Police say fires set at ballot boxes in Oregon and Washington are connected

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police say they have identified a “suspect vehicle” connected to incendiary devices that set fires in ballot drop boxes in Oregon and Washington state early Monday. Surveillance images captured a Volvo stopping at a drop box in Portland, Oregon, just before security personnel nearby discovered a fire inside the box. That fire damaged three ballots inside, while officials say a fire at a drop box in nearby Vancouver, Washington, early Monday destroyed hundreds of ballots. Authorities said at a news conference in Portland that enough material from the incendiary devices was recovered to show that the two fires Monday were connected — and that they were also connected to an Oct. 8 incident.

US presses ahead with modest Mideast plans despite election uncertainty

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the U.S. presidential election just a week away, the Biden administration is not giving up hope for short-term deals for cease-fires between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. But U.S. officials are mindful that political uncertainty in the United States has made the sides reluctant to commit to any significant agreements before the result of the Nov. 5 election is known. In the meantime, the Mideast is uneasy about what happens next after Israel struck military targets over the weekend in retaliation for Iran’s barrage of ballistic missile attacks on Oct. 1. U.S. officials say they believe Israel’s response won’t draw an escalatory reaction from Iran but caution nothing is certain.

Republicans ask U.S. Supreme Court to block counting of some provisional ballots in Pennsylvania

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency order in Pennsylvania that could result in thousands of votes not being counted in this year’s election in the battleground state. Just over a week before the election, the court was asked Monday to step into a dispute over provisional ballots cast by Pennsylvania voters whose mail ballots are rejected for not following technical procedures in state law. The state’s high court ruled 4-3 last week that elections officials must count provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were voided because they arrived without mandatory secrecy envelopes. The election fight arrived at the Supreme Court the same day Virginia sought the justices’ intervention in a dispute over purging voter registrations.

Authorities launch ‘interagency operation’ at federal jail in NY housing Sean Combs

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal investigators have launched an “interagency operation” at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Sean “Diddy” Combs is incarcerated. Officials say the operation involves the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s inspector general’s office and other law enforcement agencies. The Bureau of Prisons says the operation is to ensure safety for staff and inmates and comes amid rising concerns over the jail’s poor conditions, violence, and several inmate deaths. The Bureau of Prisons says it is committed to addressing these issues and holding accountable those responsible for violence.