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A U.S. service member was arrested on suspicion of murder and robbery after a Japanese woman's body was discovered in a hotel in Okinawa, local officials said, describing the alleged killing as a "heinous" incident that prompted the Japanese government to lodge a protest with the United States.

Shinjiro Koizumi, the Japanese minister of defense, said a U.S. Marine lance corporal was arrested on Sunday after the woman's body was found early on Saturday in Naha, the capital city of the Okinawa prefecture.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the Okinawa Prefectural Police were investigating the incident as a murder.

"The occurrence of such an extremely brutal and heinous incident is a matter of profound regret, and as the Government of Japan, we have lodged a strong protest with the U.S. side," she said on social media.

NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, identified the suspect as Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who was stationed at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, a base a few miles outside Naha. The broadcaster identified the alleged victim as Yagi Anna, 39, saying she was pronounced dead at the scene.

U.S. officials did not immediately confirm the identity of the service member who was arrested, nor did they say whether the person had been officially charged in connection with the death.

"We are actively cooperating with Japanese authorities, in response to allegations of serious criminal actions by a Marine assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force," the force said in a statement on social media. "We extend our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends."

Tens of thousands of U.S. troops are stationed across Japan, including in the country's southernmost prefecture, Okinawa, which is home to several U.S. bases.

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said it was aware of the incident and was extending "our deepest condolences to the bereaved family of the deceased."

"At present, an investigation is underway to clarify the facts, and the United States Government continues to cooperate closely with the Government of Japan and local authorities," the embassy said in a statement.

George Glass, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, said he had spoken on Sunday morning with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Okinawa's governor, adding that his office was providing full cooperation with an investigation into the death.

This article originally appeared on Good Morning America at https://abcnews.com/International/us-marine-detained-connection-death-japan-us-officials/story?id=136982210

Cornell University

As outrage builds around the case involving a Cornell University student allegedly gang-raped in a fraternity house in October 2024, the university’s president has broken his silence with a statement Saturday.

Here’s the latest:

• University president speaks out: “This is a defining moment in Cornell’s history,” Cornell’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, said in the video statement calling Jane Doe’s allegations “deeply disturbing.” Kotlikoff said he supports the governor’s decision to turn the criminal investigation over to the New York Attorney General and welcomes an independent review by an outside law firm into Cornell’s handling of the 2024 case, which he said Cornell’s board would announce next week. He acknowledged the university does not have all the answers and must “do better” to prevent future sexual violence in the community.
• DA declined additional evidence: The Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office in November 2024 declined to review any additional evidence, including more interviews gathered by the campus police department beyond the six-page statement signed by accuser Jane Doe, records obtained by the New York Times show. Prosecutors did not express interest in the additional evidence because they had decided, based on Doe’s statement, “Criminal charges would not be pursued in this case,” a Cornell police investigator said in a note documenting the call.
• Jane Doe’s explicit rape accusation: Doe’s attorney believes his client did not consent to any of the sexual encounters that are the focus of her allegations and was initially “in denial” about what transpired before starting to feel ashamed and finally realizing she had been raped, he told CNN. Doe told Cornell police in 2024 she was “pretty ok” with aspects of an initial encounter but did not consent to other sexual activities later that night, according to a statement CNN obtained from a source familiar with the investigation. In a separate transcript of a November 2024 interview with police, she said, “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped,” according to CNN affiliate WCBS, which obtained the document. Prosecutors did not receive the transcript when Cornell police furnished Doe’s much briefer written statement, according to the local DA and New York’s governor.
• State AG takes over: New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ office has opened a criminal investigation into the allegations, she said. James is replacing Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten in overseeing the case. Although her office is limited in what it can share, it will provide updates “as they become available,” James said Friday morning. Both Van Houten, who has been DA since 2017, and Cornell have said they support James’ appointment. Both are Democrats.
• ‘I want the truth’: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is “deeply disturbed” with how Cornell police conducted the original investigation following the alleged gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024. Vowing to unravel the investigation’s failures, the Democratic governor said Friday, “In what world would the police learn from a victim that she’d been literally gang raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house and not elevate those allegations to the district attorney?”
• Closing a New York law ‘loophole’: It’s time for New York to change its sexual assault law, which excludes victims who willfully became intoxicated, the governor said. She vowed to help ensure the law changes as soon as possible, a shift activists and some lawmakers have long sought. “Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape. Period,” Hochul said.
• Professors and students condemn school’s approach: “We are deeply disturbed by Cornell University administration’s response and communications to the community, initially in 2024 and now,” wrote the Cornell chapter of the American Association of University Professors, lambasting the school’s “failures.” Current and former students have also criticized the school, which canceled all social fraternity events this weekend, internal communications obtained by The Cornell Daily Sun show. The national president of Doe’s sorority called the alleged assault “abhorrent and inexcusable.” Cornell student groups plan to protest on campus Monday to “hold our university responsible,” Students for a Democratic Cornell and others posted.

A sign is displayed Thursday at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. - Matt Rourke/AP University president promises answers

Jane Doe’s alleged experiences raise “heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanization, and aspects of party culture, alcohol, and drug use,” Kotlikoff said in his video statement.

The Cornell president added the allegations raise questions around the initial investigation, saying the university does not have “all the answers” but is committed to investigating and finding them. He said next week, Cornell’s board of trustees will announce an independent review into the handling of the 2024 case by an outside law firm.

While Cornell had released a statement after Doe filed her lawsuit in September and later launched an FAQ page on the allegations, Saturday’s remarks from Kotlikoff mark his first on-camera statement on the case.

Kotlikoff said he backs legislative efforts to change New York’s sexual assault law and Hochul’s decision to appoint a special prosecutor in the investigation – a move the university previously told CNN it supported.

While the criminal investigation and review are underway, the university will work to strengthen programs surrounding sexual assault prevention and education, mental health and substance use, he added.

Addressing frustrations surrounding Cornell’s communications about the case, he said “we will make a greater effort to explain what we can, to provide context about the actions Cornell has taken, and to be more transparent” within the confines of legal and policy limits.

Toward the end of his statement, Kotlikoff signaled support for reviewing the role of Greek organizations in campus life. “We will reengage students, alumni, and other members of our community to examine how we preserve what is valuable about Greek life while strengthening individual accountability, transparency, and a culture in which every member understands their responsibility to protect the safety and well-being of others,” he said.

Doe’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, said he is hopeful but wary about the promises Kotlikoff made. “We are hopeful that his statement is backed up by meaningful reforms that leads to real change for the sake of the students at Cornell,” he told CNN in a statement Saturday.

Records offer insight into assault allegations and aftermath

Snapchat messages, a Cornell disciplinary panel’s decision, a cache of documents from the university’s formal Title IX investigation obtained by The New York Times and phone recordings by Jane Doe reviewed by ABC News have shed new light on what may have happened in the fraternity house. The sources also help clarify Doe’s reported frame of mind at points on the night that began October 19, 2024, and how her understanding of the events changed as she processed her trauma in the following weeks.

When Doe first went to campus police, authorities documented that she reported “she was recently raped by 8-10 men at the Chi Phi fraternity house,” according to documents reviewed by ABC News. CNN has asked campus police for a copy of the report.

The phrase does not appear in the six-page statement sent to prosecutors.

Cornell is facing scrutiny because the university initially said campus police investigated the allegations in 2024 and “shared all investigatory information with the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office.” But the school later changed its statement, now saying police investigated the allegations in 2024 and “shared the victim’s sworn statement and the Snapchat screenshot” with the DA’s office.

Van Houten previously said his office did not bring criminal charges because of Doe’s six-page statement. He later said his office had access to some Snapchat messages exchanged during the alleged assault in a group chat titled, “Chi Phi Actives.” Images of one Snapchat chain obtained by CNN include a photo of Doe in a room at the fraternity house during the time she describes being assaulted.

Doe also made an explicit allegation of rape in her interview that was not included in the six-page statement furnished to prosecutors, according to WCBS. Although Doe did recount being hit and feeling emotionally coerced in the statement, it did not include some stronger language or allegations she used in her interview, according to The New York Times, citing documents it obtained.

Among the documents obtained by the Times also were records showing the district attorney’s office declined to review any additional evidence gathered by the campus police department beyond the six-page statement signed by Doe. A Cornell police investigator spoke to a member of the district attorney’s staff on November 25, 2024, about reviewing additional evidence, the Times said. By that time, university police had conducted more interviews and reviewed chat messages, the Times report said.

But prosecutors did not express interest in the additional evidence because they had decided that, based on Doe’s statement, “Criminal charges would not be pursued in this case,” a Cornell police investigator said in a note documenting the call. When reached for comment, the district attorney staff member referred all questions to the district attorney, the Times reported.

Van Houten told the Times by email that any additional records gathered by the Cornell police were “not pertinent to our analysis because we had Jane Doe’s comprehensive account of the events.” CNN reached out to Van Houten’s office for comment Friday.

CNN obtained a copy of a heavily redacted, 99-page document summarizing key evidence included in a Cornell disciplinary panel’s decision, which supports the Times’ findings about how Doe later came to understand the night’s events as assault. The panel’s decision details more than 50 interviews, including with six of the seven accused men.

Additionally, Jane Doe three weeks after the incident asked the fraternity member who invited her to the house that night, “Do you remember how any of these guys walked in?” her phone recordings reviewed by ABC News indicate.

He made no mention of his group chat invitation, ABC News reported, instead explaining to Doe, “The door was just unlocked. … The party was sort of like crowded. … There was nowhere else to go.”

Doe told him, “If I wanted to take this somewhere, what y’all did would be classified as gang rape,” she told him, ABC News reported, noting Doe’s recorded phone calls to at least three of the fraternity brothers were later turned over to university investigators.

One of the men Doe has accused of sexual assault reportedly sent her this text message: “I just wanted to apologize for how things went down the other night,” according to records obtained by The New York Times and corroborated by Doe’s attorney. The sender said he and another male allegedly involved felt terrible and too under the influence of drugs and alcohol to “shut it down and kick people out before it got way out of hand.”

“I’m so sorry,” another alleged attacker told Doe around the same time in a message ABC News reviewed. “I feel so bad for you, dude.”

The Chi Phi fraternity house is seen Thursday at Cornell. - Matt Rourke/AP

The initial university investigation led to suspensions and expulsions for the accused students, according to Doe’s attorney, the barring of the fraternity chapter from campus and the launch of a sexual assault task force. Four of the Chi Phi fraternity members acknowledged having sexual contact with Doe but said their interactions had been consensual. The others denied participating in sexual encounters, the Times reported.

Amid the renewed investigation, court documents show a Chi Phi fraternity member named as a defendant in Doe’s civil suit has been petitioning New York state courts to invalidate a university disciplinary decision that found him responsible for attempted sexual exploitation.

