BOSTON — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 362nd home run Friday night, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio and taking sole possession of fourth place on the franchise’s all-time list.
One game after Judge homered twice to tie DiMaggio with President Donald Trump at Yankee Stadium to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Yankees captain hit the second pitch he saw from Boston’s Lucas Giolito over the Green Monster in left-center field at Fenway Park.
The 468-foot shot gave New York a 1-0 lead over Boston as the longtime rivals battle for playoff position. The Yankees entered the night with a one-half game edge over the Red Sox in the AL East, behind division leader Toronto, with both in position for a wild-card berth.
Judge reached 362 homers in his 1,130th game. DiMaggio played 1,736 games and hit his last homer on Sept. 28, 1951, at the end of a 13-year career that was interrupted for three seasons because he served in World War II.
Judge’s 47th homer of the season raised his major league-best batting average to .324.
Judge broke a tie with Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra for fifth on New York’s career list Tuesday night. Babe Ruth hit 659 of his 714 homers with the Yankees. Mickey Mantle (536) and Lou Gehrig (493) are the other Yankees ahead of Judge.
Over the next couple of weeks, hundreds of thousands of new students will descend on universities around the country.
For many, this will mark the start of a brand new adventure – though one often filled with a lot of worry.
To help with nerves, BBC News asked for tips from 2024’s first-years, who’ve already sussed out being freshers.
From balancing studies and social life, to looking after your mental health and the importance of doing the washing up, this is what the class of 2024 have to say to the new kids on the block.
Edith Adam says she was “terrified” when she moved to Liverpool last year to study medicine.
What she hadn’t realised at the time was that other freshers were just as scared as she was.
“I was absolutely terrified about not being able to make friends or that people wouldn’t like me,” says Edith, who’s now going into her second year.
“I wish I had understood everyone else was terrified, and that they appreciate it when you go up to them and say hi.”
Edith Adam
A student at Liverpool University, Edith says saying hello to people helped break the ice
Having never been to Liverpool before – a city with a party reputation – Edith worried she might not fit in.
“I was really scared of being ostracised for not wanting to go clubbing every night and not being a drinker,” she says.
But Edith was still able to find her people.
“No one actually cares. There are plenty of things you can do that don’t revolve around late nights. Just find what works for you.”
Edith Adam
Edith manages to balance studying with having fun with her friends
The 24-year-old, from Huddersfield, says her advice would be not to put too much importance on the infamous freshers’ week.
“I think everyone goes in with the expectation that it’s this amazing, wild week, where you meet your best friends for life and have your best time at uni,” she says.
And her top tip for staying friends with your flatmates?
“If it takes less than two minutes, just do it,” Edith says. “It’s so easy for everything to pile up, and then you don’t wash your plates for five days, and all of a sudden everything is dirty and you have no cutlery – and your flatmates hate you.”
But what if you can’t make freshers week?
This is the situation Konstantin Schmidt faced last year, after issues with his visa delayed his start at Greenwich University by five weeks.
Although people told him the freshers parties he’d missed out on were “fun”, the mechanical engineering student says he still managed to settle in well by joining up to student clubs.
“Societies are the best way to find people who share the same passion,” Konstantin says.
Konstantin Schmidt
Konstantin (third from the left on the back row) had never played volleyball before starting university
Joining both a volleyball society and the Formula One society, he says he had positive interactions right from the off.
“The second I joined the room the members saw I was new and instantly included me,” Konstantin says. “I also met new people through volleyball who were on my course who quickly became my friends.”
Konstantin Schmidt
Flat dinners can also help new students get to know each other, Konstantin says
The 21-year-old bonded with his flatmates by exploring each other’s culture through food and music.
In his first weeks, Konstantin, who’s from Bavaria in Germany, made Spätzle – a pasta dish topped with grilled cheese for a dinner party with his flatmates.
“Everyone really liked” his food, he says – but he admits the best dish was a Filipino one made by his flatmate, Kai.
“It helped us understand everyone’s culture even better,” Konstantin says.
While many people starting university will be living away for the first time, some students still live at home.
Commuting more than an hour each way between Glasgow and Edinburgh, Rebecca can relate.
“If they forget something, my friends can just nip back to their accommodation, whereas I can’t, ” she says. “But it’s not bad, I like commuting in.”
Going into her second year of a business management course, Rebecca is now much more organised and comfortable with the journey, after experiencing some hiccups in her first year.
