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Nov. 2 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1889, North and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states of the union.

In 1920, in the first significant news broadcast, KDKA in Pittsburgh reported the U.S. presidential election results in Warren G. Harding’s win over James Cox.

In 1947, Howard Hughes built and piloted the world’s largest airplane, the 200-ton flying boat Spruce Goose, on its only flight, at Long Beach, Calif. The Goose remained airborne for just under 1 mile.

In 1959, Charles Van Doren told a U.S. congressional investigation he had been given questions and answers in advance of appearances on a television game show.

In 1962, U.S. President John Kennedy announced that Soviet missile bases in Cuba were being dismantled.

In 1976, Democrat Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia, was elected the 39th U.S. president, defeating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford.

File Photo by Don Rypka/UPI

In 1983, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed the bill establishing a national holiday to mark the birthday anniversary of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1992, legendary filmmaker Hal Roach died at age 100. He was credited with discovering the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy and producing the Our Gang comedies.

In 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush was re-elected in a race with Democrat John Kerry.

File Photo by Greg Whitesell/UPI

In 2013, two French journalists, Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, were kidnapped and killed after interviewing a rebel leader in northern Mali. President Francois Hollande expressed “indignation at this odious act.”

In 2016, the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series, winning the team’s first championship in 108 years. Though the game began on Nov. 2, a rain delay pushed the final half hour of Game 7 into early Nov. 3.

In 2023, the Beatles released their last new song, “Now and Then,” using new technology to piece together vocals, guitar and piano recorded by the late John Lennon and George Harrison in the late 1970s with new additions by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

In 2024, Kemi Badenoch became the first Black woman to lead a major British political party after defeating Robert Jenrick to take the helm of the country’s Conservative and Unionist Party.

File Photo by Neil Hall/EPA-EFE

Nov. 1 (UPI) — As daylight saving time ends overnight Saturday, a large majority of Americans will turn their clocks back and gain an extra hour of sleep early Sunday morning.

Many clocks will self-adjust at the appropriate time, such as the clocks on computers and cell phones, but others still must be changed manually.

The official time to turn the clocks back is 2 a.m. in states that participate in daylight saving time, which many view as an opportunity to get in an extra hour of celebration in states and locales that require bars to close at 2 a.m. or later.

Most of Canada and northern Mexico also will change their clocks as daylight saving time ends for them.

The purpose is to add an hour of daylight during the morning hours during the winter months and an extra hour of daylight during the evening hours during the summer months, according to USA Today.

Most of Arizona and all of Hawaii do not follow daylight saving time, though, which means clocks will remain the same as the rest of the nation joins them on standard time.

Arizona, with the exception of the Navajo Nation, forgoes daylight saving time due to the summers there being so hot.

Hawaii does not participate in daylight saving time due to its close proximity to the Equator and relatively consistent daylight hours throughout the year.

The U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands likewise do not participate in daylight savings time due to their relatively stable hours of sunlight.

Daylight saving time started this year on March 9, and Sunday marks its earliest end since the Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed the end date from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November, starting in 2007.

The act also changed its start date to the second Sunday in March, which extended daylight saving time by about four weeks per year.

Daylight saving time returns at 2 a.m. on March 8, 2026.

Germany was the first nation to adjust its clocks in 1916 during World War I, with the goal of reducing its energy usage.

Other nations, including the United States, soon followed.

Daylight saving time became a requirement in the United States upon the adoption of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, but states have the ability to opt out.

No state, however, has the option of permanently setting their clocks on daylight saving time.

Acceptance of the annual fall and spring time changes is not universal.

A CBS/YouGov poll in 2022 showed 80% of respondents favored keeping daylight saving time in effect all year, and the Senate that year passed the Sunshine Protection Act.

The measure died in the House of Representatives, however, as it chose not to bring it up for a vote.

Nineteen states, though, are prepared to eliminate the time change if Congress passes enabling legislation to do so.

A measure that would do so has been introduced in the Senate, but it has not been put up for a vote.

Nov. 1 (UPI) — The nation’s 42 million recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will have to wait for them to be restored after losing them on Saturday, which might take weeks.

The ongoing federal government shutdown has shut off funding for the SNAP program that enables recipients to buy food, but two federal judges on Friday ordered the Trump administration to continue it.

President Donald Trump on Friday night announced he is seeking ways to access funds to keep the program going as the federal government shutdown continues at least through Monday.

“I do not want Americans to go hungry just because the radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and reopen the government,” Trump said Friday in a Truth Social post.

