Suspicious Shadow Tanker is Again Being Investigated, This Time by France

Estonia held the vessel for over two weeks but released it on a technicality (Estonia's Transport Administration)

Published Sep 30, 2025 3:48 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

A suspicious shadow tanker that has already been investigated at least once this year is again being detained for further investigation. The French authorities confirmed to Reuters that the suspicious vessel now identifying as the Boracay (115,577 dwt), is anchored off Saint-Nazaire while prosecutors review the details.

The French authorities have not said what specific violations the vessel is being accused of, or what prompted the detention. Reuters reports the crew failed to provide proof of the vessel’s nationality and “failed to comply with orders.”

Built in 2007, the vessel was detained by Estonian authorities earlier this year. They registered that the ship had 40 deficiencies, mostly related to documentation and crew training. The primary issue was that the tanker, which was identifying as the Kiwala, could not confirm its registry in Djibouti. The flag service told the Estonians that the vessel’s registry had been canceled on January 1, 2025. The ship was detained for 15 days, but released when Estonia’s foreign ministry received information from Djibouti that it would accept the vessel until May 7. Estonian authorities said the ship had been released because it was in technical compliance and in a transition period.

The same tanker showed up at the Russian oil terminal in Primorsk, where it departed on September 20 laden with 750,000 barrels of Russian crude. The AIS signal reports the tanker was bound for Vadinar, India, using the name Pushpa and claiming registry in Benin.

Authorities identified the Pushpa as one of three vessels that were suspects in the September 22 incident when drones overflew the Copenhagen airport and disrupted flights. The tanker was approximately 70 nautical miles from Copenhagen at the time.

The French were shadowing the tanker as it transited out of the English Channel and began the trip along the coast. It is unclear when they stopped the ship, but the EU earlier this year authorized countries to inspect paperwork and insurance of the vessels traveling in their coastal waters.

Windward analyzed the vessel’s data and reports that this tanker started sailing in the shadow fleet in November 2022. Since then, they report the ship has had nine ISM managers, four registered owners, and three commercial controllers. It has claimed five different names and seven different flags. 

The UK sanctioned the tanker in October 2024 for its involvement in the Russian oil trade. The EU followed suit and sanctioned the vessel in February 2025.

Reuters reports that prosecutors in Brest, France, are now reviewing information from the French Navy. The investigation into the shadow tanker is proceeding.

 

Yangzijiang Cancels Ship Order on Allegations of Plot to Avoid US Sanctions

Yangzijiang is China's largest private shipbuilder (Yangzijiang)

Published Sep 29, 2025 4:54 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

China's largest privately owned shipbuilder, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and three of its subsidiaries, report that they canceled an order after learning of an effort to circumvent U.S. sanctions laws and regulations. The buyer of the tankers and which sanctions involved were not identified, but it highlights the new level of scrutiny shipbuilding is being subjected to as the U.S. tightens sanctions on Chinese-built ships, and oil shipments by Iran, Russia, and Venezuela.

In a stock exchange filing on September 26, Yangzijiang said it had terminated an order for four 50,000 dwt MR product tankers valued at approximately $180 million. It said work had just commenced on the first of the four vessels, which were scheduled for delivery in 2026 and 2027.

It reported that the contracts were terminated “following certain critical information just disclosed by the buyer, which had not been previously known” by the shipbuilder. “This critical information contains allegations that the buyer’s sole shareholder was involved in a scheme to circumvent U.S. sanctions laws and regulations,” Yangzijang reports in the filing.

The shipbuilder said it had previously conducted an extensive due diligence on the buyer and its shareholder and that it had obtained legal advice to determine that the buyer “is in anticipatory repudiatory breach of the contracts. Alternatively, the contracts have been frustrated as a result of the supervening illegality associated with the buyer’s payment obligations.”

The buyer paid a 10 percent deposit of approximately $18 million when the contract was signed. In addition, the yard received a 10 percent installment payment of $4.48 million when work began on the first tanker. Yangzijiang emphasized that it does not anticipate any material financial impact on the company. The yards are also reserving their legal rights against the buyer.

This comes just weeks before the U.S. is expected to start collecting fees for Chinese-owned, operated, or built ships calling in U.S. ports. The initiative announced by the U.S. Trade Representative is in response to China’s unfair business practices to promote its shipbuilding industry. Despite the threat of new fees, China has still won 75 percent of the newbuilding contracts in recent months.

South Korea’s shipbuilders ran into problems after the sanctions were imposed on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The builders who were contracted for tankers were forced to cancel the orders, saying the Russian companies could not pay for the ships under the sanctions, and they were barred from delivering new vessels.