Help is available: For help in the US, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or chat 24/7 on online.rainn.org.

CNN’s Rebekah Riess, Holly Yan, Jessie Yeung, Gloria Pazmino, Jason Carroll, Alisha Ebrahimji, Jake Tapper and Mark Morales 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/2026/10/03/us/cornell-sexual-assault-governor-rebuke

Tennessee officials are still investigating why death row inmate Christa Pike survived an execution attempt after receiving two doses of pentobarbital, a drug intended to render a person unconscious and ultimately cause death.

While the immediate focus has been on what went wrong inside the execution chamber, experts say Pike’s case has also renewed scrutiny of a problem that has been building for more than a decade: how states obtain lethal injection drugs after pharmaceutical companies moved aggressively to keep their products from being used in executions. Despite those efforts, pentobarbital remains the primary execution drug used by many death-penalty states, making questions about sourcing, testing and oversight especially significant.

The issue has reshaped how many states carry out executions, forcing them to change drug protocols, seek alternative suppliers and adopt increasingly secretive procurement practices.

“Drug shortages have devastated this country’s execution process to an unparalleled degree,” Deborah Denno, a Fordham University law professor who has studied lethal injection for decades, told Newsweek on Saturday.

How Pharmaceutical Companies Changed the Death Penalty

For years, states relied on commercially manufactured drugs obtained through traditional pharmaceutical channels.

That began to change after major drug manufacturers objected to having medicines designed to treat patients used in executions.

According to Corinna Barrett Lain, a University of Richmond law professor and author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection, pharmaceutical companies have spent years trying to prevent their products from reaching execution chambers.

“The bottom line is these drug companies, from the start, did not want their drugs being used in lethal injections with executions,” Lain told Newsweek on Saturday.

Drugmakers increasingly adopted distribution controls and contractual restrictions barring execution use. The result, according to Lain, is that states seeking lethal injection drugs are now forced to look elsewhere.

“Now states trying to buy drugs for lethal injection are stuck either intentionally breaching private contracts, and getting sued when they are discovered doing so, or buying compounded drugs from whatever compounding pharmacy is willing to sell a sterile injectable barbiturate without a prescription for cash in an under-the-table transaction,” she said.

The Rise of Secret Supply Chains

As pharmaceutical companies tightened restrictions, states increasingly turned to alternative methods of obtaining execution drugs.

Some relied on compounding pharmacies, which create customized formulations of drugs rather than mass-produced pharmaceutical products. Others sought alternative suppliers or adopted increasingly secretive procurement practices.

Lain said those shifts have fundamentally changed the execution-drug market.

Joel Zivot, a professor at Emory University School of Medicine, said the restrictions imposed by drug manufacturers forced states to seek alternative sources of execution drugs.

“A gray market usually means legal goods moving through channels the manufacturer never authorized,” he told Newsweek on Saturday. “None of the pathways states now use to obtain execution drugs is a white market. Some fit the gray description. Others have crossed into unlawful territory.”

Asked whether the term “gray market” accurately describes the current system, Lain replied: “Gray market and black market. Absolutely.”

Federal authorities have previously blocked or seized imported execution drugs intended for several states, while courts have reviewed disputes involving overseas suppliers and execution-drug imports.

The problem, according to experts, is that secrecy makes it difficult to know exactly how states obtain many of the drugs they use.

Why Secrecy Has Become So Important

States generally argue that supplier secrecy is necessary because manufacturers and vendors could face public pressure, boycotts or litigation if their identities become public.

Critics say secrecy serves another purpose.

“States can’t fix what’s broken with lethal injection, and if you can’t fix it, the other option is to hide it,” Lain said. “It is actually easier for states to fight over secrecy than to reveal the indefensible details of the suppliers they’ve used.”

Zivot likewise argued that secrecy itself has become central to the system.

“Secrecy makes independent evaluation impossible, and that is its purpose,” he said.

Without public information about suppliers, storage methods and testing procedures, outside experts cannot independently evaluate the quality or reliability of execution drugs, he said.

“Without knowing who made a drug, how it was stored and whether it was tested, no one, including the courts, can judge whether it will work as the state claims,” Zivot said.

Denno said secrecy has steadily expanded over the past two decades.

“The secrecy prevents a systematic analysis,” she said. “Yet, all of my research suggests these efforts to get drugs are more opaque and unconventional than ever.”

The Quality-Control Question

In conventional medicine, intravenous drugs undergo extensive testing and quality-control reviews. Potency, sterility, stability and contamination levels are all subject to regulatory scrutiny.

Questions about execution drugs extend beyond where they come from.

Execution drugs often operate under a different system.

“The question uses the language of medicine, and these chemicals are not medicine,” Zivot said. “They are intended as poisons, which turns the usual safety questions upside down.”

The distinction matters, he said.

With medicine, regulators worry a drug may be too potent. In an execution setting, a drug that is weaker than expected may fail to kill.

“Because sourcing, storage and testing are kept secret, no one outside the process can say what standards, if any, apply,” Zivot said. “That uncertainty is itself the problem.”

Tennessee has faced similar questions before. In 2022, Governor Bill Lee paused executions and ordered an independent review after officials discovered the state had failed to follow its own lethal injection procedures. The review later found that drugs prepared for executions had not consistently received all required testing, prompting Tennessee to revise its protocols before executions resumed in 2025.

Yet the state’s handling of execution drugs has remained under scrutiny.

What Christa Pike’s Case Reveals

Lain said she was unaware of another modern case in which an inmate appeared to survive after lethal-injection drugs had actually been administered. Based on publicly reported evidence, she said IV infiltration appears the most likely explanation, meaning the pentobarbital may have entered surrounding tissue rather than the bloodstream.

Pike’s attorneys have similarly argued that execution personnel failed to recognize that IV lines were improperly placed or that veins had blown during the procedure. Tennessee’s official review remains ongoing.

Regardless of the ultimate findings, both Lain and Zivot say the episode highlights broader vulnerabilities in the lethal-injection process.

“The death row population is a geriatric population with histories of poor health and often IV drug use,” Lain said. “This is a demographic with notoriously weak veins. That’s a problem inherent to lethal injection. You’re not going to be able to fix that.”

Zivot pointed to similar concerns.

“The execution team must place and maintain an IV line in a person who may have difficult veins,” he said. “And there is no medical plan for when things go wrong.”

Emergency vehicles leave Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)Will Anything Change?

Despite the attention surrounding Pike’s case, experts disagree about whether it will lead to major reform.

Denno noted that execution failures have repeatedly generated public outrage only for states to continue using lethal injection afterward.

“Unfortunately, yes,” she said when asked whether states can continue relying on lethal injection despite mounting procurement problems. “Lethal injection botches are a never-ending story in the United States.”

States may continue searching for drugs, altering protocols and defending secrecy measures, she said.

But the underlying problem is unlikely to disappear.

Tennessee’s investigation may ultimately determine what happened in Pike’s execution attempt. But experts say the episode has also highlighted a separate question: whether states can continue relying on drugs that have become increasingly difficult to obtain, test and scrutinize.

Denno argued that a system originally intended to make executions appear more clinical and humane is now confronting a fundamental contradiction: It depends on drugs that the companies producing them increasingly do not want associated with executions.

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This article originally appeared on NEWSWEEK at https://www.newsweek.com/christa-pike-botched-execution-secretive-drug-supply-chain-12521497

A dual U.K.-Iranian national who was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plotting a terror attack following a security incident at the U.S.-run RAF Fairford air base in England that British authorities have linked to Tehran was released on bail Saturday.

The 25-year-old man was arrested in London on Thursday, and police have searched two properties in the U.K. capital, Counter Terrorism Policing said in a statement. 

On Saturday, Counter Terrorism Policing announced that the man had been released on bail. 

"The investigation into the circumstances surrounding events in Gloucestershire is continuing," the agency said in a new statement. 

British police also initially reported that a second 26-year-old British national had been interviewed by investigators "under caution," meaning the interview was recorded and could be used in future prosecutions. However, they later disclosed that this was "not correct and has been removed" from their statement.

On Oct. 27, five men, all British nationals in their 20s and from London, were also arrested on suspicion of explosives and terror offenses close to the RAF Fairford air base, which has been used by American bombers to strike Iran. The suspects have also since been released on bail.

Their quick release drew criticism from President Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But it also prompted questions in the U.K. as to whether the authorities had overreacted.

Police say they found a quantity of an accelerant – gasoline – in three vans linked to the five suspects, but no explosives.

Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for counter terrorism policing, said the investigation "is hugely complex, and our specialist teams are interrogating multiple lines of inquiry."

"As we've made clear, we're looking at all possible angles - including possible foreign state involvement," she said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the U.K. sees "strong indications" that Iran played a part in the incident. Iran denies involvement.

"There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford, but of course it remains an ongoing, complex and serious police investigation, and of course we are working closely with our colleagues in the United States of America," the prime minister told the BBC. 

The base 100 miles west of London has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East, including this year's war with Iran.

Iranian authorities have warned that any bases used to attack the country would be considered legitimate targets, but the Iranian Embassy in London said in a statement shared Monday on social media that the regime "categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran" to the incident.

Burnham said authorities have the investigation under "the strongest grip and the closest control," and British officials had been "talking to counterparts in the United States all week to explain what is happening here, how things are being done."

U.K. officials say proxies linked to Iran have been behind a string of arsons and other attacks in Britain and other countries, many of them targeting the Jewish community and intended to sow fear. They have previously warned that Tehran could expand its targets in the U.K. if conflicts in the Middle East continue.

This article originally appeared on CBS News at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fairford-air-base-dual-uk-iranian-national-arrested-security-incident/

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton visits patrons at Victorio's Ristorante in North Hollywood, where they held a watch party for the CNN debate between candidates Democrat Xavier Becerra and Hilton on Wednesday night. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

A provocative, sexually suggestive ad by GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is drawing heat from his fellow Republicans while drawing millions of viewers online.

Two young women sit on a bed, with an LGBTQ+ flag in the background, with one urging the other to try a new experience.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” one woman says, and the other replies. “Don’t be nervous. It’s not that bad ... Just try it. Look, give me your hand. Close your eyes, and I’ll do all the work.”

She leads the hesitant woman’s hand to mark her ballot for Hilton rather than Democrat Xavier Becerra, the front-runner in the race, and says, “Now lick it,” referring to the mail ballot envelope.

Fellow Republicans as well as several Democrats denounced Hilton over the messaging.

Two members of Hilton’s GOP “Golden Ticket” on the Nov. 3 ballot lashed out about the ad’s content.

“I emphatically denounce the use of young women as a political tool,” Michael Gates, the Republican candidate for attorney general who has frequently appeared alongside Hilton at campaign events, wrote on X. “California families deserve better, and as AG, I will fight every day to protect our girls, young women, and parental rights.”

