Eighth Senate vote fails on 49-45 tally as Congress remains deadlocked on legislation amid now two-week shutdown

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Congress remained deadlocked on legislation to reopen the federal government, as the US Senate on Tuesday again rejected a Republican plan to end the government shutdown that began two weeks ago.

The eighth Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would fund government operations through 21 November failed on a 49-45 tally – far short of the 60 needed for advancement in the chamber. In a sign that that there has been little if any progress toward ending the stalemate, no senators changed their votes from the last time the measure was brought to the floor, though there were a handful of absences.

President presented award to Kirk’s widow, Erika, on what would have been the far-right commentator’s 32nd birthday

Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, to the assassinated far-right commentator Charlie Kirk at the White House on Tuesday.

Kirk, who was shot at an event at Utah Valley University in September, was among the most significant rightwing activists in the modern political era, galvanizing a younger generation of conservatives to engage in politics and support Trump’s candidacy ahead of the 2024 election.

• Ronaldo double includes 41st World Cup qualifying goal

• Republic of Ireland keep dream alive with Armenia win

Cristiano Ronaldo set a record for World Cup qualifying goals but the Group F leaders Portugal were denied early World Cup qualification by a late Hungary equaliser to snatch a 2-2 draw.

Two Ronaldo goals – the first his 40th in qualifying to set the landmark – put Portugal on the verge of qualification but Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai struck in added time to stop the celebration party in Lisbon.

New version will allow users to customize AI assistant’s personality in what firm calls ‘treat adults users like adults’ policy

OpenAI announced plans on Tuesday to relax restrictions on its ChatGPT chatbot, including allowing erotic content for verified adult users as part of what the company calls a “treat adult users like adults” principle.

OpenAI’s plan includes the release of an updated version of ChatGPT that will allow users to customize their AI assistant’s personality, including options for more human-like responses, heavy emoji use, or friend-like behavior. The most significant change will come in December, when OpenAI plans to roll out more comprehensive age-gating that would permit erotic content for adults who have verified their ages. OpenAI did not immediately provide details on its age verification methods or additional safeguards planned for adult content.

It started in Scotland and it still has not finished. That night at Hampden was only Luis de le Fuente’s second as Spain coach; it also felt like it might be his last. Two Scott McTominay goals defeated the Seleccion but while just about everyone else thought his spell would be brief, he was talking about a pathway opening and here’s the thing: the man accused of living in Disneyland back then was right. Three years and four days later, Spain moved to within touching distance of the World Cup finals tournament by racking up their 29th consecutive competitive game unbeaten*, equalling their record.

On a night when Pedri played and Mikel Merino made the difference, Spain beat Bulgaria 4-0 to take them to 12 points from 12 in qualifying, close now. The Arsenal midfielder and sometime striker scored the first two and might even have got his second hat-trick in three Spain games but when he was fouled in the last minute he handed the penalty to Mikel Oyarzabal instead. And so it was the Real Sociedad striker, scorer of the winner at the final of Euro 2024, who kept the sequence going, equalling what Vicente del Bosque’s golden generation did between 2010 and 2013.

• US president says games could be moved due to safety

• Boston street takeovers, LA wildfires are blamed

Donald Trump has again said he’d pressure Fifa to remove 2026 World Cup games from a host city on the basis of that city’s politics, with Boston becoming the third such city to come in for threats from the US president. Trump also said he would consider similar action against Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics on account of potential safety issues.

Trump has no legal authority to directly take either action, but he can apply pressure to each competition’s governing body to move host cities.

It was the night when England confirmed the inevitable. Thomas Tuchel and his players are going to the World Cup finals tournament next summer as the winners of qualifying Group K, their progress serene, their record – with two ties still to tick off next month – without blemish.

The serious business awaits, the only frisson of jeopardy here provided by the England fans, who sought to make a few points to Tuchel during the first half after his criticism of the Wembley crowd in the 3-0 friendly victory against Wales last Thursday. He had complained about them being too quiet.

• Bucks star says he wants finish career in Greece

• Antekokounmpo plans NBA exit before age 40

After reaffirming his commitment to the Milwaukee Bucks in the offseason, All- Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo went on Greek television and said he would like to finish his playing career in his native Greece.

A two-time MVP, Antetokounmpo is under contract with the Bucks for his 13th and 14th seasons through 2026-27 before he can enter free agency.

US president says ‘we will not be generous’ if leader fails to win key midterms after promising $20bn to prop up struggling economy

Donald Trump has warned he could cut financial aid to Argentina if his ally Javier Milei loses crucial legislative elections later this month.

