INTERNACIONAL
Democrats reluctantly hand Trump major victory on key program targeting Tim Walz
President Donald Trump’s crackdown on government fraud is getting unexpected backup from a majority of House Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
More than 140 House Democrats voted with all Republicans to make the National Fraud Enforcement Division permanent on Wednesday. The bill passed in an overwhelming 352 to 72 vote, with all of its opponents being Democrats as well.
Trump’s White House first announced the creation of a new division within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat fraud in January 2026, primarily targeting «fraud affecting the federal government, federally funded programs, and private citizens,» according to a release by the administration.
It was notably used as a cudgel against Trump’s political enemies earlier this year, when Vice President JD Vance referred Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison to the fraud division for a potential criminal investigation.
WHITE HOUSE PUSHES ‘WATERSHED’ FRAUD-FIGHTING REFORM IN CONGRESS AS VANCE CONVENES TASK FORCE
Republicans accused Walz and Ellison of helping facilitate what’s become a ballooning fraud scandal affecting Minnesota’s social welfare programs. Both have acknowledged that taxpayer dollars were taken advantage of but accused GOP actors of casting the situation as worse than it actually is as a political attack.
VANCE REFERS TIM WALZ, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL TO DOJ FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OVER STATE’S ALLEGED FRAUD
The Trump administration’s announcement of the fraud division also touted its actions in Minnesota, which it said was experiencing a «fraud epidemic.»
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a top House progressive, said he would give «tepid support» to the legislation, while pointing out a fraud division has already existed within the DOJ for decades.
REPUBLICANS DECLARE WAR ON ‘ORGANIZED THEFT’ WITH GOVERNMENT FRAUD CRACKDOWN
«This is hardly some kind of great breakthrough in law enforcement or criminal justice, but it is perhaps the least offensive piece of legislative flotsam and jetsam that has washed ashore in the last 48 hours of Republican chaos and retreat here in the House of Representatives,» Raskin said on the House floor.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., responded, «This conversation is about a piece of legislation. It’s about a piece of legislation that we want to be enacted into law. It’s not a partisan initiative. It’s a permanent, nonpartisan commitment that we do something better because the people who are listening here … the people who are watching, they’re getting tired of it.»
«They’re getting tired of all the money that has been wasted. And to try to pretend that just a few years ago, a couple of years ago, everything was perfect, everything was taken care of and that there was no corruption, we know better,» Van Drew said.
Raskin spent a significant amount of time accusing Trump and his administration allies of corruption at the expense of prosecuting actual fraud cases, something Republicans pushed back against.
«What has come out of Minnesota over the last year, what has been exposed, is absolutely criminal in nature,» said Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo. «I think what is coming, what is being exposed in blue cities and blue states run by Democrats, demonstrates that it’s probably higher by an order of magnitude.»
Raskin then targeted Van Drew directly in his comments: «My dear friend from New Jersey wants to make it sound like I’m doing something partisan. I’m joining his bill.»
«It would be very easy for me to say I reject everything you do because you’re on the side of this pro-fraud president, but I’m not doing that. Your bill says, let’s call this the ‘National Fraud Enforcement Unit. I say, fine, that makes sense to me,» Raskin said. «Why don’t you cross the aisle and say it’s wrong for them to be pardoning white-collar fraudster after white-collar fraudster, or at least pardoning them from having to pay the fines and the restitution back? It’s an honest question. Do you really think that $1.7 billion should go from what was going to be the pockets of the victims back into the bank account of the perpetrators?»
Van Drew responded, «The gentleman has his numbers. He has his vision, he has his partisan ideas, and that’s up to him. But I’m trying to point out today … we’re trying to make something that is right now just an executive order and make it law to help the people.»
tim walz, politics, justice department, minnesota fraud exposed, jd vance, house of representatives politics
INTERNACIONAL
Diputadas guatemaltecas presentan proyecto para obligar a partidos a incluir mujeres en las candidaturas electorales
Las diputadas y diputados de Guatemala, encabezados por Sonia Gutiérrez, presentaron el 27 de octubre una iniciativa para imponer la paridad y la alternancia de género en las candidaturas electorales, con un mecanismo que permitiría rechazar las listas de los partidos que no cumplan. La reforma también exige la inclusión de pueblos indígenas y busca modificar una normativa vigente desde 1985 antes del próximo proceso electoral.