Sonja Shaw, who is running to be the next state superintendent of schools, castigated Hilton, the state Republican party and its chairwoman for promoting the ad, which had been viewed by nearly 5 million people as of Saturday afternoon.

“Shame on you ... for reposting and cheering this creepy, weird, disturbing garbage,” Shaw wrote on X. “This is a clear example of exactly why good people are walking away from the Republican Party. As a mother and someone who has fought to protect the innocence of children, this crosses a line. We have lost our way. Embarrassing.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), an openly gay member of Congress, and state Democratic Party chairman Rusty Hicks also condemned the ad.

“This is a bizarre and desperate ad from a person who has attacked the LGBTQ+ community and stands with Donald Trump,” Garcia said. “Hilton is losing and more interested in AI slop than actually talking about issues Californians care about.”

Hilton acknowledged the ad has provoked strong reactions, but it underscored the foundation of his campaign — that many Californians may be put off by his party affiliation but want change given the state’s myriad problems, such as growing unaffordability, that have taken place under a Democratic lock of every statewide office and the state Legislature.

“We’re just saying, you know, just try it,” he said in an interview. “It’s a provocative and humorous way of making a point, right? Which often the best communication does.”

He also said the ad does not conflict with his beliefs about restrictions on gender-affirming care and on youth sports because those would only apply to people who are not adults.

A spokesman for Becerra, who led Hilton 58% to 33% in a recent UC Berkeley/Los Angeles Times poll, was gleeful about the rift the ad was creating among Republicans.

“MAGA is melting down over Steve Hilton’s creepy ad because they’re finally seeing him for the sellout he really is, willing to abandon his own twisted values to get ahead,” said Jonathan Underland.

Read more: High cost of living tops voter concerns, Becerra remains front-runner in governor's race, new poll shows

However, some conservatives who were dismayed by the message stood by Hilton’s side.

Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, a Christian nationalist, called the ad “grotesque” and said it promoted lesbianism among young women, on a Facebook Live post Saturday. However, he said he still supports Hilton over Becerra. He did not respond to requests for comment.

Hilton is scheduled to speak on Monday to a chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBTQ group, at a brewery in Palm Desert. The organization did not respond to requests for comment.

Former California GOP chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said that while the ad wasn’t for her, she understood the campaign’s desire to expand its reach to different voters.

“Does the ad speak to me? No. He’s not going after my vote. He already has my vote. He’s trying to think of new and creative ways to make people who wouldn’t normally feel like voting for a Republican feel safe to do so,” she said. “He’s going out of his comfort zone and going for people that wouldn’t normally feel comfortable voting for him.”

Californian Fred Karger, who made history in 2012 as the first openly gay person to run for president, had mixed views about the ad, calling it shrewd yet hypocritical. And he questioned its effectiveness.

“The audience that he’s targeting there — the hipster, young hipster, lesbian audience — probably has a 1% chance of voting for him,” Karger said. “So it’s kind of a long shot. But it is a clever ad.”

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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/provocative-sexually-suggestive-ad-hilton-213407018.html

Sen. Ted Cruz fired back at JD Vance for suggesting he's already focused on a 2028 presidential bid, calling the vice president "insecure" while insisting he's focused on the 2026 midterms.

“In my experience, people engage in political bomb-throwing when they're feeling insecure,” Cruz said in a phone interview Saturday. “So he's welcome to make whatever comments he likes. I'm going to keep focusing on the midterms and helping us win on Election Day in the next 30 days.”

Cruz’s comments came in response to an NBC News interview Thursday with Vance in which the vice president suggested Cruz was prematurely eyeing a White House run.

“It is really obvious to me that, at this very moment, Ted Cruz is running for president,” Vance said. “At this moment, I’m not. I’m trying to help elect Republicans. That’s what I’m going to keep on doing.”

Vance is widely viewed as the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, but Cruz has said he doesn’t believe Vance is the sure-fire nominee and suggested he might throw his own hat in the ring. “I’ll certainly be part of the discussion,” he told MS NOW in August.

On Saturday, Cruz told POLITICO he is dedicated to helping Republicans maintain control of both chambers of Congress. He pointed to his travel this cycle to campaign with candidates in Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina as well as in his home state of Texas as proof. He also said he has trips planned this month to campaign with Republicans in Alaska, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.

“Over the last 10 years, there's no Republican in the country who has campaigned for more Senate candidates, more House candidates, more gubernatorial candidates than I have, and this year will be no exception,” he said.

Cruz rattled off a list of a dozen GOP candidates he’s helped bolster in past years, including former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, U.S. House candidate Karoline Leavitt — and the vice president.

“Indeed, ironically, I spent a full day on the road with JD Vance, campaigning with him when he was running for Senate in Ohio [in 2022],” Cruz said. “I was very glad he won that race. I was very glad to help him.”

A spokesperson for Vance did not immediately respond to Cruz’s latest comments.

Vance campaigned in Texas and Florida this week and will hold a rally in Alaska on Monday.

This article originally appeared on Politico at https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/03/ted-cruz-blasts-jd-vance-as-insecure-says-hes-focused-on-helping-gop-win-midterms-01106033

The newly discovered lizard (Liolaemus archipensis) was found in the high Andean puna (Handout)

Scientists have discovered a new species of lizard in the Peruvian Andes, the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University said Saturday.

The lizard measures between six and eight centimeters (2.4-3.2 inches) and has distinct coloration depending on sex.

Females have square-shaped spots on their backs, while males have oblique spots and white scales that help them blend into their rocky surroundings.

The lizard feeds on plants and small arthropods, including spiders, beetles, true bugs and insect larvae.

The new species was found at an altitude of more than 4,800 meters (15,750 feet) in the southern Andean region of Arequipa and was given the name Liolaemus archipensis.

"The description of a new species represents a very important advance for biodiversity in our country," biologist Ling Huamani-Valderrama, who led the research, told AFP.

Peru is home to 296 species of lizard, according to the biologist. The discovery was published in the Swiss scientific journal Diversity.

cm/ybl/md/sst

This article originally appeared on AFP at https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/lizard-species-discovered-peru-180607207.html

President Donald Trump on Saturday pressured Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas to support a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, urging Americans to call what appeared to be the personal cellphone number of Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House in July, but it faces roadblocks in the Senate where some Republicans are strongly opposed. Proponents, including the White House, argue that the change would provide more daylight during the times that Americans are most active. Detractors said permanent daylight saving time would lead to darker and potentially more hazardous winter mornings when children will be waiting for school buses and parents will be driving to work in darkness.

It was a remarkable escalation on Trump's part of a longstanding fixation shared by both men — with Trump supporting making daylight saving time permanent, and Cotton vociferously opposed — at a time just weeks before the midterms, when Republicans would prefer that the president focus on talking about affordability issues and the party's achievements. Cotton is also up for reelection this November, although that race is not expected to be competitive.

Trump calls daylight saving time ‘depressing’

Daylight saving time is that period between spring and fall when clocks in most parts of the United States are set one hour ahead of standard time. Not all states observe it — and under the bill, states can opt out of the change if their respective legislatures act to do so before the bill’s enactment.

“For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one!” Trump wrote on social media, noting that passing the bill would give professional golfers more time on the greens. “So, everyone in Arkansas, a State I love, and won 3 times, the last by by 34 points, tell Tom to, GET IT DONE! It will be appreciated by all,” Trump said.

Trump included a phone number with an Arkansas area code. The Associated Press called the number, but no one answered and the voicemail box was full.

Cotton, a member of Republican leadership, reiterated his opposition to permanent daylight saving time in a social media post of his own Saturday afternoon. He is not the only GOP senator who opposes the policy, though he has been among the most vocal opponents.

“No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,” Cotton wrote. “Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first.”

Trump, who is spending the day at his northern Virginia golf club before traveling to Ohio later Saturday, promptly fired back.

“If Tom Cotton were putting Arkansas first, he would give them an extra hour of daylight and, more importantly, they wouldn’t have to run all over their houses, farms, work places, and everywhere else, twice a year, having to change their Clocks, and often forgetting to do so,” Trump said, adding that “that is really putting Arkansas FIRST.”

As his motorcade was rolling back to the White House, Trump added that “a table full of very distinguished people just told me that they HATE, immediately after a mandatory time change, going home at night – and it’s DARK.”

“It’s depressing!" Trump continued. "One of the gentleman stated that, ‘I just hate going home in darkness.’ It’s also, in Crime Ridden Blue States, a lot more dangerous to be walking home in the dark!”

A 2025 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that if forced to choose, most Americans would prefer to keep that extra hour of daylight in the evening. Only 12% of U.S. adults favor the current system of daylight saving time, which requires people in most states to change their clocks twice a year, while 47% oppose it and 40% are neutral.

Members of Congress have long been interested in the potential benefits and costs of daylight saving time since it was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942. The Senate passed a bill four years ago to make daylight saving time permanent, but it stalled in the House.

This is not the first time Trump has released personal information about a senator

While competing for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina described Trump as “unfit for office” after Trump denigrated the military service of Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Trump then released Graham’s personal cellphone number. That prompted a viral video in which the senator dramatically destroyed a series of flip phones.

Graham later became a close ally of Trump. In contrast, although they share many of the same policy positions, Trump and Cotton are not known to be close.

Cotton, one of the Republican Party's most prominent national security voices, has advocated for a more hawkish approach on Iran, particularly as Trump entertains pauses in military strikes amid the seven-month war. In Trump's first term, Cotton was a critic of the president's attempts at overhauling the nation's sentencing laws, calling the proposal a “jailbreak."

Earlier this year, Cotton had temporarily defied Trump's attempts at stalling the confirmation process for his own nominee for director of national intelligence, Jay Clayton. The president had wanted to ensure his interim pick for the intelligence job, Bill Pulte, would be able to serve in that role at least briefly when the former director, Tulsi Gabbard, left the job.

But the appointment of Pulte, who had no known national security credentials, drew bipartisan condemnation from Capitol Hill and Cotton had tried to expedite Clayton's confirmation process, which could have prevented Pulte from being installed as acting director.

But Trump ultimately ordered Clayton to not appear before Cotton's committee for his confirmation hearing, and Pulte served in the job for several weeks this summer. Clayton was eventually confirmed by the Senate in late July.

___

Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-urges-calls-arkansas-sen-172243675.html

The co-pilot of the FlyDubai plane who allegedly attacked the plane's captain and attempted to crash a flight bound for Israel on Wednesday is an Omani national who was previously suspended from flying by Oman Air after being identified as a security risk, according to senior intelligence and law enforcement officials.

Multiple sources familiar with the investigation identified the suspected attacker as 29-year-old Hamam Al Hammami.