“If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina,” the US president said as Milei visited the White House to seek the Republican’s political and economic support. “I’m with this man because his philosophy is correct. And he may win and he may not win – I think he’s going to win. And if he wins we are staying with him, and if he doesn’t win we are gone.”

• Family blames team for pitcher’s fatal overdose

• Lawyer says Angels ignored staff drug problems

• Civil suit seeks $118m in damages from franchise

The Los Angeles Angels should be held responsible for the drug overdose death of one of its star pitchers because the team failed to follow its own drug policies and let an addicted and drug dealing employee stay on the job and have access to the players, a lawyer for the pitcher’s family said on Tuesday.

The allegations came in opening statements of the long-awaited civil trial in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the wife and parents of Tyler Skaggs. The family contends that the MLB team should be held responsible for the 27-year-old pitcher’s death after its communication director, Eric Kay, was convicted of providing the fentanyl-tainted pill that led to Skaggs’ fatal overdose on a team trip to Texas in 2019.

UN has condemned US strikes on small boats it believes to be trafficking drugs as extrajudicial executions

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Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States has struck another small boat that he accuses of carrying drugs in waters off the coast of Venezuela, killing six people aboard.

“The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike,” Trump said in a statement on his Truth Social social media platform. “No U.S. Forces were harmed.”

Men who were held in Nafha prison say they were brutally beaten, bound at the hands and feet, verbally abused, allowed to contract fungal and skin diseases, and assaulted with loud music for up to two days straight

Before releasing him, Israeli prison guards decided to give Naseem al-Radee a farewell gift. They bound his hands, placed him on the ground and beat him without mercy, saying goodbye the same way they had said hello: with their fists.

Radee’s first sight of Gaza in nearly two years was blurry; a boot to the eye left him with blurred vision two days later. Vision problems added to the laundry list of ailments he gained during his 22-month stay in an Israeli prison.

The late singer may have suffered from setbacks and only released three studio albums, but the range he displayed in this perfect catalogue was astonishing

• D’Angelo, Grammy-winning neo-soul pioneer, dies aged 51

• D’Angelo – a life in pictures

In the mid-90s, the Roots’ drummer Questlove was approached to work on the first album by a new soul singer. He turned the offer down out of hand: “I was like, ehhh, soul singers in the 90s – whatever,” he later remembered. “I’m not doing this. Nothing about soul singing had moved me, from any 90s offering, the same way it did with Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Lou Rawls.”

A year later, with D’Angelo’s debut album Brown Sugar on the shelves, Questlove had radically reconsidered his opinion: when he spotted the singer in the audience at a show the Roots were playing, he “thwarted and threw off the entire show” by suddenly playing “an obscure Prince drum roll” in a (successful) attempt to attract his attention. “The only person that mattered to me that night in the room was D’Angelo,” he admitted.

Longtime organizer and founder of House of gg earned reputation as champion for liberation of Black trans women

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a trailblazer of the transgender rights movement, longtime community organizer and veteran of the Stonewall riots, died on Monday, her representatives announced.

The acclaimed activist died at her home in Little Rock, Arkansas, surrounded by family, the House of gg (the final organization she founded and led) announced. She was 78, and the group’s statement did not give a cause of death.

Investigating officer says he went against procedure to test Julia Wandelt, accused of campaign of harassment against McCann family

An alleged stalker’s claim to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

• Potter had seven years in charge of club side Östersund

• ‘I love Swedish football. It would be a great opportunity’

Graham Potter has said he would be interested in taking over as Sweden’s new manager because he “loves” the country that gave him his first opportunity in coaching.

The former Blackburn manager Jon Dahl Tomasson was sacked on Tuesday after a disastrous start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, with a 1‑0 defeat at home by Kosovo leaving Sweden bottom of their group. It is less than a month since Potter left West Ham after winning six of his 23 Premier League games, with the former Chelsea manager having lasted just 31 games at Stamford Bridge.