 

Video: Crew Rescued as Dutch Cargo Ship Remains Adrift off Yemen

Minervagracht remains adrift in the Gulf of Aden (Armée Française - Opérations Militaires)

Published Sep 30, 2025 9:16 AM by The Maritime Executive

 

An international effort successfully evacuated the 19 crewmembers from the Dutch-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht, which remains adrift in the Gulf of Aden. The most seriously wounded crewmember was airlifted directly to Djibouti, and a second crewmember was being treated while the 18 crewmembers were transferred to Djibouti.

The EU mission EUNAVFOR Aspides coordinated the rescue of the crew after the vessel was struck by a suspected missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen. It was sailing approximately 123 miles southeast of Aden at the time. 

Ten crewmembers were embarked aboard the Greek frigate HS Spetsai, while an additional eight were taken on board a French frigate. Aspides reports the crew is made up of individuals from Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

 

French and Greek warships evacuated the crew (Armée Française - Opérations Militaires)

 

 

The vessel’s owner, Spliethoff, reports Minervagracht has sustained “considerable damage” and is “experiencing a fire.” They said the vessel was sailing eastbound from Djibouti at the time of the incident and was not carrying cargo. 

The Houthis, so far, have not made any statements about the attack and why they repeatedly targeted this vessel. Yesterday, the Maritime Information, Cooperation and Awareness Center reported the same vessel was targeted on September 23 when it was 120 nautical miles east of Aden. The report said the vessel has no links with Israel. The Houthis, however, released a statement late on September 30 saying the ship was targeted because of the owner's sending ships to Israel in violation of the Houthis' ban.

Spliethoff reports it is engaging with international authorities and specialists to safeguard and secure the vessel. Aspides has warned that the ship remains a hazard to navigation.

The Houthis’ attacks have mostly been directed at Israel in recent weeks, although the group continues to assert that it is maintaining a blockade on all shipping associated with Israel. They had not claimed attacks on merchant ships since the beginning of September, and before that, in early July, when they sank two bulkers in the Red Sea.

Video: Cruise Ship Saves Castaways on Raft in the Caribbean

Cruise ship tender approaching the raft

Published Sep 29, 2025 5:23 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

In what appears to be a very lucky stroke of fate, a group of cataways was rescued by a large cruise ship early Sunday evening, September 28.  According to passengers posting on social media, ten individuals were rescued from their open raft somewhere west of Cuba and east of Mexico.

The 82,900 gross ton Enchantment of the Seas was cruising the Western Caribbean when, according to the reports, people from the raft used possibly flashlights to attract the attention of the bridge crew of the 990-foot (302-meter) cruise ship, which was sailing toward Costa Maya on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

 

 

It was around dusk, and the cruise ship stopped to investigate. One of the vessel’s tenders was lowered, and it approached the raft. The people were taken aboard and brought back to the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship. 

It was extra luck that the cruise ship was in the right place at the right moment. The Enchantment of the Seas, which accommodates more than 2,250 passengers, sails from the Port of Tampa and had been scheduled to proceed east to the Bahamas. However, with the mounting tropical storm, the cruise line rerouted the ship west to Costa Maya and Cozumel.

 

 

(Jeffrey Walker/Facebook)

 

In these situations, the cruise ship typically gives the people clean clothing, food, and water, and emergency medical treatment if required. The cruise ship notifies the local authorities. The people are often landed at the next port of call for repatriation.

Thanks to cruise passenger Jeffrey Walker, who was enjoying a trip with his family, for posting the pictures and videos online. 

America’s Fireboat, Fire Fighter, Seeks New Home to Continue Mission

Published Sep 30, 2025 8:09 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

[By: Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum]

America’s Fireboat, Fire Fighter, is preparing for her next chapter. This National Historic Landmark, celebrated as one of the most decorated and iconic vessels in U.S. firefighting history, is seeking a new permanent home where she can continue her role as a teaching museum and living memorial. Since 2021, thousands of visitors have come aboard while she has been berthed at Mystic Seaport Museum. As her time there concludes in 2026, Fire Fighter offers a rare opportunity for a community or organization to host this extraordinary piece of maritime history.

Thanks to grants from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, Save America’s Treasures, and other donations totaling more than $1 million, Fire Fighter can now go to her new home completely overhauled and restored to her original glory.

At 134 feet long, Fire Fighter requires dock facilities designed to provide stability and safe visitor access. In addition to her historical significance, she offers communities a one-of-a-kind attraction capable of drawing crowds and enhancing waterfront destinations.