The officials told ABC News that Al Hammami, while working as a co-pilot trainee for Oman Air in 2024, was found to be in possession of extremist materials. The suspect was allowed to continue working for the airline in an administrative role, the sources said.

United Arab Emirates Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi on Saturday said the aircraft's co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist act and that he began executing his plan during the flight by assaulting the pilot inside the cockpit using a crash axe and attempted to seize control of the aircraft's controls, according to WAM state news agency.

This is the first confirmation by UAE authorities that the co-pilot had attacked the captain and identified the weapon used as a crash axe. Previous UAE statements had described the incident as a security incident and said an investigation was underway to determine whether it involved terrorist activity or prior planning.

'The last push, Smit': FlyDubai captain Smit Machchhar recounts harrowing cockpit attack

The attorney general stressed that investigations are still ongoing to establish all the circumstances and motives surrounding the incident, as well as any related links. He added that technical examinations and the analysis of physical and digital evidence are also being completed, with the final findings to be announced once the necessary procedures have been concluded.

Officials investigating the incident are still trying to determine how the suspected attacker was subsequently permitted to fly for FlyDubai and how he ended up as the first officer in the cockpit of a plane headed for Israel, the sources said.

Al Hammami -- who was transferred Thursday from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates -- is said to be "cooperating" with authorities investigating the incident and has indicated that his intent was to crash the aircraft in Israel, according to sources briefed on the investigation.

"We recognise that there are many questions at this stage; however, the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation," FlyDubai said in a statement obtained by ABC News on Saturday. "We are therefore not in a position to comment further beyond our published statements. We remain fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation and are in close coordination with the relevant government authorities and regulators."

Representatives for Oman Air and the Omani Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

FlyDubai issued a statement earlier Friday, attributed to its chief executive officer, saying that, at the request of the authorities, FlyDubai had "temporarily suspended operations to Tel Aviv until further notice," and saying "a full official investigation, led by the relevant authorities and fully supported by flydubai, is underway." 

A disaster was averted when the flight's captain, Smit Machchhar, fought back and a number of passengers subdued and restrained the attacker, who had sent the plane into a rapid dive.

Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: A flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft prepares for landing at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, Sept. 30, 2026.

One of the passengers, Israeli plumber Yaniv Hayoun, said he pulled back on the controls to steady the plane until a third pilot, who was traveling in the passenger cabin, took over. The flight eventually landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

One of the passengers who ran to the front of the plane, Dr. Shota Musaev, told ABC News in an interview this week that the attacker -- who was bloodied and restrained on the floor outside the cockpit -- told him he was from Oman. Musaev said that at one point the suspect asked Musaev to kill him.

"He said, 'Kill me please, kill me please,'" Musaev said.

Israeli officials are expected to be on the ground and involved in the questioning of Al Hammami, sources said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said that the suspected attacker, who he didn't name, had undergone "Islamist radicalization."

"He came to crash the plane with all passengers on board," Netanyahu said in a video released by his office. "We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price."

Netanyahu also again heaped praise on Hayoun and the other heroic passengers for preventing a "tragedy like 9/11."

A threadbare internet biography page believed to belong to the suspect indicated that he had studied aviation management at a British university and engineering at an Australian university.

A source at the Buckinghamshire New University confirmed that Al Hammami completed a three-year distance-learning course and graduated with a degree in aviation management in 2023. The source stressed that Al Hammami did not take any pilot training at the school.

Royal Air Maroc -- Morocco's national carrier -- confirmed to ABC News that Al Hammami completed a three-month theoretical training period with the airline in 2025 as part of its pre-employment process. At the end of the training, he was not selected for employment, the airline confirmed, but it wouldn't say why.

A representative for the school in Australia declined to comment and referred an inquiry from ABC News to the Australian federal police.

- ABC News' Dragana Jovanovic contributed to this report.

This story has been updated.

This article originally appeared on ABC News at https://abcnews.com/US/suspect-flydubai-incident-previously-identified-security-risk-officials/story?id=136960488

Republicans know they have to spend big to save Ken Paxton. They’re increasingly worried MAGA Inc. won’t throw down in time.

In private conversations over recent weeks, senior Hill Republicans and GOP officials have nudged President Donald Trump’s team to start spending more on the Texas Senate race before it’s too late, according to three people with direct knowledge of those conversations, who were granted anonymity to discuss them.

Those fears escalated after audio leaked of Paxton privately trashing Trump’s midterm convention, with some worrying it could impact whether MAGA Inc. continues spending after a current wave of GOP ad bookings run out Oct. 12.

A Trump operative told POLITICO that MAGA Inc. and its affiliates are expected to spend near $45 million on direct mail, TV, and digital advertising in Texas through Oct. 12, an increase from its previous $20 million to boost Paxton. But they said the team is still assessing how much more money to send in the final weeks, in consultation with Senate Republicans and their top super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund.

The Trump operative, who like others in this article was granted anonymity to speak candidly, would not commit to any plans when asked by POLITICO.

With national Democrats starting to finally spend for their Senate nominee, James Talarico, after months of holding off, and as polling of the race tightens, Republicans expect the cost of salvaging Paxton’s campaign will only skyrocket. And, they’ve started to panic.

“It’s a five-alarm fire, no doubt,” one GOP senator said. “Can we put it out? I hope so.”

“This is a slow-moving car crash that we're witnessing right now,” a Republican strategist in the state said. “And there's a 75% chance that the ultimate result here will be catastrophic from a GOP Senate majority standpoint.”

A fourth Republican, a national operative, spoke to the urgency factor: “While it’s money we shouldn’t have needed to spend, it needs to be spent now,” said a national GOP operative, describing the state as more winnable than North Carolina, Georgia and potentially Ohio.

Even with a massive war chest, Texas is turning into a huge money sink for the GOP that senators worry could hurt them in other tight races as they work to defend deep-red states and try to flip blue seats in Michigan and New Hampshire.

Trump himself nodded to some of the concerns at a rally just across the Texas border in Oklahoma Thursday night, saying those voters aren’t the ones he’s concerned about.

“We’re worried about Michigan. We’re worried about Texas,” he told the crowd. “We’re worried about a few states.”The president is scheduled to visit Texas again next week for a rally in San Antonio next Wednesday.

SLF poured another $60 million into Texas on Wednesday, bringing its total expenditure there to a record-breaking $131 million. With the MAGA Inc. money and additional GOP ad reservations, the race is already on track to top $200 million from outside Republican groups hoping to save Paxton. Paxton’s own campaign recently announced a $20 million ad buy — one of the largest single media investments in a Texas Senate race.

Some Republicans want MAGA Inc. to take over spending for Paxton in Texas in the final few weeks, so SLF can focus its resources elsewhere. MAGA Inc. could also funnel money into SLF’s recently established Texas PAC. But, according to two people with direct knowledge of that matter, that hasn’t happened.

“At some point I think the people spending that money are going to have to make hard choices and figure out where the money can have the biggest impact, and certainly Texas is the most expensive,” Sen. John Cornyn, who lost to Trump-backed Paxton in the primary, recently told POLITICO.

SLF Executive Director Alex Latcham indicated to POLITICO the group will keep spending in Texas: “Senate Leadership Fund’s investment through Texas PAC affirms our commitment to maintaining the Republican majority and defeating Far-Left liberals like James Talarico.”

But Republicans’ money concerns have been complicated by Paxton himself. A growing number of GOP senators and top operatives have been stunned by what they described as unforced errors by the Texas Senate nominee. For example, he crossed one of the brightest red lines with Trump, telling a group of donors that “everybody’s numbers dropped” after the president’s GOP convention in Dallas last month, according to the audio leak reported by The New York Times.

“There seems to be very little strategy there,” said another Republican senator, granted anonymity to candidly discuss the race. “Sometimes, I think [Paxton] wants to lose.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump, while on his way to Texas to tour a motor facility on Thursday, told reporters he hadn’t talked to Paxton about his convention comments. Later, he told a crowd in Texas that “Ken Paxton was at my side more than anybody, and I have to always remember that because he can be a pain in the ass sometimes. I’ll be honest.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told reporters this week that he hadn’t seen the audio of Paxton trashing Trump’s convention. He acknowledged the stakes in his home state were high — and that the influx of cash is key.

“The reason that it is a serious race and a close race right now is that for several months the Democrats were massively outspending us,” he said, “and I am glad now that we are seeing money invested in communicating with the voters.”

The White House has attempted to reassure concerned senators, with chief of staff Susie Wiles telling Senate Republicans this week that there will be enough money available for competitive races in the final stretch, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting.

GOP operatives in both Michigan and New Hampshire said they feel that some of the cash being shoveled toward Texas should be going to their states instead. Most polls show Republicans running narrowly behind or neck and neck in both states, even though they hold a spending advantage on the airwaves there.

“We’re focusing so much on ‘we’ve got to put this money into Texas.’ Why? We’ve never had a problem in Texas. Let’s focus on taking back a seat we haven’t had in years,” said an ally of former Sen. John E. Sununu, who’s in a tight race against Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. “There are real chances in Michigan and New Hampshire,” said the person, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the dynamics.

Sununu’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Latcham, who heads SLF, said that “Texas PAC is a dedicated effort that will not take resources from our other ongoing investments across the Senate map.”

Recent polling still shows the Texas Senate race with a razor-thin margin. Most public polling over the past two months shows Talarico with an edge, though Paxton’s campaign released an internal poll Tuesday that shows Paxton leading by three points among likely voters, 48% to 45%.

“I don't think the needle has moved in the last month,” said one Texas Republican elected official, granted anonymity to speak frankly. “Unless it's the worst polling that's ever been done in political history, all this spend hasn't changed anything, and I think people have made their mind up."

Lisa Kashinsky, Samuel Benson, Alex Gangitano and Kelsey Brugger contributed to this report. 

This article originally appeared on Politico at https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/03/paxton-texas-senate-trump-gop-money-woes-01105707

The US Capitol Building is seen on October 1, in Washington, DC. - Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Four weeks to Election Day, a growing number of House Republicans privately fear their chances of holding onto the majority are vanishing and have begun focusing on how to limit the size of a potential Democratic wave.

Inside the House GOP, Republicans have watched with alarm as President Donald Trump’s approval ratings have sunk in their own internal polling — including on traditionally red turf — over the last two weeks, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the discussions.

Now, the House GOP is entering triage mode. Republicans are discussing pulling money from once-competitive races they see as too difficult to win, including Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa, Rep. Tom Kean in New Jersey and an open seat in Nebraska, according to three people familiar with the talks.

