Updated at\u00a010.13 EDT<\/p>\n
Key events<\/p>\n
Trump claims Europe has agreed to release diesel oil reserves as he weighs export ban<\/p>\n
On Truth Social, Donald Trump has claimed that Europe has \u201cjust agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil\u201d. This comes after the administration <\/a>urged <\/a>European allies to release their diesel reserves as fuel prices continue to rise due to the ongoing Iran war and the president continues to weigh an export ban. The president added that \u201cthe process will begin immediately\u201d.<\/p>\n In the US the average price for a gallon of diesel sits at $6.3, up from $3.7 a year ago \u2013\u00a0a 70% hike.<\/p>\n Trump said on Wednesday that he was still \u201cthinking about\u201d a ban on diesel exports to curb the soaring cost of energy domestically. However, he noted that an embargo \u201cmight raise the price of other things.\u201d Europe has warned of a further economic tailspin in the event of a ban.<\/p>\n A reminder that major sectors of US agriculture, manufacturing, and commercial fishing depend heavily on diesel.<\/p>\n Europe has also becoming increasingly reliant on US diesel exports after Ukrainian strikes destroyed Russian oil refineries and Moscow implemented its own export ban earlier this year to preserve its supply.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.30 EDT<\/p>\n And as we bring you the latest on how the jobs report stands to impact voter sentiment ahead of the November midterms, my colleagues have done all the hard work in mapping out the battle for Congress and the key states, candidates and districts that will ultimately decide the balance of power on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n Many indicators of voter sentiment suggest the Democrats are favored to take back control of the House of Representatives<\/a>, and potentially the Senate. Winning either would be a significant victory for the party and give it the power to block Trump\u2019s legislative agenda and more aggressively investigate his administration.<\/p>\n Take a look here: <\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest market reactions to today\u2019s job report, including allayed fears about future interest rate hikes in light of the weaker-than-expected numbers reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Top Democrats slam ‘Trump’s failing economic agenda’ following jobs report that experts call ‘mediocre’<\/p>\n Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate banking committee, has blasted Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cfailing economic agenda\u201d following the latest jobs report \u2013\u00a0which many experts have described as \u201cmediocre\u201d and \u201cweak\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSince January 2025, Trump\u2019s economy has only added 33,000 jobs a month on average, far below the 120,000-a-month average in 2024,\u201d Warren said. \u201cSince the start of Trump\u2019s war, real wages have fallen 0.7% as his failed agenda keeps pushing prices up.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahead of the November midterms, Democrats are hammering home that many of the Trump administration\u2019s policies have resulted in a cost of living crisis, and urging voters to eschew Republicans vying for seats in Congress at the ballot box.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, noted that \u201cAmerican families are being squeezed on all sides by Trump\u2019s disastrous economy\u201d, in response to Friday\u2019s figures.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.13 EDT<\/p>\n Of note, the wage growth according to the latest jobs report, sits at 3% \u2013 which is still lower than the current 3.4% inflation rate. The gap here is crucial as voters prepare to vote in the upcoming midterms, and affordability is consistently polled as the key election issue ahead of November.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Jobs report shows weaker growth than expected, while unemployment sees uptick ahead of midterm elections<\/p>\n New figures, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows that the number of new jobs added in the US was weaker than expected, while unemployment saw an uptick.<\/p>\n The US added 29,000 new jobs in September, significantly fewer than the roughly 90,000 economists forecasted. Unemployment increased slightly to 4.2% \u2013\u00a0up by 0.1 point compared to last month\u2019s data.<\/p>\n The latest report shows a drop in the overall number of jobs in September, compared to August<\/a>, where the revised numbers show that the US added 133,000 new jobs.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.49 EDT<\/p>\n Donald Trump will begin his day in Washington after spending Thursday campaigning in Durant, Oklahoma. He\u2019ll travel to Mobile, Alabama, at 12.30pm ET today for a campaign rally. It\u2019s part of the president\u2019s 32-day blitz to juice support for Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections. He won Mobile county by almost 17 points in the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n Despite the president initially saying that he would focus his attention on competitive districts, in recent days he\u2019s made speeches in Republican strongholds as his approval rating is still under water.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.22 EDT<\/p>\n On Monday, following public outcry, Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins County district attorney, said his office would reopen the investigation into the Cornell case, nearly two years after the student victim of the alleged gang-rape gave a statement to police.