WASHINGTON — Next week’s elections are widely seen as a referendum on President Trump, his team and his party, with most voters telling pollsters they seek a check on his power. But the midterms will also serve as a reckoning for one of the least productive sessions of Congress in a century.
A stunningly low 10% of Americans approve of the job performance of Congress, which has passed fewer bills and conducted less oversight than any of its predecessors in modern history, according to scholars of the legislative branch.
The biggest achievement of unified Republican control has also become one of its biggest liabilities. Deeply unpopular when signed, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has only grown more controversial, with most Americans still unclear on what’s in it — and those who do know largely disapproving of the law, which cut taxes for businesses and billionaires while adding trillions to the national debt.
A summer Politico poll found that just 8% of Americans believe the law has improved their bottom line. The bill cut billions of dollars for food stamps and over a trillion in health programs and Medicaid.
Two other significant bills passed by this Congress — the Epstein Files Transparency Act and a housing reform package targeting corporate purchases of single-family homes — ultimately became law over Trump’s opposition, leaving Republicans little credit for bipartisan wins.
“It’s not a partisan statement to say that the current Congress will go down in history as one of the most ineffective in history,” said Charles Stewart III, director of the Election Data and Science Lab at MIT. “It may not be the most ineffective, but it’s down there.”
Norman Ornstein, an emeritus scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said that congressional performance can be measured by several criteria, including the quantity and quality of legislation, its oversight of the executive branch, investigations of government and private-sector failures, and its defense of congressional powers and ethical standards.
By all accounts, he said, “the 119th Congress is an abysmal failure, perhaps the worst I have seen in well over five decades of immersion in the legislative branch.”
Senate pages walk through the halls outside the Senate chamber in the Capitol on Oct. 1, 2026. The Senate had completed its last votes in the middle of the night before going on recess through Nov. 9.
(Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
A recent Fox News poll found that government corruption is voters’ top concern this year, surpassing even the economy. Yet the Republican-controlled Congress has failed to deliver meaningful oversight. The enrichment of Trump, his family, allies and aides has gone uninvestigated, while Senate Republicans continue to block legislation targeting insider trading by members of Congress.
It has been a running theme from Democrats working to unseat Republican incumbents, with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York — slated to become speaker of the House if Democrats win control of the chamber — repeatedly characterizing the current session as a “do-nothing” Congress.
Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola speaks at a campaign event Oct. 29, 2026, in Juneau, Alaska.
(Chloe Anderson / Associated Press)
In Alaska, Mary Peltola, the Democratic nominee for Senate, accused her GOP opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, of doing nothing to stop Trump’s tariff policies or his war with Iran. Democrat Sherrod Brown in Ohio has attacked the Republican incumbent Jon Husted for his procedural attempts to end debate over legislation on the Epstein files. And Democrat Adam Hamilton has targeted Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas for voting for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that jeopardized funding to rural hospitals.
Defending the record of his majority, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has highlighted a decline in prescription drug prices, the elimination of “wasteful spending” on various federal programs and bipartisan housing reform. Only so much can be accomplished with a razor-thin majority in the chamber, Johnson has said.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) listens as U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) lends his support at a campaign rally on Oct. 29, 2026, in Platteville, Wis. Van Orden is in a rematch from 2024 with Democrat Rebecca Cooke for the state’s 3rd District seat.
(John Moore / Getty Images)
Trump has vowed on the campaign trail that, if kept in power, a Republican Congress would pass a $5,000 dividend to each American, despite its thin record to date.
Critics of the speaker say Johnson’s deference to Trump — and relinquishing of congressional authority to the executive branch — has unilaterally ceded power, souring voters on unified government.
But Stewart, who also co-directs a voting technology project with Caltech, said Congress’ problems run deeper than its current record.
Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) speaks during a campaign stop at the Palmetto State Armory on Oct. 30, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. Graham is running about even in the polls against her opponent, South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews.
(Win McNamee / Getty Images)
“Not only is Congress not pushing back against the administration, or even innovating in policy, but its members also don’t seem especially interested in serving their constituents on the small-ball aspects of representation,” Stewart said.
“It’s hard to say members of this Congress are connecting with their constituents as they did in decades past,” he added. “We’ll see if that lack of constituency connection will have an impact on the results.”
Serbians stormed a TV studio and confronted its editor-in-chief after a student-led protest movement swept into power during national elections. A regional public broadcaster also apologised for years of one-sided reporting, raising hopes for a new era in the country’s media.
Published On 29 Oct 202629 Oct 2026
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Already accused by his wife of sexually assaulting her, Marcellus Wiley is the defendant in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that he raped a 22-year-old USC student in 1999.
Wiley, a former NFL defensive end and longtime sports media personality, also has been accused by three women of sexual misconduct when he was a student at Columbia University in 1994 and by four additional women of similar criminal behavior from 1995 to 2009.
Those filings support a motion-seeking class-action status against Wiley and Columbia by one of the accusers, who filed her initial complaint in 2023 alleging that Wiley raped her in his Columbia dorm room in November 1994 after inviting her to study. She claimed university officials discouraged her from going to the police and handled the matter internally.
The filing Tuesday alleges that “Jane Doe” met Wiley in February 1999 and went on two dates with him. The lawsuit states that she told Wiley — who had just completed his third season with the Buffalo Bills — that she was sexually inexperienced and not interested in a romantic relationship. Nevertheless, she accompanied him to a L.A. nightclub and agreed to spend the night in his hotel room. Doe alleged that Wiley raped her after she fell asleep fully clothed.
“Jane told Wiley to stop and repeated ‘Please stop’ several times and told him, ‘You’re not listening to me,’” the lawsuit states.
While driving Doe to her dorm room, Wiley suggested that she be tested for a sexually transmitted disease because he “had the clap,” according to the filing. She claims they never spoke again.
Doe wrote that she filed a police report after a rape kit tested positive for Wiley’s semen. More than a month later she claims the district attorney’s office informed her that Wiley denied Doe’s allegations and that, “therefore, no charges would be filed.” Doe is suing Wiley for sexual battery, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Wiley responded to the lawsuit by pointing to MenTooProject.org, a digital advocacy movement and platform he launched in August after the State of Florida declined to file charges against him following a July 4 domestic dispute with his estranged wife, Annemarie Wiley. She alleged that he poked her in the face and threatened to kill her in front of their 7-year-old daughter. Wiley denied the allegations.
The project, a spin-off of the #MenToo awareness campaign that gained widespread traction in India in 2019, invites men to “join us in the fight for truth, fairness, and justice,” Wiley wrote on the website. “My grandmother told me the truth always outruns a lie. She taught me not to chase the lie, just give the truth time to catch it.”
Wiley, 51, frequently addresses the allegations against him on his YouTube channel, “Dat Dude TV.”
