‘I’m a Christian for trans rights’: pro-LGBTQ+ Missouri pastor runs for office

Shumway is something of an anomaly in this deep red state: a clergy member advocating for LGBTQ+ equality.

Missouri in recent years has been at the center of a national push to limit the rights of trans and queer people. State officials have pushed to outlaw healthcare for trans youth, block trans kids from sports, restrict trans people’s bathroom access and censor LGBTQ+ content.

The Guardian

Voting groups that got a boost from Harris’ candidacy are still working to persuade voters of color

Left-leaning voter engagement groups that saw a surge in support and energy after Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the Democrats’ White House nominee are aligning with a key pillar of her campaign in the final stretch before Election Day — trying to turn out uncommitted voters of color.

AP News

Donald Trump’s trans panic could cost lives. Just look at the Lavender Scare.

This isn’t the first time Americans have witnessed the impact rumors and innuendos can have on entire communities.

LGBTQ Nation

Everyday activists buy up $10 million in student debt then wipe it away for 3,000 people

They bought the debt for just $125,000, proving change can happen without a billionaire’s help.

Upworthy

A New Jersey Initiative is Looking to Make Latino History Mandatory in the State’s Public Schools

New Jersey has a rapidly growing Hispanic and Latino population, accounting for about 22% of the state’s 1.1 million residents

The Latin Times

North Carolina grapples with holding election in hurricane disaster zone

Candidates weigh how to balance disaster relief with campaigning as election boards work around damaged polling stations and misinformation

The Guardian

Sarah McBride on her run to become first trans member of the House

When “Sunday Morning” first met McBride during the pandemic, she was already making history as the first trans person ever elected to a state senate seat, becoming America’s highest-ranking transgender elected official. Now, at age 34, with almost two terms under her belt, she is running for higher office, but says it is not about her identity as a trans woman:

“I think that folks know that I am personally invested in equality as an LGBTQ person,” she said. “But my priorities are going to be affordable child care, paid family and medical leave, housing, health care, reproductive freedom.”

CBS News

Ready for daylight saving time 2024? Here’s when it ends and we ‘fall back’

The twice-annual time change is set to end on Sunday, Nov. 3 as the clocks for millions, but not all Americans will “fall back” an hour in order to allow for more daylight in the mornings. The time change won’t return until March 2025, when daylight saving time will begin again.

USA Today

Texas’ junk science law is getting another look over Robert Roberson’s case

When Robert Roberson’s execution was abruptly halted in Texas, it was due to a subpoena ordering him to testify over a legal backstop that both Republicans and Democrats say should had saved him long ago: Texas’ junk science law.

AP News

Oklahoma parents and teachers sue to stop top education official’s classroom Bible mandate

A group of Oklahoma parents of public school students, teachers and ministers filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the state’s top education official from forcing schools to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for students in grades 5 through 12.

CNN

Democrats travel deep into Trump country in fight for prize state

With margins razor-thin in not just North Carolina, but other battleground states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan,Harris’scampaign will have to excite Democratic voters from across all corners of the state – not just the blueurban areas, but the deep-redcountryside, too.

BBC

Advocates for overseas military families, ex-pats push back against GOP suits over absentee votes

Some ex-pats living abroad, including active-duty service members and their family members, are sounding the alarm after Republicans in three swing states have tried to delay accepting and counting overseas absentee ballots.

ABC News

Spanish-language hockey announcer reveals he fled death threats in Mexico

One of the few radio broadcasters to call professional hockey games in the US in Spanish embarked on his career after fleeing death threats from a notorious drug cartel in his native Mexico, he revealed in a new interview.

The Guardian

What a Trump or Harris Win Could Mean for Student Loan Forgiveness

Student loan forgiveness is in legal limbo as facets of the Biden Administration’s broader student loan forgiveness has been stifled by numerous lawsuits. While the judiciary wields significant power over the future of student loan debt relief, voters will soon have influence at the ballot box: student loan forgiveness could be handled very differently depending on who the country elects as its next President.

