It was the latest mixed messaging from President Trump, who regularly votes by mail, but has made baseless claims that the practice is “inherently corrupt.”

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Nicole Linton was found guilty of six counts of second-degree murder, which included the death of an unborn child, related to a 2022 crash in Los Angeles.

© Pool photo by Frederick M. Brown

In a new ad, the wife of Ken Paxton, who is divorcing him for alleged adultery, tells Texas voters to focus on the “whole team,” not “individual players.”

© Desiree Rios for The New York Times

Roger Fortson was shot by deputy when he opened door with gun in hand after a false domestic disturbance call

A Florida jury recently found former sheriff’s deputy Eddie Duran not guilty of manslaughter with a firearm in the fatal shooting of Roger Fortson, a Black US air force airman who was killed inside his apartment after authorities responded to an unfounded report of a domestic disturbance.

An Okaloosa county jury acquitted Duran, 38, on Thursday after about two hours of deliberations. He had faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

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© Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

© Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

© Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

Ukraine has stopped paying veterans to go to the gym because of the economic crisis looming in the country, the war, Russian strikes, and the lack of reforms needed to receive extra funds from the EU. The Veteran Sports program, which provided veterans and combat participants with about $33 per quarter toward a nearly monthly gym membership, was suspended on 1 October after the state found no funds for it, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs said.

The suspension is a telling sign of Ukraine's budget squeeze, and the ministry puts it plainly: defense comes first, so the money for everything else runs short. It fits a wider government decision to freeze non-essential spending and fund only the army, pensions, and public wages.

The program proved far more popular than planned, drawing more than 800,000 users and costing over double its budget.

Defense takes the money

"The main priority of state spending remains the country's defense. Under these conditions, the state budget's ability to finance other areas is limited," the ministry said.

Launched in 2026 with about $13 million for an expected 100,000 recipients per quarter, and roughly 300,000 applications over three, the program instead saw more than 800,000 uses. Payments passed $27 million, more than twice what was set aside.

The crisis runs deeper

The squeeze has two main drivers. Russia's intensifying strikes on Ukraine's energy and infrastructure are pushing the war's cost higher and battering the economy.

War is costing Ukraine $155 billion per year. With Western aid running late, Kyiv is freezing everything but army, pensions, and public wages

And billions in Western money sit on hold: Kyiv has struggled to complete the reforms the EU set out before releasing roughly $20 billion in aid, and the prime minister has admitted that part of it is late because Ukraine missed commitments to its partners.

The ministry plans a 2027 restart

Ukraine intends to bring the program back in 2027, this time for good, said Deputy Veterans Minister Ruslan Prykhodko.

"We have to account for real demand, fix the shortcomings we saw this year, and make the use of funds more targeted," he said.

In next year's budget, Ukraine would provide significantly more funds, he added. In the meantime, the ministry says it is talking to the sports community and businesses about covering the gap for veterans, with concrete proposals to come.

Hundreds of schools will suspend some or all classes on Monday, the education minister said, as students protest conditions in the education system. Thousands of protesters have been arrested and hundreds of people injured.

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Four people were rescued after being adrift in a life raft in the South Pacific. One of them said he thought he had a better chance of winning the lottery than of being hit by a whale.

© Royal New Zealand Air Force

It was unclear what background checks had been carried out before he was allowed to fly to Israel.

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Fuel costs are biting for crop growers, trucking firms and a host of other industries as Iran war stokes record prices

Joe Hamilton farms corn and soybeans on 2,500 acres in Indiana’s Delaware county. Next week, when his soybean harvest kicks off, four tractors, two combine harvesters and five semi-trucks will roar to life.

And with that, a record bill for about 9,000 gallons of diesel awaits him.

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© Photograph: Sarah Rice/Getty Images

© Photograph: Sarah Rice/Getty Images

© Photograph: Sarah Rice/Getty Images

The violent midair assault on a FlyDubai flight to Tel Aviv has deepened concerns about the safety of Israelis traveling abroad.

© Ammar Awad/Reuters

Tukaram Mundhe’s surprise raids of Mumbai kitchens have made him an unlikely celebrity and set off a conversation about food standards in India.

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John Steinbeck’s hometown of Salinas is the least affordable city in the US for the middle class, a recent Brookings Institution analysis found

Nestled between two mountain ranges at the crook of central California’s coastline sits a valley known as the “salad bowl of the world”.

Farm workers stoop over neatly lined rows of crops off Highway 101 to harvest more than half of the nation’s supply of lettuce and nearly a third of its strawberries. The soil here is so rich that author John Steinbeck made the Salinas valley the promised land in his literary depictions of people chasing the American dream: immigrants, farm workers, westward-moving hopefuls, hungering for a better life.

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© Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images/Monterey County

© Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images/Monterey County

© Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images/Monterey County

Our reporting revealed how Mexican criminal groups are relying on teenagers and young adults in border states like Arizona to help supply their weapons.

© Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times

Drawn by money and status, teenagers in Arizona are buying, stealing and selling weapons destined for criminal groups in Mexico.

© Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times