But the GOP does have a huge cash advantage, and not all Republicans are pessimistic. Speaker Mike Johnson is “absolutely still convinced” that he can hang onto the House and is not taking any seats “off his board,” according to a political aide. Johnson just returned from New Jersey and is planning a rally with Miller-Meeks in Iowa next week, according to his team.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on September 28, 2026, in Washington. - Alex Brandon/AP Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. departs the US Capitol on June 30, 2026. - Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The House GOP’s campaign arm, too, strenuously denies that the majority is lost.

“Thirty days out, House Republicans are on offense, and we’re outspending Democrats in the final stretch in every race,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Will Kiley said in a statement, adding, “House Republicans are going to defy history, and we’re going to win.”

The rising anxiety among Republicans, though, reflects a grim national environment that has triggered alarm bells up and down the ballot, with Senate Republicans suddenly forced on defense in red seats like Kansas — with control of both chambers of Congress up for grabs. Trump, too, is on a nationwide campaign swing, with stops in a more competitive part of Ohio, as well as deep-red territory like Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama.

“There’s a lot of close races, and it’s hard to make a prediction,” retiring GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse said this week of his party’s chances, but acknowledged, “Affordability is a big deal. People see the gas prices every single day.”

While Newhouse said his party has worked to address cost of living issues, he noted, “There’s just a lot of things making it tough right now for rural America — which I can speak to specifically — but for Americans all over the country.”

Many Republicans acknowledge to CNN that the souring national environment — fueled by soaring diesel prices, stubborn inflation and hardening opposition to the Iran war — are largely out of their control this late in the race. They say their strategy is now focused on how to limit Democrats to the slimmest majority possible — in a bid to make governing all but impossible for a potential House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries next year.

Johnson’s historically narrow majority — the slimmest since before World War II — has been a major headache for GOP leaders, with the Louisiana Republican unable to wield control of the floor on numerous occasions. Republicans want Jeffries to face the same problem.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to reporters outside of his office at the US Capitol on September 16, 2026. - Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Several people said their goal is to keep Jeffries’ margin to fewer than 10 seats. If that happens, one GOP strategist summarized: “What the f**k are you going to get done over there?”

Few Republicans believe it will be a total wipeout for their party in which Democrats win more than 30 seats. And some believe there is still a path to keeping their narrow majority, especially if gas prices drop significantly in the next four weeks. Party leaders are particularly confident about two incumbents in purple seats: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania and Mike Lawler in New York, both in districts Kamala Harris won in 2024.

But there is growing anxiety from GOP members and aides about protecting parts of the country that haven’t elected Democrats to the House in decades — seats Trump won by double digits that are suddenly in play with incumbents who rarely face competitive general elections.

As of early October, Republicans are still planning to use a massive cash advantage to support their strongest incumbents, while turning up the heat on their top offensive targets, like Rep. Marcy Kaptur in Ohio’s 9th District, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in Washington’s 3rd — and drowning Democrats in spending.

The GOP’s huge cavalry of super PACs, meanwhile, helps build a firewall around their reddest turf to avert disaster, with Trump-linked groups spending in seats once considered a reach for Democrats, but are now in play, like Colorado’s 5th District, Kentucky’s 6th District and Montana’s 1st District.

“The environment is bad but Democrats still have to win on GOP terrain,” one GOP operative said.

How Republicans could still keep the House

If House Republicans are going to pull off an upset in November, they say it would come down to the party’s massive cash advantage and its aggressive gerrymandering push.

Republicans are outspending Democrats in all of the 10 most expensive House races on advertising from now until Election Day, according to data from AdImpact. That includes multimillion-dollar advantages in Democratic-held seats like Rep. Don Davis in North Carolina’s 1st District and an open seat in Maine’s 2nd District.

Rep. Monica De La Cruz speaks on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention on September 9 in Dallas. - Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Much of the GOP’s spending is concentrated in newly redrawn seats in Texas and Florida, the fates of which are still highly uncertain, especially for incumbents like GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz in Texas. But if even a handful of those seats swing toward Republicans, it could make up for losses elsewhere.

“At the end of the day, redistricting could be the lifesaver either way — either minimizing the losses or the reason we potentially hold onto the majority,” one GOP leadership aide told CNN.

Then there are the handful of swing seats where Republicans feel more upbeat because of Democratic clashes during the primaries, which left their nominees more vulnerable. That includes California’s 22nd District, Michigan’s 7th District and that open seat in Maine — where progressives beat out establishment-preferred centrists.

GOP’s messaging in final weeks

Even in a challenging midterm environment, Republicans are turning to issues that they feel give them an advantage with voters — with taxes, immigration and law enforcement figuring prominently in their campaign ads.

Tax cuts on tips, overtime and Social Security delivered by the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” were the fulfillment of a key 2024 campaign promise, and that’s been a point of emphasis. Republicans have also hammered Democrats for opposing the legislation.

“Zach Nunn voted for the largest middle class tax cut ever,” says an ad from the GOP incumbent in Iowa’s competitive 3rd District.

President Donald Trump, joined by Republican lawmakers, signs the "One, Big Beautiful Bill Act" into law during an Independence Day on the South Lawn of the White House on July 4, 2025. - Samuel Corum/Getty Images

An analysis of AdImpact data found that about one-third of GOP ads in House races in September focused on tax policy, making it the top issue tracked by the firm.

Immigration, which ranked fourth, has been another key argument for Republicans. “Stelson wants you to pay for criminal illegal immigrants’ healthcare,” says an ad from the House GOP’s main super PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund, targeting the Democrat in Pennsylvania’s 10th District.

GOP advertisers also produced dozens of ads touting their support for law enforcement and accusing Democrats of being soft on crime. Several begin with grisly accounts of local crimes, juxtaposed with rhetoric from Democrats calling for criminal justice reform. “Attention all criminals, do we have some good news for you: Christina Hines, the liberal Ann Arbor prosecutor, is running for Congress,” says one ad airing in the competitive race for Michigan’s 10th District.

Other specific issues have also animated these key races, including Republicans’ sustained focus on transgender policies, an issue they’ve used to attack Democrats since it proved effective in the 2024 campaign. As a result, Democrats have increasingly taken to the airwaves to rebut the criticism, such as Kaptur in Ohio’s 9th District.

Republicans say the Democrats’ quick response to the transgender politics attacks show that it’s an effective issue — and believe it’s been making a dent in internal polling.

“Here’s the truth: I voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools because parents know what’s best for their kids, and boys should not play in girls’ sports,” Kaptur says in one ad.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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This article originally appeared on CNN at https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/03/politics/republicans-congress-control-midterms

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching off the coast of Nantucket for a missing medical transport jet carrying six people after it went missing the morning of Oct. 3.

The jet, a Gulfstream G100, lost contact with flight controllers early in the morning, the Coast Guard's Northeast District said. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to USA TODAY that it issued a search and rescue alert notice for the jet at about 1:20 a.m. local time.

The six people on board were flying from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda to Boston Logan International Airport, the FAA said.

Authorities are searching with air and surface crews off the coast of Nantucket, the island south of Cape Cod. Bermuda is nearly 700 miles from Nantucket.

News outlets including the New York Times and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the medical aircraft was operated by Latitude Air Ambulance, a Canada-based company.

Latitude's website says its fleet includes four Gulfstream G100s, which it says are able to travel long distances without refueling. Flights typically include two pilots, a registered nurse and a registered respiratory therapist, and sometimes a physician. Latitude provides international medical evacuation services and return flights for patients, according to its site.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coast Guard searches for missing medical jet carrying 6 off Nantucket

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/10/03/coast-guard-seach-jet-nantucket/92074905007/

A father and son who worked at a Mississippi smoke shop were charged by federal prosecutors in connection with one of the two Ole Miss student deaths that took place last week.

U.S. Attorney Scott F. Leary for the Northern District of Mississippi announced Friday that a criminal complaint was filed against Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Yahya Mosleh, 18, on charges with possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances in connection with the death of Aidan Hamilton.

The father and son, who were arrested last week, worked at the smoke shop that allegedly sold illegal substances to Hamilton, investigators allege.

Oxford Police Department - PHOTO: Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Yahya Mosleh, 18

Hamilton, a freshman from Englewood, Colorado, was found dead on campus on Sept. 21, and investigators found "packages, some with missing tablets, of suspected kratom derivatives," according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Ole Miss deaths may be connected to 2 stores allegedly selling kratom products: Officials

"The cause of death appeared to be consistent with a drug overdose," the U.S. attorney's office said.

An hour later, a second Ole Miss student, Robert Strang, a junior from Atlanta, was found dead in a different location, and investigators also found "packages of suspected kratom derivatives," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Strang's death was also consistent with a drug overdose, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Strang family | Brian Comerford - PHOTO: Robert Strang, from Atlanta, was in his junior year at Ole Miss. | Aiden Hamilton, from Colorado, was in his freshman year at Ole Miss.

Kratom products contain chemicals that can increase alertness, physical energy, and talkativeness. At higher doses, users may experience sedating effects.

The FDA has warned that kratom and especially concentrated synthetic 7-OH products can carry risks, including addiction, mental health concerns and other serious adverse effects.

Some jurisdictions in the country have banned the sale of kratom. Oxford, Mississippi, has banned the sale, possession and consumption of Kratom since 2019.

Advocates have called on the Food and Drug Administration for stricter regulations on the products and bans.

Toxicology reports on both deaths are still ongoing, according to investigators.

The Lafayette County Metro Narcotics Unit was able to track Hamilton's bank records and found that he made several purchases from Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford, Mississippi, the federal criminal complaint said.

Ole Miss deaths may be connected to 2 stores allegedly selling kratom products: Officials

After an undercover informant was able to purchase pills that were advertised as 7 O Kratom pills, Lafayette County Metro Narcotics Unit officers executed a search warrant on Sept. 24 of the store and seized over 500 units of kratom, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images - PHOTO: The Lyceum, oldest building on the campus of the University of Mississippi, April 12, 2008, in Oxford, Miss.

Mississippi investigators arrested the father and son that day and charged them with possession of Schedule I controlled substances with intent to distribute.

Attorney information for the defendants wasn't immediately available.

The Lafayette County Metro Narcotics Unit also tracked Strang's financial records and found he made purchases at Express Mart #7, a gas station convenience store in Yalobusha County, according to the criminal complaint.

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images - PHOTO: Walk of Champions area on the campus of the University of Mississippi, April 12, 2008, in Oxford, Miss.

Officers were able to go to the store and purchase similar pills to the ones found and have sent them off to crime labs for analysis, the criminal complaint said.

No one from that business has been charged as of Friday.

The investigation is ongoing.

This article originally appeared on ABC News at https://abcnews.com/US/father-son-federally-charged-connection-death-ole-miss/story?id=136954491

U.S. Coast Guard search crews located a debris field off the Nantucket coast that has been confirmed to be associated with a medevac flight with six people on board that disappeared Saturday morning while en route to Boston from Bermuda. 

