Swirling federal investigations test New York City mayor’s ability to govern

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is facing mounting questions over his ability to govern after federal investigators seized phones from multiple officials in his administration, compounding scrutiny of a Democrat who was already ensnared in an apparently separate criminal probe.

AP News

Latino immigrants are extorted out of over $800 in average before they get to the U.S. border

The most common perpetrators of extortion were police officers, immigration officials, drug-traffickers or gangs and the military

The Latin Times

Republican former VP Dick Cheney says he will vote for Kamala Harris

Dick Cheney said on Friday that “in our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”

He added: “As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Reuters

Advocates demand justice after US protester killed in Israeli gunfire

The fatal shooting of a 26-year-old Turkish American protester in the occupied West Bank has sparked fresh calls for the United States to demand accountability from Israel’s armed forces.

But advocates say justice for US citizens killed by Israeli soldiers has long proven elusive, with many accusing the administration of President Joe Biden of applying a double standard to Israel and its military.

AlJazeera

House Republicans unveil bill to avert partial government shutdown, but Senate Democrats say it’s nonstarter

House Republicans on Friday unveiled legislation to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month and fund the government until March 28, when a new president and Congress would be able to decide agency spending and priorities for the 2025 fiscal year.

However, Republicans added a contentious immigration issue to the short-term spending bill, requiring states to obtain proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, when people register to vote. Inclusion of the citizenship requirement is a nonstarter in the Senate, complicating prospects for the spending bill’s passage.

CBS News

Mayorkas: Texas’ immigration policies have wreaked havoc and disorder

The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary specifically called out the state’s policy of busing migrants to cities in other parts of the country.

The Texas Tribune

Spinal Tap Is Latest Group To Forbid Trump From Using Its Music

On Friday, Shearer (aka Tap bassist Derek Smalls) posted on X, formerly Twitter, demanding “that the Trump campaign refrain from playing ‘Sex Farm’ at their rallies.”

…Shearer’s post was probably meant as a joke since (A) he is a comedy legend and (B)  the chances of any campaign, even Trump’s, using a song with lyrics including “Working on a sex farm/ Trying to raise some hard love/ Getting out my pitchfork/ Poking your hay” are slim.

Huffpost

Nate Silver faces backlash for pro-Trump model skewing

X users say the FiveThirtyEight founder made some dubious data choices to boost Trump

Salon

Texas sues to stop a rule that shields the medical records of women who seek abortions elsewhere

Texas has sued the Biden administration to try to block a federal rule that shields the medical records of women from criminal investigations if they cross state lines to seek abortion where it is legal.

AP News

New York congressman renews push to make Sept. 11 a federal holiday

D’Esposito has reintroduced a bipartisan bill to designate the 11th of September a national holiday to ensure that one of the darkest days in our history is taught in schools. 

“And really to reflect on what happened to this great country that day and, sometimes even more importantly, who was responsible for it,” he said.

CBS News

Major roadblocks in Gaza ceasefire talks raise doubts over whether war can be ended before Biden leaves office

The Biden administration has hit major roadblocks in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations after months of feverish work, raising doubts within the White House about whether the Israel-Hamas war can come to an end before the end of Joe Biden’s one-term presidency, officials told CNN.

CNN

Trans people worry that voting might be harder this year with new laws. They’re also preparing.

Trans advocates are working to prevent election workers from stopping trans people from voting.

LGBTQ Nation

Elon Musk in Deep Trouble as Even More Advertisers Are Planning to Leave Twitter’s Toxic Cesspool

“X has changed so much in recent years and can be unpredictable from one day to the next.”

Futurism

Trump Now Says Migrants Are Coming To Take ‘Hispanic Jobs’

During remarks on Thursday afternoon at the Economic Club of New York he claimed that “Hispanic American jobs are under massive threat from the invasion taking place at our border. They are taking the jobs of Hispanic Americans, African-Americans.”

Trump claims it’s happening but “no one talks about it.”

