Democrats are continuing to build on their sweeping gains in last week’s midterm elections as votes continue to be counted. They can now claim 254 House seats, compared to 162 for Republicans, with 19 House races yet to be decided. Democrats will also control at least 30 governorships and will control both legislative chambers and the governor’s office in 23 states — up from 16 before the election. Democrats also broke Republican “trifectas” in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and in Texas, where 87-year-old Houston Democrat Senfronia Thompson says she has the votes to become the first woman and first Black speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. Retired Navy Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore, who was abruptly fired from her post as chief of the Navy Reserve by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in August 2025, won election to the House of Representatives, flipping a seat in South Carolina held by the GOP. According to Axios, the House is poised to impeach Hegseth this week.

Meanwhile, Houston, Texas, Mayor John Whitmire announced Friday the city would start limiting the collaboration of local law enforcement with ICE during traffic stops. The announcement comes amid pressure from activists and as Republican Governor Greg Abbott prepares to leave office. Abbott previously threatened to revoke more than $110 million in public safety funding to Houston over a policy granting officers discretion over whether or not to contact ICE. Houston has seen mounting violent incidents involving ICE agents during traffic stops and car pursuits, including the fatal shooting of Mexican father Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in July. This is Houston Mayor Whitmire.

Mayor John Whitmire: “This morning, I have directed the chief and HPD, through an executive order, that we will change our policy in regarding contact with ICE. I do this to begin a healing process, reduce fear and anxiety across our community. I also do this knowing that elections matter.”

President Trump has replaced White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller, the chief architect of his mass deportation policy, days after Republicans lost control of Congress. In a statement, the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee, Democratic Congressmember Robert Garcia, said, “Just days after the American people rejected his corrupt and lawless presidency, Donald Trump is doubling down. Stephen Miller is the architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families. Stephen Miller should lawyer up.” Attorney General Todd Blanche responded on Fox News that quote “Stephen Miller has a lawyer, it’s me”. This is Blanche on CNN.

Attorney General Todd Blanche: “The Department of Justice represents members of the executive who are brought in front of Congress, so there is nothing unique to me saying that every attorney general in history represents members of the administration. And this idea that Congressman Garcia comes out and says, 'Oh, no, no, Stephen Miller needs his own personal lawyer,' I would suggest he read the Constitution.”

In that interview, Blanche also repeatedly dodged questions about whether he’d investigate Democratic members of Congress, after President Trump ordered probes against congressional Democrats for calling for the impeachment of certain Cabinet officials. Soon after, Democratic Congressmember Robert Garcia issued this response to Blanche.

Rep. Robert Garcia: “We have the attorney general saying to the American public that somehow he’s going to defend administration officials, when his job is to defend the Constitution and the Department of Justice to be the people’s lawyer.”

Meanwhile, President Trump offered the press secretary job to Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, chief Dana White. Trump later said that he was only kidding, but White is set to meet with Trump today at the White House.

Calley Means, a top federal health official who resigned two weeks ago, went on Joe Rogan’s podcast to accuse outgoing Chief of Staff Susie Wiles of prioritizing lobbyists and campaign funds over public health initiatives. Means claimed Wiles refused to back his push for healthier children’s diets because she wanted the sugar industry’s money, and says her team pushed for more flavored vape approvals and looser restrictions on the largely unregulated drug kratom. Means said, “Susie said to me many times: 'We need money for the midterms, Calley. We need money for the midterms.'” Calley Means also alleges that companies hiring Wiles’s daughter, a lobbyist, got special priority.

Calls from progressives demanding new leadership in Congress continue to grow. An online petition urging Democratic Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries to remove himself from the running to become the next House speaker has surpassed 1 million signatures. Jeffries has faced mounting opposition over his pro-Israel interests and continued acceptance of corporate PAC money, including from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC. Incoming Congressmembers-elect Chris Rabb, Melat Kiros and Darializa Avila Chevalier, all members of the Democratic Socialists of America, DSA, have already declined to pledge support for Jeffries if he’s up for House speaker.

Chuck Schumer is facing similar calls to step down as Senate Democratic leader. Senators-elect Peggy Flanagan, Troy Jackson, Abdul El-Sayed, Juliana Stratton and Adam Hamilton have all said they won’t support Schumer.

In Yemen, at least 30 people were killed and more than three dozen injured on Friday as a missile slammed into a market in the southwestern province of Taiz. Women and children are among the dead. Yemen’s Saudi-backed government blamed the attack on fighters with Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, while a Houthi-linked television channel reported the attack was carried out by Saudi warplanes. This follows the deadliest month of attacks on Yemen since 2017. According to the Yemen Data Project, Saudi-led attacks killed 426 civilians in October — almost a quarter of them children.

