hold

Vatican says some 40,000 people gathered to listen to the head of the Roman Catholic Church in western city of Paysandu.

Pope Leo XIV has addressed tens of thousands of people who gathered for his first mass in western Uruguay as he continues his 12-day tour of Latin America.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church urged the crowd at Paris London Park in Paysandu on Saturday to be “bridge builders” and “share the joy” of their faith.

More than 30,000 people – many from Uruguay but also from neighbouring Argentina and Brazil – had registered in advance to attend the service, about 375km (230 miles) from the capital, Montevideo. The Vatican said another 10,000 had shown up beyond that, despite the morning rain and blustery, grey skies.

It was the first mass of Leo’s three-nation South American tour – which also includes Argentina and Peru – which had been in doubt after the 71-year-old American pope underwent lung cancer surgery last month.

The pontiff appeared to be in good health on Saturday. While flying from Rome to Montevideo, Leo told reporters his speedy recovery was due to “trusting God, good doctors, good surgeons, and overall, I think a healthy lifestyle”.

His visit to Latin America comes as the region contends with sharp political divisions, with several right-wing leaders coming to power since United States President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January last year. Bucking the trend, left-wing Brazilian President Lula da Silva was re-elected for a fourth term in office last month.

In Paysandu, Leo urged the crowd to “forward the mission of evangelisation with enthusiasm” and to be a “fraternal community that comes together and shares life, projects, dreams and hopes”.

During Saturday’s address, he also paid homage to the region’s beloved mate tea, which is regularly shared among groups who drink from the same straw in a symbolic show of community.

It “teaches us to share and be together”, the pontiff said.

Approximately 60,000 people are expected to gather for a night-time prayer vigil led by the pope in Montevideo later on Saturday.

Leo’s visit to Uruguay is the first to the country by a pope in nearly four decades.

He will head to Argentina on Sunday before finishing his tour in Peru.

During his trip to Argentina, the pope will address President Javier Milei, a strong proponent of free markets and a close ally of US President Donald Trump.

Stephen Curry scored 44 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors escaped with a 119-114 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis.

Yaxel Lendeborg added 26 points in Wednesday night’s match for Golden State, which won its second straight game after losing its first three contests of the season. Brandon Williams chipped in 11 points off the bench.

Jonathan Kuminga scored 20 points against his former team to lead Minnesota, which dropped its second game in a row after a 3-0 start. Jaden McDaniels and Terrence Shannon Jr each finished with 19 points, and Ayo Dosunmu contributed 17.

The Timberwolves outscored the Warriors 66-55 in the second half but could not complete the comeback attempt. Bones Hyland made a bank shot to trim the deficit to three points in the final seconds, but Curry ended the scoring with two free throws.

The Warriors led 93-81 at the end of the third quarter.

Golden State increased its lead to as many as 24 points midway through the second half. Curry converted a three-point play to give the Warriors a 78-54 lead.

Minnesota closed the third quarter on a 27-15 run to cut the deficit to 12. Hyland came off the bench and made a pair of 3-pointers to help the Timberwolves draw closer.

Golden State led 64-48 at the half.

The Warriors closed the first quarter on a 21-9 run to grab a 30-23 advantage. De’Anthony Melton knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during the run, and Lendeborg added a driving layup and a 3-pointer.

Another layup by Lendeborg gave Golden State its first double-digit lead of the game at 48-38 with 6:29 left in the half.

Golden State scored seven of the final nine points of the first half to go ahead by 16. Lendeborg made a 3-pointer and Will Richard and Curry made two free throws apiece.

Simons fuels fourth-quarter flurry as 76ers power past Pacers

Tyrese Maxey led a balanced attack with 27 points, and Anfernee Simons ignited a deficit-erasing, fourth-quarter run, as the Philadelphia 76ers overtook the Indiana Pacers for a 114-109 victory in Indianapolis.

Simons finished with 20 points off the bench, while Joel Embiid had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Jaylen Brown 20 points and 10 rebounds and LeBron James had 13 points and 10 assists for the 76ers.

Pascal Siakam totalled 26 points to complement 11 rebounds and Andrew Nembhard chipped in with an 18-point, 14-assist double-double for the Pacers.

In a game that featured a 37-point explosion by the 76ers in the second quarter and two Pacers bursts during a 36-point response in the third period, Philadelphia found itself down 88-75 before dominating the final 12 minutes.

Simons buried a 3-pointer 18 seconds into the fourth quarter and the 76ers didn’t slow down until they had run off 26 of the period’s first 34 points to go up 101-96 with 4:24 to go. He had another 3-pointer in the run, James added one and Embiid contributed a three-point play.

