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Consumer Price Index data for October showed that inflation came in hotter than expected as costs rose across a wide range of essential goods and services, including food, rent, and medical care.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in October from a month earlier, higher than the 0.3% economists were expecting but below September's 0.6% gain, according to Labor Department data released on Tuesday. Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3%, coming in ahead of the 0.2% economists were expecting to match September's levels.

October's report didn't include annual inflation figures because the Bureau of Labor Statistics was unable to publish full October 2025 data due to the government shutdown last year. But many economists estimate that inflation accelerated on a year-over-year basis.

Read more: How to protect your savings against inflation

Housing costs were a major contributor to October's price increases. Owners' equivalent rent, which measures homeownership costs, rose 0.3%, while rents were up 0.2%.
Food costs were up 0.5%, driven by higher meat and dairy prices. Lettuce prices rose 7.3%, and baby food jumped 5.1%.

Transportation costs accelerated 0.8% last month, while medical care items were up 0.5% and medical services rose 0.3%.

"One hopes inflation starts returning to normal, but that's a hope right now, not a reality," economist Justin Wolfers wrote on X.

Rising energy prices weighed heavily on September's report, but October's price increases were less dramatic. Energy costs rose 0.7% last month, down from 5.2% in September.

"CPI for October is not great," Kevin Gordon, head of macro research and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, wrote in a post on X.

"Inflation breadth still looking poor across goods and services," he wrote in another post, referring to the wide variety of categories in which prices are rising.

Tuesday's inflation data is the Federal Reserve's final look at the CPI before it meets Dec. 8-9, although it will get another look at inflation data via its preferred measure, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, later this month. 

The hot report, coupled with a labor market that's holding up and even showing signs of accelerating, cemented traders' expectations for a rate hike in December. Traders now see a 15.3% chance of a larger 50 basis point move

Claire Boston is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo Finance at https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/article/not-great-october-cpi-inflation-data-comes-in-hotter-than-expected-as-food-and-rent-costs-spike-142323507.html

Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) is seeking a valuation of roughly $1.4 trillion in its highly anticipated IPO, setting the stage for one of the largest public-market debuts during the AI boom.

The AI developer said in an updated filing Tuesday that it plans to sell 825 million shares at between $70 and $78 each. At the top of that range, the IPO would generate up to $64.35 billion in proceeds. On a fully diluted basis, which includes employee stock options and other securities, the frontier AI lab could be valued between roughly $1.3 trillion and $1.45 trillion.

That would mark a substantial increase over the $965 billion valuation that Anthropic announced in a May funding round, but would be far below recent Wall Street estimates, which reached as high as $2 trillion in early October.

Read more: Everything you need to know ahead of Anthropic's IPO

On top of the public offering, Anthropic is locking down an extra $26 billion on the side from tech's biggest heavyweights, including Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOGL), TSMC (TSM), Broadcom (AVGO), AMD (AMD), and Micron (MU). Those companies are buying non-voting Class N shares at the same price public investors will pay. Because this is a private deal, those tech giants won't face the standard six-month lockup window that typically prevents insiders from selling right after the debut.

Anthropic plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker "ANT.” The stock is expected to begin trading on Thursday, Nov. 19, or Friday, Nov. 20, of next week, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The IPO comes as investors have grown more cautious about the enormous valuations attached to AI companies. Anthropic will also debut against a backdrop of growing political resistance to the buildout of data centers and other infrastructure needed to support AI,

The company's public debut would follow SpaceX's (SPCX) record-setting IPO earlier this year. SpaceX raised $85.7 billion in its offering, and the company now has a market capitalization of $1.9 trillion.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei started the company in 2021 alongside a group of former OpenAI researchers. The startup has since emerged as a frontier AI lab and competitor to OpenAI.

Anthropic recently revealed revenue grew $1,206% to $33.2 billion through the first nine months of the year. The company also noted a staggering aggregate committed spend of $895.4 billion, which it says is primarily related to compute and infrastructure.

But the AI growth story was put to the test last week as investors weighed a Democratic congressional win against the impact of the AI data center build-out. The market turmoil prompted prospective buyers to discuss lowering Anthropic's valuation to a range of $1.2 trillion to $1.3 trillion, with some considering as low as $1.1 trillion, according to Bloomberg.

Anthropic Co-Founder and CEO Dario Amodei speaks at Dreamforce 2026 summit in San Francisco, California, U.S., September 15, 2026. REUTERS/Carlos BarriaReuters / REUTERS

This article originally appeared on Yahoo Finance at https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/anthropic-seeks-14-trillion-valuation-in-ipo-130300928.html

US military aircraft were pictured at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow on Tuesday morning. [BBC]

At least 10 US Air Force refuelling aircraft left a second airbase in Britain on Monday.

Flight tracking data seen by BBC Verify shows the aircraft left RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk and landed at other American bases in Europe and also at Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire.

The Wall Street Journal reported that this was in response to a threat from Iran but the BBC has not independently verified that claim.

Monday's departures come weeks after the US withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford airbase over a suspected Iran-linked security incident.

Asked about Monday's flights, an MoD spokesperson told the BBC: "We do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations. Aircraft and other assets move regularly ​according to operational ​requirements."

Using public tracking site Flightradar24 BBC Verify has been able to see USAF KC-135 tankers leaving Mildenhall throughout Monday.

Two aircraft that left initially flew to US bases in Germany and Italy. The first KC-135 then returned to Mildenhall before heading east and landing at Spangdahlem airbase in Germany. The other aircraft - having flown circuits over Aviano airbase in Italy - flew on to and landed at Spangdahlem.

Flight-tracking data also shows eight other US KC-135s left Mildenhall later on Monday.

An aircraft that landed at Prestwick in Scotland on Monday is with the Nebraska Air National Guard, meaning it may have been on a regular stop before heading back to its American base.

[BBC]

About 3,000 military personnel are stationed at RAF Mildenhall, which is around 80 miles (130km) north of London.

The BBC has found there is currently very little aircraft movement at the base, and there appears to be no additional security in place around it. The spaces from which the public can photograph aircraft remain open.

The base is mostly used for refuelling and maintenance operations - flights carrying US presidents, including Donald Trump, have often used it.

It has also been used as a staging area for aircraft and material bound for the Middle East.

Air refuelling tankers were "forward deployed" to the region during operations against Iran.

Asked about the US evacuating aircraft from RAF Mildenhall, Education Secretary Lucy Powell told BBC Breakfast she could not comment on ongoing operational matters.

She added that "we take the security and safety of our bases incredibly seriously" and "we will always act on security intelligence when we need to".

A US Air Force spokesperson said its aircraft "rotate between installations and operating locations for a variety of reasons including training and real world requirements".

"US military aircraft are hosted in accordance with access, basing, and overflight agreements with our allies and partners. Due to operations security, we will not provide further information on movement of assets," the spokesperson added.

Former UK National Security Adviser Lord Ricketts told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are talking about an airbase which houses these large tanker aircraft. Of course, they are large targets, an airbase has a long perimeter, so they are inevitably vulnerable."

He added: "Nobody knows at this stage what this information was. I suspect part of it is an abundance of caution."

Aircraft left RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk and landed at other American bases in Europe and also at Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire [Reuters]

Speaking before reports emerged of the flights leaving RAF Mildenhall, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked on Monday about Iranian threats against American diplomats overseas.

"We've addressed it by moving people away from the threat," he said, adding: "Obviously, we're always worried about the safety and security of our personnel and their families overseas. And so, when we see anything that could pose a potential threat beyond a certain threshold, we're going to address it."

Monday's departures from Mildenhall follow a security incident at RAF Fairford, a US-operated airbase in Gloucestershire.

A major incident was declared after three suspicious vans were seen near that base in September. It later emerged that the US had pulled its bombers out of the base and returned them to America.

Two British nationals appeared in court in October in connection with an alleged Iran-linked plot. Eight men have been arrested as part of the counter-terror police investigation.

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This article originally appeared on BBC at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c32l4lw12z7po?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D

American, Ukrainian and Russian representatives gathered in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for their latest round of trilateral peace talks, with President Donald Trump's administration seeking a diplomatic breakthrough after 1,721 days of Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Trump -- who came to office vowing to end the war within 24 hours -- has thus far been unable to force a breakthrough. His chief negotiating envoys, Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are leading the U.S. delegation in Abu Dhabi this week.

On Monday, Trump struck a positive tone when discussing the coming meeting. "They talk about wars, Ukraine and Russia. And by the way, we're having a very good conversation about that in Abu Dhabi," the president said.

"Ukraine and Russia are tired of fighting. They're tired of seeing dead young soldiers," Trump added.

Rustem Umerov Via Telegram/via Reuters - PHOTO: Members of the Ukrainian, U.S. and Russian peace talks delegations meet in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 10, 2026.Ukraine must 'unblock' Patriot missile delivery, Zelenskyy says after deadly strikes

A source in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office told ABC News that Kyiv's delegation is led by Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service and its lead representative in previous rounds of talks. Among those accompanying him are Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Zelenskyy's office, and Davyd Arakhamia, the head of Zelenskyy's party in the Ukrainian parliament.

The Russian delegation is led by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Also attending are Kremlin official Yuri Ushakov, the head of Russia's foreign military intelligence agency, Igor Kostyukov, and Sergei Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister, Peskov said.

The first U.S.-brokered trilateral meeting was held in Geneva in February 2026, but this year has seen little diplomatic progress, with both camps still far apart on key issues. The negotiations have secured some prisoner-of-war exchanges and short-lived, localized ceasefires.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that this week's talks will put "security issues concerning Russia, Ukraine and the region as a whole" at the top of the agenda. The participants would also work toward "agreeing on principles that could be approved following consultations on a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in Ukraine," Lavrov said.

Zelenskyy said Monday that he had spoken with European Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen ahead of the talks. Both the French and German foreign ministers also said they would be participating in the Abu Dhabi meetings, though Peskov maintained that the talks would remain trilateral in format.

