Wave of bomb threats forces emergency landings across Europe amid fears of hybrid attacks

By: Daniel Hampton

Nov 05, 2026

RAW STORY

A fresh wave of bomb threats forced airliners across Europe to divert and make emergency landings Thursday, the second such barrage in a single week, as authorities warn of widespread hybrid threats on the continent.


The threats targeted more than a dozen flights departing from Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan, Warsaw and other cities, the Associated Press reported. Searches so far have found nothing dangerous.


In one case, an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was rerouted to a military air base in Evreux, France, where it was escorted by military aircraft, according to French authorities.

ALSO READ:'Big loser was John Fetterman': Dem colleague warns writing's on wall for senator

“The 151 passengers and 6 crew members have been brought to safety, and bomb disposal teams are on-site,” French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said.


A Finnair flight from Helsinki landed in Rome under escort by Italian fighter jets, an airport official told the AP, while three Ryanair flights headed to Sofia, Bulgaria, made emergency landings.

Thursday’s chaos followed a similar wave on Tuesday, when at least seven flights and a cruise ship received threats that turned out to be false, Al Jazeera reported. Those threats briefly shut down an airport near Warsaw and prompted the Italian Air Force to escort a Ryanair plane into Rome.

No country has blamed anyone for the threats. But they come as European officials accuse Russia and Iran of carrying out “hybrid attacks” and sabotage, accusations both countries deny. This week alone, hackers shut down supermarket fridges in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Ireland, weeks after a similar attack in France, and drone incursions have repeatedly disrupted European air travel.


Some experts said the hoax threats may be part of a broader pattern of inexpensive disruption tactics that are hard to trace back to any one country.

MISOGYNIST SERIAL RAPIST

Hollywood star turned MAGA pundit Russell Brand convicted of rape: report

By:Tom Boggioni

Nov 05, 2026

Hollywood star turned right-wing commentator Russell Brand has been convicted of rape and sexual assault by a London jury.

Jurors at Southwark Crown Court returned guilty verdicts Thursday on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, TMZ reported. The jury found him not guilty of two other rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault. Brand, 51, had denied all the charges.

The judge signaled that prison time is all but certain. “Obviously a custodial sentence of some length will result,” the judge told Brand after the verdict. He is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.

Best known for Hollywood comedies like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Get Him to the Greek," Brand reinvented himself in recent years as an online commentator popular on the right, building a massive following with anti-establishment videos. Deadline described him as a “MAGA outrider,” and after he was charged last year, Fox News host turned podcaster Tucker Carlson called on the Trump administration to “rescue” him from what Carlson called “political and absurd” charges.

The trial featured testimony from several women who accused Brand of sexual misconduct, according to TMZ. One accuser, recalling an alleged 1999 assault, described his behavior as “lizard-like.” Another told jurors that after Brand raped her, he said he wanted to “push [her] further.”

During the trial, the judge ordered a not-guilty verdict on one count of indecent assault, and prosecutors then brought a new charge of attempted indecent assault, on which the jury acquitted him.

TMZ reported that Laura Brand, his wife, backed him throughout the proceedings and took the stand in his defense. She described him as a wonderful father and an “amazing, attentive husband.”

Melania blows up Trump’s Russia brag with celebration of ‘sophisticated ceasefire’: report

By: Matthew Chapman

Nov 05, 2026

RAW STORY

First lady Melania Trump hosted a White House event on a Russian-occupied city’s ceasefire without mentioning President Donald Trump, the Daily Beast reported.

The Thursday gathering marked a temporary, localized truce in Oleshky that ended Nov. 1. The Daily Beast reported it let humanitarian aid reach the city and covered the departure of roughly 800 people across six days, and the event came as the president has not made good on his claim that he could end the war in Ukraine on his first day back in office.

Melania Trump said she was involved at each stage of what she called a “sophisticated ceasefire,” including reviewing roads and evacuation routes. The Beast said she learned of the crisis in September and served as the sole go-between.

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev credited her with a key coordinating role and said Vladimir Putin personally issued the needed instructions. He added that Putin appreciates the president’s peacemaking effort. Ukrainian politician David Arakhamia praised her work, and ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets gave her the Order of Princess Olga, 1st Class, on behalf of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

She said the truce would not have happened without Putin or Zelensky and that their cooperation sets a “meaningful precedent.” She gave officials letters to carry to both leaders.