Consecutive hoops by Siakam and Nembhard got the hosts within one with 3:07 to play, and it remained a one-score game into the final 90 seconds until Maxey secured Philadelphia’s fourth win in five games with a pair of 3-pointers in the final 1:10.

The 76ers outscored the Pacers 39-21 in the final period.

Indiana had taken its second-half lead with 17-0 and 13-2 third-quarter flurries, the latter helping put the 76ers in a 13-point hole entering the final 12 minutes.

Aaron Nesmith had 18 points, Kelly Oubre Jr had 15 and Obi Toppin had 13 for the Pacers, who lost their second straight.

Cavaliers spoil AJ Dybantsa’s Wizards debut

Evan Mobley scored 24 points and Peyton Watson had a season-high 22 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the visiting Washington Wizards 121-111, spoiling the NBA debut of top overall draft pick AJ Dybantsa.

Dybantsa had a team-high 19 points in 27 minutes, making 8 of 12 field goal attempts with two rebounds and two assists.

Mobley, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, also grabbed 12 rebounds as Cleveland rallied from a 13-point deficit. Donovan Mitchell posted 19 points and seven assists, and Jarrett Allen had eight points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.

Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr each scored 18 points for the Wizards, while Kyshawn George had eight points and a career-high 11 assists. Trae Young added 14 points and eight assists, and Bilal Coulibaly made 8 of 9 shots and scored 17 off the bench.

The Cavaliers went in front for the first time since the first quarter at 94-92 on Mobley’s slam to begin the fourth. Dybantsa put Washington back ahead 105-104, but Cleveland scored the next nine points in completing a perfect three-game homestand.

Dybantsa drove the lane two minutes into the third to extend the Wizards’ lead to 76-63, but Cleveland ended the period on a 29-16 run. Mitchell made two free throws to tie it at 92-92 going into the fourth.

Coulibaly scored 14 points without a miss in the first half as Washington carried a 69-59 advantage into the break. Dybantsa had 11 points in 14 minutes and Young had seven points and six assists, while Watson had 16 for the Cavaliers.

Sarr scored 13 points in the first, his season high for a game, as the Wizards built a 42-34 lead. Dybantsa, Mitchell and Mobley all had nine points apiece as the teams combined to make 9 of 13 3-point attempts and go 15 of 16 at the foul line.

Dybantsa attacked the basket on the opening possession, drawing a foul and making two free throws 16 seconds in.

Oct. 28, 2026 3:13 AM PT

Donald Trump could be in the White House for as long as another 26 interminable months, which is beyond depressing. But Democrats are mobilizing to use that time wisely if they win at least one congressional majority in midterm elections next week.

The odds are good that as of January 2027, they will be in charge of the House, and they’re slight favorites to run the Senate. If voters punish Republicans with a thumping (George W. Bush’s description in 2006) or a shellacking (Barack Obama in 2010), a few GOP lawmakers might even decide to help Democrats undo some of the damage inflicted by their president and party.

Steep cuts in federal healthcare money, price-hiking tariffs across the globe and Trump’s inflationary war on Iran are among the targets ripe for rapid action in the first 100 hours of a Democratic House, and potentially in a Democratic Senate as well.

Who knows what Trump would do or say if an actual bill were to land on his desk. When Congress passed a major bipartisan bill to lower housing costs this year, he called it a yawn and let it become law without his signature. But in 2019, he refused to work with Democrats on an infrastructure bill — purportedly one of his own priorities — unless they stopped their “phony investigations” of him. They did not stop, and we did not get an infrastructure package until the Biden administration.

If those first-term investigations annoyed Trump, he’ll be livid at what’s on tap for the next two years. Constant reports of corruption and profiteering are a hallmark of his second term, and Democrats are readying literally countless investigations of him and his family, and their businesses and associates. Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Robert Garcia of California know each other well (Garcia says he sees Raskin as a mentor) and are discussing their plans in the likely event they become chairs, respectively, of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees.

The to-do list is daunting, starting with Trump’s scandalous and seemingly pay-to-play pardons, his foreign gifts, and the Trump family’s government contracts and cryptocurrency cash haul. Other areas of interest include vindictive government prosecutions, penalties and threats; foreign influence-buying; rising authoritarianism; civil liberties; abusive immigration enforcement; corporate corruption; unfinished inquiries involving Jeffrey Epstein associates; and suspect tariff deals, conflicts and profits.

Former Republican Kurt Bardella was a senior House Oversight Committee advisor and communications specialist from 2009 to 2013, during California Republican Darrell Issa’s tenure as chair. A Democrat since 2017, these days Bardella is closely following Trump-era corruption and how Democrats are handling it in his newsletters, “The Watchdog Report” and “The Agenda.”