“Pick a date, pick the encounter, pick the allegation. For every one of them, I either saw, communicated through email, text, phone, was invited by these individuals after these dates to engage, to be intimate, or all of the above, after the dates that are in question,” Wiley said in a May 2006 episode.
In a court filing two months later requesting a temporary restraining order, Annemarie Wiley accused him of raping her four separate times. The first alleged instance occurred in 2012 when they were dating and the other three allegedly took place in January 2026. Annemarie, a nurse anesthetist and former cast member of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” was granted the order as well as full custody of their children. She filed for divorce the same day.
In Sepember, a judge granted her request to extend the restraining order for three years. The July 4 episode that triggered the restraining order resulted in Wiley’s arrest, but a month later the Orange County State Attorney’s Office dropped criminal charges, stating that testimonial evidence lacked corroborating physical or other evidence required to pursue a conviction.
Wiley, who grew up in Compton and played 10 years in the NFL including three with the Chargers, defended himself publicly through a long social media post that read in part, “I owe it to my children to truthfully document what they and I have endured. To do that, I must address the lies Annemarie has told about me by telling the truth about her and our marriage.
“Over the years, I have compiled videos, photographs, text messages, emails, and other evidence that directly contradicts those baseless claims and provides a factual record of our family and the events leading to this unfortunate divorce,” he wrote.
Wiley has repeatedly lamented that the allegations, lawsuits and media reports could have a negative impact on his young son and two daughters. He pointed out on social media in May that three sexual assault claims were dismissed in New York County court in September 2025, while suggesting that his son, Marcellus Wiley Jr., could suffer from the allegations.
“To me, it’s about my son’s name, that he will one day Google and think this is about him, but he’s gonna know it’s about his dad,” he said on “Dat Dude TV” in May. “And how dare you stain the brain of my child.”
Three major Chinese brands have ended partnerships with French football star Kylian Mbappe after his comments about a meme, showing his head on Mao Zedong’s body, sparked a backlash. Mbappe has apologised but the controversy has drawn criticism from Chinese fans.
Published On 28 Oct 202628 Oct 2026
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The plaintiffs argue they are losing access to vital information media outlets covering Trump used to provide.
Published On 26 Oct 202626 Oct 2026
A group of private citizens has sued the administration of United States President Donald Trump over its restrictions on news outlets covering the White House.
“All of the Plaintiffs rely on the White House press corps for independent reporting about the president and his administration, and all of them use that reporting in a variety of ways in their scholarship, teaching, journalism, or advocacy,” says the lawsuit, filed on Monday in a federal court in New York.
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The lawsuit is the first lodged not by the news outlets being banned, but by those who consume the news and rely on it for their work.
The plaintiffs include a human rights advocate, a media watchdog, a university history professor, a high school teacher, a legal journalist and a student journalist.
Each argues they need unbiased, diverse media reporting from the White House to do their work.
“I’m gravely concerned that the Trump administration’s restrictions on White House reporters are cutting off access to crucial information,” Peter Schmidt-Nowara, a high school social studies teacher in New York City, said in a statement.
“I joined this lawsuit because my students deserve to know what’s happening in their government and to hear from a free and independent press.”
Trump already faces several legal challenges to his practice of banning journalists from outlets he dislikes from accessing the White House.
Last month, he banned journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from attending news conferences at the White House. A federal judge later ruled the order was unconstitutional, a violation of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press, and ordered access be restored. However, the Trump administration continues to fight the ruling.
Last week, Trump dismissed reporting that he planned to evict journalists from the White House press briefing room and restore a swimming pool that was housed there starting in 1933. But he said he is still considering moving the press out of the briefing room.
“I am thinking about moving the Press, and putting them in a different location, but I will use that location for very badly needed space,” Trump said in a social media post.
Kenneth Roth, a senior fellow at Yale University and former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said the restrictions on press access were familiar postmarks in countries whose leaders have become authoritarian.
“Worldwide, I have seen how governmental leaders’ efforts to penalise independent journalists are a prelude to the rise of autocracy,” he said in a statement.
Like the rest of the sector and other industries heavily dependent on fuel, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) faces pressure on its bottom line that will be only partially offset by higher passenger spending.
Simply put, operating expenses will grow faster
Class action could be first in Australia to blame social media for harming its users.
Published On 22 Oct 202622 Oct 2026
Meta and its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram are facing a class action lawsuit in Australia over allegations that addictive design features are harming children and teenagers.
The lawsuit, filed by MinterEllison in the Australian Federal Court, seeks to recover compensation for current and former users of Facebook and Instagram who claim they were exposed to harmful content or developed an addiction to social media as a result of using those platforms, the law firm said in a statement released on Thursday.
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“This proceeding raises important questions about the design and operation of social media platforms and their impact on children and teenagers in Australia. Those questions will now be considered through the Federal Court process,” MinterEllison Partner William Nolan said in the statement.
The class action suit was filed on behalf of eight plaintiffs who allege they were harmed by Meta while they were below the age of 18.
In a suppression order on Monday, the court prohibited the reporting of any information that could reveal their identities and the statement of claim.
“We are aware of this claim and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” a Meta spokesperson said.
Litigation Lending Services said it was funding the class action for Australian families who “would have no practical means of pursuing these claims against a global technology giant”.
The lawsuit comes amid rising tensions between Australia and Big Tech after a world-first ban on social media for children below 16 in 2025, and newly proposed rules that could let users switch off algorithm-driven content on their feeds.
Meta agreed in August to pay $18bn to settle with nearly all US states to resolve claims that it designed social media to addict children.
The Guardian says Andy Burnham will face a “climate revolt” by approving drilling at the Jackdaw gas field., external The paper says that, while it will be a “major boost” for Britain’s oil and gas industry, critics will argue it undermines Labour’s green credentials. According to the Financial Times, ministers are expected to say that the project will help increase energy supplies this winte, externalr. The i Paper reports that it will be able to power around a million UK homes., external
The Times reports that the home secretary is facing pressure from her cabinet colleagues to water down plans, external which would make it harder for foreign workers to claim permanent residence in the UK. But an ally of Shabana Mahmood tells the paper that Burnham is “on her side” and is “holding the line”. “Mahmood’s fight to save her migrant crackdown” is the headline.
The Daily Telegraph says a review of anti-Semitism in schools in England is expected to prompt some to ban teachers from wearing pro-Palestinian badges. , externalAccording to the Guardian, the report by Sir David Bell finds that three in five Jewish students have been affected, external by anti-Semitism.
The decision to deploy RAF jets to defend Saudi Arabia is described by the Times as an “expansion of the UK’s role in the conflict in Yemen”, external. A defence source tells the paper that “if Houthi drones or missiles come over the border” then British jets will “take them out”. The Telegraph’s verdict is: “Better late than never”.