Dan Bashakov/AP Photo - PHOTO: An man walks past a heavily damaged kindergarten building and a debris-strewn courtyard following a missile attack on a residential area in Kyiv, on Nov. 7, 2026.'It's not supportive': Ukraine's Zelenskyy laments lack of US assistance in war with Russia

A statement posted to the Ukrainian presidential website said Kyiv "is doing everything to ensure that the trilateral format delivers results."

Delegation head Umerov, meanwhile, said in a post to Telegram on Tuesday morning that Kyiv's team is prioritizing "ending hostilities, reliable post-war security guarantees, economic recovery and development of Ukraine, and humanitarian measures."

With the war approaching its fifth anniversary, the two combatants appear far apart on a potential settlement. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly rejected U.S.-Ukrainian proposals for a ceasefire under which a final settlement could be negotiated.

Moscow is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from four contested regions -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson -- the Kremlin claimed to have annexed in September 2022, after referendums that the international community largely refused to recognize. Putin also wants Ukraine permanently barred from NATO and to face limits on the size and capabilities of its military.

Zelenskyy has said Ukraine cannot agree to any deal that does not include concrete security guarantees from the U.S. and other NATO allies to protect against renewed Russian aggression.

Kyiv, Zelenskyy said, must also retain the right to constitute its own armed forces and choose its own future security arrangements, including membership of NATO. The Ukrainian leader has refused Russian demands to cede territory not controlled by Moscow's forces.

Gavriil Grigorov/Pool Sputnik via EPA/Shutterstock - PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Constantine Palace in Strelna, a suburb of St. Petersburg, Russia, October 21, 2026. Witkoff lauds 'humanitarian' Putin as Russia releases detained American

Since Trump returned to office, U.S.-Ukrainian ties have at times been fraught. The president has repeatedly pressured Zelenskyy to make concessions to Moscow in pursuit of a peace deal. Trump has described Zelenskyy at times as a "dictator" and criticized Kyiv for delaying planned elections, which constitutionally cannot be held while the country is under martial law.

Trump has suspended U.S. financial and military aid to Ukraine, instead demanding that other NATO allies purchase American arms intended for Ukraine's use. Kyiv has repeatedly appealed to the U.S. to provide more ammunition for its Patriot surface-to-air missile systems in particular, the systems key to Ukrainian efforts to blunt escalating Russian drone and ballistic missile strikes.

In March, Trump threatened to expand sanctions and tariffs on Russia in a bid to push Moscow to the negotiating table. Ultimately Trump failed to do so, and in the lead-up to this month's midterm elections struck a deal with Putin to import cargoes of Russian diesel -- a move that prompted criticism from domestic opponents, foreign allies and Kyiv.

Trump told CBS News' "60 Minutes" program on Sunday that he still believes an agreement to end Russia's full-scale invasion is possible. "I believe that that war is going to end and it's going to end soon. And the only reason it's going to end is because of me," Trump said.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images - PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office of the White House, November 5, 2026 in Washington'The blockade is complete': Locals flee occupied south Ukraine as hunger deepens

Trump also appeared to imply that he was open to changes in Ukraine's borders as part of a peace agreement, saying that the country will end up with "a little bit different shape Ukraine."

Trump said the enmity between Putin and Zelenskyy was the prime obstacle to a deal: "There's tremendous hatred," he said. Asked whether that sentiment is understandable coming from Zelenskyy, given that his country was invaded, Trump said it is, but also suggested that Ukraine had disrespected Russia during an initial meeting.

"Well, it is, but when they had their first meeting, there was great disrespect shown to Russia. So I'm not going to say," Trump said. Asked if he thought Putin was stringing him along, Trump replied, "Oh, I don't think so."

A U.S. official told ABC News during a briefing on Monday that negotiators were "cautiously optimistic" ahead of the talks in Abu Dhabi, though framed the meeting as a jumping off point for more complex negotiations to end the war.

"While both parties remain skeptical of the other party's intentions, we do see promising signs as the mediator, and we're going to work to keep pushing to build the areas of common ground so that we can work to a conclusion," the U.S. official said.

Trump's comments and conduct have deepened concerns in Ukraine that the president wants the victims of the war, rather than the aggressors, to pay the price for peace, Oleksandr Merezhko -- a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the chair of the body's foreign affairs committee -- told ABC News.

Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: A passerby walks past a Ukrainian flag displayed on a large monitor during a power outage in the centre of Kyiv on Nov. 7, 2026.Pentagon inspector general declines to investigate Starlink disruptions in Ukraine

Merezhko said he has "absolutely no hopes" for this week's meetings in Abu Dhabi, beyond possible new deals to exchange prisoners of war. "There can't be any tangible result because Putin keeps insisting on his absurd demands which, in reality, mean surrender for Ukraine," he said.

"Putin's goal is to imitate negotiations to avoid sanctions from Trump. But he has absolutely no intent to negotiate with a goal to reach a concrete result," Merezhko suggested. "His ultimate goal is not a ceasefire or a compromise; his goal is subjection of Ukraine and installment in Kyiv of a Russian puppet regime."

Both Russian and American officials have said that the Abu Dhabi talks will include discussions on broader European security arrangements. That "seems to be new," said Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at RAND who has advocated for talks.

Still, Charap told ABC News, "They‘re not going to come to some radically more ambitious agreement given there hasn’t been any conversation for the past nine months."

Yulia Morozova/Reuters - PHOTO: A supporter of the Russian Communist Party holds a pro-war leaflet during a rally in central Moscow, Russia, on Nov. 7, 2026.First lady Melania Trump says she brokered 'temporary' ceasefire in Ukrainian town

Putin launched the invasion in February 2022 with the intention of dismembering Ukraine and installing a pliant government in Kyiv. The "special military operation," as the Kremlin termed the assault, marked the latest chapter in Moscow's decades-long effort to retain influence over Kyiv and undermine Ukraine's relations with the European Union and NATO.

What the Kremlin intended as a short campaign has now lasted longer than either World War I or the Soviet Union's confrontation with Nazi Germany in World War II, known in Russia as Great Patriotic War.

Russian officials routinely describe the war with Ukraine as a direct contest with the NATO alliance, whose constituent nations rallied to support Ukraine military and financially, added two new members -- Sweden and Finland -- and sought to increase collective military spending to meet the Russian threat.

Fierce fighting continues all along the 745-mile frontline. The invasion quickly devolved into a bloody war of attrition, with Russian units edging forward -- at massive cost, according to figures published by the Ukrainian military and broadly supported by Western intelligence assessments -- along the contact line in parts of eastern and southeastern Ukraine.

This year has seen significant Ukrainian counterattacks in the contested Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, liberating hundreds of miles of occupied territory, according to commanders in Kyiv.

Andriy Andriyenko/Ukrainian 65 Mechanized brigade - PHOTO: In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits take an oath on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Nov. 8, 2026.'The basement saved me': Frontline Ukrainian city under fire amid US peace push

Meanwhile, both Russia and Ukraine have expanded their long-range strike campaigns through the course of 2026. Each night, hundreds and sometimes thousands of drones and missiles cross the shared border heading in both directions, with Kyiv and Moscow both among the regular targets.

The number of civilian casualties is steadily creeping up as a result, particularly among Ukrainians.

Overnight into Tuesday, Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 162 drones, of which 96 were jet-powered, and one ballistic missile into the country. The air force said that 135 drones, of which 70 were jet-powered, were shot down or otherwise suppressed. Impacts were reported across 19 locations, the air force said.

Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces downed at least 155 Ukrainian drones overnight.

ABC News' Victoria Beaule, Oleksiy Pshemyskyi, Natalia Kushnir, Tanya Stukalova, Anna Sergeeva, Shannon K. Kington and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Good Morning America at https://abcnews.com/International/russia-ukraine-us-meet-abu-dhabi-talks-trump/story?id=137970621

(Bloomberg) -- US gasoline dropped below $4 a gallon for the first time since July, offering consumers some relief at the pump, although prices remain significantly elevated on a seasonal basis.

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The nationwide average retail price for regular gasoline slipped to $3.98 a gallon on Monday, according to the American Automobile Association, extending a decline that started in late September. It is the first time the average has fallen below the key psychological level since mid-July.

US pump prices surged after the US and Israel launched military strikes on Iran in late February, triggering an energy shock as exports of crude and refined products were disrupted through the crucial Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump last week said it was “largely true” that Republicans lost the midterm elections because of the war in the Middle East.

Other supply disruptions have added to the pressure. Escalating Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, along with lower exports from China, have contributed to a tighter global fuel market. US gasoline prices typically fall heading into winter as driving demand declines, but prices remain about 19% above the seasonal average.

There are some signs of relief. US gasoline stockpiles, which have been below seasonal levels since late April, have started to recover, while crude prices have tumbled on hopes for a faster resolution to the war. Gasoline futures have also slumped this month.

Still, pump prices typically fall more slowly than they rise, and any renewed conflict between the US and Iran could send gasoline soaring again. The retail price of diesel remains above $6 a gallon after crossing that threshold for the first time in September.

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This article originally appeared on Bloomberg at https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/us-gasoline-prices-drop-below-083950459.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to give his first news conference from the Pentagon in six months on Tuesday, just a day after a Republican lawmaker launched an effort to impeach him over his handling of the unpopular war against Iran and other actions.

The briefing will be Hegseth's first since May even as the U.S. military has kept up intermittent operations against the Islamic Republic as well as fatal strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in Latin America.

Hegseth, who has said the news conference would focus on the impeachment threat, is gearing up for a fight, having launched a social media blitz and saying he is ready to defend his and President Donald Trump's actions from “politically motivated people.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who lost his primary to a Trump-backed opponent, filed the impeachment resolution in the House on Monday. It sets the stage for a dramatic vote on whether to remove a prominent Trump administration figure following sweeping losses for Republicans in last week's midterm elections that many at least partly blamed on the Iran conflict and its economic impact.