“The success of these investigations really comes down to how you message and communicate to the American people,” Bardella said in a weekend interview. “You have to spend the first part of this building the case. Telling the story.” The story, he said, is “the level of corruption we’re seeing” and its cost to every American. As one of his newsletter headlines reads, “Every Trump investigation needs a price tag.”

Bardella has suggested that House committee chairs report to an “oversight czar” to avoid chaos and competition. He has also prescribed a “Special Select Committee to Investigate Trump Family Finances” to coordinate the many committees that would need to be involved in addition to Oversight or Judiciary — for instance, Armed Services (sweetheart defense contracts), Ways and Means (Trump’s IRS slush fund and other tax shenanigans), and let’s not forget Don Jr.’s Bahamas wedding, bankrolled by a Russian oligarch (Foreign Affairs, or maybe Intelligence?).

Democrats should also hire former special counsel Jack Smith as top investigator for the Oversight or Judiciary panels, or for both as a joint employee, Bardella wrote in July: “Let him assemble an anti-corruption mod squad that’ll shake up the status quo, send MAGA media into a nervous breakdown, and restore checks and balances to our government.”

That may remain a Never-Trump fantasy, but Democrats are taking appropriate steps for a complex mission. They are organizing their work through a House Litigation Task Force formed to fight unlawful or unconstitutional Trump actions, demanding answers as new corruption issues arise, and preparing to build cases based on information from whistleblowers, private-sector players and other sources.

The investigations will unfold as the 2028 presidential race takes shape. It seems inevitable that, like the Jan. 6 investigation, they will generate revealing hearings and a stream of viral moments. “We are going to hold the crooks accountable,” likely Speaker Hakeem Jeffries pledged last summer in Pennsylvania.

Democrats can also pass message bills that put their legislative priorities on blast — ICE restrictions, a stock trading ban, a higher minimum wage — even if they can’t yet become law. Depending on results Tuesday, the messaging could extend to a Democratic Senate that can block Trump judicial nominees, Supreme Court justices included, and tell America exactly why they’re nonstarters.

Ideally, what happens on Capitol Hill for the next two years will give Democratic White House hopefuls bragging rights on programs and policies most people actually want, as well as a foundation — and launchpad — for the sweeping, urgently needed accountability that has been such a long time coming.

I’m itching to conclude here with “bring it on.” It’s too soon, but in a week or so it might not be.

Jill Lawrence is a journalist and the author of “The Art of the Political Deal: How Congress Beat the Odds and Broke Through Gridlock.” Bluesky: @jilldlawrence

CHICAGO — Wyatt Kaiser snapped a third-period tie, Spencer Knight made 25 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Kings 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Samuel Helenius scored for the Kings in the finale of a 3-2-0 trip. The Kings’ Anton Forsberg stopped 25 shots.

Chicago stopped a three-game slide while improving to 3-4-0 on a seven-game homestand. Roman Kantserov scored in the second, and the Blackhawks killed off a double-minor penalty on defenseman Sam Rinzel for high-sticking.

Kaiser picked up his first goal of the season at 7:17, beating Forsberg through the goaltender’s legs with a well-placed shot from the left circle. It was the 11th goal for the defenseman in 187 career games.

Kings captain Drew Doughty and forward Corey Perry were scratched after they played in Monday night’s 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers.

The Blackhawks played without defenseman Bowen Byram, who missed his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.

The Kings got off to a fast start. Jared Wright’s shot trickled past Knight, and Helenius poked it home at 2:31 for his first goal of the season.

The Kings carried their 1-0 lead deep into the second period. But Joel Armia was whistled for tripping at 14:26 and interference at 16:29, and Connor Bedard set up Kantserov for the rookie’s team-high fifth goal at 16:40.

The Blackhawks improved to four for 38 (10.5%) on the power play in 12 games. They converted 16.9% of their chances last season, ranking 29th in the NHL.

Strikes hit a major bridge in the Ukrainian capital as leaders push for ‘direct discussions’ to end the war.

Russia has attacked transport infrastructure in Ukraine’s capital, targeting a major bridge, as the leaders of Finland and Norway held a rare call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and a separate one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Officials in Kyiv said the South Bridge was hit in overnight attacks on the city ⁠⁠that included 16 ballistic missiles and more ⁠⁠than 280 drones. Zelenskyy said Russian forces struck again while emergency crews were still dealing with the aftermath of the initial strikes.

“This is a serious escalation in Russia’s campaign targeting our logistics,” he said.

