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President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies are threatening democracy, a new ACLU report says. |
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Fallout continues in the aftermath of accusations of a drugging and gang rape at Cornell University. |
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Justice Samuel Alito has been at the center of some of the Supreme Court's most controversial decisions. He's written a new book in which he explains how he sees the law, and his role in it. ✍🏻 |
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ACLU: Trump policies 'impacting all Americans'
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The Trump administration's mass deportations, detentions and consolidation of executive power are eroding democracy, a new report from the American Civil Liberties Union says. The administration has "taken hundreds of actions to consolidate the president’s grip on power, execute a radical redefining of who belongs in America, and enact the largest rollback of civil rights and liberties in recent history," the ACLU report says. "Deportations have provided a pretext, a distraction, and a legal justification all at once, as the administration attacks our individual constitutional rights — impacting all Americans."
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US President Donald Trump arrives at Dayton International Airport, Ohio, US, October 3, 2026.
Nathan Howard, REUTERS
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Cornell fallout continues
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Cornell University students are staging protests this week, calling on the university to make changes in how it investigates sexual assault on campus and how it treats survivors and perpetrators. Protesters carried signs saying, "We want sentences, not essays," or asking, "How many more?" in the wake of allegations a student was drugged and raped by members of a fraternity.
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"We are known as a rape school, but we don’t have to be," Saya Taylor, an organizer with Students for a Democratic Cornell, told the crowd. "We can be the students that lead a nationwide reform movement."
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Former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates will lead an independent review into the university's handling of the case. |
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Photos: Cornell students protest at the New York campus. 📸 |
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Watch: On the march at Cornell. |
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How did Cornell's campus police handle the investigation? Experts weigh in. |
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Several thousand students, faculty, and community members attended a rally at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on Oct. 5, 2026. The protesters gathered to demand changes from Cornell's administration over its handling of the Jane Doe sexual abuse allegations.
Seth Harrison, The Journal News via USA TODAY Network
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A possible hurricane is brewing along the Gulf, and officials are warning residents to be prepared. 🌀 |
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Televangelist Jim Bakker, who fell from grace amid sex and financial scandals, died at 86. 📺 |
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Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 people in a 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, will be put to death by firing squad. |
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A California real estate agent has been charged with spying for China. 👀 |
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Abortion. Religious freedom. Voting rights. In recent years, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has authored major – and controversial – opinions on those hot button issues. Now the conservative jurist explains his approach to the law in a new new book, and answers written questions from USA TODAY about his views and some of his decisions.
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Will Alito retire? What the justice said about the speculation. 👋🏼 |
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Searching for Amelia Earhart 🔍
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Human bones that resemble Amelia Earhart's measurements. A woman's shoe. A jar of freckle cream and a medicine vial that date to the 1930s . A "visual anomaly" in a lagoon on the remote island of Nikumaroro in the South Pacific. Will these clues lead to what one researcher called "the discovery of a lifetime," the site where the famed aviator and her navigator Fred Noonan went missing in 1937? A group of explorers, including a team from Purdue University, is about to find out.
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Photo of pilot Amelia Earhart standing by her plane circa 1935.
Getty Images
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Phaedra Trethan is a national correspondent at USA TODAY. I’d love to hear from readers about The Short List, story ideas from across the nation and your MLB playoff picks (I'm rooting for the Padres and White Sox.) Email me at ptrethan@usatoday.com.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. has limited information about a suspected pneumonic plague death and pushed Russia to share more details.
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An attorney representing ABC said the FCC's ongoing investigations are causing "immediate and irreparable" harm to the network in an Oct. 6 hearing.
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British police arrested the 22-year-old in London on Oct. 6. He's the seventh person arrested in the case. The others have been released on bail.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune says there is "no consensus" on the Sunshine Protection Act despite pressure from President Donald Trump.
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An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5. struck Alaska's Kodiak Island Borough on Oct. 6, 2026.
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A Chicago woman has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of a 7-year-old girl, authorities said.
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A proposed class-action lawsuit accuses Starbucks of labeling eight protein drinks as "sugar-free" despite allegedly having up to 21 grams of sugar.
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Both Walt Disney World and Disneyland just increased some ticket prices, but savvy travelers can avoid them by visiting on the cheapest dates.
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Pat McAfee increased his donation to Iowa's Stead Family Children's Hospital to $1 million after facing criticism for initially donating $150,000.
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Yelp just released its list of the best new restaurants in 2026, but they're not all in major cities around the country.
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Play Your Way to a Relaxing Break
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Unwind with crosswords and challenges that recharge you.
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Crosswords, Puzzles, Comics & Horoscopes
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