Men deported from US bound and beaten in Equatorial Guinea detention hotel, lawyers say Group trapped at Hotel Bamy after US removal as rights groups sound alarm over poor conditions and violenceTwo men that the Trump administration expelled to Equatorial Guinea were bound, fitted with bags over their heads, beaten and pushed down a flight of stairs, all in plain view of other US deportees, according to witnesses and human rights lawyers.The men - one from Egypt and one from Eritrea - were then taken to a prison. About 30 detainees from the US remain trapped at a hotel in the outskirts of the coastal city of Malabo after being deported from the US. Detainees have said they believe the men were beaten for telling the press and human rights advocates about the poor conditions and violence inside the hotel, and that they are haunted by flashbacks and terrified they will be retaliated against next. Continue reading...
Survivors recount panic and struggle to breathe in Nigerian prison cell where 37 died Police fire teargas as protests break out in city of Minna after deaths of suspected illegal goldminers, many of whom were childrenSurvivors from a prison cell in Nigeria where 37 suspected illegal goldminers died while in the custody of a paramilitary group this week have recounted their panic and struggle for breath, as police on Friday fired teargas at people protesting against the deaths and imposed an overnight curfew in the city of Minna.The victims - many of whom were children - were found dead on Thursday in the cells of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), which had raided suspected illegal goldmines and locked up dozens of miners in the city, the state capital of the mineral-rich state of Niger. Continue reading...
British woman who was kidnapped in Malawi rescued by police after shootout Four of Nurat Osman's alleged abductors were killed during rescue after she was taken from outside her home last weekA British woman kidnapped in Malawi last week has been rescued by police after a shootout in which four of her alleged abductors were killed.Nusrat Osman was abducted outside her home in the southern city of Blantyre on 11 September at about 12.30pm. Police had offered a reward of 30m Malawi kwacha (£12,950) for information leading to her rescue and the arrest of the perpetrators. Continue reading...
Louisiana firefighters find feline native to sub-Saharan Africa while responding to house fire The African serval, illegally enclosed in the back yard, was subdued and transferred to an animal welfare facility Louisiana firefighters responding to a small house blaze found a wildcat native to sub-Saharan Africa illegally enclosed in the back yard, prompting an animal welfare agency to seek placing the creature in an appropriate environment, according to officials.Firefighters investigating a report of a minor fire at a home in the suburban New Orleans community of Marrero on Tuesday spotted the cat in question - an African serval - behind the residence in a chain-linked enclosure resembling a cramped baseball batting cage, a spokesperson for the local animal protection services said. Continue reading...
'We demand the truth': Olga Tokarczuk and JM Coetzee lead calls for proof of life of disappeared Eritrean writers More than 180 writers sign letter renewing calls for information on 12 authors detained incommunicado since 2001 crackdown on free speech by Isaias AfwerkiMore than 180 writers have signed a letter to Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki calling for proof of life for 12 writers arrested in 2001.Nobel laureates Olga Tokarczuk and JM Coetzee join prominent writers including Colm Tóibín, Elif Shafak, Isabel Allende, Ben Okri, Yann Martel, Kamila Shamsie and Tsitsi Dangarembga in signing the letter organised by PEN International and dated 18 September, marking 25 years since a government crackdown on the independent press. "Within days, Eritrea's free press and the nation's independent voices were systematically crushed," opens the letter. Continue reading...
More than a dozen arrested in connection with 2021 assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, 53, was shot dead in July 2021 in a killing which sparked chaos in HaitiEighteen people have been arrested in association with the 2021 assassination of the Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, according to US officials.Moïse, 53, was shot dead on 7 July 2021 at his private residence by a hired group of about 20 military-trained Colombian mercenaries. His security detail did not intervene to protect him. Continue reading...
ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Austin, authorities say ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Austin, authorities sayAUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded a man Sunday afternoon in Texas' capital of Austin, local authorities said, and anti-ICE protesters quickly gathered at the scene. The unnamed man was in serious but stable condition at a hospital after being shot once in the torso on the city's north side, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference with the mayor and other city officials. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not participate in the news conference and didn't immediately respond to requests for details. Austin police officers were not involved in the operation or the shooting, which occurred after a traffic stop, Davis told reporters. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, said he wants the city's police department to be involved in the investigation so it can provide "clear, third-party eyes" in the process. Watson said he does not think it would be appropriate for ICE to conduct an investigation on its own. Austin residents have "a right to feel safe in their city," Watson said. A proper investigation will only enhance credibility, he added. Davis said she did not yet know the nationality of the person who was shot. The chief said there were not many facts she could provide so soon after the incident, but added that her department's special investigation unit was at the scene. A dark blue Toyota Corolla was parked under an overpass with damage to its passenger-side door and what appeared to be bullet holes, local media reported. A large law enforcement presence was at the scene, along with a crowd of about a hundred protesters. Some demonstrators cursed at police officers holding riot shields, while others yelled out as passing cars honked in support of the protest. One man held a sign saying, "Nobody is safe" and, on the other side, "ICE Nazi." Asked if Austin authorities knew where the involved federal agent is, given that agents have left states after previous shootings nationwide, the mayor said: "We do not know that. But my hope would be that, an agent that's involved in an officer-involved shooting would not leave the city. Certainly not leave the state." U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat representing parts of Austin, called for transparency as the shooting is investigated. "It is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep," Casar told reporters. "For Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge here." The shooting comes as ICE surges enforcement across the country this summer, producing more than 50,000 arrests a month for the first time in its history in July and August. In July, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site. Also in July, 25-year-old Johan Sebastián, a Colombian man, was shot by an ICE officer in Maine. The officer is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told The Associated Press. The administration's enforcement efforts were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota. ___ Weber reported from Los Angeles. Contributing were Associated Press journalists Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, R.I.; and Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis.This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/ice-agent-shoots-wounds-man-211813194.html
Iran and U.S. trade threats after Houthi attacks escalate regional conflict. Iran and U.S. trade threats after Houthi attacks escalate regional conflict.By Jana Choukeir and Doina Chiacu DUBAI/WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Iran and the United States exchanged new threats on Sunday, with President Donald Trump warning Iran would fail economically or face its leadership being wiped out if it didn't make a deal, and the Iranian military saying it would retaliate harshly to any fresh attack. The conflict has looked stalemated for months, with no sign either side was ready for concessions even as it has deepened a global energy crisis, cratered swathes of Iran's economy and spilled over into new regional escalations. In a phone call with a Fox News reporter, Trump said Iran's leaders should make a deal, rot economically or be wiped out, the reporter said. However, with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian expected in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said he would be open to meeting him, the Fox reporter added. Trump has repeatedly made vague threats of major military escalations during the conflict that began with US and Israeli strikes on February 28, without carrying them out. Earlier, Iran's military central command said any new attack would trigger sustained retaliation against US bases and interests and that Washington's regional allies would be considered parties to the conflict. The Iranian military added that it had information that an attack was being prepared, without elaborating on what that information might be. HOUTHIS TARGET RIYADH US Gulf allies have already been badly scarred by a war that the US and Israel launched with no warning, bringing their cities under Iranian fire and hammering their economies with the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway blockaded. On Saturday their predicament worsened further, with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi group launching missile and drone strikes at the Saudi capital after having made sudden military gains in Yemen's reignited civil war earlier this month. Reuters video showed a massive plume of black smoke billowing from the area of Riyadh's