He also said the real incomes for Hispanic men are down $3,600 a year.

Trump has often railed this summer against immigrants for taking what he calls “Black jobs,” apparently indicating work just about anyone can get.

He hasn’t detailed what specific jobs and professions he’s referring to, but critics suspect he isn’t talking about rocket scientists, molecular biologists, presidents or even real estate developers.

International Business Times

Brazil grants 32 immigrants right not to be forcibly repatriated

Brazil’s has guaranteed 32 immigrants of various nationalities who are at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport the right not to be forcibly repatriated, according to court rulings seen by Reuters.

The preliminary rulings answer to habeas corpus requests filed by the Federal Public Defender’s Office asking for the immigrants not to be repatriated and given the legal right to request refuge in Brazil.

Reuters

China shifts gear in Africa as it looks to a green future

While the influence of others on the continent is questioned – for instance, France and the rest of the EU are being shunned by the Sahelian military juntas, and Russia’s mercenary-security “offer” is regarded with deep mistrust by pro-Western African governments – China has navigated a middle way.

BBC

Christmas comes early for Maduro, but joy is limited in a troubled Venezuela

“September is arriving and so I said it already smells like Christmas,” Maduro recounted earlier this week on state television. “And because of that, and as a homage to all of you, I am going to decree the early start of Christmas for the first of October for everyone! Christmas has arrived, bringing peace, happiness and safety for all!,” he declared.

Miami Herald

Israeli displacement of West Bank Palestinians into Jordan will be ‘act of war’: Safadi

Jordan’s FM hit out at Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct in both the West Bank and Israel, calling any attempts to displace Palestinians akin to ‘an act of war’.

The New Arab

Japan Abandons “Marriage Relocation” Plan for City Women

Japan’s government had what it thought was a brilliant idea: pay single Tokyo women to move to the countryside to get married. Unfortunately for the government, most people found the proposal a wee bit sexist.

Unseen Japan

Pakistani resident of Canada arrested on US terror charges

A Pakistani man living in Canada has been arrested on charges of plotting to carry out an attack on Jews in New York City, the US Justice Department said Friday.

AFP

Airlines now stop ‘undesirables’ from boarding flights to Hong Kong

Anyone traveling to Hong Kong will now have their personal details sent to the city authorities before they board their flight, making it easier for officials to turn away foreign journalists, members of international organizations, and anyone else they see as “undesirable” before they travel, rights activists warned.

Radio Free Asia

Mexican Opposition Says It Has Votes to Block AMLO’s Reform

Mexico’s opposition is pledging to block President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s controversial overhaul of the judicial system in the Senate, where the ruling coalition is within a hair of securing a two-thirds majority needed to change the Constitution.

Bloomberg

As Chile shifts right, its presidential campaign sees competing ultra-conservatives

The 2020s have seen enormous political shifts in Chile. A historic push to replace a constitution drafted during the Pinochet dictatorship saw some of the left’s greatest-ever victories in the country. These culminated with the election of Gabriel Boric, a progressive former student activist who rode a wave of momentum from the constitutional reform drive to become Chile’s 37th president.

But since Boric took office in March of 2022, that momentum has reversed. The proposed constitution, written by a publicly-elected body with a markedly left-wing and anti-establishment character, was firmly rejected by voters in a referendum held later that year. By that time, political headwinds were already headed towards the right, with Boric approval sinking. The next election for a constitutional assembly, now to be guided by a council of experts, saw a shocking victory for the pro-Pinochet nationalists of the Republican Party.

Semafor

Mexico’s Sheinbaum names defense minister, Navy chief

Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum Friday announced her picks to serve as the country’s top military leaders once she takes office next month, naming General Ricardo Trevilla as defense minister and Admiral Raymundo Morales to lead the Navy.

Reuters

Has Macron fixed France’s political mess?

So how do you persuade a man like Emmanuel Macron to accept that he may, at last, have messed up badly?

The short answer, judging from the past few weeks, appears to be that you cannot.

BBC