News From Around the Web
#1 X Is Down – Here’s What We Know About the Major Outage - Mark Wilson for Tech Radar
The social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, seems to be having a very rough day, with thousands reporting that it's down for them. The first spike in reported problems on Downdetector occurred at around 6:08 a.m. ET / 11:08 a.m. ET, with over 3,800 reports in the UK and over 11,000 in the US. There's been no official acknowledgement of issues from X yet, but it could be related to problems at Cloudflare, which says its global network is "experiencing issues". Here's everything we know about the outage so far. Despite the drop in reports on Downdetector, I'm still experiencing issues on X on both desktop and mobile – perhaps it's spontaneously combusted from Google Gemini 3 hype. Fortunately, that's not the case for everyone, and the reports on Downdetector are now down to around 2,400 in the US and just over 2,000 in the UK, suggesting the issues are easing. This corresponds to a similar drop on Cloudflare – so while there's been no official connection between the two, it looks likely that Cloudflare issues have sparked the absence of memes and outrage on X today.
#2 Epstein Latest: House to Vote on Files Today - Matt Cannon for Newsweek
U.S. Representatives are set to vote on a bill later today that would force the release of the Justice Department's entire cache of files related to its investigation of paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days. Victims' names would be redacted. President Donald Trump had urged supporters to dismiss the bid to release the files as a "hoax," but on Sunday, facing down a rebellion, he urged House Republicans to back the measure, "because we have nothing to hide." Procedural votes and debates are scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday...
#3 ‘Deeply Ashamed’: Larry Summers Steps Away From Public Life After Epstein Emails - James Hill and Olivia Rubin for ABC News
Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and the former president of Harvard University, said he's stepping back from public life after his apparent conversations with Jeffrey Epstein were released last week by the House Oversight Committee. "I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein," Summers said in a statement on Monday. Summers is currently a member of Harvard's faculty, according to the Harvard Crimson. "While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me," he said...
#4 Jon Stewart Explains Why He ‘Knows’ Trump-Epstein Emails Are ‘Real’ - Jacob Stolworthy for Independent
Jon Stewart has addressed Donald Trump’s appearance in the Jeffrey Epstein emails, claiming: “You know it’s real because his allies are working overtime to distract.” On Monday’s episode of The Daily Show, the late-night host broached the subject of “the very normal and not shady handling of the Epstein files”, which could be released if a House of Representatives vote is passed on Tuesday, 18 November. Many of the recently released emails mention Trump, who was friends with the disgraced financier decades ago, including one in which the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein claimed the president “knew about the girls”...
#5 Trump Pulls the Rug on Mike Johnson Over the “Epstein Files” - Kate Santaliz and Hans Nichols
President Trump's stunning reversal on the "Epstein files" discharge petition has undercut months of work by Speaker Mike Johnson. The Epstein issue has plagued the House since the summer. Now the speaker is about to suffer a clear defeat over Reps—Thomas Massie's (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna's (D-Calif.) discharge petition. Johnson cut the week short before the August recess after Democrats forced multiple votes on releasing the files. He then kept the House out of session for nearly two months — a move that, intentionally or not, delayed the discharge petition from reaching the floor...
#6 Trump Defends Tucker Carlson’s Interview With Nick Fuentes - Sarah Fortinsky for The Hill
President Trump defended media host Tucker Carlson’s interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, saying Sunday that the public should hear controversial views and make up their own minds. Asked about Carlson’s recent “friendly interview with antisemite Nick Fuentes” and what role Carlson can play in the GOP going forward, the president recalled his positive interviews with the former Fox News host in the past. “Well, I found him to be good. I mean, he said good things about me over the years. He’s, I think he’s good. We’ve had some good interviews. I did an interview with him, we were at 300 million hits, you know that,” Trump told reporters...
#7 Mom Battles Judge’s Order Banning Her Taking Daughter to Church - Robert Alexander for Newsweek
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is weighing whether a lower court overstepped constitutional limits when it barred a mother from taking her 12-year-old daughter to church services and restricted her from exposing the child to Bible teachings. The case, Bickford v. Bradeen, has drawn attention for its unusual scope and the broader questions it raises about parental rights, judicial neutrality toward religion, and the evidentiary standards used in family-law disputes. At the center of the case is an unusually sweeping custody order that barred a Maine mother from taking her 12-year-old daughter to church or exposing her to Bible teachings—restrictions the mother argues violate her constitutional rights and exceed the authority of family courts...
#8 Republicans Are Racing to Find a Plan for Enhanced ACA Subsidies. Here’s What They’re Considering - Tami Luhby for CNN
With less than six weeks before a key set of Affordable Care Act premium subsidies expire, congressional Republicans are scrambling to come up with a plan to address the pain of health care premiums skyrocketing for roughly 22 million Americans. Healthcare has long been a thorny issue for Republicans, and this time is no exception. The caucus is divided, with some more moderate — and vulnerable — GOP lawmakers looking to temporarily extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies with several changes. But others are following President Donald Trump’s push to send federal assistance directly to consumers, rather than health insurers...
#9 AI-Generated Evidence Is Showing up in Court. Judges Say They’re Not Ready - Jared Perlo for NBC News
Judge Victoria Kolakowski sensed something was wrong with Exhibit 6C. Submitted by the plaintiffs in a California housing dispute, the video showed a witness whose voice was disjointed and monotone, her face fuzzy and lacking emotion. Every few seconds, the witness would twitch and repeat her expressions. Kolakowski, who serves on California’s Alameda County Superior Court, soon realized why: The video had been produced using generative artificial intelligence. Though the video claimed to feature a real witness — who had appeared in another, authentic piece of evidence — Exhibit 6C was an AI “deepfake,” Kolakowski said. The case, Mendones v. Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., appears to be one of the first instances in which a suspected deepfake was submitted as purportedly authentic evidence in court and detected — a sign, judges and legal experts said, of a much larger threat...
#10 SNAP Is Back, but Millions of Americans Could Lose Benefits Due to New Restrictions - Mary Kekatos for ABC News
Just as SNAP benefits were reinstated for millions of Americans following the reopening of the federal government, many are now set to permanently lose them. Nearly 42 million Americans, including low-income families and vulnerable households, rely on SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to help pay for groceries or other household essentials. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been directing states to implement new guidance as part of President Donald Trump's megabill signed into law in July, which will include new work requirements, decreased eligibility for refugees, and states shouldering some of the cost of the program...
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