作者： root

Federal judge won’t require ICE agent to remain imprisoned in Texas while extradition fight plays out

2026-08-26T19:50:52.292Z / CNN

A federal judge declined on Wednesday to order Texas officials to keep an ICE agent accused of shooting an immigrant in custody while Minnesota’s effort to extradite him play out.

The judge said he lacked authority over a lawsuit brought by Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz last week that aimed to keep the agent behind bars for now because he didn’t think there was evidence that Texas’ governor had violated federal law, as Walz argued.

The upshot is that officials in Texas may be able to release the agent, Christian Castro, as soon as Thursday, even as GOP Gov. Greg Abbott mulls an extradition request made to him in June.

“Minnesota cannot premise its causes of action on the allegation that Governor Abbott may” violate extradition laws in the future, Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr., a Trump appointee, wrote in the ruling. “The record before the court … reveals that Governor Abbott has not denied the request for a rendition warrant.”

He continued: “Minnesota identifies no statutory or constitutional provision requiring Governor Abbott to complete his investigation and decide whether to sign the rendition warrant within a particular time period.”

Texas Rangers arrested Castro in Cameron County, Texas, on May 29 on a nationwide warrant. He faced four felony charges and a misdemeanor in Minnesota after the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis during the height of Operation Metro Surge in the Minneapolis area. Prosecutors in Hennepin County, Minnesota, say Castro shot Sosa-Celis in the leg through the front door of a home, injuring him and endangering several other people who were also inside.

Castro is eligible for release from custody altogether as soon as August 27 due to a Texas criminal procedure policy that puts a 90-day limit on the detention of fugitives awaiting extradition.

The Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Treviño told CNN on Wednesday that he’s waiting for further guidance from county attorneys on whether to release Castro.

CNN has attempted to reach Castro’s lawyer as well as representatives for the Minnesota attorney general and Abbott.

Minnesota, which sued Texas last week, argued that Castro posed a flight risk to Mexico due to a romantic relationship he has with a woman in Mexico. Rodriguez on Wednesday recognized that Castro’s potential flight to Mexico would “impose a hardship on Minnesota’s prosecutorial efforts,” but said that that concern alone was not enough to overcome the procedural issued he identified in the case.

“The threat of injury by itself does not create an issue ripe for adjudication,” the judge wrote.

Texas resisted the extradition because it took issue with Minnesota’s labeling of Castro as a “fugitive.” Castro was ordered back to his home base in Texas in January after the shooting, according to statements from an ICE field office director. Abbott’s office argued that extradition powers only apply to fugitives and it did not consider Castro a fugitive who was fleeing criminal liability, according to the law.

As the extradition fight plays out in Texas, the Justice Department has been considering a federal prosecution, but no decision had been made on Tuesday.

Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Covington told CNN this week that officials in the civil rights division have held conversations with local prosecutors in Minnesota. It is not clear what, if anything, the Justice Department will ultimately charge Castro with. Covington described the conversations as a standard part of any ongoing investigation.

Federal charges would mark a significant move for the Trump administration, which has vigorously resisted attempts to hold ICE officers accountable for other shootings.

Bringing a federal case against the officer wouldn’t on its own stop the Minnesota case from proceeding simultaneously.

Devan Cole and Whitney Wild contributed to this report.

‘Maine has been through a lot’: Democrats sharpen pitch to women after turmoil in must-win Senate race

2026-08-26T16:00:29.309Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/26/politics/maine-democrats-troy-jackson-women

A month after he became the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, Troy Jackson is ramping up his appeals to women and voters who care about abortion rights, looking to sharpen a contrast with Republican Sen. Susan Collins that has long been at the center of the race.

The task of building female support is an urgent one for Jackson after months of intraparty turmoil in Maine threatened to demoralize some in the crucial voting bloc. The state’s female governor, Janet Mills, dropped out before the primary, and the eventual winner, insurgent Graham Platner, saw his campaign collapse after a rape allegation that he denies. Now, Republicans are working to tie Jackson to his predecessor – and his problems with women.

“Maine has been through a lot,” said Mini Timmaraju, the president of Reproductive Freedom for All, who is set to visit Maine on Wednesday evening to unveil the group’s endorsement of Jackson.

Democrats are now hoping to turn the focus to Collins, who describes herself as a “pro-choice” Republican, and her key vote to confirm one of the Supreme Court justices who ultimately signed onto the Dobbs decision, which ended federal abortion rights. Jackson has his own mixed record on the issue – once deeply opposed to abortion rights before becoming more of a supporter in the last decade.

“We are not strangers to supporting candidates who made major evolutions on abortion rights,” Timmaraju said, pointing to former President Joe Biden as perhaps the most prominent example. “We feel like Troy has more than made up for his history by being the kind of critical champion and partner to Janet Mills, a critical leader in the Dobbs response.”