The Daily Mirror leads with the Covid inquiry’s findings that government failures during the pandemic allowed the virus to “spread like wildfire” in care homes., external In its leader column, the paper says care home residents were “shamefully abandoned by those entrusted with protecting them”.
Prince Harry’s call for reconciliation with his father and brother is the focus of the Sun’s front page, external. It says the Duke of Sussex is hoping to “fix his bitter family feud”. But the Daily Mail accuses him of “reopening old wounds” in what it describes as a “new Sussex psychodrama”, external. Its headline reads: “Oh, do put a sock in it, Harry!”.
On October 16, King Mohammed VI of Morocco appointed a new government headed by Prime Minister Fatima Zohra Al Mansouri. This is the first time in Moroccan history that a woman is leading the government – a precedent that was covered widely in international media.
In the Moroccan context, however, what is important is that Al Mansouri hails from the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), which won the most seats in parliamentary elections in September. The party was founded by Ali Himma, a close associate and adviser to the king.
PAM, which has formed a coalition with three other parties, dominates the new government. This signals continuity rather than potential for change.
When thinking about what trajectory the new government is likely to take, it is important to consider PAM’s evolution.
The party was established in 2008 with the aim of countering the rise of political Islam in Morocco and in particular, the Justice and Development Party (PJD). The Arab Spring, which saw mass protests across the country, brought changes to the Moroccan political scene, allowing more space for political forces like the PJD and, to an extent, curbing the influence of the establishment, known as the Makhzen.
In 2011, Himma distanced himself from PAM and became an adviser to the king. Yet, the party continued to be perceived by other political groups as tied to the Makhzen.
For years, PAM carried the stigma of its origins, but it persisted in trying to gain acceptance. In the 2016 elections, it challenged the PJD and secured the second-biggest number of votes, thus establishing itself as a legitimate political force. Yet this was still not enough to enable it to lead the government.
The party subsequently reinvented itself by rejuvenating its ranks and gaining experience in public affairs through its participation in the 2021 government as a coalition partner. In the latest elections, PAM finally won.
This election victory, however, needs to be put into perspective: 62 percent of eligible voters stayed away from the polls. On election day, the authorities had to call on people to go out and vote.
Apart from the low turnout, there were suspicions of irregularities, but because in some cases the official election records were not released, observers and political parties were unable to obtain tangible evidence.
There was also the familiar phenomenon of influential figures being brought into political parties at the last minute to boost electoral prospects. For example, just two months before the election, Faouzi Laaqjea, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, whose popularity stems from the achievements of Moroccan football, officially joined PAM.
To secure a majority in parliament, the party has had to form a coalition with forces which had previously questioned its legitimacy. While PAM has gained legitimacy through this alliance, the other parties and their leaders may now lose credibility.
The newly formed government has retained more than half the members of its predecessor, not to mention the so-called sovereign ministries, which fall directly within the king’s reserved powers. Some Moroccans are already asking what was the point of holding elections if the same people are brought back to govern.
The new government has an ambitious programme to respond to growing domestic pressure as the cost-of-living crisis deepens. At the first Council of Ministers meeting chaired by the king on October 17 , a 2027 Finance Bill was put forward that featured greater emphasis on addressing social issues, citizens’ purchasing power and youth inclusion.
However, this agenda is facing an unfavourable international economic and financial environment, marked by rising energy prices and increasing costs of inputs for some of Morocco’s leading sectors, including phosphate production.
The state-owned OCP Group, which is in charge of phosphate extraction and the industrial processing of phosphate derivatives and is one of Morocco’s principal sources of wealth, is now experiencing difficult times.
There are also concerns about the potential effects of El Nino, which could bring more dry weather and threaten food security in a country that just endured seven consecutive years of drought.
Tourism, another major source of revenue, could also suffer from the global slowdown in travel, rising transport costs and the uncertainties arising from tensions in the Gulf and Europe.
The circumstances are therefore far from favourable for the new government, and public opinion appears broadly sceptical.
Last but not least, this government will face an experienced and outspoken opposition, represented by both the Islamist PJD and the radical left.
Even the ministers holding the so-called sovereign portfolios face serious challenges. The foreign minister must contend with public opposition to the normalisation of relations with Israel. The interior minister has to tackle allegations of electoral manipulation.
The minister of religious affairs is facing the fallout of controversial statements concerning Morocco as a secular country and remarks about Ceuta, known in Morocco as Sebta, made during a religious ceremony. These comments were poorly received by the Spanish authorities.
The new government has an ambitious agenda, indeed, but its tenure will be shaped by difficult circumstances – both at home and abroad – that are largely out of its control.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
Eyo-Dae Kim and Susan Kim attended the University of Southern California decades ago, two international students with little money and no family in the U.S. On Friday, their son, Beong-Soo Kim, stood before an Alumni Park crowd and was formally installed as the 13th president of their alma mater.
“It is wonderful to have you here, Dad, facing the same library where you and Mom studied together at USC,” Kim, 53, said to his father, who took doctoral courses in economics. Kim’s late mother fled during the Korean War and earned a USC master’s degree.
“They certainly would never have imagined, as international students, that this day could possibly come,” Kim had said earlier.
In a wide-ranging interview before the event, Kim — who was appointed in February after holding an interim presidential role — said he leads USC at a time of promise and deep challenges:
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, leased and operated by USC, will be a showcase site for the 2028 Olympics. A recent $200-million gift is fueling a university-wide push into artificial intelligence. USC admitted 12.6% of first-year applicants this fall for sought-after slots.
Beong-Soo Kim was formally installed as USC’s 13th president during an investiture ceremony Friday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Yet he faces steep hurdles. The former federal prosecutor who spent five years as USC’s general counsel inherited a deficit of more than $200 million. Among his first actions, Kim approved the layoffs of more than 900 workers and ordered deep cost-saving measures. USC is still recovering from years of scandal and controversy that scarred its national reputation, including a $1.1-billion payout to settle sexual abuse allegations against a campus gynecologist, its involvement in the “Varsity Blues” admissions bribery scheme and its handling of pro-Palestinian protests.
Then there is Trojan football.
Fans chanted this month for the firing of football coach Lincoln Riley — after years of underachieving — though the Trojans have defeated Washington and Penn State after an Oregon loss.
Although fans and analysts have soured at times on Riley — whose pay exceeds $11 million and whose reported buyout is about $70 million — Kim declined to say whether USC could afford a coaching change, saying, “We’re not thinking about that.”
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Amid fan chants to fire Trojan football coach Lincoln Riley, USC President Beong-Soo Kim declined to say whether USC could afford a coaching change, saying “we are laser-focused on the next game.”