La propuesta modifica el artículo 212 del Decreto Número 1-85 de la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, que regula la postulación e inscripción de candidatos a cargos de elección popular. Su alcance incluye a los comités cívicos electorales que participan en elecciones de alcaldías y corporaciones municipales.
El proyecto incorpora además el artículo 212 Bis. Las nóminas para diputados por distrito electoral, lista nacional y Parlamento Centroamericano, junto con las planillas municipales, deberán alternar de forma consecutiva las postulaciones de mujeres y hombres.
El rechazo de listas como sanción por incumplimiento
El Registro de Ciudadanos deberá revisar que las organizaciones políticas respeten los criterios de paridad y alternancia. Si detecta una irregularidad, tendrá que advertir al partido para que corrija su lista dentro del plazo previsto por la Ley Electoral y de Partidos Políticos.
Si la agrupación no subsana el incumplimiento, el Registro rechazará la inscripción de la lista. La iniciativa convierte así la alternancia en una condición obligatoria para competir en los comicios.
La presidenta de la Comisión de Asuntos Electorales explicó, durante una conferencia de prensa en el Salón de los Pasos Perdidos del Congreso, que la reforma responde a una demanda histórica de las organizaciones de mujeres. Gutiérrez afirmó: “Se nos ha negado a las mujeres, que somos el 52% ya de la población en general, la posibilidad de participación política en igualdad de condiciones entre hombres y mujeres”.
El decreto propuesto cita dos opiniones de la Corte de Constitucionalidad, emitidas en los expedientes 5352-2013 y 4528-2015. De acuerdo con los considerandos, el tribunal sostuvo que la igualdad política “no se satisface con la presencia numérica de mujeres en las candidaturas”, sino con condiciones que garanticen el acceso efectivo a los cargos de representación y a los espacios de dirección partidaria.
La propuesta también invoca el artículo cuatro de la Constitución Política de Guatemala, referido al principio de igualdad, y el artículo 46, que reconoce la jerarquía de los tratados internacionales de derechos humanos ratificados por el país. Entre ellos figura la Convención sobre la Eliminación de Todas las Formas de Discriminación contra la Mujer, conocida por sus siglas en inglés como CEDAW.
El respaldo indígena y la advertencia hacia 2027
La iniciativa fue firmada inicialmente por Olga Villalta, César Amézquita, José Chic, Raúl Barrera, Patricia Orantes, Nery Ramos y José Carlos Sanabria. Durante la presentación, la diputada Evelyn Morataya, integrante de la Comisión de Asuntos Electorales, también suscribió el documento.
Representantes de la Alianza de Mujeres y Mujeres Indígenas y de la Articulación de Mujeres Parlamentarias Indígenas participaron del acto. Norma Satik, integrante de la coordinación política de esta última organización, señaló que las agrupaciones han sostenido durante años procesos de formación, cabildeo e incidencia para impulsar la reforma.
Satik resumió la demanda de las organizaciones: “Necesitamos inclusión, necesitamos paridad, necesitamos alternancia para que definitivamente podamos tener una democracia más fortalecida”.
Rosalina Tuyuc, excongresista y vicepresidenta de la Junta Directiva del Legislativo, intervino en representación de la articulación de mujeres mayas. Advirtió que el reclamo acumula 35 años y anticipó que las organizaciones seguirán de cerca la posición de cada integrante del Congreso: “Si no hay voto para esta propuesta, tampoco habrá voto de las mujeres para el 2027”.
Amézquita sostuvo que la aprobación de la reforma no bastará para asegurar una representación efectiva de las mujeres. El diputado llamó a fortalecer la participación dentro de las estructuras partidarias y afirmó: “Podemos lograr la ley, podemos lograr la modificación, pero si no hacemos trabajo dentro de los partidos políticos, no vamos a lograr esas casillas ganadoras”.