Reproductive Freedom for All endorsed Mills the primary but never backed Platner after his win.

Jackson’s campaign on Wednesday is also set to announce a “Women for Troy” coalition that includes hundreds of women from all 16 counties in the state. And earlier this week, Jackson’s campaign started airing a TV ad where his mother, Colleen McBreairty, testifies to his character over images of him meeting with other women in his life.

“Women should support Troy Jackson because he supports allowing women to make their own decisions about their own bodies,” Caroline Mitchell, a member of the coalition from Oxford County, said in a statement. “Women should not support Susan Collins because she has enabled the government to make that decision for women.”

The new efforts come at a crucial time in the race, which Democrats see as key to flipping the Senate in November. Jackson is still playing catch-up on fundraising, raising $2 million in the two days after he captured the nomination in late July, while Collins entered that month with an $11 million war chest.

Female voters are a highly competitive group in Maine. Exit polls show they made up 3 in 5 voters in Collins’ last reelection campaign, when she narrowly carried the group against Democrat Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives. In a Fox News poll released earlier this month, female voters were closely split, with 50% backing Jackson and 46% backing Collins.

Democrats believe this election is fundamentally different because this is the first time Collins is on the ballot since the 2022 Dobbs decision. Collins voted four years earlier to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who joined the majority on the decision.

The senator’s allies say the Democratic enthusiasm around the issue of abortion overlooks her unique relationship with women voters in Maine, who they say respect her thoughtful approach to issues even when they disagree with her.

“Susan Collins has always been pro-choice and a champion for Maine women,” Collins campaign spokeswoman Blake Kernen said in a statement highlighting Jackson’s once-close relationship with Platner and his past opposition to abortion rights. “But because she is a Republican, the national groups continue to twist themselves into a pretzel to support these male candidates with terrible records.”

Tuesday marked one month since Jackson vastly out-organized his competition and won the nomination to replace Platner at a party convention in Bangor. Since then, the national spotlight on the race has dimmed, and Jackson has been less of a lightning rod for controversy compared to Platner.

To some of his supporters, that’s just fine. They see him as running as more of a generic Democrat — in a Democratic-leaning state, in a national environment that favors the party.

“He’s got the right strategy, and it is a departure from Graham in just really focusing on Susan Collins and the stakes of this election,” said Jordan Wood, one of Jackson’s former rivals for the replacement nomination. “In a state like Maine, the best strategy, uniquely for this race, is you make it a question for voters, ‘Who do you want in control of the Senate?’”

“In this moment, Maine is not a state you’ve got to get super creative with,” Wood added.

That is not to say Jackson is the most conventional Democrat. A longtime logger who has spent over two decades in state politics, his supporters say he mixes Platner’s progressive, labor-aligned politics with Mills’ establishment appeal.

Jackson, who was raised Catholic, has also stood out for his evolution on abortion. He has said he was “wrong” to oppose abortion rights early in his political career, and after the Dobbs decision, he worked with Mills to further expand abortion access in the state.

“When Roe was overturned, I didn’t wring my hands or make excuses — I got to work,” Jackson said in a statement.

Timmaraju said her group has had “tough conversations” with Jackson and now feels “really, really confident” in his credentials on the issue.

Platner still hovers over the race, with Republican ads replaying images of him campaigning alongside Jackson earlier this year when Jackson was running for governor.

Wood had argued during the race for the replacement nomination that Jackson’s ties to Platner would be a liability. But in an interview this week, Wood suggested Jackson has done a good job addressing the issue, giving voice to the “betrayal” many Maine Democrats felt – Jackson has said Platner lied to him about his past – and then moving on to a disciplined anti-Collins message.

Platner is set to reemerge next month to speak at a Labor Day rally near his coastal hometown of Sullivan. A small group of former supporters tried to recruit him to run as a write-in candidate, including by meeting with him in person Sunday, but the deadline to register as a write-in candidate passed Tuesday.

While Jackson has said he does not want Platner’s support, he still lacks the endorsement of another major figure in this year’s intraparty saga: Mills. She declined to endorse Jackson in a local TV interview about a month ago, and a spokesperson for the governor did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Platner and Trump loom

Republicans’ attacks on Jackson make it clear that they view female voters as up for grabs.

While Collins’ campaign has largely aired positive ads, a well-funded super PAC, Pine Tree Results PAC, has taken the lead on attacking Jackson. Its ads highlight his past ties to Platner and reports that he clashed with female colleagues in the state legislature and pushed his partner, Lana Pelletier, during a fight with another man in 1988. Jackson has denied ever being violent with Pelletier or any other women.

