The administration has alleged California sent ballots to some 20,000 people who may not be U.S. citizens. It wants the state to set those ballots aside and not count them until citizenship can be verified.

In the placid LA suburb of Burbank, residents spend months – and thousands of dollars – turning their homes into Disney-style attractions. Why does it go so hard for Halloween – and is it becoming too popular for its own good?

Every night, starting in mid-September, Diego Linares puts on a serial killer costume and stands in his front yard for three hours. The 40-year-old alternates outfits: some nights he’s Michael Myers, the masked murderer from the Halloween films. Other nights he’s Jason Voorhees, from the Friday the 13th franchise.

His family’s modest suburban yard in Burbank, California, has been transformed into a slasher movie set. Fake mist leaks out of the door of a cabin labeled “Crystal Lake”. Jack-o-lanterns, monsters, corpses and illuminated gravestones jostle for space across the ground. From the roof above the front door, a giant skeleton blinks its digital eyes.

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© Photograph: Maggie Shannon/The Guardian

© Photograph: Maggie Shannon/The Guardian

© Photograph: Maggie Shannon/The Guardian

In the placid LA suburb of Burbank, residents spend months – and thousands of dollars – turning their homes into Disney-style attractions. Why does it go so hard for Halloween – and is it becoming too popular for its own good?

Every night, starting in mid-September, Diego Linares puts on a serial killer costume and stands in his front yard for three hours. The 40-year-old alternates outfits: some nights he’s Michael Myers, the masked murderer from the Halloween films. Other nights he’s Jason Voorhees, from the Friday the 13th franchise.

His family’s modest suburban yard in Burbank, California, has been transformed into a slasher movie set. Fake mist leaks out of the door of a cabin labeled “Crystal Lake”. Jack-o-lanterns, monsters, corpses and illuminated gravestones jostle for space across the ground. From the roof above the front door, a giant skeleton blinks its digital eyes.

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© Photograph: Maggie Shannon/The Guardian

© Photograph: Maggie Shannon/The Guardian

© Photograph: Maggie Shannon/The Guardian

Plus, the Friday news quiz.

© Sean Rayford for The New York Times

Forget California’s billionaire wealth tax. The economist Natasha Sarin believes there are better ways to make billionaires pay up.

© The New York Times

A federal judge rejected on Wednesday a Trump administration request to stop California from processing the ballots of up to 20,000 people over allegations they are likely noncitizens, warning it would "wreak havoc" on the midterm elections.

If you’re worked up about what billionaires pay, wait till you hear about the millionaires.

The department has issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials as part of a widening effort to prove unsubstantiated claims about large numbers of illegal voters in the state.

© Philip Cheung for The New York Times

A federal judge gave the government until noon on Friday to share which states had received letters trying to enlist them in an effort to find evidence of voter fraud.

© Madison Swart for The New York Times

Supporters of a California wealth tax are short on cash and are relying on cheaper campaign methods to get their word out.

© Minh Connors for The New York Times

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• Alaska governor orders investigation into Peltola’s Senate campaign

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With days until the midterm elections, a new poll from CNN places Democrats well in the lead in key Senate races in Texas and Michigan, while projecting tighter contests in Kansas and Maine.

In Texas, the poll found 49% of likely voters would back James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, over Republican Ken Paxton, who netted just 43%.

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© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

The judge ruled that no immediate action was necessary, dealing another setback to the administration as it moves to target voting by noncitizens.

© Mike Blake/Reuters

Justice department had demanded state segregate and not count ballots from people it claimed were non-citizens

A federal judge declined to order California election officials to segregate and not count ballots from people the Trump administration claimed were non-citizens, rebuffing a legally thin request from the justice department that appeared designed to cast doubt over the results of the midterms.

The ruling from US district judge David Carter, nominated to the federal bench by Bill Clinton, comes about two weeks after the justice department delivered a USB drive to election officials in Los Angeles and Sacramento that it said contained the names of 20,000 non-citizens on the state’s voter rolls. There are more than 23 million registered voters in California and non-citizen voting is extremely rare.

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© Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Reid Wiseman, now a retired emeritus astronaut, will become deputy director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA’s premier center for deep-space robotic missions.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Ms. Huerta, a champion for workers and Latinos, revealed this year that she had been sexually assaulted by Cesar Chavez. But some women said she rebuffed their own complaints about abuse within the movement.

© Court Mast/Associated Press

Lawmakers, activists and union leaders across the US remember the co-founder of United Farm Workers union

Following the news that Dolores Huerta – the civil rights icon who popularized the rallying cry “Sí, se puede! – had died at the age of 96 on Wednesday, activists, lawmakers and civil rights leaders paid tribute to Hureta’s long and lasting legacy.

In California – where Huerta helped found the United Farm Workers (UFW) union – her death was deeply felt. It was in California’s central valley that she laid the foundations for the United Farm Workers, and helped organize the 1965 Delano grape strike – a national boycott of table grapes that resulted in better wages and working conditions for grape pickers. Several schools in California bear her name, and murals across the state depict her likeness. And in 2018, California declared 10 April – her birthday – Dolores Huerta Day.

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© Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP

© Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP

© Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP

Keaton Denlay says agents handed him ‘poorly formatted Excel spreadsheet’ and threatened to criminally prosecute him

A California county elections official is speaking out about the Department of Justice’s campaign against purported “voter fraud”, saying federal officials provided him a disorganized list of names filled with inaccuracies – and threatened to criminally prosecute him if he didn’t take action.

Keaton Denlay, the county clerk-recorder for Butte county, a region north of Sacramento, said a federal agent on Friday hand-delivered what appeared to be a printout of a “poorly formatted Excel spreadsheet with missing and jumbled information”. The DoJ claimed the list was of 47 “likely” noncitizens who were unlawfully registered to vote and demanded the county set aside their ballots. But Denlay said the document was riddled with errors and lacking crucial details, and he declined to act on it.

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© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

Huerta co-founded United Farm Workers union with Cesar Chavez, improving pay and conditions for farm workers

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Dolores Huerta, a celebrated 1960s labor union leader and civil rights activist, died on Wednesday in California at the age of 96, her family said.

Huerta was co-founder with Cesar Chavez, another veteran unionist and political activist, of the United Farm Workers union (UFW), which was credited with improving pay and conditions for agricultural workers through a series of strikes, boycotts and protests in the 1960s and 1970s.

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© Photograph: Cathy Murphy/Getty Images

© Photograph: Cathy Murphy/Getty Images

© Photograph: Cathy Murphy/Getty Images

She founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez. In early 2026, she told The Times that she had been raped by him decades earlier. She was 96.

© George Ballis/Take Stock/The Image Works, via PBS Distribution

That ’70s Show actor was sentenced to 30 years in prison for two counts of rape against two women, who were also Scientologists

Danny Masterson has lost the appeal of his rape conviction, meaning his 30-year prison sentence has been upheld.

The actor, best known for his role on That ’70s Show, was convicted in 2023 of two counts of rape against two women in 2003, while a third charge relating to a third plaintiff, who alleged she was raped by Masterson in 2001, was quashed.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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© Photograph: Anna Webber/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anna Webber/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anna Webber/Getty Images