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The US Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day should be counted, a case that could have repercussions for the 2026 midterm vote.The case involves a challenge by the Republican National Committee to a law in the southern state of Mississippi that allows ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days after Election Day.The ballots must be postmarked by Election Day.Around 30 US states have similar laws.Republican President Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of mail-in ballots and has falsely claimed that they contributed to his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. A federal judge ruled in favor of Mississippi but was overturned by an appeals court panel last year which said ballots must arrive by Election Day to be counted.The mail-in ballot case is one of a number of voting rights cases being heard by the conservative-dominated Supreme Court this term.The court, which includes three justices nominated by Trump, heard arguments last month over the use of race to draw electoral districts.The Supreme Court is likely to deliver its rulings in the cases by the end of June, which would provide enough time for them to be applied to the November midterm elections.

The US Supreme Court on Monday heard the case of a devout Rastafarian who is seeking damages after his knee-length dreadlocks were forcibly shorn while he was in prison in Louisiana.Damon Landor is seeking permission to sue individual officials of the Louisiana Department of Corrections for monetary damages for violating his religious rights.”Without damages, officials can literally treat the law like garbage,” Landor’s lawyer Zachary Tripp told the court, where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority.Louisiana has acknowledged that the treatment of Landor by prison guards was “antithetical to religious freedom” and has amended its prison grooming policy.But the southern US state insists that federal law does not permit money damages against a state official sued in his individual capacity — an argument that appeared to gain traction Monday among a majority of the conservative justices.Landor, who had been growing his hair for nearly two decades, was serving the final three weeks of a five-month sentence for drug possession in 2020 when his hair was cut.He presented prison guards with a copy of a 2017 court ruling stating that Rastafarians should be allowed to keep their dreadlocks in line with their religious beliefs.A prison guard threw the document away and Landor was handcuffed to a chair and had his head shaved, according to court records.An appeals court condemned Landor’s “egregious” treatment but ruled that he is not eligible to sue individual prison officials for damages.Rastafarians let their hair grow, typically in dreadlocks, as part of their beliefs in the religion which originated in Jamaica and was popularized by the late reggae singer Bob Marley.The case unusually brought together legal advocates on both the left and the right.  The Supreme Court is generally hostile to approving damages actions against individual government officials but at the same time the right-leaning court has tended to side with the plaintiffs in religious liberty cases.

US President Donald Trump threatened Monday to dock pay of air traffic controllers he accused of shirking their “patriotic” duty, while their union decried being used as “political pawns” during the government shutdown.The statements highlighted the mounting strains on the aviation industry as the record-long shutdown hits day 41, though a compromise bill advancing in Congress was raising hopes of an imminent resolution.Thousands more trips involving US airports were canceled or delayed Monday after nearly 3,000 were cut a day earlier, according to tracking website FlightAware.The Trump administration last week ordered 10-percent reductions in flights at dozens of airports, including some of the nation’s busiest, due to concerns that staffing strains could threaten safety.Air traffic controllers, who are already in shortage in the United States, have been working without pay in the shutdown, leading some to call in sick.Trump took to social media on Monday to slam the absenteeism as un-patriotic, threatening that those who do not return to work “will be substantially ‘docked.'””All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!!” he demanded on his Truth Social platform.Trump said he was recommending a bonus of $10,000 to the “GREAT PATRIOTS” who did not take time off during the shutdown.His statement was posted just as a press conference was concluding with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), organized to mark the second consecutive zero-dollar paycheck for its members.”Enough is enough,” said NATCA president Nick Daniels. He called an emerging deal in Congress a “right step in the right direction.””Air traffic controllers should not be the political pawn during a government shutdown,” said Daniels, who has spoken in increasingly dire terms since federal funding first lapsed on October 1.NATCA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks.Democratic congressman Rick Larsen called Trump’s comments “nuts.””The women and men working long hours in air traffic control towers to keep the aviation system running deserve our thanks and appreciation, not unhinged attacks on their patriotism,” said the Washington representative.- Working two jobs -The prospects for a potential resolution to the longest shutdown in US history looked brighter on Monday, after enough Democrats in the US Senate crossed sides to advance a bill to fund the government through January.However, Daniels noted that it took two and a half months after a lengthy shutdown in 2019 for all controllers to receive back pay.Meanwhile, “January 30 will loom around the corner,” he added.Daniels was joined at the event by Amy Lark, who works at an air traffic facility in Virginia.Her family is having to make due without two paychecks because Lark’s husband also works for the agency.”Yesterday, my kids asked me how long we could stay in our house. Having to answer that question was heartbreaking,” said Lark.She also described increased stress at work because of colleagues who have been up late working as an Uber driver or another job, while others face trouble paying for childcare.The cutbacks in the system are forcing travelers to adapt.”It’s a little crazy this morning. You’ve got to check and make sure you know you haven’t got your flight changes,” said Jack Nicks at Miami International Airport.”I have other friends that are flying today. They’ve already had three flight changes. So it’s a little rough.”