The resolution largely focuses on the war in Iran but also includes references to Hegseth’s role in military actions in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Venezuela. Massie said Hegseth’s actions amount to “high crimes and misdemeanors” and his leadership at the Pentagon “warrants impeachment.”

A vote in the House could come by midweek, putting pressure on Republicans — many of whom blamed their election wipeout on the Iran war — but next steps are highly uncertain.

Trump has backed Hegseth, pointing to the raid to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January as well as military operations against Iran that he asserts have “obliterated” its navy and air force.

Iran, however, has been able to keep striking U.S. military bases in the Middle East and has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz during the course of the more than 8-month-old conflict, driving up global oil prices. Trump told reporters Monday that the Iran war “militarily is effectively over" and repeated his often-made claim that Iran “would love to make a deal.”

Hegseth also has been defending his stewardship of the U.S. military.

“There’s a lot of politically motivated people who may have substantial policy disagreements, but their disagreements are with success,” he told reporters Monday after a speech at the Naval War College in Rhode Island. He added that “if we want to litigate” the military actions that the Trump administration has taken, “I’m happy to do it all day long.”

He also released a video on social media last week that argued impeachment would be “all about the politics of personal destruction” and that “won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.”

Afterward, scores of Pentagon political appointees posted images of Hegseth emblazoned with the words, “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic.”

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, released a statement saying that “despite threats of sham witch hunts from Democrats,” Hegseth is “100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump’s term in office.”

This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/hegseth-set-first-pentagon-news-051023351.html

DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran were feeling pretty secure under the new Skydance regime.

After surviving a merger that claimed the jobs of celebrated Warner Bros. heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, the duo were basking in the modest success of Clayface, a horror movie released Oct. 21 that passed $100 million globally on a $44 million budget. There was even talk of doing more spooky, slimmed-down DC movies.

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Gunn had also wrapped production on Man of Tomorrow, his sequel to Superman that is heading for a July 2027 release, and sources say he was in the midst of writing a third installment as part of plan to make a trilogy and release a Superman movie every two years, maybe even morphing the franchise into a Justice League teamup.

Then came Friday, Nov. 6, when Skydance co-CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz arrived at Gunn and Safran’s offices on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. There, according to sources, the DC heads were told that despite previous assurances they would be part of the new Skydance mega-studio, Ellison and Kreiz had a change of plans. And now, after four years as two of the most visible faces in comic book films and TV, they were out.

And their replacement was surprising. It wasn’t a splashy C-suiter or an exec recently ousted amid Hollywood consolidation.

It was Jeremy Latcham, a mild-mannered producer who was once a key member of Marvel Studios’ exec team before moving to Texas to go independent.

An occasional foray into big-budget moviemaking such as Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves notwithstanding, Latcham was focusing on inspirational movies such as the Wright Brothers feature Flyer, for the faith-focused studio Wonder Project, where he also helped make House of David, a TV show about the Biblical figure. The producer is known to be vocal about his Christian faith and his desire to make uplifting projects.

“I had this nagging feeling that I needed to do more movies that had deeper meaning to me,” Latcham said of Wonder Project during an appearance on the Bible Bros podcast while promoting the Nate Bargatze comedy The Breadwinner. “Let’s be the HBO for the faith and family audience. Let’s try to make movies and television shows that restore faith in things worth believing in.”

In a twist, Latcham was instrumental in Gunn’s rise, advocating for the niche director’s hiring on Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy, which turned Gunn into an A-list filmmaker who commands 8-figure paydays for his directing work.

One insider indicated the exec shuffle had been in the works since early fall and had been precipitated by a reachout to Latcham from Josh Greenstein, who co-chairs the Skydance Motion Picture Group with Dana Goldberg. The two first worked together nearly 20 years ago when Latcham was a rising Marvel exec and Greenstein was in the marketing department at Paramount, the studio that released Iron Man and Iron Man 2. They teamed again when Greenstein was at Sony and made Spider-Man: Homecoming with Marvel.

Sources point to several points of tension between DC’s Gunn and Safran and Skydance’s Greenstein and Goldberg. Before Skydance’s acquisition, Gunn and Safran reported directly to Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav; their contracts stipulated they would maintain that kind of direct reporting structure in the event of a change of leadership, in this case Ellison. That set up a chafing with Greenstein and Goldberg, who are trying to consolidate all production of motion pictures under their leadership. Gunn and Safran, meanwhile, were accustomed to having strong control over every aspect of the rollout of DC products.

“They had the final word on movies, TV shows, and animation,” says one insider. They were not about to get layered in the reporting structure, multiple sources add.

Another point of tension: sources say the DC heads were not forthcoming or were slow in sharing plans, slate details and footage with the Skydance movie heads. In the end, Greenstein and Goldberg prevailed and new hire Latcham will report to them.

Another insider is more blunt in the assessment. Ellison never wanted DC to report directly to him in the first place and did not have time for studio politics, such as posturing between division heads.

And then there was the matter of DC’s financials. The movies released were not great for business, while Supergirl was just a disaster, in the eyes of the new regime. Even Superman, which grossed $618 million worldwide and was profitable, did not net out, or have the kind of pop culture impact, in the way that kind of movie should, Skydance‘s thinking went.

Latcham’s rise to the top of DC Studios began 22 years ago, during a very different era for superhero movies. In 2004, he was working as an assistant at Endeavor when exec David Maisel left to lead Marvel Studios as president and hired him as his assistant at the upstart studio. Latcham is said have been surprised and underwhelmed when he showed up to Marvel’s modest Santa Monica Blvd. offices to discover it wasn’t yet a real a studio, but rather an outfit for giving script notes to Hollywood studios making licensed movies based on Marvel characters.

But a year and a half later, Maisel orchestarted a deal for Marvel to finance its own movies, starting with Iron Man. As Latcham shot through the ranks at Marvel, moving on to become Kevin Feige’s assistant and then his right-hand man, he was known for musing aloud about if his grandparents would like their movies. In other words, he asked, “Would this movie resonate with everyday people beyond Hollywood?” while walking the thin line in servicing what superfans would love.

Sources affectionately describe Latcham as a down the middle shooter whose goal is to make hits for the masses and get people into movie theaters. If Gunn was the guy to deliver f-bombs and lesser known characters, Latcham is the guy to deliver what’s more in line with Ellison’s broader tastes, say multiple sources.

Known as a family man who doesn’t care about the trappings of Hollywood, Latcham is expected to split time between Los Angeles and his home in Texas, where he lives with his wife and daughter, as well as his parents, who live on their property. He is not the kind of producer who has extensive relationships with agents, which may be detriment or benefit, depending on who you talk to. He is expected to be very hands on producer who likes to spend time on sets.

Gunn and Safran will still have direct links to the studio, just less control. Safran is a prolific producer with a long relationship with Warner Bros. through The Conjuring movies, a franchise that is still very active.

As for Gunn, those close to him note he’s somewhat relieved to go fully back to the creative side of the business. In an Instagram post on Monday, he wrote that executive life and the studio politics that surrounded it wasn’t always for him: “I will miss the people around me, and I will miss being the co-caretaker of these great characters, but I’m also incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking.”

Latcham is currently untangling himself from projects he was producing, including the big budget movie Naruto for Lionsgate and Sony.

By the time the news went public, Latcham and Gunn had not spoken about the DC transition, but were planning to speak by phone on Monday afternoon, according to sources.

It is unclear if Gunn will get the chance to finish any of his vision for Superman, let alone the DC slate he and Safran announced with great fanfare in 2022 — a slate that was just barely revving up in the eyes of some.

For DC fans, Monday’s tumult was another reminder how the franchise cannot catch a break in the 21st century. At this stage, the only movies on the horizon are Man of Tomorrow and The Batman Part II, which recently saw Steven Soderbergh step behind the camera to help Matt Reeves.

Whether or not fans will continue to invest in movies and actors before the rug is pulled out yet again is a real concern, said one source with knowledge of DC’s inner workings.

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This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter at https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/james-gunn-peter-safran-ouster-dc-1236751437/

A November rally against Proposition 40 at the Iron Workers Apprenticeship Training Center in La Palma. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

California voters have officially rejected the controversial billionaire tax.

Proposition 40 sought to impose a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires’ assets to try to offset federal healthcare funding cuts.

Despite the blue wave in the midterm elections, the novel tax on the ultra-wealthy had trailed from the first day of vote counting and was officially rejected on Monday. Roughly 53% of California voters voted against the measure while 47% voted for it, the Associated Press said as it declared that California voters had rejected the measure.

Although the tax was rejected in the vast majority of counties, the final tally showed major pockets of support in Los Angeles and San Francisco — home to the lion’s share of the state’s 200 billionaires. Orange County, however, voted no by a wide margin.

Open the interactive version of this graphic

The political battle over the ballot measure and two competing proposals divided the state and was among the most expensive in California history. More than $400 million had been spent on the three intertwined ballot measures, with more than 90% spent opposing the billionaire tax, according to fundraising disclosures filed with the secretary of state’s office.

Billionaires, notably Google co-founder Sergey Brin, poured hundreds of millions of dollars into groups that funded ads to kill the billionaire tax. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Teachers Assn. and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California are among the powerful Democrats and other Democrat-aligned groups that expressed fears that billionaires would flee the state. Some, including Brin and fellow Google co-founder Larry Page, moved out of California because of the proposal.

An onslaught of advertisements against the billionaire tax argued it could impact all Californians, not just the ultra-wealthy. Teachers, firefighters and other middle-class Californians became the face of their campaigns, fueling growing opposition ahead of election day.

Read more: California’s billionaire tax battle is playing out on Instagram — with paid influencers

Opponents of Proposition 40 said Californians made the “right decision,” calling Proposition 40 a “reckless experiment” that would hurt the state’s economy. The group included the California Medical Assn., California Primary Care Assn. and the California School Boards Assn.

“Proposition 40 risked California’s economic competitiveness and fiscal stability, as well as the revenue we rely on to fund our top priorities — from education and healthcare to public safety and infrastructure,” the group said.

