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Why is Donald Trump campaigning in California, a state he's almost certain to lose?

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Why is Donald Trump campaigning in California, a state he's almost certain to lose?

LOS ANGELES (AP) — With the presidency on the line in battlegrounds like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, why would Donald Trump venture into California, one of the most solidly Democratic states, just weeks before Election Day?

Trump is almost certain to lose California, and that won’t change after his scheduled Saturday stop in Coachella, a desert city east of Los Angeles best known for the annual music festival bearing its name. Still, there are practical reasons for him to visit, despite the Republican nominee’s prospects Nov. 5 in the most populous state.

The former president lost California in a landslide in 2020. He did get 6 million-plus votes, more than any GOP presidential candidate before, and his margins topped 70% in some rural counties that typically favor conservatives on the ballot.

That’s an enormous pool of potential volunteers to work on state races and participate in phone banks into the most contested states. And Trump is likely to draw extensive media coverage in the Los Angeles market, the second-largest in the country.

Trump is visiting Coachella in between stops in Nevada, at a roundtable outside Las Vegas for Latinos earlier Saturday, and Arizona, for a rally Sunday in Prescott Valley. He narrowly lost those two swing states to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.

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Going to California gives Trump the “ability to swoop in and leverage this big population of Trump supporters,” said Tim Lineberger, who was communications director for Trump’s 2016 campaign in Michigan and also worked in the former president’s administration. He’s “coming here and activating that.”

Lineberger recalled Californians making calls to Michigan voters in 2016 on Trump’s behalf and said the campaign’s decision to go into safe, Democratic turf at this point was “an aggressive, offensive play.”

California is also a fountain of campaign cash for both parties, and Trump will be fundraising. Photos with the former president in Coachella were priced at $25,000, which comes with special seating for two. A “VIP Experience” was priced at $5,000.

With congressional races in California in play that could determine which party controls the House, the Coachella rally “is a get-out-the-vote type of thing that motivates and energizes Republicans in California, when they are not as close to what is going on in the national campaign,” Republican consultant Tim Rosales said.

Rosales also said to look for Trump to continue his long-running spat with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

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For Republicans, “It’s motivating when you can pick at California a little bit and the governor … will take the bait,” Rosales said.

Newsom on Wednesday predicted Trump would be denigrating the state at the rally, overlooking its strengths as the world’s fifth-largest economy. The governor said that for the first time in a decade, California has more Fortune 500 companies than any other state.

“You know, that’s not what Trump is going to say,” he predicted.

Jim Brulte, a former chairman of the California Republican Party, said he thinks Trump is angling for something that has eluded him in previous campaigns: winning more total votes than his Democratic opponent.

“I believe Donald Trump is coming to California because he wants to win not only in the Electoral College, but he wants to win the popular vote. There are more registered voters in California than there are residents in 46 of the other 49 states,” Brulte said.

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What to know about the 2024 Election

The Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles sits on the Pacific Coast, south of the city. But Trump has long had a conflicted relationship with California, where a Republican has not carried the state since 1988 and Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by about 2-to-1.

California was home to the so-called Trump resistance during his time in office, and Trump often depicts California as representing all he sees wrong in America. As president, he called the homeless crises in Los Angeles and San Francisco disgraceful and threatened to intercede.

He is likely to spend time on Saturday linking California’s problems to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee and a San Francisco Bay Area native who was California’s attorney general and represented the state in the Senate.

His campaign issued a statement alleging that under Harris, “the notorious ‘California Dream’ has turned into a nightmare for everyday Americans.”

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Jessica Millan Patterson, chairwoman of the state GOP, said she looked forward to hearing Trump contrast his agenda with a Democratic White House that “has left Californians less safe and with less money in their pockets.”

Republicans, she promised, “will do our part to secure a House majority.”

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ICC issues arrest warrant for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

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ICC issues arrest warrant for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant “for crimes against humanity and war crimes”.

The move is a dramatic escalation of legal proceedings over Israel’s offensive in Gaza, and marks the first time that the court, which was set up in 2002, has issued a warrant for a western-backed leader.

It means that the ICC’s 124 member states — which include most European and Latin American countries and many in Africa and Asia — would be obliged to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they entered their territory. But the court has no means of enforcing the warrants if they do not.

The warrants, however, will reinforce the sense that Israel has become increasingly isolated internationally over the conduct of its war against Hamas in the besieged Gaza strip.

