USA

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gavin Newsom will almost certainly win reelection as governor of California in November, with a little-known Republican state senator the only thing between him and a second term leading the nation’s most populous state.

That’s why Newsom’s campaign is more about his political future and overhauling the Democratic Party ahead of the 2024 presidential election — the success of which is much harder to predict.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned a group of people and companies connected to Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, including a sibling involved in the family-run Valenzuela drug trafficking organization.

The sanctions against Juan Francisco Valenzuela Valenzuela and his organization, sometimes called the Valenzuela DTO, freeze all their property and other interests in the U.S. and bar Americans and American companies from doing business with them.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The parents of a 15-year-old boy accused of killing five people in a North Carolina shooting rampage released a statement saying they are “overcome with grief” and saw no warning signs before the killings.

The statement Tuesday by Alan and Elise Thompson also confirmed that one of Austin Thompson’s five victims on Thursday night was his own 16-year-old brother, James. Witnesses described in 911 calls that the shooter opened fire with what appeared to be a shotgun in a neighborhood northeast of downtown Raleigh and along an adjacent walking trail.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of U.S. democracy and the way elected officials are chosen -- nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (APP): A new UN poverty study released on Monday, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, finds that significant poverty reduction is possible, and new ways of calculating the problem can help humanitarians and governments better target aid.

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The United States will continue to take "practical, aggressive" steps to make it harder for Iran to sell drones and missiles to Russia, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday, adding that Washington had a number of tools to hold both Moscow and Tehran accountable.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- A majority of American voters are convinced this November's midterm elections will significantly impact the country, according to a new poll released on Monday.

More than eight in 10 registered voters consider voting in the upcoming elections to be extremely or very important, the latest Associated Press-NORC poll showed.

While majorities of both Democrats and Republicans expect the outcome to impact the country overall and the economy, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe the same about abortion policy.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s private company arranged for the Secret Service to pay for rooms at his properties in excess of government-approved rates at least 40 times, including two charges for more than $1,100 per room, per night, according to documents released Monday by a congressional committee.

(AP) --- The cost of living in Cairo has soared so much that security guard Mustafa Gamal had to send his wife and year-old daughter to live with his parents in a village 70 miles south of the Egyptian capital to save money.

Gamal, 28, stayed behind, working two jobs, sharing an apartment with other young people and eliminating meat from his diet. “The prices of everything have been doubled,” he said. “There was no alternative.″

NEW YORK (AP) — French cement company Lafarge pleaded guilty Tuesday to paying millions of dollars to the Islamic State group in exchange for permission to keep open a plant in Syria, a case the Justice Department described as the first of its kind. The company also agreed to penalties totaling roughly $778 million.