Leaders of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, which sponsored the proposition, vowed to put a billionaire tax proposal on the 2028 ballot if Sacramento leaders don’t find a way to better support the public health sector. Given California’s volatile budget, which is expected to be particularly problematic next year, it appears unlikely that state lawmakers will find a way to backfill an estimated $100 billion of federal healthcare funding cuts.

Read more: Billionaire tax continues to trail as many Californians vote to spare the state’s ultra-rich stars

Supporters said the proposed tax on more than 200 California billionaires aimed to raise that amount, with 90% funding healthcare, and the remainder going to schools and food assistance.

“Billionaire-funded propaganda may have influenced the outcome of this election, but as hospitals reduce services, emergency rooms close and families lose access to care, the truth will become increasingly difficult to hide,” said Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff for the SEIU-UHW. “Californians will see for themselves what was at stake.”

This will not be the end of the debate about taxing the rich. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), who both backed Proposition 40, are pushing for the passage of a federal 5% tax on American billionaires.

Earlier this year, they introduced the “Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act.” Despite Democrats winning control of the House and Senate last week, the legislation will probably face constitutional challenges if it passes.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

This article originally appeared on LA Times at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/billionaire-tax-rejected-concern-squeezing-023815060.html

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced on Monday that it has recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the Learjet 60 that crashed last week near Greenacres, Florida, killing all nine people on board.

"NTSB investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the Learjet 60 that crashed on Nov. 1 near Greenacres, Florida," the NTSB said on X.

The CVR was found at the location of the initial impact​, according to the NTSB.

The NTSB said the CVR is being evaluated in the board's Vehicle Recorders Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

Timeline Of Learjet Crash That Killed Austin Family Traces Final Minutes From Takeoff To Florida Plunge

NTSB investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the Learjet 60 that crashed in Florida.

The excavation work at the impact site has been completed.

Read On The Fox News App

This comes after investigators said on Friday that they recovered part of an engine from the Learjet.

Crews started excavating the site on Wednesday after utility workers had drained water and cleared other hazards, the NTSB said.

Once investigators began digging, they found a part of one engine, the board said.

Earlier last week, investigators recovered the left tail elevator, which controls the jet's pitch, in three separate pieces. One of them was found nearly four miles from where the Learjet 60 crashed.

Florida Plane Crash Victims Identified After 9 People Killed In Fiery Wreck

The cockpit voice recorder was found at the location of initial impact and is being evaluated in the NTSB Vehicle Recorders Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

"Even small pieces of the wreckage may contain important evidence that could help investigators determine what happened," the agency wrote last week on X.

The Learjet 60 left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport around 10:37 a.m. on Sunday, bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. The aircraft plunged into the ground in Palm Beach County shortly before 1 p.m., killing everyone aboard.

Austin tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, was killed in the crash alongside his wife, Helen Sharp, 40, their children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, the children's nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, and couple Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms were reported across South Florida when the Learjet crashed. Investigators said the weather will be a major focus of their probe.

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At about 41,000 feet, an air traffic controller told the flight crew that moderate precipitation was roughly five miles away and said they could move either left or right, stressing that the turn toward Freeport in the Bahamas "looks pretty bad."

The crew was then instructed to fly to a waypoint near Naples, Florida. The crew made a deviation toward Palm Beach County and reported that weather conditions were deteriorating. The crew told air traffic control that there was icing and turbulence, asking the controller if there was a "better ride" ahead.

 Fox News' Adam Sabes contributed to this report.

Original article source: NTSB recovers cockpit voice recorder from Learjet crash site in Florida

This article originally appeared on Fox News at https://www.foxnews.com/us/ntsb-recovers-cockpit-voice-recorder-learjet-crash-site-florida

UFC CEO Dana White made his much-discussed visit to the White House on Monday, where he joined U.S. President Donald Trump for a press briefing and officially turned down the president's tongue-in-cheek offer to become his new press secretary.

Following a bizarre weekend in which Trump appeared to float the open role of White House press secretary to the UFC boss in a Truth Social post, only to admit a day later that he was "only kidding, but Dana loves the idea,” Trump and White put the discussion to rest to close out a joint press briefing with the two in the nation’s capital.

Trump: “So let me ask you the big question. Dana, would you like to be press secretary of the United States of America. Look at the sign — you’d have this behind all the time, ‘The White House, Washington.’ Would you like that or do you just want to stay with this ridiculous UFC?”

White: “Thank you for the offer, sir. I do not want to be in politics.”

Trump: “I am devastated to hear this. Goodbye, everyone.”

Trump's bizarre press briefing ends with Dana White turning down the press secretary job pic.twitter.com/YACwp3SjXk

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 9, 2026

White briefly took questions from reporters during the press appearance, after which Trump explained how the peculiar situation first arose.

“We were having a very bad press day and I don’t know why, I thought of his name,” Trump said. “He’s been a friend for a long time. I said, ‘I think I’m going to get Dana White to be my new press secretary.’ I said it to a group of the press and that was it. I was sort of kidding.

“Then they wrote the stories as though I wasn’t kidding, and then [White] was inundated and I was inundated. He was here anyway and we thought we’d have a little fun and we brought Dana here. He would be fantastic.”

"The last 24 hours of my life have been insane," White added.

White and Trump have maintained a close personal relationship for decades, dating back to the early days of the UFC's rise in the United States, when Trump's Atlantic City hotel and casino hosted two of the promotion's events in 2001. White has since become one of Trump's most prominent supporters in the sports world, speaking at three Republican National Conventions and publicly backing Trump's presidential campaigns.

White’s initial reaction to Trump's social media post Saturday only further fueled speculation around his potential appointment. White first posted an image of himself at the podium of the White House press briefing room with the caption, "On to the next chapter," then told reporters in London that he was "flying to Washington" directly after Zuffa Boxing 12's post-fight press conference in order to meet with Trump on Monday.

Trump clarified Sunday that his meeting with White was previously scheduled and concerned unrelated matters, which both men reiterated Monday afternoon.

In the end, it appears the whole saga ended up being much ado about nothing.

This article originally appeared on Uncrowned at https://sports.yahoo.com/mma/article/donald-trump-jokes-hes-devastated-after-dana-white-rules-out-white-house-press-secretary-role-015346461.html

Officials at the University of Mississippi are investigating a video showing three white women outside a Black student's apartment Friday evening, with two of them allegedly making racist noises and gestures captured on Ring camera footage.

"[T]he incident is being actively investigated by the appropriate university offices," Vice Chancellor Shawnboda Mead said in a statement Monday, in part, adding, "our staff have reached out to the students directly impacted to offer support, listen to their concerns, and connect them with available resources. We will continue to support them as we work through this process." 

"Every student deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued at the University of Mississippi. Racism and actions that disparage people because of an aspect of their identity have no place in our campus community," the statement also said.

The two women in the video, which was posted to TikTok, are seen briefly stepping toward the door camera, beating their chests while grunting and cooing like monkeys.

The third woman glanced towards the camera, but she did not appear to make any gestures or monkey noises. The school said in its statement that it was investigating "the incident."

The video had been viewed over 12 million times as of early Monday afternoon.

Courtesy Jakiyra Metcalf - PHOTO: Ole Miss University is investigating video appearing to show students making monkey sounds and gestures, allegedly targeting Black students with racist tropes.

The incident has sparked outrage online, with many comments decrying the video's apparent use of the racist trope of comparing Black people to monkeys.

"The university is aware of a video depicting offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable behaviors that conflict with our university values and we condemn them," Ole Miss told ABC News in a statement. "The university has reached out to those targeted by the actions to share information, resources, and support."

The school confirmed to ABC News that the women in the video are students at the university. It did not respond to ABC News' question regarding whether disciplinary action was taken against the students in the video.

MORE: 'Racist' actions from counterprotesters at University of Mississippi prompt investigation

"It's important to note that student conduct cases, records, and any potential disciplinary action are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)," university representatives told ABC News.

Jakiyra Metcalf, one of the Black students who lives in the apartment, told ABC News that they were expected to meet with university officials on Monday.

Metcalf posted the video to TikTok over the weekend. "What do we have to say about this ??" she wrote in her post, tagging Ole Miss.

Tasha Bolton, whose daughter is of one of the Black students living in the apartment, told ABC News that the women seen in the video live upstairs in the same apartment building.

"The video has been shared with university administration, and we want answers. Specifically, what steps will be taken to address this behavior and ensure accountability?" Bolton posted online. "This is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable. College is supposed to be a place where young adults can learn, grow, and feel safe."

Stacy Revere/Getty Images - PHOTO: The exterior of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oct. 19, 2013 in Oxford, Mississippi.

A similar incident occurred at the university in 2024 when a white student directed monkey gestures at a Black woman protesting the war in Gaza. That act was also captured on video.

"As a public institution, we are committed to supporting the rights of our students, faculty, and employees to express their views in a respectful manner and to assemble peacefully as guaranteed by the First Amendment," Chancellor Glenn F. Boyce said then in an email response to the incident. "However, some individuals at the demonstration acted in ways that conflict with our university's values. Behaviors and comments that demean people because of their race or ethnicity marginalize them and undermine the values that are fundamental to a civil and safe society."

The student who made the gestures toward the Black protester was ultimately expelled from his fraternity.

ABC News' Rowan Henchy contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on ABC News at https://abcnews.com/US/university-mississippi-officials-condemn-alleged-racist-taunts-viral/story?id=137970520

The dust has almost settled on the Democratic Party's 2026 midterm landslide — almost. It's clear that Democrats won sweeping victories in the U.S. House, Senate and statehouses nationwide. 

But some key races remain too close to call, including Senate brawls in deep-red Mississippi and Alaska; Rep. Lauren Boebert's reelection battle in Colorado; and other nail-biter House contests across the South. 

Here's the latest on how many seats Democrats have won so far — and where things stand in all of the unresolved races.

How many Senate seats did Democrats win?