Russian attacks also caused deaths and injuries in the cities of Kharkiv and Pavlohrad.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Telegram that its forces had targeted transport infrastructure in Kyiv and a logistics hub in the Kharkiv region, along with industrial sites and cargo vessels it said were serving military purposes.

Officials in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region said a drone strike on a bus killed one person and injured 30 others.

One person was also killed and six others were wounded in a drone attack on the Russian city of Bryansk, near the Ukrainian border.

The attacks come as the warring sides prepare for talks. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow said they had agreed to hold United States-mediated technical meetings in Abu Dhabi in early November.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store called Putin from Helsinki on Tuesday to convey messages on future negotiations ahead of the Abu Dhabi meetings, according to a statement from both governments.

Zelenskyy, who spoke to the pair afterwards, said on X that they had told Putin real steps were needed to de-escalate attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities and infrastructure. He said they also discussed preparations for the November talks.

“There must be peace, de-escalation is needed, and Russia must stop dragging out the war,” he said.

In the Finnish-Norwegian statement, Stubb said the war’s outcome would directly affect the security of Finland and Norway, both of which border Russia, and of Europe more widely.

“Ending the war requires direct discussions,” he said.

Store said the two leaders had stressed the importance of de-escalation during the call.

Both leaders said they spoke for their own countries, not Europe, and that Finnish and Norwegian support for Ukraine would continue.

Most Western European leaders have avoided direct contact with Putin since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

The calls come amid a renewed US push to end the war. The two governments described Tuesday’s call, held in consultation with Ukraine, as a follow-up to talks in Oslo on October 20 with Zelenskyy and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Witkoff met Putin in St Petersburg the next day, after which the Kremlin said it was ready to resume US-mediated talks with Kyiv that stalled in February.

US President Donald Trump has also credited his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, with securing a localised ceasefire in the southern Kherson region, which took effect on Tuesday to allow aid into the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky.

Planned talks to be first high-level contact between Iran and the bloc since Houthi rebels escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Delegations from the Mecca Defence Alliance countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan – will visit Tehran for talks, according to Saudi and Iranian officials.

Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was quoted by state-run media as saying Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, Pakistani military chief Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will participate in a joint meeting during their visit to Tehran on Monday.

The Iranian delegation will be led by Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

The participating countries could take an effective step towards establishing regional security based on actors in the region, Bagheri Kani said.

Rayed Krimly, the Saudi deputy minister for public diplomacy, also confirmed the meeting, adding that the visit comes as part of the continued efforts by the Mecca Defence Alliance allies “for de-escalation between parties involved in the ongoing crisis and promoting dialogue and diplomatic solutions in support of the mediation efforts carried out” by Qatar and Pakistan.

“The visit underscores the pivotal role of Mecca Joint Defence Agreement countries in reinforcing regional security and stability and working with all countries in the region to achieve that goal,” he wrote on X.

Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia

The planned talks would be the first high-level contact between Iran and all members of the alliance since Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi armed group escalated attacks on Saudi Arabia last month.

Field Marshal Munir last week visited Tehran, where he met President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials.

During the visit, Iranian officials told him there would be no talks with the United States about ending the US-Israel war on Iran until Tehran’s demands were met, according to Iranian media.

Pakistan has been a key intermediary between Washington and Tehran since the US and Israel launched the war in February.

Earlier mediation efforts helped produce an interim agreement in June, but the deal quickly unravelled as fighting between Iran and the US resumed weeks later.

Saudi Arabia intercepted another wave of missiles and drones on Sunday as fighting with the Houthis continued.

Ministers from the Mecca Defence Alliance countries held an emergency meeting in Riyadh this month and agreed to ensure the “rapid deployment” of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi attacks have become an increasingly destabilising element in the US-Israeli war on Iran, turning US ally Saudi Arabia into a pressure point ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠in the wider war.

Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement in August. Under it, an armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

The agreement’s first article says the parties shall use “all necessary means” to eliminate threats to one another’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognised borders, according to the text publicised at the time.

Efforts by Turkiye’s parliament to ratify the agreement began last week and are still under way while Pakistan approved the pact last week.

President Lula da Silva rallied in Sao Paulo and Flavio Bolsonaro in Minas Gerais, on the eve of Sunday’s runoff election. The candidates are now polling at 50% each, according to a Datafolha poll.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is deferring an additional $1.2 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California, citing concerns about potential fraud in a state program that helps older adults and people with disabilities with everyday tasks.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said federal officials took action after they grew concerned about the rapid expansion of California’s personal care services program in recent years. State officials were notified of the decision Tuesday, he said.