Crews are continuing to search for potential survivors, and the Coast Guard cutter William Sparling will continue search efforts throughout the night. The Coast Guard said it would hold a news conference Sunday morning. 

Authorities are searching for the Gulfstream G100, a twin-engine, midsize jet, off Nantucket. Both air and surface crews have been deployed to the area, according to the Coast Guard Northeast District.

The Federal Aviation Administration (Faa) reported losing contact with the aircraft early Saturday, the Coast Guard said.

Frantic Search Underway For Crew After Boeing 737 Wreckage Found By Officials

Earlier Saturday, the FAA issued a statement that said it is "coordinating with the Rescue Coordination Center and the U.S. Coast Guard to locate the aircraft."

Read On The Fox News App

According to data from FlightAware, the plane took off from Bermuda L. F. Wade International Airport at 11:41 p.m. ET. 

The FAA told Fox News Digital it issued a Search and Rescue Alert Notice at about 1:20 a.m. ET.

The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), which operates the state's three major airports, confirmed that the aircraft did not arrive at Boston Logan International Airport as scheduled.

"Our thoughts are with those on board and their loved ones as the search continues," the agency said.

Skydivers Watch Plane Vanish From Sight, Make Split-second Decision To Jump

The Canadian-registered aircraft is owned by Latitude Air Ambulance, the company confirmed to Fox News Digital, adding that it was a medevac flight.

Two Canadian pilots, two medical workers, one patient and a patient's companion were on board.

Latitude Air Ambulance is a medical transport company that brings patients home from around the world when they require specialized care. 

Latitude Air Ambulance said the flight was supposed to take about two hours. 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) told Fox News Digital that it is currently gathering information and declined to provide an update on the situation.

"My thoughts are with the six people aboard the missing air ambulance traveling from Bermuda to Boston, and their families," Bermuda's Premier David Burt said in a statement. "Government has contacted the family and US search and rescue authorities. We are praying that everyone will be found safe."

The plane plummeted from 24,000 feet to 11,000 feet in just three minutes at around 1 a.m., according to data from FlightAware. 

Skyport, the company that manages the airport in Bermuda, confirmed that a "Canadian-registered air ambulance departed L. F. Wade International Airport for Boston at approximately 12:41 am on Saturday, October 3, 2026, with six souls on board, including four crew members and two passengers." 

"The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has advised that air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft off the coast of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and a search is currently underway. Skyport has no further information to provide at this time," the company added. 

Waters off the Nantucket coast, where the Coast Guard is searching for a missing plane.

"This aircraft was dealt a dire one-two punch: a critical safety in-flight problem, followed almost immediately by a perilous weather event and an 11,000-foot plunge," former U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General Mary Schiavo said in analysis shared with Fox News Digital. 

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As of Saturday afternoon, the Coast Guard has deployed a HC-130 Hercules crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, New Jersey; a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod; a 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Brant Point, Massachusetts; and Coast Guard Cutter William Sparling, a Boston-based Fast Response Cutter.

Original article source: Coast Guard finds debris field off Nantucket after Boston-bound medevac plane vanishes with 6 on board

This article originally appeared on Fox News at https://www.foxnews.com/us/boston-bound-plane-vanishes-6-board-coast-guard-launches-search-nantucket-coast

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Perhaps emboldened by the rush of sweet tea he was sipping at The Floridian, an Old Florida institution here, David Jolly told me he “can get outspent by $100 million and win this race.”

The Florida Democrat may well have to test that argument.

He is confronting the same daunting predicament as other gubernatorial candidates around the country: Democrats are poised to enjoy their best midterm election in two decades, but they may fall short in a series of governors’ races because of the party’s warped donor culture.

Major Democratic contributors and small-dollar givers are flooding Senate hopefuls with cash, but in some of the most politically crucial states they could lose winnable gubernatorial races because they’re being so dramatically outspent by Republican nominees and their allied groups.

In former and future presidential battlegrounds Florida, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Wisconsin and Nevada, the gubernatorial advertising gap is yawning. For the remainder of the campaign, Republicans are on track to outspend Democrats on television about 6-to-1 in Florida, more than 3-to-1 in Texas, 2.5-to-1 in Georgia, more than 2-to-1 in Wisconsin, and only slightly more narrowly in Ohio and Nevada.

That’s if current trends hold, as Democrats are largely booking week to week. So the difference in what’s already booked is even starker. As Kinetiq Political Insights data tells me, a single Republican, the Georgia gubernatorial nominee, has nearly as much advertising on the books there as Democrats do at the moment in all six of these races combined.

The public and private polling in these contests shows they’re competitive, and GOP strategists tell me that, were it not for their financial advantage, they’d lose most of them.

The Democratic Governors Association, with finite resources and 36 statehouse races on the ballot this year, is not on the air in Florida or Texas a month before the election. They’re spending in Ohio, Georgia and Nevada, where Republicans control the governorship, but are hampered in part because of their obligation to defend their own incumbents and hold those states with outgoing Democratic governors.

Liberal donors swooning over Senate races is not a new phenomenon. But it has accelerated in the age of Trump, and with decidedly mixed results.

Checking the president by controlling Congress is easy to grasp, short enough to fit on a bumper sticker with the right brevity. Nothing animates Democrats like confronting Trump, and flipping the House and Senate does as much.

Also, the attendant Washington-heavy focus of the media, along with social media algorithms that push what draws clicks, means most political hobbyists can tell you the name of big-state Senate candidates but not the party’s gubernatorial nominees (looking at you, Texas).

The problem is compounded for Democrats in capitals where they’re out of power, and have been for decades, because the transactional money from interests with business before state government will be overwhelmingly directed to the incumbent party.

Now, to be fair to Democratic donors, it’s easier to grasp what’s at stake for them and the country when they consider who will have congressional majorities. Particularly for Trump’s final two years, it’s understandable that that would mean more to, say, a Seattle-based contributor than who’s in the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee.

But the left should know better by now. The aftermath of 2020 and the unsubtle steps the president is taking now to seize election machinery should have underscored the importance of state and local elections, particularly for those officers counting or certifying election results.

More consequential, however, are the long-term implications of gubernatorial races this year.

If Democrats can win contests in red-tinted states next month, particularly across the Sun Belt, they’ll have a stronger infrastructure to be competitive in the 2028 presidential race. They would, in other words, have more paths to 270 electoral votes without living and dying with the fate of the blue-wall states across the Great Lakes.

“We don't have a Democratic president; we don't have the person who says, ‘If we win Florida, Texas and Georgia, the road to the White House is restructured,’” Jolly lamented. “There's nobody with that collective party interest to say, ‘We got to focus resources in these two or three states to restructure them in ’28.’ It's just a lot of individual actors at the top.”

When I brought up DGA Chair and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, whose presidential ambitions are no secret, Jolly said his victory would mean “not only does the road to the White House go through Florida, but the road to the Democratic nomination goes through Florida.”

And if his point wasn’t clear enough, he pointed out that Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois, Gavin Newsom of California and Wes Moore of Maryland had all contributed or were planning to come to Florida.

Most of the party’s most prominent figures, though, are focused on federal elections. Former President Barack Obama, for example, has raised money for House Democrats and has a fundraiser scheduled for Senate Democrats but hasn’t yet committed to help Democratic governors.

As large as the next race for the White House looms, 2030 will have a more lasting impact.

The census that year will reshape both the presidential and congressional map, moving electoral votes and House seats south because of population shifts. This will only make the Sun Belt more pivotal.

And if Democrats aren’t competitive there, they’ll not only have a hard time claiming the presidency, they’ll risk being shut out of power in the House in an era when they’ve struggled to win Senate seats in vast swaths of the country (they haven’t had more than 51 senators in their caucus for over a decade).

No, governors can’t automatically deliver states for their presidential nominees. But the chief executives can forge coalitions to demonstrate what's possible while also rebuilding the machinery in states such as Florida and Texas, where the party has atrophied. Neither state has elected a Democratic governor since the '90s. And while Georgia has elected a pair of promising senators, they’ve not elected a Democratic governor this century. And if they don’t this year, neither Sens. Raphael Warnock nor Jon Ossoff may be on the 2028 national ticket given that a Republican would appoint their Senate successor.

Most tangibly, Democratic governors can play a role in redistricting, whether it’s after the next census or in the seemingly perpetual arms race that is reapportionment today.

“If we can run point on the next redistricting, we can claw back four or six congressional seats,” Jolly told me, alluding to outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) middecade redraw to suggest he’d do the same even before the census. “I call it the DeSantis Precedent: Why can't I draw new maps when I get there?"

Between just Florida, Texas and Georgia, there are currently 80 House seats. That number is expected to grow to 88 or 89 after the next census. Add in Arizona and Nevada, the two Western presidential battlegrounds of this era, and the future number could be as high as 114 — five Sun Belt states accounting for over a quarter of the entire House.

Arizona, where Gov. Katie Hobbs is seeking reelection, is likely to remain in Democratic hands — and will as long as Republicans keep nominating Kari Lakes rather than Doug Duceys. But Democrats may not have a better chance at flipping governorships in the rest of these states than this year.

To do so, they’ll have to overcome a mountain of money.

In Texas, that means state Rep. Gina Hinojosa overcoming a three-term incumbent, Gov. Greg Abbott, who entered the year with over $100 million on hand. In Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is confronting a wealthy executive, Rick Jackson, who has poured over $100 million of his own fortune into the race since the primary. And in Nevada, the gap isn’t quite as vast — but Gov. Joe Lombardo outraised Attorney General Aaron Ford about 5-to-1 in the first half of the year.

In the Midwest, Democrats are facing another self-funder in Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, who can continue to write checks against Democrat Amy Acton, after former Sen. Sherrod Brown passed on the race in favor of another Senate bid, in part because, between national donors and super PACs, it's easier to finance. In Wisconsin, Republicans have been elevated by a sudden infusion of over $24 million from three donors. The flood of cash may not be enough to defeat Democrat David Crowley but could have downballot implications should Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany close the race to the infinitesimal margins that have marked Wisconsin elections in recent years.

“Even if he only loses narrowly, the flood of Republican money could keep the state Legislature in GOP hands, denying Democrats a once-in-a-generation shot at unified control of the Wisconsin state government and a chance to undo the GOP’s House gerrymander and address its intentionally restrictive voting laws before the next presidential race,” said former Wisconsin Democratic Chair Ben Wikler.

Back at The Floridian, Jolly conceded that part of his challenge is that Florida has, in the years after Obama carried it twice, taken on the reputation as fool’s gold for Democratic donors, much in the same way as Texas.

“We've had data for six months showing this race tied or us up, and people just struggle to accept the data because it’s Florida,” he said, as TV ads above the bar blared with political commercials. “It’s a lot of heartbreak for people.”

