Trump administration sets rules to bar groups it opposes from loan relief
Advocates say new rules let Education Department to politically punish groups working on immigration, transgender care. The United States Department of Education has finalised new rules that could bar nonprofits deemed to have undertaken work with a “substantial illegal purpose” from a special student loan forgiveness programme. Those rules, finalised on Thursday, appear to single out certain organisations that do work in areas that President Donald Trump politically opposes, including immigration advocacy and transgender rights. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Under the new rules, set to take effect in July 2026, the education secretary has the power to exclude groups if they engage in activities like the “chemical castration” of children, using a politically charged term for gender-affirming healthcare, including puberty-delaying medication. It also allows the education secretary to bar groups accused of supporting undocumented immigration or “terrorist” organisations. The Trump administration has said its decisions “will not be made based on the political views or policy preferences of the organization”. But advocates fear the move is the administration’s latest effort to target left-leaning and liberal organisations. Trump has already threatened to crack down on several liberal nonprofits, which the White House has broadly accused of being part of “domestic terror networks”. Thursday’s rules concern the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programme, created by an act of Congress in 2007. In an effort to direct more graduates into public service jobs, the programme promises to cancel federal student loans for government employees and many nonprofit workers after they have made 10 years of payments. Advertisement Workers in the public sector, including teachers, medical professionals, firefighters, social service professionals and lawyers, are among those who can benefit. In a statement, the Trump administration defended the updated rules, calling them a necessary bulwark to protect taxpayer funds. The programme “was meant to support Americans who dedicate their careers to public service – not to subsidize organizations that violate the law, whether by harboring illegal immigrants or performing prohibited medical procedures that attempt to transition children away from their biological sex”, said Education Undersecretary Nicholas Kent. Critics, however, have denounced the administration for using false claims of “terrorism” or criminal behaviour to silence opposing views and restrict civil liberties. Michael Lukens, executive director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said the new rules weaponised loan forgiveness. Lukens explained that many of the lawyers, social workers and paralegals who work at his organisation handle cases to stop deportations and other immigration litigation. They count on public service loan forgiveness to take jobs that pay significantly less than the private sector, he said. “All of a sudden, that’s going away,” Lukens told The Associated Press news agency. “The younger generation, I hope, will be able to wait this out for the next couple of years to see if it gets better, but if it doesn’t, we’re going to see a lot of people leave the field to go and work in a for-profit space.” Organisations have raised concerns over the education secretary’s broad power to determine if a group should be barred. Short of a legal finding, the secretary can decide based on a “preponderance of the evidence” whether an employer is in violation. The National Council of Nonprofits was among the associations criticising the change. It said the rules would allow future administrations from any political party to change eligibility rules “based on their own priorities or ideology”. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,345
Here are the key events from day 1,345 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. By News Agencies Published On 31 Oct 202531 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is how things stand on Friday, October 31, 2025: Fighting Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces took control of the villages of Krasnohirske in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region and Sadove in the Kharkiv region, Russian state news agencies reported. Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and other targets on Thursday and in the early hours of Friday, forcing nationwide power restrictions and killing seven people. The victims include one person in a village south of Ukraine’s southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia who was killed in a Russian drone strike. Regional officials said two men were also killed in Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia itself, while a seven-year-old girl from the central Vinnytsia region died in hospital from injuries sustained in the attacks. Prosecutors in the Donetsk region said Russian attacks on dwellings in the city of Kramatorsk killed one person and injured three. In Sumy, a city near the northern border with Russia, the regional governor wrote on Telegram that 10 Russian drones attacked the city early on Friday. He said two people were injured when two apartment buildings were hit, and pictures posted online showed several apartments ablaze. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that a bomb attack on a thermal power plant in Sloviansk in eastern Donetsk region killed two people and injured a number of others. Zelenskyy added that Russia launched more than 650 drones and 50 missiles in the attacks. Most of the drones were neutralised and two-thirds of the missiles were downed, he said. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko accused Moscow of targeting Ukrainian people and power supplies as the cold winter months approach. “Its goal is to plunge Ukraine into darkness. Ours is to preserve the light,” Svyrydenko said. Europe Advertisement Polish MiG-29 fighter aircraft intercepted a Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea in the second such incident this week, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said. Poland said it would not reopen more border crossings with close Russian ally Belarus until at least mid-November in a move intended to show solidarity with fellow NATO member Lithuania amid heightened security concerns. Poland closed its border with Belarus six weeks ago because of what Warsaw said were “very aggressive” Russia-led military exercises on Belarusian territory, days after 21 Russian drones entered Polish airspace. Lithuania shut its land border with Belarus this week in response to airspace disruptions caused by smuggling balloons and said it would remain closed until the end of November. A German of Russian ethnic background was convicted of spying and planning arson attacks on military installations and railways in Germany on behalf of Russia and sentenced to six years in prison. A court in the Bavarian state capital, Munich, gave two accomplices suspended sentences of 12 and six months. Peace talks Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will meet United States President Donald Trump on November 7 in Washington, where he aims to discuss a path to a US-Russia meeting in his country and seek exemption from US energy sanctions, Orban’s chief of staff said. Russian senator Vladimir Dzhabarov said Trump should negotiate with Russia, rather than imposing sanctions on it, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. Nuclear weapons The Kremlin said Russia’s test of a nuclear-powered missile and a nuclear-powered torpedo were not nuclear weapons tests, after President Trump suggested the United States would resume nuclear weapons testing to the same levels as its rivals. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin cautioned that if any country tested a nuclear weapon, then Russia would too. Andrei Kartapolov, a senior Russian lawmaker, said nuclear testing by the US will lead to a return to an era of unpredictability and open confrontation, RIA reported. Adblock test (Why?)
Radio Free Asia says halting news operations due to Trump admin cuts
Announcing the move, staff at the outlet said ‘authoritarian regimes are already celebrating’ its potential demise. Radio Free Asia (RFA) will shut down its news operations on Friday, citing the government-funded news outlet’s dire financial situation caused by funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration and the ongoing US government shutdown. Bay Fang, RFA’s president and CEO, said in a statement that “uncertainty about our budgetary future” means that the outlet has been “forced to suspend all remaining news content production”. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “In an effort to conserve limited resources on hand and preserve the possibility of restarting operations should consistent funding become available, RFA is taking further steps to responsibly shrink its already reduced footprint,” she said on Wednesday. Fang added that RFA would begin closing its overseas bureaus and would formally lay off and pay severance to furloughed staff. She said many staff members have been on unpaid leave since March, “when the US Agency for Global Media [USAGM] unlawfully terminated RFA’s Congressionally appropriated grant”. On March 14, Trump signed an executive order effectively eliminating USAGM, an independent US government agency created in the mid-1990s to broadcast news and information to regions with poor press freedom records. Alongside RFA, USAGM also hosts sister publications Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE) and Voice of America (VOA). Following March’s executive order, RFA was forced to put three-quarters of its US-based employees on unpaid leave and terminate most of its overseas contractors. Another round of mass layoffs followed in May, along with the termination of several RFA language services, including Tibetan, Burmese and Uighur. Advertisement Mass layoffs also took place at VOA in March when Trump signed another executive order placing nearly all 1,400 staff at the outlet – which he described as a “total left-wing disaster” – on paid leave. It has operated on a limited basis since then. Trump has said operations like RFA, RFE/Radio Liberty and VOA are a waste of government resources and accused them of being biased against his administration. Since its founding in 1996, RFA has reported on Asia’s most repressive regimes, providing English- and local-language online and broadcast services to citizens of authoritarian governments across the region. Its flagship projects include its Uighur service – the world’s only independent Uyghur-language outlet, covering the repressed ethnic group in western China – as well as its North Korea service, which reports on events inside the hermit state. An announcement penned by RFA executive editor Rosa Hwang, published on the outlet’s website on Wednesday, said, “Make no mistake, authoritarian regimes are already celebrating RFA’s potential demise.” “Independent journalism is at the core of RFA. For the first time since RFA’s inception almost 30 years ago, that voice is at risk,” Hwang said. “We still believe in the urgency of that mission – and in the resilience of our extraordinary journalists. Once our funding returns, so will we,” she added. RFE/Radio Liberty, which went through its own round of furloughs earlier this year, said this week that it received its last round of federal funding in September and its news services are continuing for now. “We plan to continue reaching our audiences for the foreseeable future,” it said. It’s not immediately clear why RFA and RFE/Radio Liberty – which share the same governing and funding structure, but are based in the US and Europe, respectively – are taking different approaches. Adblock test (Why?)