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa met US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday for unprecedented talks, just days after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist.Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, is the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since the country’s 1946 independence.Formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was itself only delisted as a terrorist group by Washington in July. Sharaa himself was taken off the list on Friday.”The president of Syria arrived at the White House… The meeting between President Trump and President al-Sharaa has also started,” the White House said in a statement.Unusually for the normally camera-friendly Trump, both the arrival and the meeting of the Syrian president were taking place behind closed doors without the media present.Trump said last week that Sharaa was doing a “very good job. It’s a tough neighborhood. And he’s a tough guy. But I got along with them very well and a lot of progress has been made with Syria.”Since taking power, Syria’s new leaders have sought to break from their violent past and present a more moderate image to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.Sharaa’s White House visit is “a hugely symbolic moment for the country’s new leader, who thus marks another step in his astonishing transformation from militant leader to global statesman,” said Michael Hanna, US program director at the International Crisis Group.The interim president met Trump for the first time in Saudi Arabia during the US leader’s regional tour in May. At the time the 79-year-old Trump dubbed Sharaa, 43, a “a young, attractive guy.”- Terror blacklist removal -The US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, said earlier this month that Sharaa may on Monday sign an agreement to join the international US-led alliance against the Islamic State (IS) group.The United States plans to establish a military base near Damascus “to coordinate humanitarian aid and observe developments between Syria and Israel,” a diplomatic source in Syria told AFP.Washington has also been pushing for some kind of pact to end decades of enmity between Syria and Israel, part of Trump’s wider goal to shore up the fragile Gaza ceasefire with a broader Middle East peace settlement.For his part, Sharaa is expected to seek US funds for Syria, which faces significant challenges in rebuilding after 13 years of devastating civil war.After his arrival in Washington, Sharaa over the weekend met with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva over possible aid.He also played basketball with US CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper and Kevin Lambert, the head of the international anti-IS operation in Iraq, according to a social media post by Syria’s foreign minister.Sharaa’s jihadist past has caused controversy in some quarters but the State Department’s decision Friday to remove Sharaa from the blacklist was widely expected.State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Sharaa’s government had been meeting US demands on working to find missing Americans and on eliminating any remaining chemical weapons.Sharaa’s trip comes weeks after he became the first Syrian president in decades to address the UN General Assembly in New York. Last week Washington led a Security Council vote to remove UN sanctions against him.The Syrian president has also been making diplomatic outreach towards Washington’s rivals. He met Russian President Vladimir Putin in October in their first meeting since the removal of Assad, a key Kremlin ally.

The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a case challenging the decade-old landmark ruling granting a constitutional right nationwide to same-sex marriage.The conservative-dominated court, as is customary, did not provide any explanation for its decision to reject the case.Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky who defied a court order and refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, had asked the court to overturn its decision legalizing gay marriage.Davis was ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and legal fees to a gay couple who were among those she refused a marriage license.Conservatives have a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court. Davis’s appeal of the award had raised concerns among the LGBTQ+ community that the court — which struck down the constitutional right to abortion three years ago — may agree to revisit the decision legalizing same-sex marriage.At least four votes would have been needed for the top court, which includes three appointees of Republican President Donald Trump, to agree to hear Davis’s appeal.There were no dissents to the court’s unsigned order declining to accept the case.Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, welcomed the court’s decision not to hear the case brought by Davis, who had cited her Christian religious beliefs for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.”Today, love won again,” Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson said in a statement.”When public officials take an oath to serve their communities, that promise extends to everyone —- including LGBTQ+ people,” Robinson said.”The Supreme Court made clear today that refusing to respect the constitutional rights of others does not come without consequences.”Lambda Legal, another LGBTQ+ advocacy group, also welcomed the Supreme Court decision but warned that same-sex marriage would continue to come under attack from opponents.”This frivolous case now belongs in the trash bin of history. But let’s not be naive: our opponents are well-resourced and determined,” Lambda Legal chief executive Kevin Jennings said in a statement.”They will keep trying to undo the progress we’ve made,” Jennings said. “Now is not the time to let down our guard.”There are more than 820,000 married same-sex couples in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles — more than double the number in June 2015, when the Supreme Court extended marriage equality nationwide.

