Brugge had the lead three times against Barcelona and had a fourth goal chalked off, but ended up sharing the points.
Spanish giants Barcelona needed to come from behind three times to earn a 3-3 draw at Club Brugge in the Champions League, with teenage winger Lamine Yamal back to his best for Hansi Flick’s side to help them earn a point in a gripping clash in Belgium.
Barca’s defence was shredded on multiple occasions on Wednesday by the hosts as Brugge winger Carlos Forbs struck twice and set one up for Nicolo Tresoldi.
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Ferran Torres, Yamal and a Christos Tzolis own goal saved Barcelona from what would have been a humiliating defeat, even though they have several players out injured.
Barcelona have been in shaky form in recent weeks, including a Clasico defeat by rivals Real Madrid in La Liga.
The hosts took an early lead at the Jan Breydel Stadium through Tresoldi, who was set up by the electric Forbs.
With Forbs rampaging in behind Barcelona’s high defensive line, Brugge set an early blueprint for how they could consistently hurt the Catalans.
Flick’s side hit back quickly through Torres, who produced a clever finish after Fermin Lopez played him in.
Midfielder Lopez struck the woodwork before Forbs netted Brugge’s second in a relentless battle between two sides determined to attack.
The Portuguese winger played a one-two with Tzolis to burst into space behind Barca’s defence once more before finishing with aplomb past Wojciech Szczesny.
Barca defender Jules Kounde crashed a shot against the bar at the other end as last year’s semifinalists sought a leveller.
Yamal, who was once again his side’s key player after some recent flat displays, created a fine chance for Torres to score before the break, but the striker nudged the ball past goalkeeper Nordin Jackers and wide.
Szczesny saved well from Joaquin Seys at the near post as Brugge continued to attack in the second half, showing no intention of trying to protect their lead.
Eric Garcia almost scored from long range but became the third Barca player to hit the frame of the goal, as his effort slapped against the crossbar.
Barcelona eventually pulled level with a brilliant goal, as Yamal combined with Lopez superbly to break through.
Lopez backheeled the ball into the teenager’s path, and Yamal flicked it past Jackers and into the bottom corner.
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal celebrates with Fermin Lopez after scoring the equalising 2-2 goal [Nicolas Tucat/AFP]
Forbs wasted a fine chance to put his team ahead again, but given another chance minutes later, he took it with a stylish finish.
Hans Vanaken played him through on goal, and he delicately dinked it past Szczesny for his second and Brugge’s third.
Forbs was awarded a penalty when he went down after a collision with Barca’s Alejandro Balde in the box, but it was cancelled after a VAR review showed he had actually bumped into the Spaniard.
Jackers produced a superb save to tip away a Yamal effort bound for the top corner, but could do nothing about Barca’s equaliser, which arrived in a similar fashion.
Yamal’s curling effort from the right deflected off Tzolis’s head and beat the goalkeeper.
Brugges thought they had won it in stoppage time when veteran goalkeeper Szczesny tried to turn in his area but lost the ball as Romeo Vermant slid in on him.
Vermant rolled the ball into the empty net, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review after the Belgian forward was ruled to have fouled the relieved Szczesny.
Elsewhere in the Champions League on Wednesday, Erling Haaland scored against his former club as his Manchester City cruised to a 4-1 win over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday
Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen scored a second-half hat-trick to ensure a comfortable 3-0 away win over hapless Ajax.
Bayer Leverkusen, meanwhile, defeated Benfica 1-0 to bounce back from a 7-2 defeat to title holders Paris Saint-Germain in the previous matchday two weeks ago.
Runners-up Inter Milan made it four wins in as many games with a 2-1 triumph against Kairat Almty. Inter, Arsenal and leaders Bayern Munich are the only teams that have won all of their Champions League games so far this season.
Meanwhile, Newcastle defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 and Atalanta claimed a narrow 1-0 win at Olympique Marseille.
Here are the key events from day 1,351 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 6 Nov 20256 Nov 2025
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Here is how things stand on Thursday, November 6:
Fighting
The Russian Ministry of Defence said encircled Ukrainian troops in the cities of Pokrovsk and Kupiansk should surrender as they have no chance to save themselves otherwise.
Russia said its forces were advancing north inside Pokrovsk in a drive to take full control of the Ukrainian city, but the Ukrainian army said its units were battling hard to try to stop the Russians from gaining new ground.
Ukraine has acknowledged its troops face a difficult situation in the strategic eastern city, once an important transport and logistics hub for the Ukrainian army, which Russia has been trying to capture for more than a year.
Russia sees Pokrovsk city as the gateway to its capture of the remaining 10 percent, or 5,000 square-kilometres(1,930 square miles), of Ukraine’s eastern industrial Donbas region, one of its key aims in the almost four-year-old war.
A Ukrainian drone attack caused minor damage to oil pumping stations in two districts of Russia’s Yaroslavl region, Mikhail Yevrayev, the regional governor, said.
Energy
Ukraine has resumed gas imports from a pipeline that runs across the Balkan peninsula to Greece, to keep its heating and electric systems running through the winter after widespread damage from intensified Russian attacks on Kyiv’s energy infrastructure.
Data from the Ukrainian gas transit operator showed that Ukraine will receive 1.1 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas from the Transbalkan route on Wednesday, after the import of 0.78 mcm on Tuesday. The route links Ukraine to LNG terminals in Greece, via Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria.
Poland is working on a deal to import liquefied natural gas from the United States to supply Ukraine and Slovakia, an agreement that would further tighten the European Union’s ties to US energy, the Reuters news agency reports, citing two sources familiar with the negotiations.
Nuclear weapons
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his top officials to draft proposals for a possible test of nuclear weapons, something Moscow has not done since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Putin’s order – made in response to US President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that Washington would resume nuclear testing – is being seen as a signal that the two countries are rapidly nearing a step that could sharply escalate geopolitical tensions.
The US notified Russia in advance of its test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on November 5, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported, citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Russia-US relations have deteriorated sharply in the past few weeks as Trump, frustrated with a lack of progress towards ending the war in Ukraine, has cancelled a planned summit with Putin and imposed sanctions on Russia for the first time since returning to the White House in January.
Trump said he “may be working on a plan to denuclearise” with China and Russia, during a speech at the American Business Forum in Miami.
Sanctions
Bulgaria is drafting legal changes that will allow it to seize control of sanctioned Russian oil firm Lukoil’s Burgas refinery and sell it to a new owner to protect the plant from US sanctions, local media reported.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna called on China to stop its economic support of Russia’s war in Ukraine and urged Beijing to join European and US efforts to pressure President Putin into a ceasefire.
“China says that they are not part of this military conflict, but I was very clear that China has huge leverage over Russia, every week more and more, because the Russian economy is weak,” Tsahkna told Reuters.
