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      Trump administration will provide half of usual funds to Snap recipients in November

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      The Trump administration said it would provide partial relief to recipients of food stamps on Monday as the federal government shutdown approached a record-breaking length.Amid mounting uncertainty among the nearly 42 million people on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), the Department of Agriculture said it would use contingency funds to keep benefits going, albeit just 50% of the usual funds recipients receive on their cards.The announcement, in a court filing by the government at the US district court in Rhode Island, came after Donald Trump said the administration would comply with a court order to provide emergency funding after previous refusals to do so on purported legal grounds. Before Monday’s announcement, Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, had suggested that emergency funding might not be available immediately and called for more court guidance on how to fund Snap legally.Money for the program officially ran out on Saturday as a result of the US government shutdown, now in its 34th day and showing no sign of ending as congressional Republican continued their standoff with the Democrats.The US president said on Friday that he would be “honored” to provide emergency funding for the program after Judge John McConnell of the US district court in Rhode Island ruled that the administration could not deny the program funds because of the shutdown.“I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible … even if we get immediate guidance, it will unfortunately be delayed while States get the money out,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network on Friday. “If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding.”McConnell promptly issued an order the following day instructing the administration to start making contingency funds available by midday on Monday.The administration had previously argued that it was legally prohibited from tapping into the contingency fund to provide Snap benefits, arguing that it could only be used in the cases such as natural disasters. The judge rejected that position as “arbitrary”.“The court greatly appreciates the president’s quick and definitive response to this court’s order and his desire to provide the necessary Snap funding,” McConnell wrote in Saturday’s order.The pause in benefits from the program is unprecedented.Bessent told CNN that funds could start flowing by Wednesday, and said he wanted more guidance from the courts on how money could be legally switched around to fund Snap benefits.“There’s a process that has to be followed,” Bessent said. “So, we’ve got to figure out what the process is.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionSome states have said it will take days and, in some cases, even weeks to give out benefits to low income recipients because the government did not disperse partial funds for it after the shutdown began on 1 October.Long queues have been reported at food banks across the country. In California and Texas, stadium car parks were converted into distribution sites amid uncertainty over the program’s continuation.Some states, including New York, Oregon and Virginia, declared states of emergency last week to provide funds that would keep benefits available. But the amounts provided were expected to amount to a fraction of normal federal government funding. The federal costs of Snap amounts to about $8bn a month across the US. More

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      Trump feels ‘very badly’ for British royal family after Prince Andrew was stripped of titles

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      Donald Trump has said he feels “very badly” for the British royal family after King Charles stripped his brother, Andrew, of his titles over the former prince’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late, convicted sex offender.The ex-Duke of York, now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, will also have to move out of his long-term residence at the Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday.The decision follows anxiety within the royal household about the damage caused by continual headlines concerning Mountbatten Windsor’s friendship with the paedophile financier. The former prince has also faced allegations of sexual assault against him by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre.Speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One on Sunday evening, Trump – who was friends with Epstein before winning his two US presidencies – was asked about King Charles’s decision to strip Andrew of his peerages and titles.“I feel very badly,” Trump said. “It’s a terrible thing that’s happened to the family. That’s been a tragic situation. It’s too bad. I feel badly for the family.”Trump has frequently spoken of his admiration for Britain’s royal family, including during his unprecedented second state visit to the UK in September. He hailed the so-called special relationship between the US and Britain as he paid a gushing tribute to King Charles.But Trump has faced his own political woes in recent months over his own alleged relationship with Epstein, who was found dead in a New York jail cell in 2019. Before Trump was greeted by King Charles during September’s visit, several images of the US president and Epstein were projected on to Windsor Castle, with an accompanying soundtrack questioning their relationship.Meanwhile, Mountbatten Windsor has been under renewed scrutiny over his ties to Epstein after the publication of newly released emails and a posthumous memoir by Giuffre, who died by suicide in April at the age of 41. In the book, she claimed she was forced to have sex with the former prince on three occasions, including when she was 17 and also during an orgy after being trafficked by Epstein. She claimed Mountbatten Windsor “believed that having sex with me was his birthright”.Mountbatten Windsor, 65, has always denied claims he had sex with Giuffre when she was 17. He settled a civil case with her for a reported £12m ($16m) with no admission of liability.In the latest fallout from the scandal, the UK defence secretary, John Healey, said on Sunday that Mountbatten Windsor would be stripped of his last remaining naval title, which he was given in 2015.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionHe was stripped of his other honorary military titles by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022 after he was sued by Giuffre.On Friday, a Democratic congressman called for Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives committee that is conducting an inquiry into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.Interest in the case flared in July, after the justice department announced a much-rumored list of Epstein’s sex-trafficking clients did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case. More

