From a raid on a U.S. lawmaker’s home to an ambassador’s resignation, here are stories that made headlines this past week. Or skip to the end and take a quiz to test your news savvy.
Homeland Security Investigations agents work Monday at the residence of US Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, in Washington, part of a Justice Department investigation.
Federal authorities raid Omar’s home
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities conducted a predawn raid Monday at the Washington-area home of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., an outspoken critic of Donald Trump who is the target of the Republican president’s political insults.
The raid was part of an ongoing investigation, the Justice Department said. A person familiar with the probe said it is related to alleged immigration fraud and partly concerns the Somali-born lawmaker’s immigration paperwork, which her late father filled out when she was a child.
Democrats condemned the raid. “Americans see this for what it is,” the state’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz wrote on social media. “President Trump is abusing his power to go after political opponents weeks before an election.”
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A resident uses flashlight while walking a dog Wednesday during a blackout in Kyiv, Ukraine, after Russian missile and drone attacks hit critical civil infrastructure.
Ukraine gives up on Trump energy truce
KYIV — Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery Thursday, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was “done” supporting a ceasefire on energy targets U.S. President Donald Trump announced and Russia ignored.
Trump said last weekend that Russia and Ukraine agreed to halt attacks on energy. In the days that followed, Russia rained down deadly missile and drone strikes, including on energy targets. U.S. lawmakers also complained that a deal Trump announced days earlier to buy diesel from Russia appeared to violate U.S. law and urged him to retract it.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said Elon Musk’s SpaceX limited Starlink services Wednesday, hampering the country’s drone attacks and air defenses.
Reporters raise their hands to ask questions Tuesday as the new White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia holds her first news briefing at the White House in Washington.
White House’s new press secretary fired
President Donald Trump said he told new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia to reconsider the job after she drew public scrutiny for misrepresenting herself as a lawyer even though she didn’t pass a bar exam or obtain a law license. She was “let go,” a White House official said Friday, after just five days on the job.
In other news
Execution: President Donald Trump canceled the planned livestream of the execution of the former U.S. Army major who killed 13 people at Texas’ Fort Hood, saying Thursday he overruled his defense chief who intended it to be a public spectacle.
Economy: For a third straight month, workers’ paychecks did not keep pace with rising prices, the Labor Department’s final inflation report ahead of the midterm elections revealed Wednesday. Consumer prices rose 0.6% in September from August, and 3.7% from a year earlier.
Ambassador: The White House said Tuesday it asked U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign after news reports raised concerns she sold access to Trump administration officials in exchange for money, gifts and favors.
Shooting: A shooter, 16, killed four people — including three children — Thursday at an elementary school in Bend, Ore., before being killed by an armed member of the community who pursued the shooter, police said.
Pleas: Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty Thursday to a new U.S. indictment accusing them of conspiring to torture political opponents. They previously pleaded not guilty to charges of abusing their power to help drug traffickers.
Hacked: Hackers raised the temperature of refrigerators and freezers at hundreds of French stores, causing fires and spoiling food, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Monday. A cyberthreat intelligence analyst said Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Belgium also were affected.
The water cooler — trending news
Actor RJ Mitte on July 28, 2014, at a reception in Beverly Hills, California.
RJ Mitte (1992-2026): Actor and disability rights activist RJ Mitte, whose experience living with cerebral palsy informed his role as Walter White Jr., the disabled son of a methamphetamine kingpin in the landmark television series “Breaking Bad,” died Monday at age 34. His talent management agency announced his death in Brownsville, Texas, and a publicist later confirmed he took his own life.
Roller coasters: One rider was killed when he fell off of the Goliath roller coaster Monday at Six Flags Over Georgia, and police said four other riders were injured. Witnesses told Atlanta television station 11 Alive that the rider was ejected from the train, fell and hit the ride three times. Six Flags said it temporarily closed 10 similar rides across the U.S.
Pontiff: Pope Leo XIV was diagnosed with a common form of lung cancer after doctors removed a lower lobe of his right lung in surgery Tuesday at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin. The 71-year-old pontiff has lung adenocarcinoma, with tissue tests conducted during the operation confirming what doctors suspected from preparatory examinations, the bulletin said.
Bankruptcy: Character.AI, a California startup that faced lawsuits over allegations that chatbots created on its platform harmed the mental health of teens and led to copyright issues, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday. It agreed to sell some assets for $20 million to Walt Disney but could shut down in bankruptcy if no buyer emerges to carry on its operations.
Big number
$366 million: About the amount Elon Musk spent on this year’s midterm elections as of Monday, $276 million of it since July trying to help Republicans retain control of Congress; that makes him likely the single-biggest political donor in this year’s races, according to campaign finance records.
Quote of the week
“On what universe did anyone in your office think this was acceptable?” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes told government lawyers Monday, referring to the removal of hundreds of trees at the East Potomac Golf Links without the required prior notification.
A golfer tees off Wednesday near felled trees at the historic East Potomac Golf Links in Washington after President Donald Trump's administration cut down more than 400 trees there last weekend.