“Fire Fighter is known as America’s Fireboat because she embodies courage, service, and resilience,” said James W. Tomes, CEO of Telgian and Board Member of the Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum. “Welcoming Fire Fighter to your harbor is not just about preserving a vessel - it’s about giving future generations a place to connect with American history in a tangible, inspiring way.”

A Storied Legacy of Service
Commissioned in 1938, Fire Fighter holds the distinction of being the most award-decorated fireboat in the world. At the time of her decommissioning in 2010, she was the second-oldest fireboat in frontline service worldwide and the longest serving member of the FDNY Marine Unit Fleet.

Fire Fighter’s service record is unparalleled:

• World War II: She protected ammunition ships bound for Europe, answering emergencies such as the fire and capsizing of the SS Normandie and the explosion aboard the munitions ship El Estero, and near annihilation of New York City.
• June 1974: Received the Gallant Ship Award for fighting bravely the Sea Witch/Esso Brussels collision/fire and explosion beneath the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1973.
• September 11, 2001: She played a critical role at Ground Zero, pumping water at her maximum capacity for three weeks from New York Harbor, when water mains were crushed and hydrants were destroyed, ensuring firefighters could battle the catastrophic blazes.
• US Airways January 15, 2009: She assisted in the rescue of passengers from US Airways Flight 1549 after its emergency landing in the Hudson River.

For these and countless other acts of heroism, Fire Fighter is the only fireboat ever awarded the prestigious Gallant Ship Award since its creation in 1944.

A National Treasure, Floating Museum, and Landmark Attraction

• A tourism attraction that draws history enthusiasts, families, and maritime visitors.
• A living classroom for students to experience history, engineering, and public safety.
• A symbol of resilience and service that connects communities to national moments from World War II to 9/11.
• A chance for a host community to join the legacy of safeguarding America’s stories.

“We are inviting communities, maritime organizations, and civic leaders to partner with us in identifying a safe and suitable location for Fire Fighter,” said Museum President Charlie Ritchie. “Her legacy is about much more than firefighting. It embodies courage, resilience, and American history.”

Organizations or communities with potential docking opportunities, as well as those interested in partnerships or supporting preservation efforts, are encouraged to contact the Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum.

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.

This GOP extremist hypocrite fought unions. Guess what his new job is?

Janelle Stecklein,

 Oklahoma Voice
September 29, 2025


Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters prays for Donald Trump.

Screengrab / Oklahoma State Department of Education

It’s ironic that a man who built his political career railing passionately about teachers “unions” will soon be running one of his own.

But in a way it’s almost fitting that it will be the next move for Oklahoma education Superintendent Ryan Walters, who has made it his mission to babble bizarre, inflammatory rhetoric and launch random witch hunts against educators and their unions.

Maybe it will help him recenter on who is vitally important to the success of our public schools — the teachers. Because if he truly wants to be successful, the role will require him to collaborate with them and show some empathy toward their needs.

Those are two skillsets that he’s been sorely lacking the past two years and 10 months in his elected position.

And maybe it will serve as a rude awakening that he’s betrayed the trust of Oklahomans who believed he could turn our schools around. They’ll now find themselves with a politically appointed leader they didn’t get to choose, for the remaining year or so of what should have been Walters’ term.

In case you weren’t randomly tuned into Fox News at 10:43 p.m. last Wednesday, Walters was allotted just under 40 seconds on a national conservative talk program to announce he has accepted a new role as CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance. The group bills itself as an “alternative to traditional union membership,” but provides “professional support services and resources” for educators.

The group, which so far boasts a measly 2,800 members nationwide, is a new effort of the Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit “dedicated to fighting government overreach, defending workers’ rights and protecting constitutional freedom.”

“For decades, union bosses have poisoned our schools with politics and propaganda while abandoning parents, students, and good teachers. That ends today. We’re going to expose them, fight them, and take back our classrooms,” Walters said in a statement released by the Freedom Foundation.

“At the Teacher Freedom Alliance, we’re giving educators real freedom, freedom from the liberal, woke agenda that has corrupted public education. We will arm teachers with the tools, support, and freedom they need, without forcing them to give up their values.”

THIS IS CALLED A SCAB, RAT OR YELLOW UNION, AN ANTI UNION ALIGNED WITH STRIKE BUSTERS INC.


The Teacher Freedom Alliance sure sounds like it has the same mission of a teachers union — you know, those groups Walters has loved to hate.

In January, Walters launched a tone deaf tirade attempting to link schools and teachers unions to the deadly truck attack in New Orleans and even used the phrase “terrorist training camps” to describe school classrooms.

This year, he also falsely claimed teachers unions love standardized testing (they don’t).