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      Why is Donald Trump threatening military intervention in Nigeria?

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      Donald Trump has threatened to launch a “guns-a-blazing” US military intervention in Nigeria, claiming that the west African country’s government has failed to prevent attacks on Christians.Here’s what we know so far about the unfolding situation.What did Trump claim and what was the US political context?In a post on his Truth Social account at the weekend, Trump said: “Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter” and warned that if the Nigerian government failed to stop the killings, Washington would “immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria” and could “go into that now disgraced country, guns-a-blazing”.Trump’s remarks came after weeks of lobbying by US lawmakers and conservative Christian groups urging him to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) for alleged religious persecution – a list that also includes Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China.His statement reflected renewed domestic political pressure to appear tough on the marginalisation or persecution of Christians abroad, a theme that resonates strongly with parts of his rightwing, evangelical base.Do Christians face a particular security threat in Nigeria?Nigeria is officially secular but almost evenly divided between Muslims (53%) and Christians (45%), with the remaining population practising African traditional religions. Violence against Christians has drawn significant international attention, and is often framed as religious persecution. However, most analysts argue the situation is more complex.In parts of central Nigeria, deadly clashes between itinerant Muslim herders and predominantly Christian farming communities are rooted in competition over land and water but exacerbated by religious and ethnic differences. The herders often claim reprisals for the killing of their people and cattle, while local communities see the attacks as ethnic cleansing targeting their settlements.Priests and pastors have increasingly been kidnapped for ransom, as they are viewed as influential figures whose worshippers or organisations can mobilise funds quickly. Some analysts say this may be a trend driven more by criminal economics than religious discrimination.What is the wider security situation in Nigeria?In the north-east, Boko Haram and its splinter groups such as Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have waged an insurgency since 2009, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions.In the north-west, heavily armed criminal gangs – often labelled “bandits” – carry out mass kidnappings and raids that affect both Muslim and Christian communities. These groups have expanded operations into north-central Nigeria, exploiting weak state presence and local grievances.“Christians are being killed, we can’t deny the fact that Muslims are [also] being killed,” Danjuma Dickson Auta, a Christian and community leader from Plateau state in the Middle Belt, told Agence France-Presse.Meanwhile, in the south-east, separatists seeking to revive the defunct state of Biafra have been linked to violence against government institutions and civilians, with most victims being Christians. In all, thousands have been killed across multiple fronts, creating overlapping humanitarian and governance crises.How has Nigeria responded to its security crises?Successive Nigerian governments have struggled to contain these threats and security forces are stretched thin across multiple fronts. They are also often accused of human rights abuses that previously halted US support – most notably under the Leahy Law, which restricts arms sales to forces accused of violations.In the absence of state police and proper intelligence collaborations at all levels of the security hierarchy, many communities remain unprotected, and vigilante groups have filled the vacuum in some states.How has Nigeria responded to Trump?In a statement on Sunday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not name Trump directly but emphasised that Nigeria “is a democracy with constitutional guarantees of religious liberty”. He said characterising the country as religiously intolerant “does not reflect our national reality”.Meanwhile, his presidential spokesperson, Daniel Bwala, described Trump’s post as “a miscommunication” and expressed hope that both leaders would “iron out” their differences if they meet. He insisted that “a data-driven assessment” rather than “isolated reports and social media videos” should guide international conclusions.Bwala added that any military action “would only happen if it is a joint action with the Nigerian government”, reaffirming Nigeria’s sovereignty.Still, concerns are mounting that Trump’s remarks could affect bilateral relations, particularly aid and sales of arms, or be exploited by secessionist groups such as the Biafra Republic Government in Exile, which is already lobbying in Washington. More

