How the US supreme court and an Idaho couple upended wetlands protection

This case, brought by an Idaho couple, Michael and Chantell Sackett, who wanted to fill in a section of wetland to develop a house in Priest Lake without getting a permit first, has upended previous assumptions about the protection of wetlands and now places many of the remaining, prized wetlands at risk. In August, the Environmental Protection Agency released a new, scaled-down set of water protections that its administrator, Michael Regan, said was necessary after the “disappointing” supreme court decision.

The Guardian

Former Vice President Mike Pence suspends campaign for president

“Then Bible tells us, that there’s a time for every purpose under heaven. Traveling across the country over the past six months, I came here to say, it’s become clear to me, this is not my time. So after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective immediately,” Pence said on stage at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Annual Leadership Summit in Las Vegas.

ABC News

The Trump era has changed the politics of local elections in Georgia, a pivotal 2024 battleground

Going into the 2024 presidential election, the dynamics in Johns Creek and other nearby Atlanta suburbs reflect how partisan and cultural divisions that intensified since Trump’s 2016 run have trickled down to local campaigns. Some activists and voters now view these nominally nonpartisan contests as critical fronts in shaping the nation’s identity.

AP News

Debt union erases nearly $10 million in student debt at Morehouse College

This week, Morehouse College announced it has partnered with the Debt Collective, a non-profit debt relief advocacy group, to purchase and forgive “every single penny of account balances” on institutional loans through the Fall 2022 term, according to a statement from the college.

The “no strings attached” gift to the historically Black, all-men’s college, amounted to nearly $10 million of student loan forgiveness on more than 2,700 accounts that owed debt to the College, the release said.

CNN

Court blocks Idaho’s deeply transphobic student bathroom bill

Challengers of the law say that it violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.

LGBTQ Nation

How LGBTQ+ History Month Began

LGBTQ+ History Month, celebrated every October in the United States, sheds light on and celebrates the experiences and contributions of the LGBTQ+ community throughout history. This commemorative month took shape in 1994, thanks to the initiative of a high school teacher named Rodney Wilson.

Advocate

Political danger for Biden receding as second automaker has deal with UAW

The pieces are lining up for President Joe Biden to lay claim to a victory for his pro-union stance as the second of Detroit’s Big Three car companies reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers, President Shawn Fain confirmed Saturday evening.

Politico

Palestinian civilians ‘didn’t deserve to die’ in Israeli strikes, US chief security adviser says

Thousands of Palestinians killed in Israel’s attacks on Gaza over the past three weeks “did not deserve to die”, according to the US national security adviser, in a marked softening of the Biden administration’s hardline support of Israel.

The Guardian

Nikki Haley accuses Donald Trump of pursuing ‘chaos, vendettas and drama’ at Jewish Republican event

Nikki Haley criticized Donald Trump on Saturday for praising foreign strongmen and warned that his style of “chaos, vendettas and drama” would be dangerous, making her sharpest critiques of the former president as the two GOP presidential candidates and their rivals addressed an influential group of Jewish Republicans.

“Eight years ago, it was good to have a leader who broke things,” Haley said of Trump. “But right now, we need to have a leader who also knows how to put things back together.”

AP News

How to Support Intersex People on Intersex Awareness Day — And Every Day

October 26 is Intersex Awareness Day. Intersex people have always existed, but it wasn’t until the mid 20th century that U.S. medical practitioners began paying a particular kind of attention to our natural sex differences. Since the 1950s, intersex people have been the targets of nonconsensual medical interventions in attempts to fit our bodies into a false sex binary. The first time intersex people took a stance and demonstrated publicly against our medicalization was on October 26, 1996 in Boston. We celebrate that act of courage annually on Intersex Awareness Day, and on every other day of the year.

them

Biden, absent from the NH primary ballot, could benefit from write-in efforts

President Joe Biden will not be on the ballot in New Hampshire, the first primary election of the 2024 cycle, but Democrats from the state say there is a path forward — though a challenging one — for him to still clinch their contest.