“California has been growing that program 24% in the last three years. That is twice the rate of every other state average in the country,” Oz said. “Impossible for us to understand how that could be so we are taking major action in California.”

Oz did not provide any evidence of fraud but suggested the state was paying people too much taxpayer money to help with services that could be offered for free, like “paying somebody to carry groceries upstairs for your mom.”

“Many of you would carry groceries upstairs for your mom for free, but in California, they will pay you a lot of money for it,” he said.

The move is the latest in a series of efforts by the administration to withhold federal money from California. In May, the administration held back $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to the state over concerns about “fraudsters” in the state’s hospice and in-home care programs. The actions have been part of a broad effort by the administration to rein in fraud in federal healthcare benefits programs, particularly in Democrat-led states.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the office has been critical of the administration’s past efforts.

In May, Newsom’s office called the action to withhold funds for in-home care programs a “sick” and politically motivated attack on services that are meant to “keep seniors and people with disabilities OUT of nursing homes.”

Those services usually cover assistants who help people with daily tasks such as bathing, laundry or cooking. They also provide needed care such as injections under the direction of a medical professional. A 2020 report by the California state auditor found that nearly three-quarters of In-home Supportive Services caregivers assist a family member.

Newsom’s office, however, has argued that the program saves taxpayers money, saying IHSS care costs $30,000 a year, while nursing home care costs $137,000 a year.

California’s hospice industry has had problems in the past and authorities have tried to crack down on the issue. A Times investigation in 2020 found that providers were billing Medicare for hospice services and equipment for patients who were not actually dying while the industry boomed.

The Trump administration, led by Vice President JD Vance, has tried to focus attention on the issue of waste, fraud and abuse as a centerpiece policy platform to bring down healthcare costs.

On Tuesday, Trump and Vance announced a $25-million whistleblower program designed to pay out cash to people who tip off the federal government about fraudsters. The program will offer a 1% commission for tips that lead to a successful conviction. Trump said he would be the sole arbitrator of who gets to keep the money.

“I’ll determine whether or not the person is deserving, and I will be very generous believe me. We are not looking to save on that,” Trump said. “I promise you I will be fair.”

Trump said the money will be handed out “expeditiously and fairly.”

“I promise there is nothing in this for me,” he said.

The White House referred comment about the decision to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The federal agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

BANGOR, Maine — Ever the optimist, Speaker Mike Johnson said he believes Republicans will hold on to their U.S. House majority, defying a surge of Democratic momentum in the final stretch of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

It’s the crowds he says he’s seeing as he crosses the country campaigning for GOP candidates. The caliber of recruits and incumbents he calls workhorses, not show horses. And the nearly half a billion he has raised for House Republicans.

He also has faith.

“We run to win, and that’s biblical: You run to win,” he told the Associated Press during a campaign stop in Maine.

“And I believe that we will.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, applauds along with President JD Vance as President Trump delivers his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress in February in Washington.

(Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

The speaker of the House is one of the most consequential elected officials in the United States, second in line of succession to the president. While Johnson quipped to Fox News recently that he may return to his hometown of Shreveport, La., to start a lawn care business if Republicans lose power on Nov. 3, he fully expects to buck an American midterm tradition that often sees the president’s party dumped in Congress.

It can be said that Johnson, who has drawn so close to President Trump that he routinely fields 1 a.m. calls — they spoke the night before as Trump rallied in Alaska — walks on the sunny side of the street. That’s despite voter frustration over high prices and the Iran war, and his own challenge of leading one of narrowest House majorities in modern times.

In his three years as speaker, Johnson has pushed past the doubters and naysayers, holding his thread-thin GOP majority together to deliver Trump’s agenda. He notably led passage of the big tax breaks and social service cuts bill. Most days he does not have a single vote to spare.

“So many times everybody had written off, there was no way he was going to be able to pull off a particular vote,” said Republican Rep. Mark Harris of North Carolina, who joined the speaker on the campaign swing. “Yet he always seems to pull out the win in the end.”

In the interview, Johnson did not speak brashly about expanding the House majority on election day, as he has in the past. But on track to visit more than 20 states and 40 congressional districts though November, he said the political mood reminds him of the 2024 election that swept Republicans to control of Congress and the White House.

“It’s not going to be a giant majority,” he said. “But I genuinely believe that we will have a working majority.”

Emboldened by Trump

Johnson first fell into the speaker’s job almost by accident, a desperate choice by his GOP colleagues after a contingent of renegade Republicans ousted his predecessor, then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California in 2023.