Democrats came into the midterms needing a net gain of four seats to win back the Senate. To do that, they had to defend a handful of potentially vulnerable swing-state seats while also flipping at least a few seats in historically red states. 

That's exactly what happened. Republican efforts to flip blue seats in Michigan, Georgia, Minnesota and New Hampshire all came up well short. Meanwhile, Democrats secured victories to flip seven GOP-held seats in Maine, Texas, South Carolina, Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa and Kansas. 

Only two incumbent Republican senators in races that drew significant attention were able to win reelection: Florida's Ashley Moody and Nebraska's Pete Ricketts.

As it stands, Democrats will enter 2027 with at least 54 seats in the Senate. They have already gained seven seats to give themselves, at minimum, a four-seat majority. Their majority could grow to six if the two remaining undecided races in Alaska and Mississippi go their way. 

Where things stand in the undecided Senate races

Both races are extremely close, with no clear indication of when they might be decided. 

In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom's lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith had grown to 2,536 votes as of Monday evening, according to the Associated Press. Outstanding absentee ballots in the race must be received by Tuesday in order to be counted, according to Mississippi state law. 

Colom's lead — which stood at just 65 votes on Election Day — has widened gradually in the days since. Even though 97% of the vote is in, AP has yet to call the race because the gap between Colom and Hyde-Smith remains narrow — just 0.27% of all ballots cast. 

Alaska's ranked choice voting system means it could take significantly longer for a winner to be declared. As it stands, Democrat Mary Peltola holds a lead of 637 votes over Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, with 74% of ballots counted. The state is expected to have counted nearly all ballots by Nov. 13, with the last remaining votes tallied by Nov. 18. 

The wait for a final result could become extended if neither Peltola nor Sullivan receives more than 50% of the total first-choice votes. That would trigger a count of ranked choice votes to determine the winner. Under Alaska law, the ranked choice tally cannot begin until Nov. 18, which means a winner wouldn't be declared until two full weeks after Election Day. 

How many House seats did Democrats win?

So far, Democrats have won 254 U.S. House seats — far more than the 218 they needed for a majority. That includes 44 red-to-blue flips. Democrats' 13-point victory in the House popular vote (so far) has been the largest in any midterm since 1974. 

Where things stand in the undecided House races

On Monday afternoon, incumbent GOP Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of western Miami defeated Democratic challenger Nicole Locklin by about 1,700 votes in Florida's 26th Congressional District.

Another 20 U.S. House races remain unresolved. 

Two of them are in Louisiana, which holds open, nonpartisan "jungle primaries" on Election Day, then sends the top two finishers to a Dec. 12 runoff if no one gets a majority of the vote. One Democrat and one Republican will now go head-to-head next month in Louisiana's 5th and 6th Congressional Districts. 

In California's 40th Congressional District, two Republican incumbents, Ken Calvert and Young Kim, are running against each other; in California's 4th and 7th Districts, only Democrats are competing. Officials are still counting ballots in all three races. California also has a nonpartisan jungle-primary system where members of the same party can advance to the general election.

Of the remaining 15 races, Democrats lead in five.

In Colorado's 4th Congressional District — long considered one of the state's safest Republican seats — GOP firebrand Lauren Boebert trails Democrat Eileen Laubacher, a retired rear admiral in the Navy, by more than 3,000 votes with just 2% of the vote left to count. After a close 2022 reelection fight in her previous district, Boebert switched to the 4th District for her 2024 campaign and won by about 11 percentage points. Colorado counties have until Nov. 13 to count ballots and upload final results. Right now, Laubacher's lead is too big to trigger an automatic recount.

Democrats' next-largest lead is in central Florida's 9th Congressional District, where incumbent Democrat Darren Soto — who was targeted by GOP redistricting efforts — leads Republican challenger Dan Green by roughly 1,500 votes with more than 99% of the vote counted. The state of Florida has announced there will not be a recount in the 9th District because Soto's lead falls outside recount requirements. Soto is expected to win. 

Democrats' other leads are in Tennessee's 4th Congressional District, Minnesota's 1st Congressional District and North Carolina's 5th Congressional District. The margins in these races are in the 100- to 300-vote range. A recount is likely in Minnesota.

Republicans lead in the other 10 unresolved races. 

Two of the closest are in Florida. Republican Ryan Elijah leads Democrat Bale Dalton by about 1,600 votes in Florida's 7th Congressional District — enough to avoid a recount under Sunshine State law. Meanwhile, Miami-Dade County election officials began a machine recount Monday in Florida's 27th Congressional District, where Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar leads Democratic challenger Eliott Rodriguez by 1,090 votes, or 0.44 percentage points. That's within Florida's automatic half-point threshold. 

Nearly all of the other uncalled races where Republicans lead feature incumbent GOP lawmakers fending off strong challenges in reliably red areas: North Carolina's 3rd, 7th and 10th Districts; South Carolina's 2nd District; California's 23rd District; Washington's 5th District and Alaska's only congressional district. The Western states are still waiting on big batches of mail ballots; the Eastern states have mostly finished counting. 

Republicans' only remaining pickup opportunity is Maine's 2nd Congressional District, where a conservative Democrat retired — and where former GOP Gov. Paul LePage now leads Matt Dunlap, the progressive state auditor, by more than 5,000 votes with just 2% left to count. A ranked-choice vote count will continue in the state despite Dunlap conceding to LePage on Nov. 5.  

How many governorships did Democrats win?

Republican governors have outnumbered their Democratic counterparts for the last 15 years straight (and for 26 of the last 30 years overall). That's given Republicans more opportunities to experiment with new policy ideas, approve congressional maps, influence election procedures, fill Senate vacancies and build executive experience.

But this year, Democrats have reversed the "governor gap," flipping five governorships in Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Nevada and Georgia to bring their total to 29 — the party's first gubernatorial majority since 2011.

Where things stand in the undecided governor's race

Kansas is anything but a blue state; since 1940, it has voted Republican in every presidential election but one — Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 landslide. But the Sunflower State has elected two Democratic women governors in recent years: Kathleen Sebelius (2003-2009) and term-limited incumbent Laura Kelly (2019-2027). 

State Sen. Cindy Holscher is seeking to become the third. 

Holscher leads Republican Ty Masterson, the president of the state Senate, by more than 7,500 votes with nearly all of the ballots counted. Holscher declared victory on Nov. 4, saying that "the people of Kansas made their voices heard, and I'm deeply honored by the trust Kansans placed in me to serve as your next governor." 

But the race won't be officially over until all 105 Kansas counties complete a legally mandated close-race audit. Masterson said last week that he wouldn't concede before the audit was done. A source close to the Republican senator told the Kansas City Star that Masterson "did not plan to pursue an additional recount and would accept the results if Holscher's narrow win was finalized."

Counties will certify their results on Nov. 15.

How many state legislatures did Democrats win? 

Democrats' gains were also seen at the state level. They flipped more than 500 state legislative seats across the country and turned a total of 12 legislative chambers blue.

That includes three states where they flipped both chambers: Arizona, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. After Election Day's results, Democrats will control the House, Senate and governorship in Arizona for the first time since 1966. Democrats also secured a "trifecta" in Wisconsin. They'll hold both legislative chambers in New Hampshire, but the governorship in the Granite State will remain in Republican hands. 

Democrats regained trifectas in Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania by clinching majorities in the lone GOP-led chamber in their states. They flipped a single chamber in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas, ensuring that Democratic governors in those states won't face unified Republican opposition within their state legislatures. 

Where things stand in the undecided state legislative races

As of Monday evening, only three state legislative chambers — the North Carolina Senate and both chambers in Alaska — remained undecided, according to the AP. 

This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/article/lots-of-2026-midterm-races-havent-been-called-yet-heres-where-things-stand-right-now-235850171.html

By Steve Holland, Courtney Rozen, Karen Freifeld and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump said on Monday the FBI was looking into Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's affair with a Chinese businesswoman alleged to be a spy for Beijing.

Trump said he "was amazed" by allegations about Huang, ‌among the president's closest allies in Silicon Valley. Trump said he had spoken to the CEO, who told him that he had no idea that ‌the woman was a spy.

"I know the FBI is looking into it," Trump said. "I think that he'll be in good shape," he added.

Nvidia shares closed down more than 4% on Monday after the company's board launched ​an internal investigation into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort.

The probe, announced on Sunday, has put a spotlight on 63-year-old Huang's future given Nvidia's status as the world's most valuable chipmaker and the CEO's role as the most prolific salesman of the AI boom. Huang told Nvidia's employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife, without disclosing details of the relationship.

The leather-jacketed Huang enjoys rock-star status worldwide, particularly in Asia, where he often mingles freely with fans, taking selfies and signing autographs for his devoted followers.

He ‌is Nvidia's fifth-largest shareholder with a roughly 3.6% stake, according ⁠to LSEG data, and keeps a tight grip on the company through an unusually flat structure in which dozens of executives report directly to him.

But unlike Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms or Elon Musk's SpaceX, Nvidia has no dual-class shares that would give co-founder Huang majority ⁠voting control.

The New York Times reported that Trump was briefed on Huang's relationship with the woman and that she was giving information to the Chinese government, and that the president chose not to act on the information.

"The so-called Chinese spy narrative is purely a groundless accusation, slander, and a smear," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.

Huang's relationship with Trump ​has ​coincided with several favorable policy developments for the company, and the president has lavished Huang with praise, ​awarding him the nation's highest honor for scientific achievement in October.

The ‌same day Trump gave Huang the award, the president disclosed buying up to $1.6 million and selling up to $1 million of Nvidia shares during the summer.

'NOT AN ORDINARY CEO'

Nvidia said its board has confidence in Huang, thought by many on Wall Street to be the most important person underpinning the AI trade. Analysts acknowledged uncertainty around succession, but most do not expect the investigation to result in the longtime CEO stepping down.

"Nvidia is not an ordinary company and Jensen is not an ordinary CEO; he is Nvidia, clearly sets the long-term strategy and direction, and pulls most of the company's strings himself," said Stacy Rasgon, an analyst at Bernstein.