He pushed the state Board of Education to take away the teaching license of a former Norman High School educator for sharing a QR code to the Brooklyn Public Library’s free online catalog. He is trying to revoke two other educators’ licenses over social media posts related to the 2024 assassination attempt of President Donald Trump.

And most recently, he’s threatened to ban teachers for things they’ve posted on social media about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Now he’s going to be something of a union boss himself? That was not a square on my 2025 bingo card.

While the Teacher Freedom Alliance bills itself as a “viable alternative to unions,” it does appear to share many similarities with Oklahoma’s organizing groups. In Oklahoma, a few of the largest districts do have groups that collectively bargain for educators, but most don’t. However, one thing that makes Oklahoma’s associations different from unions in other states is that they cannot strike. But much like the Teacher Freedom Alliance, Oklahoma’s organizations provide their members liability insurance if they ever get sued as well as professional development training and an “engaged community of educators.”

In light of his new job, it sure appears that Walters has been spewing a whole lot of hyperbole about educators that he actually doesn’t believe. That’s pretty sad for our children and the teachers we’ve entrusted to educate them.

It also appears that Walters never intended to actually help fix our school system. Instead, he used the post that we entrusted him with to try to gain the attention of conservative groups so he could grab a cushy job.

Oklahoma voters — and teachers — deserve better. They deserve a public official who is committed to rolling up their sleeves and working together, and not someone who flees in terror when things get hard. And they need someone who is competent and understands how schools work and who isn’t motivated by grabbing headlines.

Hopefully fellow Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt will choose carefully when it comes time to fill the role. He’ll get to pick Walters’ successor once he officially resigns.

Walters has proven he doesn’t have a lot of respect for the voters who elected and believed in him if last night was any indication.


He couldn’t be bothered to let Oklahomans know he was leaving in a publicly accessible forum. Instead, he chose a late-night, cable talk show slot, which many Oklahomans don’t have access to, to announce he’s washing his hands of us.

Walters was likely a frontrunner in the 2026 gubernatorial race. I say that judging from the multitude of emails in support of him that I’ve received from people all over the state the past two years.

If he still harbored any plans to run for governor, I think he’s shot himself in the foot.

Oklahomans don’t like quitters. And they certainly don’t like hypocrites who preach one thing publicly while secretly believing something else.

Janelle Stecklein is editor of Oklahoma Voice. An award-winning journalist, Stecklein has been covering Oklahoma government and politics since moving to the state in 2014.

Hollywood Union Says AI-Generated Tilly Norwood ‘Not an Actor’

The synthetic performer, says SAG-AFTRA, is “a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers—without permission or compensation.”


AI-generated “actor” Tilly Norwood appears at a computer-generated red carpet event.
(Photo by Particle 6)

Brett Wilkins
Sep 30, 2025

COMMN DREAMS

Screen actors and their union are among those who on Tuesday condemned a computer-generated “actress” created by a newly launched artificial intelligence studio as “not a replacement for a human being,” while urging talent agencies to eschew signing synthetic performers.

Billed as Hollywood’s first artificial intelligence actor, “Tilly Norwood” was introduced by Particle 6 founder and CEO Eline Van der Velden, who has launjched a new venture called Xicoia, the “world’s first AI talent studio.”

One of over 40 digital personalities Xicoia says it aims to develop, Norwood has attracted the attention of real-life talent agents—a development that has drawn condemnation from the powerful Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union, which represents more than 160,000 performers in film, television, voice acting, video games, and other media.

“SAG-AFTRA believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered,” the union said in a statement Tuesday, adding that it is “opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.”

The union continued:





To be clear, “Tilly Norwood” is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers—without permission or compensation. It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion, and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience. It doesn’t solve any “problem”—it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.

“Additionally, signatory producers should be aware that they may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations, which require notice and bargaining whenever a synthetic performer is going to be used,” SAG-AFTRA added.

Individual actors also slammed Norwood’s rollout, with Melissa Barrera—who has starred in films including Scream and In the Heights—taking aim at any agent who might be tempted to represent the AI character.

“Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$,” Barrera said. “How gross, read the room.”

Natasha Lyonne, star of Russian Doll and director of Uncanny Valley, said: “Any talent agency that engages in this should be boycotted by all guilds. Deeply misguided and totally disturbed. Not the way. Not the vibe. Not the use.”

Veteran television actor Chris McKenna addressed those who think Norwood “will only replace actors,” writing on social media that the AI creation “needs no hairstylist, makeup, wardrobe, lighting, direction, transportation, rest, or lunch... the trickledown will be devastating.”

