Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates agrees with Townhall. Wow, who thought we'd ever be able to say that? In a new memo, Bill Gates appears to have done a 180 on climate change and abandoned his climate alarmism. The man who wrote "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster" just four years ago now says climate change "will not lead to humanity's demise."

Defending Chicago in a recent Fox News interview, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said it was “not in the top 30” of “big cities” with the highest rates of murder. But in 2024, Chicago had the 15th highest murder rate among U.S. cities with at least 250,000 residents, according to FBI data. It ranked higher if limiting to cities with even larger populations. Pritzker, a potential Democratic presidential contender in 2028, made that claim on Oct. 23 while being questioned about crime in Chicago by Fox News anchor Bret Baier. Crime in the city has received a lot of attention this year, as President Donald Trump falsely labeled Chicago the world’s “murder capital” and called for sending National Guard troops there over the objection of local officials.

Border Patrol agents have carried out more arrests in the Chicago area than their counterparts at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, illustrating the expanded role they are playing far away from U.S. borders under the Trump administration, internal federal government data obtained by CBS News indicates. This week, arrests by Customs and Border Protection in the Chicago-area "Midway Blitz" operation surpassed those recorded by ICE, the agency that is, on paper, responsible for enforcing federal immigration laws in the interior of the country...

Gavin Newsom’s redistricting campaign is supercharging his roster of grassroots donors, creating a powerful springboard for his likely 2028 presidential campaign. The California governor brought in more than 100,000 new-to-Newsom contributors — people who had not given to his previous statewide campaigns or federal committee — as part of his blockbuster fundraising for Proposition 50, which would redraw the state’s congressional lines to favor Democrats. The new donors represent more than 93 percent of individuals funding Newsom’s committee backing the initiative, according to a POLITICO analysis.

President Donald Trump touted an "amazing" meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, saying the two leaders reached agreements to reduce tariffs on Chinese imports, delay Chinese restrictions on its rare earth mineral exports and secure Chinese purchases of American soybeans and other farm products...

China will resume purchasing soybeans from the U.S. after the Asian nation had been boycotting doing so for months. Ahead of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, the Trump administration announced that China had bought three U.S. soybean cargoes, according to Reuters. China’s refusal to buy soybeans has left U.S. farmers ailing since the summer. China last purchased soybeans in May, costing farmers billions in lost revenue.

The Treasury Department is touting progress in lowering federal spending since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. Treasury officials are touting data showing a decline in year-over-year federal spending growth relative to the final full year of the Biden administration. The Trump administration's data shows federal spending was up 7.1% year over year in the second quarter of 2024, before accelerating to 28.5% in the third quarter and 10.9% in the fourth quarter. In the first quarter of 2025, when the transfer of power between the Biden and Trump administrations occurred, spending was up 8.5% year over year...

China has greenlit a transfer agreement for TikTok, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, signaling that a resolution to the app’s future in the U.S. could advance in the coming weeks. "In Kuala Lumpur, we finalized the TikTok agreement in terms of getting Chinese approval, and I would expect that would go forward in the coming weeks and months, and we'll finally see a resolution to that," he said on Fox Business Network following President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The Trump administration is ruling out selling offshore oil and gas leases along the US East Coast, after its initial plan for auctioning them drew alarm from Republican strongholds in the Southeast. The shift in thinking comes after the White House earlier contemplated a more expansive approach to auctioning offshore drilling rights, having drafted plans for potential sales up and down the US East Coast, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because they aren’t authorized to discuss the deliberations...

The government shutdown isn’t stopping the Trump administration from advancing its policy priorities, especially when it comes to fossil fuels. When it announced its contingency plans for the shutdown, the Bureau of Land Management said that staff who are in charge of processing leases and permits for oil and gas, leases for coal or “other energy and mineral resources necessary for energy production” would still have to work...