Good morning. Corey Lewandowski, a former political adviser to Donald Trump and â top aide at the Department â of Homeland Security, âis under criminal investigation over allegations he profited off his role in the US government.
The DoJ has not yet issued subpoenas or other legal demands in the criminal investigation, and a lawyer âfor Lewandowski did not immediately respond to âa request for comment. The justice department under Trump has investigated several prominent critics of the president, but investigations of people close to Trump have been rare.Lewandowski served as a top aide to Kristi Noem during her tenure as homeland security secretary.
Lewandowski allegedly signed some DHS contracts despite having questionable legal authority âas a special government âemployee, according to one âDHS official. Certain grants âand contracts, including those involving the Federal Emergency Management Agency, were put on hold at Lewandowskiâs direction, according to two other sources.US judge orders Trump administration to halt noncitizen voting investigationDonald Trump.
Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty ImagesA federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to halt investigations in nine states into whether noncitizens are registered to vote. The judge found the governmentâs effort was relying on data that was full of errors and that it was leading to intimidation of groups performing voter assistance efforts.
She said it should be halted until polls close on election day on 3 November.The ruling comes as the Trump administration has been hunting for noncitizen voters throughout the country. The administration has signaled that it is a widespread problem, when in fact it is quite rare, as even its own investigations have shown.
Where else has Trump suffered a legal setback? Donald Trump has been ordered by a US judge to cooperate with the discovery process mandated for his lawsuit against the BBC and to sit for a deposition by 11 December â or else he could be subject to sanctions, including possible dismissal of the $10bn lawsuit.
What request has Trump claimed he made of Google? Trump has said Google rejected his request to rename the Atlantic Ocean after himself or America.
Google has previously acceded to Trumpâs demands, with locations labeled âGulf of Americaâ and âLake Americaâ for US users at the presidentâs request. Kohen Wiley.
Photograph: Veronica Roberson/APâThe word âjustifiedâ has haunted me since Monday,ââ Veronica Roberson, Kohen Wileyâs maternal grandmother, has said after the Mississippi attorney general announced that the police shooting of the one-year-old baby âwas justifiedâ.Footage of the shooting has been made public, and the familyâs attorney Ben Crump said the leaked videos were âslaps in the faceâ. In the footage, five officers with guns drawn descend on a car.
Allegedly, two women had stolen a pack of diapers. âWeâre the most prosperous nation in the world and weâre going to draw guns to shoot people over misdemeanor allegations of baby diapers?â Crump said.Flu cases rise on west coast earlier than usual as US health experts encourage vaccineA caregiver prepares to administer a flu vaccine. Photograph: Matt Rourke/APFlu cases on the west coast are on the rise months earlier than normal, prompting US health experts to stress the importance of the annual vaccine.
Flu activity typically ramps up in December, hitting its peak in February. But this season has kicked into action earlier this year.
Influenza vaccines can reduce severe illness and hospitalization, according to the American Medical Association, which recommends flu shots for all people aged six months and older.âLooksmaxxingâ influencer Clavicular pleads not guilty to raping teenBraden Peters, also known as Clavicular, in court. Photograph: Merrily Cassidy/Pool Cape Cod Times/APThe âlooksmaxxingâ livestreamer Braden Peters, better known by his stage name Clavicular, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges he raped a 17-year-old girl at his familyâs Massachusetts home.
Known for promoting an extreme devotion to male beauty, Peters, 20, is accused of giving the girl alcohol until she was drunk and then sexually assaulting her. Peters has denied the allegations.In other news âŚDwight Eisenhower standing near a globe.
Photograph: Bettmann Archive A priceless pre-second world war globe coveted by the US defense secretary Pete Hegseth for his office in the Pentagon was damaged by his staff in a botched attempt to relocate it. A Florida police officer has been accused of stealing the house and identity of a man he found dead during a welfare check.
He appeared in court on charges including official misconduct and criminal use of a deceased personâs identification. A select group of actors will screen-test to become the next James Bond this weekend.
The Dune film-maker Denis Villeneuve is set to direct the next instalment of the 007 franchise for Amazon MGM Studios. King Charles has been urged as a âhuman brotherâ whose family had benefited from slavery to support reparations talks at a Caribbean summit.
Stat of the day: Heat killed 50,000 people in Europeâs cities this summer, scientists warnPeople shield from the sun in Paris in June. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesHeat killed a record 50,000 people in European cities this summer, research suggests, with scientists blaming climate breakdown for two in every three of the deaths.Culture Pick: Tom Cruiseâs Digger is a commercial flop â but also the perfect climate film for our timeTom Cruise as Digger Rockwell.
Photograph: Warner Bros Pictures/APIt may have bombed at the box office, but Oliver Milman argues the bombastic, misanthropic epic is also the near-perfect climate change film for our era. We also have Danny Leigh interviewing Sandra HĂźller, who is turning out to be the star of four â or, possibly, five â of the yearâs biggest films.Donât miss this: How Democrat Mary Peltola is on the verge of flipping right-leaning AlaskaMary Peltola, a Democratic Senate candidate.
Photograph: Kerry Tasker/ReutersSince becoming the 49th state in 1959, Alaska has only once supported a Democratic candidate in a presidential election, but Democrats believe circumstances have aligned this year for them to win a slew of competitive elections in the state. Chris Stein has been in Anchorage, Alaska, to find out why.⌠or this: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 review â a thrilling airport novel of a gameCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.
Photograph: ActivisionKeith Stuart reviews the latest instalment of the blockbuster first-person shooter, finding that with scenes in Manhattan, Paris and a North Korean airbase, the developers have thrown absolutely everything at the game. Also getting a glowing review today is Chappell Roanâs gloriously gay mini-festival.Climate check: Marine life in Gulf of America Mexico has still not fully recovered from 2010 BP oil spillA coral reef.
Photograph: Lindsey Kramer/Hawaii Wildlife Fund/IUCNMarine life in the Gulf of Mexico plummeted by about 60% after BPâs 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and has still not fully recovered, according to a study. And almost every shallow-water coral reef on the planet faces a high risk of ecosystem collapse before 2075 because of global heating, according to an assessment by UN nature advisers.Last Thing: LeBron James shrugs off Trumpâs national anthem attackLeBron James in action for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Photograph: Emilee Chinn/Getty ImagesLeBron James has brutally dismissed criticism from the US president after the NBA superstar was filmed making apparent warm-up movements while lined up for the national anthem. Donald Trump posted: âHeâs no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE.â Jamesâs response? âIt must be a slow news day at the office.âSign upSign up for the US morning briefingFirst Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday.
If youâre not already signed up, subscribe now.Get in touchIf you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com