Tras la presentación, los legisladores entregaron la iniciativa a la Dirección Legislativa del Congreso. Gutiérrez indicó que la Comisión de Asuntos Electorales solicitará su lectura en el pleno y pedirá que sea remitida de inmediato a esa instancia para dictamen y discusión antes del próximo proceso electoral.
Congreso de la República de Guatemala,conferencia de prensa,mujeres indígenas,paridad de género
Spain train crash kills dozens
Aerial footage showed the aftermath of a deadly high-speed train crash in central Spain Wednesday. (Spanish Civil Guard via AP)
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Several Americans are believed to have been injured in a high-speed train collision that killed at least 68 people in Spain on Wednesday when one train collided with another that had stopped on the tracks.
The crash took place in Spain’s Castilla-La Mancha, with the regional government confirming the death toll and adding that another 58 people required medical treatment in hospitals. Several Americans are believed to have been hurt in the crash, according to the State Department.
Rescue workers continue to search in the wreckage for survivors and bodies, with witnesses describing a gruesome scene.
Wednesday’s incident is the second high-speed rail crash Spain has suffered this year. Esther Padilla, spokeswoman for the regional government, said the cause of the crash is not yet known.
Spain’s rail system operator ADIF said the crash occurred Wednesday morning in the province of Toledo. Both trains were carrying hundreds of passengers, and were headed in the same direction on a route from Madrid to Seville.
CRASH INVOLVING SPEEDING TRAIN, MINIBUS IN BELGIUM LEAVES 4 DEAD INCLUDING 2 CHILDREN
Emergency services attend to victims at the scene of a collision between two trains in Urda, Spain, on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (Juanma Jiménez/Europa Press via AP)
One train, run by the state-owned RENFE company, ran into the tail of the other train owned by private company IRYO that had stopped, knocking two of its cars off the track. Those companies were the same ones involved in January’s crash.
Padilla said 397 passengers were on the RENFE train and 147 passengers on the IRYO train.
David Gómez, a construction worker, was working with his brother and another colleague nearby when they heard the crash and ran to help, he told the newspaper El País.
«People were trying to get out through the windows…. We cut through some fences to access the area and treated people with the first-aid kits we had brought,» until emergency services arrived, he said. «As I was trying to pull a young woman out, there was a piece of a leg.»
Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said emergency workers were focusing on rescuing survivors and bodies from the two most damaged train cars. She said the injured are being sent to different hospitals in the area.
BYSTANDER VIDEO CAPTURES NORFOLK SOUTHERN TRAIN T-BONING SEPTIC TRUCK AT VIRGINIA RAILROAD CROSSING
The scene of a collision between two trains in Urda, Spain, on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (Juanma Jiménez/Europa Press via AP)
«It was a high-speed impact, so we are expecting this to be a tragedy,» García said.
Passenger Ignacio Relaño was traveling on the RENFE train. He told state broadcaster TVE that the train had stopped momentarily on the line before it started again and then crashed into the IRYO.
«We all felt the train abruptly slowing down and then the impact,» he said. «The car leaned to one side like it was about to tip over. I hit my nose, everything went flying, luggage, cellphones. Everything shook.»
Another passenger recounted to Cadena Ser radio how she felt the train slam on the brakes and was thrown forward in her seat, breaking the small table in front of her. She said she saw body parts and trapped people covered in blood.
Passengers wait at Santa Justa station in Seville, Andalusia, Spain, following a train accident near Urda, Toledo, on Oct. 28, 2026. The collision suspended services on the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed line. (Europa Press via Getty Images)
IRYO, an Italian-owned company, said in a statement that it has «activated its security protocols and is closely working with authorities.»
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez canceled his agenda to focus on the crash. He wrote on X that he was «dismayed by the serious train accident in Toledo.»
«Emergency services are working on site to attend to the affected passengers,» wrote Sánchez, who faces a national election next month. «All my thoughts are with the victims and their families.»
Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia said in a short statement on X that they were following news of the accident.
«We are deeply saddened and concerned by the train accident in Urda (Toledo),» the royal couple said. «We share in the grief of the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, and we send our heartfelt support to the injured and all those affected.»
