News briefs

Tribune News Service on Oct 6, 2025

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Trump urges FCC to go after Rev. Al Sharpton, NBC’s license

On the heels of Jimmy Kimmel's suspension at ABC, President Donald Trump is now taking aim at MSNBC host the Rev. Al Sharpton.

The president called for the Federal Communications Commission to “look into” NBC’s broadcasting license after the civil rights activist and broadcaster featured Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Sunday’s edition of “Politics Nation.”

On his Truth Social platform, Trump shared a decades-old image of Sharpton and recounted their long history as New York City acquaintances-turned-political adversaries.

“I knew Al Sharpton for many years, not that it matters, but he was a major ‘TRUMP’ fan,” he wrote. “He’d ask me to go to his fake Rallies all the time, because I brought BIG Crowds, and he couldn’t get anybody to come without me.” Trump continued: “Then he did the Tawana Brawley Hoax, one of the worst Low Level Scams in History, and that set him back, BIG TIME!”

—New York Daily News

Expert cites ‘strong evidence’ race guided Texas congressional redistricting process

EL PASO, Texas – A data science expert said Monday there was “strong evidence” lawmakers considered race when drawing Texas’ new congressional map intended to net Republicans up to five seats in Congress.

Moon Duchin, a mathematician and data expert on redistricting issues, said the result of the 2025 map was the dilution of minority voting strength in key areas of the state, including Dallas and its suburbs.

“There’s strong evidence that race was used in the creation of this map,” Duchin testified during a federal hearing.

A three-judge panel is hearing testimony this week in El Paso to determine whether Texas’ congressional maps were redrawn earlier this year with partisan politics or race in mind. If the panel rules the maps are illegal, Texas’ 2026 congressional election would be conducted using the old maps or interim maps drawn by the court.

—The Dallas Morning News

Russia recruits Arab fighters with promises, then sends them to Ukraine front lines

The ad was straightforward: Sign up for one year to fight on Russia's side in "the special military operation zone" — i.e. the war in Ukraine — and get citizenship, free health care, money and land.

It was one of many promotions cropping up on the messaging platform Telegram beginning in 2024, shortly after Russian leader Vladimir Putin decreed foreign nationals fighting in the army's ranks would receive passports for themselves and their families.

Since then, travel agencies and brokers have drawn people from all over the world to join what they call Russia's "elite international battalion," dangling a raft of benefits to attract would-be recruits.

For Raed Hammad, a 54-year-old Jordanian man who worked as a cab driver until a herniated disk made sitting in a car seat all day untenable, it seemed like the opportunity he never found in his home country. He contacted a Russian businesswoman, Polina Alexandrovna, whose number was on the Telegram ad, and sent his passport information. In August, he received a visa and flight ticket and flew to Moscow.

—Los Angeles Times

Rise in 'hate and violence' against Jews in Germany since October 7

BERLIN — Germany has seen "increasing hate and violence" against Jewish people since the October 7, 2023, attacks, the country's domestic intelligence service warned on Monday, ahead of the second anniversary of the terrorist assault on Israel.

"We observe how calls are being made in Germany — sometimes covertly, sometimes openly — for attacks on (pro-)Jewish and (pro-)Israeli institutions," said Sinan Selen, the vice president of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).

"This danger must not be underestimated," he warned. There could also be extremist pro-Palestinian events on the anniversary, Selen suggested. Islamist-motivated attacks with knives or vehicles on Israeli or Jewish institutions must be expected at all times, the official said.

Among recent examples are suspected plans to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin, which were uncovered in February, and a knife attack at the Holocaust memorial. The number of antisemitic posts on the internet has also increased significantly, he said.

—dpa