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Nov. 14 (UPI) — John Beam, the Laney College athletic director who was featured in the Netflix series Last Chance U, has been shot, according to authorities and officials.

The shooting occurred at noon Thursday at the Laney College Field House, the Peralta Community College District, which Laney College is a part of, said in a statement.

The Oakland school went into lockdown. It remained closed for the remainder of the day.

Acting Oakland Police Chief James Beere told reporters during a press conference that officers arrived at the scene to find a victim suffering from a gunshot wound who was immediately transported to a local hospital.

The school district identified the victim as a “senior member of our athletic staff.” It was later revealed that Beam — who was featured in season 5 of the hit Netflix show about struggling college football athletes — had been shot.

“Coach Beam is a giant in Oakland — a mentor, an educator and a lifeline for thousands of young people,” Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said in a statement.

“For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family.”

Authorities are searching for a potential suspect, described as a male of an unknown race, wearing dark clothing and a dark hoodie. Beere said the suspect had been seen fleeing the scene.

“I know that there was some concern that this may have been an active shooter. We responded as if it was an active shooter,” he said.

“I can tell you right now it was not an active shooter.”

Witnesses were being interviewed and surveillance footage was being reviewed, he said.

Beam is the athletics director and head football coach at Laney, according to the school’s website.

South Korea took a major step forward Friday in its long-running quest to secure rights to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, with the United States affirming its support in the countries’ joint summit document.

The joint fact sheet, released earlier in the day, outlines the agreements reached in the two summits between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump. It covers the allies’ commitments on a range of key trade and security issues.

“Consistent with the bilateral 123 agreement and subject to U.S. legal requirements, the United States supports the process that will lead to the ROK’s civil uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing for peaceful uses,” the document showed. ROK stands for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.

Under the 123 agreement on peaceful nuclear energy cooperation, South Korea has very limited authority to reprocess spent nuclear fuel or enrich uranium for civilian purposes, as such activities require U.S. consent through bilateral consultations under the relevant treaties, laws and regulations governing both countries.

The agreement only allows South Korea to enrich uranium up to less than 20 percent based on U.S. consent, with U.S. concerns over nuclear proliferation known as the primary reason.

The nuclear energy pact, forged in 1974, was revised once in 2015 for a 20-year term, to accommodate Seoul’s request for the rights to reprocess spent fuel and enrich uranium, but it has been seen as effectively barring Seoul from producing its own civilian nuclear fuel.

South Korea, a global nuclear energy powerhouse, has long sought to expand its rights as a way to address growing nuclear waste stockpiles.

The country currently operates 26 commercial nuclear reactors. The storage for spent fuel rods from the reactors is expected to reach full capacity around 2030.

Its push to revise the agreement also comes as South Korea seeks to secure fuel supplies for its bid to build nuclear-powered submarines, a project for which it has obtained U.S. approval, as confirmed in their joint fact sheet.

Announcing the result of the summit Friday, Lee called U.S. support for Seoul’s uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing a “significant advancement.”

“The door is now wide open for a South Korea-U.S. alliance renaissance, in which both nations can achieve a true win-win outcome,” he said.

In separate press material, the foreign ministry described the agreement on enrichment and reprocessing as “a strategic upgrade” of bilateral nuclear energy cooperation.

“We have publicly secured U.S. backing for (uranium) enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing for the first time,” the ministry said.

Having secured such support from its ally, South Korea faces a long and complex road ahead to advance these efforts, as implementing the agreement will require a lengthy and challenging negotiating process that could take years or more.

Seoul and Washington would need to decide whether the U.S. will allow uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing within the current 123 agreement framework, or by revising the pact. Either way, tough negotiations over the terms are expected.

“It will require extensive discussions,” National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said following the joint fact sheet announcement. “How much adjustment is needed will depend on the results of these consultations,”

The prevailing view is that South Korea has looked at Japan’s 1988 agreement of the same kind with the U.S. as a case model. The U.S. has given Japan preapproved and long-term permission, known as “advance consent,” for the enrichment and reprocessing. It allows Japan to produce highly enriched uranium over 20 percent if the two parties agree.

First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo signaled that the government is considering a revision.

“We are in talks with the U.S. with a revision in mind,” he told lawmakers during a parliamentary session.

South Korea and the U.S. have established a high-level bilateral commission under the 123 agreement. Any follow-up talks could start by resuming this platform.

Going forward, how Seoul will work with Washington to dispel nuclear proliferation concerns from within the U.S. government remains another major challenge.

It took more than two weeks after the Lee-Trump summit for the joint fact sheet to be released, apparently due to extended coordination among the relevant U.S. government agencies.

Wi said Friday that the delay had much to do with the enrichment and reprocessing issues.

“The bulk of the final discussions (within the U.S.) had focused on uranium enrichment and reprocessing,” he told reporters at the briefing.

“In any case, we believe the agreement will need some form of adjustment.”

Kylian Mbappe hit a brace while Michael Olise and Hugo Ekitike also scored as France thrashed Ukraine 4-0 to secure World Cup qualification, after an evening marked by tributes to the victims of the 2015 Paris attacks.

Captain Mbappe coolly chipped in from the spot 10 minutes into the second half at the Parc des Princes on Thursday, and the impressive Olise doubled France’s lead on 76 minutes.

Mbappe then struck again and Ekitike swept in a first goal for his country, as France got the win they required to clinch their spot at the 2026 finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

A minute’s silence was impeccably observed before kickoff by the 41,000 spectators as France marked the 10th anniversary of the attacks in and around Paris on November 13, 2015.