Economy
Ukraine plans to replace its kopek coins to shake off a lingering symbol of Moscow’s former dominance, Central Bank Governor Andriy Pyshnyi said, adding that he hoped the change could be completed this year.
Ukraine introduced its hryvnia currency in 1996, five years after it gained independence from the Soviet Union, minting its own coins but retaining the former Soviet name kopek – kopiyka in Ukrainian. The new coins will be known by the historical Ukrainian term “shah”.
Nov. 5 (UPI) — The disruption of federal benefits that help feed families spurred a Pittsburgh man to create a front-yard food bank to help others as the federal government remains shut down.
A.J. Owen. 36, resides in the Pittsburgh suburb of Whitehall, and initially started his ad-hoc food pantry after completing a $150 food run with his two sons about a week ago, according to TribLIVE.
Owen has large plastic bins containing canned goods and other foods placed on portable tables in his front yard for those who need food and for others to leave food donations.
“The amount of donations we received and the amount of people coming and getting food is both so gratifying and so horrifying,” Owentold TribLIVE.
“So many people need help,” he added, “and I’m so happy to be a resource for them.”
Owen said he initially started the food pantry to teach his sons about the need to help others, but it has become a much greater endeavor, as affirmed by a recent visit from Good Morning America and its cameras.
The single father notified others of his effort on social media, which resulted in additional food donations — including one donation that he said was thousands of dollars’ worth of $100 bills from an anonymous person.
He found the money stuffed in an envelope inside his mailbox with a note saying, “May God prosper and bless your food pantry,” Owen told ABC News.
“My body started shaking,” he said. “I started crying.”
He also said, “This was the best cry ever because whatever you want to believe, an angel truly came down and blessed us that day. And we’ve been good ever since.”
Owen didn’t say how much money was in the envelope, other than it added up to “thousands” of dollars.
He posted a video of the anonymous donation on social media, which drew millions of views and prompted others to visit and donate more food.
Among them were Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Yahya Blackand his fiancé, who donated “tons of food,” Owen said on social media.
Owen did not say if his food pantry effort might outlast the federal government shutdown, which entered a record 36 days on Wednesday and temporarily disrupted funding of the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Policymakers at the Bank of England are widely expected to hold interest rates at 4% following their final meeting before the chancellor’s Budget.
Some Bank watchers have suggested that the latest inflation data could strengthen the case for a cut, but most commentators think such a move is more likely in December.
In September, the Bank’s governor Andrew Bailey said he still expected further rate cuts, but the pace would be “more uncertain”.
The Bank’s base rate has an impact on the cost of borrowing for individuals and businesses, and also on returns on savings.
Uncertainty over pace of cuts
The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will make its latest announcement at 12:00 GMT with most analysts predicting a hold.
The Bank of England has reduced its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points every three months since August last year. However, that cycle is widely expected to be broken this time.
Members of the MPC will be closely considering the latest economic data on rising prices, as well as jobs and wages as they cast their vote on interest rates.
The rate of inflation in September was 3.8%, well above the Bank’s 2% target, but lower than expected. Within that data, food and drink prices rose at their slowest rate in more than a year.
That has eased some of the squeeze on family finances, and also led to some analysts, including at banking giants Barclays and Goldman Sachs, to predict a cut in interest rates this month to 3.75%.
They expect a split in the vote among the nine-member committee. For the first time, the views of each individual on the MPC will be published alongside the wider decision.
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said the market was giving a one in three chance of a rate cut to 3.75%.
“The odds are still firmly in favour of a hold,” she said.
All eyes on Budget
Members of the MPC will be fully aware of the potential implications of the Budget which will be delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves on 26 November.
The case for a cut in interest rates in December could be boosted if the Budget includes substantial tax rises that do not add to inflation.
The chancellor, in a speech on Tuesday, said measures in the Budget “will be focused on getting inflation falling and creating the conditions for interest rate cuts”.
However, detail remains thin until the Budget is delivered and more economic data will be published before the Bank’s next meeting in December that could sway MPC members’ thinking.
“It’s possible Rachel Reeves’ surprise press conference on Tuesday was partly a cry for help to the Bank of England,” AJ Bell’s Ms Hewson said.
“By promising to push down on inflation, she might have been signalling that the Bank didn’t have to wait until after the Budget to cut rates. Whether they do or not is a finely balanced call.”
The Bank’s interest rates heavily influence borrowing costs for homeowners – either directly for those on tracker rates, or more indirectly for fixed rates.
In recent days and weeks, many lenders have been cutting the interest rates on their new, fixed deals as they compete for custom, and in anticipation of future central bank rate cuts.
Savers, however, would likely see a fall in the returns they receive if the Bank cuts the benchmark rate on Thursday or in December.
Rachel Springall, from financial information service Moneyfacts, said many savers were feeling “demoralised” as a result of falling returns and still relatively high inflation, which reduces the spending power of their savings.
The agency made the announcement as it confronts staffing shortages caused by air traffic controllers who are working unpaid.
Published On 5 Nov 20255 Nov 2025
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The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will reduce air traffic by 10 percent across 40 “high-volume” markets beginning Friday morning to maintain safety during the ongoing government shutdown, it has said.
The agency made the announcement on Wednesday as it confronts staffing shortages caused by air traffic controllers, who are working unpaid, with some calling out of work during the shutdown, resulting in delays across the country.
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FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency is not going to wait for a problem to act, saying the shutdown is causing staffing pressures and “we can’t ignore it”.
Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said they will meet later Wednesday with airline leaders to figure out how to safely implement the reduction.
Widespread delays
The shutdown, now in its 36th day, has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers to work without pay. This has worsened staff shortages, caused widespread flight delays and extended lines at airport security screening.
The move is aimed at taking pressure off air traffic controllers. The FAA also warned that it could add more flight restrictions after Friday if further air traffic issues emerge.
Duffy had warned on Tuesday that if the federal government shutdown continued another week, it could lead to “mass chaos” and force him to close some of the national airspace to air traffic, a drastic move that could upend American aviation.
Airlines have repeatedly urged an end to the shutdown, citing aviation safety risks.
Shares of major airlines, including United Airlines and American Airlines, were down about 1 percent in extended trading.
An airline industry group estimated that more than 3.2 million passengers have been affected by flight delays or cancellations due to rising air traffic controller absences since the shutdown began on October 1. Airlines have been raising concerns with lawmakers about the impact on operations.
Airlines said the shutdown has not significantly affected their business, but have warned bookings could drop if it drags on. More than 2,100 flights were delayed on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, FAA’s Bedford said that 20 percent to 40 percent of controllers at the agency’s 30 largest airports were failing to show up for work.
The federal government has mostly closed as Republicans and Democrats are locked in a standoff in Congress over a funding bill. Democrats have insisted they would not approve a plan that does not extend health insurance subsidies, while Republicans have rejected that.