“We are laser-focused on the next game, and then the game after that, and really having the best possible season that we can have in football,” he said.
After the stinging rounds of layoffs, Kim said, the university expects to “significantly exceed” the roughly $30-million surplus he forecast for USC earlier this year during his state-of-the-university speech, though final numbers are pending.
In his speech, Kim said that public trust in universities has declined and “we must regain trust by earning it.” USC is among the elite universities targeted last year by the Trump administration over alleged campus antisemitism, though it has not faced major federal funding freezes or lawsuits as the UC system has.
On Friday, deans and faculty in academic regalia processed into Alumni Park, where the Trojan Marching Band accompanied the national anthem as temperatures climbed toward the 90s during the nearly two-hour ceremony.
USC religious life dean Varun Soni opened an invocation by describing the cello’s sound post — a small wooden piece called its “soul” in Italian and French — and comparing it to the soul of a university. Kim, a cellist, later joined USC Thornton School of Music students to play “Prelude,” the first movement of Grieg’s “Holberg Suite,” Op. 40, as Kaufman School of Dance students performed.
Morton Schapiro, Northwestern’s president emeritus and a former USC dean, represented visiting academic delegates and praised Kim’s “creativity, character and commitment to community” before Suzanne Nora Johnson, chair of the Board of Trustees, formally installed Kim. Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and humanist blessings closed the ceremony. In the afternoon, a “Trojan Family celebration” in McCarthy Quad was scheduled to feature food stalls and performances by singer-songwriters Aloe Blacc, a USC alumnus, and Allen Stone.
When he took over as interim president in 2025, upon the departure of Carol Folt, Kim immediately confronted the university’s financial crisis. The campus had long spent more than it brought in, an imbalance driven by rising athletics costs, pandemic expenses and major legal settlements. A weak year for USC’s health system deepened the shortfall. Kim maintained a hiring pause, stopped merit raises and took “a hard look at a lot of our administrative expenses and our operations,” he told The Times.
Keck Medicine of USC took a significant hit in the layoffs after running a deficit in the tens of millions in recent years. Last month, dozens of layoffs took place at the Viterbi School of Engineering.
Kim said Keck’s performance “has been good, but it can get better.” The health system is “making very positive progress” to cut expenses while focusing on “patient care, patient quality.”
Across campus, he credited staff and faculty with “stepping up, asking how can we do more with less.”
USC is also challenging a faculty union before the National Labor Relations Board. Non-tenure-track faculty voted in June to join United Faculty-UAW, with about 70% in favor. USC has asked the labor board to review the decision that allowed the vote, arguing the union is too broad. Faculty leafleted Friday during Kim’s event.
Kim said he wants USC to build strong partnerships with Los Angeles industries, including entertainment, biotechnology, sports and “the new space economy.”
He cautioned in his speech that “great universities do not become greater by trying to do everything.”
During the interview, he did not say which university programs need to shrink but said such decisions will come through a strategic plan that will “engage the whole community.”
“One of the things that I frankly pride myself on as a university president is that I readily admit that I don’t have all the answers, and certainly not the best answers,” he said.
Beong-Soo Kim speaks at USC’s commencement in May.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
A pressing debate — particularly within the University of California system — is whether standardized tests should be required for admissions. Many of the nation’s most elite institutions have recently turned away from test-blind or test-optional admission policies. UC, which does not consider SAT scores in admissions, is reviewing whether to resume SAT and ACT requirements.
Kim said USC, which is test-optional, is studying the issue too. USC considers SAT and ACT scores if applicants submit them but does not require them.
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As the University of California evaluates whether to reintroduce SAT and standardized testing requirements for admission, USC President Beong-Soo Kim said USC is also looking at the question. He said USC, which is test-optional, has not made a final decision.
“It’s absolutely something that has been under discussion, particularly with respect to STEM students,” he said, referring to science, technology, engineering and math majors. He cautioned that no final decision has been made and that the new provost, David Madigan, will be looking at the issue.
Kim said UC’s test-blind policy is “one of the contextual factors that we have to consider.” Many California students who plan to apply to UC skip the tests, and many of them also apply to USC, he said.
USC said last year it would keep weighing applicants’ family ties to the university despite a state ban on legacy and donor preferences. In 2024, while the ban was pending, USC said it would “comply with state law” if it were signed. Schools that keep the preferences are listed publicly as out of compliance and must report more admissions data to the state.
Kim said USC chose to keep “considering whether someone is a member of the Trojan family” as one of many factors. He said he is “actually quite proud” that USC maintained its “holistic admissions practices” in a way that “provides more transparency about our admissions.”
Legacy preferences have fed a stereotype of USC as a college for the wealthy and well connected. Kim disputed that image.
He pointed to USC’s transfer students, Pell Grant recipients and first-generation students. USC opens its doors to “so many people in California, throughout the country, and throughout the world,” he said.
Still, Kim acknowledged that trust in education has fallen, though he said that trust in American institutions “across the board has been declining.”
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USC violates state law by considering legacy and donor ties in admissions, a practice President Beong-Soo Kim defended as part of a holistic review while touting the university’s transparency in reporting admissions data to the state.
“Some might have to do with events from several years ago,” he said.
He did not say which events, though USC has had its share. As general counsel, Kim helped steer it through the aftermath of the national Varsity Blues admissions bribery scandal and the sex abuse payout to former patients of campus gynecologist George Tyndall, the largest in higher education history.
His answer to falling trust has been the Open Dialogue Project, which he launched in October 2025 to bring clashing views to campus. Guests have included National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, former ACLU President Nadine Strossen and legal scholar Jonathan Turley.
In September, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression gave USC its top “green light” rating for several speech policies. After the group recalculated its college free speech rankings, USC rose from 198th to 37th out of 261 schools.
Last fall, the Trump administration invited USC and eight other universities to sign a higher education compact offering favorable access to federal research grants. Signers would cap international undergraduates at 15%, require the SAT or ACT and freeze tuition for five years.
USC rejected the compact last October — about two weeks after the administration offered it.
Some faculty viewed USC’s initial reluctance to reject the overture as a sign it was unwilling to openly challenge Trump’s education demands. They also point to USC’s closure of its university-wide Office of Inclusion and Diversity last year amid a federal anti-DEI push and its removal of pages for cultural heritage months from its “Culture Journey” website earlier this year.
Kim disagreed that USC bends quickly to the White House.
“It would have been highly presumptuous for me just to make a rash decision about what we were going to do without listening,” he said of the compact.
International students have also faced pressures, as the government restricts some visa programs and significantly increases costs for others.
About 26% of USC students are international, with 15% of the undergraduate population coming from other nations. Kim said international students “have been part of USC for decades” and called their presence “a win-win.”