Johnson had been a lower-level member of House leadership, but distinguished himself before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by organizing support for Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud in the election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

In the time since, Johnson has secured proximity to Trump’s power. He joined Trump at a UFC fight in New York and once gifted the president a speaker’s gavel as Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” into law. It was a symbolic act, but one that critics saw as giving away the authority of a coequal branch of government.

More recently, Johnson abruptly sent lawmakers home early rather than face a vote forced by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as lawmakers tried to halt the Iran war, which has not been authorized by Congress.

Over coffee in Bangor, after rallying for House candidate Paul LePage, a former governor, Johnson brushed back criticism that Congress has eroded under his watch as Trump works to amass executive power.

“Absolute nonsense,” Johnson said.

“We did not yield Article 1 authority to the president,” he said, referring to the powers spelled out in the Constitution. “We used our own,” he said, to muscle GOP priorities past Democratic opposition.

Trump agenda at risk

Johnson has focused the election on Democrats he portrays as “communists.” A handful of far-left liberals, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, are on the ballot.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader who is in line for the speaker’s gavel if his party sweeps to power, is preparing a first-100 days agenda for when the new Congress convenes in January, if there is a change in control.

What the Republicans will do if they retain power is less defined.

“Lots of plans,” Johnson said, “along the same course of what we’ve been doing — less taxes, less regulation.”

Trump “wants to go big for his legacy,” he said. “We have big things on the horizon that we can do.”

The president has essentially purged the House GOP ranks of those perceived to be disloyal. Among them are Massie, who lost his primary, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who retired early after breaking with Trump over release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Pressed how he would keep Republicans in line, Johnson said he is preparing to change the House rules if he returns as speaker.

“There’s going to be some changes that are going to make the machinery work smoother,” he said.

Praying for the speaker, and the country

Faith has often been strong among House leaders. Two former speakers, Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich are Catholics, as is John Boehner, who invited Pope Francis to address Congress.

Johnson, a former constitutional lawyer who was first elected alongside Trump in 2016, is expected to win his own reelection next month.

“My faith is a huge component of how I think and how I act and what I do,” said Johnson, who led a public prayer on the National Mall as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

He is drinking lots of coffee these days, he said, cutting back on the Celsius, and still has 1,413 unread text messages, a slight dip from the frightful number reported a few months ago by the Wall Street Journal.

One text is from someone praying for him.

Johnson said he is grateful for the outpouring of prayers he receives, for him and the country.

“I pray for God’s will. And I believe God’s will is for us — and not the communists — to be in charge of America,” Johnson said.

“And it does say in the New Testament, you run the race to win,” he said, citing 1 Corinthians 9:24. “This is a biblical admonition. So we will.”

Mascaro writes for the Associated Press.

McALLEN, Texas — On a quiet corner of downtown McAllen, past shops selling quinceañera gowns and perfumes, about 30 people trickled into a small brewery on Wednesday evening to watch James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee in Texas, take questions from voters in a CNN town hall.

With beers and tacos, they gathered in front of a large projector screen. Karyme Segura, 18, sat at the front, listening closely as Talarico said federal immigration agents should be going after violent criminals, not “terrorizing our communities” and breaking up families.

Segura clapped. The message was personal to her. A day earlier, her stepfather had been deported to Mexico. Since his detention, her mother has been afraid to leave the house, she said. Now Segura has turned to politics, hoping to change the conditions that have left her family fractured and rattled.

“I just have to do something,” Segura said. “I am hoping that after the election my mom will feel more secure. That if Texas turns blue, Trump will feel threatened.”

Segura is the kind of voter Democrats are counting on as Talarico, a state representative from Austin, tries to defeat Ken Paxton, the state’s Republican attorney general, to become the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas since 1994. The race could decide control of the Senate, and has become one of the most high-profile and bitterly fought contests this year.

Talarico, a former teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, has courted voters with a populist economic pitch blended with an overlay of Christian messaging to “love thy neighbor.” Paxton, an ally of President Trump, has focused on rallying his party’s base by portraying Talarico as too progressive for Texas, including his past opposition to transgender sports restrictions.

Since late June, Talarico has led narrowly in most polls, alarming Republicans who have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into ads meant to boost Paxton. Elon Musk, the world’s richest person with significant operations in Texas, has helped buoy that GOP political rescue mission by dropping nearly $190 million into the race, according to federal campaign finance records filed Thursday.

Alyssa Cantu and Antonio Reyna, owners of the Gremlin Bar at their club Thursday in McAllen, Texas.

(Delcia Lopez / For The Times)

Democrats have spent heavily, too. In total, ad spending in the race has surpassed $500 million, according AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm, making it one of the most expensive non-presidential contests in U.S. history.