Nvidia shareholders were quick to sue Huang and the ‌company in a proposed class action on Monday, accusing them of defrauding shareholders by concealing Huang's ​ties with a suspected Chinese spy.

Lawmakers and advocates told Reuters that Congress was more likely to pass ​legislation to tighten China's access to AI chips in light of news of ​Huang's relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence agent.

US House of Representatives Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday that Congress needs more answers ‌and called for the House to pass an annual defense bill ​that includes restrictions on chip sales to China.

The ​New York Times reported last month that Huang had a relationship with Alice Huang, an unrelated former executive of Singapore-based company Megaspeed, who US authorities investigated and concluded was a Chinese intelligence asset.

Megaspeed did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Monday, a public holiday in Singapore.

Alice Huang did not ​respond to the New York Times last month when it ‌first reported her relationship with Huang, and Reuters could not determine her location to seek comment on Monday.

(Additional reporting by Kyu-seok Shim and Heekyong Yang ​in Seoul, Tom Westbrook in Sydney, Roger Tung and Ben Blanchard in Taipei, Danilo Masoni in Milan and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Writing by ​Brenda Goh and Sayantani Ghosh; Editing by Ed Davies, Jamie Freed and Arun Koyyur)

This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://finance.yahoo.com/news/south-korea-says-nvidia-issues-022650481.html

White, the 57-year-old president and CEO of UFC, is a long-time friend of the president and helped host a massive UFC match on the White House lawn earlier this year (MANDEL NGAN)

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) chief Dana White turned down President Donald Trump's -- apparently jovial -- offer of a job as press secretary in a surprise appearance at the White House on Monday.

Trump stunned the world by saying on social media on Saturday that he had asked White to take on the high-profile post -- but a day later the 80-year-old president said he was "only kidding." 

The 57-year-old cage fighting boss visited the White House on Monday, and Trump brought him out for a chaotic news conference in the James Brady Briefing Room.

"So let me ask you the big question. Would you like to be press secretary of the United States of America? Or do you just want to stay with this ridiculous UFC? Huh?" Trump said.

"Thank you for the offer, sir -- for the offer, I have no, no -- I do not want to be in politics," White replied.

Trump smiled and headed out of the room, saying: "I am devastated to hear this. Goodbye, everybody."

The press secretary's post has been been vacant since Katie Zacharia left on October 16 after less than a week in the post. Her combative predecessor Karoline Leavitt left in August after a year and a half in the job.

Trump's announcement that he had offered the high-profile job to "violent Fighter and Warrior" White had sparked speculation that he was ready for a aggressive stance after the Republican Party's stunning midterm elections defeat.

White is a long-time friend of the president and helped host a massive UFC match on the White House lawn earlier this year.

But there was also some skepticism about the president's announcement, and Trump said Sunday night that he had been joking.

 

- 'Beat the hell out of you' -

 

Leading out White to the podium on Monday, Trump said he had been "having a little fun."

"He's a great guy," Trump told the room full of reporters. "The only problem is he'll talk for a little while and then he's going to beat the hell out of you."

Standing at the lectern and wearing a black t-shirt and jacket, White looked like he might be more comfortable in the octagon -- the ring used for UFC fights. 

"I've always wanted to do this. Who has the first question?" he joked -- before quickliy adding: "I have zero political aspirations."

White added that "the last 24 hours of my life has been insane" since Trump made the announcement.

Asked by a journalist to confirm he had said no to the job, White added: "I don't tell the president 'no' to anything... I didn't want to be disrespectful and say anything until he said something first."

Trump then took a series of questions on more weighty matters, from the Iran and Ukraine wars to the possible impeachment of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and a spy scandal engulfing Nvidia boss Jensen Huang.

dk/msp

This article originally appeared on AFP at https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ufc-chief-takes-white-house-223446707.html

Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom, left, and GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, right. - Rogelio V. Solis/Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images

As the Mississippi Senate race still remains too close to call, Democrat Scott Colom and GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith have taken completely different approaches towards the public.

Since Election Day, Colom has held at least eight events and capitalized on the national attention of the race to flood the airwaves and make his case for why Democrats should no longer count out a state historically considered a Republican stronghold. Meanwhile, Hyde-Smith has not been seen publicly since she left her election night watch party just outside of Jackson after declaring that she would remain her state’s junior senator.

While Colom has appeared at local universities, a Black-owned bookshop, a vinyl record store, a diner, and a senior citizens center and sat for multiple interviews with the media, Hyde-Smith has made her statements solely on X, including posting a Bible verse about hope on Sunday.

“Ultimately, at some point, the senator needs to speak out. Where is Cindy Hyde-Smith?” Colom told reporters on Friday at the senior citizens facility in Jackson. “We want to hear from her. She needs to answer questions. What is her path to victory? She doesn’t have one.”

Hyde-Smith’s campaign manager Jake Monssen said in a statement to CNN, “Senator Hyde-Smith and our team are working around the clock across Mississippi to protect the integrity of this election and to ensure every legal vote is counted.”

As the Senate returned to session on Monday after a six-week recess, Hyde-Smith repeatedly declined to answer questions from reporters in the Capitol hallways about her election.

“We’re still counting votes,” she eventually said as reporters trailed her through the building. Hyde-Smith did not answer when asked if she’ll go to court for a recount if she ultimately loses. Asked if she was surprised by the results of the race, the senator said she was surprised by the reporters following her.

The divergent strategies speak to a dynamic that played out across the country this election cycle where Republicans in GOP strongholds like Hyde-Smith, who did not work to get ahead of the worsening national political landscape, were caught flatfooted and now find themselves in a once-unthinkable position.

Now, Colom leads the incumbent senator by 2,500 votes in a race that could come down to thousands of provisional ballots, which election officials will vet in the coming days. If he wins, he will be Mississippi’s first Democratic senator in nearly four decades and its first Black senator since the Reconstruction era.

Hyde-Smith’s campaign refused Colom’s invitations to debate prior to Election Day and did relatively few campaign events even as Colom was frequently on the trail and appearing with top Democrats like Kamala Harris and Bill Clinton.

Even some of Hyde-Smith’s supporters have noticed their senator’s absence and how Colom has filled that void.

A sign supporting Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith at a gas station in Brandon, Mississippi, on November 8, 2026. - Ellen Schmidt/AP

John, an insurance adjuster from Hyde-Smith’s hometown of Brookhaven who declined to disclose his last name, is disappointed the Republican senator did not win in a landslide. Describing his community as the buckle to the Bible Belt, a county where Hyde-Smith outperformed Colom nearly 2:1, it’s hard for him to picture his home state turning blue. But John said he wished Hyde-Smith matched the television ads that he was inundated by from the Colom campaign.

“I would like to personally have seen more campaigning from Cindy,” he told CNN. “I would like to have seen more ads for Cindy and put her name out there a little more. And it may be because she’s an incumbent and maybe didn’t feel like the need was there. I’m not sure. I don’t know.”

For F.B. Warren, who has served on school boards with Hyde-Smith, Colom’s campaign should be a wakeup call for Republicans about how to not take Mississippi for granted.

“It’s kind of like the team that plays a game of football, baseball, basketball, and they never have competition,” Warren told CNN. “So, in Mississippi and across the country, from the Republican Party standpoint, they got pushed. They now got pushed, so they’re going to have to get better. They’re going to have to campaign better. They’re going to have to have better candidates. They’re going to have to work harder, and that’s the big wake-up call.”

His wife, Angie Warren, who owns two small stores in Hyde-Smith’s hometown, reflected on how Democrats did more to capitalize on voter enthusiasm this election season.

“I do think that the Democratic Party has a better turnout for elections than the Republican Party. I don’t know why that is. I don’t know if they speak closer to the people and they get out and vote more. But for some reason, the Republican Party doesn’t always have the voter turnout that it needs,” she told CNN.

While Mississippi has long been Republican territory, Colom and other Democrats have argued that the headwinds against the party in power and the state’s significant Black electorate made the state fertile ground for a flip this cycle. Further, Hyde-Smith, who was first appointed to the Senate in 2018, underperformed Republicans in 2020 as well, winning a full term by 10 points even as Trump won the state by 16.

Democratic candidate for Senate Scott Colom speaks to reporters during a campaign event at the Tougaloo Senior Citizens Center in Jackson, Mississippi, on November 6, 2026. - Ellen Schmidt/AP

The early lack of national attention to the race gave Colom a long runway to capitalize on Hyde-Smith’s uneven campaign performance.

It wasn’t until late October that the Senate Leadership Fund, the leading GOP super PAC focused on Senate races, made an initial reservation of about $160,000 in Mississippi, according to AdImpact data. That reservation was in response to Senate Democrats announcing that they would spend roughly $1 million on ads for the race. By that time, Colom had started to galvanize the party behind what was once considered a long-shot bid in a state Trump won two years ago by 23 points.

Hyde-Smith has posted on social media since Election Day, including a statement on November 6 stating, “we are not backing down. This election is not over” and vowing to “see this through to the very end!”

Mississippi GOP Chair Michael Hurst held a press conference last week to tout the 50-plus volunteer attorneys and observers Republicans had sent across the state, with many more are prepared to jump in to help.

“Our attorneys and observers will continue to be in different parts of Mississippi – watching as election commissioners review and process these outstanding ballots, ensuring that our elections are followed and that only ballots which have been legally cast are counted,” he said.

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Even as both sides prepare for a potential legal battle over the results, Democrat Phillip Rollins told CNN that Colom’s nonstop style channeled the frustration that he and others were feeling in the lead up to the election.

“People are fed up,” Rollins, who owns the comic book and record shop where Colom recently campaigned, said. “They need to see the change happen during their lifetime and not have to wait.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Lauren Fox and Manu Raju contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

This article originally appeared on CNN at https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/09/politics/mississippi-senate-hyde-smith-colom-campaign

President Donald Trump stands with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang after presenting him with the National Medal of Science in Washington, DC, on October 8. - Evan Vucci/Reuters/FILE

President Donald Trump said that he spoke Monday with Jensen Huang — the Nvidia CEO who has admitted having an extramarital affair with a woman reported to be a Chinese intelligence operative — and Huang denied knowing the woman was a spy.