Nobody in the room acknowledged Putin’s invasion caused the crisis, The Beast noted.

Melania's role in the ceasefire agreement has been questioned by some observers, who point out that the Pope was involved in ceasefire discussions for Oleshky before Melania's involvement was ever publicly acknowledged.

Trump reveals secretive meeting with top Putin envoy as he teases ‘big’ deal

President Donald Trump speaks at the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By:Erik De La Garza

Nov 05, 2026

RAW STORY


President Donald Trump revealed Thursday that he privately met with a top Russian official at the White House but refused to disclose what they discussed.


That’s according to The New York Times, which reported that Trump instead teased a sweeping agreement in the Oval Office that could extend far beyond Ukraine.

“I can’t tell you what I discussed,” Trump told reporters. “But I’m just telling you, there’s going to be an agreement, it’s going to be a big agreement, and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine.”

Trump appeared to be referring to Kirill Dmitriev, a senior envoy to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited the White House earlier Thursday for an event hosted by first lady Melania Trump.

Trump acknowledged meeting with the Russian envoy, but said he had not met with Ukrainian officials who also attended the event, the Times reported.

The president offered few details about the potential agreement, though he suggested its reach could be enormous.

“It might involve all of Europe,” Trump said. “It’s going to be a big, beautiful agreement, and everyone is going to be thrilled.”

The latest Iran war remarks from Trump come as the Times reported that there is "little sign that the Trump administration’s efforts are bringing the war closer to an end.”

"Instead, Mr. Trump has been widely criticized by Democrats, as well as some Republicans, for being too solicitous of Mr. Putin and refusing to put more pressure on Russia," the outlet said.

The meeting also comes ahead of scheduled peace talks involving U.S., Russian and Ukrainian officials in the United Arab Emirates next week.

GOP’s desperate post-wipeout plans crumble as big-name conservatives refuse to play along

By:Travis Gettys

Nov 05, 2026

RAW STORY

Republicans hoping to use their final weeks in power to blunt this week’s Democratic wave are running into resistance from their own side, according to new reporting.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), 93, won’t resign early to let outgoing Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds appoint his successor before Democratic Gov.-elect Rob Sand takes office, a spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.

“Sen. Grassley is not resigning,” the spokesperson said. “He remains committed to delivering for the people of Iowa, who overwhelmingly elected him to a six-year term in 2022.”

Grassley raised that scenario himself in September. “I don’t plan on dying in office, but if I did, I don’t want a Democrat governor choosing my successor,” he told a GOP dinner.

Sand has said he would consider appointing an independent if the seat opens up. On Tuesday, Democrats also won three of Iowa’s four House seats and the open seat of retiring Sen. Joni Ernst.

Conservatives hoping for a Supreme Court vacancy are out of luck, too. Justice Samuel Alito, 76, has told people close to him that he doesn’t intend to retire immediately, according to The New York Times, which cited two sources. That likely means President Donald Trump won’t get another justice confirmed before Democrats take over the Senate in January.

A lame-duck confirmation would have been a heavy lift anyway. Defeated Republican senators, including Susan Collins, John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy, may have had little appetite to help Trump push a nominee through. Conservative legal analyst Ed Whelan warned that Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas, 78, may not be able to retire until 2033 if they want a like-minded successor.

In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp rejected calls for a special session to redraw congressional maps or limit the powers of Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Bottoms’ win ended 24 years of Republican control of the governor’s mansion.

“The voters of our state have spoken,” Kemp said, although he did leave open the possibility of calling lawmakers back to deal with state finances.

Not every Republican is ready to accept the results. In Texas, where Democrat Gina Hinojosa won the governor’s race, state Rep. Brian Harrison demanded that Gov. Greg Abbott call a special session to rein in the emergency powers she will inherit.

“We still have total power in Texas, and we must act like it,” Harrison wrote on X. He warned that “without action, Governor Hinojosa will inherit the powers of a DICTATOR.”

Texas Senate Republicans were also expected to meet Wednesday to discuss reorganizing the chamber, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing Quorum Report’s Scott Braddock.