Van der Velden defended her creation in a Sunday Instagram post, writing, “To those who have expressed anger over the creation of my AI character, Tilly Norwood, she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work—a piece of art.”

“Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity,” she added.

SAG-AFTRA has long opposed the use of AI performers, making the issue a key part of its 2023 strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and last year’s video game strike. The union has also backed legislation at the federal and state level to regulate AI.

The 2023 strike, which lasted 118 days, ended with SAG-AFTRA winning concessions including explicit consent, notification, and bargaining for the use of AI replicas of performers and safeguards against digitally generated characters replacing human actors.

Creator says AI actress is ‘piece of art’ after backlash

By AFP
September 29, 2025


Members of an actors' guild protest as part of a strike against the Hollywood studios in November 2023 in Los Angeles, California - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP Yana Paskova

The creator of an AI actress who exploded across the internet over the weekend has insisted she is an artwork, after a fierce backlash from the creative community.

Tilly Norwood — a composite girl-next-door described on her Instagram page as an aspiring actress — has already attracted attention from multiple talent agents, Eline Van der Velden told an industry panel in Switzerland.

Van der Velden said studios and other entertainment companies were quietly embracing AI, which her company, Particle6, says can drastically reduce production costs.

“When we first launched Tilly, people were like, ‘What’s that?’, and now we’re going to be announcing which agency is going to be representing her in the next few months,” said Van der Velden, according to Deadline.

The AI-generated Norwood has already appeared in a short sketch, and in July, Van der Velden told Broadcast International the company had big ambitions for their creation.

“We want Tilly to be the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman, that’s the aim of what we’re doing.

“People are realizing that their creativity doesn’t need to be boxed in by a budget -– there are no constraints creatively and that’s why AI can really be a positive.”

AI is a huge red line for Hollywood’s creative community, and its use by studios was one of the fundamental sticking points during the writers’ and actors’ strikes that gripped Hollywood in 2023.

“Scream” actress Melissa Barrera said performers should boycott any talent agent involved in promoting the AI actress.

“Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$. How gross, read the room,” she wrote on Instagram.

Mara Wilson, who played the lead in “Matilda” in 1996, said such creations took work away from real people.

“And what about the hundreds of living young women whose faces were composited together to make her? You couldn’t hire any of them?” she said on social media.

In a lengthy post on Norwood’s Instagram page, Van der Velden defended the character, and insisted she was not a job killer.

“She is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art. Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity.

“I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool… AI offers another way to imagine and build stories.”

The use of AI has become increasingly visible in recent months in the creative industries, generating controversy each time.

The virtual band “The Velvet Sundown” surpassed one million listeners on streaming platform Spotify this summer.

In August, Vogue magazine published an advertisement featuring an AI-generated model.

Unions Sue to Protect Federal Workers From Mass Firings During Government Shutdown

“If these mass firings take place, the people who keep our skies safe for travel, our food supply secure, and our communities protected will lose their jobs,” one labor leader warned.

Members of the American Federation of Government Employees protest against firings during a rally to defend federal workers in Washington, DC on February 11, 2025.
(Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images


Jessica Corbett
Sep 30, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


Just hours before an expected US government shutdown, two major unions for federal workers filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in hopes of protecting them from the Trump administration’s threat of mass firings.

“Announcing plans to fire potentially tens of thousands of federal employees simply because Congress and the administration are at odds on funding the government past the end of the fiscal year is not only illegal—it’s immoral and unconscionable,” American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) national president Everett Kelley said in a statement.



Federal Workers Union Denounces Trump’s Threat of ‘Illegal Mass Firings’ Amid Shutdown Fight

“Federal employees dedicate their careers to public service—more than a third are military veterans—and the contempt being shown them by this administration is appalling,” Kelley declared.

Filed by AFGE and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in the Northern District of California, the new suit specifically takes aim at the Office of Management and Budget, OMB Director Russell Vought, the Office of Personnel Management, and OPM Director Scott Kupor.

“Federal workers do the work of the people, and playing games with their livelihoods is cruel and unlawful.”

The OMB last week “issued a memorandum threatening that if ‘congressional Democrats’ do not agree to the administration’s
demands, and the federal government shuts down, there will be mass firings of federal employees,” the complaint explains. The memo “takes the legally unsupportable position that a temporary interruption of appropriations eliminates the statutory requirement for all unfunded government programs and directs all federal agencies to ‘use this opportunity’ to consider reductions in force (RIFs) for any programs for which the funding has lapsed and that are not priorities of the president.”