main international airport following booms overnight. The US State Department issued a security alert citing the Houthi hostilities. It said there was potential for unforeseen escalation in the Middle East, and Americans should exercise more vigilance and be aware of possible flight cancellations and airspace closures. Saudi Arabia did not comment on the incident, though a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it had foiled other attacks on the kingdom. Recent escalation by the Houthis has forced Riyadh into a painful dilemma: continue airstrikes on the group to stop it seizing more Yemeni territory or step back in the hopes of averting drone strikes on critical infrastructure. ENERGY EXPORTS BLOCKADED The Houthi gains along the coast mean the group's forces now sit on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, giving them easier control over shipping travelling between the Red Sea and Asia and the ability to blockade the crucial waterway. With Iran already having blockaded most shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the oil-rich Gulf's energy exports are now almost entirely cut off from global markets, adding to pressure on oil prices. A US blockade of Iranian ports is meanwhile stopping Iran from selling its own oil, contributing to major problems in the Islamic Republic's economy. Despite the economic damage, there is little sign of a return to the interim ceasefire agreement that was struck in June but fell apart in July amid disputes over its terms. Iran reiterated on Sunday that it would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the terms of that June agreement, as it interpreted them, were met. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran would have to keep on fighting as well as negotiating, to push back its enemies and to consolidate any gains with diplomacy. (Reporting by Jana Choukeir in Dubai and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Additional reporting by Timour Azhari in Riyadh; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Ros Russell) This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/iran-warns-against-escalation-us-131851523.html
New poll suggests gloomy GOP outlook for midterms New poll suggests gloomy GOP outlook for midtermsPresident Donald Trump's sinking ratings threaten to drag down Republicans in November's midterm elections, as voters blame him for high prices and a shaky economy, according to a new NBC News poll.The president's approval rating stands at 41% among registered voters, a second-term low in the poll, with a majority (55%) of voters saying they believe Trump's policies have hurt the economy. That's up from 48% in March, before the Iran war pushed up prices on gas and other goods and cemented the rising cost of living as voters' most pressing issue.NBC NewsDemocrats hold a 5-point edge in the battle for control of Congress, 50%-45% - not nearly as large a lead as the 12-point advantage the party enjoyed at this point before the 2018 election, when Democrats rode an anti-Trump wave to the House majority in his first midterm as president. Despite that lead, the Democratic Party is still viewed more negatively than Trump and the GOP.That could help Republicans, along with the fact that the fight for control of the House and especially the Senate is playing out in traditionally Republican parts of the country. Democrats would have to flip multiple states Trump carried by double digits in 2024 to win the Senate.NBC News"We have a classic battle between these numbers and the political geography in which this campaign will be decided," said Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, whose firm conducted the survey alongside Democratic firm Hart Research Associates. "And the Republicans are still standing because of the geography in which this election will be won or lost."Still, the poll suggests an increasingly gloomy political environment for the GOP. Longtime double-digit leads over the Democratic Party on who would better handle inflation and the economy have evaporated. More than 6 in 10 voters say the Iran war has not been worth it. Voters don't appear to be motivated by Trump's signature tax and spending legislation he championed last year.Instead, Trump himself is a powerful motivating factor, but more for Democrats than for Republicans, as more voters - including nearly half of independents - say they consider their vote a signal of opposition to the president than at any other time in three decades of NBC News polling before midterm elections."Donald Trump has achieved his goal of making this election about him at a historic level. The problem for Trump and Republicans on the ballot in November is that he has also made history in the highest share of voters who say their vote is in opposition to Trump," said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates.Republicans on the campaign trail are trying to shore up their standing by arguing that Democrats are too extreme to trust with congressional majorities.But the poll indicates voters are more anxious about restraining Trump: 50% say they're more concerned that Republicans will go too far in supporting Trump if they keep control of Congress, while 42% are more concerned Democrats will obstruct the president if they win control of Congress. Independents lean 45%-30% toward greater concern that Republicans will go too far supporting Trump.McInturff acknowledged the challenges for the GOP posed by the political environment, even as the party's geographic advantages keep Democrats fighting on their turf."The issue environment is tilting substantially towards the Democrats," McInturff said.
