term “new Gaza” has previously been used by Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, when discussing plans to allow reconstruction in Israeli-occupied Gaza and not in areas under the control of Hamas.“No reconstruction funds will be going into areas that Hamas still controls,” Kushner, who has been deeply involved in the Gaza negotiations, said during a visit to Israel last week. “There are considerations happening now in the area that the IDF controls, as long as that can be secured, to start the construction as a new Gaza in order to give the Palestinians living in Gaza a place to go, a place to get jobs, a place to live.”The largest group Israel is backing is a gang led by Yasser Abu Shabab, who admitted to looting aid trucks in 2024. Some members of his group, which is also based in southern Gaza, have ties to ISIS,according to Israeli media. The Sky News report said that a senior commander in the Abu Shabab gang said the group has between 500 and 700 fighters and that Israel has been allowing them to smuggle cash, weapons, and vehicles into Gaza.Al-Astal said that his militia has acquired a large number of Hamas weapons from the black market in Gaza and also receives supplies, including ammunition, from abroad. He said the group also receives a weekly delivery of everyday items to support civilians living in the camp. He claimed that the militias have backing from Western states and Arab countries.Al-Astal also suggested that the Palestinian Authority has been supporting the effort, though the PA has previously denied that it’s involved with the militias. “The Palestinian Authority cannot allow itself to admit to having a direct relationship with us. I have people within my group who are still, to this day, employees of the Palestinian Authority,” he said.

Netanyahu Says Israel Will Decide Which International Forces Will Be Deployed to Gaza -The Israeli leader also insisted Israel is 'sovereign' amid growing criticism of the US-Israel relationship Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel would determine which international forces would be deployed to Gaza under the ceasefire deal.The Israeli leader made the comments in the context of the growing criticism of the US-Israel relationship and questions within Israel about how much influence and control the US has over future plans for Gaza.“We control our own security and we have also made clear regarding international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us — that is how we act and will continue to act,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting, according to The Times of Israel.The Gaza ceasefire proposal released by the White House calls for an “International Stabilization Force” that will take over territory controlled by the Israeli military, but many countries are hesitant to commit troops to join the force, as there are many unanswered questions about what role it will play.President Trump has claimed that US allies in the region are eager to send troops into Gaza to fight Hamas, but according to The New York Times, the opposite is true, and countries are reluctant to pledge soldiers to the cause due to the potential for clashes with Hamas. ountries that have been floated as potential members of the force include Egypt, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan. Turkey has also been floated as a possibility, but Netanyahu has strongly rejected the idea of Turkish troops being deployed to Gaza.

Netanyahu Says the Israeli Military Will 'Demilitarize' Gaza If Foreign Troops Don't - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the Israeli military would disarm Hamas and “demilitarize” Gaza if foreign troops don’t. Netanyahu told the graduating class of Israeli military cadets that Israel has “more work” to do in Gaza. “At the end of the day, Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized,” he said. “If foreign troops do it, great. If they don’t do it, we will.” Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have made clear that they’re eager to restart Israel’s full-blown genocidal military campaign in the Gaza Strip, and Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire deal by launching attacks in Gaza, which have killed over 200 Palestinians since the truce began. The Israeli leader’s comments come as the US is involved in negotiations for an international force to enter Gaza. The idea is for foreign troops to take the place of IDF soldiers inside Gaza. Israel has strongly objected to the idea of a Turkish presence in Gaza, but according to a report fromAxios, the US is pushing for Turkey to be involved. The report said Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Indonesia have shown a willingness to send troops, but there are concerns about the possibility of clashing with Hamas. The US plan also involves establishing a Palestinian police force trained and vetted by the US, Egypt, and Jordan. Hamas has agreed to give up governance in Gaza to an independent Palestinian committee, but the group’s public position on disarmament is that it’s not willing to give up its weapons until it can be replaced by the armed forces of a Palestinian state. While Netanyahu is vowing to “disarm” Hamas, he has failed to defeat the group despite Israel’s destruction of Gaza and slaughter of at least 68,000 Palestinians.