The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a case challenging the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.The conservative-dominated court, as is customary, did not provide any explanation for its decision to reject the case.Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, had asked the top court to overturn its landmark 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage.Davis was ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to a gay couple who were among those she refused a marriage license.Conservatives have a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court and Davis’s appeal of the award had raised concerns among the LGBTQ community that the court — which struck down the constitutional right to abortion three years ago — may agree to revisit the decision legalizing same-sex marriage.At least four votes would have been needed for the top court to accept the case.Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, welcomed the court’s decision not to hear the case brought by Davis, who had cited her Christian religious beliefs for her refusal to issue the marriage licenses.”Today, love won again,” Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson said in a statement.”When public officials take an oath to serve their communities, that promise extends to everyone —- including LGBTQ+ people,” Robinson said.”The Supreme Court made clear today that refusing to respect the constitutional rights of others does not come without consequences.”

There is no clear link between pregnant women taking the common painkiller paracetamol and autism in their children, despite repeated claims otherwise by Donald Trump, according to the most comprehensive review of the existing evidence published Monday.In September, the US president sparked outrage among the medical community by claiming that paracetamol — also known as acetaminophen — was associated with higher rates of autism.Trump urged pregnant women to “tough it out” rather than take paracetamol, comments which health researchers warned could scare women off their safest option to treat pain — and risked further stigmatising autistic people.The World Health Organization has emphasised that there is no robust evidence showing that paracetamol — which is the main ingredient in massively popular painkillers such as Tylenol and Panadol — causes autism.On Monday, an “umbrella” review of all the scientific research yet conducted on the subject was published in the British medical journal BMJ.”Existing evidence does not show a clear link between in utero exposure to paracetamol and autism and ADHD in offspring,” the UK-lead team of researchers wrote in the review.There have been several previous studies which suggested a possible link between paracetamol and autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).However the quality of those studies was “low to critically low”, the review said, partly because they did not take adequate steps to rule out potentially misleading factors such as whether autism runs in the family.These controversial previous studies also could not establish exactly how paracetamol might cause autism.The umbrella review called for better research, pointing out that there has been a “historical and ongoing underinvestment in women’s health research”.- Confirmation -Several researchers praised the new study.Dimitrios Siassakos, professor in obstetrics and gynaecology at University College London, said the review “confirms what experts around the globe have been saying”. “Autistic and neurodivergent people are more likely to experience chronic pain, and they are also much more likely to have neurodivergent children — but paracetamol doesn’t cause neurodivergence,” said Steven Kapp of the University of Portsmouth.”As a researcher and autistic person with ADHD, I think we should not be trying to prevent neurodivergence anyway, but make life better for neurodivergent people,” he added.Beyond paracetamol, Trump and his vaccine-sceptic Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr have repeatedly made unfounded claims about autism, including that there is an “epidemic” of cases.However experts maintain that the recent increase in autism rates is due to improved, broadened diagnosis methods along with growing awareness.

