A key question hangs over the more than 600,000 ballots left to be tallied in Arizona: Do they look like the state’s late-counted 2020 ballots that overwhelmingly went to Republicans or break down more like the 2018 midterms, when Democrats won most of them? The answer will determine who wins extremely tight races for U.S. Senate and House as well as governor, secretary of state and attorney general. At stake are control of Congress and the rules for the 2024 presidential election in a crucial battleground state. The races remain too early to call two days after the midterm election, with about a quarter of the ballots still left to count.
US consumer inflation eased over past 12 months
Price increases moderated in the United States last month in the latest sign that the inflation pressures that have gripped the nation might be easing as the economy slows and consumers grow more cautious. Consumer inflation reached 7.7% in October from a year earlier and 0.4% from September. The year-over-year increase, a slowdown from 8.2% in September, was the smallest rise since January. A measure called core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy, rose 6.3% in the past 12 months and 0.3% from September. The numbers were all lower than economists had expected, and they raised the possibility that the Federal Reserve could decide to slow its interest rate hikes.
US judge in Texas strikes down Biden loan-forgiveness plan
A U.S. judge in Texas has blocked President Joe Biden’s plan to provide millions of borrowers with up to $20,000 apiece in federal student-loan forgiveness. The program was already on hold while a federal appeals court in St. Louis considers a separate lawsuit by a half-dozen states challenging it. District Court Judge Mark Pittman said Thursday that the program usurped Congress’ power to make laws. Pittman is an appointee of former President Donald Trump based in Fort Worth. The debt forgiveness plan would cancel $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. Pell Grant recipients would get an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven.
Tropical Storm Nicole sends beachfront homes into ocean
Tropical Storm Nicole has sent multiple Florida homes collapsing into the Atlantic Ocean. Nicole made landfall as a hurricane early Thursday near Vero Beach but the brunt of the damage was along the East Coast well north of there, in the Daytona Beach area. Its damaging coastal surge was hitting beachfront properties in Daytona Beach Shores that lost their last protections during Hurricane Ian. Nicole is expected to dump lots of rain over a large area of the southeastern United States, with up to six inches falling over the Blue Ridge Mountains. At least two deaths have been blamed on the storm.
California sues over ‘forever chemicals’ that taint water
A lawsuit filed by the state of California accuses 3M, Dupont and 16 smaller companies of covering up the harm caused to the environment and the public from chemicals that have over decades found their way into waterways and human bloodstreams. Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit Thursday against the manufacturers of compounds that have been used in consumer goods and industry since the 1940s. The chemicals are found in firefighting foams, nonstick frying pans, cleaning sprays, rugs, cosmetics and countless other products. 3M says it acted responsibly in its manufacturing. Dupont says it looks forward to defending its record of safety.
Biden to meet China’s Xi on Monday
President Joe Biden will meet Monday with China’s President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of next week’s Group of 20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia. The face-to-face meeting comes amid increasingly strained U.S.-China relations. It will be the first in-person meeting between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies since Biden became president in January 2021. And it comes weeks after Xi was awarded a norm-breaking third, five-year term as the Chinese Communist Party leader during the party’s national congress. The White House announced the meeting on Thursday and said the two leaders would discuss “deepening lines of communication.”
Police officer killed in suspected Brussels terror attack
One Beligan police officer is dead and another wounded in a stabbing attack in Brusse;s that two judicial officials say is suspected to be terrorism-linked. Police say the suspected attacker was shot and “neutralized” after the stabbing Thursday evening. A police statement says that “one of our patrols was attacked by a man armed with a knife.” The statement says the two police officers called for reinforcements and an officer from another patrol used his firearm to stop the attacker. Two judicial officials tels The Associated Press that there is a suspicion of a terror attack. They did not elaborate. According to Belgian media, the attacker shouted in Arabic: “God is great.”