GOP seeking to have section 2, designed to prevent discrimination in voting, declared unconstitutional as battles around redistricting take place across nation
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next few hours.
We start with news that the US supreme court will hear a hugely consequential case on Wednesday that will determine the future of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights law designed to prevent discrimination in voting.
Donald Trump presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charlie Kirk’s distraught, tearful widow, Erika Kirk.
Kirk’s widow praised her late husband and said that he would likely have run for president one day had he not been killed before his 32nd birthday.
Trump’s state department announced that it had revoked the visas of six foreign nationals who posted critical comments on social media about Kirk, in the wake of the conservative activist’s murder.
Trump said that a list of ‘Democrat programs’ that the White House plans to cut will be released on Friday.
Trump warned that Hamas must disarm ‘or we will disarm them’.
Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States has struck another small boat that he accuses of carrying drugs in waters off the coast of Venezuela, killing six people aboard.
The US government shutdown entered its 14th day, with no end in sight.
Katie Porter, the former congresswoman running for California governor, said in an interview that she regrets losing her temper in two video clips that went viral last week, but suggested that the state needs a “tough” leader.
Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders has restarted his parliamentary election campaign after briefly suspending it due to security threats, reports 24brussels.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Wilders expressed the personal toll of living under armed protection for decades: “After all these years, I no longer know the feeling of personal freedom. The impact of all that on yourself and your family is often difficult to explain to people who haven’t experienced it themselves.”
Addressing his supporters, he emphasized the significance of the upcoming elections, stating, “But now elections are coming up, it’s campaign time and I feel a great responsibility for the Netherlands and all PVV voters.” He announced his participation in several debates scheduled for the coming weeks.
The resumption of his campaign highlights the ongoing tensions in Dutch politics as the country approaches important elections. Wilders, known for his controversial views, faces not only political opposition but also significant security concerns influenced by his outspoken stance on immigration and Islam.
Authorities continue to monitor the situation closely, ensuring safety measures are implemented for candidates facing threats during the electoral process. As the campaign unfolds, political analysts expect heated debates and heightened scrutiny of policy positions.
This situation underscores the broader context of rising extremism and political polarization seen across Europe, prompting discussions about the balance between freedom of expression and national security.
de Souza said she had to get used to a new schedule in New York.
Wilma Ramony de Souza
Wilma Ramony de Souza went from working at a JPMorgan Brazil office to a New York City location.
Some of the biggest cultural shifts included schedule, clothing, and even lunch habits.
de Souza said the expectations were higher at the 383 Madison Avenue office.
Neutrals instead of colors. An earlier alarm in the morning. A new coffee habit.
Wilma Ramony de Souza spent 14 years at JPMorgan and switched from the São Paulo branch to a New York City office in 2019 as a vice president. Though de Souza,37, would often travel to New York during her years working in Brazil, she said the differences in office culture at 383 Madison Avenue stillhit her hard when she arrived.
“How do you behave? How do you take calls? How do you talk to people? How do you go to meetings?” de Souza said, remembering how she would observe New York City employees.
She rose through the ranks of the bank during her time there, becoming an executive director by her 30s and eventually relocating to the London office, before deciding to quit last August. Business Insider has verified her employment and roles within the company. JPMorgan declined to comment.
Get in early
During her years in São Paulo, de Souza said she would arrive at the office around 9 am and leave around 6 pm, except on days when she’d be closing deals until the early morning hours. In New York, traders would usually arrive at the office by 7 am, and others would trickle in between 8 and 8:30.
Dress up
Both offices had dress codes, but whenever de Souza traveled to New York, she said her boss would advise her to ditch the usual color for black or gray dresses and slick her hair back in a ponytail.
“Formally dressed every day: trench coat, nice shoes, you always had to dress up,” de Souza said.
de Souza said she remembered wearing an off-white suit one October, only to have someone say there was an unofficial rule not to wear the color after Labor Day — to this day, she’s not sure whether they meant a fashion rule or an office rule, but stopped opting for all white.