<\/p>\n My colleagues Richard Luscombe<\/a> and Maya Yang<\/a> covered the story earlier this week. They wrote:<\/p>\n double quotation markAccording to lawyers for the student, who filed a civil lawsuit<\/a> against the university and her alleged attackers earlier in September, only two members of the Chi Phi fraternity were expelled after the October 2024 incident, in which she said she was drugged and repeatedly raped over the course of seven hours.<\/p>\n None of the seven were arrested, they said, and the others were made to write essays, attend workshops or serve short suspensions.<\/p>\n On Monday, Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins county district attorney, said<\/a> his office was looking again at the case, after the woman, who was 20 at the time of the alleged assault, presented allegations in her lawsuit that were \u201cdramatically different\u201d from the statement she gave to police two years ago.<\/p>\n Later on Monday, Van Houten released a fuller statement defending his office\u2019s past decision to not seek charges.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I generally refrain from commenting publicly on criminal investigations, the community outrage stemming from the incomplete news and social media coverage requires that I provide an answer to why the investigation resulted in a lack of criminal charges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Calls grow for US death penalty halt after \u2018torturous\u2019 botched execution of Christa Pike Top lawyers, doctors and members of the faith community are calling for a moratorium on the US death penalty after Tennessee\u2019s failed attempt to execute Christa Pike left the prisoner alive but in critical condition and receiving life-saving medical care.<\/p>\n The recent spate of harrowingly botched executions across US death penalty states reached a new low late on Wednesday when Tennessee\u2019s governor Bill Lee called off the procedure<\/a> after Pike had been injected with two full syringes of pentobarbital. She is the only person to have survived being administered 5mg of the sedative \u2013 a massive dose that under normal circumstances is considered fatal.<\/p>\n Christa Pike pictured in court in Knoxville, Tennessee, in December 2007. Photograph: J Miles Cary\/Reuters<\/p>\n An hour after the first injection was given, she was overheard by eyewitnesses to be still breathing, choking and struggling, and was found to have a heartbeat. Her lawyers said that her current condition, and the degree to which she may have been brain damaged through oxygen deprivation, were as yet unknown.<\/p>\n Sandra Babcock, a death penalty scholar at Cornell law school who advises Pike\u2019s legal team, told the Guardian that the events that unfolded were \u201cunimaginably barbaric. They demand accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.50 EDT<\/p>\n Letitia James is no stranger to high profile investigations involving powerful individuals and institutions.<\/p>\n Her most prominent case in recent years was the civil fraud action against Donald Trump and the Trump Organization. In February 2024, a New York judge ruled in her favour and ordered Trump to pay a $450m penalty<\/a> after finding he fraudulently overstated his net worth to dupe lenders. A five-judge panel tossed the financial penalty last year, but James\u2019s office has appealed to reinstate it.<\/p>\n New York attorney general Letitia James speaking at a press conference at City Hall in New York City last month. Photograph: Michael Brochstein\/ZUMA Press Wire\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n In this profile of James<\/a> in February 2024, Guardian US reporter Lauren Aratani<\/a> wrote:<\/p>\n double quotation markRaised in Brooklyn with her seven siblings, James attended public schools before getting her law degree at Howard University in Washington DC. She rose through the ranks as a public defender before entering New York politics as a councilmember and then as public advocate, the first Black woman to hold the watchdog role and one where she filed a record number of suits on behalf of people with disabilities, seniors and tenants.<\/p>\n When she won the attorney general\u2019s office, another first for a Black woman, James vowed to \u201ctake that power back\u201d from corporations and corrupt politicians.<\/p>\n \u201cThe law is the great equalizer and the biggest pillar of our democracy,\u201d she said in her inaugural speech in 2019. \u201cI will shine a light into the murkiest of swamps and act as a steward of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n The profile is more than two years old but still worth a read for useful background on James\u2019s career and her involvement in several of the big cases that have defined her tenure as attorney general.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.12 EDT<\/p>\n New York governor to provide update on Cornell gang-rape case after appointing special prosecutor<\/p>\n The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, has named New York attorney general Letitia James as special prosecutor to investigate an alleged gang-rape at Cornell University in 2024, saying she had lost faith in the local district attorney\u2019s ability to handle the case.<\/p>\n Both Hochul and James are due to speak today to provide an update on the investigation following the attorney general\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n Hochul said newly released information raised questions about the investigation conducted by Cornell police and the decision by Tompkins County prosecutors not to file charges.<\/p>\n![\"Ed](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Ed_Pilkington,_L.png\")
Ed Pilkington<\/p>\n