“First it was Graham Platner’s problem with women,” a woman says in one of the super PAC’s ads, before a second woman says, “And now – Troy Jackson.”

Democrats would much rather talk about Collins. When Planned Parenthood launched its first ads in the race earlier this month, they did not mention Jackson and instead featured a woman who previously voted for Collins saying she regrets her support for the senator, citing in part her recent comments standing by her vote for Kavanaugh.

Lance Dutson, a Maine GOP strategist who has worked on Collins’ previous campaigns, said he doubted such attacks would be decisive in a race where Collins has spent decades earning the trust of some female voters.

“I think that really, really mitigates the lightning-bolt effect that issues like Kavanaugh or others could have,” he said.

Dutson said he thought Collins’ relationship with Trump – in a state that has rejected him three times – was “far more” important to the race. Collins is an occasional critic of Trump policies, most recently warning that his latest tariffs on Canadian imports would “increase costs for Maine families.”

Collins has skipped two recent appearances in her state by Vice President JD Vance, mostly recently Tuesday, when he visited a manufacturing facility outside Bangor. Each time, Vance has shouted her out from the stage and sought to portray as an important – if sometimes frustrating – part of the GOP coalition.

“Whenever I’m in Maine I’ve got to give Susan a little bit of crap because, as you know, Susan is the most independent member of the United States Senate, and as the president of the … Senate, she sometimes makes my job just a little bit harder,” Vance said in Brewer. “But she makes it harder because she is coming to work every single day and fighting not for a political party … [but] for the great people of Maine.”

Trump admin sends Saudi nuclear deal that includes enrichment pathway to Congress

2026-08-26T18:12:33.658Z / CNN

The Trump administration sent the nuclear cooperation agreement it had signed with Saudi Arabia to Congress on Monday, an administration official and multiple congressional aides told CNN.

The civil nuclear deal, which could allow for uranium enrichment on Saudi soil, will go into effect in 90 days unless both houses of Congress pass disapproval resolutions, according to the Atomic Energy Act.

However, the White House said in July the agreement would be off unless Riyadh joins President Donald Trump’s Abraham Accords initiative that creates diplomatic ties with Israel. CNN previously reported that the agreement itself did not include a provision mandating Saudi Arabia join.

An administration official said that Trump’s “position has not changed … the agreement will only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords.” The White House did not answer questions about how the administration will prevent the signed deal from going into force after 90 days.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, speaking at a Wednesday press conference with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that the nuclear agreement and Abraham Accords negotiations “will be worked in parallel.”

A Saudi official responded to a CNN query saying, “Saudi-US relations are ever-evolving and have continued to broaden and to deepen over the years.”

“Saudi Arabia is looking forward to working closely with the US administration and Congress on ways to strengthen our partnership,” the official added.

A source familiar told CNN that the text sent to Congress on Monday was classified, describing the secrecy as “highly unusual.”

It was not immediately clear whether the text of the nuclear agreement and other elements of the package sent to Congress — including any potential side agreements — would be made public, or if additional unclassified documentation would be sent to Congress.

An administration official told CNN in July that the deal includes “side letters” that are “commercially or otherwise sensitive.”

Traditionally, only a small portion of civil nuclear cooperation agreements — an annex with a detailed State Department nonproliferation analysis — is classified, said Andrea Stricker of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. Two additional sources familiar with the US nuclear agreement process said that classifying the entire text of a civil nuclear deal, known as a 123 agreement, would be “unprecedented.”

Wright also confirmed Wednesday that the deal provides Riyadh with a path to enriching uranium on Saudi soil, though he said that such arrangements would be “many years down the road.”

CNN previously reported that the agreement includes a joint US-Saudi study mechanism that could allow the kingdom to enrich its own uranium fuel for civilian reactors without adopting standard enhanced international safeguards known as the Additional Protocol. Wright said Wednesday that the two countries must “mutually (agree that enrichment) makes commercial sense and … fits into our national security framework.”

The protocol, which countries sign with the International Atomic Energy Agency, provides the UN nuclear watchdog with broad authority to sniff out suspected nuclear weapons sites.

Wright downplayed the importance of the protocol and argued that the agreement’s bilaterally negotiated safeguards, developed “in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” will be sufficient to prevent Saudi nuclear weapons development.

The IAEA’s director-general, Rafael Grossi, said Wednesday that he and the agency’s Board of Governors will have to review and approve the safeguards agreement.

“The idea is that we will have a number of extra measures … added layers of very stringent verification,” said Grossi. “(I) would never put forward an agreement that would not guarantee nonproliferation.”

It’s unclear how lawmakers will handle the Abraham Accords condition while considering the deal. The accords, an initiative dating back to Trump’s first administration, led several Arab countries to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel.