Trump's struggles continue
A majority of voters, 56%, disapprove of Trump's job performance, including overwhelming shares of Democrats and independents and 16% of Republicans. The share of voters who strongly approve of Trump, 25%, is the second-lowest mark recorded in the NBC News poll across Trump's first and second terms.The disapproval rating closely tracks the 55% who say Trump's policies have hurt the economy, while 26% say they have helped and 18% say they have not made much of a difference. At this point in the 2018 election cycle, more voters said Trump's policies helped the economy (41%) than hurt (26%).And the survey suggests some of Trump's signature economic policies are falling flat.While Republicans are touting Trump's signature tax cut and spending measure known as the "big, beautiful bill," which was enacted in 2025, 42% of voters say they are less likely to support a candidate backing the measure, while 36% say they are more likely to support such a candidate.Trump's latest gambit - an announcement at the recent Republican convention that he wanted to issue $5,000 payments to every adult if Republicans keep control of Congress - isn't garnering much interest. While 21% of voters say they're more likely to back a candidate who supports Trump's plan, 46% say they'd be less likely.A plurality of Republicans say it would make no difference in their vote choice, while Democrats are uniformly against the idea and 45% of independents would be less likely to support a candidate in favor of the plan. Among independents, 13% say they'd be more likely to support a candidate who backs Trump's plan.Voters are also continuing to express opposition to the Iran war, with 57% saying they are less likely to support a candidate who supports the war, versus 24% who are more likely to support that candidate. One-third of voters say the war has been worth it, while 62% disagree.And Democrats also have a 4-point advantage, within the poll's margin of error, on the question of which party voters say they trust to handle the war with Iran.Trump has continued to insert himself into the midterms, including endorsing nearly all Republicans in competitive congressional races. But 52% of voters are less likely to support a candidate endorsed by Trump, while 30% are more likely to support a Trump-backed candidate.
Democratic opportunities - and challenges
Clear dissatisfaction with the president opens the door for Democrats as they fight for control of Congress this fall.Forty-three percent of registered voters say their vote for Congress is intended to signal opposition to Trump, while 27% say they plan to vote to send a signal of support for Trump and 28% say their vote won't be a signal either way.Among independents, almost half (46%) see their vote as a signal of opposition to Trump, while just a handful (10%) say their vote is a signal of support for the president.Democrats have a 1-point lead when voters are asked which party they trust more in dealing with the economy - a result within the poll's margin of error. It's the third consecutive NBC News poll with both parties sitting about even on that question. In the same survey just three years ago, Republicans enjoyed a 21-point advantage when it came to handling the economy.Democrats also have a 7-point edge on controlling inflation, as well as slight leads on dealing with the war in Iran and dealing with corruption - government corruption was the second-most popular choice when voters were asked to rank the most important issue facing the country, with concern about the issue heightened among members of both parties and independents. The Democratic Party also has double-digit leads on dealing with data centers and dealing with healthcare. Republicans still hold significant advantages over Democrats on handling crime, border security and immigration, including a 21-point lead on border security. But that is down from the 36-point edge the GOP held over Democrats on the issue in Sept. 2022, after Trump has made aggressive immigration enforcement a hallmark of his second term.Democrats also have a narrow lead on interest in the election, as well as among party identification. But it's not all rosy for the opposition party.The Republican Party is viewed more positively by voters: 36% have a positive view of the GOP, while 49% view the party negatively. On the Democratic Party, voters are split 29%-50%.Meanwhile, the Democratic Socialists of America is viewed positively by 22% of voters, as Republicans try to link other Democrats to the left-wing