Trump said the two federal judges issued conflicting rulingsand he does not think the federal government legally can access available funds to cover SNAP costs.

“I have instructed our lawyers to ask the court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible,” he said.

“Even if we get immediate guidance, it will unfortunately be delayed while states get the money out.”

U.S. District Court of Rhode Island Judge John McConnell Jr.was one of the two judges who ordered the SNAP benefits to continue despite the shutdown.

On Saturday, he responded to the president’s post by ordering the Trump administration to access $6 billion in contingency funds for SNAP benefits.

“There is no question that the congressionally approved contingency funds must be used now because of the shutdown,” McConnell wrote Saturday in a seven-page order.

The contingency fund is too little to cover the full $9 billion monthly cost of providing SNAP benefits, but SNAP is an entitlement that the federal government must provide to all eligible households, he said.

“To ensure the quick, orderly and efficient implementation of the court’s order … and to alleviate the irreparable harm that the court found exists without timely payment of SNAP benefits, the government should … find the additional funds necessary to fully fund the November SNAP payments,” McConnell ruled.

He ordered the Trump administration to make at least a partial payment of SNAP benefits by Wednesday and to report how it intends to do so by noon EST on Monday.

The Trump administration said it will take several days and possibly longer to get funds to the respective states and cover the benefits for those who don’t receive them this month.

If the government shutdown continues into December, the problem starts over again with no contingency funds available.

Nov. 1 (UPI) — The FBI, local and university police are investigating an “intentional” explosion that occurred early Saturday morning on the fourth floor of the Harvard Medical School building in Boston.

The explosion occurred at 2:48 a.m. EDT in the medical school’s Goldenson Building and triggered a fire alarm that alerted university police, The New York Times reported.

A Harvard University Police officer responded to the building at 220 Longwood Ave. and saw two individuals running from it.

The officer tried to stop the individuals but could not and then found evidence of an explosion on the fourth floor, according to The Boston Globe.

The Boston Fire Department and its arson unit also responded to the alarm and determined the explosion likely was intentional.

Boston police searched the building for explosive devices but found none.

No one was injured during the incident, and the FBI is assisting with the investigation.

University police released video stills of the two suspects, who appear to be young, white males wearing light-colored masks while fleeing the building.

One wore a brown sweatshirt with a hood and what looked like “NYC” printed on the front, khaki pants and gray Crocs.

The other wore a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark plaid pajama pants, according to university police.

The university police released images of each suspect that were captured by surveillance cameras.

Anyone who has information regarding the incident or suspects can contact the Harvard University Police Department’s detective bureau by calling 617-495-1796.

Nov. 1 (UPI) — Federal Aviation Administration officials on Friday night urged Congress to approve government funding as more air traffic controllers call in sick amid the shutdown.

The nation’s nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers and additional Transportation Security Administration agents are deemed essential, but they are not being paid during the government shutdown that started on Oct.1.

Now in its 32nd day on Saturday, the FAA said the strain on unpaid employees is causing many to call in sick due to other obligations, such as supervising children, and out of frustration, The Hill reported.

“A surge in callouts is straining staffing levels at multiple facilities, leading to widespread impacts across the [National Airspace System,” FAA personnel posted on X.

“Half of our Core 30 facilities are experiencing staffing shortages, and nearly 80% of air traffic controllers are absent at New York-area facilities.”

The FAA post said the “shutdown must end” so that air traffic controllers can get paid and to ensure the safety of more than 50,000 daily operations across the country.

When experiencing staffing shortages, the FAA reduces the amount of air traffic to maintain safety, which could cause flight delays or cancellations, the post said.

Such staffing shortages caused delays at airports in Boston, Dallas, Nashville and Newark, N.J., among several others, according to ABC News.

The shutdown is the second-longest in U.S. history, but it is poised to exceed the current record-holder of 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019.

During that shutdown, air traffic controllers again worked without pay until the government reopened and they received back pay.

Air traffic controllers earn a median salary of $150,000 annually, but new hires are paid about $50,000, aviation industry labor expertJake Rosenfeld of Washington University in St. Louis told ABC News.

The Senate has failed 13 times to obtain the 60 votes needed to overcome the Senate’s filibuster rule and fund the federal government while continuing to work on a 2026 fiscal year budget.

The Senate reconvenes on Monday, which is one day short of the record 35-day shutdown.

Nov. 1 (UPI) — Berkshire Hathaway has a record-high cash reserve of $381.7 billion after increasing its third-quarter earnings by 34% from a year ago, the firm said in its quarterly report on Saturday.