The 300 metres separating Aisha Ali’s new house from the old farmhouse may seem short, but it represents the long journey of her life. The 45-year-old widow crosses fields of various crops that she tends.
Aisha was not an active farmer; her late husband handled that. However, he was abducted in 2023 by Boko Haram terrorists while working on their farm in Malari Village, Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, and was later killed after they failed to pay a ransom.
“My life changed tragically,” she recounted with a weary calm.
Aisha’s husband’s death made her the breadwinner of a 10-person household, which included her six children and three of her husband’s siblings. She had no choice but to take up the hoe.
A year later, her 10-year-old son was abducted by terrorists. He was later released when they learned that they had killed his father in the past.
Aisha is the breadwinner of her ten-person household. Photo: Abdulkareem Haruna/HumAngle
Aisha and her son, who was abducted and later released. Photo: Abdulkareem Haruna/HumAngle
It was under this constant shadow of fear, relying on subsistence farming and petty trade, that Aisha and her family found a fragile balance until the night the water came.
The midnight escape
In September 2024, a ruptured dam in nearby Alau, coupled with heavy rainfall, led to floods that submerged Maiduguri and surrounding communities, including Muna displacement camp, where Aisha lived with her family.
They had gone to bed after an exhausting day, but around midnight, screams from the neighbours woke them up. “I woke up and saw water everywhere,” she recounted.
Amid the terrifying mix of darkness and rising water, there was no time to save their belongings. She rallied her children, strapped the youngest to her back, and fled into the downpour.
Together with other displaced persons, they walked for hours until they found dry land, where they stayed until dawn. When the water subsided, Aisha returned to find her entire life washed away. “We became homeless without our belongings,” she said.
A doorless shelter and hope
Staying at the displacement camp was not an option, as the government had already planned to shut it down. “Returning to Dubula, our ancestral home, was not an option either,” she said
Aisha looked for shelter nearby and found one on credit—an uncompleted building. The structure had no doors, leaving her family vulnerable to constant theft. What few items they acquired were often stolen when they stepped out, turning their temporary shelter into a trap of insecurity. The widow, who had survived both Boko Haram and the flood, now faced the demoralising grind of daily survival in an exposed space.
The uncompleted building where Aisha and her family lived after the flood. Photo: Abdulkareem Haruna/HumAngle
Since there was no other alternative, they continued living in the building.
Aisha said it was overwhelming, but she held onto hope and did the best she could to care for her children. Weeks later, SOS Children’s Village, a global humanitarian organisation, visited the community for an assessment. “When they came around, I initially dismissed them for one of those numerous NGOs that normally come around to take our data but offer nothing much but some measures of grains,” Aisha told HumAngle. However, she registered with them as a widow and head of her household.
SOS returned with support that Aisha describes as “an investment in dignity”. She underwent training in smart farming techniques, followed by a starter kit of essential tools: a pumping machine for irrigation, a spraying machine, insecticides, fertiliser, a wheelbarrow, and processed seeds.
“This support transformed our lives and brought relative comfort to us,” she added.
Aisha received farm implements as aid from SOS Children’s Village. Photo: Abdulkareem Haruna/HumAngle
The first harvest
With the implements, cash support, and farming inputs, Aisha got to work. She cultivated beans, pepper, tomato, okra, onion, and yams.
She made her first harvest this farming season. “I was able to use the money from my first farm harvest to escape the unsafe shed,” she said, adding that she paid ₦30,000 for half a year’s rent on their current house. Her family now has enough food, and the surplus is sold to cover essential needs like medication.
“I am most excited that for the first time, my children are now in school—something we could not afford before,” she told HumAngle.
Aisha explained that her income varies depending on what she takes to the market and how much she can harvest. “There is no fixed amount,” she said. “For beans, a full ‘mudu’ — that’s a standard measuring bowl — sells for between ₦1,200 and ₦1,300. Sometimes I sell up to half a bag, which is about 20 mudus. For tomatoes, a basket goes for about ₦25,000, and we usually get two or three baskets, depending on the yield.”
She hopes that the cycle of loss and disaster has finally been broken.
“I thank the SOS people for coming to our aid because only God knows the fate that would have befallen me and my family if I had not received their support. They didn’t come to give us fish, but they came to teach us fishing,” she said.
Aisha said other women also received the support: “I saw them during the training, and I believe they are doing well with their families as well.”
Aisha used the proceeds from her first harvest to rent a better house for her family. Photo: Abdulkareem Haruna/HumAngle
According to Fredson Ogbeche, the Humanitarian Action Manager at SOS Children’s Village Nigeria, “One hundred families, many headed by women transforming grief into drive just like Aisha, benefitted from the intervention.”
One of the women, Aisha Bukar, is also a widow. The 55-year-old lives in the Elmiskin 2 area of Jere LGA, Borno State. Life has been a relentless succession of personal loss as she has buried seven of her 12 children over the years due to the conflict and lost her husband to a prolonged illness. This overwhelming hardship was compounded last year when destructive floodwaters swept through her home. Having lost everything in the flood, she had to start all over again.
“What the government offered as a palliative for the flood survivors did not go around to many of us. We were almost stranded until SOS came to assist us,” she said.
SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria is one of the humanitarian organisations that provided post-flooding recovery support for survivors. Aside from the farm implements and inputs, the organisation gave ₦395,000 to each beneficiary.
Bukar did not go to the farm. She used the funding to meet domestic needs and also started a tailoring business where they mass-produce and sell children’s clothes.
She said that the steady income has given her daughter a second chance at education.
United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs are headed to the Supreme Court, as Washington and New Delhi pursue a trade deal. On the ground in India, export hubs are seeing cancelled orders, layoffs, and falling pay rates. As uncertainty deepens, what does this mean for factory workers?
It remains unclear whether Trump was referring to restarting live nuclear detonations or tests on the reliability of warhead delivery systems, like the one conducted today with an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, which already occur regularly. U.S. officials have appeared to clarify, at least to some degree, that Trump’s testing will be limited to delivery systems and the nuclear deterrent apparatus, not detonations. Still, there are questions as to his true intent, which could always change. Regardless, Russian officials “assess that Washington is aiming to prepare and conduct nuclear tests,” according to the official Russian TASS news outlet.
An unarmed Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launches during an operational test at 1:35 a.m. Pacific Time, Nov. 5, 2025, at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. (U.S. Space Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Draeke Layman) Tech. Sgt. Draeke Layman
Belousov offered no further details, so we asked several nuclear weapons experts for their assessments on how quickly Russia could detonate a nuclear device – something it hasn’t done since 1990 – and what it would entail to make it happen. Some responses have been lightly edited for clarity.
“Short notice is relative. The quickest would be to drive a warhead into an existing tunnel and seal it off. But that wouldn’t give them any new data and probably risk a leak.