Harrison has pushed for limits on emergency powers before, but his 2023 bill on the issue never advanced. Abbott, who has conceded the race, can call lawmakers back for up to 30 days before Hinojosa is sworn in.

Opinion
Republicans' crushing midterm defeat can be summed up by one social media post

By:Clay Wirestone,

 Kansas Reflector

Nov 05, 2026

If any one statement sums up the colossal miscalculation underlying Kansas Republicans’ historic wipeout Tuesday night, it’s a single social media post from Senate President Ty Masterson.

You might remember Masterson as the GOP leader who hoped to succeed Democrat Laura Kelly as governor. He ran against fellow state senator Cindy Holscher, who appeared poised for victory Wednesday after a hard-fought race. In the post, Masterson urged patience as election officials audited ballots in coming days but also edged toward a concession.

That’s not all he said, though.
Last night was a difficult night in Kansas and around the country. But I’m grateful to the hundreds of thousands of Kansans who stood with us, and to every volunteer who gave their time to this campaign.The first count does not seem to be going our way, but the margin is narrow enough that Kansas law calls for another look, and we’ll let that process finish. Every Kansan deserves to know the result is right.Whatever the outcome, the fight for lower property taxes, safer communities and better schools doesn’t end tonight. I’ll keep working for those things no matter what, and I’ll work with anyone who wants to get them done.— Ty Masterson (@TyMastersonKS) November 4, 2026

The Senate president describes the election in black-and-white, good-versus-evil terms. This Manichaean viewpoint allows for no subtlety, no persuasion, no essential humanity. You were either for Masterson or against him.

Look at his first sentence: “Last night was a difficult night in Kansas and around the country.”

Difficult for who, exactly?

Sure, it may have been difficult for Republican candidates and their supporters. But that’s the way elections work. One side wins, and one side loses. What’s more, if a majority of voters selected Democrats rather than Republicans to represent them in Kansas and across the nation, where’s the difficulty?

Masterson implies that Kansas and the Republican Party have some sort of inseparable bond, that a political movement’s setback means a setback for the region. That’s nonsense. Kansas simply made a different choice.


That’s not “difficult.” That’s the essence of representative democracy, and it ought to be celebrated by winners and losers alike.

In my first column after U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall’s loss to Democrat challenger Adam Hamilton, I noted how Marshall’s embrace of similar divisive rhetoric proved toxic as the American people turned against President Donald Trump. Our country may face overwhelming challenges, and we may disagree with one another heartily, but we do reserve the right to change our minds.

Those asking tough questions of Marshall at an Oakley town hall on March 1, 2025, are just as much “real Kansans” as anyone else — Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, independent or devotee of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.


Masterson doesn’t seem to believe that Democrats are real Kansans.

Back in 2018, he denied that Kelly had a mandate as governor, telling Associated Press legend John Hanna that “it’s the legislative elections that are the more indicative of what is going on in the state.”

Well, now that Democrats have won a whopping 57 seats in the Kansas House, does Masterson still believe that? Or was his purpose to never credit his opposition with any claim to guiding this incredible state? (I don’t know why I even bother to phrase those sentences as rhetorical questions. Those with eyes can see the answers.)


Here’s what Hamilton had to say, as a matter of contrast: “This election is a rebuke of unkindness and cruelty in Washington.”

Kansas includes an incredible diversity of people with a range of beliefs. On Tuesday night, some celebrated while others wept. Most, I suspect, simply went to bed and dreamed of a better world.

Politicians who hope to serve this evolving oasis of Midwestern good sense should embrace them all.





Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. His first book, “Opinionated: Kansas Journalists Who Proved Why Commentary Matters — Then and Now,” was published in September 2026 by the University Press of Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

Opinion

One statement lays bare the GOP’s colossal miscalculation behind its Kansas bloodbath


Attendees react to early voting results at an election night watch party for Democratic candidate for US Senate from Kansas Adam Hamilton, at a Marriott hotel in Overland Park, Kansas, US, November 3, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

By:Clay Wirestone, 

Kansas Reflector

Nov 05, 2026

If any one statement sums up the colossal miscalculation underlying Kansas Republicans’ historic wipeout Tuesday night, it’s a single social media post from Senate President Ty Masterson.