Trump said he only recently learned of the intelligence questions surrounding Huang, and claimed he wasn’t aware of the concerns when he brought Huang with him on a state visit to Beijing last spring.

In their conversation, Trump said Huang denied any knowledge that the woman he has admitted having an extramarital affair with was working as a Chinese intelligence operative.

“I did speak to him today just to see if he’s feeling all right,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room. “’How you doing?’ And I asked him about that, and he said he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy. I asked him that question. ‘Did you have any idea that she was a spy?’ Said, ‘I had no idea that she was a spy,’ and I really believe him.”

Trump said he began learning about the situation “not too long ago,” and said the FBI was looking into the matter. Nvidia has also said it will investigate reports Huang was the “target of a foreign intelligence effort.”

“I think that he’ll be in good shape,” Trump said.

Trump said he couldn’t recall when he was first made aware of the concerns surrounding Huang’s relationship with the alleged Chinese operative.

“I’d certainly check with the intelligence people,” he said. “They could have been mentioned. Certainly, it didn’t make much of an impact on me.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

This article originally appeared on CNN at https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/09/politics/trump-jensen-huang-spy

Mississippi Senate candidate Scott Colom (D) blasted prominent election forecasters for underestimating his chances of defeating Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) in their election ratings, arguing that the grim predictions made it harder for Democrats to raise money and compete in the South.

Colom, a Black attorney, has maintained a narrow lead over Hyde-Smith by less than 3,000 votes in one of the biggest surprises of last week’s midterm elections, with the race still too close to call.

In a post on social media, Colom accused the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report and other unnamed election forecasters of relying on outdated assumptions about Southern elections and overlooking candidates who could make races in deep-red states competitive.

“At some point, we have to talk about @CookPolitical and other ‘prognosticators’ who had me and other southern candidates labeled as solid R for much of the campaign cycle,” Colom wrote on the social platform X on Monday. “They made it much more difficult to fundraise and are part of the reason the South has been neglected for so long.”

The Cook Political Report had initially rated the Mississippi Senate race as “Solid Republican,” citing doubts over the ability for a Democrat to challenge Hyde-Smith in a state President Trump carried by 24 percentage points in 2024. It later shifted to “Likely Republican” in October.

Even as the race attracted more attention in the finals weeks before Election Day, forecasters remained skeptical of Colom’s chances in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982.

An Oct. 30 analysis from Cook Political Report described Colom’s campaign as “admirable” but noted that Republicans believed a late influx of campaign spending had helped shore up Hyde-Smith’s reelection bid.

Colom’s campaign raised $4.4 million compared to Hyde-Smith’s $6.3 million, though both parties have recently ramped up the pressure to raise more money in the surprisingly tight Senate race.

Colom said the forecasters avoid accountability when wrong about their predictions, and accused an unnamed Cook Political Report analyst of dismissing his attempts to explain why their assessment of his campaign was incorrect.

“One of their ‘analysts’ was extremely condescending to me (not Jessica) when I tried to make my pitch for why they were wrong about my rating like he knew something about MS politics when he’s never been to the Sip,” he wrote, clarifying that Senate and Governors editor Jessica Taylor was not the individual to whom he was referring.

He added that the attitude had hurt other Southern candidates in the midterms, including Louisiana Senate candidate Jamie Davis, who narrowly lost to Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.).

The Hill has reached out to Cook Political Report for comment.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.This article originally appeared on The Hill at https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6209217-colom-blasts-election-forecasters/

The FAA is investigating after two passenger jets narrowly avoided a midair collision shortly after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport when one aircraft reportedly made an unauthorized turn into the other’s flight path.

The close call occurred Saturday at approximately 12:20 a.m. after the pilots of Air France Flight 28, traveling from Los Angeles to Papeete, Tahiti, turned into the path of an American Airlines aircraft that had departed from a parallel runway, according to the FAA.

Flight tracking data indicates the two planes came within 400 feet vertically of each other, but air traffic controllers quickly stepped in to keep them apart.

Flight data shows the paths of an Air France jet and American Airlines plan after takeoff from LAX. (Flight radar)

“Air France 028 heavy, fly heading of 270 immediately,” a controller can be heard instructing the Air France crew in ATC audio.

The controller then warned the American Airlines flight about the approaching Air France jet. “Traffic alert, traffic 12 o’clock, less than a mile, maintain 2,000."

The controller is heard repeatedly asking the Air France pilots why they deviated from their assigned route.

"Air France 028 Heavy, you were instructed to climb via SID not, uh, turn to a, uh, heading," an air traffic controller told the pilots.

A standard instrument departure, or SID, is a published route programmed into the aircraft's computer to stay on course manually or with auto-pilot, designed to guide aircraft safely away from an airport.

Seconds later, ATC asked, "Why did you turn to a heading?"

The pilots of the Air France flight said they were instructed to follow a particular departure procedure.

United jet may be linked to small plane flipping at Southern California airport

“We were instructed to fly SUMMR TWO departure,” a pilot is heard responding.

“Possible pilot deviation. I have a number for you to call when you’re ready,” the controller then said.

Such a request generally means air traffic control wants the pilots to contact authorities and discuss the incident.

“Sorry about that. That aircraft just turned in front of you,” the controller said to the American Airlines pilots after the danger passed.

The two aircraft, which likely carried a combined 500 passengers, continued to their destinations without any reported injuries.

The FAA is investigating the possible pilot deviation to determine whether the crew failed to follow instructions and whether further action is warranted.

With more than four decades as a flight instructor, commercial airline pilot and international pilot for the U.S. Air Force, Captain Richard Levy said this is a first he's heard of this happening.

"I worked 41 years for a major airline," he told KTLA's Hailey Winslow. "I’ve never heard of an aircraft flying the wrong departure. And I’ve been in training most of my career, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone mis-program it."

Captain Levy continued, “And how does that happen? We call it pilot error, a mistake, they may have programmed the wrong departure in the aircraft’s computer.”

Though it’s not part of the audio recording of this incident, Levy said a warning inside the aircrafts likely went off. The flight deck is equipped with a “traffic collision avoidance system” that alerts pilots when another aircraft is too close with a “resolution advisory” to “climb or descend," he said.

The FAA issued a statement about the incident, saying, "The crew of Air France Flight 28 made an unauthorized turn after departing Los Angeles International Airport and went into the path of another aircraft that departed from a parallel runway. Air traffic control immediately issued corrective instructions to the Air France flight."

An Air France spokesperson told KTLA, "Air France confirms that the crew of flight AF028, from Los Angeles to Papeete on 7 November 2026, received a request from air traffic control shortly after take-off to adjust its flight path. The crew immediately followed the instructions before continuing the flight. The aircraft landed normally in Papeete at 5:59 am (local time)."

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.This article originally appeared on KTLA at https://ktla.com/news/local-news/lax-planes-midair-close-call/

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday told reporters he believes the war in Iran “militarily is effectively over," suggesting that — at least for now — he’s not prepared to resume the bombardment that has devastated the Islamic Republic and caused reverberations across the global economy.

The president made a surprise visit to the White House briefing room after meeting earlier in the day with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

“Iran militarily is effectively over,” Trump said. “We’re just keeping it the status quo.”

He added that Iran has been “decapitated” but said he is still looking to make sure there’s a long-term solution to ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program is defanged.

It was some of Trump's most definitive comments about moving away from his threat to resume strikes on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections had passed.

The president's Republican Party lost both chambers of Congress to Democrats in last week's elections. The elections were shadowed by dissatisfaction among the American electorate over the 8-month-old war, which has led to a surge in fuel prices that's impacted nearly ever sector of the global economy.

Trump, over the course of the conflict, has repeatedly said he is on the cusp of ordering U.S. forces to escalate attacks if Iran’s leaders don’t quickly agree to U.S. terms to end the war, only to back down. In earlier cycles, he has also edged away with a last-minute declaration, sometimes at the behest of Gulf allies, that he’s going to give diplomacy more time.

In a posting on social media shortly before speaking to reporters, Trump once again asserted that Middle East allies — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and others — "would prefer the status quo." Minutes later, in his exchange with reporters, he sought to assure war-weary Americans that there was “positive momentum” and that he saw a “good chance” that the war “could get ended.”

“They’re talking to us, and they’re talking very politely, And we’ll see what happens," Trump said. He added, “The military action doesn’t seem to be a very necessary thing, but we’re locked and loaded, ready to go for any reason that changes."

Trump, however, gave no hint of a drawdown of the thousands of U.S. troops who have been shifted to the waters off of Iran and maintain a naval blockade to stem the flow of Iranian oil into the global market.

“We’re keeping it going. We have the greatest military blockade ever,” Trump said.

Qatari officials last week presented proposals on Iran’s nuclear program, according to two Middle East government officials familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The White House declined to comment, though Trump last week alluded to ongoing indirect talks with Tehran.

All the while, Tehran continues to insist on several concessions from the U.S., which Trump has declined in the past. Among the core demands Iran says must be met before engaging in nuclear talks: ending the U.S. blockade on Iran’s ports, lifting sanctions, unfreezing its assets, issuing compensation for war damage and ending hostilities throughout the region, including Israeli operations in Lebanon.

Earlier Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has come under fire over the conflict, said the next steps on the war are up to Trump, including the possibility of telling Iran: “Hey, we’re done, and we’re going to watch your nuclear material. You better not move it.”

The defense secretary has been one of the administration's most prominent defenders of the war. Critics say the administration launched the war without proper authorization, violated the War Powers Resolution and subverted congressional war-declaring powers.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky moved Monday to force a vote to impeachHegseth, largely over his execution of the war.