So, unless they already have one prepared, if they want to do a new fully instrumented test, I suspect it would involve preparing a tunnel, the device, and rigging all the cables and sensors to record that data. There has been a lot of tunnel-digging at Novaya Zemlya for quite some time for their existing experiments, so presumably a new fully instrumented test would be in addition to that.
Preparing a new one would probably take several months, possibly six-plus, but difficult to estimate because we don’t know what they already have prepared.“
This satellite image shows tunnel construction at the Russian Novaya Zemlya nuclear weapons test site. (Google Earth)
“Russia also has an active nuclear maintenance program as does the U.S. However, Russia tests near the Arctic Circle at Novaya Zemlya Island. As a result, they can really only – barring a real emergency – test in summer and late fall. So it would take them some time, and at least until next year.
However, if they want to gain a lot of technically useful data from a test, it may take them longer. Just to conduct a basic test could take less than 12 months. But as I have said, this is what an arms race looks like. Action/reaction cycles. Russia will test if we do. I suspect they will not if we do not.
I don’t know what Russia would test. It would not have to be a massive bomb to be useful. You generally only need to test the first stage of a thermonuclear device to get useful data. It could be as small as 1 to 5 kilotons or up to 15 to 20, but there is no way for people outside of the Russian scientific community to predict well.”
“The U.S., China, and Russia all have ‘nuclear test readiness’ plans and I would assess that Russia would be able to resume nuclear explosive testing more quickly than the United States.
I just know it would be less than the optimistic 24-36 months for a full-scale underground contained nuclear test explosions at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Russia would not be encumbered by the same safety and environmental safeguards and domestic political obstacles that the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would have to deal with in order to conduct a full-scale multi-kiloton nuclear explosion underground at the former U.S. nuclear test site in Nevada.
But, most importantly, there is no technical, military or political reason why Putin or Trump should order the resumption of nuclear explosive testing, and Defense Minister Belousov’s comments are counterproductive and irresponsible.
The United States and Russia deploy some 1,700 strategic nuclear warheads and they possess other sub-strategic nuclear weapons. Their arsenals consist of various, well-tested warhead types. The United States conducted more than 1,030 nuclear test explosions and Russia 715, the vast majority of which were to proof-test new warhead designs. Neither side needs to or wants to develop a new warhead, so any new nuclear test explosions would be purely for ‘show,’ which would be extremely irresponsible.“
“We know from both open source and official U.S. assessments that the Russians maintain a relatively high level of test readiness at Novaya Zemlya. They’ve also strongly emphasized the parity principle on the testing issue, so it makes sense that they’d take these steps given Trump’s recent comments.
They want to be positioned so that if the U.S. tests, they can follow quickly. The specific timeline of Russian readiness is difficult to nail down, but they could test probably without significant instrumentation without much difficulty. I would think weeks if there was sufficient political demand for a rapid demonstration.“
“The United States has an enormous advantage in nuclear testing over every other country in the world, partly because we conducted more tests than everyone else combined (1,030, involving 1,149 individual detonations), and because we have a very elaborate and well-funded ($345 billion to date) Stockpile Stewardship program. Since 1996, this has enabled us to ‘test’ our nuclear bombs and warheads via extremely powerful computers, eliminating the need for actual underground tests and providing us with critical insights into our weapons we could not obtain from physical nuclear testing alone.
So given that, and given Trump’s recent out-of-the-blue demand that we resume nuclear testing immediately, it is unfortunately not surprising that Russia is responding the way that it is. In Russia, as in the United States, there are political and military leaders and weapons scientists who have never given up on one day resuming nuclear testing. Russia, like the United States, has long maintained a readiness program to resume nuclear testing. It is an unfortunate escalation of at least rhetoric at this point, sliding the United States and Russia, and perhaps also China and maybe North Korea and other states further down the road toward resuming nuclear testing, which has not happened in decades.
Right now, we and the Russians conduct what are known as subcritical tests, which are tests that do not result in a nuclear yield, but nevertheless provide useful scientific information that can make our weapons more safe and reliable.
Russia could probably resume underground nuclear testing pretty quickly. Satellite imagery from 2023 and this past July indicates that they’ve been doing some work at the test site to expand the facilities there and potentially make them more ready to resume nuclear testing. I suspect Russia could probably do this faster than the United States. Our testing would take place in Nevada – at least that’s the only test site that we have available right now, and it would probably take on the order of one to three years (for the U.S.) to do a fully instrumented test.
We can’t see inside the [Russian] buildings that have gone up, so we don’t know exactly what’s going on there. But, if I have to guess, and it is only a guess, I would say a matter of several weeks to several months, perhaps [for a Russian test]. But it really depends on what their intentions are.
If they simply want to blow something up to demonstrate that they’ve returned to doing that kind of testing that can be done fairly quickly if they want to actually have a scientifically and militarily useful test where there’s all sorts of diagnostic equipment and they’re able to measure the results, and determine something about the test other than the fact that it simply went off, that could take more time.
If they’ve been planning and preparing, if they have personnel and equipment there, they could probably do something fairly quickly – on the very short end, potentially a matter of a few weeks to perhaps a few months. It could be longer; it could be a matter of six months. But again, if you only want to send a political message that we are resuming nuclear testing, you can take a nuclear bomb or warhead out of your stockpile and transport it to Novaya Zemlya, stick it in an underground tunnel, seal it off and detonate it.“
We reached out to the White House to see what concern, if any, they have about Putin’s order for proposals on how to resume nuclear testing. We are waiting for a response. The experts we spoke with, however, voiced their own worries.
“As for concerns, Russia’s testing could enable them to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons via computer simulations where now it is hard for them to do so,” explained Wolfsthal. “Russia could close the testing advantage the U.S. now possesses.”
1 of 2 | Director of the Bazar de l’Hotel de Ville department store Karl-Stephane Cottendin cuts the ribbon at the opening of Chinese e-commerce giant Shein’s first physical store at the BHV department store in Paris on Wednesday. Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/EPA/Pool
Nov. 5 (UPI) — The French government said it would begin action against online retailer Shein on Wednesday, just hours after the company opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Paris.
On Wednesday, the government issued a statement saying: “On the instructions of the Prime Minister [Sébastien Lecornu], the government is initiating the procedure to suspend Shein for the time necessary for the platform to demonstrate to the public authorities that all of its content is finally in compliance with our laws and regulations.”
The store, which is the first Shein store in the world, also opened to chaos, as shoppers lined up to get in and protesters shouted at them, “Shame!”
Andreia Chavent, a worker at BHV Marais, said many employees were upset by the opening of Shein in Paris.
“We are directly concerned by how people work, what the conditions are like and how the clothes are made, even if it’s not in France,” Chavent, a member of the CFDT, France’s largest union, told The New York Times.
Shein has seen criticism over the way workers are treated in the Chinese factories that sell on the site.
The sex dolls controversy made things worse, Chavent added.