The US Senate took a major step toward ending the longest government shutdown in American history when it cleared the way for a formal debate on a motion to resume funding to federal agencies.The development represents significant progress toward ending a government shutdown that has dragged on for over 40 days, halted funding to federal programs and disrupted air travel and other essential industries.The breakthrough late Sunday came after Republican and Democratic lawmakers reached a stopgap agreement to fund the government through January, after wrangling over healthcare subsidies, food benefits and Trump’s firings of federal employees.Following the deal the Republican-led chamber approved a procedural vote by 60 votes to 40, putting a hard limit on how much longer senators can discuss the legislative measure.It gave lawmakers a maximum of 30 more hours to conduct debate before voting on the motion, which will only need 50 votes to pass.It will still need approval from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives before it lands on President Donald Trump’s desk — a process which could take days.As the news emerged, Trump told reporters when he arrived at the White House after a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida: “It looks like we’re getting very close to the shutdown ending.”Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia was among the eight who joined Republicans to support the measure, saying: “I need a moratorium on the punishing of the federal workforce.”Virginia is home to 300,000 federal workers, and the deal would restore all furloughed employees and reverse reductions-in-force layoffs by the Trump administration.The bill to keep the government funded at pre-shutdown levels “will protect federal workers from baseless firings, reinstate those who have been wrongfully terminated during the shutdown, and ensure federal workers receive back pay” as required by law, Kaine added.Fellow Democrat Chuck Schumer could not be persuaded and voted against the measure, saying that “Republicans have spent the past 10 months dismantling the healthcare system, skyrocketing costs, and making every day harder for American families.”But Republican Senator John Thune celebrated the win, and what it could mean for Americans facing intense financial strain.”After 40 days of uncertainty, I’m profoundly glad to be able to announce that nutrition programs, our veterans, and other critical priorities will have their full-year funding,” Thune said.Stock markets rallied Monday on hopes the shutdown could be nearing an end, with Tokyo and Hong Kong up more than one percent and European bourses higher in early trade.- Federal services in demand -Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier Sunday that if the shutdown continued, the number of flights being cut would multiply — even as Americans gear up to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday later this month.Duffy warned that US air travel could soon “slow to a trickle,” as thousands more flights were canceled or delayed over the weekend.The number of cancellations both within the United States as well as to and from the country had surpassed 3,000, with more than 10,000 delays, by Sunday evening, according to data from tracking platform FlightAware.Without a deal, Duffy warned that many Americans planning to travel for the November 27 Thanksgiving holiday are “not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn’t open back up.”It could take days for flight schedules to recover after the shutdown finally ends and federal funding, including salaries, starts to flow again.According to lawmakers, the bill would restore funding for the SNAP food stamp program which helps more than 42 million lower-income Americans pay for groceries.It would also ensure a vote on extending healthcare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.Many Democrats in the House and beyond the beltway have opposed the deal.Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that the average monthly SNAP benefit is $177 per beneficiary and the average monthly healthcare benefit under the Affordable Care Act is up to $550 per person.”People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives,” the Democrat wrote on X.”Working people want leaders whose word means something.”Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom also panned the move with one word on X: “Pathetic.”