Most of the 130 victims of the attacks were killed at the Bataclan concert hall in the capital, where they were attending a concert.

One person also died near the Stade de France in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, where multiple explosions took place as suicide bombers attempted to enter the ground during a friendly between Les Bleus and Germany.

Didier Deschamps was the coach then and remains in charge now, with the approaching World Cup to be his final tournament before stepping down.

With one game still to come in Azerbaijan on Sunday, France have an unassailable six-point lead over both Iceland and Ukraine at the top of European qualifying Group D.

Winners of the World Cup in 2018 and runners-up in 2022, France maintain their record of having made it to every edition of the tournament since missing out on a place in the US in 1994.

While they can look forward to the draw for the finals, which takes place in Washington, DC, on December 5, Ukraine and Iceland meet each other on Sunday in a showdown to decide who continues into the playoffs next March.

France’s only slip-up in qualifying came in a draw in Iceland last month, although they have rarely found their fluid best during a low-key campaign.

Mbappe and Olise were in fine fettle here at Paris Saint-Germain’s home ground, though, while Bradley Barcola came closest to scoring in the first half with a curling effort from outside the area that was tipped onto the woodwork and behind for a corner.

Real Madrid superstar Mbappe, the France captain, then chipped in from the spot to open the scoring early in the second half after Olise had been fouled inside the area.

Olise, of Bayern Munich, really came into his own after being shifted from the right to a more central role.

It was shortly after setting up Ekitike to hit the post that Olise turned and fired in France’s second goal, and Ukraine caved in towards the end.

Mbappe scored from close range in the 83rd minute after Ekitike had been denied, taking him to 55 goals for his country and to within two of all-time top marksman Olivier Giroud’s tally of 57.

Liverpool’s Ekitike then rounded off a fine move to wrap up the victory with his first senior international goal.

Deschamps said the performance was professional rather than spectacular, but enough to complete the mission.

“Always appreciate the good moments, even if it seems logical and natural for the France team to qualify. The objective was to qualify here tonight in a heavy, weighty context. The first half was difficult against a low block,” he said.

“I enjoy it, even if it’s not the first time – the France team has to be there at every major tournament.”

Elsewhere, Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for elbowing Ireland defender Dara O’Shea in the second half of a shock 2-0 defeat at Ireland.

Ronaldo now risks a two-game ban, which would see him missing the first match of the World Cup tournament if Portugal qualifies.

Portugal will host last-place Armenia in the final qualifying game on Sunday, when Hungary hosts Ireland at the same time. Portugal top Group F with 10 points, two ahead of Hungary. Ireland is third with seven points.

Earlier, Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway moved even closer to qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 by beating Estonia 4-1 in Oslo. The win virtually secures a spot for the high-scoring Norwegians in next year’s tournament.

Already-qualified England beat Serbia 2-0 at Wembley Stadium to keep a perfect record in Group K and are yet to concede a goal.

Albania beat Andorra 1-0 in the same group to secure the runner-up spot.

Nov. 14 (UPI) — The Justice Department is suing California over its recently voter-approved congressional maps, alleging they are an unconstitutional “power grab.”

Earlier this month, Californians approved Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s redistricting initiative, introduced in direct response to Texas’ effort to create new congressional maps that favor Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

While Texas Republican lawmakers pursued an unprecedented mid-cycle redraw without voter approval, President Donald Trump and his allies have been critical of the California move. Democrats counter that they are trying to protect the state’s representation in Congress, accusing Trump — who pressured Texas to pursue the new maps — of undermining democratic norms.

Federal prosecutors on Thursday filed the lawsuit against Newsom over California’s redistricting plan, alleging that it racially gerrymandered congressional districts in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

“California’s redistricting scheme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “Gov. Newsom’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand.”

According to the lawsuit, federal prosecutors accuse California’s Democratic leaders of manipulating congressional maps to bolster “the voting power of Hispanic Californians because of their race.”

“Our Constitution does not tolerate this racial gerrymander,” the 17-page court document states.

“No one, let alone California, contends that its pre-existing map unlawfully discriminated on the basis of Race. Because the Proposition 50 map does, the United States respectfully requests this court enjoin defendants from using it in the 2026 election and future elections.”

Texas’ GOP-controlled legislature in August passed its new maps that are projected to give Republicans as many as five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections.

Democrats have criticized this move as Trump trying to create more red seats to keep control of the House, which the GOP now narrowly holds.

Texas has 38 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, 25 of which are filled by Republicans.

California, which has 52 House districts — 43 of them held by Democrats — responded with Proposition 50.

Republicans hold a 219-214 majority of the U.S. House of Representatives, with two seats vacant.

Several states — led by both Republicans and Democrats — have since announced efforts to redraw their maps, setting off a gerrymandering arms race ahead of 2026.

“These losers lost at the ballot box, and soon they will also lose in court,” Newsom’s office said in a statement in response to the Trump administration lawsuit.

A newly released batch of correspondence involving disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has prompted new speculation about ties between the deceased financier and United States President Donald Trump, but experts say its significance stretches beyond the White House.

The never-before-seen emails have added to pressure on the Trump administration to release files about Epstein in the US government’s possession, with a vote in Congress now expected as early as next week. Trump has rejected suggestions that he has anything to hide, and insists that while he knew Epstein, they broke ties in the early 2000s.

But the newly released emails also raise ethical questions about the role played by acclaimed author Michael Wolff as he appeared to provide advice to Epstein on how to handle his dealings with Trump.