But not everyone is against the store.
“When I saw that Shein was coming to France, I said, ‘Yay!’ Because it still takes 20 weeks” for clothing from the site to arrive, Philippe Hamard, 27, told The Times.
He said that he doesn’t buy from Shein often because of “environmental issues and all that.” But said “I still buy from time to time for fun.”
On the sex doll controversy, he said, “I think there are a lot of controversies at the moment. But people will forget about it.”
Shein has plans to open seven stores in other cities in France.
Shein and AliExpress are also facing investigation in France over the dissemination of pornographic content to children, the prosecutor’s office told the BBC.
The Paris Office des Mineurs will handle the cases. The office oversees the protection of minors.
AliExpress said the adult listings violated its policies and were removed once the company learned of them.
“Sellers found to violate or trying to circumvent these requirements will be penalized in accordance with our rules,” AliExpress said in a statement, the BBC reported.
Obviously, the devasting Pol Pot regime plunged Cambodia into genocide, armed conflict, destruction and isolation during the dark period between 1970s to 1990s. This tragic history left Cambodia in social, economic and political ruins. As a war-torn country, despite these historical scars of the catastrophic decades, the government has implemented various policies and initiatives to reach national reconciliation and unity as well as to build peace and political stability, leading to economic growth and enhancement of living standards for its people. Prior to the pandemic, from 1998 to 2019, Cambodia’s economic growth remarkably flourished leading to the attainment of lower middle-income status in 2015, with the impressive average annual increase rate of 7.7 percent, making Cambodia one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
Having seen the immense importance of regional integration and cooperation as the pivotal catalysts for national security, peace and sustainable development, Cambodia has actively engaged in the regional and international organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the United Nations (UN) and other not mentioned international organizations and blocs. Noticeably, Cambodian foreign policy puts strong emphasis on the crucial role of ASEAN. Phnom Penh recognizes the key role of this regional bloc in safeguarding stability and peace in Southeast Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region. Since its accession to ASEAN in 1999, Cambodia has assumed the role of ASEAN chair on three occasions—2002, 2012, and 2022, fostering regional cooperation, integration and solidarity for the sake of regional peace, stability and development.
Additionally, since its membership in 2004, Cambodia has played a vital role in ASEM through its active participation in various discussions and initiatives, promoting cooperation and understanding between Asia and Europe. Noticeably, in spite of the pandemic, Cambodia successfully hosted the virtual 13th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in 2021, offering the platform for leaders from over 50 countries to have fruitful dialogues in order to explore ways and means to tackle regional and global issues for collective interest.
More importantly, one of the main aspirations of Cambodia’s foreign policy is to establish international peace on the basis of the principles of equality and rights for all people. In this sense, since 2006, notwithstanding the limited resources, Cambodia has emerged as an active participant in peacekeeping missions under the UN’s umbrella by transforming itself from being a host country of UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia) to a country that has contributed blue berets to 12 missions involving nine countries. These missions have involved 9,205 personnel, including 726 female peacekeepers. In fact, sending Cambodian peacekeeping forces to join the peace-keeping endeavors under the UN framework is also one of the priorities stipulated in Cambodia’s defence white paper 2022 for strengthening Cambodian armed forces’ capacities in the areas of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Furthermore, to promote the gender equality and women empowerment, Cambodia has acknowledged the women’s ability of performing tasks as capable as men. This acknowledgement has been concretely evidenced by their constant accomplishments. In this regard, Cambodia has enlarged the number of its female troops dispatched to all levels of UN peacekeeping operations. Consequently, for its participation in UN peacekeeping operations, the UN rated Cambodia third in ASEAN (after Indonesia and Malaysia) and 28th out of 122 countries in the globe. In terms of deploying female peacekeepers overseas, Cambodia was placed 13th in the world and second among ASEAN nations, behind Indonesia. This gender equality promotion is also in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
More essentially, Cambodia’s essential role in the UN peace keeping mission was also highly praised by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his discussion with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA). Additionally, while receiving the courtesy visit from the UN representative in Cambodia last year, Cambodian Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea ensured the Cambodia’s resolute commitment to its continued support to the UN peacekeeping missions by stressing the country’s firm dedication to global peace and security. The top diplomat also revealed the Kingdom’s ambitious plan to expand its peacekeeping operations to other UN frameworks.
Noticeably, the world’s political and socio-economic landscapes is uncertain and unpredictable due to its rapid evolution. On top of this, the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war, the escalated crisis in the Middle-East, geopolitical rivalry among the superpowers just to name a few has considerably affected the regional and global cooperation, security, and stability. Bitterly experienced falling victim of the geopolitical competition during the Cold War, Cambodia intends to maintain its current course of “independent and neutral foreign policy, grounded in the rule of law, equal mutual respect and adherence to the principles of the UN Charter” in order to further foster its domestic interests, nourish current friendships, and build more harmonious relationships.
Like other small states, Cambodia places utmost significance on peace and security for its survival. Hence, Cambodia vehemently opposed an aggression against other sovereign states, meddling in their domestic affairs, and the threat or use of force in international relations. Through bilateral, regional, and international frameworks, Cambodia will proactively pursue the possibility of strengthening and broadening close cooperation with other countries in order to support global peace, security, stability, sustainable development, and prosperity that can be shared and cherished by all.
As such, Cambodia is firmly dedicated to promoting peacekeeping operations and partaking in this righteous endeavor. Undoubtedly, as one of the regional outstanding contributors to the UN peacekeeping missions, Cambodia has chosen to run for membership in the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission for the years 2025–2026 aimed at further contributing to this noble humanitarian task, eventually benefiting the humanity as a whole.
Obviously, this membership will enable Cambodia to play more roles and responsibilities in advocating the global peace, security, and stability, all of which are the essential prerequisites for sustainable development. Most significantly, being part of this body will also provide Cambodia with a platform to share its experiences, best practices and lessons learned in the process of peacebuilding, national reconciliation, and socio-economic development to other warring nations which are eager to taste the blissful flavors of peace and development like the rest of the world.
NEW YORK — With the Pentagon’s press room largely cleared of mainstream reporters, conservative activist and presidential ally Laura Loomer says she has been granted a credential to work there.
Loomer has an influential social media presence and the ear of President Trump, frequently campaigning for the firings of government officials she deems insufficiently loyal to his administration. Some targets have been in the field of national security, including Dan Driscoll, secretary of the Army.
Pentagon officials did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Tuesday. The Washington Post first reported the news of her attaining credentials.
Virtually all Pentagon reporters for legacy media outlets walked out last month rather than agree to a new policy they say would restrict their ability to report news not given approval for release by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Several right-wing outlets have taken their place, although the banned journalists are continuing to work on stories related to the Pentagon.