Berkshire Hathaway generated $13.485 billion in revenue during the third quarter, which is a 34% increase from $10.1 billion a year earlier.

“Investment income continues to benefit from rising cash balances and relatively high, though declining, yields on cash and short-term securities,” Edward Jones analyst James Shanahan wrote after the earnings report was released, as reported by MarketWatch.

Income from insurance underwriting topped $2.37 billion during the quarter, which was a 200% increase, partly due to relatively little by way of natural disasters and other common drivers of catastrophic losses.

The Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate’s primary insurance and reinsurance companies produced pre-tax quarterly profits after reporting losses a year ago.

Although its insurance sectors posted profits, property and casualty insurer GEICO’s underwriting profits dropped by 13% due to an increase in claim amounts, according to Bloomberg.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Class A and Class B shares each rose 5%in value so far in 2025, and the firm did not undertake share buybacks through the first nine months of the year, CNBC reported.

It’s also the fifth consecutive quarter in which Berkshire Hathaway did not buy back any shares, which boosted its cash reserves to its current record of $381.6 billion.

That amount exceeds the prior record of $347.7 billion, which was set during the year’s first quarter.

Berkshire Hathaway also continued its recent trend of selling more equities than it buys, with a $10.4 billion gain from equities sales.

Nov. 1 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1512, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, one of Italian artist Michelangelo’s most famous works, was exhibited to the public for the first time.

In 1604, William Shakespeare’s Othello made its debut. A new production of the famed play starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal is expected to open on Broadway in 2025.

In 1755, an earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal, killed 60,000 people.

In 1800, U.S. President John Adams and his family moved into the newly built White House after Washington became the U.S. capital.

In 1915, Parris Island was officially designated a Marine Corps Recruit Depot used for the training of enlisted Marines.

In 1938, Seabiscuit beat War Admiral in horse racing’s “match of the century.”

In 1945, Ebony magazine, founded by John H. Johnson, published its first issue.

In 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into the Blair House in Washington in an attempt to assassinate U.S. President Harry Truman.

File Photo by Aude Guerrucci/UPI

In 1952, the United States tested the world’s first hydrogen bomb, code named Ivy Mike, on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1990, McDonald’s, under pressure from environmental groups, said it would replace plastic food containers with paper.

In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty took effect, formally establishing the European Union and leading to the creation of the Union’s single currency, the euro.

File Photo by Eco Clement/UPI

In 2008, Maj. Sebastian Morley, the top British Special Forces commander in Afghanistan, resigned to protest what he called lack of proper equipment for combat troops. He blamed “chronic underinvestment.”

In 2013, a U.S. drone strike killed Hakimullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and four other militants.

In 2023, the Texas Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 to win Game 5 and the World Series. It was the first championship win in the team’s 63-year history.

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

Oct. 31 (UPI) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois sued the Trump administration Friday for allegedly violating the civil rights of those detained in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill.

The suit, which includes lawyers for the MacArthur Justice Center, the ACLU of Illinois and the Chicago law office of Eimer Stahl, was filed in federal court in Chicago, a press release said.

The suit demands that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and ICE “stop flouting the law inside Broadview.” The press release said the agencies “must obey the Constitution and provide the people they detain with ready access to counsel and humane conditions of confinement.”

Since the beginning of Operation Midway Blitz on Sept. 8, in which federal agents increased actions against undocumented immigrants in and around Chicago, protests and legal battles have ensued. On Tuesday, a judge issued a temporary restraining order on Gregory Bovino, a U.S. border patrol commander, after video footage showed Bovino throwing tear gas into a crowd during public demonstrations in Chicago and outside of the Broadview detention center. Clergy members, media groups and protesters had filed a suit alleging a “pattern of extreme brutality” intended to “silence the press” and American citizens.

Judge Sara Ellis ordered all agents to wear body cameras. She also ordered Bovino to check in with her daily, but an appeals court overturned that requirement.

“Everyone, no matter their legal status, has the right to access counsel and to not be subject to horrific and inhumane conditions,” said Alexa Van Brunt, director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Illinois office and lead counsel on the suit, in a statement. “Community members are being kidnapped off the streets, packed in hold cells, denied food, medical care, and basic necessities, and forced to sign away their legal rights. This is a vicious abuse of power and gross violation of basic human rights by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. It must end now.”

The press release said that agents at Broadview “have treated detainees abhorrently, depriving them of sleep, privacy, menstrual products, and the ability to shower.” Agents have repeatedly denied entry for attorneys, members of Congress, and religious and faith leaders, it said.