USC is also leaning into artificial intelligence, with a $200-million gift from Nvidia board member Mark Stevens and his wife, Mary Stevens, meant to infuse AI across the campus and recruit AI researchers.
But leaders of OpenAI and Anthropic have warned that the technology’s fast development poses serious risks to jobs and human existence.
“We have to take those warnings very seriously,” Kim said. Universities, he said, can help clarify what it means for AI to be “aligned” and “safe.”
Kim said USC wants to make sure its students “are leading in terms of how to use it ethically, how to use it morally.”
On July 14, 2028, the Coliseum — USC’s campus-adjacent home stadium — will share the Olympics’ opening ceremony with SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
Kim said he hopes Olympic visitors will see “a university that has an incredible Olympic tradition,” but also one whose reach goes well beyond sports.
The Games will also bring alumni and students “from across the globe,” he said. “I think that’s going to make for a very magical moment.”
08:10, 19 Oct 2026Updated 08:16, 19 Oct 2026
Amanda Cannon is fighting for her life in Turkey(Image: Marisa White/SWNS)
A British nan is fighting for her life in Turkey after suffering a heart attack while on holiday as her family faces a £25,000 hospital bill.
Amanda Cannon, 58, was rushed to intensive care after collapsing during a trip with her daughter Marisa White on October 10. The grandmother-of-nine from Redhill, Surrey, reportedly went without oxygen for 10 minutes after suffering what doctors believe was an epileptic seizure and cardiac arrest.
She is currently on life support in a private hospital in Antalya, Turkey. Relatives say her treatment is costing around €3,500 (£3,000) a day, with the bill already reaching €30,000 (£25,000).
Hannah Cooper, the mum of Amanda’s grandchildren, flew to Turkey with her five-year-old daughter after receiving a distressing call from Marisa. She said Amanda suddenly “jolted backwards”, turned blue and stopped breathing. Marisa immediately began CPR before paramedics arrived and took over.
But because she has no travel insurance, her former daughter-in-law Hannah said Turkish medics would not stop treatment for religious reasons. They fear the mounting costs could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds if her condition does not improve.
Hannah, 33, from Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, told Talk to the Press: “She’s now in a deep coma. She’s got kidney failure, liver failure. They said there’s a 20 per cent chance that she’ll wake up and if she does, she’ll be in a vegetative state.”
She added: “I got a phone call from her daughter saying that she just suddenly jolted backwards, went grey, purple, blue, started foaming from the mouth and stopped breathing. Her daughter gave her CPR. Then when the ambulance got there, they took over. She went without oxygen for about 10 minutes.”
Doctors later told the family Amanda had suffered what appeared to be a seizure as well as a heart attack. She was placed on life support and remains in coma.
Amanda travelled to Turkey with daughter Marisa, who Hannah said suffered from many severe physical and mental health conditions. Concerned she would struggle to deal with the crisis alone, Hannah booked flights and travelled out to support her.
She said: “She doesn’t have the mental capacity to cope with what’s going on. The language barrier is so hard. We have to keep going on Google Translate to speak to the doctor because he doesn’t understand us and we don’t understand him.”
As the family tried to come to terms with Amanda’s condition, they were shocked to learn of the mounting medical costs. Hannah said she received a phone call asking for £5,000 shortly after Amanda was admitted.
She said: “I said to them that I don’t have £5,000, but I’d be flying over to Turkey. Since then, I’ve had several emails asking for payment.”
Hannah later discovered Amanda’s stay in the private intensive care unit was costing around €3,500 every day. She also revealed that the hospital wouldn’t release her to a public one until they cleared half of the bill.
Hannah said: “I’ve asked for a transfer to a state hospital where it would still cost money, but not like this.”
The family launched a GoFundMe appeal with an initial target of £15,000, but now fear the total bill could be far higher. Despite no longer being with Amanda’s son, Hannah said the 58-year-old has remained a huge part of her life.
She said: “She’s been like a second mum to me for 17 years. She’s always been my biggest supporter.”
The ordeal has also taken a toll on Amanda’s grandchildren.
Hannah said: “My eldest is asking a lot of questions and is upset. My little girl just keeps saying she wants to see her nan.”
She said doctors would either wait until Amanda was biologically dead or keep her alive. Hannah and her daughter are set to return to the UK on Sunday, October 18, while Marisa plans to fly back to Turkey after collecting medication.
Hannah concluded: “We’re upset, shocked and confused. We just don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
The fundraiser can be found on GoFundMe.
da-kuk
As retailers introduce digital shelf labels and software that helps determine prices, consumers are questioning how much information businesses collect, and whether it influences what individual shoppers pay. Those concerns are bringing greater scrutiny to pricing technology already spreading across stores, restaurants and online
Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary under United States President Donald Trump, has drawn increasing criticism over claims about her professional background.
On Wednesday, a public accountability nonprofit filed a complaint with the State Bar of California over Zacharia’s repeated claims that she was a lawyer.
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If made falsely, such a claim is a crime in the state. According to Zacharia’s LinkedIn profile, she received a degree from the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law in 2011, but critics have questioned whether she received a licence to practise law, as she has suggested.
“Ms. Zacharia has represented herself as a lawyer repeatedly to buttress her reputation and credibility as a television legal commentator and now as the White House spokesperson,” Michelle Kuppersmith, the head of the Washington, DC-based Campaign for Accountability, said in a statement. “Yet it seems it was all a lie.”
Her organisation filed the complaint with California’s bar office, a regulatory agency that oversees the licensing of lawyers.
“In California, calling yourself a lawyer without a license isn’t puffery; it’s a crime,” Kuppersmith said.
“The State Bar should investigate whether Ms. Zacharia has misled the public about her credentials and hold her accountable if she has.”
Zacharia, a commentator who has appeared frequently on Fox News and Newsmax, began her term as White House press secretary on Tuesday.
In a news briefing that day, she seemed to falter and speak haltingly, sometimes having to repeat herself.
Her appearance was brief, lasting under 15 minutes. She spent much of her time at the podium thanking Trump for the opportunity and reading from a prepared statement.
“I have wanted to work for him for a very long time,” Zacharia said.
Later, she joined Trump outside the White House to speak further with reporters. When asked where she had passed the bar exam, Zacharia replied, “When I moved to China.”
The response was an apparent reference to a three-year stint in which she claims she worked at a law firm in Beijing.
A biography on the website for the pro-Trump women’s organisation Trumpettes USA Inc says she “served as outside counsel” for the World Bank and International Finance Corporation while in Beijing.
Her LinkedIn profile, meanwhile, indicates Zacharia served as an associate at the Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing from 2011 to 2013. More recently, from 2024 to 2025, it lists her as general counsel for Fix California, a voter rights group started by a Trump administration official.