Handout
Rebecca applied to Edinburgh Napier through clearing, the only university she applied to
In some cases, cancelled trains meant she had to pay for a taxi all the way to Edinburgh.
“In second year I will definitely be checking my trains,” Rebecca says.
Her advice for freshers is simple: “Make sure your bag is fully packed with everything you might need – and plan your commute.”
Rebecca’s university experience has been different from many others as she was only 16 when she started her course.
“I thought everyone was going to be older and not want to speak to me,” she says. “But it wasn’t like that at all. The age gap doesn’t really matter.”
Handout
Staying at home has allowed Rebecca to continue to dance three nights a week
Now 17, Rebecca is still waiting to experience a full freshers’ week, but says she was still able to attend under-18 events.
Her advice for those in a similar position?
“Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” she says. “I felt like I couldn’t ask for help because people would think I didn’t deserve to be there because I’m younger.
“They don’t care that you’re 16 or 17. Just ask for help.”
As the first in her family to go to university, Tian Liu didn’t know what to expect before she started her combined honours degree in social sciences.
“I did so much research, but I still felt so unprepared,” Tian says. “University is definitely a roller coaster. There was a point I wanted to drop out, but now I can definitely see the fruits of my labour.”
Tian Liu
University brought many new experiences for Tian, including having to share a room with a complete stranger
Now going into her second year, the 19-year-old has found a better balance and would advise incoming students to look after their mental health.
“With tuition fees rising there is such a pressure to make the most out of it, but you can burn out,” Tian says. “University is as much as you make of it, but give yourself grace.
“Have close friends who can act as support and accountability if you are doing too much, and use pastoral teams that the university offers,” she adds.
“There is no need to rush, it’s all a constant learning curve.”
Tian Liu
Tian has spent the summer in New York and now would like to work on the other side of the pond
One year on from moving to Durham from Leeds, Tian is in New York completing an internship she got through her university – something she “could never have imagined” last year.
Her advice for incoming students?
“Don’t disqualify yourself from anything. Be your biggest cheerleader. And take so many photos.”
Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, is slated to speak out Friday evening in her first public remarks after the fatal shooting of her husband.
Earlier on Friday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) revealed that authorities have a suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, in custody.
A court filing shows Robinson is being held on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice charges. At a press conference Friday, Cox laid out details in the case, including markings that were found on bullet casings.
President Trump initially told “Fox & Friends” this morning that a suspect was in custody. He made the surprise announcement in an appearance at Fox News studios in New York.
Vice President Vance said he was “grateful” for the investigators and asked for prayers for Kirk’s widow, Erika. He and second lady Usha Vance accompanied her, along with Kirk’s casket, back to Phoenix late Thursday on Air Force Two.
Meanwhile, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are wrestling with the fallout from Wednesday’s assassination, which stunned the country, sent shock waves through Washington and sparked new talk — and new fears — about congressional security in an age of heightened political animus.
Also Friday morning in Washington, Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was giving a deposition in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation into former President Biden’s fitness for office.
The past two weeks have been dreadful for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), and the crisis at the car maker shows no sign of coming to an end.
A cyber attack, which first came to light on 1 September, forced the manufacturer to shut down its computer systems and close production lines worldwide.
Its factories in Solihull, Halewood, and Wolverhampton are expected to remain idle until at least Wednesday, as the company continues to assess the damage.
JLR is thought to have lost at least £50m so far as a result of the stoppage. But experts say the most serious damage is being done to its network of suppliers, many of whom are small and medium sized businesses.
The government is now facing calls for a furlough scheme to be set up, to prevent widespread job losses.
David Bailey, professor of business economics at Aston University, told the BBC: “There’s anywhere up to a quarter of a million people in the supply chain for Jaguar Land Rover.
“So if there’s a knock-on effect from this closure, we could see companies going under and jobs being lost”.
Under normal circumstances, JLR would expect to build more than 1,000 vehicles a day, many of them at its UK plants in Solihull and Halewood. Engines are assembled at its Wolverhampton site. The company also has large car factories in China and Slovakia, as well as a smaller facility in India.
JLR said it closed down its IT networks deliberately in order to protect them from damage. However, because its production and parts supply systems are heavily automated, this meant cars simply could not be built.
Sales were also heavily disrupted, though workarounds have since been put in place to allow dealerships to operate.
Initially, the carmaker seemed relatively confident the issue could be resolved quickly.