Announcing the decision on Thursday, the court said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.

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It said there were reasonable grounds to believe the pair bear criminal responsibility “for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population”, and had “intentionally and knowingly deprived” Gaza’s civilians of food, water, medical supplies, fuel and electricity.

The court said it had unanimously decided to reject Israel’s appeal against the ICC’s jurisdiction. Neither Israel nor its largest ally the US are members of the court.

The Israeli prime minister’s office branded the warrants “antisemitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions and charges against it”, calling the ICC “a biased and discriminatory political body”.

“No anti-Israel resolution will prevent the state of Israel from protecting its citizens,” it said. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not give in to pressure, will not flinch and will not retreat until all the war goals set by Israel . . . are achieved.”

Palestinian officials welcomed the ICC’s announcement. Husam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador to the UK, said the warrants were “not only a step towards accountability and justice in Palestine but also a step to restore the credibility of the rules-based international order”. Hamas called on the court to expand the warrants to other Israeli officials.

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Yoav Gallant at an observation post overseeing southern Lebanon last month © Ariel Hermoni/GPO/dpa
Mohammed Deif
The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, who Israel in August said it had killed © Israel Defense Forces

The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for crimes against humanity and war crimes over the militant group’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza. Israel said in August it had killed Deif in an air strike in Gaza a month earlier.

In the US, figures from both the Biden White House and incoming Republican administration condemned the warrants. The White House said it “fundamentally rejects” the ICC’s decision.

“We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision,” said the US National Security Council.

Mike Waltz, who will serve as national security adviser when Donald Trump’s administration takes office next year, said the ICC had “no credibility”. “You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and UN come January,” he wrote on X.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, called for fresh sanctions against the court. Trump’s previous administration imposed sanctions on top ICC officials, including then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, over its probe into allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan. The Biden administration later lifted them.

“The court is a dangerous joke. It is now time for the US Senate to act and sanction this irresponsible body,” Graham said.

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Republicans will control all three branches of government next year, raising the likelihood that the US will bring in new sanctions against the ICC.

However, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the warrants were not political, and that the court’s decision should be respected and implemented.

The Dutch foreign minister, Caspar Veldkamp, said the Netherlands “will act on the arrest warrants”, but other European countries struck a more equivocal line.

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said “we respect the independence of the International Criminal Court” and added: “There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hizbollah, which are terrorist organisations.”

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan originally sought the warrants in May for Netanyahu, Gallant, Deif and two other Hamas leaders, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, both of whom Israel has since killed.

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The ICC’s move comes as Israel faces intense criticism over the toll of its offensive in Gaza.

The hostilities began when Hamas militants stormed into Israel in October 2023, rampaging through communities, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and taking another 250 hostage.

In response, Israel launched a ferocious assault on Gaza, with Gallant announcing a “complete siege” of the strip. Israel’s offensive has killed almost 44,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, displaced 1.9mn of the enclave’s 2.3mn inhabitants and reduced most of it to rubble.

The UN and aid agencies have criticised Israel for restricting the delivery of aid, while warning of the threat of famine and disease.

The fighting has also triggered legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice, which deals with cases against countries.

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That court, the highest in the UN system, is hearing a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, which Israel has vehemently denied.

Additional reporting by Anna Gross

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This year's FAFSA is officially open. Early review says it's 'a piece of cake'

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This year's FAFSA is officially open. Early review says it's 'a piece of cake'

After weeks of testing the application, the U.S. Department of Education released this cycle’s FAFSA form on Thursday.

Seth Wenig/AP


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Seth Wenig/AP

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now open to all students and families hoping to get help paying for college in the 2025-26 school year.

After weeks of testing the online form, the U.S. Department of Education released the official application at studentaid.gov on Thursday. The form may not look new, but it’s certainly improved compared to last year’s version.

“It’s a piece of cake, honestly,” says Christina Martinez, a financial aid advisor at California State University, Los Angeles. She has been helping students fill out the form during the testing period, and says, “It’s been going very smoothly.”

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That’s completely different from what students experienced during the last FAFSA cycle:

After a congressionally mandated overhaul intended to simplify the form, the FAFSA was significantly delayed and the rollout was plagued with problems. As a result, many students had to wait months longer than usual to learn what college would cost them and where they could afford to enroll, forcing many to delay their decisions. There’s concern some students decided to put off college altogether. A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that problems with the last FAFSA “contributed to about 9 percent fewer high school seniors and other first time applicants submitting a FAFSA, with the largest declines among lower-income students.”