Long, blond, wavy hair, heavy makeup and cosmetic injections: like many women in Donald Trump’s orbit, political consultant Melissa Rein Lively wears her support for the US president on her face.With the rise of Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, a group of well-connected and well-off Republican women have come into the spotlight sporting what the US media have dubbed the “MAGA look.””This has always been my look. I just found my tribe,” said Rein Lively, 40, founder of “America First,” a public relations agency that provides “anti-woke” services.”It’s so much bigger than politics. It’s friendships. It’s relationships,” she told AFP in a recent interview. “That MAGA look really signals to other people that you’re on the same team.”These new-style conservatives, almost always devout Christians, espouse traditional values while pursuing personal ambition.Since the September assassination of top MAGA influencer and Trump ally Charlie Kirk, his widow Erika has taken the reins of his youth mobilization group.During a memorial service for her husband, the 36-year-old former Miss Arizona dabbed her impeccably made-up eyes with a handkerchief and praised a Christian marriage. She cited a New Testament passage that instructs wives to submit to their husbands for protection.”It’s so hard to articulate the beauty of an Ephesians 5 marriage when you actually have a man that’s worth following,” she said.- Not just fashion -While professing family values and religious beliefs, these MAGA women are anything but shy in their appearance.Clad in skirts and dresses, almost always wearing their hair long, they can be recognized by heavy makeup, which includes well-defined eyebrows and “contouring,” a technique that uses dark and light shades to sculpt the face. Many opt for cosmetic interventions, including fillers and surgery to achieve fuller cheeks, plumper lips and a refined nose.Rein Lively points to Trump’s daughter Ivanka and his daughter-in-law Lara as her role models.”It’s a mistake to dismiss this as just about fashion, just about makeup,” said Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies at UCLA. “It’s actually absolutely central because this Trump MAGA movement was able to return to the White House in 2024, I believe, essentially because of leveraging the gender war.”- ‘Two hours in the gym every day’ -The 79-year-old Trump has mobilized many young voters with his nationalist, pro-business and macho appeal.The MAGA face is political because it is “a way of signaling to all women that your value depends on your attractiveness to men,” said Williams, adding that Trump used to run a beauty pageant.Rein Lively, however, rejects any idea of submission or coercion.”By absolutely nobody’s volition other than my own do I spend two hours in the gym every day, get my hair done every three and a half weeks on the button, get my nails done, get my eyebrows done, get my skincare done, get Botox,” she said.The PR consultant vied for the job of White House spokesperson for Trump’s second term, but the president ultimately picked long-time loyalist Karoline Leavitt.Leavitt, 28, has surrounded herself with young assistants who emulate her impeccably groomed look, which includes high heels, even on trips that involve a lot of running around.”I look at these MAGA women and I don’t see them as fashion victims… but I see it as war paint,” Williams said. “And, you know, embracing a system that is ultimately designed to work against them.”- ‘It is ironic’ -One of the women most frequently cited as embodying the so-called “MAGA face” is Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has led Trump’s hardline immigration policy.”The long-hair extensions, the big lips, the big cheeks, the makeup, the lash extensions, it’s like she’s doing drag,” said Daniel Belkin, a dermatologist in New York.Belkin finds it paradoxical that MAGA supporters are hostile to drag queen shows and condemn breast augmentation and facial reconstruction surgery for transgender people. They often resort to similar procedures to accentuate their femininity and masculinity.”It is ironic, because they’re so against gender-affirming care for trans people, but they’re doing gender affirming care for themselves,” Belkin said.In a recent episode, the popular animated series “South Park” ridiculed Noem as a shrew with a face butchered by cosmetic procedures, which her assistants must constantly patch up for the cameras.”It’s so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look,” Noem protested during a recent interview.

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa is to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday for unprecedented talks just days after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist.Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, will be the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since the country’s independence in 1946.Formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was itself only delisted as a terrorist group by Washington in July.Since taking power, Syria’s new leaders have sought to break from their violent past and present a more moderate image to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.Sharaa’s White House visit is “a hugely symbolic moment for the country’s new leader, who thus marks another step in his astonishing transformation from militant leader to global statesman,” said Michael Hanna, US program director at the International Crisis Group.The interim president met Trump for the first time in Saudi Arabia during the US leader’s regional tour in May.After his arrival in Washington, Sharaa over the weekend met with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva over possible aid for the war-wrecked country, and with representatives from Syrian organizations.Washington’s envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, said earlier this month that Sharaa may on Monday sign an agreement to join the international US-led alliance against the Islamic State (IS) group.The United States plans to establish a military base near Damascus “to coordinate humanitarian aid and observe developments between Syria and Israel,” a diplomatic source in Syria told AFP.The State Department’s decision Friday to remove Sharaa from the blacklist was widely expected.State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Sharaa’s government had been meeting US demands on working to find missing Americans and on eliminating any remaining chemical weapons.”These actions are being taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership after the departure of Bashar al-Assad and more than 50 years of repression under the Assad regime,” Pigott said.On Saturday, the Syrian interior ministry announced that it had carried out 61 raids and made 71 arrests in a “proactive campaign to neutralize the threat” of IS, according to the official SANA news agency.It said the raids targeted locations where IS sleeper cells remain, including Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Damascus.Sharaa’s Washington trip comes after he visited the United Nations in September — his first time on US soil — where the ex-jihadist became the first Syrian president in decades to address the UN General Assembly in New York.Last week Washington led a vote by the Security Council to remove UN sanctions against him.Sharaa is expected to seek US funds for Syria, which faces significant challenges in rebuilding after 13 years of civil war.In October, the World Bank put a “conservative best estimate” of the cost of rebuilding Syria at $216 billion. mam-at-burs/bgs/iv