Bill Essayli, a former GOP lawmaker and ally of president, has not been confirmed by the Senate in his role

A US judge ruled on Tuesday that Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in southern California, was “unlawfully serving” as the head of the US attorney’s office and was disqualified from overseeing two criminal prosecutions.

The order, however, will not immediately go into effect, and the Department of Justice (DoJ) has said it intends to appeal.

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© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

Susan and Michael Pretti say they have been ‘ignored and misled’ in quest for justice over son’s killing by US agents

The parents of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this year, accused federal officials of stonewalling them and shielding their son’s killers.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Michael and Susan Pretti made their first public remarks since their son’s death in January, calling for the Department of Justice to hold those involved in their son’s death accountable. The federal government has not provided them with meaningful information about the case, they said.

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© Photograph: Steven Garcia/Reuters

© Photograph: Steven Garcia/Reuters

© Photograph: Steven Garcia/Reuters

President at Texas campaign rally hails deal struck with post-Maduro government as ‘greatest oil victory in history’

Donald Trump suggested Venezuela would become the 51st state of the United States on Tuesday as the president showed off a tanker he claimed had “one million barrels of oil on it” from the country, nine months after deposing its president.

At a campaign rally in Corpus Christ, Texas, Trump touted a US oil deal with Venezuela, which the US attacked in January, capturing its long-serving leader Nicolás Maduro.

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© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Cassidy Hutchinson had implicated Donald Trump in US Capitol attack during testimony before House committee

The justice department on Tuesday failed to secure a grand jury indictment against a former White House staffer who provided dramatic but disputed testimony against Donald Trump before a House committee investigating the 6 January 2021 US Capitol insurrection, according to two people familiar with the matter.

A grand jury in Washington rejected prosecutors’ request to return an indictment charging Cassidy Hutchinson, said the people, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case. It’s the latest setback in the justice department’s efforts to charge perceived adversaries of the Republican president.

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© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Vice-president tries to link El-Sayed to Paris protests and claims he would lead rioters in ‘burning down’ Detroit

JD Vance has escalated his inflammatory attacks on Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan who has faced an onslaught of Islamophobia, claiming he would lead rioters in “burning down” Detroit.

El-Sayed, who would become the country’s first Muslim senator if he wins next week’s election, has been branded a “jihadist” by Donald Trump, the US president.

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© Photograph: Getty Images

© Photograph: Getty Images

© Photograph: Getty Images

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky accepted the letters of credence from the newly appointed ambassadors of Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Egypt and Türkiye to Ukraine.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Sergii Koretskyi discussed support for Ukraine’s European integration, additional contributions to the Energy Support Fund and strengthening transport infrastructure during a meeting with Lithuanian Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas.

Ukraine expects trilateral talks involving Ukrainian, U.S. and Russian representatives in November. Europe must be involved in the diplomatic process and take part in decisions on ending the war.

A meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is necessary to discuss the most sensitive issues of a peace settlement.

Israel, like the rest of the world, is studying Ukraine’s experience in using drones and countering them, while investing in technologies to address the threat posed by Iran.

US military says it carried out an airstrike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in latest attack in region

The US ⁠military ⁠said on ​Tuesday ⁠it killed ⁠five ​people ‌after ‌an airstrike on a ‌suspected drug-trafficking vessel in ​the ⁠eastern Pacific.

Tuesday’s strike was among more than 70 such attacks since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second presidency, according to media tallies. Collectively, they have killed more than 240 people.

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© Photograph: US Southern Command via X

© Photograph: US Southern Command via X

© Photograph: US Southern Command via X

Russia is masking propaganda with fight against disinformation

The outcome of the humanitarian operation in Oleshky could help advance the peace process and build trust. Ukraine welcomes the initiative, which is aimed at saving lives.

Home of wealthy developer Stephen Cloobeck searched in connection to sexual misconduct inquiry into Swalwell

Federal law enforcement agents searched a home in suburban Los Angeles early on Tuesday as part of an investigation into Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress amid a wave of sexual misconduct allegations, a law enforcement official and two people familiar with the investigation told the Associated Press.