In the exchanges published by the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, Wolff – best known for his bestselling books on the first Trump presidency – appeared to share confidential information before a presidential debate on CNN in December 2015 with Epstein, advising him on how to exploit his connection with Trump.

“I hear CNN planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you – either on air or in scrum afterwards,” Wolff wrote.

“If we were to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?” Epstein replied.

“I think you should let him hang himself. If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency,” Wolff told Epstein.

“You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt. Of course, it is possible that, when asked, he’ll say Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness, which is to be outlawed in a Trump regime,” Wolff added, in his response to Epstein.

Al Jazeera reached out to Wolff for comment, but has not received a response.

In a conversation on a podcast with the news outlet The Daily Beast, Wolff said he was seeking to build a relationship with Epstein at the time to better understand Trump, but acknowledged that in “hindsight”, his comments could be seen as “embarrassing”.

Wolff, 72, is best known for his four books exposing the inner workings of the first Trump presidency, including Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

Jane Kirtley, professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota, said any judgement on whether behaviour like Wolff’s with Epstein was appropriate would depend on how the writer’s role is understood.

“Some people are reporters, some are commentators, and some are book authors, and there are some differences in the way that those different people operate,” Kirtley told Al Jazeera.

“If you want to be a public relations person, or if you want to be an agent, those are perfectly valid career choices. But I think that they are unfortunately incompatible with journalism because the public has a right to assume and to believe that you are acting independently,” she continued.

“You can’t serve two masters, as the saying goes, and your interest has to either be the public interest or serving some other interests.”

Insider reporting

Experts note that reporters often face ethical and professional dilemmas while cultivating relationships with sources, especially in areas where insider information is highly sought after, such as Wolff’s research on relations between various figures in the first Trump administration.

But the prerogative to build rapport with sources, especially those with influence, can also raise difficult questions about a reporter’s proximity to the very centres of power they are supposed to be scrutinising.

Edward Wasserman, a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, said such relationships have to maintain certain boundaries and be balanced with the usefulness of the information being brought to the public’s attention.

“I think that the public has the right to be sceptical of this kind of cosy relationship with sources,” Wasserman told Al Jazeera. “But the answer the journalist has is that this is in the interest of the public, that there’s a redemptive dimension to this. It enables the kind of relationships that will allow people to confide in a reporter, who can then share that information with the public.”

Still, such relationships can also have a troubling inversion, where a journalist might be tempted to offer a source preferential treatment if they believe they might be rewarded with information.

Another journalist who corresponded with Epstein in emails released on Wednesday, a former New York Times finance reporter named Landon Thomas Jr, also appeared to have a close relationship with the convicted sex offender, whom he informed about a writer named John Connelly who was researching him.

“Keep getting calls from that guy doing a book on you – John Connolly. He seems very interested in your relationship with the news media. I told him you were a hell of a guy :)” Thomas Jr said in an email dated June 1, 2016.

“He is digging around again,” Thomas Jr said in another email to Epstein on September 27, 2017. “I think he is doing some Trump-related digging too. Anyway, for what it’s worth…” he added.

The public broadcaster NPR reported that Thomas Jr was no longer working for the Times by January 2019, and it had come to light that the reporter had asked Epstein for a $30,000 donation to a cultural centre in New York City. The New York Times has previously stated that the behaviour was a clear violation of its ethics policies and that it took action as soon as it learned of the incident.

In the case of Wolff, Wasserman also noted that his direct participation in matters relating to Trump, Epstein, and the media raised doubts about the writer’s ability to credibly report on those issues. Those questions may be especially poignant in a scandal that, for many people in the US, has become a symbol of close relationships among figures at the highest levels of power.

“The problem is that Wolff was offering advice on how to engineer, how to play this situation, in a way that’s advantageous to Epstein. And the problem that I have with that is that he then would presumably preserve the right to report on the consequences,” he said.

It also remains unclear whether Wolff’s relationship with Epstein resulted in the kind of public revelations that journalists typically point to when justifying close ties with sources.

“It occurs to me as important that in this exchange, Wolff doesn’t do anything to illuminate the core mystery, which is whether Trump was a sexual participant in what was going on with Epstein and these young women,” said Wasserman.

“And there’s nothing in this where I’m seeing Wolff even asking that,” he added.

Nov. 14 (UPI) — Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, a career politician who aspired to a second term as the conservative leader of Washington’s largest city, conceded defeated in this week’s mayoral election to Katie Wilson on Thursday night.

The race was officially over Wednesday night when the number of remaining outstanding ballots was smaller than Wilson’s lead. Polling results showed that Wilson, 43, won by 2,000 votes, the thinnest margin for a mayoral race in recent Seattle history.

Harrell said he talked to Wilson on Thursday morning to offer his congratulations, and offered assistance with a transition to her administration.

“The Wilson administration will have new ideas,” Harrell said. “It will have a new vision. By winning the election, they have earned that right. We must listen to the young voters.”

Wilson held her own news conference shortly after Harrell finished speaking and acknowledged the “anxiety and fear” she said some people feel, but pledged to work to ease the uncertainty.

“I am delighted, beyond delighted, to be your next mayor,” Wilson said to a crowd of supporters at Seattle Labor Temple in Sodo. “It is an honor and a privilege that I will do my very best to be worthy of.”

Wilson congratulated Harrell for nearly two decades in public service.

“I know that we are in this together,” she continued. “And we cannot tackle the major challenges facing our city unless we do it together.”

Wilson’s razor thin victory margin belied her 10% victory in the primary election, and made Harrell’s performance somewhat of a surprise.

She is a self-described socialist and has a scant political resume, The New York Times reported. Analysts said voters had a distinct choice between two very different candidates.

