Arab Americans slightly favor Trump over Harris, says new poll

Poll shows a deadlock in Michigan, a key state on the path to the White House with a large Arab American population

Arab Americans are slightly more likely to vote for Donald Trump than Kamala Harris, according to a new poll, in a worrying sign for the Democratic nominee’s chances of carrying the battleground state of Michigan, which is home to a large Arab American population.

The survey, conducted by the Arab News Research and Studies Unit along with YouGov, shows 43% supporting Trump compared with 41% for Harris, and 4% backing the Green Party candidate, Jill Stein.

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Blinken meets Netanyahu in renewed US push for Gaza ceasefire

US secretary of state urges Israeli PM to capitalise on death of Hamas leader by securing release of hostages and ending conflict

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Israel to encourage efforts to revive the stalled Gaza ceasefire negotiations after Israel’s killing of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, last week.

Meeting the Israeli prime minister, Blinken urged Benjamin Netanyahu to capitalise on the death of the Hamas leader by securing the release of the 7 October attack hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza.

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Five family members shot to death in home outside Seattle

Authorities have arrested a teenage suspect in what appears to be an instance of ‘family annihilation’

Authorities found five people shot to death inside a home south-east of Seattle on Monday morning and arrested a teenager in connection with the killings, police said.

The killings in Fall City, Washington, were the 25th mass murder in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonpartisan archive defines a mass murder as one in which four or more victims are killed.

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Hundreds more babies in US died than expected in months after Roe was overturned

Study shows roughly 247 more infant deaths per month than expected in 18 months after supreme court’s decision

In the 18 months after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, leading more than a dozen states to implement near-total abortion bans, hundreds more babies died than expected, new research has found.

The research, which was conducted by researchers from the Ohio State University and published Monday in Jama Pediatrics, compared data on infant mortality from the months before Roe’s downfall with data from afterward. Overall infant mortality, the researchers found, rose by 7%.

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FBI investigates intelligence leak of potential Israel plans to attack Iran

John Kirby says Biden administration unsure if leak or hack led to secret documents appearing online on Telegram

The FBI has launched an investigation into the unauthorized release of classified documents describing Israel’s preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran.

The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said on Monday that the Biden administration was still not certain if the classified information was leaked or hacked but that officials did not have any indication at this point of “additional documents like this finding their way into the public domain”.

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Dog likely saved Maine woman from freezing to death in woods, officials say

Labrador Lucy laid down on owner Pamela Helmstadter, 72, to protect her from cold after husband John, 82, fell and died

A dog may have saved a woman from dying alongside her husband after the couple – the animal’s owners – became lost for four frigid nights while on a walk in the woods in Maine, according to authorities.

John Helmstadter, 82, and Pamela Helmstadter, 72, of Alexander, Maine, left their home on Sunday 13 October, to go for a walk with their one-year-old black labrador, Lucy, officials said.

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Liz Cheney urges conservatives to back Kamala Harris over abortion

Ex-Republican congresswoman, longtime abortion rights opponent, campaigns with vice-president in swing states

Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman and longtime opponent of abortion rights, on Monday condemned Republican-imposed bans on the procedure and urged conservatives to support Democrat Kamala Harris for US president.

Cheney was speaking during three joint events with the vice-president in three swing states aimed at prising suburban Republican voters away from party nominee Donald Trump. She has become the Democrat’s most prominent conservative surrogate and is rumoured to be in contention for a seat in a potential Harris cabinet.

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Trump courts Christian vote and says ‘God saved me for a purpose’

Republican nominee reflects on assassination attempt and says ‘my faith took on new meaning on July 13’

Donald Trump urged Christian voters on Monday to participate in the 2024 election, claiming that a Kamala Harris administration would restrict religious freedoms and casting himself as a protector of Christians.

During an event in North Carolina billed as an “11th-Hour Faith Leaders Meeting”, a series of conservative pastors warmed up for Trump, including Guillermo Maldonado, an “apostle” and longtime Trump ally who cast the election in perilous terms.

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US investigation of IDF unit over alleged abuse against Palestinians could jeopardize aid

Nine members of Force 100 investigated over allegations of sexual assaulting prisoner at Sde Teiman detention camp

An Israeli military unit that has been accused of human rights abuses against Palestinian detainees is reportedly under investigation by the US state department in a move that could lead to it being barred from receiving assistance.

The inquiry into the activities of Force 100 was instigated following a spate of allegations that Palestinians held under its guard at a detention centre have been subject to torture and brutal mistreatment, including sexual assault, Axios reported on Monday.

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Republicans express alarm that Texas execution nearly went ahead

Lawmakers unhappy with handling of Robert Roberson case as doubts grow over science used to secure conviction

Republican lawmakers in Texas expressed alarm on Monday at the apparent willingness of state officials to execute a potentially innocent man on the basis of junk science, as the political fallout of the 11th-hour reprieve of Robert Roberson continued to roil the state.

Several Republican members of the state’s House committee on criminal jurisprudence lined up to air their discontent with the handling of the case of Roberson, 57, who was convicted of killing his two-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in 2002 by violently shaking her.

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Jayland Walker’s family receives $4.8m from city of Akron over killing by police

Grand jury declined to indict eight officers who fired 94 bullets at 25-year-old Black man in 2022

The family of Jayland Walker, a Black man killed when eight police officers fired 94 bullets at him after he shot at least one round out his car window, will receive a $4.8m settlement from the city of Akron, the mayor’s office said on Monday.