The diplomatic condition, which Trump announced after the deal was signed, surprised the administration’s own nuclear negotiators, two sources briefed on the matter told CNN.

Former President George W. Bush’s administration withdrew a 123 agreement with Russia from congressional consideration in 2008 after Moscow invaded the country of Georgia. Bush claimed that the invasion meant that he could no longer certify that the deal would not risk the “common defense and security” of the US, as required under the Atomic Energy Act.

Trump formally issued his certification on July 16, according to the Federal Register.

Scott Roecker, who oversees nuclear materials security work for the Nuclear Threat Initiative nonprofit, argued that the administration might simply refuse to finalize the agreement.

“We are entering uncharted territory with the Saudi 123 Agreement, and there is nothing that requires the Administration to finalize it once Congress has completed its review,” Roecker told CNN. “Presumably, it could hold out on that final step until Saudi Arabia agrees to normalize relations with Israel.”

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

Davis Winkie’s work at CNN is supported by a partnership between Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners (JFP). CNN retains full editorial control of the reporting.

24 states sue to block new Postal Service rules for mail voting ahead of midterms

August 26, 2026 / 3:28 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Wednesday that seeks to block a new rule from the U.S. Postal Service that imposes requirements for mail voting ahead of the November midterm elections.

The final rule, published by the agency last Friday, came in response to an executive order President Trump signed in March that seeks to tighten the rules for mail voting. The states argue in their lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, that the rule will prevent them from administering their mail voting programs for the midterm elections and risks disenfranchising voters who cast their ballots by mail.

They said in their lawsuit that the Postal Service’s new measure unconstitutionally exceeds the executive branch’s power and interferes with states’ authority to administer elections under their own laws.

“The Rule violates the Constitution and federal statutes many times over,” the state attorneys general said. “It displaces state laws adopted pursuant to each State’s constitutional authority to administer elections, erects new USPS functions and ballot mail constraints that are inconsistent with USPS’s governing statutes, flouts USPS’s procedural requirements, violates the Privacy Act, and cannot be reconciled with federal voting rights law.”

They continued: “Each of these defects would alone establish the Rule’s unlawfulness. Together, they demonstrate USPS’s utter disregard for the law in carrying out the President’s policy preferences.”

The states warned that if the Postal Service’s new requirements are allowed to take effect, election officials will have to devote time, money and resources to implement the changes.

“Today, we’re taking legal action to stop this unlawful rule in its tracks and ensure that voters can exercise their constitutional right to vote,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “Let’s be clear: the U.S. Constitution gives states the power to regulate elections — not the President and not USPS. Ballots are an extension of our voices and we’re asking the court to ensure that every person has the right to make theirs heard.”

The White House defended the new policies from the Postal Service.

“Radical Democrats continue to oppose commonsense measures that protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans are electing American leaders,” Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the White House, said in a statement. “The Trump Administration will continue to lawfully enact the agenda President Trump was elected on – which includes the safety and security of our elections.”

The new measure from the Postal Service implements the plans laid out in Mr. Trump’s executive order, which he said are necessary to protect the integrity of U.S. elections. The rule lays out design elements required for mail ballot envelopes, including trackable barcodes, and directs state election officials to submit to an online portal the names and addresses of voters to whom they intend to send mail ballots.

Voters will then be enrolled in a state-specific “Mail-In and Absentee Participation List,” which the Postal Service said is “primarily intended to assist election officials and law enforcement to understand who may have been mailed a ballot, in order to identify potentially anomalous incidents that may merit further investigation.”

The Postal Service “will not play any role in determining voter eligibility, maintaining voter rolls, or counting ballots,” it said.

But the states said that as a result of the rule, they must immediately redesign their mail ballot envelopes to comply with its requirements and seek review from the Postal Service “at significant costs.”

“Plaintiff States’ election officials must also develop new systems at breakneck speed to convey mail voter lists to USPS to ensure that every eligible voter who is entitled to a mail ballot receives one, create new guidance for and train election officials, and educate the public about changes to mail voting,” they said in the suit.

They warned that there may also be an influx of voters who choose to cast their ballots in person instead of by mail because of the Postal Service’s changes.

“In short, they must accomplish multiple Herculean tasks, each necessary to address the disruption caused by the Rule, in a matter of weeks, with limited resources,” the states said.

In addition to the two dozen states, Democratic campaign committees and voting rights groups have also moved to challenge the Postal Service’s rule.

Nearly all of the states that signed onto the new lawsuit filed an earlier challenge to Mr. Trump’s executive order. A federal district court blocked the administration from implementing key provisions of the order, including the directives for the Postal Service. But the Supreme Court on Monday halted the lower court’s injunction.