“They are almost opposite sides of the same coin in terms of personalities,” said Joe Mizrahi, a Seattle school board member and secretary general of the United Food and Commercial Workers 3000, among the largest unions in the area.

Wilson has pledged to find “progressive” ways to pay for housing and other basic services the city needs, and has said that Seattle has been a “kind of laboratory for progressive policy,” and inferred that her administration will pursue similar ideas in the future.

She has pledged to pursue a $1 million bond to pay for home construction and establish new protections for renters, who make up 56% of people living in the city.

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani wins fourth MLB MVP award while New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge bags a third.

While Shohei Ohtani had his greatness reconfirmed, Cal Raleigh learned not even the greatest season by a catcher in Major League Baseball history could stop Aaron Judge from adding another Most Valuable Player (MVP) award to his trophy case.

Minutes after Ohtani secured his third consecutive MVP award and fourth in the last five years – leaving him just three shy of Barry Bonds for the most in MLB history – Judge was announced as the American League’s MVP in a close vote with Raleigh on Thursday night.

Ohtani and Judge became the first duo to win the Most Valuable Player Award in the same back-to-back seasons.

The New York Yankees outfielder secured 17 of a possible 30 first-place votes and 355 points. The Seattle Mariners catcher claimed the other 13 first-place votes and finished with 335 points.

In the end, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voters determined that Judge’s MLB-leading batting average (.331), on-base percentage (.457) and slugging percentage (.688) outweighed Raleigh’s AL-best 60 homers and 125 RBIs.

“It’s pretty wild,” Judge said. “You try not to think about it during the season. I try to keep my head down through all 162 and do whatever I can in today’s game to help our team win.”

For the 33-year-old Judge, it marks his third MVP award. That puts him in an exclusive neighbourhood with the likes of Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Mike Trout and a handful of others – but Ohtani no longer resides there.

The 31-year-old Japan native received all 30 first-place votes for the National League MVP.

Ohtani earned his latest honour after piling up a career-high 55 homers, a majors-best 146 runs and an NL-high .622 slugging percentage and 1.014 OPS in 158 games.

He also returned to the mound after taking 18 months off and forged a 1-1 record with a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts. He registered 62 strikeouts versus just nine walks over 47 innings.

“It was a great year,” Ohtani said on MLB Network via translator. “Like I said, I’m grateful to my teammates, the coaching staff … but not only them. The fans were the ones who really rooted us on and supported us.”

Ohtani added eight home runs in 17 postseason games while leading the Dodgers to their second consecutive World Series title, though his playoff exploits did not factor into the BBWAA voting.

Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, who produced a league-high 56 homers and 132 RBIs while playing in all 162 games, finished second in the balloting. He was followed by New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (43 homers, 38 stolen bases), Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo (.290 average, 20 homers, 100 RBIs, 27 steals) and Phillies shortstop Trea Turner (league-leading .304 average with 36 steals).

In the American League, Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (30 homers, 44 steals) finished a distant third.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr (23 homers, 38 steals) and Detroit Tigers starter Tarik Skubal, who claimed his second consecutive Cy Young Award with a 13-6 record and 2.21 ERA, rounded out the top five.

Nov. 13 (UPI) — Striking Boeing machinists in St. Louis voted to approve the aerospace company’s latest contract offer and return to work on Monday, ending a three-month strike.

Some 68% of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 voted to approve the contract on Thursday, KSDK reported.

“We are pleased with the results and look forward to bringing our full team back together on Nov. 17th to support our customers,” a Boeing spokesperson said in a prepared statement shared with KSDK.

Workers get a 24% wage increase, which raises their average annual pay from $75,000 to $109,000 over the life of the contract, according to CNBC.

The approved contract includes a $6,000 bonus for ratifying the contract, a general wage increase over five years, including a 1.5% general increase for workers at the top of the earnings scale, plus a lump-sum increase of 2.5% during the contract’s fourth year.

The contract also includes improved benefits, including letting workers cash out vacation time that exceeds the maximum benefit of 80 hours.

“We’re proud of what our members have fought for together and are ready to get back to building the world’s most advanced military aircraft,” IAM District 837 officials said Thursday in a prepared statement.

The contract ends the strike that started on Aug. 4, which was the first since 1996 for the union local.

The St. Louis-area Boeing facility builds F-15 fighters, F/A-18fighter-attack aircraft and missile systems.

Cuba’s top epidemiologist warned nearly a third of the population has been impacted and swaths of workforce sickened.

Cuba is battling a wave of mosquito-borne illnesses, with the country’s top epidemiologist warning that nearly one-third of the population has been impacted, with large numbers of workers taken ill.

On Thursday, fumigators armed with fogging machines probed alleys and crowded buildings in parts of the capital Havana, among the hardest hit by mosquito-borne viruses including dengue and chikungunya, authorities said.

It comes after Francisco Duran, the national director of epidemiology at the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, described the situation in the Caribbean island nation as “acute”.

“We are working intensely, as we did with COVID-19,” Duran said, referring to ongoing research projects to find medications and vaccines to help tame the virus’s impacts.

Dengue fever has long plagued Cuba, but has grown worse as the government’s ability to fumigate, clean roadside rubbish and patch leaky pipes has been hampered by an ongoing economic crisis.

The once-rare chikungunya virus – which causes severe headache, rashes and joint pain which can linger months after infection, causing long-term disability – has also spread quickly in recent months.

Chikungunya, which is spread primarily by the Aedes mosquito species that also carries dengue and Zika, has no specific treatment.

