Thousands of California public employees set to strike over contract

A massive chemical leak in Toledo, Ohio, is forcing some people out of their homes while others have been told to shelter in place.

Neil Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H.W. Bush, said Tuesday that he voted for Democrat James Talarico in the Texas Senate race while criticizing President Trump and "those who have enabled him" for causing "enormous damage to the Republican Party." "My vote was motivated by two things: deep concern about Ken Paxton's record and genuine admiration for the character and principles I see in James Talarico," Bush wrote in a Facebook post .

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is facing immediate backlash for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "humanitarian" after he released 74-year-old Stephen Hubbard, an American who had been imprisoned in Russia for four years and who had been determined to be wrongfully detained. "You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian," Witkoff told Putin Wednesday in response to Hubbard's release. "You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again."

These graphics explain what the Democrats would need to do to flip the Senate and House of Representatives A turning point in Donald Trump’s second term will soon arrive. On 3 November, voters across the US will decide whether to keep the president’s Republican allies in control of Congress, or return Democrats to the majority. Many indicators of voter sentiment suggest the Democrats are favored to take back control of the House of Representatives, and potentially the Senate. Winning either would be a significant victory for the party and give it the…