In a 6-3 decision that rested on procedural grounds, the high court’s conservative majority said the states filed their lawsuit too soon and found the district court lacked jurisdiction to bar the Trump administration from trying to implement the executive order.

“The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful,” the Supreme Court said in an unsigned decision. “On that score, time will tell.”

The president’s executive order also directs the Department of Homeland Security to create lists of residents in each state who are eligible to vote. It instructs the attorney general to prioritize investigations and prosecutions of state and local officials who issue ballots to noncitizens or others who are not eligible to vote in federal elections.

The judge overseeing the states’ lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, had also issued a nationwide order in a separate case that blocked the Postal Service from implementing the plans laid out in Mr. Trump’s executive order. But Talwani set aside that injunction Wednesday, citing the Supreme Court’s decision, which allows the Postal Service to move forward with the mail voting procedures.

As the legal battle over Mr. Trump’s efforts to impose new restrictions on mail voting enters its latest stage, it’s unclear whether the rules will take hold before the November midterms. Some states are set to begin sending mail ballots to voters in the coming weeks. In North Carolina, mail ballots will be distributed to certain voters Sept. 4, while states like New York, Wisconsin and Virginia will start sending mail ballots around mid-September, according to the Center for Election Innovation and Research.

尼泊尔洪灾遇难者增至95人 起因或为地震引发雪崩

2026年8月26日 23:18 / 联合早报

blob:https://www.zaobao.com.sg/8f91d9d4-975e-4a71-8401-def109553e1d

尼泊尔泥石流灾害遇难人数急剧增加至95人，另有数百名游客失联。

路透社报道，尼泊尔与中国西藏接壤的喜马拉雅山脉地区星期三（8月26日）突发大规模洪灾，截至当天晚些时候，尼泊尔救援队已找到95具遗体。官方几小时前通报的数字为19人。

当地媒体报道，尼泊尔外交部长卡纳尔向议会通报，初步报告显示，洪灾可能是当地地震引发雪崩的结果。

据估计，这场洪水从海拔近2000米的高处倾泻而下；与尼泊尔接壤且人口稠密的印度北方邦和比哈尔邦，都随之发布洪水警报。

尼泊尔旅游部说，至少有341名外国游客在洪灾地区失踪，其中包括100多名印度人、三名美国公民和12名英国公民。数十名当地居民也失踪。

韩国方面说，八名在尼泊尔水电站工作的韩国公民失踪。

SEEING DOUBLE: Second Dan Sullivan advances, setting up bizarre Alaska Senate ballot

August 26, 2026 9:55am EDT / Fox News

The logger who shares the incumbent’s name grabbed 2.5% of the primary vote and will face Sen Sullivan and Peltola

By Leo Briceno, Fox News

Florida Young Republicans Chair Brandon Ludwig joins ‘Fox & Friends First’ to analyze far-left campaigns pushing to abolish ICE. Democratic socialist candidates challenge established Democrats as the Florida primary elections take center stage. Meanwhile, Alaska’s primary features incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan facing a challenger with the exact same name.

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Dan J. Sullivan Jr., a Senate candidate in Alaska who has made headlines for sharing a name with incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, R-Alaska, has officially advanced to the general election, The Associated Press announced on Wednesday.

He joins Sen. Sullivan and former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, as the third of the final four candidates.

Alaska has yet to announce the fourth.

Sullivan Jr.’s advance, which seemed likely after the polls closed last Tuesday, complicates the picture for Republicans as they work against the clock to explain why two candidates have the same name — as well as which one to vote for. Unlike the primary, the general election picture is further clouded by ranked-choice voting (RCV), which raises more questions about how voters will react to the name overlap.

MORNING GLORY: ALASKA’S ‘REAL’ SENATOR DAN SULLIVAN STOOD UP OVER CHALLENGER

Dan J. Sullivan, who has filed to run for U.S. Senate in Alaska, poses for a photo in Petersburg, Alaska, on June 26, 2026.(Katie Holmlund/Associated Press)

Under this system, voters rank their preferred candidates. If their top choice is eliminated, their support passes on to their next-ranked option. While supporters of the process argue it expands voters’ power and greatly increases the influence of candidates that may not otherwise be a top choice, critics — like Sen. Sullivan — believe it also introduces confusion.

“Like many others who did not support ranked choice voting in 2020, I still believe that this new election system has created unnecessary confusion among voters,” Sullivan told local Alaskan media in 2024.

Fears of that confusion were amplified by the emergence of the second Sullivan.

Sullivan Jr., a logger, appeared among the 16 candidates on the ballot as an independent in last week’s primary, snapping up 2.5% of the vote. Sullivan Jr.’s campaign announcement did not list a party affiliation. His website does not state his position on any political issues.