Duran said Cuban health authorities are conducting two clinical trials to test the efficacy of Jusviza, an injectable drug used to control hyperinflammation, in treating chikungunya.

He continued that another trial is under way to evaluate rectal ozone therapy as a treatment for patients with joint pain following chikungunya’s acute phase. This form of treatment involves administering ozone gas through the rectum.

Outbreaks of chikungunya have infected almost 340,000 people globally so far in 2025, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), resulting in 145 deaths in at least 16 countries. In July, the World Health Organization issued an urgent call for action to prevent another epidemic of the virus.

Cuba’s healthcare system, once among the best in Latin America, has suffered under a decades-long economic embargo orchestrated by the United States, seeking to pressure Havana’s nominally communist government into making political and economic reforms.

Citizens in the impoverished island nation routinely suffer from severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine, while the poorest are often unable to purchase insect repellent.

The issue is exacerbated by frequent power outages, which leave Cubans with little choice but to open their windows and doors to ease the heat, inviting mosquitoes in and facilitating the spread of the disease.

“The blockade is a policy of collective punishment,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in late October, as the United Nations General Assembly again overwhelmingly called for an end to Washington’s embargo for a 33rd year.

“It flagrantly, massively and systematically violates the human rights of Cubans. It makes no distinction between social sectors or economic actors,” he said.

Nov. 13 (UPI) — Doubts about a potential third Federal Reserve rate in December triggered an 800-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday after setting a record high a day earlier.

The Dow closed higher than 48,000 for the first time on Wednesday, but Investopedia reported a steep decline on Thursday amid concerns over the Federal Reserve rate.

The Dow reached a daily high or 48,211.83 during morning trading on Thursday but declined steadily afterward to a low of 47,431.43 and closed at 47,457.22, which is a drop of 797.60 and 1.65% for the day.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 likewise posted downturns during the day’s trading, with the Nasdaq closing at 22,870.36, which is a decline of 536.10 and 2.29%.

The S&P 500 dropped by 113.43 and 1.66% when it closed at 6,737.49.

Analysts largely attributed the declines to concerns regarding the Federal Reserve and whether it will approve a third quarter-point rate reduction before the year’s end, according to CNBC.

In October, analysts placed a 95% confidence in a December rate cut, but confidence has declined to about 49% due to a lack of data because of the record 43-day federal government shutdown ended following President Donald Trump‘s signing of a funding measure on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet for two days on Dec. 9 and 10, but committee members have grown more doubtful of another 0.25% rate cut due to the effects of the government shutdown and the president’s often-changing tariff policies.

The current rate is between 3.75% and 4% after the Federal Reserve committee approved a 0.25% rate reduction on Oct. 29.

Voters’ approval of Proposition 50 means Democrats might win up to five additional seats in the US House of Representatives in 2026.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has joined a lawsuit against California over the state’s redistricting effort, which was approved by a landslide in the November 4 election.

On Thursday, the Department of Justice said it would seek to overturn California’s new map of congressional districts, which was passed through a ballot initiative with approximately 64 percent support.

“California’s redistricting scheme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

She accused California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, of attempting to stifle Republican voices in his state. “Governor Newsom’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand.”

The ballot measure, known as Proposition 50, is poised to redraw the boundaries of electoral districts to favour the Democrats in next year’s midterm elections.

The proposition was designed as a counterattack against Trump’s gerrymandering in Republican states.

In Texas, for instance, the Trump White House urged the state legislature to pass new congressional districts that would allow the Republicans the opportunity to win five more seats in the House of Representatives in 2026.

In August, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the new Republican-backed map into law.

Republicans also expect to gain one seat each from new maps in Missouri and North Carolina, and potentially two more in Ohio. Civil rights advocates have argued that the new boundaries in Texas and Missouri illegally disadvantage minority communities at the ballot box.

Proposition 50 in California means that Democrats might win as many as five additional seats in the House in 2026, in an explicit attempt to offset the new Texas congressional map.

However, the California Republican Party and 19 registered voters sued the state in federal court on November 5, a day after the election was held.

They claimed California’s redistricting effort violates provisions of the US Constitution by unlawfully favouring Hispanic communities.

The Justice Department has echoed those concerns in its complaint. It argues that California’s map “manipulates district lines in the name of bolstering the voting power of Hispanic Californians because of their race”.

Tonight, California sent a powerful message to Donald Trump. We will fight for our democracy. And we will win. pic.twitter.com/tEcPlxVbi4

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 5, 2025

In response, Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Governor Newsom, said, “These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court.”

Newsom has emerged as a prominent Democratic critic of Trump, calling the president’s opposition to California’s ballot measure the “ramblings of an old man that knows he’s about to LOSE”.

Newsom has confirmed he will consider a White House run in 2028 once the 2026 midterm elections are over.

California’s new district boundaries will apply for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.

Normally, congressional districts in California are drawn by an independent commission, based on the results of a national census taken every 10 years.

Proposition 50 suspends that commission’s work for the next three national elections and instead adopts a map created by the state legislatures.

In theory, electoral maps should reflect the people who live in a given state. In reality, most boundaries are rejigged by the parties in power, in a process called gerrymandering. Legislatures in many states determine how the districts are drawn.

California’s new congressional map aims to dilute Republican voters’ power, in one case by uniting rural, conservative-leaning parts of far northern California with Marin County, a famously liberal coastal stronghold across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

The Justice Department is asking a judge to prohibit California from using the new map in any future elections.

Nov. 13 (UPI) — Less than half of U.S. households place an importance on religion after declining by 17% over the past decade, according to a new Gallup poll.

