ECM World Watch: National and global news

October 22,  2025 (San Diego’s East County) -- As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Judge halts Trump’s planned layoffs of federal workers during government shutdown, calling them unlawful (CNN)
• Appeals court allows Trump to deploy National Guard in Portland  (CNN)
• Journalists turn in press passes as Pentagon clamps down on access in ‘unprecedented’ move (CNN)
• Judge orders Chicago deportation agents to wear body cameras after seeing ‘startling’ images of arrests (Independent)
• 'Substantial' Federal Firings Begin Amid Shutdown (Newsweek)
• Trump promised farmers a bailout. Time is running out. (Politico)
• Trump’s Directive on ‘Organized Political Violence’ Could Lead to Increased Surveillance of His Critics (NOTUS)
• Trump Says He’s ‘Only Cutting Democrat Programs’ During Shutdown (NOTUS)
• Federal Judge Questions Trump Admin’s ‘Credibility’ While Pausing Chicago Deployment (NOTUS)
• Kansas Young Republicans shut down after Politico report on racist, violent encrypted chat (Kansas Reflector)
• US anti-fascism expert blocked from flying to Spain at airport (The Guardian)

WORLD

• The planet has entered a ‘new reality’ as it hits its first climate tipping point, landmark report finds (CNN)
• Trusting Trump: Why  Hamas gambled on giving up Gaza hostages (Reuters)
• Hamas carries out public executions — just hours after peace treaty signing (New York Post)
• Trump's quest for the Nobel Peace Prize falls short again despite high-profile nominations (AP)
• Pope Leo XIV says 'inhuman treatment of immigrants' in the U.S. isn't 'pro-life' (NPR)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

U.S.

Judge halts Trump’s planned layoffs of federal workers during government shutdown, calling them unlawful (CNN)

...Judge Susan Illston made clear at the outset of a hearing over the legality of the layoffs that she’s was prepared to issue an emergency court order halting the administration’s plans while the legal challenge brought by unions representing federal workers plays out.

Appeals court allows Trump to deploy National Guard in Portland  (CNN)

A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling Monday will allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in Portland, saying it is likely to succeed on its appeal of an order that blocked the deployment.

Journalists turn in press passes as Pentagon clamps down on access in ‘unprecedented’ move (CNN)

A flyer with the words “journalism is not a crime” appeared Tuesday on the wall outside the “Correspondents’ Corridor” where journalists operate at the Pentagon.  It was a silent protest of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new policy that severely restricts press access.  The policy criminalizes routine reporting, according to media lawyers and advocates...

Judge orders Chicago deportation agents to wear body cameras after seeing ‘startling’ images of arrests (Independent)

 A federal judge in Illinois has ordered officers in the Trump administration’s sweeping Chicago operations to wear body-worn cameras, days after they were told to stop firing rubber bullets, tear gas and other chemical munitions at protesters and journalists protesting the president’s mass deportation agenda. District Judge Sara Ellis said Thursday she was “startled” by images of law enforcement actions after she issued her initial order last week. ...” I’m having serious concerns that my order’s being followed,” she said.  She then ordered agents to wear body-worn cameras during the so-called Operation Midway Blitz, “and they are to be [turned] on,” she told the court.

'Substantial' Federal Firings Begin Amid Shutdown (Newsweek)

The White House had signaled the move before the shutdown began, instructing agencies to submit reduction-in-force plans.

Trump promised farmers a bailout. Time is running out. (Politico)

President Donald Trump promised a bailout for farmers reeling from the effects of his tariffs and the high costs for fertilizer and other equipment. But the money hasn’t come, and time is running out before farmers have to make crucial decisions about next year’s planting season.

Trump’s Directive on ‘Organized Political Violence’ Could Lead to Increased Surveillance of His Critics (NOTUS)

At a time when Trump and Republicans routinely decry mainstream Democratic and progressive views as “extremist,” experts say Trump’s directive opens the door for surveillance of just about anyone outside the MAGA world….   

Trump Says He’s ‘Only Cutting Democrat Programs’ During Shutdown (NOTUS)

 President Donald Trump explicitly said his administration had been cutting and would continue to cut “popular Democrat programs” during the ongoing government shutdown….“We’re only going to cut Democrat programs,” Trump said Thursday at a televised Cabinet meeting. ...Last week, the administration sought to strip billions of dollars’ worth of energy programs from Democratic-led states while leaving similar ones intact in Republican-led states.

Federal Judge Questions Trump Admin’s ‘Credibility’ While Pausing Chicago Deployment (NOTUS)

“DHS’ perception of events are simply unreliable,” U.S. District Judge April Perry said.

Kansas Young Republicans shut down after Politico report on racist, violent encrypted chat (Kansas Reflector)

The chairman and vice chairman of the Kansas Young Republicans took part in encrypted chats with political peers that were laced with violent, racist and antisemitic rhetoric and blended with references to white supremacy and suppression of the Jeffrey Epstein files.  On Tuesday, the chairman of the Kansas Republican Party said the Politico article disclosing the commentary prompted immediate deactivation of the Kansas Young Republicans organization.

US anti-fascism expert blocked from flying to Spain at airport (The Guardian)

Rutgers University professor who published book on antifa was informed at boarding gate that his trip was cancelled   The professor, nicknamed “Dr Antifa” by a group of students, had said he was moving to Europe after receiving death threats. Turning Point USA activists have claimed he is a “financier” for the leftwing movement.

WORLD

The planet has entered a ‘new reality’ as it hits its first climate tipping point, landmark report finds (CNN)

The planet is grappling with a “new reality” as it reaches the first in a series of catastrophic and potentially irreversible climate tipping points: the widespread death of coral reefs, according to a landmark report produced by 160 scientists across the world.

Trusting Trump: Why  Hamas gambled on giving up Gaza hostages (Reuters)

Hamas has called Donald Trump a racist, a "recipe for chaos" and a man with an absurd vision for Gaza.But one extraordinary phone call last month helped persuade Hamas that the U.S. president might be able to hold Israel to a peace deal even if the group surrendered all the hostages that give it leverage in the war in Gaza, two Palestinian officials said.

Hamas carries out public executions — just hours after peace treaty signing (New York Post)

Hamas carried out mass public executions in Gaza on Monday, gruesome video shows — as the bloodthirsty terror group desperately seeks to maintain control over the Palestinian enclave and punish those it deems “collaborators with Israel.”  The barbaric reprisal came just hours after President Trump declared the “end of an age of terror and death” and signed a document enshrining his 20-point peace plan.

Trump's quest for the Nobel Peace Prize falls short again despite high-profile nominations (AP)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the prize… Her opposition to President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela aligns with the Trump administration’s own stance on Venezuela, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has praised her as “the personification of resilience, tenacity, and patriotism.”

Pope Leo XIV says 'inhuman treatment of immigrants' in the U.S. isn't 'pro-life' (NPR)

Pope Leo XIV weighed in on U.S. politics, saying that Catholic politicians must be judged on the full range of their policy positions and suggesting that the country's treatment of immigrants is "inhuman."