Agents searched the Beverly Hills home of the wealthy developer and Swalwell donor Stephen Cloobeck, where the Democratic ex-congressman spent time before resigning from office in April, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.

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© Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

© Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

© Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The five Nordic countries — Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden — have provided Ukraine with about $50 billion in aid since February 2022.

Ukraine is ready for a partial ceasefire and a complete cessation of hostilities, but will not take any unilateral steps.

Voters have a chance to break America’s two-tiered system of justice and hold powerful people accountable

Welcome back to How We Win, a Guardian opinion series with leading thinkers, offering bold ideas for America’s political future. Last week, Guardian US columnist Rebecca Solnit wrote about the GOP’s alignment with the tech overlords. Today’s edition was written by Katie Phang, an independent journalist, trial lawyer and political analyst. Sign up for future editions here.

When Americans go to the polls a week from now, accountability will be front and center.

Instead of enforcing the law, the attorney general of the United States has been busy subverting it

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© Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Jennifer Shuford is expected to leave her post after midterm elections ‘to spend more time with my family’

The deputy director and chief medical officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will resign after six months on the job, according to an agency email obtained by the Guardian.

Dr Jennifer Shuford was appointed by Donald Trump in April as part of a four-person senior leadership team.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

We want to hear from gen Z voters about the issues that will decide your vote in the midterm elections

The US midterm elections that will decide control of the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the governorships in 36 states, are just one week away. The results could have a huge impact on Donald Trump’s final two years in office.

Nearly 50 million people aged 18 to 29 are eligible to vote in the midterms but nearly half are either not registered or civically engaged, according to US Census Bureau data.

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© Photograph: Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

© Photograph: Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

© Photograph: Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Matthew Unglesbee admitted to sending the letters to four unidentified politicians, officials say

An Illinois man accused of sending letters containing suspicious white powder to four members of Congress has been arrested after he allegedly wrote his own name and return address on the envelopes, according to authorities.

Matthew Unglesbee, 36, of Quincy, remained in the custody of US marshals on Tuesday on federal charges of perpetrating a hoax and sending threatening communications through the mail.

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© Photograph: Finn Gomez/Getty Images

© Photograph: Finn Gomez/Getty Images

© Photograph: Finn Gomez/Getty Images

Twenty-two states and Washington DC let voters register on election day. Why aren’t politicians doing more to reach young people?

With election day just a week away, candidates are ignoring millions of young Americans who could still cast a decisive ballot but have not yet registered to vote.

By contrast, my mailbox has been full of political flyers: the various campaigns gleaned my name from the voter file, recognized that I am a regular voter who hadn’t cast a ballot yet, and assessed through their targeted analysis that it’s worth spending on printing and postage to get their message to me.

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© Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP

© Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP

© Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP

Last year, the state’s board of elections removed several polling sites from local colleges – and students have taken it upon themselves to organize voting

• Gen Z voters: tell us what is guiding your vote in the US midterm elections

On 15 October, the first day of early voting in North Carolina, mostly Black students from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (NC A&T), Bennett College and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) marched from their college campuses to their nearest polling sites for the first day of early voting.

Previously, students were able to vote on their respective campuses; however, late last year, with Republicans at the helm, the North Carolina board of elections removed several polling sites from local colleges: UNCG, NC A&T, Western Carolina University (WCU) and Elon University. As a result, students have taken it upon themselves to organize voting. The marches – two, so far – took about two hours round trip, but protecting their right to vote, the students say, is worth it.

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© Photograph: Jamarious Simmons/Black Voters Matter Fund

© Photograph: Jamarious Simmons/Black Voters Matter Fund

© Photograph: Jamarious Simmons/Black Voters Matter Fund

President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre their phone call earlier today with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The EU Council has adopted a package of eight decisions enabling funds to be used for Ukraine under the European Peace Facility (EPF) by partially reimbursing the cost of military assistance provided to Ukraine, totaling €4.7 billion.

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• US voters: tell us what issues will decide your vote?

Speaking to reporters on the tarmac before departing for a campaign event in Michigan, JD Vance responded to a question about President Trump’s remarks branding Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed as a “jihadist.”

