Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) spurred new and avid speculation about her political intentions on Tuesday, when an extensive interview with her was published in The New York Times. Much of the chatter about AOC, as she is widely known, has centered on the idea that she might seek the presidency. But another route has always…
The Hill•Niall Stanage19h ago
The progressive New York Democrat has said she’ll decide after the crucial November midterm elections
‘I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,’ the progressive US representative says US politics live – latest updates Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , the progressive Democratic congresswoman, has refused to rule out a potential run against the party’s Senate leader Chuck Schumer amid mounting speculation around her political ambitions. When asked by the New York Times whether she would challenge Schumer in 2028, when his current term is up, Ocasio-Cortez declined to exclude the possibility – even if Democrats win back the Senate majority. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Ariana Baio22 Sept
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), one of the most prominent Democrats of the last decade, discussed a 2028 presidential run and reflected on how her identity may impact her potential campaign. “I think about it personally,” Ocasio-Cortez told The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday, talking about a bid for the presidency. “I am…
The Hill•Tara Suter22 Sept
Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour following a pressure campaign over his speech in support of Palestinians
Rolling Stone•Charisma Madarang16 Sept
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she's hitting the mute button on Ed Sheeran ... though she acknowledges he's really only a pawn in the whole Macklemore saga. Charlie caught up with the congresswoman from New York on Tuesday ... and,…
TMZ•TMZ Staff15 Sept
Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor and democratic socialist, was viewed more favorably than Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow high-profile member of the movement.
The New York Times•Kellen Browning and Ruth Igielnik15 Sept
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Monday that the Trump administration is “selling out” every American when discussing a Russian oligarch’s involvement in Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding. The lawmaker was asked what she made of Trump Jr.’s wedding in May being partially funded by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who is linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.…
The Hill•Mira Bhakta15 Sept
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has granted an Air Arabia consortium an Air Operator Certificate (AOC)…
AeroTime•Ian Molyneaux15 Sept
California governor’s name has been thrown out as a potential Democratic candidate in the 2028 presidential election — as have AOC, Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris
BEST FRENEMIES: Didn’t see this one coming. At Friday’s ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani — he of the recent anti-Muslim tirade — shook hands with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the subject of that rant. The former Republican mayor even offered prayers for Mamdani during their brief exchange, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who was granted anonymity to discuss it. “Rudy told him he knows it’s a tough job and he’s praying for him,” the person told Playbook. After attending a memorial service at a church near ground zero later in the day, Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, told reporters he and Giuliani "exchanged pleasantries” when asked what they discussed. In another unexpected clasp, NBC News reported former Mayor Bill de Blasio was seen hugging and amicably chatting with his longtime tormentor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Republican Vice President JD Vance milled about among Democratic foes including former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. And a Giuliani aide publicly defended both Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from allegations they were laughing throughout the ceremony (they were not). What does it all mean? It seems — despite an unprecedented buildup of partisan rancor directed, for the most part, at the current New York City mayor ahead of the Lower Manhattan ceremony — that the gravity of the event and the desire to focus on the 2,983 victims was enough to bring beefing politicians back down to earth, for a few hours at least. “This is a moment of common humanity and that’s what I saw on display from people who may say things in the moment. But at that moment, we were united,” Gov. Kathy Hochul told CNN. New York Archbishop Ronald Hicks told Playbook he believes Giuliani was “following in the steps of Jesus” by offering prayers to Mamdani. “He asks us to pray for not only those we love and who we agree with, but to pray for everyone,” he said. “So I just really believe that it's following in his footsteps, and prayer is a powerful sign of unity, and however that exchange was between them, hopefully it's a great reflection of Christ." The idea that a sitting New York City mayor would skip a 9/11 commemoration ceremony is farfetched, and 74% of New York voters told a pollster recently the mayor should go. But Mamdani was asked to stay away anyhow for reasons ranging from his association with a Twitch streamer who once said “America deserved 9/11” to his own religion . Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman urged first responders to turn their backs on the young democratic socialist. At Friday’s ceremony, however, none of that happened. And in fact, the elected officials were mostly an afterthought. Family members read out the names of every victim over the course of several hours in a ceremony interspersed with moments of silence to denote milestones in the terror attacks, including the moments when two commercial jets slammed into the twin towers. All living presidents and mayors — with the exception of President Donald Trump and former Mayor Eric Adams — attended. Throughout the proceedings, Mamdani and the crowd of officials largely observed the recitation in silence, with Mamdani staying after the event to speak and take photos with several families. The political comity, however, gave way to an arch warning once the memorial was over. In an interview following the event, Cuomo said the memorial service should, in part, serve as a reminder to remain vigilant for a younger generation of political leaders like Mamdani, the man who defeated him in last year’s hotly contested mayoral election. “They should be thinking that this is not a page of history,” he said, pointing to the war in Iran and rising concerns over antisemitism. “This is a present-day threat. It wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. This could happen again. The circumstances for it happening again are much more real than they’ve been in a long time.” And outside the World Trade Center memorial, a heated clash between two elements of the far-right was a stark reminder of the country’s messy and increasingly fractured political landscape, with white nationalist Jake Lang staging an anti-Muslim rally that was counter-protested by a man shouting “Allahu akbar” and men dressed as Nazis shouting antisemitic slogans. — Joe Anuta, Nick Reisman and Chris Sommerfeldt From the Capitol SCHOOL VAX: New York is seeing a spike in parents seeking exemptions from the state's school vaccine mandates, with one of those challenges potentially headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. A mother looking to preserve her unvaccinated child’s kindergarten enrollment at the Waverly School in Eastchester is challenging the state’s vaccination laws, which only allow students with an approved medical exemption to attend school without the required vaccines, according to court documents filed last month . The Supreme Court declined to intervene in a Sept. 8 order, without offering any explanation. But Patricia Finn, the attorney representing the family, says the case will proceed at the federal trial court level, but the child won’t be allowed in school while the court deliberates. If they lose, they plan to petition to bring it before the Supreme Court. The case represents a challenge to school immunization mandates that have been in place since 1996. The state Legislature eliminated religious exemptions after a deadly measles outbreak in an Orthodox Jewish community. Those mandates — which apply to all public, private and religious schools — require children to receive all age-appropriate required vaccinations in order to be admitted to or attend a school. The state Education Department said it received more appeals requesting medical exemptions to required vaccinations during the 2025-26 school year than ever before. Both that agency and the state Health Department declined to provide data backing that claim, though. However, the Health Department provided a dataset on the state’s school immunization survey. For the 2024-25 school year, 941 of 2,755 public schools outside New York City reported at least one student with a medical exemption, according to the data. Among private schools, 184 of 861 reported at least one student with a medical exemption. Read more from POLITICO Pro’s Madina Touré and Katelyn Cordero. FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL ENDORSEMENT CORNER: Hochul picked up an endorsement today from Everytown for Gun Safety. The gun safety group touted Hochul’s work “banning 3D-printed ghost guns, getting illegal guns off our streets, and driving gun violence to its lowest levels in recorded New York history.” Hochul, who’s running for her second full term this year, has been leaning into messaging about safety and frequently touts drops in crime under her leadership. In 2022, crime was a pain point for New York Democrats up and down the ballot. In its endorsement, Everytown chided Trump, as well as Hochul’s opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, for “cowering to the gun lobby.” Blakeman has pushed back against a state law prohibiting guns in sensitive locations, including places of worship. He said he has “ always supported the Second Amendment ,” and in an appeal to Second Amendment supporters , vowed to “vigorously defend the rights of law-abiding New Yorkers.” Democrats have gone after him for implementing a provisional special deputy sheriff program made up of armed citizens. But