You might remember Masterson as the GOP leader who hoped to succeed Democrat Laura Kelly as governor. He ran against fellow state senator Cindy Holscher, who appeared poised for victory Wednesday after a hard-fought race. In the post, Masterson urged patience as election officials audited ballots in coming days but also edged toward a concession.

That’s not all he said, though.
Last night was a difficult night in Kansas and around the country. But I’m grateful to the hundreds of thousands of Kansans who stood with us, and to every volunteer who gave their time to this campaign.The first count does not seem to be going our way, but the margin is narrow enough that Kansas law calls for another look, and we’ll let that process finish. Every Kansan deserves to know the result is right.Whatever the outcome, the fight for lower property taxes, safer communities and better schools doesn’t end tonight. I’ll keep working for those things no matter what, and I’ll work with anyone who wants to get them done.— Ty Masterson (@TyMastersonKS) November 4, 2026

The Senate president describes the election in black-and-white, good-versus-evil terms. This Manichaean viewpoint allows for no subtlety, no persuasion, no essential humanity. You were either for Masterson or against him.

ALSO READ:Schumer's future questioned as posse of new senators circles: 'He's holding us back'

Look at his first sentence: “Last night was a difficult night in Kansas and around the country.”

Difficult for who, exactly?

Sure, it may have been difficult for Republican candidates and their supporters. But that’s the way elections work. One side wins and one side loses. What’s more, if a majority of voters selected Democrats rather than Republicans to represent them in Kansas and across the nation, where’s the difficulty?

Masterson implies that Kansas and the Republican Party have some sort of inseparable bond, that a political movement’s setback means a setback for the region. That’s nonsense. Kansas simply made a different choice.

That’s not “difficult.” That’s the essence of representative democracy, and it ought to be celebrated by winners and losers alike.

In my first column after U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall’s loss to Democrat challenger Adam Hamilton, I noted how Marshall’s embrace of similar divisive rhetoric proved toxic as the American people turned against President Donald Trump. Our country may face overwhelming challenges, and we may disagree with one another heartily, but we do reserve the right to change our minds.

Those asking tough questions of Marshall at an Oakley town hall on March 1, 2025, are just as much “real Kansans” as anyone else — Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, independent or devotee of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Masterson doesn’t seem to believe that Democrats are real Kansans.

Back in 2018, he denied that Kelly had a mandate as governor, telling Associated Press legend John Hanna that “it’s the legislative elections that are the more indicative of what is going on in the state.”

Well, now that Democrats have won a whopping 57 seats in the Kansas House, does Masterson still believe that? Or was his purpose to never credit his opposition with any claim to guiding this incredible state? (I don’t know why I even bother to phrase those sentences as a rhetorical questions. Those with eyes can see the answers.)

Here’s what Hamilton had to say, as a matter of contrast: “This election is a rebuke of unkindness and cruelty in Washington.”

Kansas includes an incredible diversity of people with a range of beliefs. On Tuesday night, some celebrated while others wept. Most, I suspect, simply went to bed and dreamed of a better world.

Politicians who hope to serve this evolving oasis of Midwestern good sense should embrace them all.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. His first book, “Opinionated: Kansas Journalists Who Proved Why Commentary Matters — Then and Now,” was published in September 2026 by the University Press of Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

Susan Collins fumes after voters send her packing: ‘It is never enough’

By:Matthew Chapman

Nov 05, 2026
RAW STORY


Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who lost to Democrat Troy Jackson after five terms of winning broad cross-party support in a blue-leaning state, said voters overlooked her record of breaking with President Donald Trump, in an interview with The New York Times.

Collins complained that “everybody ignores” her vote to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.

“What bigger break could there be?” she asked. “It is never enough.

She said she was caught up in a “Trump tsunami” that took down many Republican incumbents. The Times attributed her loss largely to Trump and the Iran war, citing high fuel prices in a state that relies on home heating oil, tariffs on Canada, an immigration crackdown that included a fatal shooting by federal agents in Maine, and a perception that she wasn’t doing enough to stand up to the president. Collins said she had highlighted her differences with Trump on the war, tariffs, immigration and safety net cuts.