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
spain, disasters, transportation, europe, world
A federal judge who has become a frequent legal thorn in the side of President Donald Trump and his allies is now presiding over a fight to unseal the warrant used to search the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
The battle over whether to unseal the search warrant comes amid two separate federal investigations into the Democratic congresswoman stemming from concerns about discrepancies between financial disclosures filed a year apart and allegations that her father committed fraud when completing immigration paperwork. Omar immigrated to the United States from Somalia in 1995, when she was 12 years old. Investigators are examining whether her father misstated her age on his citizenship paperwork in 2000, potentially allowing her to obtain citizenship through him as a minor.
Trump, a longtime foe of the progressive congresswoman, has been vocal in his attacks against Omar, having also accused her of committing immigration fraud by allegedly marrying her brother — referring to her first husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. In the weeks following the Oct. 12 raid on Omar’s Washington, D.C., home, Trump called for Omar to be «put in jail.»
TRUMP SAYS ILHAN OMAR COULD GO TO JAIL OR BE DEPORTED, CALLS HER ‘A DISGRACE TO OUR COUNTRY’
But the fight over whether to unseal the records is being overseen by Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, an Obama appointee and longtime target of Trump. In March 2025, after Boasberg temporarily blocked deportation flights carrying alleged Venezuelan gang members, Trump called him a «Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator» and called for his impeachment. Trump also accused Boasberg of bias, saying it was «virtually impossible for me to get an Honest Ruling in D.C.»
The raid on Omar’s home came just weeks before the midterm elections, as alleged fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs had become a major political issue in the state.
ILHAN OMAR’S TURBULENT WEEK EXPLAINED: THE DUELING PROBES THAT THREW THE SOMALI-BORN PROGRESSIVE INTO CHAOS
Days after Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI conducted a raid on Omar’s home under a search warrant issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh, three separate requests were made to unseal the warrant — by the New York Times; Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group; and 14 press organizations.
Boasberg ordered the Justice Department to defend its position on keeping the warrant sealed in response to a consolidated request from the Times and 14 press organizations by Oct. 22, but he extended the deadline following a Justice Department request to wait until the search warrant was «fully executed.»
The Justice Department argued that releasing the information could compromise the integrity of the investigation.
«This request sounds rash because it is rash,» Pirro wrote. «The Court should reject it without prejudice for renewal after the search warrant has been fully executed and a charging decision is made public.»
The filing indicated that the Justice Department was still in the process of executing the search warrant, while other details about the investigation and warrant records remained redacted from the public record.
But the Times and other media groups argue that the physical search occurred weeks ago and that any sensitive information in the warrant should be redacted rather than the entire warrant being withheld.
Meanwhile, Omar is engaged in a separate dispute with the Justice Department. Her attorneys have demanded the return of property seized from her home, arguing that agents violated protections for her congressional work. They have also alleged that agents failed to provide her with a copy of the warrant and prevented her from contacting her attorneys during the search.
FEDERAL AGENTS SEIZE PHONE OF REP ILHAN OMAR IN RAID TIED TO IMMIGRATION FRAUD PROBE
Boasberg’s oversight of efforts to unseal the records follows a series of decisions that have drawn criticism from Trump and his allies. In June 2025, he ordered federal agencies to preserve Signal messages exchanged by senior officials while discussing U.S. military strikes in Yemen, saying the communications could constitute federal records. During the Biden administration’s Arctic Frost investigation, he signed nondisclosure orders barring phone carriers from notifying Republican lawmakers that prosecutors had subpoenaed their records.
Boasberg also drew criticism over his sentencing of former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith. Clinesmith pleaded guilty to altering an email used in an application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to renew surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser suspected of acting as a Russian agent.
Boasberg, who previously served a seven-year term on the FISA Court, said Clinesmith’s alteration of the email undermined the court’s integrity but was a misguided mistake that provided Clinesmith no personal benefit. He sentenced Clinesmith to 12 months of probation and 400 hours of community service.
Boasberg said in his sentencing decision that he believed Clinesmith’s role at the center of a years-long media «hurricane» had provided sufficient punishment.
ilhan omar, the squad, justice department, fbi, judiciary
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