Vance, who has sparred with the progressive El-Sayed repeatedly on the campaign trail, took a somewhat softer tone. But he didn’t walk away from Trump’s remarks.

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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

It is essential not just to fund the public goods the nation needs, it is indispensable to restore a sense of fairness

Money doesn’t buy happiness, we’re told. Even some economists agree. The Nobel prize-winning economists Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton once proposed that rising income increased people’s emotional wellbeing only up to a ceiling of about $115,000 in today’s money.

They probably hadn’t met many billionaires. The ultra-rich may not pursue happiness in the joyful sense of the word. But they will try every trick in the book to hang on to their stash and woe betide the tax authority that tries to lay a finger on their treasure.

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© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

On Tuesday, October 27, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, in coordination with the Ukrainian side, held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Poland reaffirm their unwavering support for Ukraine in confronting Russian aggression and their readiness to provide reliable security guarantees after a ceasefire or the conclusion of a peace agreement.

Benjamin Netanyahu is in the fight of his political life. Voters in Israel are heading to the polls on Tuesday to decide an election that could determine whether Netanyahu will remain the country's prime minister (and affect the outcome of the corruption charges against him). But the Israeli election also arrives at a time when voters around the world seem to be rejecting authoritarianism. A student-run movement stunned the world on Sunday when its candidates routed Serbia's long-serving leader, Aleksandar Vučić. That same day, Brazilians beat back a campaign by Flávio Bolsonaro – the son of Jair Bolsonaro, the disgraced former president – in a historic upset. Carter Sherman speaks to Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, about how these four elections could reshape the political world order in just 10 days, and why the upcoming US midterm elections are the biggest test for global democracy.

• Julian Borger on 10 days that could shake the world

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© Photograph: Grid

© Photograph: Grid

© Photograph: Grid

Social media companies including Meta have pulled back on efforts to protect voters from election-meddling lies

Social media feeds are awash with an unprecedented flood of AI-driven disinformation ahead of November’s US midterm elections, according to experts, who warn many posts are probably “slipping through the cracks”.

As tens of millions of Americans prepare to cast their vote, social media companies have scaled back their efforts to protect voters from lies meant to manipulate elections.

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© Photograph: Heather Khalifa/AP

© Photograph: Heather Khalifa/AP

© Photograph: Heather Khalifa/AP

Republican attacks on the candidate for governor are contradictory and hinge on a warped understanding of sexual abuse

I’ve heard people say that the Ramaswamy team must have been scared.

Last week, the campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy, the tech billionaire and onetime Republican presidential candidate who is currently the Republican nominee to be the governor of Ohio, ran an ad featuring the long-estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, the physician and former public health official Amy Acton.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

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© Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

© Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

© Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

No private individual should have the power to determine US foreign policy, as Musk has attempted to do in Ukraine

He’s Exhibit A on why billionaire wealth should be taxed, why we must get big money out of politics, why billionaires shouldn’t be allowed to buy up major media, and why our government shouldn’t give them huge military contracts.

I’m talking about Elon Musk, of course.

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© Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

© Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

© Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

Rubio’s decision not to meet Narendra Modi last week was seen by some as a snub – but by focusing on business leaders and oil, the secretary of state made American priorities clear. Plus: the artist bringing a female perspective to men’s clothing

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When the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, visited India for the second time this year, headlines concentrated on who he met and where he went.

The fact that Rubio bypassed New Delhi and did not meet the prime minister, Narendra Modi, during his trip last week, and instead traveled to the financial capital, Mumbai, where he met India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (pictured top with Rubio), and business leaders, did not go unnoticed. Nor did his decision to travel to Jamnagar, the small Gujarati town that is home to Reliance Industries’ colossal oil refinery complex.

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© Photograph: Kylie Cooper/Pool Reuters/AP

© Photograph: Kylie Cooper/Pool Reuters/AP

© Photograph: Kylie Cooper/Pool Reuters/AP

President Volodymyr Zelensky has enacted the decision of the National Security and Defense Council “On Updating Ukraine’s National Security Strategy.”