While Collins touted her breaks with Trump, she was also a pivotal vote for key parts of his agenda. She provided a decisive vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, despite sexual assault allegations that he denied. And though she voted against Trump’s Medicaid-cutting “Big Beautiful Bill” on final passage, she was a key vote to advance debate on it.

Voters outside a Bangor polling place told the Times they had backed Collins before but wouldn’t this time, with one saying she had voted with Trump on too many issues.

“Susan Collins has voted with Trump on so many things,” said Deborah Hanson. Collins said one woman told her not voting for her was the only way to send a message to Trump.

Collins had leaned on her role as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee during the campaign. Her campaign manager, Steve Abbott, said the state had walked away from an opportunity.

Collins compared herself to Margaret Chase Smith, the Maine Republican she has long called a role model, who lost reelection in 1972 after serving longer than any woman in Senate history at the time. “I have now had my Margaret Chase Smith moment,” Collins said.

The race was chaotic from the start. Jackson replaced Democratic primary winner Graham Platner, who dropped out after a rape allegation, which he denies.

Trump to End Reproductive Health Protections for Working Women After Midterms

“It’s unconscionable to force workers to choose between the care they need and keeping their job,” said one reproductive health advocate, “which is why the Trump administration is waiting until after the election to roll this out.”


Stephen Prager
Nov 03, 2026

COMMON DREAMS

In addition to renewing its war on abortion rights, the Trump administration is planning to roll back workplace protections for women dealing with a range of reproductive health conditions after Tuesday’s midterm elections.

The New York Times reported on Monday, citing several people familiar with the plans, that the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was prepared to rewrite regulations issued under the 2022 Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA).

Signed by then-President Joe Biden, the bipartisan law was meant to fill in gaps in civil rights legislation that left pregnant women and others with reproductive health concerns at risk of being denied basic accommodations like bathroom and water breaks, exemptions from heavy lifting on the job, and time off for prenatal appointments.

The law requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for workers with limitations due to “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions,” language that has existed in antidiscrimination law for nearly half a century.

In 2024, the Biden administration enacted a rule interpreting the law to cover a wide range of conditions and procedures related to women’s reproductive health—including fertility treatments, abortion, and menstruation.

President Donald Trump’s EEOC, led by Andrea Lucas, a conservative employment lawyer, is reportedly leading the effort to narrow the scope of the rule.




In her dissent from the final rule, Lucas argued that it “errs in conflating pregnancy and childbirth accommodation with accommodation of the female sex, that is, female biology and reproduction.”

Republicans have objected to the rule’s requirement to accommodate workers seeking abortions. A federal judge in Louisiana struck down the rule’s requirement to accommodate elective abortions last year, though protections for other reproductive health conditions remained in place.

But Lucas’ argument went far beyond abortion. She said the law should exclude infertility and in vitro fertilization (IVF), menstruation and menopause, hormonal conditions, lactation-related conditions, contraception and its side effects, and other reproductive health issues she considered unrelated to pregnancy or immediate postpartum recovery.

According to the Times, Lucas is expected to shorten the list of “related medical conditions” covered by the rule and expand religious exemptions, which could allow employers to refuse accommodations they deem incompatible with their beliefs.

In May, 15 Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), sent a letter urging Lucas to abandon plans to scrap accommodations for workers undergoing IVF. They noted that Trump had dubbed himself “the fertilization president” and pledged to increase access to fertility treatments.

The senators, including Duckworth, who conceived her two daughters through IVF, described it as an intensive process with “serious impacts on women’s lives.” Treatment can involve daily injections, regular blood draws and ultrasounds, and egg retrieval and embryo transfer procedures that cannot easily be rescheduled. Side effects can include nausea, vomiting, and fatigue.

“The current regulation explicitly protects the right of workers undergoing IVF to request reasonable accommodations like short breaks to take medication, a schedule that accommodates daily monitoring appointments and medical procedures, or even access to a chair,” the lawmakers said. “Removing them from this rule does not change the fact that these workers are owed these protections, but it does make it more likely that employers will illegally deny women undergoing IVF their rights under PWFA.”

The EEOC is reportedly holding off on the changes until after the election. The US Department of Justice is also waiting until then to step up efforts to restrict access to abortion pills, potentially even in states where abortion is legal, according to reporting last month.