IAF to boost Rafale Jets power, to acquire Rs 15,000 crore proposed Meteor Air-to-Air missiles with a range of…
India has proposed a Rs 1,500 crore purchase of Meteor air-to-air missiles, manufactured by the European firm MBDA, for the Indian Air Force’s frontline Rafale fighter jet fleet. These jets are solely capable of firing the European long-range missiles.
Your Halloween pumpkin probably came from this small Texas town
In the self-proclaimed “Pumpkin Capital of the U.S.,” Floydada farmers are exporting pumpkins across Texas and the nation.
Gov. Greg Abbott under pressure to use emergency funds for looming SNAP crisis
Democrats say Abbott has used his authority during COVID-19, the Uvalde shooting and border operations to free up emergency funds.
Texas freezes program to help minority-owned businesses
The state comptroller’s office said it would stop issuing or renewing certifications under the Historically Underutilized Business program. Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock said it was the latest step toward ending DEI in Texas.
Sen. Warner blasts Trump admin for excluding Democrats from briefings on boat strikes: ‘Deeply troubling’
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, slammed the Trump administration after it held briefings with only Republican lawmakers on the U.S. military strikes targeting alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. Warner called the move to exclude Democrats from the national security briefings “indefensible and dangerous.” “Shutting Democrats out of a briefing on U.S. military strikes and withholding the legal justification for those strikes from half the Senate is indefensible and dangerous,” the senator said in a statement. “Decisions about the use of American military force are not campaign strategy sessions, and they are not the private property of one political party.” “For any administration to treat them that way erodes our national security and flies in the face of Congress’ constitutional obligation to oversee matters of war and peace,” he continued. HEGSETH SAYS MILITARY CONDUCTED ANOTHER STRIKE ON BOAT CARRYING ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTS Warner said the partisan “stunt” is a “slap in the face” to Congress’ war powers responsibilities and to the men and women in uniform. He also stressed that it sets a “reckless and deeply troubling precedent.” Reports indicate that the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) produced a legal opinion justifying the strikes, which Democrats have been demanding in recent weeks. “The administration must immediately provide to Democrats the same briefing and the OLC opinion justifying these strikes, as Secretary Rubio personally promised me that he would in a face-to-face meeting on Capitol Hill just last week,” Warner said in his statement. “Americans deserve a government that fulfills its constitutional duties and treats decisions about the use of military force with the seriousness they demand.” The Pentagon, responding to Warner’s criticism, claimed that the “appropriate” committees were briefed on the strikes. “The Department of War has briefed the appropriate committees of jurisdiction, including the Senate Intelligence committee, numerous times throughout the operations targeting narco-terrorists,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement. “These have occurred on a bipartisan basis, and will continue as such.” SENATORS LOOK TO BLOCK TRUMP FROM ENGAGING IN ‘HOSTILITIES’ IN VENEZUELA On Wednesday, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also penned a letter demanding to review the legal justification behind the series of boat strikes they say appear to violate several laws. “Drug trafficking is a terrible crime that has had devastating impacts on American families and communities and should be prosecuted. Nonetheless, the President’s actions to hold alleged drug traffickers accountable must still conform with the law,” the letter states. The Trump administration has also been scrutinized over the strikes by members of his own party, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who raised concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people. Paul has cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded for suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent. The senator has also argued that if the administration plans to engage in a war with Venezuela after it has targeted boats it claims are transporting drugs for the Venezuela-linked Tren de Aragua gang, it must seek a declaration of war from Congress. In the House, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has made similar statements. This comes as Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. military on Wednesday struck another boat carrying people he said were narco-terrorists. The strikes were carried out in the Eastern Pacific region at the direction of President Donald Trump, killing four men on board. That was the 14th strike on suspected drug boats carried out since September. A total of 61 have reportedly been killed while three survived, including at least two who were later repatriated to their home countries. The Pentagon has not released the identities of those killed or evidence that drugs were on board.