On her Instagram profile, Zacharia describes herself as a “Wife, Mom, & Lawyer”.
But Zacharia’s assertion that she passed the bar in China has fuelled media scrutiny. China’s equivalent of the bar exam, the notoriously difficult National Unified Legal Professional Qualification Examination, can only be taken by Chinese citizens.
China has, on rare occasion, allowed foreigners to practise law in the country if they have several years of experience in their home countries first.
But that does not appear to be the case for Zacharia. According to media reports, Zacharia has not been found to be licensed as a lawyer in any state in the US.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Zacharia responded to the scrutiny by saying, “I practice international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials.”
Since Trump’s return to office for a second term, Zacharia has spent several months as a communications adviser at the Department of Homeland Security.
Since June, she has also worked as the senior communications adviser at the Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns the Truth Social platform.
A killer who faced police after a chilling crime remained silent, as chilling footage has been revealed in a Channel 5 true crime documentary.
Taking viewers beyond a crime scene, the Channel 5 series once again plunged people into the heart of another brutal criminal investigation as detectives investigate high-profile murder and criminal cases across the UK.
Back for a new series on Channel 5, Murder Scene: The Incident Room aired a chilling episode tonight (October 14) titled A Killer in the Family. Tonight’s heartbreaking instalment transported viewers to a devastating 2024 fire in Hampshire when firefighters made a heartbreaking discovery.
But when detectives arrived on the scene to piece together what happened, they were soon faced with a chilling reality. 96-year-old grandmother Emma Finch was found dead on her bedroom floor, with suspicions soon turning to her grandson Joshua Powell.
The episode heard from detectives involved and how they pieced together vital information, as the police interview with Joshua was also shown.
But with 96 hours to question him, and detectives working against the clock, Joshua decided to exercise his right to silence on multiple occasions.
The episode hears how the evidence against Joshua “kept getting stronger” before detectives had a sufficient amount to bring a charge of murder, with viewers also hearing heartbreaking accounts from family, including Emma’s son Peter.
On May 16, 2025 – a day before the anniversary of Emma’s killing – Joshua pleaded guilty to the murder of his grandmother. The documentary heard: “He was left with no option but to plead guilty. By admitting his guilt and telling everyone how he killed Emma, he did at least avoid putting the family through a trial.”
Months later, on November 14, Joshua Powell was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court, where he was handed the sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 26 years.
Aged 17 at the time, he would be 53 before even being considered for release. As of 2026, he would still be in prison for his crime.
At the time of the sentencing, Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Howard Broadribb, said: “Joshua’s callous actions took advantage of Emma’s trust in him. His subsequent denials when faced with mounting evidence against him showed a total disregard for Emma and her family.
“His subsequent admission at court spared them from having to endure a trial, but that is little comfort when compared to the loss that they have suffered. I hope that this sentence gives all of Emma’s relatives the opportunity to grieve their loss in the knowledge that justice has been served.”
Murder Scene: The Incident Room airs Mondays at 8pm on Channel 5
For decades, the bold, mid-century building at Lincoln and Olympics boulevards in Santa Monica has been the end of the line — the last address on the 2,400-mile westward journey of Route 66. Once home to the Penguin Coffee Shop, today it holds Mel’s Drive-In. But now its future is in doubt.
The owners of the property have filed early paperwork to level the structure and replace it with an eight-story apartment building. Preservationists are pushing for a historic designation that might protect it.
The groups appear headed toward a showdown Dec. 14, when the Santa Monica Landmarks Commission will hold a hearing on the site’s nomination for protected status by the Santa Monica Conservancy and the Los Angeles Conservancy. The allied conservancies contend that the building is “the most significant representation of its style and period in architecture and design in Santa Monica.”
Designed by famed mid-century architects Armet & Davis, the building held the Penguin Coffee Shop from 1959 through 1991.
(Architects Armet Davis / Santa Monica Public Library Image Archives)
“This isn’t about saving a modern restaurant. It’s about preserving some really important Googie architecture,” said Nina Fresco, vice president of Santa Monica Conservancy. She added that “there’s no reason why housing and historic preservation can’t be partners.”
Irvine-based firm ValueRock Realty bought the half-acre Mel’s property for $6.2 million in 2020, and in 2025 began offering the property for sale, asking $26 million through brokers Newmark Pacific.
Soon after learning that the building was for sale, the Santa Monica and L.A. conservancies nominated Mel’s for a landmark designation, which can protect buildings from demolition, Fresco said. As part of the effort, Santa Monica Conservancy leaders raised $6,800, the cost of a Santa Monica landmark nomination, and enlisted the L.A. Conservancy as an ally.
Then on Sept. 18, ValueRock filed a preliminary application with the city (also known as an SB330 application) to replace the 1959 building with an eight-story apartment building, including 138 apartments, 123 parking spaces and first-floor retail space.
The sign of Mel’s Drive-In features a penguin, homage to the coffee shop of yesteryear.
(David Fouts / For The Times)
When it bought the property in 2020, ValueRock announced that it “is considered to be a historical landmark within the community.” But in its September filing for the apartment project, ValueRock management checked a box indicating that no historic or cultural resources are known to exist on the property.
“We didn’t know they would be quite this aggressive, but it’s not a huge surprise,” Fresco said.
Under city law, Fresco said, if a property is more than 40 years old, the owner must wait at least 75 days after seeking a demolition permit before any demolition can happen. “So we’re OK at least until that hearing” in December, Fresco said.
If the Landmark Commission agrees to confer landmark status on the building, Fresco said, it may be shielded from demolition — but the owner can appeal the decision to the City Council.
Management at ValueRock Realty did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The restaurant remains open, receiving a steady stream of locals and Route 66 travelers. “We’re going to be here until 2029,” said Marilina Borchio, manager of Mel’s, citing a lease that runs through June of that year. As she spoke, the breakfast crowd was trickling in on Sunday morning. Borchio said she’s spending a lot of time reassuring customers who “think we are going to be demolished tomorrow night.”
The Googie-style building, designed by famed mid-century architects Armet & Davis, held the Penguin Coffee Shop from 1959 through 1991, catching the eyes of passing drivers with its dramatically slanted roof, oversize windows and a long counter inside for diners in a hurry. Architectural historians describe Googie style as a bold strain of Mid-Century Modernism, notable for big neon signs and swooping roofs, especially popular among restaurants, bowling alleys and car washes, now increasingly rare. Rae’s Diner, a 1958 building on Pico Boulevard, is another Santa Monica example.
The coffee shop never earned a Michelin star (nor has Mel’s) but its workaday American fare won a following. “The Penguin gets my vote for the best diner around,” wrote Times restaurant critic Charles Perry in 1989.