On Tuesday, Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, said, “It’s unconscionable to force workers to choose between the care they need and keeping their job, which is why the Trump administration is waiting until after the election to roll this out.”

“Today’s elections,” she added, “are a crucial opportunity to establish checks on a corrupt administration that continues to leave pregnant workers and working families behind.”

Judge instantly derails Trump’s arch after torching ‘unsupported’ security claims


FILE PHOTO: Vehicles drive past along the Memorial Bridge near Memorial Circle in Arlington, Virginia, the proposed site for U.S. President Donald Trump's "Triumphal Arch", seen from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 8, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee/File Photo

By:Bennito L. Kelty

Nov 06, 2026

RAW STORY

A federal judge moved within hours to stop one of President Donald Trump's prized projects, scoffing at his administration's last-minute defense of it.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday granted a temporary restraining order barring the National Park Service from beginning construction or site preparation on Trump's planned 250-foot arch at Memorial Circle in Washington, D.C. The ruling came the same day the Interior Department issued its final decision approving the project. Chutkan's order covers two consolidated cases, one brought by three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian and another filed by the District of Columbia and Virginia.

In her 33-page opinion, Chutkan took aim at the Trump administration's claim that the arch would serve national security purposes. Declarations from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described the structure as a potential platform for "coordinated protective operations," complete with anti-drone sensors and military communications equipment.

"These recent and unsupported attestations of security aspects of a structure that has been extensively discussed over the last year appear nowhere in the planning documents on which the project was reviewed and approved," Chutkan wrote. "Indeed, they materialized, for the first time, when Defendants filed their opposition brief last week."

The judge noted that when pressed at an Oct. 30 hearing, government lawyers said they had no further information beyond what was in the declarations. She added that the administration failed to "explain how a brief delay in starting a project expected to take two to three years to complete would compromise those interests."

Chutkan also found D.C. and Virginia are likely to succeed in arguing the arch violates the Commemorative Works Act, which requires congressional authorization for monuments on Park Service land in the capital. "Defendants complied with none of these procedures," she wrote.

She was equally dismissive of the Trump administration's claim that a 1925 law authorizing Arlington Memorial Bridge already covers the arch. "The sheer improbability that a 100-year-old statute would contain authority, unknown to every previous administration, to erect a 250-foot arch at a principal location in the Nation's capital indicates how far Defendants must stretch to justify this project," Chutkan wrote.

She noted the arch would be 50 percent taller than two columns proposed and later scrapped under the law, and that it would "squarely block the view of the Lincoln Memorial from the Lee Mansion."

The judge deferred ruling on D.C. and Virginia's request for a stay of agency action, finding the restraining order "fully preserves the status quo while the court considers the merits."

THE SOCIAL GOSPEL

Inspired by Talarico and Hamilton, Left-Leaning Faith Voters Played Key Role in Midterm Sweep

“Two thousand verses in the Bible talk about poverty and taking care of the poor. That’s not what you hear from Christian nationalists,” said Democratic Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton.


US Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-Texas) speaks during a midterm election night event at the Long Center for the Performing Arts on November 3, 2026 in Austin, Texas.
(Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Brad Reed
Nov 05, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

Democrats won sweeping victories across the US on Tuesday, including in states that have for decades been Republican strongholds.

Democratic US Senate candidates James Talarico of Texas and Adam Hamilton of Kansas both won major upsets over their Republican rivals while making their Christian faith a central feature of their campaigns.

In an analysis published Wednesday, Vox correspondent Christian Paz argued that the twin victories of Talarico and Hamilton signal the assent of a “Christian left” that is not shy about mingling religious rhetoric with political appeals.

Writing of Talarico, Paz explained that the Texas Democrat’s winning strategy throughout the campaign was to “expand the base by reclaiming religion, forgiving political rivals, and loving neighbors, even if they voted differently,” which opened doors to voters in the state who helped elect President Donald Trump two years ago.

Hamilton, who for decades has been the pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in the Kansas City, employed a similar approach to woo over voters in a deep-red state that hadn’t sent a Democrat to the US Senate in nearly a century.

In an interview with Paz, Hamilton said that he wanted to see Democrats “talk about faith and to do so in a way that reflects a difference from what you see in Christian nationalism,” of the kind promoted by members of Trump’s MAGA movement.