“This past weekend, the Trump administration doubled down on its illegal activity,” the complaint notes, as OMB and OPM “told agencies that federal employees could work during the shutdown in order to effectuate these RIFs. But this directive is contrary to federal law, because carrying out RIFs is plainly not a permitted (or ‘excepted’) function that can lawfully continue during a shutdown.”

“The threat of massive layoffs was repeated and reinforced yesterday by the White House press secretary who, when asked whether there will be mass layoffs of federal employees, answered, ‘There will be if Democrats don’t keep the government open,‘” the filing continues. “These actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious, and the cynical use of federal employees as a pawn in congressional deliberations should be declared unlawful and enjoined by this court.”

AFSCME president Lee Saunders highlighted how the firing threat connects to Project 2025, a policy agenda from a host of far-right figures, including Vought, published last year, in the lead-up to the November election.

“The Trump administration is once again breaking the law to push its extreme Project 2025 agenda, illegally targeting federal workers with threats of mass firings due to the federal government shutdown,” Saunders said. “If these mass firings take place, the people who keep our skies safe for travel, our food supply secure, and our communities protected will lose their jobs. We will do everything possible to defend these AFSCME members and their fellow workers from an administration hell-bent on stripping away their collective bargaining rights and jobs.”




AFSCME and AFGE are represented by Altshuler Berzon LLP, Democracy Defenders Fund, and Democracy Forward, whose president and CEO, Skye Perryman, accused President Donald Trump of “using the civil service as a bargaining chip as he marches the American people into a government shutdown.”

“Federal workers do the work of the people, and playing games with their livelihoods is cruel and unlawful. That is why we have sued today,” said Perryman, whose group has played a leading role in challenging the administration in court, as an increasingly authoritarian Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency have worked to gut the federal bureaucracy.

“Since inauguration, this administration has pursued a harmful Project 2025 agenda, attacking community programs and charities, lawyers, schools, private companies, law firms, judges, universities, public servants, and the programs, foundations, and civil servants working to deliver services to people and keep communities safe,” she noted. “No one’s lives have been made easier or better by these actions, and we will continue to meet these attacks in court. We are honored to again represent AFGE and AFSCME in protecting the American people from the Trump-Vance administration’s callous and unlawful agenda.”

The government will shut down at midnight unless Congress takes action. Although the GOP controls both chambers and the White House, they lack the numbers to advance most legislation in the Senate without Democratic support. The Senate voted Tuesday evening on Democrats’ and Republicans’ competing resolutions, neither of which passed.

Democrats have fought to expand Affordable Care Act subsidies and reverse cuts to Medicaid in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act that congressional Republicans passed and Trump signed this summer. GOP leaders have refused to consider walking back their assault on the healthcare of millions of Americans.

In the event of a shutdown, “non-expected” employees are furloughed while “excepted” employees continue working, but no one gets paid until the shutdown ends.

Only these workers can 'break' shutdown as America careens toward 'disaster': expert

David Badash, 

The New Civil Rights Movement
September 30, 2025 


U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) arrives for a Senate vote, hours before a partial government shutdown is set to take effect on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 30, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Political scientist Larry Sabato is warning that President Donald Trump and the Republican Party may exploit the likely federal government shutdown, saying that the GOP, as the “anti-government party,” is “perfectly happy” when the government shuts down and “perfectly happy to eliminate quite a number of domestic policy programs.”

Republicans will “go after anything that Democrats normally favor, and they’ll probably try to do it in a way that will not be repairable once this shutdown ends,” warned Professor Sabato, founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He noted that the Trump administration’s goals include shrinking or eliminating large parts of the federal government.

Calling it “a very real threat,” Sabato told CNN that the White House has already warned that a shutdown could provide “a pretext for laying off many more federal workers.”

“They’re going to use this as best they can. Never let a crisis go to waste — that’s their theory.”

Sabato said it “would take a pocket full of miracles to stop what’s likely to happen at midnight,” and warned that “Trump is not bluffing.”

“The reason the implications are serious is because so much of what the U.S. government does grinds to a halt,” Sabato also said.

“Probably the most serious part of it is that the troops and the TSA officers and lots of other people, including air traffic controllers, while they have to show up, are not paid. So if this goes on for 35 days, there are a lot of families who are without food.”

“But, look,” he added, “the only thing that could break this and keep it relatively short is if you had mass protests from, say, the TSA workers and the air traffic controllers.”

“Oh, and by the way, the military — none of them are paid during a government shutdown, yet they are mandated to attend work.”

“Well, you know, that tends to wear on people, especially if they can’t pay their weekly or monthly bills.”


America, Sabato said, is “headed for another disaster and another advertisement to the world that the American system no longer works.”