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      Top 10 US billionaires’ collective wealth grew by $698bn in past year – report

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      The collective wealth of the top 10 US billionaires has soared by $698bn in the past year, according to a new report from Oxfam America published on Monday on the growing wealth divide.The report warns that Trump administration policies risk driving US inequality to new heights, but points out that both Republican and Democratic administrations have exacerbated the US’s growing wealth gap.Using Federal Reserve data from 1989 to 2022, researchers also calculated that the top 1% of households gained 101 times more wealth than the median household during that time span and 987 times the wealth of a household at the bottom 20th percentile of income. This translated to a gain of $8.35m per household for the top 1% of households, compared with $83,000 for the average household during that 33-year period.Meanwhile, over 40% of the US population, including nearly 50% of children, are considered low-income, with family earnings that are less than 200% of the national poverty line.When pitting the US against 38 other higher-income countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the US has the highest rate of relative poverty, second-highest rate of child poverty and infant mortality, and the second-lowest life expectancy rate.“Inequality is a policy choice,” said Rebecca Riddell, senior policy lead for economic justice at Oxfam America. “These comparisons show us that we can make very different choices when it comes to poverty and inequality in our society.”The report outlines the way that systems in the US, including the tax code, social safety nets, and worker’s rights and protections, have been slowly dismantled, allowing concentrated wealth to turn into concentrated power.Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill”, passed by Congress in May, has been one of the “single largest transfers of wealth upwards in decades”, according to the report, by cutting tax for the wealthy and corporations.But over the last few decades, Republicans have not acted alone.“Policymakers have been choosing inequality, and those choices have had bipartisan support,” Riddell said. “Policy reforms over the last 40 years, from cuts to taxes and the social safety net, to labor issues and beyond, really had the backing of both parties.”Policy recommendations outlined in the report fall into four categories: rebalancing power through campaign finance reform and antitrust policy; using the tax system to reduce inequality through taxes on the wealthy and corporations; strengthening the social safety net; and protecting unions.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThese solutions can be tricky to carry out politically because of long-term stigmatization, particularly of social safety nets and taxation. The report refers to the concept of the “welfare queen” popularized during Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s, while taxation has always been seen as repressive for all rather than as a tool for addressing inequality.“What’s really needed is a different kind of politics,” Riddell said. “One that’s focused on delivering for ordinary people by really rapidly reducing inequality. There are sensible, proven reforms that could go a long way to reversing the really troubling trends we see.”The report features interviews with community leaders who are actively working to reduce inequality, even as progress has seemingly stalled on the national stage. In one interview in the report, union representatives for United Workers Maryland said the current moment seems ripe with opportunity because many Americans are starting to see how the current set-up isn’t working for them, but only for the people at the very top.“I think it’s brilliant that they see this as an opportunity,” Riddell said. “I love thinking about this moment as an opportunity to look around us and realize our broader power.” More

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      Trump says Maduro’s days are numbered but ‘doubts’ US will go to war with Venezuela

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      Donald Trump has sent mixed signals about potential US intervention in Venezuela, playing down concerns of imminent war against the South American nation but saying its leader Nicolás Maduro’s days were numbered.The president’s remarks, made during a CBS interview released on Sunday, come as the US amasses military units in the Caribbean and has conducted multiple strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels, killing dozens.Asked during the 60 Minutes program if the US was going to war against Venezuela, Trump said: “I doubt it. I don’t think so.” However, when asked if Maduro’s days as president were numbered, he replied: “I would say yeah. I think so, yeah.”Maduro, who faces indictment on drug charges in the US, has accused Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext for “imposing regime change” in Caracas to seize Venezuelan oil.More than 15 US strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific have killed at least 65 people in recent weeks, with the latest taking place on Saturday, prompting criticism from governments in the region.Washington has yet to make public any evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the US.In the same interview, Trump alleged countries including Russia and China had conducted underground nuclear tests unknown to the public, and that the US would test “like other countries do”.“Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it,” he told 60 Minutes.“I don’t want to be the only country that doesn’t test,” he said, adding North Korea and Pakistan to the list of nations allegedly testing their arsenals.Confusion has surrounded Trump’s order that the US begin testing, particularly if he meant conducting the country’s first nuclear explosion since 1992.Trump first made his surprise announcement in a social media post on Thursday, minutes before entering a summit with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, in South Korea, saying he had “instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis”.The announcement came after Russia said it had tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, and a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone.Asked directly if he planned for the US to detonate a nuclear weapon for the first time in more than three decades, Trump told CBS: “I’m saying that we’re going to test nuclear weapons like other countries do, yes.”No country other than North Korea is known to have conducted a nuclear detonation for decades. Russia and China have not carried out such tests since 1990 and 1996, respectively.Pressed on the topic, Trump said: “They test way underground where people don’t know exactly what’s happening with the test. You feel a little bit of a vibration.”However, Trump’s energy secretary, Chris Wright, on Sunday downplayed any possible tests by the US, telling Fox News on Sunday: “I think the tests we’re talking about right now are system tests. These are not nuclear explosions.”The US has been a signatory since 1996 to the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty, which bans all atomic test explosions, whether for military or civilian purposes.Other topics addressed in the interview included:

      Trump said he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats to reopen the government, making clear that he has no plans to negotiate as the government shutdown will soon enter its sixth week.

      Asked to clarify whether he would try to run for a third term, which is barred by the constitution, Trump said: “I don’t even think about it,”

      Trump said immigration enforcement officials hadn’t gone far enough in deporting people who were in the country without legal authorisation.
      With Agence France-Presse More

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      Trump news at a glance: Republicans insist Trump is ‘desperate’ to resolve shutdown as Snap payments end

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      Republicans are insisting that Donald Trump is “desperate” to end the government shutdown, which has now entered its 33rd day.The comments by the Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, come as the US president delays food assistance funding for millions of low-income Americans but steams ahead with construction of his $300m gilded White House ballroom.Johnson presented Trump as a man angry and desperate to break the impasse so as to ease mounting pain for ordinary Americans. “He’s just desperate for the government to open, he’s tried everything he can,” Johnson said, adding that Trump was a “big-hearted president, he wants everybody to get their services”.Yet Trump continues to exert an iron grip on the shutdown, resisting political and even federal court pressure to ease the burden on vulnerable Americans while protesting that he has no power to end the impasse.Here are the day’s key Trump administration stories at a glance.Johnson claims ‘big-hearted’ Trump wants to reopen US governmentHouse speaker Mike Johnson’s claims that Donald Trump is desperate to reopen the US government come two days after the president hosted a lavish, Great Gatsby-themed soiree at Mar-a-Lago.Two federal court judges ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must use $5bn in contingency funds to keep paying food assistance Snap benefits for up to 42 million low-income Americans. The payments stopped on Saturday under the shutdown, posing the risk of hunger for millions of people.Read the full storyFBI fires top official amid Patel’s outrage at reports of agency jet useA top FBI official with 27 years standing has reportedly been fired by the bureau after its director, Kash Patel, became enraged by press stories revealing he had used a government jet to travel to see his girlfriend sing the national anthem at a wrestling match.Steven Palmer, who had worked at the bureau since 1998, was fired as head of the FBI’s critical incident response group, which is responsible for handling major security threats as well as overseeing the agency’s fleet of jets. He was the third head of the unit to be dismissed since Patel became FBI director in February.Read the full storyThree killed in US military strike on alleged drug vessel in CaribbeanThe US military has carried out another lethal strike on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea, US defense secretary Pete Hegseth said.He said on Saturday the vessel was operated by a US-designated terrorist organization but did not name which group was targeted. Three people were killed in the strike, he said.It is at least the 15th such strike carried out by the US military in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific since early September.Read the full storyICE spoils celebrations in ChicagoImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Chicago mean that celebrations of Halloween, All Saints Day on 1 November and Día de los Muertos have been muted in the neighborhoods of Pilsen and Little Village.“Clearly it’s because of ICE,” said resident Cecilia Romero. Referring to how JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, had unsuccessfully requested that the Trump administration pause immigration enforcement operations for the Halloween weekend that began Friday, Romero added: “I think people are just scared. It’s just kind of sad that kids are not allowed to have fun on a day where they should be [kids].”Read the full storyWhat else happened today:

      California voters appear poised to approve a redistricting measure placed on the ballot in August by Democrats and the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who have cast it as a chance to check Trump’s power.