Instead, it leaned into the name overlap. “Dan Sullivan challenges Dan Sullivan for U.S. Senate Seat, urges Alaskans to defeat incumbent, elect a Sullivan who stands up for Alaska,” it read.

ALASKA REPUBLICANS SCRAMBLE TO EDUCATE VOTERS ON SUSPECTED DEM PLANT AS ‘BALLOT FATIGUE’ THREATENS RACE

US Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) goes to vote on the Laken Riley Act at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 9, 2025.(ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images)

According to his biography, Sullivan Jr. spent his early career working blue-collar jobs like logging, construction, bartending and forestry but decided to enter his bid for Senate after growing frustrated with government mismanagement.

A Fox News Digital review of the campaign earlier this year uncovered that Amber Lee, a progressive consultant, had helped author some of Sullivan Jr.’s campaign materials. Lee previously supported Peltola, the former congresswoman.

The campaign has drawn criticism from Republicans who believe it’s an effort to put two “Dan Sullivans” on the ballot in November and, through ranked choice voting, intentionally draw away votes from the senator.

Alaska state Sen. James Kaufman, a Republican, said he personally remains worried about conflation between the two.

He believes there are still some voters in Alaska, especially Republicans, who refuse to use the RCV system, citing disagreements with its implementation.

“Some people have a pretty strong traditionalist perspective: one person, one man, one vote,” Kaufman said.

JUDGE RULES REPUBLICAN WITH SAME NAME AS SEN DAN SULLIVAN CAN STAY ON ALASKA PRIMARY BALLOT

Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, stands in the Senate Subway of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 2026.(Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg)

“And so, the ballot fatigue where people just don’t rank because maybe they disagree with it; there’s a pretty strong segment of the population here that just patently disagrees with the ranked-choice voting system we ended up with. And they don’t necessarily believe in utilizing it.”

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Having cleared the primary, Sen. Sullivan, Sullivan Jr. and Peltola will face off in the general election on Nov. 3.

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.

Prince Harry and Meghan due back in U.K. today

August 26, 2026 / 9:01 AM EDT / CBS News

London— Prince Harry and Meghan are returning to the United Kingdom Wednesday, CBS News’ partner network BBC News reported. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were understood to be flying privately with their two children from California.

A spokesperson for the couple told CBS News they could not “comment or guide on the family’s private travel movements,” given privacy and security concerns.

The news broke last week that Harry and Meghan would be returning to Britain after six years in California.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex greet members of the public at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on April 17, 2026 in Sydney, Australia. Cameron Spencer / Getty Images

The pair have no plans to resume royal duties. They will continue as non-working members of the royal family, as they have been for six years, and the BBC said they were expected to live in the affluent Cotswolds region, about a 2-hour drive west of London.

The couple said in January 2020 that they were stepping away from their roles as senior, working members of the royal family to become financially independent.

“This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity,” they said in a statement at the time.

The pair’s decision to step away from the royal family and move to California fueled considerable tension with other members of the family.

Harry and Meghan have two children, Archie, born in 2019, and Lilibet, born in 2021. They are due to start at a new school next week, according to the BBC.

The Duke of Sussex lost a 2024 legal challenge against a government body’s decision to downgrade his security detail on visits back to the U.K., following the announcement that he was stepping away from royal duties.

Asked last week about future security arrangements for the couple, U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said it was a private matter for the Sussexes, adding that he and his family “wish them well in the moves that they are making.”

On Friday, Prince Harry and six other high-profile claimants were ordered to pay several million dollars to the publisher of the Daily Mail after their claims against the paper were deemed by a court to be “unreasonable to a high degree.”

EXCLUSIVE: State Dept reveals Portland Antifa connection to Hamas, Iran’s IRGC in sweeping terror action

August 26, 2026 10:00am EDT / Fox News

Marco Rubio says Autistici/Inventati built encrypted digital tools used by Rose City Antifa, Hamas and other violent groups

By Peter D’Abrosca Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: A State Department memo reveals that an international technology collective, now under a U.S. global terrorism designation, provided services to overseas terrorist groups and violent far-left agitators causing chaos in American cities, according to a copy obtained by Fox News Digital.

“Far-left terrorism poses a profound threat to the United States and the broader West,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Today, the United States sanctioned Autistici/Inventati–a major far-left tech collective whose services are used by the most active and violent Antifa cells in the United States and across the world.”

Autistici/Inventati, called the A/I Collective by the State Department, is an Italy-based group that builds highly sophisticated digital infrastructure used by violent left-wing organizations in the United States and Europe, along with Islamic terrorists, according to the State Department. The collective’s services include encrypted chats and email, web hosting, secure video conferencing and streaming and anonymity shields, according to the memo.