group, which rose in prominence following some major primary wins in the past two years.One poll respondent - Aidan Valenzuela, a 19-year-old Texan who doesn't affiliate with either party - told NBC News that he hasn't plugged into the election yet and is still unsure whom he'll vote for. But he said his father grew up during the Cold War and that he's wary of Democrats who describe themselves as democratic socialists."Any relation toward socialism or communism in general gives me the ick. It's like a buzzword that generally just makes me not want to sway in that direction," he said.Half of voters say they'd be less likely to vote for a candidate who "supports many of the Democratic Socialists of America's proposed policies," while 31% say they'd be more likely to support those kinds of candidates.Candidates calling to abolish ICE, a big point of emphasis among progressives, draw similarly unpopular scores with voters.That said, for all the Democratic infighting over policies like "Medicare for All," 53% of voters say they would be more likely to support a candidate who favors the policy, while 36% said it would make them less likely to vote for that candidate.When asked a similar question with slightly different wording to note the healthcare would be financed in part by taxes, 49% say they'd be more likely to support a candidate that backed the policy and 39% say they'd be less likely.Horwitt, the Democratic pollster, noted that his party "remains in a terrible position as a brand nationally," even as the poll paints a dismal picture for Trump and Republicans."This speaks more to deep dissatisfaction with Trump and Republicans than a ringing endorsement of Democrats," he said. "The party in power does not have a positive story to tell on the major issues of the day: inflation, corruption and the Iran war. Voters are continuing to look for change."The NBC News poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters Sept. 11-15 via a mix of telephone interviews and an online survey sent via text message. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.This article was originally published on NBCNews.comThis article originally appeared on NBC News at https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/poll-voters-say-trump-hurt-economy-competitive-midterm-election-looms-rcna597868
Over a dozen states are closer than ever to making daylight saving time permanent Over a dozen states are closer than ever to making daylight saving time permanent(NEXSTAR) - The days getting shorter serve as a reminder that we're barreling toward the end of our seasonal observation of daylight saving time, but the wheels may be in motion to stop that - a move more than a dozen states have been waiting to happen. Earlier this year, the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent throughout the U.S., with few exceptions. It's been held up in the Senate since July but, now that the chamber has returned from recess, there's a chance the legislation could be picked up. If it can pass the Senate, the bill seems to stand a fair chance of becoming law, with President Trump already expressing support.
For more than a dozen states, this is the closest they've been in years to seeing some of their own legislation finally take effect. The U.S. hasn't been this close to permanent daylight saving time since a version of the Sunshine Protection Act passed in the Senate in 2022 but fizzled in the House. At present, states are only allowed to opt into year-round permanent standard time, as Hawaii and much of Arizona have done. But that hasn't stopped 19 states from enacting legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent in their jurisdiction, pending approval from Congress. In 2018, Florida became the first state to call for year-round DST. It's congressional lawmakers from the Sunshine State who have spearheaded several attempts to make daylight saving time permanent in the U.S., including the version of the Sunshine Protection Act passed by the House this year.Last year, Maine and Texas became the latest states to approve year-round daylight saving time legislation.Several of the states that have enacted similar legislation within the past eight years have stipulations in their bills that further rely on their neighbors locking their clocks. Delaware, for example, followed Florida's lead but said that Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania must also make daylight saving time permanent. None of them have, though bills to do so in New Jersey and Pennsylvania remain alive.
Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Idaho, and Washington have similar requirements within their enacted legislation. Oregon (Malheur County would be excluded) has enacted legislation as well, but awaits action by California. Voters there gave their legislators the OK to lock the clocks in 2018, but the state has failed to do so.Other states to enact all-year daylight saving time legislation are Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee.States that tried, and failed, to make daylight saving time permanent this year include Alaska, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Virginia, and West Virginia, according to legislative tracking by Nexstar. Meanwhile, several states tried to make standard time permanent this year, but also failed (legislation in Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania remains alive). States can still opt to lock their clocks on permanent standard time under the Sunshine Protection Act. For now, though, no clocks are locking on daylight saving time.It's not clear if or when the Senate could take up the Sunshine Protection Act or if it has enough votes to pass and make daylight saving time permanent. Unless they act quickly, our clocks will "fall back" to standard time on November 1, the earliest possible date daylight saving time can end.Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.This article originally appeared on The Hill at https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/6082525-19-states-approved-permanent-daylight-saving-time-the-last-obstacle-to-locking-their-clocks-could-soon-fall/
Housing costs rise as 30-year mortgage rates jump before midterms Housing costs rise as 30-year mortgage rates jump before midterms(Bloomberg) -- Barely six weeks out from the midterm elections, housing costs that many Americans have long said are too high are looking even more out of reach. Most Read from Bloomberg
The latest blow for consumers came Thursday, when Freddie Mac reported that rates for 30-year mortgages climbed to 6.95%, the highest since January 2025, when President Donald Trump returned to office. That report emerged after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years, crushing any hopes that borrowing costs will come down soon. The outlook for housing remains grim. The 10-year Treasury yield, which mortgage rates closely track, is hovering around its highest since 2007. Builder confidence has tumbled to match the lowest level since late 2022, thanks to an ugly mix of falling mortgage applications, inflated building material costs and immigration enforcement that's scared away workers. "The housing sector is not a good-news story from any dimension," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the right-leaning American Action Forum. "We had a period of low inventory on both the owner-occupied and rental side, and now we have the problem of high prices and high financing costs." Nationwide, 49% of US metropolitan areas tracked by the National Association of Realtors now require a household income of $100,000 to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home, assuming a 10% down payment. That's up from just 6% of US metro areas in 2019 and includes cities in political battlegrounds like Columbus, Ohio; Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas; and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 2025, the real median household income in the US was $87,460.For Trump - who promised on his first day back in office to lower housing costs - the inability to provide relief is boosting chances that Democrats take the House and, possibly, the Senate in November. "Making Housing Affordable Again" is still listed as the top accomplishment of Trump's Department of Housing and Urban Development, but that's not how it feels to many in the housing market, or their employers."Whenever one of our staff members is looking for housing, it can be very tough to find something," said Andrew Volk, who owns the Hunt & Alpine bar in Portland, Maine, a top election battleground. Asked if that's made it harder for employers to hang on to workers, he responded, "One thousand percent." The broader outlook among US consumers is also worsening, adding to GOP headwinds ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms. Preliminary data from a closely watched University of Michigan survey showed consumer sentiment deteriorated again in September, nearing a record low. Only 35% of Republicans believe the administration is doing a good job with the economy, according to the survey, the lowest reading since Trump returned to the White House. "I think Republicans should be quite cognizant of this," Holtz-Eakin, who once led the Congressional Budget Office, said. "The unemployment rate is 4.1%, but people are going to work and not getting ahead. That's not a happy feeling."Since taking office, Trump has vacillated between claiming credit for lowering consumer prices and dismissing affordability as a "con job" fabricated by Democrats. It's an issue candidates from both parties can't avoid on the campaign trail. "Democrats are talking about affordability, and now Republicans are trying to talk about it, even though Trump calls it a hoax," said Bernie Porn, a longtime pollster in Michigan, home to one of the nation's most-watched Senate races. In Maine, a state where Democrats hope to flip a Republican Senate seat, the major campaign issues are "affordability - then a gap - and then Trump," said Mark Brewer, chair of the University of Maine's political science department. "Data centers are moving up fast. Everything else comes after."In Washington, some Republicans are still grousing about Trump squandering a political victory with his handling of a sweeping housing bill this summer. After it passed Congress in a rare bipartisan deal, Trump canceled a signing ceremony at the Capitol at the last minute over demands that a voter ID bill pass first. The housing legislation became law anyway