Israel Erects 1,000 New Barriers in West Bank Amid Gaza Genocide – Report - Israel has erected close to 1,000 new barriers in towns and cities across the occupied West Bank since it began its genocidal assault on Gaza two years ago, the Washington Post reported. The paper cited the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, a Palestinian governmental body, as saying that “916 gates, barriers and walls have been installed” since October 2023. At the same time, Israeli military raids have also increased, along with the killings of over 1,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian figures. Since the start of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, Israel has installed nearly 1,000 new barriers across cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission. The 916 gates, walls, and checkpoints have further… pic.twitter.com/mUTZOlos4h In early September, the report stated, the United Nations said it had “documented the installation of 18 gates” in the West Bank, some of which block roads connecting the northern and southern parts of the occupied territory. This forces 3 million Palestinians “to take long detours, with a 20-minute journey now taking more than an hour.”In addition to the gates, other obstacles such as large earth mounds and concrete blocks are also placed in the middle of the roads, “preventing cars from going around them” as well as restricting freedom of movement for Palestinians and “access to healthcare and education.” Despite residents saying that the barriers have “detrimental” effects on their lives, the Israeli military claimed they are meant to “manage and monitor” rather than restrict people, the report stated.A gym owner from the village of Deir Dibwan said that “Under the current circumstances, everything has been cut off. Everything has stopped,” with people prevented from attending his gym. In the village of Aboud, residents told the paper that the entry gates “are closed between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. every day, preventing students from going to university and people from going to work.” Mohammad Shalatweh, a taxi driver, said this was part of the “occupation’s strategy to destabilize the people’s sense of security.” While in the village of Sinjil, Eyad Jameel, a restaurant owner, expressed concern that every time his son leaves for the main city, he fears he might not return. He said the Israeli authorities “don’t always open them, they just close them and trap everyone.” Israeli occupation forces are stationed at barriers at times, with some gates also equipped with surveillance cameras.

Zelensky Says Ukraine Working To Expand Long-Range Strikes Inside Russia - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Ukraine was working to expand long-range attacks inside Russia with a focus on targeting oil refineries.Zelensky said he held a meeting with arms manufacturers that produce long-range weapons. “We reviewed the effectiveness of our long-range strikes over a defined period and the results achieved,” he wrote on X.“Russian oil refining is already paying a tangible price for the war—and will pay even more. We set tasks to expand the geography for the use of our long-range capabilities,” the Ukrainian leader added. So far, the US has denied Zelensky’s request for Tomahawk missiles, which are nuclear-capable and have a range of over 1,000 miles. But according to media reports, the US has been helping Ukraine with strikes deep inside Russia, including its drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that the US has been providing intelligence for the drone attacks, and one source told the paper that Ukraine’s drone force is the “instrument” the US is using to achieve the goal of undermining the Russian economy and pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin toward a settlement to end the war. The US has also imposed new sanctions on Russian oil companies. President Trump recently denied a report that said the US approved Ukrainian missile strikes inside Russia, but Ukraine’s military recently claimed that it used British-provided Storm Shadow missiles, which require US targeting data, in a strike on a Russian chemical plant. While vowing to expand attacks inside Russia, Ukraine continues to lose territory in the battle in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have recently entered the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk Oblast. Russia’s demands for a peace deal include Ukraine ceding Donetsk and the sliver of territory it controls in Luhansk, an offer President Trump has reportedly told Zelensky to accept.

Zelensky Says He Needs European Support To Fight Russia For Another 2-3 Years - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed this week that he needs European financial support to fight Russia for another two or three years as the war continues to rage."I emphasized this again to all European leaders. I told them that we are not going to fight for decades, but you must show that for some time you will be able to provide stable financial support to Ukraine," Zelensky said, according to AFP."And that is why they have this program in mind – two to three years," he added, referring to an EU plan to fund Ukraine for a few years using frozen Russian assets. Zelensky said the funds would either be spent on reconstruction or on more weapons."If the war ends in a month, we will spend this money on recovery. If it does not end in a month, but after some time, then we will spend it on weapons. We simply have no other choice," the Ukrainian leader said.Under a new NATO scheme, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List initiative, America's European allies are committing to purchase American-made weapons for Ukraine, though military aid to the country has dropped significantly since the program was launched, according to a report from the Kiel Institute. Zelensky also acknowledged on Tuesday that Russian troops have entered the city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Oblast, which Russian forces have been pushing towards for months. "Around 200 Russians are located there in various places – we see this from drones. Pokrovsk is currently the main target for the Russians," he said. A day earlier, Zelensky vowed that Ukraine would expand its attacks inside Russia with a focus on oil refineries. While the US hasn’t committed to providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, it has recently expanded support for long-range strikes by providing intelligence for attacks inside Russia, according to media reports.