      As the US president builds his palace, Americans are going hungry, writes David Smith.
      Catching up? Here’s what happened on 1 November. More

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      Republicans argue ‘big-hearted president’ Trump is keen to end shutdown

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      Top Republicans are portraying Donald Trump as a “big-hearted president” who is desperate to reopen the US government, even as he delays food assistance funding for millions of low-income Americans but steams ahead with construction of his $300m gilded White House ballroom.As the government shutdown entered its 33rd day, the Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, presented Trump as a man angry and desperate to break the impasse so as to ease mounting pain for ordinary Americans. “He’s just desperate for the government to open, he’s tried everything he can,” Johnson said, adding that Trump was a “big-hearted president, he wants everybody to get their services”.The speaker’s claims, made in an interview with Fox News Sunday two days after Trump hosted a lavish, Great Gatsby-themed soiree at Mar-a-Lago, gave a slanted take on the president’s position. Trump continues to exert an iron grip on the shutdown, resisting political and even federal court pressure to ease the burden on vulnerable Americans while protesting he has no power to end the impasse.Two federal court judges ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must use $5bn in contingency funds to keep paying food assistance Snap benefits for up to 42 million low-income Americans. The payments stopped Saturday under the shutdown, posing the risk of hunger for millions of people.Despite the two court orders, it remains unclear when or whether the administration will restart the payments. Trump has said he is waiting for clarification from the federal judges on where the money should come from.The federal court orders require that partial payments of Snap start as early as Wednesday. Asked by CNN’s State of the Union whether that deadline could be met, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said: “Could be”. He said that the administration would not be appealing Friday’s rulings.Instead of authorising use of the contingency funds, Trump has instead exhorted fellow Republican senators to break the impasse by ending the Senate filibuster. The mechanism requires 60 votes in the 100-vote chamber for most kinds of legislation – including an end to the shutdown – to pass.The House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Trump on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday of “weaponising hunger”. He said that the funds exist to continue food assistance benefits through November.Without mentioning by name the president’s $300m ballroom construction project, Jeffries added that Trump and his administration can find funding “for other projects, but somehow they can’t find money to make sure that Americans don’t go hungry”.As the impact of the shutdown begins to bite across the country, threatening poorer Americans and generating mounting delays at US airports, opinion polls suggest that Trump’s Republican party is facing most of the blame from citizens. An NBC News poll carried out at the end of October found that 52% of voters blamed Trump and congressional Republicans for the stalemate, with 42% blaming Democrats.The split fell along familiar partisan divisions, with those identifying as liberal, young people, Black and higher-educated voters blaming Trump – and Democrats being blamed by self-identified supporters of the president’s Make American great again (Maga) movement, white men and rural voters.So far Democrats in the Senate are holding firm with their refusal to support Republicans in reopening the government. Only three Democratic senators have broken ranks so far, with the majority insisting that any deal on the shutdown must be tied to extending healthcare tax credits to avoid steep rises in premiums in 2026 under Affordable Care Act health plans.One of the three Democrats who have joined Republican senators to vote for ending the shutdown, John Fetterman from Pennsylvania, turned on his own party on Sunday. He told CNN’s State of the Union that “Democrats really need to own the shutdown, I mean, we’re shutting it down … This is wrong, we are hurting the very people that we fight for.”Airports are starting to experience delays amid shortages of air traffic controllers who are deemed to be essential federal employees and are obliged to work – yet have ceased being paid. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said 80% of controllers did not show up for shifts in the busy New York region on Friday.At least 35 FAA facilities, including some of the largest airports in the country, are reporting staffing issues.The transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, told CBS News’s Face the Nation on Sunday that safety would not be compromised, adding: “The real consequence is, what kind of rolling delays do you have throughout the system? I think it’s only going to get worse.”He said that as the shutdown continued, more air traffic controllers would “make the decisions of funding their families, putting food on their table, gas in their cars, versus coming into work. That’s not what I want, but I’m a realist.” More