without the president's signature, but the opportunity for Republicans to claim credit publicly alongside Trump was lost. Another administration effort to ease housing costs also fell flat when, under Trump's direction, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced a plan to purchase $200 billion of mortgage-backed securities in a bid to bring down rates, only to see them rise after the administration launched a war with Iran that exacerbated inflation concerns. The conflict - which the president repeatedly said would be over in weeks - sparked a surge in fuel costs that has been hammering consumers for months. There have been other affordability pitches. White House officials last month floated increasing the capital gains tax exemption for primary home purchases. Yet that idea, which would require congressional action, would disproportionately benefit the wealthy and hasn't gained traction since. Trump also touted a plan this month to give Americans $5,000 dividend checks, but only if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in November.'Really Terrible'In trying to tackle housing costs, the president may have backed himself into a political corner. If housing prices decline, prospective buyers would benefit, but existing homeowners would see their property values decline - a result Trump said he wants to avoid. "For some people it might be a better outcome if you had prices really falling like we had in the financial crisis," said Chen Zhao, Redfin's head of economics research. "But that's really terrible for the 56% of Americans who already own their homes. So there are different constituents we have to think about here."Because housing is most Americans' largest monthly expense, it figures heavily into their views of the state of the economy. Housing affordability ranked as the top issue for voters aged 18-34 and the second most important issue for voters aged 35-49 in a survey CNBC conducted in July. "These things don't have - especially in housing - a silver bullet," said Zhao.That's not much consolation to Yousef El-Raghy, a 28-year-old Jersey City resident struggling to find an affordable home in the New York area. He said housing costs are driving a rise in populism, particularly among young people. "I did everything right - I went to a good school, I didn't take on a ton of debt, I saved money," El-Raghy said. "I worked on Wall Street, I moved into tech, and I still can't afford a home," he added. "What more could I have done?" Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Obama rips White House's approach to AI after Trump dubbed security fears a 'hoax' Obama rips White House's approach to AI after Trump dubbed security fears a 'hoax'Former President Obama on Friday slammed President Trump over his handling of how to approach artificial intelligence amid "doomsday" warnings coming from some in the tech industry about the technology's potential existential threat to humanity.Obama said during an interview at Colgate University in New York that the federal government must regulate AI, before referring to comments made by one Trump adviser."I heard one of Donald Trump's main advisers on this make the argument that, 'The market will take care of AI,'" the former president said. "'These companies will solve the safety issues because they have every incentive to do so - if it turns out to be dangerous, people will just sue them, and they're worried about financial liability.'""That's not how we treat airlines," Obama added. "Or drug companies, or food companies."Obama continued to say that AI could become a threat at a human level if it falls into the clutches of "bad humans" and if self-improving AI models realize they no longer need humans. He referred to Trump again in that his successor has said regulations on AI are "for losers.""So we've got a gap of at least a couple of years where things are moving really fast and we have an administration that is not capable of or willing to - I would argue both - putting together a serious regulatory framework," Obama said. He emphasized "encouraging some sort of voluntary industry restraint" as the "best we can do now" until both the legislative and executive branches "start getting serious about this."Obama has reportedly urged House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to make AI oversight a central tenet of his caucus's agenda. The New York Times reported the former president told Jeffries at a fundraiser that AI could be "dangerous" without congressional oversight.On Saturday, Trump announced that he will develop an "AI Force" and appoint a "czar" to oversee AI development, though he said in his announcement that any concerns surrounding a lack of federal AI guardrails were a "hoax." The president also suggested that AI be renamed to "Superior Intelligence," "Extreme Intelligence" and "Supreme Intelligence," which he said were "far more elegant and accurate description[s] of this new phenomena."Trump notably opposed the Obama administration's history of imposing regulations during his first run for president.Bipartisan lawmakers have raised the alarm on AI development after former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon recently warned that the technology "could kill us all" by the end of the decade. Some lawmakers, namely Rep. George Whitesides (D-Calif.), have called for a slowdown to develop red lines on AI to allow Congress to step in and turn those red lines into law.Evan Hubinger, Anthropic's head of alignment, affirmed that Coxon was "correct" in that "we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans!"Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei weighed in last Saturday, saying that development must slow down to allow for the implementation of necessary risk prevention safeguards.Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.This article originally appeared on The Hill at https://thehill.com/policy/technology/6100229-obama-slams-trump-ai-regulation/