A grand jury declined to indict the officers last year, but Walker’s family accused the officers in a federal lawsuit of using excessive force and participating in a “culture of violence and racism” within Akron’s police department.

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Olivia Nuzzi leaves New York magazine after revelation of RFK Jr relationship

Publication said decision was mutual and found ‘no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias’ in Nuzzi’s coverage

The politics writer Olivia Nuzzi and New York magazine have parted ways just over a month after she was placed on leave following the disclosure that she had engaged in a “personal” relationship with Robert F Kennedy Jr.

The departure was announced in a statement from New York magazine on Monday afternoon.

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US ‘deeply concerned’ by intelligence leak over Israel plan to attack Iran

Officials say no further leaks but investigation under way into how documents came to be published on Telegram

US government officials investigating the leak of two classified intelligence papers assessing Israel’s plans to attack Iran have said they did believe any more documents had been compromised.

However, the Biden administration remained “deeply disturbed” by the unauthorized release, John Kirby, the national security communications adviser, told reporters at a White House briefing on Monday.

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Harris and Cheney talk economy, women’s health and Trump in Michigan campaign event – as it happened

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We reported earlier that Kamala Harris has a huge advantage in campaign cash over Donald Trump. But the former president has his own deep-pocketed backer in the former of Tesla boss Elon Musk, who held a strange town hall in swing state Pennsylvania this weekend where he started handing out mammoth checks to voters to get them to back Trump. The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland witnessed the spectacle in person:

Standing before a large US flag, which spanned the breadth of a vast stage, the world’s richest man told an assembled crowd that he loved them.

Today, my Administration is taking a major step to expand contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act. This new action would help ensure that millions of women with private health insurance can access the no-cost contraception they need. Vice President Harris and I have worked tirelessly to protect and build on the Affordable Care Act. We lowered costs for Marketplace coverage by an average of $800 per year for millions of Americans, and more Americans than ever before have signed up for health insurance through the law.

At a time when contraception access is under attack, Vice President Harris and I are resolute in our commitment to expanding access to quality, affordable contraception. We believe that women in every state must have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions, including the right to decide if and when to start or grow their family. We will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore reproductive freedom and safeguard the right to contraception once and for all.

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Microsoft introduces ‘AI employees’ that can handle client queries

US company gives customers the ability to build own virtual agents as well as releasing 10 off-the-shelf bots

Microsoft is introducing autonomous artificial intelligence agents, or virtual employees, that can perform tasks such as handling client queries and identifying sales leads, as the tech sector strives to show investors that the AI boom can produce indispensable products.

The US tech company is giving customers the ability to build their own AI agents as well as releasing 10 off-the-shelf bots that can carry out a range of roles including supply chain management and customer service.

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Walz says Musk’s $1m voter giveaway reflects that Trump has ‘no plan’

Democratic vice-presidential candidate criticizes tech CEO’s ploy that is under scrutiny for possible vote buying

Tim Walz, Minnesota governor and Democratic vice-presidential candidate, said Elon Musk’s plan to give away $1m per day in support of Donald Trump is a reflection of a ticket with “no plan”.

Musk offered registered voters in swing states a chance to enter a $1m per day giveaway if they sign his Super Pac’s petitions, “in favor of free speech and the right to bear arms”. Experts have questioned whether the plan is legal or, in effect, buying votes.

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Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon hit branches of Hezbollah-linked bank

Strikes targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, south Lebanon and the Bekaa valley

Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, south Lebanon and the Bekaa valley early on Monday morning, hitting buildings belonging to the Hezbollah-run banking institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan.

At least 10 airstrikes were carried out in the southern suburbs of the capital, with an entire building collapsing and a jet of fire streaming into the air in the Chiyah neighbourhood. A building close to Lebanon’s only commercial airport was also struck, video footage showing a smoke plume billowing while a nearby plane sat on the runway.

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‘It’s devastating’: seven dead identified in Georgia dock gangway collapse

The dead, in their 70s and one woman in her 90s, were on Sapelo Island to celebrate the Gullah Geechee culture

New details have emerged in the catastrophic collapse of a dock gangway on a small island in Georgia over the weekend that killed seven people and injured many more.

The collapse, which caused at least 20 people to plunge into the water, occurred after the Cultural Day festival on Sapelo Island in honor of Gullah Geechee culture. Officials say that up to 40 people were standing on the dock gangway to board a ferry back to the mainland when the structure gave way.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

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Disney says it will name CEO Bob Iger’s second successor in 2026

The House of Mouse taps former Morgan Stanley CEO as its new board chair, who will lead search for Iger’s replacement

Walt Disney said it would announce another replacement for CEO Bob Iger in early 2026 and named a veteran of Morgan Stanley as board chair on Monday, for the first time announcing a timetable for succession at the storied media and entertainment company.

James Gorman will step down as executive chair of Morgan Stanley at the end of 2024 and take on the position at Disney in January. He had served as CEO of the Wall Street bank for 14 years and is credited with transforming it into a wealth management powerhouse.

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Harris edges out Trump on key economic questions, new poll shows

Poll shows more voters support US vice-president’s tax and housing policies compared with the Republican nominee

Donald Trump has lost his advantage over Kamala Harris on who is best qualified to manage the economy, new polls suggest.

With millions of voters already casting early ballots for the presidency ahead of election day on 5 November, a fresh Associated Press/NORC poll says Harris, the Democratic nominee, has taken a slight lead when it comes to some key economic questions that concern middle-class voters.

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