Nearly two weeks on, it has become abundantly clear that restarting its computer systems has been a far from simple process. It has already admitted that some data may have been seen or stolen, and it has been working with the National Cyber Security Centre to investigate the incident.
Experts say the cost to JLR itself is likely to be between £5m and £10m per day, meaning it has already lost between £50m and £100m. However, the company made a pre-tax profit of £2.5bn in the year to the end of March, which implies it has the financial muscle to weather a crisis that lasts weeks rather than months.
JLR sits at the top of a pyramid of suppliers, many of whom are highly dependent on the carmaker because it is their main customer.
They include a large number of small and medium-sized firms, which do not have the resources to cope with an extended interruption to their business.
“Some of them will go bust. I would not be at all surprised to see bankruptcies,” says Andy Palmer, a one-time senior executive at Nissan and former boss of Aston Martin.
He believes suppliers will have begun cutting their headcount dramatically in order to keep costs down.
Mr Palmer says: “You hold back in the first week or so of a shutdown. You bear those losses.
“But then, you go into the second week, more information becomes available – then you cut hard. So layoffs are either already happening, or are being planned.”
A boss at one smaller JLR supplier, who preferred not to be named, confirmed his firm had already laid off 40 people, nearly half of its workforce.
Meanwhile, other companies are continuing to tell their employees to remain at home with the hours they are not working to be “banked”, to be offset against holidays or overtime at a later date.
There seems little expectation of a swift return to work.
One employee at a major supplier based in the West Midlands told the BBC they were not expecting to be back on the shop floor until 29 September. Hundreds of staff, they say, had been told to remain at home.
When automotive firms cut back, temporary workers brought in to cover busy periods are usually the first to go.
There is generally a reluctance to get rid of permanent staff, as they often have skills that are difficult to replace. But if cashflow dries up, they may have little choice.
Labour MP Liam Byrne, who chairs the Commons Business and Trade Committee, says this means government help is needed.
“What began in some online systems is now rippling through the supply chain, threatening a cashflow crunch that could turn a short-term shock into long-term harm”, he says.
“We cannot afford to see a cornerstone of our advanced manufacturing base weakened by events beyond its control”.
The trade union Unite has called for a furlough system to be set up to help automotive suppliers. This would involve the government subsidising workers’ pay packets while they are unable to do their jobs, taking the burden off their employers.
“Thousands of these workers in JLR’s supply chain now find their jobs are under an immediate threat because of the cyber attack,” says Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham.
“Ministers need to act fast and introduce a furlough scheme to ensure that vital jobs and skills are not lost while JLR and its supply chain get back on track.”
Business and Trade Minister Chris Bryant said: “We recognise the significant impact this incident has had on JLR and their suppliers, and I know this is a worrying time for those affected.
“I met with the chief executive of JLR yesterday to discuss the impact of the incident. We are also in daily contact with the company and our cyber experts about resolving this issue.”
Recent revelations about how artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots are interacting with and affecting children are colliding with longstanding concerns about tech companies’ approach to safety and revitalizing efforts to pass kids’ online safety legislation.
Chatbots from both Meta and OpenAI have come under scrutiny in recent weeks, raising questions about how to protect young users from potential harms caused by the rapid development of AI.
Several whistleblowers also came forward with new allegations about Meta’s handling of safety research, underscoring issues that have plagued tech companies with large platforms for years.
The latest developments have prompted senators from both sides of the aisle to renew calls to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), legislation aimed at strengthening online protections for children that has faced roadblocks in previous sessions.
“There is truly bipartisan anger, not only with Meta, but with these other social media platforms and virtual reality platforms and chatbots that are intentionally, knowingly harming our children, and this has got to stop,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said at a hearing Tuesday. “Enough is enough.”
KOSA came close to clearing Congress last year, after passing the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support in July 2024.
However, it came up short in the House, where some Republican members voiced concerns about the potential for censorship of conversative views.
In an eleventh-hour effort to get the bill across the finish line in December, senators negotiated updated text with Elon Musk’s X seeking to address GOP concerns.
Musk, who at the time was a key figure in then-President-elect Trump’s orbit, threw his weight behind the legislation following the changes.
However, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) ultimately poured cold water on the push, saying he still had reservations about the KOSA’s free speech implications.
Blackburn and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) reintroduced the legislation in May, using the same language negotiated last December.
Notably, the bill had the support of leadership from the outset, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) both joining as co-sponsors.