“I’m excited to announce that after a year of breaking the most impactful stories that pertain to our national security and rooting out deceptive and disloyal bad actors” from the Defense Department, she was ready to join the press corps, Loomer said on X, formerly Twitter. She did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Earlier this year, she criticized Driscoll for publicly honoring a Medal of Honor recipient who had previously spoken at a Democratic National Convention. Separately, Driscoll rescinded the appointment of a former Biden administration official to teach at West Point after Loomer attacked him for it.
Although Trump later downplayed Loomer’s influence, the president last spring fired a handful of National Security Council officials after she had presented him with evidence of their supposed disloyalty.
Still, she’s been a polarizing force among some in the administration, wary of her influence, which has included riding on Air Force One with Trump. Although granted space in the Pentagon press room, Loomer has not received reporting credentials at the White House. Loomer has also been criticized for entertaining conspiracy theories and making anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim posts.
“There is no denying that my investigative reporting has had a massive impact on the landscape of personnel decisions within the Executive Branch, our intelligence agencies and the Pentagon,” Loomer wrote on X. “I look forward to covering the Pentagon and breaking more stories that impact our country and our national security.”
In her social media post, she also reached out to people to alert her to news through “the Loomered Tip Line, the most influential Tip Line in all of DC.”
Phil Stewart, a national security reporter for Reuters, noted on a social media post Tuesday that Hegseth’s new media policy would make reporters subject to having their access revoked for seeking out information from Defense Department personnel that had not been authorized for release.
However, Loomer’s appeal for tips did not explicitly target people who work at the Defense Department.
Palestinians are turning to soup kitchens to feed their families as Gaza is gripped by a crippling food crisis because Israel is limiting the entry of aid trucks, despite the new ceasefire agreement.
“You have to deliver on addressing that crisis.” New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani criticised President Donald Trump for not fixing the affordability crisis he campaigned on, adding that Republicans are scared the new mayor may actually deliver.
Emmerdale’s April Windsor is set for worrying scenes on the ITV soap, as a villain of sorts, Callum, ‘returned from the dead’ in a twist on Wednesday, and April has no idea
There was a dark twist on Emmerdale on Wednesday, as a murdered character was confirmed to be very much alive(Image: ITV)
There was a dark twist on Emmerdale on Wednesday, as a murdered character was confirmed to be very much alive.
It’s bad news for April Windsor to some degree, as she’s been allowed to believe the person is still dead. This will continue too, with her kept in the dark about the character’s true fate.
Last week we saw April left in danger, as drug dealer Ray Walters sent her on a job with a client. When he tried to force her into sleeping with the client to pay off her debt, she was horrified.
When April told Callum, the client, she couldn’t go through with it, he turned on her. Grabbing her and trying to force himself on her, he said there was no escape and he’d “do it anyway” even after her stating she did not want to have sex with him.
Fighting for survival, April ended up slamming him over the head with a vodka bottle in self-defence. Shaken, she escaped and told Ray and Celia Daniels that Callum was dead.
Ray headed to his home to check on Callum and when he returned to the village, he confirmed to a distressed April that he was in fact dead and she’d killed him. Both Celia and Ray taunted April about her being a murderer and said she’d go to prison.
When she declared she needed to report her crime and threatened to expose them, the criminals made it clear that if April spoke out, she and her family would be in danger. So April is now struggling to come to terms with being a killer.
Of course she has no idea, and fans didn’t either until Wednesday, that Callum isn’t dead. He’s injured but he’s absolutely fine, and survived the attack.
So Ray’s claims that he disposed of Callum’s body and that April killed him are a lie, and he and Celia know it. They’re now using it against April to keep her doing as they say, meaning more bad news ahead for April when she has to stay in line, but also if Callum reveals his fate, he could get her in serious trouble.
In a twist at the end of the episode, Callum was with Ray in his car and he talked about his head hurting. Ray told him to stay silent and take some pain relief, making it clear he couldn’t do anything about April.
Viewers were stunned by the twist but many said they “knew it”, having figured out Ray would lie to April to target her. Taking to social media, one fan said: “I knew it, I f***ing knew it.”
Another fan said: “I didn’t think he would be.” A further fan posted: “I KNEW he wasn’t dead!!!!!”
Nov. 5 (UPI) — ADP reported Wednesday that jobs growth for October provided better insight after fears of further decline after September’s report.
Some 42,000 jobs were added over the month in companies with at least 250 workers following September’s drop of around 29,000, according to Automatic Data Processing Inc. However, a revision showed 3,000 fewer jobs in September.
“Private employers added jobs in October for the first time since July, but hiring was modest relative to what we reported earlier this year,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist.
ADP data showed that small business lost around 34,000 employees.
“Meanwhile, pay growth has been largely flat for more than a year, indicating that shifts in supply and demand are balanced,” Richardson said in a release.
Job categories in utility, transpiration and trade gained 47,000, which offset losses in other job areas. In addition, around 26,000 jobs were added in health and education services with 11,000 in finance.
A decline in some 17,000 roles in the area of information services was seen despite the ongoing boom in the artificial intelligence industry.
But the manufacturing sector continues to struggle in the growing aftermath of tax-like tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in his bid to revive American manufacturing jobs.
Small business account for three of every four U.S. jobs, according to ADP.
ADP’s chief economist stated the shift away from growth in small business is noteworthy.
“While big companies make headlines, small companies drive hiring,” Richardson told CNBC.
“So to see that weakness at the small company level is still a concern, and I think that’s one of the reasons why the recovery has been so tepid.”
The payroll processing giant reported an average monthly growth of 60,000 jobs a month for the first half of the year, but that figure showed a decline in the year’s second half.
The historic ongoing shutdown by the Republican-controlled federal government resulted in a suspension in data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which typically is at the forefront of detailed job data. In addition, a temporary stop in SNAP benefits is poised to heighten food insecurity in the United States.
Investigators are working to determine cause of the blaze that broke out at facility in Tuzla in northeastern Bosnia.
Published On 5 Nov 20255 Nov 2025
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A fire at a retirement home in northeastern Bosnia has killed at least 11 people and injured about 30 others, officials said.
It remained unclear what caused the blaze, which engulfed the seventh floor of the building in Tuzla, about 80km (50 miles) northeast of Sarajevo, after it broke out on Tuesday evening.
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The fire, which took about an hour to bring under control, sent flames and smoke pouring out of the building into the night sky.
Bosnian media reported that higher floors in the complex were occupied by elderly people who could not move on their own or were ill.
“I had gone to bed when I heard a cracking sound. I don’t know if it was the windows in my room breaking,” resident Ruza Kajic told national broadcaster BHRT on Wednesday.
“I live on the third floor,” she said. “I looked out the window and saw burning material falling from above. I ran out into the hallway. On the upper floors, there are bedridden people.”
Admir Vojnic, who lives near the retirement home, also told the Reuters news agency that he saw “huge flames and smoke, and elderly and helpless people standing outside” the building.