“Our faith reflects the ideas of justice and fairness,” the senator-elect explained. “Two thousand verses in the Bible talk about poverty and taking care of the poor. That’s not what you hear from Christian nationalists. But it is what you hear from Christians who are Democrats.”

Hamilton echoed those themes during a Wednesday interview with CBS when asked about the role faith plays in his politics.

“I start my day reading scripture,” he said. “The Gospel and Psalms is usually what I’m reading. And so when I get to Washington... I see a lot of people who claim to be Christians, and I wonder, ‘What Gospels are you reading?’ Because what you do doesn’t reflect Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.”



In a column published by The Guardian on Thursday, environmentalist Bill McKibben wrote that Hamilton and Talarico could prove to be a potent counterforce to the right-wing interpretation of Christianity and offer “a brand-new vision of the faith to lots of people who had written it off.”

In contrast to the fire-and-brimstone preaching of Republican evangelicals, Hamilton and Talarico offer a Christianity that is “appealing, warm, open,” added McKibben, a Methodist who has taught Sunday school.

“Those are novel traits for American Christianity in this century,” McKibben commented. “Perhaps they’ll give Americans a very different sense of what their professed tradition is all about.”

The two Democratic senators-elect weren’t the only Christian Democrats to win elections on Tuesday, as two Iowa pastors—Sarah Trone Garriott and Lindsay James—both defeated Republican incumbents in the US House of Representatives.

In an interview with NPR published in August, Garriott outlined her views on a more progressive vision of Christianity than that offered by many Republican candidates.

“Jesus tells the parable of the good Samaritan—everyone is your neighbor,” Garriott said. “Anyone who is overlooked and left behind and forgotten. That’s who you were called to help, and that is the calling of government.”

Trump’s fight with Pope Leo blew up in spectacular fashion on election night: analysis

By:Bennito L. Kelty

Nov 05, 2026

RAW STORY

President Donald Trump's feud with Pope Leo XIV came back to bite Republicans in a big way, according to a new analysis.


Catholic voters backed Democrats for Congress 50 percent to 49 percent in Tuesday's midterm elections, according to the NBC News exit poll, Christopher Hale wrote Thursday in his Substack newsletter, Letters from Leo.

Two years earlier, the same poll had Catholics favoring Republicans 59 percent to 39 percent, Hale noted, citing Religion News Service. The 21-point swing in the margin arrived in the first midterm since the Chicago native was elected pope.

ALSO READ:Schumer's future questioned as posse of new senators circles: 'He's holding us back'

Catholics accounted for about one in five ballots, according to Hale, who wrote that Democrats won the national House vote by roughly 13 points and recaptured the Senate.


Hale tied the shift to the GOP's open hostility toward the pontiff. In April, Trump branded Leo "weak" on crime and "terrible" on foreign policy, Vice President JD Vance warned him to be careful opining on theology and House Speaker Mike Johnson lectured him on "something called the just war doctrine," Hale wrote.

"Seven months later, Catholic voters had their say," he wrote.

Trump's standing with the group had already cratered by October, when his approval among Catholics sat at 30 percent, down from 47 percent when he returned to office, according to Hale.


Younger and nonwhite Catholics powered much of the change. Citing Will Martino's reporting in America magazine, Hale wrote that Democrats won 65 percent of Hispanic Catholics and 65 percent of Catholics under 29, along with 87 percent of Black Catholics. Catholic women also favored Democrats, while white Catholics and Catholic men still tilted Republican.

Vance, a Catholic convert, blamed the Republican collapse on the war in Iran, Hale wrote, while Washington University political scientist Ryan Burge told America the economy was the culprit. Hale argued both were describing the same break, pointing out that Leo spent the year urging Americans to end the war while the White House waved him off.

Hale cautioned that exit polls are early estimates and the Catholic figure could shift by a point or two once voter-file studies come in. But he argued no such adjustment would wipe out a move of that size.


He ended with a rallying cry. "Just as God raised up a pope from behind the Iron Curtain to help defeat communism, God has raised up a pope from the Americas to defeat MAGA authoritarianism," Hale wrote. "Over the next two years, our task is to send MAGA to the dustbin of history."