But two years later, the Penguin was gone. By 1992, the building had been converted into a dentist’s office. Eventually it fell idle, until the San Francisco-based Mel’s chain arrived in 2016 and began a renovation aimed at bringing back the restaurant’s ’50s atmosphere.
Mel’s Drive-In now occupies the old Penguin Coffee Shop building at the official end of Route 66 in Santa Monica.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
The renewed restaurant opened in 2018, with a penguin atop its sign, in homage to years gone by.
“A lot of the neon elements are gone, but the main elements are still there,” said the Santa Monica Conservancy’s Fresco, who is also a Santa Monica planning commissioner and former landmarks commissioner.
The renovation and restoration effort included removing layers of paint and tile that had been added over decades, revealing interior stone cladding that had been covered and replicating the counter and stools, vinyl cushioned booths, tables of plastic and metal, terrazzo floor, and light fixtures. The work was “to the letter of the Secretary of the Interior’s standards” for the treatment of historic properties, Fresco said.
The building is not mentioned in “An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles,” by David Gebhard and Robert Winter, which is a prime source for many preservationists. But Mel’s won a $10,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2025 to pay for Route 66 centennial signage project.
Route 66 memorabilia at Mel’s Drive-in.
(David Fouts / For The Times)
“This site, like Route 66 itself, represents something greater than itself,” said Rhys Martin, manager of the National Trust’s Preserve Route 66 initiative, in an email. “It’s a connection to a journey through time and space that will be forever lost if this remarkable Googie structure is demolished.”
Fresco said she’d love to see the building continue to operate as Mel’s, but in the big picture, “we can’t stop them from building housing.” Still, Fresco said, she is hoping that the owner can come up with a project that retains the existing building while adding housing around it, as several other developers in Santa Monica have done. At 829 Broadway, developers agreed to preserve a World War II era Quonset hut while building a five-story apartment building around it. (The Quonset hut was occupied by Pono Burger from 2013 to 2025.) And the old Rapp Saloon — an 1875 brick building at 1436 2nd Street — was reborn in the late 1980s as a meeting space within a four-story hostel, now known as Hostelling International’s HI Los Angeles Santa Monica Hostel. The Santa Monica Conservancy begins its walking tours there.
If the allied conservancies win landmark status for the Penguin/Mel’s building, Fresco said, the owners “will be able to do exactly what they want to do now. They will just have to do it differently.”
Route 66, which was born and officially named U.S. Highway 66 on Nov. 11, 1926, was extended to Santa Monica in 1935. Though many travelers think of the Santa Monica Pier as the end of the route, its official terminus from 1935 on was at the intersection of Lincoln and Olympic boulevards, where Mel’s now stands.
Though Route 66 was decommissioned in the 1980s, its popularity as an Americana-rich driving route has grown in recent years, especially during this year’s centennial celebration of the road.
By the time the coffee shop building was going up at the end of the route in 1959, Fresco said, interstate freeways were already beginning to usurp Route 66’s role and the Santa Monica route of Interstate 10 had been plotted. By putting their eye-catching building on a spot along Route 66 and next to the path of the freeway, Fresco said, the people behind the Penguin were catering to motorists on roads rooted in two different eras.
“The Catholic Church shaped Rome. Commerce shaped Manhattan. It is popular culture that has shaped L.A.,” architecture critic Alan Hess told a Times reporter in 1993. “We should see these buildings in that context and take them seriously.”
tupungato
Microsoft’s (MSFT) president called for urgent global regulation of artificial intelligence, advocating for independent evaluators to assess new developments and warning that AI faces fewer safety standards than milk.
In an interview with the BBC published on Monday, Brad Smith said a
A MAJOR UK airport that sees millions of passengers through its doors each year could come to a complete halt this week.
A strike at Leeds Bradford Airport may mean that no flights will be able to land or depart across two days.
If it does go ahead as planned, then it will mean no flights will be able to land, depart and passengers won’t be able to pass security.
Nearly 130 workers are staging a walkout at Leeds Bradford Airport in a dispute over pay.
Those striking includes a mix of air traffic control workers, security, customer service and cleaners.
The industrial action is set to start on October 16 and last until 6am on Sunday 18.
There have been ongoing talks over pay since December 2025 but Unite members involved said it “didn’t go far enough”.
Unite regional officer Neil Whitaker said they had “no choice but to strike,” and what would be needed to call of the action is a “fair pay rise”.
In a statement from the airport, it said: “Leeds Bradford Airport acknowledges the proposed industrial action due to take place between 16-18 October involving a group of operational colleagues.
“We respect the right of employees to participate in lawful industrial action. However, we are disappointed by this and do not believe strike action is the right way to resolve the issues still under discussion.
“The airport has made what we believe is a fair and responsible offer that is significantly above inflation and reflects both current economic conditions and the need to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business.
“Our priority now is to minimise disruption for customers, many of whom have worked hard and saved for important holidays, family visits and business travel. At this stage we anticipate running near-normal operations during the period.”
“Leeds Bradford Airport plays a vital role in connecting Yorkshire to the world. Industrial action has the potential to cause inconvenience for thousands of customers and local businesses who rely on those connections.
“We remain committed to constructive dialogue with Unite and would welcome continued discussions aimed at reaching a resolution.
“It is important to recognise that any profits generated by Leeds Bradford Airport are reinvested back into the airport and has been for a number of years. Those funds support improvements to facilities, infrastructure, operations and customer experience including the ongoing LBA:REGEN project which saw the opening of a new central search zone and staff welfare facilities this week.”
The airport is predicted to handle 4.5million passengers this year, after undergoing a huge £100million terminal renovation last year.
The terminal was renovated with a modern arrivals process with 83 per cent more seating and two premium lounges.
A look at your rights if a flight is delayed or cancelled, when your entitled to compensation and if your travel insurance can cover the costs.
What are my rights if my flight is cancelled or delayed?
Under UK law, airlines have to provide compensation if your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late.
If you’re flying to or from the UK, your airline must let you choose a refund or an alternative flight.
You will be able to get your money back for the part of your ticket that you haven’t used yet.
So if you booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can get the full cost of the return ticket refunded.
But if travelling is essential, then your airline has to find you an alternative flight. This could even be with another airline.
When am I not entitled to compensation?
The airline doesn’t have to give you a refund if the flight was cancelled due to reasons beyond their control, such as extreme weather.
Disruptions caused by things like extreme weather, airport or air traffic control employee strikes or other ‘extraordinary circumstances’ are not eligible for compensation.
Some airlines may stretch the definition of “extraordinary circumstances” but you can challenge them through the aviation regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Will my insurance cover me if my flight is cancelled?
If you can’t claim compensation directly through the airline, your travel insurance may refund you.