The Wednesday town hall amounted to free national airtime for Talarico too, who showed up on stage alone despite Paxton —who had so far refused to commit to any debate — being invited. In McAllen, the owners of the brewery, Tony Reyna and Alyssa Cantu, said they bought a projector screen just for the event.

“Any information we can bring out to the community, we try to make it happen,” Reyna said. “And if there is not going to be a debate, we are showing the town hall.”

In recent weeks, conspiracy theories, leaks and attacks have been constant in the lead-up to the election.

When Talarico spent a week away from the campaign trail, conservatives promoted a story that he had been at a mental health facility in Ohio (a rumor that was later debunked). Paxton, who was impeached by the Texas House in 2023, has led a campaign beset by scandal, including a report that he partied in Dubai with fugitives wanted on federal fraud charges. One of the fugitives donated to Paxton’s campaign.

Both campaigns are courting independents and right-leaning voters, including Latinos who swung sharply toward Trump in 2024. But Trump’s unpopularity has complicated Paxton’s task. The latest polls show Trump’s approval rating at 32%, the lowest of his political career, as voters struggle with rising prices tied to tariffs and the war in Iran.

In Texas, about half of likely voters in a recent Fox News poll said they worried Paxton was too close to the president; nearly as many were concerned Talarico was too liberal.

Mario Guerrero, a 33-year-old home builder and executive director of the South Texas Builders Assn.

(Delcia Lopez / For The Times)

Along the border in the Rio Grande Valley, an overwhelmingly Latino region, there are signs that voters who backed Trump two years ago are now open to voting for Talarico — and Democrats as a whole. In interviews with more than a dozen voters across the region, many described the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement as inhumane and morally wrong, as well as detrimental to the local economy.

“I didn’t think he was going to do what he is doing now. I don’t think anybody thought it would be like this,” said Mario Guerrero, chief executive of the South Texas Builders Assn. “I think they have gone too far.”

Guerrero voted for Trump all three times. Now he is voting for Democrats, he said.

Residents talked about how in July, a local nun from Nigeria was detained by federal immigration agents after walking from her home on her way to Mass. They talk about their small businesses hurting because people are afraid to be out in public shopping. Others say it is impossible to find workers in the region.

A candidate’s campaign sign marked with graffiti in McAllen, Texas.

(Delcia Lopez / For The Times)

Ariel Salinas, 50, a longtime builder in McAllen, said he has voted for Trump all three times he has been on the ballot. Now, he is voting for Democrats because he is furious at this administration’s approach to immigration, which he says has hurt the entire region’s economy.

“Everyone is hurting right now. Builders, the subcontractors, their families and their friends,” he said. “It’s a trickle effect down. If there are no homes being built, nobody gets paid and in turn no one goes to spend money at local groceries, at mom-and-pop shops, and so forth.”

On Thursday morning, at a housing development on the north edge of McAllen, about 10 homes stood unfinished, and there were no workers in sight. A house that once took four and a half months to build now takes a year, Salinas said. Laborers, whether undocumented or with work permits, have stopped showing up, afraid of being questioned by immigration agents.

“This shouldn’t be reality,” Salinas said. “It is a nightmare.”

Salinas still does not consider himself a Democrat, but said he plans to cast his ballot for them this year because he is so angered by how Republicans and Trump have handled immigration and mistreated hard-working people, many of whom are his neighbors.

“That doesn’t mean that in two years, we are going to vote Democrat again,” he noted. “We are going to vote for them and watch if they keep their promises to us.”

President Trump listens as Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate for Senate, speaks at a campaign rally in San Antonio this month.

(Eric Gay / Associated Press)

Opinions on the race are “pretty baked in” by now, so the heavy spending in the final stretch may be hitting diminishing returns, said Brendan Steinhauser, a longtime Texas GOP strategist who previously worked for Sen. John Cornyn, whom Paxton defeated in the GOP primary.

“There are a few undecideds, but not many,” Steinhauser said. “And if they are undecided, the longer they go, I am guessing they are going to break away from the GOP.”

Most Texans appear to have made up their minds.

A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll released Wednesday showed 83% of Talarico’s supporters and 69% of Paxton’s said they were unlikely to change their minds. The poll also showed 72% of Democrats were extremely or very enthusiastic about voting, 10 points more than Republicans. In that poll, Talarico led among Latinos, women, suburban and urban voters, while Paxton had the edge with men and rural voters.

Fernando Salinas, 54, the owner of eight dress shops in McAllen, has always voted for Democrats, and after seeing how immigration raids have affected the local community, he believes this year will bring what many in the Valley call a “voto de castigo,” a punishment vote for the party in power.

“I think Texas is going to turn blue,” he said. “People are that upset.”