ABC News

LGBTQ+ History: When NOW Purged Lesbians From Its Feminist Movement

NOW was itself a groundbreaking organization, which made Friedan’s purging of lesbians from that organization in 1970 — after calling lesbians the “lavender menace” in an interview with the New York Times magazine — significant on a myriad of levels. That action effectively separated lesbians from mainstream feminism, just as they had been separated by gender from the decidedly male gay liberation movement.

Advocate

Prominent US figures face backlash and firings for pro-Palestinian statements

“I have never lived through a more chilling period,” Goldin, who is Jewish and had signed the open letter, said to the Times. “People are being blacklisted. People are losing their jobs.”

The Guardian

In one week, the GOP could win a political trifecta in Virginia that could upend abortion access in the South

Youngkin wants to impose a 15-week abortion ban in Virginia. The Commonwealth currently permits abortion through the second trimester, or approximately 26 weeks, which currently makes the state a safe haven among its Southern counterparts, many of which have adopted far stricter regulations in the post-Roe landscape.

Insider

Term limits for Congress are wildly popular. But most experts say they’d be a bad idea

Burgat says term limits don’t solve the core problems in American politics that make people dislike Congress — things like gerrymandering, political polarization and the influence of special interests, as well as money in politics.

In fact, academics have broadly found that the effects of term limits are often either mixed or fall short of what proponents claim.

NPR

Mission impossible? Biden says Mideast leaders must consider a two-state solution after the war ends

“There’s no going back to the status quo as it stood on Oct. 6,” Biden told reporters, referring to the day before Hamas militants attacked Israel and set off the latest war. The White House says Biden conveyed the same message directly to Netanyahu during a telephone call this past week.

“It also means that when this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next, and in our view it has to be a two-state solution,” Biden said.

AP News

‘A kind of tribalism’: US supporters of Israel and Palestine fail to admit suffering of other side

“I know Vivian Silver who is right now presumed a hostage in Gaza. She’s someone I worked with. If I post about her, I will get messages from some of my Muslim or Arab friends who are angry and saying, ‘Aren’t you seeing what’s happening in Gaza?’” he said.

“Or if I post about somebody who was killed in Gaza, I get crazy angry messages like, ‘No, right now you need to only worry about what Hamas did to Israel, and how could you talk about this? This supports Hamas.’ Literally. It’s just so hardcore.”

The Guardian

Taiwan holds Asia’s largest Pride after gay rights milestone

Around 180,000 people marked in Taipei on Saturday for Asia’s largest Pride parade.

Taiwan Pride took place months after adoption rights were extended to same-sex couples in the country, which is at the forefront of LGBTQ rights in Asia.

Deutsche Welle

Canadians came out in force to rally for trans kids against forced outing policy

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan has become the latest battleground over the rights of transgender people.

After conservatives in the local government passed a bill requiring schools to out trans children to their parents, residents poured out in support of the trans community. The law would require parental consent for kids to request that schools use their chosen name or preferred pronouns.

LGBTQ Nation

US strikes Syria bases used by Iran-linked groups

The US has carried out air strikes against two weapons and ammunition storage facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

BBC

Japan Court Rules It Is ‘Unconstitutional’ to Force Transgender People Be Sterilized

Japan’s top court has ruled that a government requirement for transgender people to be sterilized before they could be legally recognized was unconstitutional, in a victory for the country’s LGBTQ community years in the making.

Advocate

Thousands rally in Pakistan against Israel’s bombing in Gaza, chanting anti-American slogans

Thousands of supporters from Pakistan’s main religious political party rallied in the capital, Islamabad, on Sunday against Israel’s bombing of Palestinians in Gaza, chanting anti-American slogans and accusing the U.S. of “backing the aggressor.”

AP News

Egypt Gas Imports Stop, Govt Says, After Israeli Field Shut

Egypt’s natural gas imports have ground to a halt, the cabinet said Sunday, in a development that reflects the impact of the Gaza conflict on the North African nation and could dash hopes of a resumption of exports to Europe.