Border Patrol union warns of 'life and death' consequences due to shutdown

Nicole Charky-Chami
September 30, 2025 

RAW STORY


U.S. Border Patrol officer stands guard as protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) draw hundreds to the ICE headquarters in south Portland, Oregon on Sept. 28, 2025. REUTERS/John Rudoff

The union representing the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol complained Tuesday that it could lose funding amid a looming government shutdown.

"On behalf of the men and women patrolling and securing our borders, we strongly support the bipartisan House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR) and urge the Senate to immediately pass and send it to President Trump for his signature," National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez told Fox News. The union represents about 18,000 agents.

"A government shutdown means we go without mission-critical funding for patrol vehicles, roads, radios, infrastructure and agent pay," Perez said.

"What our agents do every day — ensure the safety of the American people and the sovereignty of our great country — is not a game, it’s life and death. We hope our Democrat-elected leaders in Congress will stop playing political games and fund our government."

Republicans have the majority, including the Senate, House of Representatives and the executive office. Some are on vacation with the shutdown just hours away.

Democrats have argued that Republicans are lying to Americans by claiming that Democrats are the ones delaying the push to avert a government shutdown, using the talking point that Democrats want to fund health care for undocumented immigrants.

Democratic leaders have argued that they want to address the Affordable Care Act before time runs out and healthcare premiums rise.

The shutdown — expected to happen at midnight Tuesday — could pause key government services and furlough thousands of government workers.

This move could also be an opportunity for Trump to finish the work that DOGE started.

And in a memo from the White House, the Trump administration this week outlined reduction-in-force plans in the event of a government shutdown, plans that signal mass firings could come. It's unclear who might be lose their jobs; however, multiple White House aids report that positions that do not align with Trump's agenda would likely be targeted.

'Drunk with power': Author tells how Chief Justice John Roberts 'corrupted' Supreme Court

Alexandria Jacobson,

 Investigative Reporter
September 30, 2025

RAW STORY




Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts poses for a portrait at the Supreme Court. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Twenty years ago this week, John Roberts was sworn in as chief justice of the Supreme Court, at 50 years old.

On that day, Lisa Graves “wept.” As chief counsel for nominations with the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2002 to 2005, she anticipated Roberts’ commitment to “advancing a right-wing political agenda through the judiciary,” she writes in her new book: "Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights."

With President George W. Bush having two Supreme Court vacancies to fill, Roberts was considered a “bankable vote for the Right’s political agenda” and was supported by the Federalist Society’s Leonard Leo, the activist and fundraising impresario now widely considered the architect of the Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, Graves said.

“The Roberts Court I feared would be terribly destructive of Americans' rights, and it's been even more destructive than I feared,” Graves told Raw Story.

From rulings in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which ushered in an era of unfettered dark money influence on elections, to Trump v. United States, which granted President Donald Trump “unprecedented immunity … to act as though he is above the law,” Graves argues Roberts facilitated the politicized state of a court that’s supposed to be impartial, but is now packed with Republican “partisan loyalists.”

“Roberts had conveyed this image that he was going to be a fair umpire as part of his nomination, but he has not been a fair umpire,” said Graves, now executive director of public policy watchdog group True North Research.

"He has put his weight — his fist — on the scale of justice, in favor of Donald Trump.”
‘Arrangement was illegal’

"Without Precedent" reveals how Roberts “sidestepped the ethics code” of the Court before he sat on it, by not recusing himself from a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, while interviewing for “the biggest” promotion to the Supreme Court.

The appeals panel overturned a district court, ruling in favor of the Bush administration by determining that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a driver for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, held at Guantánamo Bay.

Roberts interviewed with Bush the same day the appeals court issued its order. Four days later, Bush announced Roberts’ nomination.

“Three prominent legal ethics professors later concluded that this arrangement was illegal under federal law,” Graves writes.


Lisa Graves. (provided image)

Roberts would recuse himself when the case reached the Supreme Court, which determined that the Bush administration did not have the authority to establish war crimes tribunals, and special military commissions were illegal under the Geneva Conventions and military law.

“His ambition for power I think was key to him deciding to secretly interview with a party to a case before him and not recuse himself,” Graves told Raw Story.

“Had he recused himself, which would have been the right thing to do, he might not have been chosen to be the chief justice or to be nominated to the Supreme Court, and had he ruled against the Bush administration, he might not have been chosen for that position.

“In fact, I think it's fair to say in either scenario, he would not have been chosen.”

‘Corrupted’


Ethical concerns have plagued the Supreme Court in recent years, including revelations that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito accepted undisclosed luxury trips and gifts from billionaires, while their wives engaged in political actions related to the attempted overturning of Trump's loss in the 2020 election.