Check out the full report at TheHill.com this weekend.
Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, I’m Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Uber on Friday, accusing the ride-hailing platform of discriminating against riders with disabilities by “routinely” denying service to wheelchair users and passengers with service dogs. The government alleges that drivers frequently refuse to provide rides to blind passengers with service dogs, canceling trips upon learning they are traveling with an animal. Occasionally, users have been …
Discord said Friday that the person accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk did not use the platform to plan the shooting or promote violence, after officials revealed he sent messages over the app. Law enforcement arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson after a multiday search for Kirk’s killer. The suspect’s roommate shared Discord messages with officials, in which Robinson said he needed to get a rifle from …
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) on Friday urged people to turn away from social media, calling it a “cancer on our society” after announcing that the suspected gunman in the killing of Charlie Kirk is in custody. At the end of his press conference announcing 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as the suspected gunman in the shooting at Utah Valley University, Cox urged people to log off of social media, citing the violent imagery …
The European Union (EU) said Friday it has accepted Microsoft’s proposed changes to its Teams platform, sparing the tech giant from an antitrust fine. Microsoft will unbundle the messaging and conferencing app from Microsoft 365 and Office 365, after the bloc’s executive arm issued a preliminary finding last year that the company had violated antitrust laws by tying the products together. The firm will offer its suite …
Welcome to Crypto Corner, a new feature in The Hill’s Technology newsletter focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.
Gemini, a crypto exchange founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, had a strong showing in its public debut Friday.
The firm began trading on the Nasdaq at $37.01, well above its initial public offering (IPO) price of $28. It closed the day at $32.
It is the latest in a series of crypto firms to go public, as the industry responds to a more favorable regulatory environment under President Trump.
The stablecoin issuer Circle made its debut in June, followed by the crypto exchange Bullish in August.
Gemini’s IPO comes as the Winklevoss twins have found themselves in a public spat with Brian Quintenz, Trump’s nominee to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Quintenz’s Senate confirmation has remained on hold, after the billionaire brothers reportedly urged the president to reconsider his nomination.
The CFTC nominee took to X on Wednesday to share private messages between himself and the Winklevoss twins, suggesting their conversation was the source of the tensions and that Trump “might have been misled.”
In Other News
Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
Trump says he didn’t watch Charlie Kirk shooting video
President Trump said he didn’t watch the video of Charlie Kirk’s shooting in Utah, saying he has steered away from viewing it so he didn’t remember the conservative activist that way. “I don’t want to watch it,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends.” He added, “I didn’t want to remember Charlie that way. Yeah, it’s horrific, is what I hear, just horrific.” The president addressed hearing about the “physical emotion” of witnessing …
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is warning civilian and military employees that the Pentagon is “tracking” any comments from them that celebrate or … Read more
FBI Director Kash Patel ended his update on the arrest of Tyler Robinson, the alleged assassin of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, with a message … Read more
Sterling, 30, was reluctant to join either Champions League sides Juventus or Bayer Leverkusen this summer. His reasoning was he wanted to join another London club to remain close to his family.
Meanwhile, Disasi, 27 had strong interest from Sunderland, Bournemouth and West Ham but all three moves collapsed as he held out for a return to former club Monaco that never materialised.
Disasi, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa, said in an interview with YouTube channel Carre he was fit and available to play if called upon.
Sterling, Disasi and striker David Datro Fofana were registered in Chelsea’s Premier League squad which was announced on Friday.
Maresca also ruled out Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile as the duo remain sidelined alongside long-term injured trio Liam Delap, Levi Colwill and Dario Essugo.
England forward Cole Palmer remains a doubt for the trip to the Brentford Community Stadium with a groin issue.
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, is demanding that the Wall Street Journal retract its reporting incorrectly linking the shooter in conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination with the transgender community.
Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon while speaking at a Utah college. In the clamor of information related to Kirk’s killing, the Wall Street Journal, citing “an early bulletin circulated widely among law enforcement officials,” reported Thursday that investigators had discovered ammunition with expressions of “transgender and anti-fascist ideology” inside the rifle believed to have been used in Kirk’s killing.
The New York Times reported later Thursday that the document had not been verified by analysts with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, did not match other summaries of the evidence and “might turn out to have been misread or misinterpreted.”