Bloomberg

Spanish Church sexual abuse affected 200,000 children, commission finds

More than 200,000 children are estimated to have suffered sexual abuse from Spain’s Catholic clergy, an independent commission has found.

BBC

Catholic synod agrees ‘urgent need to expand role for women’ – but stops short of action

A month-long Roman Catholic congress has agreed on the “urgent” need to give women decision-making roles in the Church, but stopped short of suggesting any concrete action to achieve it.

“There is an urgent need for women to participate in decision-making processes“ the final declaration said.

The Telegraph

Gaza: No way out, even for dual citizens

Mathkour isn’t alone with her fears and worries. Until now, no country has managed to evacuate any of its nationals or dual citizens from the Palestinian enclave, which has been under bombardment by the Israeli military for the last three weeks.

Deutsche Welle

Africa’s rich LGBTQ+ history has long been suppressed & activists are taking a stand

In a world that is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of embracing diversity and acknowledging the stories of marginalized communities, Nigeria stands as a complex backdrop. Despite a long history of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and legislation, the country has seen the emergence of organizations like Obodo Nigeria, which is dedicated to celebrating and conserving Africa’s queer history. “We are an organization that uses art and technology as a medium for advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights in Nigeria,” Matthew Blaise, founder of Obodo Nigeria tells LGBTQ Nation.

LGBTQ Nation

Online Safety Bill: divisive internet rules become law

After years of debate, the government’s controversial Online Safety Bill, which aims to make the internet safer for children, has become law.

BBC

Crowds return for Halloween weekend one year after Seoul crush tragedy

On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Halloween crowd crush that left 159 dead, small groups of visitors returned to bars and clubs near the Itaewon site of the tragedy amid a massive security presence.

UPI

US Says Cease-Fire Talks Have Resumed in Sudanese Conflict

The US State Department said cease-fire talks have reconvened between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces militia in a bid to resolve a months-long battle for control of the African nation.

Bloomberg

Georgians fear influx of migrants from Russia after Ukraine invasion

Fifteen years after Russia invaded neighboring Georgia, many in the country fear President Vladimir Putin has launched a new “quiet invasion” focused on disinformation campaigns and anti-Western propaganda in an attempt to extend Russia’s reach.

CBS News

South Africa win World Cup: ‘I can’t believe what we did’

“Sport has the power to transform individuals […] and lift the spirits of entire nations,” said South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, who positioned himself next to Kolisi as he lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in the Stade de France on Saturday night. “Tonight, Siya Kolisi and the 2023 World Cup champions have gifted us an extraordinary, inspired and inspiring national achievement that lifts our hearts and hoists our flag even higher.”

Deutsche Welle

Ghana power crisis: Limited gas supply triggers nationwide power outage

Many parts of Ghana were plunged into darkness due to a lack of gas to power machinery used to generate electricity in the country.

BBC

Fresh Off Hosting the Pan American Games, Chile Pursues Greater Glories Aiming for a Future Olympic Dream

President Gabriel Boric later announced that his new goal is to host the Special Olympics World Summer Games in 2027. The president aims for a successful upcoming sports event. In the midst of the hope that the Olympic Games will be held in the country, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, praised the development of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

Essentially Sports

Bibi’s War: How Incompetence, Opportunism, and Rejection Led to a Catastrophe for Israel and Palestine

The Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7 have led to a brutal Israel invasion of Gaza and a humanitarian disaster. Now civilians are paying the price for decades of Benjamin Netanyahu’s deeply cynical policies, corruption and lust for power

Rolling Stone

Egypt’s crucial role in Israel-Hamas peace talks

Egypt, with a complex history involving both Israel and Hamas, plays a crucial role in peace negotiations and the future of Palestinian refugees.

Scripps News

Israel recalls diplomats from Turkey in Gaza row

Israel has recalled diplomats from Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused it of behaving like a “war criminal”.

Chrome