MorraLee Keller, of the college access nonprofit National College Attainment Network (NCAN), says this year’s form looks almost identical to the one from last year, but the user experience is significantly improved.

“We really have to spread a very positive message that there’s been a lot of work put into this system for 2025-26 to make it a whole different experience than last year. So everyone needs to give the system a chance.”

What the Education Department is doing differently this time

Filling out the FAFSA is the only way college students can access financial aid from the federal government and be considered for grants, loans and some scholarships. Every year, more than 17 million students fill out the application.

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Typically, the form becomes available to all students on Oct. 1. But this year, that’s when the department began testing the form with a limited number of students and institutions. FAFSA Executive Advisor Jeremy Singer said in an August press release that the testing period was intended “to uncover and fix issues with the FAFSA form before the form is available to millions of students and their families.”

During the last FAFSA cycle, in addition to glitches in the form, students also struggled to reach FAFSA’s call center for help. According to the GAO, “nearly three quarters of all calls to the call center” went unanswered in the first five months of the rollout. This time around, the Department of Education has increased call center staffing – by nearly 80% since January – and plans to extend the center’s hours of operation.

“So far, the call center is doing very well,” U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal told NPR. “At the volume we’re at now, people are getting their calls answered very, very quickly.”

He warns there may be times when higher call volumes lead to wait times, but he’s confident it will be a smoother experience overall.

Beth Maglione, CEO and interim president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), says she has been keenly monitoring the department’s testing process, and is pleased with what she’s seen.

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“Federal leaders have sort of listened and taken to heart the lessons learned from last year’s troublesome rollout and have used those lessons to chart a more stable path forward.”

So far, a less painful process

Low-income students and students whose parent or spouse does not have a Social Security number (SSN) – which the GAO refers to as “mixed-status families” – suffered most from the previous FAFSA’s troubled rollout. One challenge for mixed-status families was a glitch that blocked anyone without an SSN from filling out the form.

Kvaal says, throughout the beta testing period, “We made a number of changes to make the process easier for parents and spouses who don’t have Social Security numbers. Those people are able to get through now, and that was not always possible six or eight months ago.”

At Cal State LA, where Christina Martinez works, the majority of students are low-income, and many come from mixed-status families. She says most of her students encountered problems with the form last year, but this year is a different story.

Martinez says the form has more instructive language that helps students avoid mistakes. On average, she says it’s taking students about 20 minutes to finish the form, although FAFSA’s website suggests allotting about an hour. (The website also includes a checklist for how to prepare for the application.)

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Keller, of NCAN, says while she’s thrilled about the improvements, she’s waiting to see how the new FAFSA system will respond to an increased volume of applications now that the form is officially out of beta testing and open to all families.

Keller has one piece of advice for students and families, which Martinez and Maglione echoed: Fill out your FAFSA as soon as possible.

“Let’s not wait. Jump in. Do your FAFSA as quickly as you can,” Keller says. “Hopefully students being able to start their FAFSA in mid-November is going to result in things like earlier award letters, more time to make decisions, better decisions.”

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Read the Verdict in the Civil Case Against Amber Guyger

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Read the Verdict in the Civil Case Against Amber Guyger

Case 3:18-cv-02862-M Document 256 Filed 11/20/24
Page 3 of 7 PageID 7099
3. Question 3: Compensatory Damages
What sum of money, if any, would compensate Plaintiffs for injuries they suffered as a result of
Defendant’s conduct?
Claims of Estate of Botham Jean
(a) Mental anguish experienced by Botham Jean
between the time he was shot and his death:
$
2,000,000
(b) Loss of net future earnings by Botham Jean:
$
5,500,000
(c) Loss of Botham Jean’s capacity to enjoy life:
2,750,000
Claims of Allison and Bertrum Jean
(a) The value of the loss of companionship and society
sustained from September 6, 2018, to today
to Allison Jean:
(b) The value of the loss of companionship and society
that, in reasonable probability, will be sustained from
today forward
to Allison Jean:
(c) The value of the mental anguish sustained from
September 6, 2018, to today
500,000
2,000,000
to Allison Jean:
(d) The value of the mental anguish that, in reasonable
probability, will be sustained from today forward
to Allison Jean:
3
$
6,000,000
5,700,000

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