‘LEFT-WING EXTREMISTS,’ CARTELS MOVE INTO CROSSHAIRS IN TRUMP TERROR SHIFT BEYOND ISIS

Demonstrators burn an American flag outside the ICE detention center in South Portland, Ore., on May 1, 2026.(Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

“These tools are specifically designed to support the operations of far-left terrorist networks, built to enable them to organize, recruit, communicate, disseminate propaganda, share target information and tactics, and carry out violent attacks – all while remaining anonymous, untraceable, and beyond the reach of the law,” says the State Department’s memo.

A/I Collective has officially been deemed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The designation bars Americans and U.S. financial institutions from doing business with the group and freezes any assets it has under U.S. jurisdiction. Violators can face civil or criminal penalties.

The memo identifies Portland-based Rose City Antifa, known for its violent rioting and destruction, as one of the U.S. groups that relied on A/I Collective tools and services.

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Rose City Antifa is listed in the memo alongside a media organization that the State Department says uses A/I Collective tools to disseminate information to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is proliferating inside the United States, Hamas, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah and others.

President Donald Trump designated Antifa a domestic terrorist organization via a September 2025 executive order.(Diego Diaz/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The memo also accuses the militant abortion-rights group “Jane’s Revenge” — which declared “open season” on pro-life organizations and threatened escalating attacks after the leaked Supreme Court draft signaling Roe v. Wade would be overturned — of using the collective’s services.

The State Department memo says the collective provides its services exclusively to left-wing extremists, screening users for ideological alignment before allowing them access to its tools.

The collective claims to host roughly 16,000 mailboxes, 1,500 websites, 5,500 mailing lists and 10,000 “blogs” on a custom-built platform. The State Department says militants frequently use those services to disseminate target information, tactical manuals and techniques and communiqués about recent attacks.

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The memo stressed that while the infrastructure is overseas, it supports domestic far-left groups that for years have wreaked havoc in the United States, mostly under the label of Antifa, or antifascism.

Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel to a Red Cross team in Gaza City on Feb. 1, 2025, as part of the fourth hostage-prisoner exchange.(OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)

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“There will be no refuge for violent extremists who wage war on our civilization and plot to undermine law and order, destroy critical infrastructure, assault political opponents, or conspire to conceal their crimes from authorities,” Rubio said. “We will use all the tools and authorities at our disposal to fight terrorism and protect our way of life from terrorist coercion.”

The memo cites several examples of violent or terrorist activity that the State Department says was facilitated through A/I Collective technology.

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The memo identifies a far-left extremist media group that describes itself as a “tool” for militants worldwide to share “essential information” to be “acted upon.” According to State, the group relies on A/I Collective services to publish official communiqués and calls to action for U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations.

The memo says Rose City Antifa relied on A/I Collective tools and services to organize and incite violent and criminal acts, including disseminating an online flyer urging supporters to use laser pointers against U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopters.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, the presidential retreat, on July 31, 2026, in Camp David, Md. Trump convened members of his Cabinet at the retreat as the war with Iran continues.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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“All you need is a laser. Leave home – they can see where the laser is coming from,” the flyer said. “Go to a park, a field, or some other public place, and once the clock strikes 9 unleash your beam at the cop copter. Mask up. Coordinate with friends to throw a laser party!”

“Let’s take back the night together!” it continued. “It won’t take many of us to ground the helicopters!”

The memo says at least one man answered the call to action. Federal records show he later pleaded guilty to aiming a laser at a CBP helicopter, forcing the aircraft to abort its planned landing.

The memo says Rose City Antifa also used A/I Collective tools to disseminate personal information about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and calls for targeted attacks against ICE agents “in their homes” and in public.

People attend a vigil and protest outside of Columbia University on October 7, 2025, in New York City.(Adam Gray/Getty Images)

“Jane’s Revenge” used A/I Collective tools to “publish official communiqués and claims of responsibility for violent and criminal acts and to incite copycat attacks,” according to the State Department.

Notably, Jane’s Revenge claimed responsibility for the May 2022 firebombing of a crisis pregnancy center in Madison, Wisconsin. The following day, a cryptic message appeared on a blog affiliated with the group.

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“This was only a warning. We demand the disbanding of all anti-choice establishments, fake clinics, and violent anti-choice groups within the next thirty days,” the message said. “This is not a mere ‘difference of opinion’ as some have framed it. We are literally fighting for our lives. We will not sit still while we are killed and forced into servitude. We have run thin on patience and mercy for those who seek to strip us of what little autonomy we have left.”