Jolly’s concern is that it’s getting late early — there’s no such thing as an Election Day in Florida. “I think 60% of the state has voted by Oct. 20,” he said.

But if Jolly, a former Republican House member who became a Democrat in the Trump era and whose accent evokes Matthew McConaughey, can narrow the spending gap this month, he may have a chance to spring an upset.

He’s running almost entirely on a mantra of being for housing, health care and education and against data centers.

Polls show him winning enough Republicans and unaffiliates to be close, vital in a state where Democratic registration has collapsed. And Jolly’s GOP opponent, Rep. Byron Donalds, recently took down his website’s Trump endorsement language, only to restore it after it was revealed, and Trump issued a barely veiled threat. (Stephen A. Smith, though, has surfaced on Donalds' mailers.)

Donalds also faces the challenge of overcoming a history of Black Republicans being rejected in gubernatorial and Senate races: No African American conservative has won either, without first being appointed, since Massachusetts Sen. Ed Brooke was reelected in 1972.

Jolly is careful about Donalds’ race and even made a point, at a Black church in Palm Beach County, of acknowledging to the audience that he grasped his opponent’s history-making potential.

That was before the verse-quoting Democrat, the son of a Baptist pastor, laid out a detailed indictment about Donalds' record on race-related issues and brought the audience to their feet by saying Florida schoolchildren must know about the state’s Rosewood massacre.

Jolly said he saw similarities between himself and James Talarico, the Senate candidate in Texas and another devout Christian Democrat.

To compete as a Democrat these days in Florida and Texas, it does take faith. But it also requires cash. And unless Jolly finds more of it, he may wind up coming up just short.

Isn’t the most likely scenario, I argued, that he benefits from an extraordinary Democratic year but ultimately loses by a percentage point and a half or so because the state has just become so Republican and the financial gap is so vast?

“It's always a possibility,” he conceded.

But, sipping his tea, Jolly said Trump’s crushing win here in 2024 didn’t tell the whole story and that a series of special elections pointed to considerable Democratic enthusiasm and Republican apathy.

His conclusion: “Donalds has spent over $80 million, and this race is tied, or we're ahead.”

This article originally appeared on Politico at https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/10/03/democrats-have-a-money-problem-in-the-races-that-matter-the-most-01105500

By Donna Bryson and Jonathan Allen

Oct 3 - Women, some citing their own experiences of sexual assault, are posting on social media that they are Jane Doe, in solidarity with the woman using the pseudonym in accusing fraternity members of raping her at Cornell University in 2024.

In a case that has drawn national attention, the woman is suing ‌seven fraternity members and the Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York, among others.

And although New York law allows "Jane Doe" anonymity for sexual assault lawsuits, the Cornell student has become distressed ‌at attempts by some online skeptics of her account to discover her name and publish it, her lawyer said.

"I want us to support Jane Doe in coming to her own way of identifying herself in her own time," said Twanna LaTrice Hill, a writer ​and actor in Denver who has declared #IamJaneDoe on social media in recent days. "And if she never does, that's fine. But the flip side of that is that the people like me need to speak up if we are able to."

EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY ACCUSER DRAW BACKLASH

The woman, who was 20 at the time of the alleged 2024 gang rape, filed suit on September 16, prompting prosecutors to reopen a criminal investigation they had initially closed without charges. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed the state's attorney general as special prosecutor in the case and on Friday faulted police and prosecutors, saying they had not fully investigated the woman's allegations.

The accused men have ‌denied all wrongdoing, the New York Times reported. Cornell has defended its ⁠handling of the matter.

Since the woman filed her lawsuit, some commentators have sought to learn and publish the accuser's identity online, efforts that her lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, called an attempt to shame her.

"She's not doing well," Giuffra told CNN. "She's under siege on social media."

He said some women have been incorrectly identified as his client. "That's been really ⁠difficult," he said. "And she's gone through a lot."

Much of the online support for her has criticized independent journalist and commentator Michael Tracey, who has expressed sympathy for the accused men over what he says is the harassment they have since faced. Tracey has also questioned the accounts of victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Tracey, who did not respond to a Reuters request for an interview, describes his effort to identify the Cornell student as journalistic diligence ​protected ​by constitutional free speech protections.

"Let's see if anyone has the 'balls' to name this Jane Doe so we can all evaluate ​her veracity, and that of her lawyers, since her lawsuit didn't hesitate to ‌name & shame 7 of her peers as gang-rapists," Tracey posted on social media on Monday, one of multiple messages on the case.

Early on Friday, he posted what he believed to be the accuser's name, which Reuters was unable to verify, before quickly deleting it, saying his point had been made.

"But please do not harass her, her family, or anyone else associated with her," he wrote after deleting the name. "I'm serious. I wish her no harm. I feel bad for her in a way."

'YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE ON AN ISLAND'

A post by Amee Vanderpool, who publishes an online newsletter on Substack, was typical of a number of messages and videos shared by those outraged at Tracey's efforts.

"To anyone who is looking to find out the identity of Jane Doe in the Cornell rape case, look no further, because it's Amee Vanderpool," she wrote. "I am Jane ‌Doe."

Hill, 62, the writer in Denver, posted on Facebook this week about speaking publicly in 1990 about being raped when she ​was a teen by a youth minister who had counseled her.

"I was in absolutely no way trying to get other ​survivors to come forward or to go public if they did not feel ready," she wrote. "But ​I had hoped that as more of us coming forward, the stigma would be reduced. Perhaps it has in some small way, but not nearly enough. So I ‌stand before you today simply to say: #IamJaneDoe."

Katy Jacobson, a 35-year-old San Diegan who works ​with children with disabilities, said the hashtag can help survivors of ​sexual assault feel less alone.

"Because oftentimes you feel like you're on an island," said Jacobson, who added she felt fortunate to find support on campus when she was raped during college by a former boyfriend.

Some 21% of women in the US report being survivors of completed or attempted rape, according to the most recent figures from the US CDC's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence ​Survey.

At Cornell, 35% of undergraduate women reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact involving force ‌or incapacitation since arriving on campus, according to a university survey conducted in 2025 and published on its website. That was up from 20% in 2021.

Jacobson's posts direct people to ​organizations such as RAINN, which operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline.

"Even today, if you looked at my story, it has resources," Jacobson said. "I'm not posting about the men. I'm posting ​about Jane Doe."

(Reporting by Donna Bryson in Denver and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by William Mallard)

This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://ca.news.yahoo.com/women-declare-iamjanedoe-solidarity-cornell-100717739.html

The Cornell University gang rape allegation is the latest in a series of black marks for fraternities, leading critics to question why universities continue to support them.  

Fraternities, almost as old as the country itself, have been a staple at colleges for young men to come together with the stated goals of teaching leadership, community service and building friendships.  

But highly publicized incidents of sexual assault and hazing plague the groups, which could face a tough road to win back public trust. 

The alleged gang rape of a 20-year-old woman at the Chi Phi frat at Cornell in 2024 is the latest in a long list of incidents that have made the public wary of Greek life.  

A lawsuit filed last month by Jane Doe, the alleged victim who chose to remain anonymous, says on Oct. 20, 2024, she was coerced into alcohol and drugs at the fraternity and sexually assaulted by seven members.

During the alleged assault, one of the fraternity brothers sent a message to a Snapchat group for the frat saying there was "free p----" upstairs, according to a screenshot from the lawsuit.

The lawsuit targets Cornell, the Chi Phi fraternity, the victim's own sorority and the bar that served her alcohol at the beginning of the night when they allegedly knew she was underage.

Jud Horras, president and CEO of the Foundation for Fraternal Excellence, said the men accused of sexual assault and those who saw that message and did nothing to stop it engaged in "a complete failure of membership of their fraternal obligations."

"Expulsion from the fraternity, as well as suspension of the entire fraternity local chapter, is the exact right decisions that needed to happen," he added.

Meanwhile, in a less publicized incident across the country, a former Northern Arizona University frat leader was sentenced Wednesday to two months in jail over a hazing incident that resulted in the death of a pledge, one of at least three people this year who died from hazing incidents at fraternities. The victim's parents are reportedly calling for reforms to campus Greek life.

The data on hazing incidents and sexual assaults at frats is limited, with no conclusive nationwide numbers on whether the issue has become worse or how fraternities compare to other groups such as sports teams. 

But the Stop Campus Hazing Act passed in 2025 seeks to change that. Every Oct. 1, starting this year, institutions receiving federal student aid must publish their Annual Security Report and include hazing incident statistics, part of an effort to create the first national dataset showing the prevalence of hazing year-by-year.  

Elizabeth Allan, professor of higher education at the University of Maine and the founder of Stop Hazing, said her studies and interviews with students have shown her many involved in these situations don't support hazing but feel pressured by peers or alumni to keep "traditions" going.  

"We often hear from students that it's hard to change because the alumni of their organizations don't support change, and they come back to campus, and they want to see the old ways ... They didn't like being hazed themselves, and then when they became a leader in the organization, they tried to change, but they were outnumbered and often felt pressure from alums who, instead of being supportive of the change, reinforced the old ways," Allan said.  

"I think we could make a lot of headway toward prevention if students — if we could correct that misperceived norm," she added. "If students knew, 'Most of my peers agree with me that this is not good,' and they would feel more comfortable speaking out." 

It is estimated around 750,000 undergraduates are involved in fraternities and sororities across the country.

Backlash to incidents of sexual assault and hazing are often targeted at specific organizations, rather than Greek life in general.

Indiana University has placed five different frats on cease-and-desist, while Cornell disbanded Chi Phi in 2024 after Jane Doe's rape allegation came to light.

But some argue these punishments lack the oversight that would be needed to fix more structural problems.  

"I can't think of a fraternity that doesn't have some level of prevention education as a core function of their required experience. I think where the opportunity exists is that that it's got to move beyond compliance, and so what that really means is engaging in that type of education that's designed to transform and really challenge chapter culture, as opposed to just being a box that needs to be checked," said Jason Bergeron, executive director of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors.  

"The challenge, the real challenge for accountability is how that becomes not compliance focused, but becomes a part of really building positive chapter cultures and engaging in meaningful chapter change," he continued. 

Bergeron said the frats that succeed in changing their culture are the ones that engage with the Title IX professionals on their campus and invited diversity, equity and inclusion staff to their spaces.  

"I think it is a really important tool in inviting people in to sort of demystify how these conversations occur and how cultural change ultimately can occur within fraternities," he said. 

Those who support Greek life and fraternities say the negative headlines don't represent the thousands of men who take seriously their obligation to speak out and intervene during unlawful or dangerous situations.  