Two-thirds of U.S. adults surveyed said religion was an important part of their daily life in 2015, Gallup reported Thursday.

That percentage dropped to 49% in 2025, which Gallup said is the largest recorded decrease by any nation since 2007.

“About half of Americans now say religion is not an important part of their daily life,” Gallup reported. “They remain as divided on the question today as they were last year.”

The 17-point drop in the United States over the past decade rarely have exceeded that rate of decline, with Greece posting a 28-point drop in 2023, Italy a 23-point drop in 2022 and Poland a 22-point drop in 2023.

Globally, the median regarding the importance of religion in people’s daily lives has stayed at about 81% since 2007 and was at 83% in 2024, according to Gallup.

Median does not the same as an average, though, and instead represents the middle, with about half being above and about half below the median number.

The decline in the importance of religion in U.S. households remains higher than the median among 38 nations that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Those nations posted a combined median of 36% of respective adults affirming that religion is an important part of their daily lives.

As the U.S. percentage drops, it more closely aligns with the OECD median for its member states.

Gallup said the gap is the narrowest ever between the United States and 37 other OCED nations.

The polling firm also identified four patterns for religious importance in the OCED states.

Nations that identify as being Christian generally place a high importance on religion, as do nations with a Muslim majority.

Christian-identifying nations also might have citizens who place a low importance on religion in their daily lives, while nations with no religious identity mostly place only a low amount of importance on religion in their daily lives.

Muslim-majority nations, though, do not share the same dichotomy as Christian-identifying nations.

Gallup said the United States no longer matches those four patterns and instead has medium-high Christian identity and “middling religiosity.”

The percentage of U.S. citizens who identify as Christian is similar to the percentages in Western and Northern European nations, but religion holds greater importance among Americans than it does among their European counterparts, according to the polling firm.

An Israeli settler arson attack on a mosque in the occupied West Bank has drawn international condemnation, as a wave of intensified violence against Palestinians continues unabated across the area.

Israeli settlers set fire to the Hajja Hamida Mosque in the Palestinian village of Deir Istiya, near Salfit in the north of the West Bank, around dawn on Thursday, local residents told Al Jazeera.

Photographs taken at the scene showed racist, anti-Palestinian slogans sprayed on the walls of the mosque, which was damaged in the blaze. Copies of the Quran – the Islamic holy book – were also burned.

The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Endowments and Affairs condemned what it said was a “heinous crime” that highlights “the barbarity” with which Israel treats Muslim and Christian holy sites in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Separately, two Palestinian children were killed on Thursday when Israeli forces opened fire during a raid in the town of Beit Ummar, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, the Wafa news agency reported.

The violence comes amid a record-setting number of Israeli settler and military attacks on Palestinians across the West Bank so far this year, with many of the assaults taking place in the context of the 2025 olive harvest.

At least 167 settler attacks related to the olive harvest were reported since October 1, the United Nations’ humanitarian agency (OCHA) said in its latest update this week. More than 150 Palestinians have been injured in those assaults, while more than 5,700 trees have also been damaged.

Experts say Israeli attacks in the West Bank have increased in the shadow of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians in the coastal enclave since October 2023.

They also come as members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government are pushing to formally annex the area. Rights groups say Israel already maintains a system of de facto annexation and apartheid in the West Bank.

The UN human rights office warned in July that the settler violence was being carried out “with the acquiescence, support, and in some cases participation, of Israeli security forces”.

Settler and military attacks, it said, “are part of a broader and coordinated strategy of the State of Israel to expand and consolidate annexation of the occupied West Bank, while reinforcing its system of discrimination, oppression and control over Palestinians there”.

‘Completely unacceptable’

Thursday’s attack on the mosque in Deir Istiya prompted an outpouring of international condemnation.

A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres said the international body was “deeply disturbed” by the assault. “Such attacks on places of worship are completely unacceptable,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters during a briefing at the UN headquarters in New York.

“We have and will continue to condemn attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank,” Dujarric said.

“Israel, as the occupying power, has a responsibility to protect the civilian population and ensure that those responsible for these attacks, including this attack on a mosque and the spray-painting of horrendous language on the mosque, be brought to account.”

Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also “strongly condemned” the rise in Israeli settler attacks, according to a statement shared by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

A Jordan Foreign Ministry spokesman described the violence as “an extension of the Israeli government’s extremist policies and inflammatory rhetoric that fuel violence and extremism against the Palestinian people”.

Germany, which has faced criticism for defending Israel amid the Gaza war, also called for a halt to settler violence, saying the “incidents must be thoroughly investigated and those responsible held accountable”.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry likewise said recent Israeli arson attacks in the West Bank “are unacceptable”. “This violence and the continued expansion of illegal settlements must stop,” it said in a statement.

Palestinians have urged world leaders to go beyond words, however, and take concrete action against Israel amid the wave of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including by ending weapons transfers to the Israeli military.

In a separate incident last week, Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian home in the village of Khirbet Abu Falah, near Ramallah, while a family was inside, the UN’s humanitarian office reported.

“As the flames spread, the family immediately evacuated while neighbours and civil defence teams rushed to the scene and managed to extinguish the fire. The mother sustained a leg fracture while running away from the settlers,” OCHA said.

Officials have recovered the remains of all 20 people who were killed when a Turkish C-130 cargo plane crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border Tuesday.

Nov. 13 (UPI) — People can place more into their 401(k) and IRA retirement accounts in 2026 after the Internal Revenue Service announced limit increases on Thursday.

