GOOD NEWS

More than 8 million people turned out at No Kings protests around the country: More than 8 million people turned out at over 3,300 “No Kings” protests across all 50 states on Saturday, organizers said, calling it the largest single-day demonstration in U.S. history. The first two rounds, in June and October 2025, drew an estimated 5 million and 7 million, respectively. YAHOO. They See Blue members protested in marches across the country. Were you one of them? Share your location and photos (if comfortable) as a response to this email! We would love to hear from you.

Florida Democrats flip Donald Trump's home district in Palm Beach: Florida Democrat Emily Gregory scored a major upset on Tuesday night, flipping the legislative district that includes Donald Trump’s waterfront lair of Mar-a-Lago. DOWN BALLOT

Trump's approval hits new 36% low as fuel prices surge amid Iran war: President Donald Trump's approval rating fell in recent days to its lowest point since he returned to the White House, hit by a surge ​in fuel prices and widespread disapproval of the war he launched on Iran, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The four-day poll, completed on Monday, showed 36% of Americans approve of Trump's ‌job performance, down from 40% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last week. REUTERS

Senate Democrats hold firm on not funding ICE and help pass bill to fund DHS without ICE, but House Republicans stymy deal: Republicans in the US House of Representatives have rejected a bipartisan deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and instead approved a different plan, prolonging the shutdown that has caused huge delays at airports. Their Senate colleagues backed a bill that would have reopened most of DHS but excluded funding for immigration agencies to garner support from Democrats, who oppose funding immigration enforcement without reforms. BBC

IRAN UPDATES

Iran-backed Houthis enter the monthlong war and could further threaten global shipping: Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the monthlong war in the Middle East on Saturday, claiming two missile launches at Israel. The Houthis’ entry could further hurt global shipping if they again target vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s trade typically passes. AP

Iran has a new demand to end the war – and it could bring in billions to the country: Iranian lawmakers are considering a bill that would require countries using the strait for shipping fuel and goods to pay tolls, while an adviser to the supreme leader has spoken of a “new regime for the Strait of Hormuz” after the war. This new system would allow Tehran to impose maritime restrictions on adversaries and effectively tie access to one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes to its geopolitical disputes. CNN

Iran says its forces 'waiting' as US troops arrive in region: Iran's parliament speaker has warned that his country's forces were "waiting for American soldiers" as a further 3,500 US troops arrived in the Middle East. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran would "rain fire" on any US troops attempting to enter Iranian territory. BBC

Why Pakistan has emerged as a mediator between US and Iran: Pakistan has emerged as an unexpected mediator, offering to help bring Washington and Tehran to the negotiating table. Islamabad isn’t often called on to act as an intermediary in high-stakes diplomacy, but it’s stepped into the role this time for a number of reasons, both because it has relatively good ties with both Washington and Tehran and because it has a lot at stake in seeing the war resolved. AP

Russia is sending upgraded drones used in the Ukraine war to Iran: Russia is sending a shipment of drones to Iran including upgraded versions of the drone technology that Tehran originally supplied to Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine. AP

Iran War Cost Estimate Update: $11.3 Billion at Day 6, $16.5 Billion at Day 12: The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has reportedly informed Congress that the first six days (D+6) of the war cost $11.3 billion. This is broadly consistent with earlier reports that munitions expenditures in the first few days cost $5.6 billion, but it exceeds the previous CSIS estimate of the war’s first 100 hours. CSIS

NATIONAL

U.S. dollar loses global reserve currency dominance: IMF data confirms lowest share in 30 years as de-dollarization accelerates — is America’s financial power at risk?: The U.S. dollar now controls just 56.32% of global foreign exchange reserves — its weakest position since 1995, according to the latest IMF COFER data released for Q2 2025. From a peak of 72% in 2001, the greenback has shed nearly 16 percentage points over two decades. The trend is accelerating. ECONOMIC TIMES

America's wealth gap is growing, and Trump's policies are making it bigger: The divide between rich and poor in America is the widest it’s been in at least a generation — and growing. The amount of wealth held by the top 1% increased at more than double the rate of the bottom 90% in the first nine months of last year. President Donald Trump’s policies are amplifying these trends. One year into his second term, his administration has cut programs helping lower-income households while advancing policies benefiting the wealthy and corporations. He’s signed legislation to cut food stamps and Medicaid benefits and put new restrictions on low-income housing assistance and student loans. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has given billions of dollars in tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy and loosened regulations on banks while easing rules around cryptocurrency, which he’s benefited from personally. NBC

The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent: The U.S. government is insolvent. That’s not hyperbole — it’s the conclusion drawn directly from the Treasury Department’s own consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2025, released last week to near-total media silence. The numbers: $6.06 trillion in total assets against $47.78 trillion in total liabilities as of September 30, 2025. FORTUNE

DESI NEWS

Arundhati Roy wins National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography 2025: Author Arundhati Roy’s book ‘Mother Mary Comes To Me’ has won the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography. The book traces Roy’s complex relationship with her mother, Mary Roy, a fierce and formidable force who shaped Arundhati’s life both as a woman and a writer. THE INDIAN EYE

IMMIGRATION

Trump Admin Confirms 91 Wrongful Deportations of Asylum Seekers: In a stunning courtroom admission, a Justice Department lawyer told a federal judge Monday that the Trump administration has identified 91 cases where asylum seekers were deported despite a court-ordered class action settlement barring them from being removed before their asylum applications were adjudicated. TPM

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND SAFETY?

Trump administration to pay French company $1B to drop U.S. offshore wind leases: As an off-season heat wave engulfs most of the country, the Trump administration has decided to pay $1 billion to a French company to walk away from two U.S. offshore wind leases as the administration ramps up its campaign against offshore wind and other renewable energy. NPR

CORRUPTION ALERT

Trump Team Changed a Report to Hide How Bad DOGE Made Things: The Washington Post revealed Thursday that the Trump administration altered a Social Security report to make call wait times appear shorter than they actually were. TNR

Trump State Dept. Accused of ‘Largest Fee Fraud in History’ of US Immigration System: An immigration researcher at the Cato Institute found that the Trump administration is “raking in billions of dollars in immigration fees and not providing the adjudications that applicants are entitled to.” COMMON DREAMS

Volume in stock and oil futures surged minutes before Trump’s market-turning post: S&P 500 futures and oil futures flashed an unusual burst of activity early Monday minutes before a market-moving social media post from President Donald Trump.  A similar pattern was observed in oil markets. CNBC

The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation: Interviews and records reviewed by ProPublica show a White House official told senior Department of Homeland Security officials to return the devices to the brothers several days after they were seized. The official who delivered the message, Paul Ingrassia, is a lawyer who previously represented the Tate brothers before joining the White House, where he was working as its DHS liaison. PRO PUBLICA

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