Roberts failed to stand up to Thomas and Alito’s “corruption and bias” and protect the integrity of the Court, Graves writes, by not agreeing to “commonsense and enforceable ethics rules.”

“In my view, the compelling explanation for why the self-described institutionalist facilitated Thomas and Alito’s unethical participation is that Roberts needed their votes to accomplish his agenda of aggrandizing presidential power to try to save Trump — as no one on the Court had dared to do for Richard Nixon — and to expand the power of the Court to have the final say over almost every issue,” Graves writes.


“That’s because Roberts, too, has been corrupted. As the saying goes, ‘A fish rots from the head down.’”

‘Reactionary docket’

The Supreme Court’s docket is “almost entirely discretionary,” and the Roberts-led Supreme Court has created a “reactionary,” case-load, Graves writes.

“The pattern we are seeing of the Roberts Court inserting itself into so many controversies reveals how the Court’s Republican appointees do not want American law — and culture — to remain as is,” Graves writes.




Without Precedent (provided image).

Last week, Thomas made a rare public appearance at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C., to say the Court should take a more critical look at settled precedent.

That’s “unsurprising,” Graves said, given Thomas and his Republican-appointed peers’ voting records in cases such as Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, which overturned the right to abortion in Roe v. Wade.

During his confirmation hearing, Roberts was “very clever” in setting the stage for his Court’s pattern of overturning precedents by assuring senators he understood the principle of respecting precedent but discussing leaving room for a decision to be reversed, Graves said.

“I would say Roberts Court is out of control, or maybe drunk with power, because it is arrogantly overturning precedent after precedent in order to allow Trump to behave as no other president has,” Graves told Raw Story.

‘Judicial junta’

The Supreme Court’s new term starts Monday. It is set to hear a slate of cases related to Trump’s policies, from tariffs to transgender rights.

One case set to be heard on Oct. 15 is the Louisiana redistricting case, Callais v. Landry, where Roberts is “poised to constrict” Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which he fought against as a young lawyer in the Reagan administration.

Graves reveals how at Roberts’ Supreme Court nomination hearing, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) was “deeply troubled” by Roberts’ “mean-spirited view,” of Section 2, which allows voters to seek judicial relief in response to a state or local government denying or limiting their right to vote based on race or color.

“Given the the performance of John Roberts and his fellow Republican appointees on the Supreme Court, I don't think any legal precedents are safe from this judicial junta,” Graves said.

But while Graves writes that decisions from the Roberts Court have assaulted workers’ rights, environmental protections, access to healthcare and voting rights, to name a few, she doesn’t want readers to come away “hopeless.”

Rather she hopes readers feel “a moral imperative for us to join together to reform the United States Supreme Court and restore and expand our rights.”

“I hope that they have a greater understanding of how we got into this mess, and the role that John Roberts has played in dismantling our rights and advancing this right-wing billionaire-backed agenda,” Graves said.

“ I hope that they will engage in the vital effort to reform the court and repair the damage that John Roberts and his fellow right-wing appointees have done on the Court.”

Without Precedent is out now.

Trump says Harvard to run 'giant series of trade schools': 'Then their sins are forgiven'

Robert Davis
September 30, 2025 

RAW STORY


President Donald Trump on Tuesday said his administration is closing in on a deal with Harvard University that would require the Ivy League university to pay $500 million towards opening and operating trade schools focusing on artificial intelligence.

Trump took questions from reporters during a news conference in the Oval Office on Tuesday after signing an executive order concerning the use of AI in pediatric cancer cases. He was asked about the latest negotiations between the White House and Harvard regarding accessing federal grant funding. The Trump administration moved to withhold federal funding to the university earlier this year because of Harvard's campus antisemitism policies, a move that multiple federal judges have ruled was illegal.

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House was considering referring Harvard for "debarment" proceedings, which would disqualify the university from receiving federal funding.

"We're in the process, and we're getting very close," Trump said. "Linda [McMahon] is finishing up the final details. They'd be paying about $500 million, and they'll be operating trade schools. They're going to be teaching people how to do AI and lots of other things. Engines. Lots of things."

Trump has previously said he wants Harvard to pay a $500 million fine to restore more than $2.2 billion in funding that was previously approved but never paid.

"This would be a giant series of trade schools that would be operated by Harvard," Trump said of his plan. "We're very close to that. Finalizing. Haven't done it yet. But they would put up $500 million, and interest and everything from that account would go to the trade school. It's a big investment, done by very smart people. And then their sins are forgiven."