Republicans delay major action on abortion until after midterm elections, and Democrats focus on affordability

Exactly 1,255 volunteers fanned out across Idaho’s rural 35 legislative districts to collect signatures, knocking on 66,000 doors and ultimately gathering more than 110,000. Not a single one was paid – a rarity in today’s politics.

This effort was in service of Proposition 1, which asks voters a single question: Should abortion be legal in Idaho? A “yes” vote would lift one of the most restrictive abortions bans in the nation.

Scott Peyton joined the Anglicans after the crime against his son. Then the Catholic church officially expelled him

The Roman Catholic church has upheld the excommunication of a Louisiana deacon who resigned from the clergy after a priest molested his son.

Scott Peyton learned of the decision by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) – the Vatican entity in charge of Catholic clerical discipline – on Friday in a meeting with the bishop of the diocese of Lafayette, J Douglas Deshotel. The DDF cited technical grounds in rejecting Peyton’s appeal, saying he had joined an Anglican congregation, “published [that] fact … on social media” and therefore refused to submit to the Catholic pope, who since May 2025 has been Leo XIV.

El Niño will likely shift weather patterns to bring more rain, but much snow still isn’t forecast for the northern states

Winter in the United States looks like it will generally be wetter and warmer, but not necessarily snowier, according to the federal government’s seasonal outlook and other meteorologists’ forecasts. You can thank or blame El Niño.

El Niño is likely to shift weather patterns to bring more moisture, but with it higher temperatures. That should help erase persistent western drought, but it is unlikely to make northern snow-lovers happy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Thursday.

Election officers in Louisiana and Oklahoma receive a powdery substance, prompting evacuations

The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service are investigating letters sent to state officials and election offices across the country containing an “unknown substance”.

Just weeks before November’s US midterm elections, election officers in Louisiana and Oklahoma received envelopes containing a powdery substance, leading to evacuations. A similar package containing white powder was also sent to the Ohio secretary of state, but the US Postal Service intercepted the package.