Bystanders watch the scene of the blaze at the retirement home in Tuzla, November 4, 2025 [STR/AFP]
Investigators were still working to determine the cause of the fire and identify those killed in the blaze, prosecutor spokesperson Admir Arnautovic told reporters.
“The identification of the bodies will take place during the day,” Arnautovic said.
Meanwhile, the retirement home’s director said he had offered his resignation.
“It’s the only human thing to do, the least I can do in this tragedy. My heart goes out to the families of the victims,” Mirsad Bakalovic told the Fena news agency.
“Last night was a truly difficult event, a tragedy not only for the city of Tuzla, but for all of Bosnia.”
Officials from across government in Bosnia and Herzegovina offered their condolences and help to the Tuzla authorities.
“We feel the pain and are always ready to help,” Savo Minic, the prime minister of the country’s autonomous Serb Republic, wrote on X.
Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in New York City’s mayoral race was built on a promise of hope and political change, a message that is resonating loudly with the people in Uganda, where he was born.
The 34-year-old leftist’s decisive win in the United States’ largest metropolis on Wednesday was celebrated by many in Uganda’s capital Kampala, the city where Mamdani was born in 1991.
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For many Ugandans, the unlikely rise of Mamdani – a young Muslim with roots in Africa and South Asia – in the world’s most powerful democracy carries an inspirational message in a country where an authoritarian leader has been ruling since even before Mamdani was born.
Uganda’s 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni is seeking a seventh term in January elections as he looks to extend his nearly 40-year rule. He has rejected calls to retire, leading to fears of a volatile political transition.
“It’s a big encouragement even to us here in Uganda that it’s possible,” Joel Ssenyonyi, a 38-year-old opposition leader in the Parliament of Uganda, told The Associated Press.
He said that while Ugandans, who are facing repressive political conditions, had “a long way to get there”, Mamdani’s success “inspires us”.
Ugandan opposition politician Joel Ssenyonyi [File: Luke Dray/Getty Images]
Mamdani left Uganda when he was five to follow his father, political theorist Mahmood Mamdani, to South Africa, and later moved to the US. He kept his Ugandan citizenship even after he became a naturalised US citizen in 2018, according to AP.
The family maintains a home in Kampala, to which they regularly return and visited earlier this year to celebrate Mamdani’s marriage.
‘We celebrate and draw strength’
While Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, has vowed to tackle inequality and push back against the xenophobic rhetoric of US President Donald Trump, opposition politicians in Uganda face different challenges.
Museveni has been cracking down on his opponents ahead of next year’s elections, as he has in the lead-up to previous polls.
In November last year, veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, who has stood against Museveni in four elections, and his aide, Obeid Lutale, were abducted in Nairobi, Kenya, before being arraigned in a military court in Kampala on treason charges. The pair have since repeatedly been denied bail, despite concerns raised by the United Nations’ human rights officials.
Tens of supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party, led by 43-year-old entertainer Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, have been convicted by Uganda’s military courts for various offences.
“From Uganda, we celebrate and draw strength from your example as we work to build a country where every citizen can realise their grandest dreams regardless of means and background,” Wine wrote on X as he sent his “hearty congratulations” to Mamdani.
Robert Kabushenga, a retired Ugandan media executive who is friendly with the Mamdani family, told AP that Mamdani’s win was “a beacon of hope” for those fighting for change in Uganda, especially the younger generations.
Describing the new mayor-elect as belonging to “a tradition of very honest and clear thinkers who are willing to reimagine … politics”, Kabushenga said Mamdani’s victory underlined that “we should allow young people the opportunity to shape, and participate in, politics in a meaningful way”.
Okello Ogwang, an academic who once worked with Mamdani’s father at Kampala’s Makerere University, said his son’s success was an instructive reminder to Uganda “that we should invest in the youth”.
“He’s coming from here,” he said. “If we don’t invest in our youth, we are wasting our time.”
Anthony Kirabo, a 22-year-old psychology student at Makerere University, said Mamdani’s win “makes me feel good and proud of my country because it shows that Uganda can produce some good leaders”.
“Seeing Zohran up there, I feel like I can also make it,” he said.
Residents say the powerful storm brought ‘raging’ flash floods that destroyed homes, overturned cars and blocked streets.
Published On 5 Nov 20255 Nov 2025
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Residents of the central Philippines have slowly begun cleanup efforts after powerful Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the region, killing at least 85 people and leaving dozens missing.
Scenes of widescale destruction emerged in the hard-hit province of Cebu on Wednesday as the storm receded, revealing ravaged homes, overturned vehicles and streets blocked with piles of debris.
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Among the 85 deaths were six military personnel whose helicopter crashed in Agusan del Sur on the island of Mindanao during a humanitarian mission. The country’s disaster agency also reported 75 people missing, and 17 injured.
In Cebu City, Marlon Enriquez, 58, was trying to salvage what was left of his family’s belongings as he scraped off the thick mud coating his house.
“This was the first time that has happened to us,” he told the Reuters news agency. “I’ve been living here for almost 16 years, and it was the first time I’ve experienced flooding [like this].”
Residents rebuild their damaged houses in Talisay, Cebu province, on November 5, 2025 [Jam Sta Rosa/AFP]
Another resident, 53-year-old Reynaldo Vergara, said his small shop in the city of Mandaue, also in Cebu province, had been lost when a nearby river overflowed.
“Around four or five in the morning, the water was so strong that you couldn’t even step outside,” he told the AFP news agency. “Nothing like this has ever happened. The water was raging.”
The storm hit as Cebu province was still recovering from a 6.9-magnitude earthquake last month that killed dozens of people and displaced thousands.
The area around Cebu City was deluged with 183mm (seven inches) of rain in the 24 hours before Kalmaegi’s landfall, well over its 131mm (five-inch) monthly average, according to weather specialist Charmagne Varilla.
Residents clean up their damaged houses in Talisay, Cebu province on November 5, 2025 [Jam Sta Rosa/AFP]
The massive rainfall set off flash floods and caused a river and other waterways to swell. More than 200,000 people were evacuated across the wider Visayas region, which includes Cebu Island and parts of southern Luzon and northern Mindanao.
Before noon on Wednesday, Kalmaegi blew away from western Palawan province into the South China Sea with sustained winds of up to 130km per hour (81 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 180km/h (112mph), according to forecasters.
The storm is forecast to gain strength while over the South China Sea before making its way to Vietnam, where preparations are under way in advance of Kalmaegi’s expected landfall on Friday.
China has warned of a “catastrophic wave process” in the South China Sea and activated maritime disaster emergency response in its southernmost province of Hainan, state broadcaster CCTV said.
Nov. 5 (UPI) — A federal judge was expected to rule Wednesday after he called the conditions at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in a Chicago suburb “disgusting” after hearing more than 6 hours of testimony.