The story from the Wall Street Journal was later updated to reflect caution from some Justice Department officials about the veracity of the internal bulletin. On Friday, a lengthy editor’s note was appended to the outlet’s original report, after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R), during a news conference, “gave no indication that the ammunition included any transgender references.”
Cox on Friday said law enforcement had taken Tyler Robinson, 22, into custody in connection with Kirk’s assassination following a multiday search. Engravings on both spent and unused bullet casings found at the scene read “Hey fascist!” and “Catch!” Cox said. Another read, “If you read this, you are gay, lmao.”
On Friday, the Human Rights Campaign said the Wall Street Journal’s reporting erroneously tying Kirk’s murder to the transgender community was “reckless and irresponsible” and led to a “wave of threats against the trans community from right-wing influencers.”
“News outlets like @wsj.com have a critical responsibility to report the truth,” the organization wrote in a post Friday afternoon on Bluesky. “Promoting false information that ties our LGBTQ+ community to the Utah shooting is reckless, irresponsible, and puts trans people especially in danger. Anyone with a platform must do better. Lives are on the line.”
“@wsj.com needs to hear from ALL of us,” HRC added in a second post, which includes a link to an open letter. “Take action now to demand a retraction and apology for its dangerous and misleading coverage.”
The letter, to be delivered to a Wall Street Journal inbox for general feedback, says rage “is what makes this country a tinder box,” echoing recent pleas from Cox and others to turn away from political violence.
“The rush to lob hot takes and publish click bait is not how we are going to get out of this deeply divided, dangerous era,” the open letter reads. “News outlets like the Wall Street Journal must do better.”
A spokesperson for the Wall Street Journal did not immediately return a request for comment.
The outlet’s reporting and the fallout come as the Justice Department reportedly considers banning transgender people from owning firearms in response to last month’s mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. The proposal, which the Justice Department has not publicly released or confirmed, has been condemned by Second Amendment rights groups, including the National Rifle Association.
President Trump, in an interview late last month with The Daily Caller, a conservative news outlet, said most mass shooters are not transgender.
AstraZeneca has paused plans to invest £200m at a Cambridge research site in a fresh blow to the UK pharmaceutical industry.
The project, which was set to create 1,000 jobs, was announced in March 2024 by the previous government alongside another project in Liverpool, which was shelved in January.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson said: “We constantly reassess the investment needs of our company and can confirm our expansion in Cambridge is paused.”
Over the last 10 years, UK spending on medicines has fallen from 15% of the NHS budget to 9%, while the rest of the developed world spends between 14% and 20%.
Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies have been looking to invest in the US following Trump’s threats of sky-high tariffs on drug imports.
In July, AstraZeneca said it would invest $50bn (£36.9bn) in the US on “medicines manufacturing and R&D [research and development]”.
Earlier this week Merck, which had already begun construction on a site in London’s King’s Cross which was due to be completed by 2027, said it no longer planned to occupy it.
The multi-national business, known as MSD in Europe, said it would move its life sciences research to the US and cut UK jobs, blaming successive governments for undervaluing innovative medicines.
Getty Images
AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot announced the firm’s $50bn investment in the US in July
The paused Cambridge project would have been an expansion of its existing Discovery Centre, which already hosts 2,300 researchers and scientists.
The stoppage comes after it scrapped plans to invest £450m in expanding a vaccine manufacturing plant in Merseyside in January, blaming a reduction in government support.
It said at the time that after “protracted” talks, a number of factors influenced the move, including “the timing and reduction of the final offer compared to the previous government’s proposal”.
Successive UK governments have pointed to life sciences as one of its most successful industries.
Former chancellor Jeremy sector said the sector was “crucial for the country’s health, wealth and resilience” while Chancellor Rachel Reeves said AstraZeneca was one of the UK’s “great companies” days before it scrapped its Liverpool expansion.
Utah’s governor is seeking to lower the temperature amid heightened fears over rising political violence
{beacon}
SPENCER COX made an impassioned plea for the nation to “choose a different path” and end the scourge of political violence in the wake of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The Republican governor of Utah, where Kirk was assassinated while speaking on a university campus this week, used a Friday press conference to urge the nation to lower the political temperature.
Noting Kirk’s connection with young people through his campus-focused group Turning Point USA, Cox called on the next generation of Americans to change the course of the country.
“To my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option,” Cox said. “But… we can choose a different path. Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different from what we are suffering through right now. Not by pretending differences don’t matter, but by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations.”