Meanwhile, a missile fired by Houthi fighters struck an administrative building run by the state oil giant Saudi Aramco in Riyadh on Sunday, shattering windows on several floors of one of the tallest buildings in the Saudi capital’s King Abdullah Financial District.

In Israel, President Isaac Herzog has picked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government, passing over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sixty-seven lawmakers, including from Arab-led parties, backed Eisenkot, while 46 backed Netanyahu. Eisenkot has 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to build what he calls a “national emergency government,” but his bloc is divided over allying with Arab-led parties, which won a historic 19 seats in elections last month.

Israeli forces have released Palestinian journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh without charge, five days after armed police and Shin Bet agents raided his Jaffa home. Police accused the +972 Magazine contributor of “contacting a foreign agent” after he interviewed exiled former lawmaker Azmi Bishara in Qatar ahead of Israel’s election last month. Adalah, a legal group that supports Palestinian citizens of Israel, said, “The message to Palestinian citizens is unmistakable: a public conversation with a political figure can land you in a cell. This is political persecution carried out through criminal law.”

In Gaza, health authorities say heavy rains collapsed a sandbank onto tents in Deir al-Balah, killing at least five people, including four children. Gaza’s Government Media Office says the storm flooded at least 70,000 tents, and the U.N. says about 950,000 displaced Palestinians live in areas exposed to flooding. Ahmad Alhendawi of Save the Children said, “This is not simply the result of bad weather. Tents, shelter kits and fuel are waiting at Gaza’s borders while children sleep in floodwater, because the Israeli authorities are blocking their entry. This is a choice, and children are paying the price.” This is a displaced Palestinian woman.

Olfat Magdoub: “This is the first day of rain, and of course we are already flooded. What will happen if it rains again the next day? This is only the first day, and we’re already overwhelmed. Two weeks ago, when it rained, I swear to God, I spent four days sleeping on blankets spread on the floor because the rainwater had flooded the bedding. Same now, the mattresses are wet, so we sleep on the ground.”

In the Netherlands, more than 200,000 protesters marched through Amsterdam on Sunday demanding the Dutch government take action to halt Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Protesters wore red, many of them carrying signs reading “Stop the Genocide.” They’re demanding a halt to all direct and indirect arms trade with Israel, an expanded import ban on products from illegal Israeli settlements and for Dutch leaders to exert more political and diplomatic pressure on Israel to end its illegal occupations.

In more news from the Netherlands, over 100 protesters broke into a construction site of a Microsoft data center in the ​outskirts ​of Amsterdam on Friday. It was the first of many direct action protests held across Europe in 16 countries over the weekend by the “Stop Dirty Data Centers” coalition. Protesters are calling for a large-scale pause on new data center construction.
bq. Protester: “There’s for sure a lot of opposition. I think it would be good for governments to do more research into what the people actually want. There’s very much opposition against Big Tech, against their surveillance, against the power that they have over democracies. And they should not be able to get away with that, especially since the people don’t agree.”

The billionaire tech CEO Jensen Huang has admitted to having an extramarital relationship with a business executive who U.S. intelligence determined was a Chinese spy. On Sunday, the chip maker Nvidia announced it had launched an investigation into Huang after he apologized to his colleagues, his wife and their children. The New York Times reports Huang was the target of a Chinese intelligence operation that sought to convince him to lobby U.S. officials to allow the export of advanced computer chips to China. According to the New York Times, President Trump eased some of those limits on the sale of advanced chips to China after Huang’s lobbying. Jensen Huang is a close ally of President Trump, and Nvidia is currently one of the world’s two largest publicly traded corporations, along with Apple. Nvidia’s stock tumbled on the news, wiping hundreds of billions of dollars from its nearly $5 trillion valuation.

In Turkey, world leaders, delegates and climate activists are convening in Antalya today to mark the start of another round of U.N. climate talks. Heads of governments and officials from more than 190 countries are expected to attend — with the glaring absence of the United States, after President Trump last year withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time.
Nations in the Global South are again expected to pressure richer countries responsible for the climate crisis to commit to more financing of a loss and damage fund that was established at the U.N. climate summit in Egypt four years ago to cope with climate-related disasters. Though Turkey is hosting the U.N. talks, Australia is presiding over the negotiations.

In Paraguay, former president and Trump ally Santiago Peña has been impeached and charged over his alleged role in the collapse of the major digital lender Ueno Bank. Pedro Alliana has been sworn in as interim president of Paraguay as Peña remains under house arrest. Alliana served as vice president under Peña. The collapse of Ueno Bank left at least 3 million people — nearly half of Paraguay’s population — without access to their money and froze hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, including state pension money.

Cinthia Vargas: “I had my entire life savings in Ueno Bank. I’d been saving there for five years, and overnight I lost everything. I was left with nothing. Five years of savings, five years of honest work. I never stole from anyone, never bothered anyone. What for? So that Santiago Peña and his whole gang of criminals could come and rob us?”