The new limits are $24,500 for 401(k) accounts, which is a $1,000 increase, and $7,500 for IRA accounts, which is a $500 change.

The change for 401(k) accounts also applies to 403(b) and most 457 retirement plans, plus the Thrift Savings Plans.

For those age 50 and above, the IRS also has changed the catch-up contribution limit for 401(k) plans to $8,000 next year, which is an increase of $500.

Those between ages 60 and 63 also can save another $11,250, which is the same amount available in 2025.

The catch-up contribution amounts are on top of the $24,500 limits for 2026, so those age 50 and over can contribute a combined total of $32,500 to their 401(k), 403(b), 457 or Thrift Savings Plan in 2026.

The changes will affect a significant number of workers in the United States and its territories.

Vanguard’s 2025 How America Saves Report shows 14% of 401(k) account holders contributed the maximum amount allowed in 2024.

That figure is based on data from almost 5 million owners of more than 1,400 qualifying plans, and their average combined savings rate was about 12%, which is a record high.

The qualifying earnings amounts for making deductible contributions to qualifying IRA accounts also is changing.

Phase-out ranges for 2026 are between $81,000 and $91,000 for single taxpayers, between $129,000 and $149,000 for married couples filing jointly, and between $242,000 and $252,000 for married IRA contributors who are not covered by a workplace retirement plan.

Those are increases of $2,000, $3,000 and $6,000, respectively.

Nov. 13 (UPI) — America’s Catholic bishops sent sharp criticism of rising fear in the United States and ongoing mass deportations in a rebuke of Trump administration immigration policy.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said its some 273 active bishops were “disturbed” to see that “among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.”

“We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants,” the group wrote in its statement.

It arrived after U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV directed bishops in the United States to be vocal and speak out against President Donald Trump‘s hardline crackdown on migration.

The U.S. religious leaders approved the rare “special message” with 5 votes against and 3 abstentions of 216 ballots cast at its meeting Wednesday in Baltimore, Md.

“We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good,” the plethora of all-male bishops added. “Without such processes, immigrants face the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Safe and legal pathways serve as an antidote to such risks.”

It marked the first time in 12 years the USCCB invoked its urgent way of collectively speaking as a body.

“We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care,” the bishops added. “We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status.”

Trump has targeted immigration enforcement in Democratic-run cities such as the nation’s capital, Los Angeles and in Chicago with the presence of masked ICE agents leading to violent activity, arrests and sprayed tear gas.

The bishops wrote that Catholic teaching “exhorts nations to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants.”

“We bishops advocate for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures,” they continued. “Human dignity and national security are not in conflict.”

The new pope has called for an end to Israel’s war in Gaza with the militant wing Hamas, expanded access to much-needed aid for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees and children and a cease to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the Catholic leaders said national security and human dignity both “are possible if people of good will work together.

More than a thousand unionised Starbucks baristas have walked off the job in more than 40 cities across the United States as negotiations have stalled between the company and the union, Starbucks Workers United.

Workers at 65 stores began an open-ended strike on Thursday, coinciding with the Seattle, Washington-based coffee shop chain’s Red Cup Day sales event, when customers who order a holiday-themed beverage can receive a free reusable cup with their purchase.

The event typically drives higher traffic to Starbucks stores.

The coffeeshop chain, which has more than 18,000 stores across the US and Canada, says that the walkouts have caused limited impact.

More stores could soon join the strike. Starbucks Workers United represents roughly 550 stores around the US. Combined, this strike could be the largest in the history of the coffeeshop chain.

Stores in cities including Seattle, New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Austin and Portland will join the work stoppage, it said. Some locations had already shut down for the day, a union spokesperson told journalists on a media call.

In an Instagram post on Thursday, the union called on consumers not to shop at any Starbucks location “today and beyond” ahead of a nationwide rally slated to begin at 4pm local time for each location.

The union has filed more than 1,000 charges to the National Labor Relations Board for alleged unfair labour practices such as firing unionising baristas, and last week, it voted to authorise a strike if a contract was not finalised by November 13.

Starbucks has said it pays an average wage of $19 an hour and offers employees who work at least 20 hours a week benefits including healthcare, parental leave and tuition for online classes at Arizona State University.

The union said starting wages are $15.25 per hour in about 33 states and the average barista gets less than 20 hours per week.

Talks between the union and the company stretched for about eight months in 2024, but broke down in December, after which workers went on strike during the key holiday period.

“Unfortunately, it’s not unusual to see stall tactics used in collective bargaining, as we’re seeing with Starbucks. But the situation and the strike vote also demonstrate that long-term grassroots organising empowers workers. There’s strength in numbers,” Jennifer Abruzzo, former General Counsel at the National Labor Relations Board under former US President Joe Biden, said in remarks shared with Al Jazeera.

History of strikes

Starbucks workers have gone on strike several times over the last few years, starting in 2021. Workers at a location in Buffalo, New York became the first unionised store and subsequently launched a nationwide movement, which now represents four percent of the Starbucks cafe workforce, or about 9,500 people.

In 2022, workers at roughly 100 stores went on strike, and in December 2024, workers walked off the job amid stalled negotiations at 300 stores. Negotiations began again earlier this year, but the two parties have yet to come to an agreement.

In April this year, the union voted to reject a Starbucks proposal that guaranteed annual raises of at least two percent, saying it did not offer changes to economic benefits such as healthcare, or an immediate pay hike.

“Despite the fact that thousands of Starbucks baristas voted to engage in collective bargaining some years ago, the company has manipulated the situation to avoid having a contract,” Sharon Block, executive director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School, said in remarks provided to Al Jazeera.