Time

There’s more to immigration than the border. The Univision town halls highlighted that.

Two town halls focused on Latinx voters this month put a spotlight on the fate of undocumented immigrants as Trump promises to deport millions and Harris leans into border security.

The 19th

Nebraska Supreme Court clears the way for people with felony convictions to vote

Nebraska’s highest court on Wednesday ruled against top state officials as it upheld a law providing felons with a path to register to vote after completing their sentences.

The ruling came roughly a week before the state’s voter registration deadline for this year’s general election.

NPR

Polio cases surge in Pakistan

Health authorities in Pakistan say they have confirmed six more cases of polio, taking the number of infected children to 39 this year.

BBC

Beirut’s southern suburbs a place of pitch darkness, piles of rubble

Following almost one week of no airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a hotbed of the Shiite Hezbollah militia, Israel resumed its heavy strikes over the weekend, hitting more buildings and different areas.

dpa International

UN condemns ‘horrifying scenes’ in Gaza after Israeli air strike

Hamas says 73 people died and dozens were wounded in an attack in northern Gaza

The Telegraph

Lebanese flee as blasts hit Beirut, Israel warns of strikes on Hezbollah finance arm

Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes late on Sunday with multiple explosions heard across the Lebanese capital, as Israel prepared to attack sites linked to the financial operations of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and told people to leave those areas immediately.

Reuters

King Charles Describes ‘Great Joy’ of Australia Visit with Queen Camilla as They Greet Locals at Sydney Church

The pair met with members of the public at St Thomas’ Anglican Church in North Sydney on Oct. 20, the first scheduled public engagement of their royal tour

People

Cubans struggle as power not fully restored days after blackout and hurricane hits island

Many Cubans waited in anguish late Sunday as electricity on much of the island had yet to be restored days after an island-wide blackout. Their concerns were raised as Hurricane Oscar first made landfall in the southeastern Bahamas and then slammed into Cuba’s coast.

AP News

Oil-rich Iraqi Kurdistan votes, shadowed by economic struggles

Iraq’s Kurdistan voted on Sunday to elect a new parliament for the autonomous oil-rich region, where voters expressed concern over economic struggles and disenchantment with the political elite.

Iraqi Kurdistan presents itself as a relative oasis of stability in the turbulent Middle East, attracting foreign investors due to its close ties with the United States and Europe.

Al-Monitor

Restaurants hit with higher costs as Hong Kong readies penalties for plastic cutlery

Some report paying up to 30 per cent more for disposable utensils, while providers of alternatives say business is down ahead of switch on Monday

South China Morning Post

Dracula author’s lost story unearthed after 134 years

An amateur historian has discovered a long-lost short story by Bram Stoker, published just seven years before his legendary gothic novel Dracula.

BBC

Archaeologists stunned after finding secret rooms under 1,500-year-old church in Istanbul

A network of tunnels and chambers adorned with mosaics and marble was discovered during excavation work at a church in Istanbul.

Good

Palestine’s vital olive harvest ruined by Israel’s Gaza assault and West Bank attacks

After a year of relentless Israeli assault, Gaza‘s olive harvest is set to suffer, while in the illegally occupied West Bank, Palestinian farmers fear to tend their groves due to settler attacks.

Tag24

Nepal protesters clash with police over politician’s fraud charges

Nepali police fired tear gas Sunday at thousands of protesters loyal to a former deputy premier once seen as a rising political star, as he appeared in court on charges his supporters say are politically motivated.

AFP

Hurricane Oscar Heads to Cuba After Making Landfall in Bahamas

Hurricane Oscar made landfall on Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas and is forecast to strike in eastern Cuba on Sunday afternoon, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Bloomberg

Kenya’s female freedom fighters were the silent heroes of the anti-colonial movement – here are some of their stories

While the leaders of the Mau Mau and the political elite now hold a prominent place in Kenya’s national history of independence, this cannot be said of the thousands of civilians who contributed to the anti-colonial cause. These include the unarmed women who sustained the freedom fighters during this fraught period of Kenya’s history.

The Conversation