Hannity town hall: GOP candidate reveals which far-left policy he will eliminate first as governor
In a televised town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday, New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli announced which far-left policy will be his day-one priority to eliminate if he is elected governor. With just five days until Election Day, Ciattarelli trails his Democratic opponent, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, by seven points in deep blue New Jersey. Nonetheless, while speaking with Hannity in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, Ciattarelli maintained that his campaign holds the momentum to upset Sherrill and flip the state red. If he should win the race, Ciattarelli told Hannity that his very first priority would be eliminating New Jersey’s sanctuary policies, keeping local and state authorities from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement operations. “Executive order number one, on day one, no town in this state will be a sanctuary city, we will not be a sanctuary state,” said Ciattarelli, as the crowd, filled with local New Jerseyans, broke into applause. TRUMP TOUTS REPUBLICAN GARDEN STATE GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE WHILE TRASHING DEM OPPONENT “Here’s the good news,” he went on. “Many of the things that [current Democratic Gov. Phil] Murphy has done were by executive order. They weren’t codified by the legislature, which means I can reverse them on day one.” “Having sanctuary cities and us being a sanctuary state encourages illegal immigration, and it handcuffs our local police in certain ways; we’re not doing that. I’m going to reverse that on day one,” he said, adding, “If a local police chief and mayor want to work together to preserve safety in our community by partnering with a federal agency, I’m not going to get in the way.” Ciattarelli also announced he would prioritize eliminating cashless bail, saying the policy “has created a professional criminal who’s learned how to game the system.” CRIME AND IMMIGRATION DIVIDE NEW JERSEY VOTERS AFTER EXPLOSIVE CIATTARELLI-SHERRILL DEBATE “Talk to your local cops and they’ll tell you about this dynamic known as ‘arrest, release, repeat,’ it’s demoralizing for cops,” he explained. Despite having unsuccessfully run for New Jersey governor two times already, Ciattarelli told Hannity the early voting results have him in a “really good position to win.” During the town hall, he also knocked Sherrill for refusing to release her military records relating to the disciplinary action she faced for involvement in a cheating scandal at the U.S. Naval Academy. Sherrill has maintained that she did not cheat but was kept from walking with her graduating class for refusing to give up information on those who cheated. “All she has to do is approve the release of her disciplinary records, and we’ll know why she was disciplined. And if what she is saying is true, her disciplinary records will confirm that, but she won’t release them,” he said, adding, “There’s a pattern here.” NEW JERSEY GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES TOUT EARLY VOTING NUMBERS AS TRUMP LOOMS OVER TIGHT RACE He also dinged Sherrill over her endorsement from New York socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani. “We’ve called on her to reject that endorsement, but she hasn’t,” he said as Hannity noted, “Just like she’ll be the most transparent but never give out her naval records.”
Trump urges GOP to ‘end the shutdown’ by going nuclear on Senate filibuster
President Donald Trump on Thursday called for Republicans to end the filibuster in order to end the month-long government shutdown. In a late-night Truth Social post, Trump argued that Democrats had sought to eliminate the Senate procedure when they had control of both chambers of Congress and the White House during the Biden administration, but then-Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema helped block the effort. Trump suggested using the “nuclear option,” following his return to the U.S. after his trip to Asia. “The one question that kept coming up, however, was how did the Democrats SHUT DOWN the United States of America, and why did the powerful Republicans allow them to do it? The fact is, in flying back, I thought a great deal about that question, WHY?” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Majority Leader John Thune, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, are doing a GREAT job, but the Democrats are Crazed Lunatics that have lost all sense of WISDOM and REALITY,” he continued. “It is a sick form of the now ‘legendary’ Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) that only comes from losing too much. They want Trillions of Dollars to be taken from our Healthcare System and given to others, who are not deserving — People who have come into our Country illegally, many from prisons and mental institutions. This will hurt American citizens, and Republicans will not let it happen.” Trump added that it is “now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!”