Cox’s remarks came at a press conference where he announced that a 22-year old Utah man named Tyler Robinson had been arrested for allegedly shooting Kirk at an outdoor event at Utah State University on Wednesday.
The governor said Robinson was turned in after he “confessed” to a family member that he carried out the crime. Authorities have said the alleged gunman was motivated by a disgust for Kirk’s political ideology.
“The problem with political violence is it metastasizes, because we can always point the finger at the other side, and at some point we have to find an off-ramp, or it’s going to get much, much worse,” Cox said.
“I think we need more moral clarity right now,” he added. “I hear all the time that words are not violence. Words are not violence. Violence is violence. There is one person responsible for what happened here and that person is now in custody and will be charged soon and will be held accountable.”
FBI Director Kash Patel was on hand for the press conference, but in an unusual turn, he spoke only briefly and largely ceded the floor to Cox.
For many Americans, it will have been their first introduction to the Utah governor, who was elected in 2020.
Cox at times grew emotional and said he was as angry and sad “as I’ve ever been.”
He pointed the finger at social media as a radicalizing force in the culture.
“Social media is a cancer, and I would urge people to log off, turn off, and touch grass,” Cox said.
And he argued in favor of free speech, noting that Kirk had been gunned down while engaging in the kind of political debate that defined his career.
“It’s much bigger than an attack on an individual,” Cox said. “It’s an attack on all of us, an attack on the American experiment, it is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are.”
“The very act Charlie championed, of expression, the freedom of expression…in having his life taken in that very act makes it more difficult for people to feel they can share their ideas and speak freely,” he continued. “We will never be able to solve all the other problems, including the violence problem, if we dan’t have a clash of ideas safely and securely, especially those ideas with which you disagree.”
Kirk was a conservative media mega-star with close friendships across President Trump‘s administration.
Trump has said he’ll attend Kirk’s funeral, which he said is expected to be held next weekend in Arizona.
SUSPECT IN FOCUS
A profile of Robinson, the alleged shooter, is beginning to emerge.
Robinson had “become more political in recent years,” Cox said, and had allegedly singled out Kirk in discussions with family and friends.
The FBI used facial recognition technology and surveillance footage to track his movements.
Bullet casings found with the apparent murder weapon had political messages scrawled on them, the governor said, including:
Robinson was arrested on the third day of a search on suspicion of aggravated murder and two other state felony charges.
Cox said previously the state will pursue the death penalty, which Trump has called for.
The Utah governor said they have ample evidence tying Robinson to the crime, including Discord messages about needing to retrieve a rifle.
WASHINGTON POINTS FINGERS
Trump and Republicans are arguing that political violence has become an entrenched feature of the left, underscored by Kirk’s assassination and the two attempts on Trump’s life in 2024.
“The radicals on the left are the problem,” Trump said Friday on “Fox and Friends.” “And they’re vicious, and they’re horrible, and they’re politically savvy.”
A group of Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus called for a select committee to investigate the “the money, influence, and power behind the radical left’s assault on America and the rule of law.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) criticized Republicans for blaming liberals.
“You have people like Trump, who has incited violence against people like me,” Omar told left-wing pundit Medhi Hasan. “And so, you know, these people are full of s—, and it’s important for us to call them out while we feel anger and sadness.”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) blamed the news media.
“You are responsible for that assassination yesterday,”he told reporters at the Capitol. “You should be ashamed of yourself, it’s disgusting.”
Corporations and public institutions are monitoring employees, with teachers, firefighters and other workers being put on leave or fired over insensitive social media posts.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned civilian and military employees that the Pentagon is “tracking” any comments from them that celebrate Kirk’s death.
Comcast on Friday sent a message to MSNBC staff scolding the network over its coverage and singling out commentator Matthew Dowd, who was fired after arguing on air that Kirk should have expected to be killed for “saying these awful words.”
“You may have seen that MSNBC recently ended its association with a contributor who made an unacceptable and insensitive comment about this horrific event,” the note to staff said. “That coverage was at odds with fostering civil dialogue and being willing to listen to the points of view of those who have differing opinions. We should be able to disagree, robustly and passionately, but, ultimately, with respect. We need to do better.”
Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Friday to testify about former President Biden’s mental fitness while he was in office.
California lawmakers sent legislation to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) that could prohibit federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from wearing masks while carrying out raids in the state.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officerfatally shot a man in a Chicago suburb on Friday after the administration said he resisted arrest and dragged the officer during a traffic stop.
