43 million early votes, judge blocks threats to election officials, Oleshky evacuation, France protests, toddler bar recall
More than 43 million Americans have voted early; a federal judge bars the Justice Department from threatening election officials; the first joint evacuation of Ukraine's war in Oleshky; France braces for Halloween protests; and the FDA warns parents about Once Upon a Farm Tractor Wheels bars.
More than 43 million Americans had voted early in person or returned mail ballots five days before Election Day, nearly 10 million more than at the same point in 2022, according to an Associated Press analysis. Texas was up about 50 percent, with more than 6.3 million early votes as of Wednesday, and Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas were each up more than 30 percent. The data does not show which candidates people voted for. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
Republicans sayPresident Trump told a Florida rally: "You got to vote. Bad things happen when you get too confident, right?"
Democrats sayFormer President Bill Clinton, campaigning in Mississippi, urged people to vote, saying people he cared for had lost "because of those who did not vote at all."
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued a temporary restraining order on Friday barring the Justice Department from threatening to prosecute state and local election officials who do not follow the administration's demands based on its list of alleged noncitizen voters. Officials may not demand that local election offices remove those voters from the rolls, refuse them ballots, or segregate their ballots based on that list. The suit was brought by labor unions and civil rights groups, including the Service Employees International Union and the NAACP. The Justice Department had no immediate comment.
The administration saysStricter measures are needed to prevent noncitizen voting and protect election security and public confidence in the vote.
Critics sayCritics, including some Republican election officials, call the administration's moves federal overreach; the unions and civil rights groups that sued argued the threats intimidate election workers.
Residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine's Kherson region were evacuated on Friday in the first joint relief operation by both sides in the nearly five-year war, Reuters reports. A local ceasefire brokered by Melania Trump took effect in Oleshky and Kherson on Tuesday. Officials prepared 25 evacuation buses and an aid convoy reached the town. Some residents chose Russia and others Ukrainian-controlled territory. Technical peace talks are set to resume in Abu Dhabi next month.
Ukraine saysOmbudsman Dmytro Lubinets said it is the first time since 2022 that a ceasefire has covered such an extensive stretch of the front line. A Ukrainian evacuation volunteer said Russia broke the agreement by starting early.
Russia saysHuman rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said food, medical supplies and fuel were being delivered. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the cooperation an isolated case that is "difficult to extrapolate" to the wider peace process.
France is deploying about 70,000 police officers nationwide for protests on Saturday, October 31, after widespread violence and looting during demonstrations on October 17. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez banned protests in city centres, allowing them only on the outskirts; more than 40 Paris metro stations will close, and Paris police will impose a curfew on Saturday and Sunday nights in districts that saw unrest. Protesters are marching over school conditions, the cost of living and rising fuel prices.
The government saysA source close to the Interior Ministry warned of a "very high risk of public disorder"; the minister also pointed to online calls for "insurrection."
Unions sayMajor unions called the city-centre ban "general and disproportionate" and said they would explore all possible avenues of appeal.
The FDA advised consumers not to buy or serve Once Upon a Farm Tractor Wheels Organic Toddler Soft-Baked Bars, in all flavors, lot codes and expiration dates, after reports of toddlers aged 1.5 to 2.5 years having complete airway obstruction. The FDA says the bars reportedly form a dry, sticky mass when chewed that back blows and the Heimlich maneuver may fail to dislodge. The bars are sold nationwide, including at Costco, Target and Walmart. Once Upon a Farm announced a voluntary recall and said it is working with the FDA to remove the products.