Policies vary so you should check the small print, but a delay of eight to 12 hours will normally mean you qualify for some money from your insurer.
Remember to get written confirmation of your delay from the airport as your insurer will need proof.
If your flight is cancelled entirely, you’re unlikely to be covered by your insurance.
Chancellor John Healey is facing a funding gap of up to £35bn and must set out “credible” spending plans in his first Budget on 28 October, an influential think tank has warned.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that if the government wants to increase defence spending to 3% of national income by 2030 and lift health spending without squeezing other departments, it will need a “top-up” of billions of pounds.
Higher inflation, caused by the Iran war, could eat into what the government hoped to spend on public services, meaning Healey will have to choose between spending cuts, tax rises, or a mixture of both, the IFS warned.
The Treasury declined to comment on “rumour and speculation”.
The IFS urged the government to ensure its spending plans are credible, as opposed to proposing unrealistic future cuts to make the Budget add up.
The government is under growing pressure to show financial markets that it has a tight grip on finances as the cost of borrowing rises.
The IFS cautioned Healey about making any spending announcements in the 28 October Budget speech he has no intention of honouring.
“A ‘steady-as-she-goes’ Budget is not an option available to the chancellor,” said IFS director Helen Miller.
“Choosing to stay the course with the inherited tax and spending plans would mean allowing inflation to blow departments’ spending plans off course.
“Simply pencilling in implicit cuts that he has no intention of delivering would make the Budget a work of fiction,” she added.
Speaking ahead of the annual International Monetary Fund meeting this week, Healey said: “The consequences of conflict in the Middle East and Europe are hitting countries worldwide, leading to higher prices at the pumps and more expensive mortgages at home.
“But Britain and our allies can face up to these challenges together.”
He said his Budget “will build on this approach with fiscal discipline helping to deliver economic resilience” and give people “breathing space”.
Miller told the BBC’s Today programme that Healey has inherited spending plans for government departments where spending growth would slow in the coming years.
“[It] already looked likely that he would have to make spending cuts just to live within those,” she said. “Now, along comes the Middle East war, inflation goes up and those spending plans look very tight indeed.”
Added to that, the chancellor has said he wants to get defence spending up to 3% of national income. Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Healey resigned as defence secretary in June in a battle with the Treasury over military spending.
Miller said: “You put all that together, if he wanted to do all of that within current spending plans he’s looking at having to cut some other services by something like £35bn.”
The chancellor does not have to address spending totals in this Budget, and may choose to leave such decisions until future events – for example, next year’s Spring Statement or Spending Review – by which time the outlook for the economy could look very different.
But the IFS warned not addressing it would cast doubt on the credibility of the government’s plans.
Previous chancellors have relied on a similar strategy of pencilling in unrealistic future spending plans to ensure that they meet the fiscal rules on the day – only to change the plans further down the line.
Miller said Healey’s focus on fiscal discipline was a “good first start but what he needs to do is not just say he’s going to cut borrowing in coming years but actually deliver on those plans.”
WASHINGTON — The Arlington County Board in Virginia filed a lawsuit Thursday opposing the construction of the Triumphal Arch, becoming the first governmental body to take legal action against President Trump’s planned monument.
The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, criticized the speed at which the project slated for Memorial Circle has moved without going through the full review process.
“The National Park Service, the agency responsible for projects on national park land such as Memorial Circle, is proceeding full-speed toward ground-disturbing construction,” the lawsuit said. “Although the agency has claimed that a final decision to construct the Arch has not yet been made and purports to be engaged in a routine decisional process, that rushed process appears to be a pretext designed to shore up justifications for building the Arch in accordance with the President’s repeated marching orders.”
The lawsuit asks that “the agency’s feverish pace toward construction of the arch” be halted to ensure that the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act be followed and proper analysis and testing be done.
“The Arlington County Board has filed this lawsuit because our community has the most to lose from this egregious and unlawful proposed project,” Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said in a statement. He added that the county has acted in good faith in the review process, pointing out the “severe, unique, and wide-ranging negative impacts” the project will have on the county and its residents, only to see them ignored.
Memorial Circle sits on federal parkland west of the Potomac River across the Memorial Bridge and immediately adjacent to Arlington County.
The county is being represented in the lawsuit by legal advocacy group Democracy Forward.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said the Trump administration and White House have been “fastidiously compliant with all procedural and legal requirements and are certain this meritless and dilatory lawsuit will be dismissed.”
The arch will become one of the world’s most iconic landmarks, he added. “It will enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen, and all Americans alike.”
The lawsuit came a day after the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson expressed concerns that the 250-foot arch compounds multiple safety issues that she said have gone unaddressed since a deadly January 2025, crash over the Potomac River that killed 67 people. Nelson also criticized Trump’s plan to turn the arch into “a top grade military complex” able to host drones and snipers while storing ammunition.
Though the arch has received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all tapped by Trump, a group of three veterans and an architectural historian sued in federal court in Washington, D.C., saying the project needs to be approved by Congress. The judge in that lawsuit said the administration must give the court 48 hours before undertaking any activities related to or in preparation for construction of the arch.
The arch is one of several projects around Washington that Trump has undertaken as he remakes the city, from renovating one of its storied public golf courses to threatening to demolish the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Fields writes for the Associated Press.
Opposition unionists call for the prosecution of Sinn Fein lawmakers who participated in the protest.
Published On 9 Oct 20269 Oct 2026
Northern Irish police have contacted representatives of Sinn Fein in an investigation into a protest that blocked a Protestant parade from marching through a Catholic area, the party said.
The Sinn Fein party leads Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government alongside its main pro-British rival, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which has called for Sinn Fein lawmakers to be prosecuted.
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In a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday, Sinn Fein confirmed “that a number of its representatives and party members received correspondence” from police.
“Sinn Fein will continue to stand with the Garvaghy Road residents who should be allowed to live in peace and free from sectarian intimidation,” the party said in the statement.
It added they have “stood with residents of the Garvaghy Road for the last two weeks in the face of provocation and the threat of an unwanted Orange march through their community”.
Northern Ireland’s High Court permitted the Protestant Orange Order to march on the Catholic Garvaghy Road for the first time in 28 years.
Police opened an investigation into what they called the unlawful protest of the march, and said people reasonably suspected of committing offences will receive letters for interviews.
Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald participated in the protests.
The DUP called for O’Neill and other lawmakers to be prosecuted.
“A political title is not a shield, and no one is above the law,” the party said in a statement on Thursday.
Before the Good Friday Agreement was signed, annual attempts by the Orange Order to march through the area triggered unrest across the British-run region until the route was banned in 1998.
The standoff has become a political crisis in Northern Ireland, affecting the region’s power-sharing government.
UBS's basket of expensive stocks faces derating risks
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