“Layoff announcements soared in October as companies recalibrated staffing levels during the artificial intelligence boom, a sign of potential trouble ahead for the labor market, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Job cuts for the month totaled 153,074, a 183% surge from September and 175% higher than the same month a year ago. It was the highest level for any October since 2003. This has been the worst year for announced layoffs since 2009. … The report provides a glimpse into the labor market at a time when the government has suspended data gathering and releases during the shutdown in Washington, D.C.” (11/06/25)
“Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces agreed to a proposal from the United States and Arab powers for a humanitarian ceasefire and is open to talks on a cessation of hostilities, it said on Thursday in a statement. Both the RSF and the Sudanese army have agreed to various ceasefire proposals during their two-and-a-half-year-old war, though none have succeeded. US President Donald Trump’s administration has said it was working towards ending fighting in Sudan. The announcement, which the Sudanese army did not immediately respond to, comes less than two weeks after the RSF took over the famine-stricken city of El-Fasher, consolidating its control over the vast, western region of Darfur.” (11/06/25)
“A federal judge in Texas has agreed to dismiss a criminal conspiracy charge against Boeing in connection with two 737 Max jetliner crashes that killed 346 people. In a written decision issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor approved the federal government’s request to dismiss its case against Boeing as part of a deal that requires the aircraft maker to pay or invest an additional $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for the crash victims’ families, and internal safety and quality measures. The ruling came after an emotional hearing in early September when relatives of some of the victims urged O’Connor to reject the deal and instead appoint a special prosecutor to take over the case.” (11/06/25)
“Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s prince title and HRH style have been formally removed by the King. Details of the Letters Patent have been published by the Crown Office in The Gazette, the UK’s official public record. … Charles’s decision to effectively banish Andrew from the monarchy and strip him of all his titles, removing his birthright to be a prince as well as his dukedom, followed growing controversy over his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. … Another entry in The Gazette confirmed the removal of Andrew from the Roll of Peerage as the Duke of York.” (11/06/25)
“About 100 activists gathered on Thursday in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta to demand that the government cancel a plan to grant late authoritarian leader Suharto the status of national hero, reflecting wider concerns about historical revisionism. The country’s social ministry and culture ministry have proposed Suharto along with 48 other candidates to President Prabowo Subianto to receive the title. The honour is bestowed every year on November 10 to those considered to have made a significant contribution to the country. Indonesia faced decades of repressive rule under Suharto’s military-backed ‘New Order.’ He held power for 32 years before being forced to step down during an economic crisis, mass protests and deadly riots in Jakarta in 1998.” (11/06/25)
“The United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that Washington is brokering between Syria and Israel, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The US plans for the presence in the Syrian capital, which have not previously been reported, would be a sign of Syria’s strategic realignment with the US following the fall last year of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran. The base sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to make up a demilitarised zone as part of a non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria. That deal is being mediated by US President Donald Trump’s administration.” (11/06/25)
“Peloton has recalled hundreds of thousands of its Bike+ products over seat issues manufactured over the last six years. On Thursday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said its recall on at least 833,000 units came after the company got two reports of injuries ‘due to a fall’ when its post broke off. In total, it received three reports of seat detachment during Bike+ use. It impacted units produced from 2019-2022 and sold January 2020 through April this year.” (11/06/25)
“The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a policy blocking transgender and nonbinary people from choosing passport sex markers that align with their gender identity. The decision by the conservative-majority court is Trump’s latest win on the high court’s emergency docket, and it means his administration can enforce the policy while a lawsuit over it plays out. It halts a lower-court order requiring the government to keep letting people choose male, female or X on their passport to line up with their gender identity on new or renewed passports.” [editor’s note: Why should passports be required in the first place … and if they are required, why should a “sex marker” be part of one? – TLK] (11/06/25)
“The Israeli military says it has launched a wave of air strikes targeting what it says are Hezbollah military sites in southern Lebanon as Israel escalates daily attacks on its northern neighbour in flagrant violation of a one-year-old ceasefire. The barrage on Thursday came soon after a separate Israeli raid targeted southern Lebanon’s Tyre district. The Israeli army claimed it hit members of Hezbollah’s construction unit and that it would ‘continue to operate in order to remove any threat to the territory of the state of Israel.’ … Despite reaffirming its commitment to the ceasefire, Hezbollah accused Israel of exploiting Lebanon’s internal divisions and continuing its attacks under the pretext of security operations.” (11/06/25)
“A path to dismissing President Trump’s hush money criminal conviction was reopened Thursday after an appeals panel revived his bid to move the case to federal court. Trump wants to move the case out of New York state court so he can try to convince a federal judge that the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling compels tossing the jury’s 34-count guilty verdict. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled that it ‘cannot be confident’ a lower judge adequately considered Trump’s arguments as he sought to move the case. … Trump was convicted last year of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money scheme to keep quiet his alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.” (11/06/25)
