First Thing: Democratic leaders condemn federal raid on Ilhan Omar as she vows not to be silenced

Good morning. Ilhan Omar has said she will not be silenced after federal agents raided her home. In a social media post, the Minnesota congresswoman criticized the raid as an attempt by the Trump administration “to target political enemies and weaponize law enforcement”.

Donald Trump and key allies have accused Omar of fraud related to her family’s immigration history, fantasizing openly about denaturalizing her and expelling her from the country. Omar said in her post: “This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.”

The New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani, compared US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s recent shooting of a man in Manhattan to a mass shooting scene – and called for an end to the agency’s operations in his city. Oscar Belgal, 28, was struck in the neck during an enforcement operation while he was in his car with his five-year-old child also inside.

Describing his perspective on videos of the shooting scene that have emerged since, Mamdani told MS NOW it was unclear even to the mayor that the agents in the footage are law enforcement personnel based on their being in plainclothes.

A federal judge has ordered Donald Trump’s administration to temporarily halt the broadcast of taxpayer-funded television ads promoting the president ahead of the 3 November midterm elections. A temporary restraining order aimed at the ads is meant to stay in effect for at least 14 days.

The administration “shall not enter into, renew, or expand any agreement authorizing the development, creation, dissemination, placement, or airing of the … advertisements,” the judge said in her ruling. She also ordered the administration to cancel the remaining portion of a $20m advertising purchase, halting further spending on the campaign.

Amid rising measles outbreaks and fatalities across the US, anti-vaccine activists – including figures such as HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and Children’s Health Defense – are actively working to dispute official death tolls and cast doubt on the virus’s severity.

To deflect accountability for the resurgence of preventable disease, these groups are promoting claims that patient deaths stem from medical error and inappropriate treatment rather than measles complications, even filing formal medical board complaints against treating pediatricians.

Public health experts and physicians warn that this playbook fuels distrust, vilifies frontline healthcare workers, and distracts from the core issue of declining vaccination rates

A four-month investigation by the Guardian has revealed that the surge in cocaine trafficking to Europe is directly linked to the expanding presence of Latin American criminal networks in Europe, where they have forged close ties with local mafia organisations.

The investigation, utilising databases, police and intelligence agencies, along with interviews with judges, prosecutors and experts from eight countries, shows that cartels and factions from Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico and the US are active in at least 12 European countries. The figure could be even higher, as it includes only groups officially identified in Europe and does not include gangs that lack a physical presence in Europe while working in “joint ventures” with European mafias.

A jersey worn by Michael Jordan during the 1998 NBA finals has been sold for $14m in what is said to be the highest price ever paid for a piece of basketball memorabilia.

Don your best plaid shirts for this Netflix supernatural thriller about a gang of beefy fishermen who tackle sea monsters. It is totally ridiculous – but Sarah Dempster says you will have loads of daft fun.

As an alleged 2024 gang rape at Cornell comes to light, Eric Berger reports that US universities are grappling with a choice: student safety or alumni donations.

Ruth Chepngetich’s failed doping test, five months after she obliterated the record in 2024, left the sport deeply uneasy but powerless to act. Sean Ingle has spoken to Brett Clothier, the head of the Athletics Integrity Unit, which prosecuted the case against Chepngetich.

In this analysis piece, our environment editor Fiona Harvey examines how some petro-states and major developing countries want to postpone one of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s key reports.

Researchers will head to a remote Pacific atoll where they suspect the famed aviator Amelia Earhart crash-landed in 1937, but sceptics say the satellite images that have inspired the trip are unlikely to be of her aircraft.

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