Trump told CNN in a phone interview Sunday that as long as the U.S. sees progress in negotiations with the Iranians and they sign a “strong agreement,” it’s “highly unlikely it’s going to be necessary” to resume strikes.

Trump said, however, that the U.S. had identified infrastructure targets, including 38 bridges, that it would strike if military action resumes.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, still has carried out limited strikes on Iran, including against its air defenses, at least twice over the past week. It also fired on and disabled a commercial ship Saturday that the U.S. says was trying to breach its naval blockade on Iranian ports.

—

AP writers Konstantin Toropin, Samy Magdy and Seung Min Kim contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-meeting-qatari-pm-tells-215241988.html

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to bypass regulations and build a border barrier in Texas's scenic Big Bend National park — a project that has been paused several times in recent months amid lawsuits and opposition on both the left and the right.

In an unsigned opinion, the court said that Congress had expressed a "clear preference for expeditious border construction," which outweighs "any aesthetic, recreational, and environmental harm."

Previously, a federal judge had halted the project, allowing litigation to proceed without further loss of protected wilderness and questioning whether Big Bend National Park meets Congress's fast-track definition of an area with "high illegal entry." The Supreme Court effectively dismissed those arguments.

In August, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott announced that he was temporarily "pausing all construction activity" in Big Bend.

"Last night I put a pause on all activity in that park as far as construction goes until I can get down there and do a personal evaluation," Scott said in a video posted to social media, adding that he would "talk to some stakeholders, talk to some local law enforcement in that area" to "ensure that we secure our borders while simultaneously protecting BBNP for generations to come."

CBP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation.

CBP is firmly committed to protecting America,  and that includes our national treasures like Big Bend National Park (BBNP). We know the current and… pic.twitter.com/UkmzvTluwH

— CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott (@CBPCommissioner) August 17, 2026

Earlier that month, government contractors started bulldozing sensitive areas of Big Bend as part of the Trump administration's $46.5 billion push to expand border barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border — a move that triggered fierce bipartisan backlash.

"I believe in border security 100%," Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland, a Republican and former Border Patrol agent, told Fox San Antonio. "Believe in even installation of barriers where they're needed. But I can tell you that specific area ... even just what they've done, unnecessary."

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas also sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin relaying his constituents' concerns.

"My constituents believe that the 1,000-foot riverbank cliffs and remote Big Bend terrain offers its own source of deterrence for any illegal migrants crossing into the United States," Cornyn wrote. "Many residents that live and work around the parks are also concerned that a physical wall, which would be accompanied by lighting systems, access roads, and maintenance corridors, would (1) ruin the beauty, landscape, and wildlife of the park, (2) threaten culturally significant Native American sites, (3) disrupt wildlife migration, (4) limit access to the Rio Grande River, and (5) significantly harm the local economy as tourism is a major economic driver for the region."

Since returning to office in January 2025, President Trump has taken action to remove protections from more than 86 million acres of public lands, according to a recent analysis by the Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal think tank.

Here's everything you need to know about what's happening in Big Bend — and how it connects to Trump's broader agenda. 

What is Big Bend National Park?

Established in 1944, Big Bend encompasses more than 800,000 acres of scorching Chihuahuan desert, cool, craggy peaks and fertile Rio Grande valley. It's located in a remote pocket of the Lone Star State formed by a huge southward dip in the river, and it contains within its boundaries 517 miles of U.S.-Mexico border. The park's diverse landscape is home to 56 species of reptiles, 75 species of mammals, more than 450 species of birds and more than 1,200 species of plants. Sea fossils, dinosaur bones and volcanic dikes have also been found there.

Big Bend National Park is located along the U.S.-Mexico border, with the Rio Grande serving as the boundary.Getty Images

The National Park Service describes Big Bend as a "hiker's paradise," with more than 150 miles of desert and mountain trails — including the 1,500-foot vertical limestone walls of Santa Elena Canyon and Lost Mine's sweeping valley views. Designated a Gold Tier International Dark Sky Park in 2012, Big Bend is one of the best places in the U.S. to see the Milky Way at night. 

"Easily top 10 park for me," one Reddit commenter wrote. "Borderline top 5."

"It's so far out there  — really remote — which helps make it feel more magical," another added.

Is Trump really building a border wall in Big Bend?

Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill — which passed in July 2025 over unanimous Democratic opposition — included $46.5 billion in funding for hundreds of miles of new border barriers, and early CBP maps showed "a bold line of wall structure along the floodplain of most of the Rio Grande in the high desert region of Far West Texas," according to the Washington Post. 

But after residents and local officials objected, the administration quietly altered its plans, nixing its usual 30-foot steel bollard fence in favor of 17 miles of "vehicle barriers" — interconnected steel X's, 4 to 6 feet in height — along with surveillance cameras, lights, sensors and a new patrol road that will run the length of the park, at a cost of $1.7 billion. 

In August, bulldozers belonging to Southwest Valley Constructors started work on the patrol road. According to the Post, "images show vehicle treads left behind on the dusty terrain as animals such as hoofed javelinas wander past. Construction crews were spotted surveying the land and marking the road's planned route."

"Early construction activities such as clearing and grubbing have begun," a CBP spokesman confirmed in a statement to the outlet.

Border barrier construction work near Santa Elena Canyon on Aug. 6.Natalie Newman/Center for Biological Diversity

At the time, CBP denied that its contractors would have to dynamite the mountainside to complete the road — but advocates insisted that "if they're going to build on that [rock], there is no alternative to blasting," as Bob Krumenaker, former Big Bend superintendent for the National Park Service, told the Post. Krumenaker predicted that blasting would alter the view, disturb nesting falcons and send debris spilling into the Rio Grande. 

In August, the Daily Mail reported that "demolition crews have already begun blowing craters into the bedrock" with "sticks of TNT" just outside the park.

"'They've been blowing things up for about the last two weeks," one border agent told the paper. "Underneath the surface is rock, not dirt. They have to blow it up in order to build the wall. No one knows about it because there's no one out here to see it, but the project is moving ahead." 

In response, a CBP spokesman told the Daily Mail that "construction crews are onsite re-grading roads that were damaged by recent storms that are required for access to conduct surveys." 

Wait, how can the administration build anything in a national park?

In order to speed construction of the border wall — which slowed to a crawl during Trump's first term amid lawsuits and property ownership disputes — the Department of Homeland Security has waived its contractors from complying with dozens of laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. This means CBP can disregard the project's impact on certain plants and animals while skipping lengthy reviews and avoiding public input. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, "the move marks the first time in American history that the federal government has cast aside a broad slate of environmental laws … in a national park."

In his letter, Cornyn complained about the administration's lack of "coordination and communication" with "Texas stakeholders," saying it "has not been as fulsome as in prior years."

"On April 16, fourteen Texas-Mexico Border County Judges wrote to you asking for DHS to engage with the communities they serve and have open communication about the upcoming installation of border security measures," Cornyn wrote. "To my knowledge, the county judges have not received a response to their April 16 letter."

A bulldozer clears a path in Big Bend National Park on Aug. 6.Natalie Newman/Center for Biological Diversity

The administration's approach to Big Bend is part of a larger pattern. 

In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order designed to expand logging and reduce oversight across about 250 million acres of national forests and protected public lands — a move that could damage fragile ecosystems, threaten old-growth forests, increase pollution and even worsen wildfires, according to environmentalists. 

In April, a border wall contractor partially bulldozed — or "inadvertently disturbed," as CBP later put it — a giant, ancient Native American etching in the floor of the Arizona desert.

In July, the president signed proclamations to shrink two major national monuments in southern Utah — Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument — by roughly 91% in order to open previously protected land to uranium and coal mining. Similar rollbacks have also occurred in Alaska, where the administration has opened new sites to oil drilling. 

All told, the Trump administration has "cumulatively removed or initiated removal of protections for more than 100 million acres of public lands across both terms," according to CAP — more than one-third of the amount of land that President Theodore Roosevelt initially protected during his time in office. 

How have people reacted?

According to the Post, Big Bend "community members have sued the federal government in court, filed complaints with environmental protection agencies, opposed permits for contractors seeking use of local roads and wells, and demanded accountability in public meetings." 

Protesters gathered at the park in August to voice their opposition, and public officials from both parties have called the administration's project disruptive and redundant, noting that "near zero" crossings occur within the park itself.

"God already built a wall through Big Bend — it's called the Chisos Mountains," then-Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico wrote on X. "We don't need to give billions of our tax dollars to out of state vendors. We don't need to desecrate this sacred land. We don't need this useless, disgraceful, corrupt Big Bend border wall."

"The potential destruction from road construction over the rugged terrain of Mariscal Mountain is extreme," Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett, also a Democrat, said in a July 31 news release. "Tons of rock blasted away could end up impacting Mariscal Canyon, the Rio Grande, and Mexico.  An incredible waste of both taxpayer money and an invaluable place of spectacular beauty!"

"Major permanent infrastructure, accompanied by lighting systems, access roads, and maintenance corridors would permanently alter one of the most remote and ecologically significant border landscapes in the United States," five border sheriffs, including Cleveland, wrote in a March statement. "Border security is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Strategies that may be appropriate in high-traffic urban sectors are not necessarily appropriate in geographically remote regions such as ours."

"We are killing a gnat with a sledgehammer and wasting a colossal amount of money," Brewster County, Texas, Judge Greg Henington said at the time. Henington is a Republican.

In August, U.S. House candidate Brandon Herrera — a Republican running to represent the Big Bend area in Congress — said in a statement that he opposes "any construction in the Big Bend area that disturbs the natural landscape and threatens the jobs that tourism brings where non-intrusive technology would do the job."

GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged in July that the administration should "take into account the local community's concerns." But he also argued that Trump's "border wall" won't always look like a literal wall. 

"When we say build a wall, in some respects, it's a metaphor," Johnson told reporters. "It means we have to have a border that is secure."

This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/article/supreme-court-allows-trump-administration-to-build-border-barrier-in-big-bend-national-park-despite-bipartisan-backlash-214819887.html