U.S District Judge Robert W. Gettleman on Tuesday reviewed the conditions at the facility in Broadview, Ill., that ICE is using as part of Operation Midway Blitz. He’s ruling on a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois last week over detainee access to lawyers and allegedly inhumane conditions there.
Gettleman told the court that what he heard qualifies for court intervention. He said he will issue a final ruling on Wednesday, and that it will not be “impossible to comply with.”
“I think everybody can admit that we don’t want to treat people the way that I heard people are being treated today,” Gettleman said after hearing testimony from five detainees being held at the facility, calling their descriptions of the facility “disgusting” and “unconstitutional.”
“It’s a disturbing record,” Gettleman said. “People sleeping shoulder to shoulder, next to overflowing toilets and human waste — that’s unacceptable.”
The Justice Department argued in a response to the ACLU’s lawsuit that people at the facility are “adequately provided with food, clothing, shelter and medical care before they are transferred to another detention facility.”
During the hearing on Tuesday, Justice Department attorney Jana Brady suggested that the five detainees may not properly recall their experience at the facility, and questioned whether they understood what was going on there in the first place.
Brady also noted, however, that authorities were working to improve conditions at the facility, which was operating beyond its normal capacity. She said there was “a learning curve” as operations continue.
In its lawsuit, the ACLU alleged that agents at the Broadview facility have treated detainees “abhorrently, depriving them of sleep, privacy, menstrual products and the ability to shower,” as well as denied entry and communication with attorneys, members of Congress, and religious and faith leaders.
The MacArthur Justice Center and Roger Baldwin Foundation, of the ACLU, called Broadview a “black hole, and federal officials are acting with impunity inside its walls.”
During the hearing on Tuesday, Gettleman heard from detainees who said they had to step over bodies at night while people slept on the floor; would wake people up when going to the bathroom because they were sleeping next to the toilet; received just a thin foil blanket or a sweater despite freezing temperatures overnight; and observed poor sanitation, clogged toilets, and blood, human fluids and insects in the sinks and the floor.
One detainee told the judge that female detainees at one point used garbage bags to unclog a toilet and that, when they asked for a broom to clean, guards refused.
The facility is a two-story building in an industrial area of the Village of Broadview, about 12 miles west of downtown Chicago, which has long been used by immigration authorities, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
In June, the Department of Homeland Security changed its policy to allow detainees to be held there for as long as 72 hours, up from the 12 hours that previously had been the limit.
After hearing from witnesses that detainees have been held there for as long as 12 days, and that the building does not have beds, blankets or pillows, Gettleman said the building has “become a prison” and may be “unconstitutional.”
The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday afternoon said in a post on X that Broadview is not a detention center, but rather a processing center, and that it is processing “the worst of the worst, including pedophiles, gang members and rapists.”
“All detainees are provided with three meals a day, water and have access to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the department said in the post. “No one is denied access to proper medical care.”
“Any claims there are subprime conditions at the Broadview ICE facility are FALSE,” it added.
Noting that the facility is a key part of the department’s immigration enforcement effort in Chicago, Brady said that a temporary restraining order requiring the department to improve the facility, “as it is currently written, would effectively halt the government’s ability to enforce immigration laws in Illinois.”
An activist uses a bullhorn to shout at police near the ICE detention center as she protests in the Broadview neighborhood near Chicago on October 24, 2025. Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo
While the BHV department store celebrated the opening of Shein, there were protests outside
The French government says it is initiating proceedings to suspend the online platform of Asian online giant Shein, after prosecutors said they were investigating the company over childlike sex dolls found on its website.
The economy ministry said under the prime minister’s order proceedings would last for “as long as necessary for the platform to prove to authorities that all of its content is finally in compliance with our laws and regulations”.
The government’s move was announced little more than an hour after Shein opened its first physical store in the world, on the sixth floor of Paris department store BHV.
Shoppers queued to get into the store, while protesters screamed “Shame!” at them.
Shein has promised to co-operate fully with Paris prosecutors who are also investigating three other platforms – Temu, AliExpress and Wish. Allegations surrounding the sale of childlike sex dolls on Shein first came to light from France’s anti-fraud office at the weekend.
In a statement, Shein said it had already temporarily suspended listings from independent third-party vendors in its marketplace, while it tightened up rules on how they operate.
“This suspension enables us to strengthen accountability and ensure every product meets our standards and legal obligations,” said Quentin Ruffat, the company’s head of public affairs in France.
BHV’s decision to house the fast-fashion giant has angered rival clothing brands and a number have said they will leave the prestigious department store in protest.
Protests against the opening continued inside the store, and one person let off a foul-smelling spray.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Protesters held up placards outside the BHV store and shouted “Shame!” at shoppers
Shein has become best known for its discounted and trendy clothes, but has drawn criticism over its environmental impact and working conditions.
Fashion designer Agnès B said earlier she would close her concession in BHV when her contract ended in January.
“I’m completely against this fast-fashion… there are jobs under threat, it’s very bad,” she told French radio.
Shein spokesman Quentin Ruffat earlier promised to provide information on sellers, buyers and products involved in selling the childlike sex dolls on its site.
AliExpress told the BBC it took the matter very seriously.
Temu said it was not involved in the case and did not allow the sale of such items on its platform, although it told the BBC it was working with French authorities “to reinforce our minor protection mechanism”. Wish has also been contacted for comment.
Frédéric Merlin, whose SGM company runs BHV, has admitted that he considered ending the department store’s partnership with the retailer.
However, he said Shein’s response had “convinced me to continue” and he expressed confidence in the products it was going to sell in his store. “The clothes we’re going to sell do not exploit workers or children,” he told French radio.
Shein, which was founded in China, is also set to open outlets in seven other cities, inside Galeries Lafayette department stores run by SGM. But Galeries Lafayette has refused to have anything to do with Shein and will withdraw its name from the stores in Angers, Dijon, Grenoble, Le Mans, Limoges, Orléans and Reims.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said Shein and the other three e-commerce platforms were being investigated over violent, pornographic or “undignified messages” that could be accessed by minors.
Shein and AliExpress are also under investigation over the dissemination of content related to children that are of a pornographic nature, the prosecutor’s office said.
The cases have been referred to the Paris Office des Mineurs, the prosecution service added. The office is an arm of the French police force that oversees the protection of minors.
AliExpress said the listings in question violated its policies and were removed once it became aware of them.
“Sellers found to violate or trying to circumvent these requirements will be penalised in accordance with our rules,” AliExpress said in a statement.
On Monday, Shein said it had banned the sale of all sex dolls on its platform worldwide. The Singapore-based retailer also said that it would permanently block all seller accounts related to the illegal sale of the childlike dolls and set stricter controls on its platform.
The French consumer watchdog, the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, said the sex dolls’ description and categorisation left “little doubt as to the child pornography nature” of the products.