DHS has not responded to the suit or its allegations.

“This lawsuit is necessary because the Trump administration has attempted to evade accountability for turning the processing center at Broadview into a de facto detention center,” said Kevin Fee, legal director for the ACLU of Illinois, in a statement. “DHS personnel have denied access to counsel, legislators and journalists so that the harsh and deteriorating conditions at the facility can be shielded from public view. These conditions are unconstitutional and threaten to coerce people into sacrificing their rights without the benefit of legal advice and a full airing of their legal defenses.”

Lawyer Nate Eimer emphasized the importance of access to a lawyer.

“Access to counsel is not a privilege. It is a right,” Eimer, partner at Eimer Stahl and co-counsel in the lawsuit, said in a statement. “We can debate immigration policy but there is no debating the denial of legal rights and holding those detained in conditions that are not only unlawful but inhumane. Justice and compassion demand that our clients’ rights be upheld.”

Oct. 31 (UPI) — Ohio’s representatives approved a bi-partisan redistricting map that might help Republicans gain more seats, but Democrats OK’d the plan because the others offered were worse for them.

The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved the measure unanimously Friday.

“Coming to an agreement that is in the best interest of the state, not just the most vocal elements of either party, I think is some of the toughest things that we can do as elected leaders in 2025,” said state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

But Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio said it was the best option among bad ones.

“Facing this impossible challenge with no certain path to preserve a fair map, we worked toward compromise,” said Antonio, D-Lakewood.

Democrats faced a Friday deadline because the Ohio constitution allows Republicans to create a map without Democrats in November. They were also concerned about a case before the U.S. Supreme Court on the Voting Rights Act.

Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes of Akron will get a slightly more favorable northeast Ohio district, but it will still be very competitive, Punchbowl News reported.

Toledo Rep. Marcy Kaptur‘s district will be more difficult to win, but not impossible. She’s the longest-serving representative in the United States, and she won a close race in 2024. Her district chose President Donald Trump by seven points.

“Let the Columbus politicians make their self-serving maps and play musical chairs, I will fight on for the people and ask the voters for their support next year,” she wrote on X.

Cincinnati Rep. Greg Landsman also saw his chances at re-election diminished.

Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, said all of Ohio’s Democratic congresspeople could still win.

“This is a district Greg Landsman can and will win in, and that’s what the people of Cincinnati deserve,” Isaacsohn said.

Ohio had a failed ballot measure in 2024 that would have put residents in charge of making district maps.

“There’s a lot of anger and frustration in this room, and it’s not just the result of this most recent betrayal. The anger and frustration has been years in the making,” said Mia Lewis, associate director at Common Cause Ohio, the Dispatch reported.

“You have shown all of us, all of Ohio, that politicians cannot be involved in drawing district lines.”

Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, said the people were denied being part of the process. “Republican and Democratic voters feel like their parties sold them out — and they’re both right.”

Oct. 31 (UPI) — A federal judge in Washington permanently blocked President Donald Trump‘s executive order requiring proof of citizenship for those who cast mail-in ballots.

The president lacks the authority to change federal election procedures because the Constitution places that authority with Congress and the respective states, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled on Friday.

“The president directed the Election Assistance Commission to ‘take appropriate action’ to alter the national mail voter registration form to require documentary proof of United States citizenship,” Kollar-Kotelly said in her 81-page ruling.

Because Trump does not have the authority to order the EAC to alter federal election procedures, Kollar-Kotelly permanently enjoined the EAC and others from enforcing the president’s directive.

The ruling arises from challenges to Executive Order 14,248 — Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections, which Trump signed on March 25.

In it, the president orders the EAC to require documentary proof of citizenship on the national mail voter registration form to ensure foreign nationals are not submitting votes via mail-in ballots.

State or local officials in turn would record the type of document used to show proof of citizenship.

The executive order also requires mail-in ballots to be received on or before election day for them to count.

The Democratic National Committee, League of United Latin American Citizens and League of Women Voters Education Fund filed the federal lawsuit against the president and the Republican National Committee to stop enforcement of the executive order.

“While the fight is far from over, we’re glad the court agreed that a president cannot ‘short circuit’ Congress and unilaterally use an illegal executive order to obliterate the rights of millions of voters,” said Marcia Johnson, who is chief counsel for the League of Women Voters, in a prepared statement.

Although Kollar-Kotelly blocked the enforcement of Trump’s executive order, other parts of the lawsuit are yet to be decided.