Republicans in Congress are moving toward voting on a short term continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government through Nov. 20 and avoid a shutdown at the end of the month.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said the GOP plans to bring a “clean” CR up for a vote next week, even as Democrats warn they’ll oppose it.
President Trump said Friday the clean short-term CR is the likeliest way to avoid a shutdown at the end of the month
“We have to get Republican votes, that’s all,” Trump said Friday on “Fox and Friends.”
Still, the outcome is no sure thing, given Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) struggles at times to keep his caucus in line.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) are signaling they’re prepared to shut the government down if Republicans don’t make some spending concessions.
Many liberal Democrats are agitating for a showdown with Republicans, but The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that centrists in the party are worried a shutdown would blow back on them.
“Most people want to avoid brinkmanship, except some of those people who may be running for president, because I think people understand that it’s important to keep the government operating,” said one Democratic senator who requested anonymity.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was blunt in his assessment of a potential shutdown.
“It was wrong for the Republicans to do it. It’s wrong for us to do it, too,” he told a reporter for HuffPost.
President Trump said Friday he plans to deploy the National Guard to Memphis, Tenn., to fight crime.
“We’re going to Memphis,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends.” “Memphis is deeply troubled.”
The president said that in addition to National Guard troops, he’d send in “anybody else we need,” including the U.S. military “if we need it.”
Trump suggested that both Republican Gov. Bill Lee (Tenn.) and the Democratic Mayor of Memphis, Paul Young, are on board with the deployment.
“The mayor is happy. He’s a Democrat mayor. The mayor is happy,” Trump said. “And the governor [of] Tennessee, the governor is happy.”
Young said earlier this week that he’d been informed of the decision.
“I am committed to working to ensure any efforts strengthen our community and build on our progress,”Young told WMCA in Memphis.
Lee issued a statement Friday confirming “a comprehensive mission with the Tennessee National Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Memphis Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies.”
• The Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to allow the president to fire Federal Reserve board of governors member Lisa Cook ahead of a key two-day meeting next week to set interest rates.
It’s the latest effort by Trump to remove Cook after a federal judge intervened to stop her firing. The Trump administration has accused Cook of mortgage fraud, although no charges have been brought against her.
The Federal Reserve says it will abide by whatever decision the courts render.
Economists expect the central bank will cut rates at next week’s meeting, although the combination of inflation and worrisome jobs numbers has muddied the picture and provoked fears of stagflation.
Stephen Miran, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers who Trump tapped to fill a different open board seat, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate on Monday in time to cast a vote at the board meeting.
• The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting Friday after Poland shot down Russian drones that entered its airspace.
NATO saw the incursion into Polish airspace as a direct provocation and invoked Article 4.
After initially appearing angered at Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump on Thursday brushed it off, saying the Russian drones in Polish airspace “could have been a mistake.”
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk rejected that suggestion.
“We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake,”he said. “But it wasn’t. And we know it.”
•Secretary of State Marco Rubiowill head toIsrael on Saturday for discussions on the Gaza Strip in the wake of an Israeli strike on Qatar.
In addition, Trump will meet with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in New York on Friday, Axios reports.
Qatar is furious at Israel for launching a strike in Doha against Hamas political leaders.
In an interview with The Hill’s Laura Kelly, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “unhinged, narcissistic leader.”
The strike provoked a rare rebuke of Israel from the Trump White House.
The U.S. joined the other 14 members of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday in condemning Israel’s attack.
Netanyahu has said he’ll strike Qatar again if Hamas political leaders aren’t expelled.
💡Perspectives:
•The Hill: Is ‘Department of War’ a symbolic bluff for our decline?
Great Britain took a big step towards next year’s Davis Cup qualifiers as Cameron Norrie and Arthur Fery both won to give them a 2-0 lead over Poland.
World number 34 Norrie survived a scare against world number 545 Tomasz Berkieta to win his nation’s opening World Group 1 match 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 in Gdynia, Poland.
Fery, ranked 227 in the world, then battled to a 6-4 6-2 victory over Olaf Pieczkowski, ranked 484.
The 23-year-old was making his Davis Cup debut after British number three Jacob Fearnley pulled out with a rib injury.
Britain need one more win on Saturday to reach February’s first round and therefore have a shot at winning the title in 2026.
The world’s number one doubles pair, Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash, will make their debut in Saturday’s doubles, which will be followed by two reverse singles.