Republicans are already bracing for a possible loss. In a social media post Thursday, Trump blamed fellow Republicans for the struggles Paxton is facing in the race. He said Cornyn and GOP strategist Karl Rove were doing “everything possible to make it hard” for Paxton to win.

“They are hurting Texas and, more importantly, hurting the United States of America!” Trump wrote. “If Ken Paxton loses, it will be because of WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Political Hacks like John Cornyn and Karl Rove, who have ineffectively opposed me for my entire political career.”

In a September discussion during the Texas Tribune Festival, Rove said the contest “would be over” if Cornyn had defeated Paxton in the primary. Trump, who endorsed Paxton, has campaigned in Texas in recent weeks to rally the Republican base and urge them to vote. Vice President JD Vance has also stumped in the red state.

Texas state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks Thursday at a campaign event in San Marcos.

(Eric Gay / Associated Press)

In those campaign rallies, Trump has attacked Talarico — whom he calls “Talafreako” — for being a vegan, which Talarico say he is not. Vance has also jokingly questioned Talarico’s sexuality, a comment the campaign has dismissed as irrelevant to the issues that matter to Texans.

But in the Rio Grande Valley, some voters say they feel forgotten by Republicans.

Aaron Garza, 56, a business associate of Salinas, has watched immigration raids hurt business and the community. He has voted for Trump every time he has been on the ballot. But with early voting set to begin Monday, he has not decided whom to support yet.

Garza said he feels no loyalty to either party and wishes there were a third party that showed it actually cared about Latinos and their interests. Still, one thing has him leaning toward Democrats this year: They have shown up.

“The Republicans haven’t been here,” Garza said. “How come you are not here talking to us?”

Marat Khusnutdinov scored in the third period and the Boston Bruins beat the Kings 4-1 on Saturday night for their fifth straight victory.

With the Philadelphia Flyers winning Saturday night, the Kings (0-4-2) are the last NHL team without a win this season.

David Pastrnak had a goal, Elias Lindholm and JJ Peterka scored empty-netters, and Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves. The Bruins swept the three California teams as part of a four-game trip that ends in Dallas on Tuesday.

Alex Laferriere scored for the Kings, and Anton Forsberg made 24 saves. The Kings were held to one goal for the fourth straight contest.

Khusnutdinov put the Bruins (7-2-0) ahead 2-1 with 6:24 remaining, scoring on a backhander after Forsberg failed to cover up Morgan Geekie’s shot and Matt Poitras kept the puck alive.

The Kings got off to a quick start, scoring 31 seconds into the game. Laferriere was at the top of the crease to put in Adrian Kempe’s pass for his second goal of the season, making the most of his promotion to first-line center.

But the Bruins responded early in the second period, with Pastrnak tying it at 2:43. He pounced on a loose puck in the neutral zone and took it the other way to beat Forsberg on a wrist shot from the right circle for his fourth goal.

It was Pastrnak’s 289th goal at even-strength, tying Phil Esposito for third-most in Boston history.

Bruins center Pavel Zacha did not play because of an upper-body injury he sustained in the third period against the Ducks on Friday. He is day to day, coach Marco Sturm said before the game.

Up next for the Kings: at Washington on Tuesday night.

US president’s executive order comes two days before sanctions deadline and a week after diesel deal with Putin.

US President Donald Trump has put on hold a sweeping package of sanctions on Russia that he signed into law last month, telling Congress the pause is in the national interest.

Trump signed an executive order on Friday, two days before a deadline in the law that would put the sanctions into effect.

The law – named after Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator who died unexpectedly in July after returning from Ukraine – had passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate by large margins. The bipartisan legislation was drafted by Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.

It sought to starve Moscow of money for the war by sanctioning Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers carrying its energy.

It also directed Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the five biggest importers of Russian oil or gas, with an exception for countries that import less than 15 percent of Russia’s natural gas exports and are taking steps to cut them.

Diesel deal and criticism

The decision to suspend the sanctions comes a week after Trump said the US had signed a deal to buy diesel from Russia to try to lower global fuel prices.

Both Republicans and Democrats, criticising the deal, said it would help Russia’s war effort without affecting fuel prices.

Democratic Representative Don Beyer said he and others had “warned” that Trump might do this, in reference to Trump’s deal with Moscow.

Beyer called on Congress to “fix this flawed law to stop Trump from capitulating to Putin and ensure that it truly supports Ukraine”.

Trump has also increasingly criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lately for failing to reach a deal with Russia.

As Republicans try to keep control of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections, an AP-NORC poll released on October 1 found Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Iran war and blame him for higher prices among several other domestic policy issues.