Labour is misreading the economics – leaving it unable to deal with the G7’s worst inflation and flat living standard

Bloomberg’s headline said it all: “UK Faces Worst G-7 Inflation and Flat Living Standards, IMF Says”. The International Monetary Fund warns that inflation will be higher in the UK than in any other major advanced economy – including in the US, where Donald Trump’s tariffs are driving up costs for American consumers. This while GDP growth per head crawls at 0.4%, the weakest of any major economy. Real wages have stagnated for 11 months. Meanwhile, official figures show that unemployment has climbed to 4.8%, the highest since spring 2021. Forget talk of Britain’s “upgraded growth”; the economy, under Labour, is running hot only for those collecting profits.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) projects that by 2029 average disposable incomes will be £570 lower than today, a fall of 1.3% – the sharpest drop in living standards since records began in 1961. This isn’t a simple case of prices getting ahead of demand. What Britain faces is profit inflation: prices are rising while wages stand still. As Lord Keynes noted, this is a transfer from labour to capital – an increase in mark-ups, not in productivity.

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The bleak future faced by one small town offers a cautionary tale about the threat from global heating

The bleak prospect facing the market town of Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire, due to rising flood risks, is first and foremost a problem for locals. After seven floods in four years, and with plans for new flood defences around the town abandoned after costs rose to £30m, the town council announced this month that three buildings it owns, including a theatre and historic pump rooms, no longer have insurance. Independent retailers are in a similar situation, and some are packing up as a result. The number of empty properties is growing.

Tenbury is at higher risk than most places from floods, due to its low-lying position between the River Teme and Kyre Brook. But the threat it faces is not unique, and will become more common in future. Last year UK insurers paid out a record £585m for weather-related damage to homes and possessions, after unusually severe storms led to floods in several counties, with buildings left under water in towns including Henley, Wellingborough and Tewkesbury.

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Attorneys for Debbie Brockman, released with no charges, deny agent’s claim she ‘threw objects’ at border patrol car

Attorneys representing a producer for Chicago’s WGN television station who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week in Chicago, say the incident “should be alarming and horrifying to every person in this country”.

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and a WGN employee, was arrested on Friday by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) operation in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the scene show Brockman being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a van.

State is the latest in the US conducting mid-decade gerrymandering to favor one party before the midterms

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Republican leaders in North Carolina said they will redraw their state’s congressional maps to add another Republican seat, becoming the latest in a growing list of states conducting mid-decade gerrymandering to favor one party before the 2026 midterms.

Legislative leaders in the southern state said they would use an October legislative session to “block the efforts of blue state Democrats to take control of Congress from Republicans” after Donald Trump had called on state legislatures to undertake redistricting to defend their congressional majority.

Curtis Sliwa is unlikely to run the overwhelmingly Democratic city. But his willingness to defy Trump and billionaires could leave a big impact

With less than a month to go, the race to be New York City’s mayor is continuing to fascinate and bemuse: and in an election that could have political ramifications across the country, it’s a beret-wearing, cat-loving vigilante who seems like he could have the final say.

Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the crime-fighting group the Guardian Angels and the Republican candidate to run the largest US city, has little chance of winning the election in November. But his presence may be the thing that helps confirm Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist, as New York’s next mayor.

Self-styled world’s greatest peacemaker calls Meloni ‘beautiful’ and Erdoğan a ‘friend’, but takes jab at Iraqi and Canadian leaders

The chief interest at Monday’s largely pointless Gaza summit in Sharm el-Sheikh lay in whether Donald Trump insulted or feted his fellow global leaders as they approached the self-styled world’s greatest peacemaker to shake hands and pose for a thumbs-up photograph.

As the host of the party, the US president had arrived – unapologetically – more than two hours late, musing to the Israeli parliament before boarding his flight from Tel Aviv that he feared his wealthy guests would already have left, leaving him with only two poor countries remaining.

Laura Friedman, who spent 20 years in Hollywood before winning her House seat, says film industry needs help but president’s vague policy idea is baffling

Laura Friedman’s love affair with film started young, staying up late to watch old Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney flicks. “It definitely gave me big dreams and I moved to Hollywood to follow those dreams,” she recalls.

Now that dream is out of reach for many. Los Angeles is losing its allure as film producers increasingly turn to cheaper locations in other countries. But after 20 years working in the movie industry, Friedman is now uniquely placed to save it after she swapped Hollywood for the halls of Congress in Washington DC.

Some questions that must be answered if Donald Trump’s approach is to avoid repeating the failure of the Oslo accords

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The release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel, and the extraordinary images of catharsis and relief that followed, were the best possible argument for the virtues of Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who helped broker the deal, boasted that “deal guys” like him had succeeded because they were prepared to leave the details for later; the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, similarly said on Friday that “if we went for full-package negotiations, we wouldn’t have reached these results”.

But now the difficulties of that approach will start to come into focus – and the plan repeats a pattern seen in past attempts to engineer a lasting peace.