Blakeman has faced skepticism from gun-rights advocates for previously saying he supports “ reasonable restrictions ” on gun ownership. While the NRA Political Victory Fund gave Hochul an F rating , it lists a question mark for Blakeman — along with his running mate, Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, and GOP attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy. The group has not endorsed in any of New York’s statewide races. — Madison Fernandez PAC IT UP: Major GOP groups are descending on the Hudson Valley to boost Republican Rep. Mike Lawler. No Going Back PAC, a super PAC affiliated with the president’s political operation, has reserved a $4 million ad buy in the district, according to the ad tracker AdImpact. A separate group called Safety and Affordability PAC placed close to $3 million in ads. And that’s on top of close to $7 million from the Congressional Leadership Fund. In addition, America PAC, the group backed by Elon Musk, has so far spent around $50,000 on calls and printing, according to Federal Election Commission records. Another group, America First Agriculture Action Inc., put in more than $300,000 for mail and digital advertising. There hasn’t been significant outside spending in support of Democratic challenger Cait Conley yet. Outside GOP spending is also ramping up in Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi’s Long Island district. CLF has placed $4 million in advertising, per AdImpact, and No Going Back PAC has put in more than $200,000 to support Suozzi’s GOP challenger, former state Assemblymember Mike LiPetri. The substantial buys are a sign of which New York districts national Republicans are prioritizing this year. Last week, CLF pulled its reservations in support of state Sen. Peter Oberacker, who’s challenging Democratic Rep. Josh Riley upstate. — Madison Fernandez IN OTHER NEWS — MOTOR SKILLS: A version of Tesla’s autonomous Cybercabs — which have been modified to include a steering wheel and an option for a driver to intervene — have hit the streets of New York City. ( Gothamist ) — ENDORSEMENT WATCH: On the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Hochul secured the endorsements of three major firefighter unions. ( City & State ) — BAR FLIGHT: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is among 1,000 lawyers suspended from practicing in New York. ( Times Union ) Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here .
(RNS) — ‘They're trying to make voting difficult, but you stand in line if you got to stand all day,’ said the Rev. Boise Kimber, president of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc. ‘You are immovable.’
Religion News Service•Adelle M. Banks11 Sept
The economist's big event comes shortly after the launch of his new book.
Prediction market traders are already throwing enormous sums at the 2028 U.S. presidential race, with JD Vance leading the overall field and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) breaking out as the strongest early Democratic contender. While hundreds of millions are being tossed at these political wagers, there’s still exactly 806 days until the 2028 U.S. presidential election […]
Bitcoin.com News•Jamie Redman24 Aug
Icelandair buys 49% stake in Play-linked Maltese AOC holder for $686,000, aiming to boost operating flexibility
Travel Radar•Oluwaferanmi Ogunsemowo24 Aug
Icelandair Group has acquired a 49% stake in Fly Play Europe Holdco (FPE), giving the airline access to an additional European Air Operator Certificate (AOC) as it seeks greater operational flexibility and new international growth opportunities. Icelandair is acquiring the stake from FPE hs., a fund managed by Isafold Capital Partners, for US$686,000. FPE’s subsidiary, […]
AviTrader•Heike Tamm21 AugRussia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) has revoked the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) of regional carrier Izhavia, forcing the airline to suspend all commercial passenger flights. According to the regulator, the decision follows repeated safety violations and the airline’s failure to address deficiencies identified during inspections. Without a valid AOC, Izhavia is no longer permitted […]
Aviation24.be•Bart Noëth31 Jule-Smart Logistics will launch a cargo airline called ClearSky Airlines next year using a fleet of Beta Technologies all-electric regional freighters. The logistics company said in a press release at the Farnborough International Airshow last week that it hopes to obtain AOC approval from EASA and begin operating five Beta Alia electric conventional takeoff and […]
Two carriers entered the freighter market and began commercial flights in the first half of 2026 using 737-400s. Sin-Kung Airways, the in-house carrier of Malaysia-based Sin-Kung Logistics, operated its first flight in April after leasing a 1998-vintage 737-400SF (29204) in 2025. Sin-Kung Logistics launched the airline that year by acquiring the AOC of passenger charter […]
Cargo Wings Express this month obtained its AOC and said it soon will begin 737-300 operations as the second freighter operator in Tunisia. The Tunisian Civil Aviation and Airports Authority granted the AOC on June 12 and Cargo Wings Express plans to start flying to and from the European Union once it receives regulatory approval […]