New York-style clothing seeped into de Souza’s life before the move, though. She said she bought a Burberry trench coat while she was still an associate in Brazil with her own money, and loved wearing it on trips to the bank’s headquarters.
Lunch isn’t social
In Brazil, everyone took an hourlong break for lunch, de Souza said, but New York employees ate at their desks. They’d get a salad or a sandwich and bring it back to their monitors, eating as they worked.
“I remember my first week in New York, it was around noon, and I was like, ‘Who is going to invite me to lunch?” she said. “After a year or so, I was soaked in and I kind of embraced it, but at first I felt so lonely and thought nobody was going to eat.”
Food itself became another point of contrast — de Souza said people would sometimes be surprised when she brought rice and beans into the office, not knowing the dish is typical of Brazil. When she did buy lunch from the office cafeteria in New York, she said she opted for pre-set salads during her first months in the city because she worried about taking too long to place her order.
de Souza said she started drinking coffee after the move, and lattes in particular, partly because of all the coffee chats.
Time is money
New York felt like “the eye of the storm,” and de Souza said people worked nonstop, had higher standards, and expected more preparation.
“I felt like the intern always spoke five languages and went to an Ivy League school,” de Souza said. “It was like ‘Oh my God, if I breathe too slow I’m losing time.”
Have an executive presence
Beyond dressing and eating differently, de Souza said she also learned to alter her corporate presence, partly because there was a culture of total excellence in New York. With so many talented people in the room, she said she had to figure out how to be even better at her job. She also enrolled in — and appreciated — training courses about everything from her accent to doing business in English throughout her career.
“You learn a lot from being in that environment,” de Souza said of her time in New York. “My boss was like, ‘You need to speak slower, look at people, eye contact, no hand gestures.'”
Ukraine Faces Severe Gas Infrastructure Attacks Amid Escalating Tensions
Ukraine continues to grapple with significant assaults on its gas infrastructure, particularly from Russian forces, which have severely disrupted gas production levels. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the resilience of the Ukrainian people, stating, “The Russians cannot understand that we cannot be broken and intimidated like this. We support and protect each other. We will restore everything. We will rebuild everything,” reports 24brussels.
Zelenskyy highlighted the urgent situation facing Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, noting heavy pressure imposed by the Kremlin. He outlined his government’s contingency plans, stating, “We have Plan A and Plan B. Under Plan B, if there is, for example, a strong attack on all gas infrastructure, we understand that we have imports then.” He provided no further specifics regarding the strategic details of these plans.
Further enhancing his message, Zelenskyy clarified, “We know the volume and cost of the necessary imports — this is Plan B. Plan A is when we rely more on our own production. In Plan B, we also know where to find the money required.” The comments came amid preparations to address looming energy shortages exacerbated by recent attacks.
The situation escalated significantly following strikes on October 3, which targeted Poltava and Kharkiv, key regions for gas extraction. Those attacks reportedly incapacitated approximately 60 percent of Ukraine’s domestic gas production, as noted by Bloomberg last week.
According to Naftogaz, this marked the most severe strike on gas infrastructure since the commencement of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, involving over 35 missiles and 60 drones. The scale of the damage likely compels Kyiv to secure an additional €1.9 billion in urgent gas imports, signaling a desperate need to fortify its energy resources in light of ongoing adversarial actions.
Rafah border crossing will be allowed to open, say reports, after Hamas hands over more remains of hostages
Israel will allow Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt to open and will not cut the amount of humanitarian aid entering the devastated Palestinian territory as threatened, Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, has reported, after Hamas handed over more remains of hostages.
The fragile ceasefire in Gaza had faced its first test when Israel said on Tuesday the flow of vital humanitarian assistance into Gaza would be cut by half and the crucial Rafah border crossing with Egypt would not open on Wednesday as planned, accusing Hamas of failing to comply with the deal agreed last week by delaying the return the bodies of hostages.