At approximately 2:30 a.m., on June 10, 2022, Gresham Police responded to an alarm at the Gresham Pregnancy Resource Center located at 104 NW 11th Street. Once on scene, law enforcement personnel found a fire inside the building. Investigators believe several Molotov cocktails were thrown through a kitchen window in order to ignite the fire. Investigators found several large bottles in the kitchen with fire accelerant confirmed on the floor.(FBI Portland)

In the following months, several more posts appeared claiming responsibility for vandalism of pregnancy centers across the country, including smashed glass windows and doors and graffiti. The State Department memo says that four members of the group were later federally charged for “‘conspiracy against rights’ through threats of force and intimidation.”

The memo also refers to far-left extremists in Atlanta using A/I Collective tools and services in a violent attempt to “prevent the construction of a law enforcement training center.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also weighed in.

“Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear,” he said. “Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at a news conference, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, at the Treasury Department in Washington.(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Abroad, the memo says far-left extremists in France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands used A/I Collective tools to claim responsibility for attacks on rail systems this year and to disseminate instructions for making improvised incendiary devices intended to disrupt railways.

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Anarchists who claimed responsibility for sabotaging infrastructure supporting the Transalpine Pipeline, a major crude-oil artery into Central Europe, also used A/I Collective tools, according to the memo. The State Department says the same was true of the far-left Vulkangruppe, which has targeted German infrastructure since 2011 and claimed responsibility for a January attack that knocked out power to roughly 45,000 Berlin households.

In 2025, President Donald Trump declared Antifa to be a terrorist organization.

Fox News Digital reached out to A/I Collective, Rose City Antifa and Jane’s Revenge.

Peter D’Abrosca is a politics reporter at Fox News Digital.

尼泊尔洪灾致380多名游客失联 绝大多数是外国人

2026年8月26日 20:05 / 联合早报

https://www.zaobao.com.sg/d8d404c7-fea4-401d-93a0-1c316d1a1f0d

尼泊尔北部地区山洪导致将近390名游客失联，其中绝大多数都是外国人。

尼泊尔喜马拉雅山脉的拉苏瓦山区星期三（8月26日）突发大规模山洪，目前已造成至少八人死亡。据法新社报道，尼泊尔旅游委员会当天发布声明称：“根据旅游公司和旅行社提供的初步记录，当前共有384名游客失踪，其中包括291名外国公民和93名尼泊尔公民。”

声明指出，大多数失联外国游客来自印度，还有一些来自美国、英国、马来西亚等国家；尼当局正在努力核实失联游客的下落。

地方官员说，这场山洪发生于星期三上午，洪水席卷博特科西河（Bhote Koshi），导致拉苏瓦、努瓦果德和塔丁三个县受灾，大量基础设施遭破坏。尼泊尔媒体则报道称，山洪已致至少16人死亡。

July PCE inflation index held at 3.7% annual pace, slightly hotter than expected

August 26, 2026 / 9:17 AM EDT / CBS News
By Mary Cunningham

The Personal Consumption Expenditures index — the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure — held at a 3.7% annual pace in July, slightly higher than forecasted and reflecting persistent cost pressures for consumers.

Economists polled by FactSet had predicted a 3.6% annual increase. Wednesday’s report instead showed that inflation remained unchanged from June.

PCE tracks changes in the prices of goods and services bought by U.S. households. The measure is closely tracked by the Federal Reserve, which uses it to inform its interest rate decisions.

PCE has eased after reaching a three-year peak in May, but remains well above the Fed’s 2% target. The Iran war has pushed up oil and gas prices, eating into consumers’ budgets and putting pressure on household spending.

“The United States still has an inflation problem. PCE inflation came in hotter than expected,” said Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, in an email. “The impacts of the war in Iran are still apparent with $4 gas and $5.60 diesel.”

Core PCE, which excludes more volatile energy and food prices, rose at an annual rate of 3.3%, slightly higher than the 3.2% pace predicted by economists and also unchanged from June.

Consumer spending is showing signs of fatigue from higher prices, with the latest data showing that spending on goods declined by $49.9 billion. However, consumer spending on services increased by $86.2 billion.

Separate data released on Wednesday showed the U.S. economy expanded at a 1.5% clip in the second quarter, a sluggish reading in line with the Commerce Department’s first estimate.

What does this mean for the Fed?

The latest PCE data shows inflation remains stubborn, a challenge for the Federal Reserve as it attempts to rein in prices. Fed officials have held interest rates steady so far this year, although some have signaled they’re open to raising rates to tame inflation.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to deliver an address in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, where investors will look for clues about the central bank’s next steps.

“The challenge is becoming increasingly clear: inflation is still too high for comfort, and investors will be watching to see whether Fed Chair Kevin Warsh uses Friday’s Jackson Hole speech to address how policymakers plan to bring it back toward the Fed’s long-term target,” wrote eToro U.S. investment analyst Bret Kenwell in an email.

Edited by Aimee Picchi