"The research is actually clear: Fraternity men do a better job at intervening than men who are not in a fraternity and holding peers accountable. That being said, there was a complete breakdown of the obligations of membership in this Cornell situation, and fraternity men across North America want to see those individuals held to the highest degree possible of individual accountability as a reinforcing message of just how much disgust they have in what happened," Horras said.  

But the long history of hazing and sexual assault leave some pessimistic that anything will fix the reputation frats have given themselves. 

"A good deal of the vitriol or the blame against fraternities seems pretty warranted to me," said Nick Syrett, author of "The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities" and chair and professor of gender and women's studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"I think the problem is the university trying to impose what we would think of as perfectly rational standards from above — it's not going to work unless the people who join the fraternities want to behave, and I don't see much evidence that lots of men joining fraternities do want to behave. They have sought out these organizations in part because of their reputations for drinking and partying and interactions with young women. So, I think it depends on the will of people to want to do the right thing," Syrett added. 

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/education/6126503-cornell-rape-chi-phi-frat-greek-life/

TEL AVIV — A Flydubai pilot attacked his fellow pilot using a crash axe and tried to take control of the aircraft’s flight controls in an attempted terrorist attack, an official in the United Arab Emirates said Saturday.

The name of the alleged attacker is Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami, multiple sources from three agencies briefed on the investigation, and a diplomat in the Middle East, told NBC News. Authorities have not officially released the identity.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that al-Hammami had “previously been banned from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted radical ideological views.”

Oman Air did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he previously worked for them.

Emirati officials are leading investigations into the mid-air incident, which occurred Wednesday on a flight carrying 174 mostly Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv. A crash was averted, according to eyewitnesses and Israeli officials, when crew and passengers were able to enter the cabin and subdue the alleged attacker.

“Investigations into the incident aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 revealed that the co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act,” UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al Shamsi said in an update on Saturday.

“The co-pilot began executing his plan during the flight, attacking the captain inside the flight deck using a crash axe and attempting to take control of the aircraft’s flight controls,” he said.

Al-Hammami was transferred from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi on Thursday, the Saudi Interior Ministry said. The statement said his health had “improved,” but his medical condition was unclear.

Al Shamsi said investigations were ongoing to “establish the full circumstances, motives, and any links related to the incident.”

Israeli Government Spokesman David Mencer said Friday that Israeli investigators would “join their Emirati counterparts in investigating this attempted mass murder and establishing precisely what happened, his motives and background.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday: “As time passes, the picture becomes clearer: the attacker had undergone Islamist radicalization. He came to crash the plane, along with its passengers.”

He did not say how he reached that conclusion, but added: “We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price.”

Netanyahu’s spokesman Doron Spielman told NBC News that the alleged attacker “talks on his social media about killing Jews.”

The alleged victim of the axe attack, Indian national Capt. Smit Machchhar, spoke for the first time Friday from a hospital in Abu Dhabi.

Machchhar was widely praised for his efforts to prevent the plane from crashing, opening the cockpit door and allowing passengers and crewmembers to rush in.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Machchhar said he had been “severely injured” and “could sense that the aircraft was going down.”

“I was acting for my own life, but at the same time, I knew I couldn’t let all of them die,” he said on a video call released by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that he told himself to “give just one last push” to the cockpit door.

The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi called Machchhar the “Indian braveheart,” saying in an X post Saturday that he “remains under excellent medical care & is recovering well.”

The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Hamdan Bon Mohamad, posted photos to X after visiting Machchhar in hospital, kissing his head and shaking his hand. Machchhar, with one arm in a cast and medical dressings on his head, appears awake and smiling.

“From us, and from the leadership of the nation, he has our full appreciation and praise,” he wrote.

Ayelet Epstein, a 47-year-old Israeli, told NBC News that her 14-year-old daughter asked if they were going to die when they heard shouting and “a huge fall started.”

“I told her, no, I don’t think so, we’re going to be OK,” she said, adding that “I was trying to rationalize things in a hopeful way for her.”

Epstein thanked Machchhar “from the bottom of my heart” for saving their lives, lauding his bravery.

A Flydubai spokesperson said Saturday: “We recognise that there are many questions at this stage; however, the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation. We are therefore not in a position to comment further beyond our published statements.”

The spokesperson added: “We remain fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation and are in close coordination with the relevant government authorities and regulators.”

President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that there would be renewed strikes against Iran if it was behind the attack.

“You just ask them,” he said. “They know what happened. They’ll be hit very hard.”

There are no indications that Iran directed or was involved in the attack, a senior U.S. official briefed on the Israeli investigation told NBC News.

Raf Sanchez and Shira Pinson reported from Tel Aviv. Freddie Clayton reported from London. Tom Winter and Jonathan Dienst reported from New York.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

This article originally appeared on NBC News at https://www.nbcnews.com/world/middle-east/flydubai-pilot-attacked-captain-cockpits-crash-axe-attempted-terrorist-rcna601259

On Nov. 7, 2024, two weeks after the incident at Chi Phi, Jane Doe submitted to a sexual assault examination and evidence collection process, according to the police records. (Heather Ainsworth for NBC News)

Cornell University police spoke to witnesses and received anonymous tips about an alleged gang rape at a fraternity house in the first weeks of its investigation two years ago, but the local prosecutor did not review the additional information before deciding not to bring charges.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said he based his decision not to pursue charges on the accuser’s initial six-page statement given to police.

Investigators from the campus police department documented those witness interviews and other steps taken to determine whether Jane Doe, a 20-year-old woman who reported the incident, was the victim of sexual assault during a party at the Chi Phi house from Oct. 19 to 20, 2024, according police records obtained by NBC News.

Documents reviewed by NBC News offer the most thorough look to date at how police handled the allegations from Jane Doe, who last month filed a lawsuit against Cornell University and seven Chi Phi brothers who she alleges sexually assaulted her over the course of hours while she was under the influence of ketamine, alcohol and marijuana.

Van Houten, along with police and university officials, has come under intense fire for their handling of the matter. Jane Doe’s attorney has argued that she was failed by authorities who did not conduct a thorough investigation and who prejudged the events based on her earlier statement that she consented to parts of the night.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced the appointment of Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to consider whether charges are appropriate.

“In what world does the district attorney not even interview her or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript” of the victim’s interview, Hochul asked Friday at a news conference announcing James’s appointment.

On Nov. 25, 2024, a police investigator approached Van Houten’s office to tell them about interviews they’d done.

An investigator in Van Houten’s office, according to the documents, replied that “he and several [attorneys] at the District Attorney’s Office had read [Jane Doe’s] statement … [and] stated that they all agreed that, based on [Jane Doe’s] statement, criminal charges would not be pursued in this case.”

Cornell University on Friday. Jane Doe was only notified by Cornell police about the district attorney’s determination not to pursue charges nearly two months later, on Jan. 21, 2025. (Heather Ainsworth for NBC News)

Van Houten defended his decision Monday and said that Jane Doe’s statement did not allege criminality. He also agreed to reopen his inquiry before that role was assigned to the attorney general.

When reached for comment by email Friday, Van Houten argued “there was nothing to review” in that discussion with police because the interviews flagged “were each of the frat members declining to speak on the advice of their attorney.”

Van Houten did not respond to a follow-up request asking whether he was told about interviews with other fraternity members in addition to tips from callers.

The records also show that police received a portion of a larger Snapchat thread where one member of the group announced there was “free p----” in the alumni room of the house, where Jane Doe engaged in what she said was initially a consensual threesome.

“Similarly there was no material obtained by CUPD from Snapchat (what was provided came from a witness),” Van Houten added. “So again nothing to review.”

It was unclear whether Van Houten was aware that on Nov. 26, 2024, police made a request to Snapchat for a more complete data history.

That request was answered on Dec. 23, when police said they obtained 1,665 pieces of data from five Snapchat accounts.

“After reviewing all of the data returned from Snapchat, there appeared to be only 3 snapchats that included [Jane Doe] or mentioned this incident,” a CUPD investigator wrote. “None of these 3 snapchats show anything that can be construed as being criminal in nature. No further action taken.”

Jane Doe was only notified by Cornell police about the district attorney’s Nov. 25 determination not to pursue charges nearly two months later on, Jan. 21, 2025.

Van Houten added that his office had “no part in the timing” of conveying his decision to Jane Doe, who was never interviewed by his office.

Thomas Giuffra, the attorney representing Jane Doe, learned about that delay from NBC News’ request for comment Friday. He said that his client — during that two-month window — believed “they were still investigating.”

“I was unaware that they had made the decision to not prosecute in November,” Giuffra said. “If so, that is worse than I thought.”

On Nov. 7, 2024, two weeks after the incident at Chi Phi, Jane Doe submitted to a sexual assault examination and evidence collection process, according to the police records. She had gone to the university health center shortly after the alleged assault to get treatment for a urinary tract infection, but was not offered a rape kit at the time, Giuffra said. He called it “the first failure post assault when she was trying to get help.” Cornell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The attorney called it “a code or cry for help to say something bad happened” when Jane Doe told them that she “has a UTI of a traumatic origin.” Giuffra said the medical staff should have asked her: “What kind of trauma do you think caused this UTI?”

He noted that had the health center referred Jane Doe to an outside facility for an examination, there might have been recoverable DNA because she was there within 48 hours.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at rainn.org/get-help.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

This article originally appeared on NBC News at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/da-not-review-additional-evidence-cornell-police-collected-alleged-gan-rcna601252

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said the US government will send a one-time $90 payment to more than 20 million ‌Americans enrolled in Medicare, a health insurance program for the elderly, ‌to help offset the cost of their monthly medical insurance premiums.

Trump said on social media late ​on Friday the payments will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, which he said was given $2 billion by Congress to improve the Medicare fee-for-service program.

The announcement is the latest in a series of financial promises the Republican leader has made to ‌voters heading into the November ⁠midterm elections where control of Congress is at stake.

Trump's Republican Party currently has a narrow majority in both the Senate ⁠and the House of Representatives but his approval rating has been low over his handling of the high cost of living for Americans during the US-Israeli war on ​Iran that ​has spiked oil and gas prices.

The White ​House released some details of ‌Trump's plan on its website, saying most eligible seniors will receive the payment in the form of a direct deposit of $90 in early October.

Those without direct deposit will receive a check, also sent in early October, to the mailing address they have registered with Medicare, the White House said.

Last month, Trump proposed sending $5,000 ‌checks to all adult citizens if the ​Republicans keep control of the House and Senate ​in the midterms, though analysts, economists ​and even some Republicans in Congress reacted with skepticism to ‌the plan.

The Trump administration is also ​separately sending $500 payments to ​nearly 1 million Americans in a move that strategists say could potentially influence some election races.

The White House says those payments were a refund ​for what it describes ‌as excessive fees charged to people who purchased health insurance through ​the Affordable Care Act.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Devika ​Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-says-us-send-one-045116568.html