“Baristas are staying strong. The strength of the strike vote shows that baristas aren’t giving up. They continue to demand fair treatment by the company.”

Executive pressures

The strike comes as Starbucks under CEO Brian Niccol shuts hundreds of underperforming stores this year, including the unionised flagship Seattle location, while trimming corporate roles to control costs.

Niccol, who previously spent six years leading Chipotle, has stressed improving service times and in-store experience in the US to revive demand for beverages as sales have remained flat or negative for the past seven quarters.

Niccol had said in September last year when he took over as CEO that he was committed to dialogue.

However, Lynne Fox, the union’s international president, said on a call with journalists that things changed once Niccol took the helm.

“A year into Niccol’s tenure, negotiations have gone backwards after months of steady progress and good faith negotiations last year,” Fox said.

In 2024, Niccol’s compensation package totaled more than $95m, which is 6,666 times the median employee salary, according to the AFL-CIO’s Executive Paywatch tracker. That represents the largest CEO-to-worker pay gap among the S&P 500, according to the Institute for Policy Studies’ Executive Excess report.

Niccol’s pay, however, is largely driven by the performance of Starbucks’ stock, with $90m coming from the value of stock awards. Since Niccol took over the company in September 2024, the stock price of Starbucks has fallen by about 6 percent.

On Wall Street, Starbucks’ stock in midday trading is down by 0.9 percent.

Follow the build-up, analysis and live text commentary of the game as Ireland host Portugal in Dublin.

Nov. 13 (UPI) — Hundreds of residents in Oklahoma were evacuated from their homes following the crash of a semi-truck transporting toxic chemicals.

Nearly 1,000 local citizens in Weatherford, slightly west of Oklahoma City, left their residences Wednesday night after a toxic ammonia chemical spilled into the air that left nearly 35 people hospitalized.

“As the event unfolded, we had a large plume of anhydrous ammonia gas spread over a pretty large area,” Weatherford’s Emergency Manager Mike Karlin told a CBS News affiliate Thursday morning.

The crash took place after 10 p.m. CST, according to Weatherford Police Chief Angelo Orefice. Emergency alerts ere issued roughly an hour later.

“City of Weatherford partial evacuation due to chemical spill at Holiday Inn Express,” an emergency alert advised.

Officials said the unidentified truck driver parked the rig behind a Holiday Inn for the night with damaged truck equipment. Witnesses attested to seeing people wearing gas masks while going door-to-door to alert the community.

“Evacuate north to Davis Ave and from Washington Ave to Lyle Rd,” the alert added. “Safety location is Pioneer Cellular Center. If you are having medical symptoms, call 911, or medical personnel located at Ace Hardware.”

A shelter-in-place order has since been lifted.

Weatherford’s police chief recommended that the clothes people wore be placed outside so the ammonia chemical will dissipate.

Meanwhile, school was canceled for students Thursday in Weatherford in addition to Southwest Oklahoma State University.

In 2022, the Eggo Company was fined around $85,000 after company officials failed to report the release a large amount of ammonia in 2021 from its plant in San Jose, Calif.

The poll also shows 44 percent of Democrats were ‘very enthusiastic’ about voting in the 2026 midterm elections.

The approval rating for United States President Donald Trump remains at its lowest level since he began his second term in January, according to a new poll.

But Thursday’s survey, conducted by the news agency Reuters and the research firm Ipsos, found a jump in the share of respondents who said they disapproved of his performance.

His disapproval rating increased from 52 percent in mid-May to 58 percent in November. His approval rating, meanwhile, stayed at approximately 40 percent, roughly the same as it was in May.

The online poll, conducted over six days this month, surveyed 1,200 US adults nationwide about their opinions on top political figures and who they planned to vote for in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.

It found that Democrats appeared to be more enthusiastic about next year’s midterms than their Republican counterparts, a result perhaps influenced by key Democratic victories this month.

Approximately 44 percent of registered voters who called themselves Democrats said they were “very enthusiastic” about voting in the 2026 elections, compared with 26 percent of Republicans.

Some 79 percent of Democrats said they would regret it if they did not vote in the midterm races, compared with 68 percent of Republicans.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives will be up for grabs next year, as will 35 seats in the 100-member Senate. Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress.

But Democrats have recently been buoyed by wins on November 4, during the off-year elections.

The party won resounding victories in governor’s races for Virginia and New Jersey, and in New York City, a closely watched race mayoral race saw Zohran Mamdani sweep to victory over his centrist and right-wing competitors.

Voters in California also passed a ballot measure that will redraw its congressional districts to favour the Democrats, in response to Trump-inspired gerrymandering in Republican states.

The Reuters-Ipsos poll closed on Wednesday, just before Congress voted to end the longest government shutdown in US history.

The new spending bill, which extends federal funding until January 30, passed in the House of Representatives by a margin of 222 to 209, with six Democrats joining the Republican majority to reopen the government.

Trump signed a federal government spending bill late on Wednesday, ending the 43-day shutdown, which caused tumult for federal workers, families in need and air travel.

The bill had previously passed the Senate on Monday, after seven Democrats and one independent agreed to support it.

While Democrats appeared more “enthusiastic” than Republicans in the Reuters-Ipsos poll, the survey noted that the two parties appeared to be evenly matched in voter intention moving forward.

When poll respondents were asked whom they would vote for if congressional elections were held today, 41 percent of registered voters said they’d pick the Democratic candidate, while 40 percent chose the Republican candidate.

The narrow difference in those results fell well within the poll’s 3-percentage-point margin of error.