security

For decades, the image of maritime power centered on gray hulls and carrier groups. Today, the center of gravity has shifted to the white hulls that police, escort, ram, repel, rescue, and repair in the murky space between peace and open conflict. Call it the coast-guardification of security. In the Indo-Pacific, and especially around the South China Sea, coast guards are now the first responders for sovereignty spats, illegal fishing, disaster relief, drone sightings, and the protection of undersea infrastructure. The trend is not cosmetic. It is strategic, and it is accelerating. Recent scenes off Scarborough Shoal and near Thitu Island show why. In September and October 2025, the China Coast Guard used water cannons and ramming tactics on Philippine civilian and government vessels, injuring crew and damaging hulls, while Washington and others publicly backed Manila. These were not naval shootouts. They were high-stakes law enforcement encounters led by white hulls that managed political sensitivity without signaling immediate military escalation.

History helps explain how we got here. Through the 2010s, piracy in Southeast Asia declined as coordinated patrols tightened the Strait of Malacca. At the same time, gray zone pressure rose as coast guard and militia fleets, not destroyers, pushed claims around the Senkakus and the Spratlys. A 2015 Reuters dispatch already highlighted Japanese and Philippine coast guard anti-piracy drills, and by 2025 Japanese reporting still records routine intrusions by Chinese coast guard vessels around the Senkakus. White hull presence became the everyday instrument of statecraft at sea, a domain where legal authorities matter as much as tonnage.

Coast guards have also become the backbone of coalition building. The most telling images of 2025 are not only of naval flotillas but also of trilateral coast guard exercises among Japan, the United States, and the Philippines. Tokyo hosted large drills in June, the Philippine flagship returned from joint maneuvers later that month, and USNI News has tracked a steady tempo of multilateral activities that blend navies and coast guards. These events rehearse search and rescue, firefighting, interdiction, and uncrewed systems integration. They build habits of cooperation at the level most relevant to day-to-day friction.

What counts as “security” has widened too. Undersea cables that carry the world’s data now sit squarely on the white hull docket. Policymakers across the region are writing playbooks for detection, attribution, and rapid repair when cables are cut or damaged. Analysts urge Quad Plus partners to formalize protocols and run sabotage response drills that rely on law enforcement and coast guard authorities. New scholarship details how geoeconomic competition around cables is intensifying across the Indo-Pacific and why civilian maritime forces will need new sensors, legal tools, and public-private coordination to keep data flowing after an incident.

The mission creep is not only about geopolitics. It is also about fish. Vietnam has spent 2025 pushing to shed the European Commission’s IUU “yellow card,” tightening enforcement and compliance across its vast fishing fleet. IUU policing is classic coast guard work. It requires boarding teams, AIS analytics, community outreach, and a credible threat of penalties. Success here matters for livelihoods and for legitimacy, since foreign perceptions of fishing practices can shape export earnings as much as tariffs do.

Technology is transforming these forces in real time. Maritime drones and high-altitude ISR have moved from prototypes to daily tools for search and rescue, disaster response, and wide-area surveillance. Regional programs, from Japanese UAV support to Southeast Asian partners to Malaysia’s investments, reflect a simple truth. Persistent eyes and quick cueing make small coast guards feel bigger without inviting the diplomatic blowback that armed naval build-ups can trigger.

If coast guards now run the show, two practical steps can help them run it better.

First, fund an Indo-Pacific Seabed Protection Network with coast guards in the lead. Start with an agreed checklist for cable incident response that combines attribution standards, rapid permitting for repair ships, common data on seabed maps, and a secure channel for operators to notify authorities. Build this around recurring tabletopand at-sea exercises that simulate simultaneous cable cuts, and let civilian agencies command the play unless naval forces must step in. The legal authorities and public legitimacy of coast guards make them the right first responders for cable attacks that sit below the threshold of armed conflict. Allies are already converging on this logic. They should codify it.

Second, scale coast guard capacity through targeted training pipelines and shared tech. The U.S. Coast Guard’s 2025 program that opens more than a hundred training courses to Philippine personnel is a good template. Expand it to include a regional curriculum on IUU enforcement, drone employment, incident documentation, and evidence handling for prosecutions. Pair classrooms with pooled hardware. A rotating inventory of UAVs, portable radars, and small craft that partner coast guards can book for surge operations would lift outcomes faster than waiting for each budget cycle to deliver new ships.

Coast Guard decks will never replace carrier decks, and they should not try. What they can do is shape almost every day short of war. In Southeast Asia’s crowded waters, that is where strategy lives. The white hulls are already writing the script. Policymakers should give them the resources and rules they need to keep the peace, protect the seabed, and put predatory behavior on notice.

Oct. 24 (UPI) — Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivered her first policy speech to the parliament Friday, focusing on economic security and boosting defense spending.

Takaichi, 64, became prime minister on Tuesday and is the first woman to lead Japan. She is the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, which is conservative and nationalist.

She plans to pursue aggressive fiscal spending to revitalize Japan’s economy and boost defense spending to address security challenges, she said in her speech Friday, Kyodo reported.

“Wage growth outpacing inflation is necessary, but simply leaving the burden to business will only make it harder for them,” The Japan Times reported Takaichi said. She said her government will soon create an economic stimulus package backed by a supplementary budget.

Takaichi said her administration will tackle rising costs of living as a “top priority,” and said she will raise defense spending to 2% of the gross domestic product by March, two years ahead of target.

“I will turn (people’s) anxieties about the present and future into hope and build a strong economy,” Takaichi said. “We need to proactively promote the fundamental strengthening of our nation’s defense capabilities” to deal with “various changes in the security environment,” Takaichi said.

She said she will abolish the provisional gasoline tax rate, which was a campaign promise, to help reduce inflation. The prime minister said she would do it during the current session, which goes through Dec. 17. That tax has been in place since 1974.

Lifting the nontaxable income level from $6,700 to $10,473 this year is another plan she put forward to boost the economy.

Addressing another campaign promise, she said the government will begin discussions on creating a second capital to be a backup in a crisis. This was a pet project of the JIP, the far right political party with which she and the LDP formed a coalition. Called the Osaka Metropolis Plan, its goal is to reduce the concentration of power in Tokyo, Japan Wire said.

Brian O’Connor thinks part of his success is due to California voter approval of Proposition 13, the landmark property tax reduction proposal that catalyzed the taxpayer revolt more than a decade ago.

He is the general manager of the Bel-Air Patrol, which operates Los Angeles’ oldest private residential security patrol service. Since Proposition 13, the company has greatly expanded its territory and number of clients, he said.

Business is good and getting better for a growing number of such companies that deploy armed and unarmed guards to watch over Southern California neighborhoods. In fact, such businesses are growing all over the nation.

Residential guard services are a fast-growing segment of the security guard business, says Robert McCrie, editor of Security Letter, a trade publication. He estimated that residential guard services account for 10% to 15% of the nation’s $6.5-billion annual security guard bill. “The growth has been quite unmistakable since World War II. One reason is that people simply feel afraid,” said McCrie, who is also a professor of security management at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

More Seek Permits

The public’s perception that government services have declined in California since the passage of Proposition 13 adds to the fear, O’Connor said. People feel that their local police departments are stretched too thin, he said. “The police obviously have to prioritize where they concentrate their effort,” he said.

People also want more control of their personal safety, he said. The average homeowner can’t control the police, but he can hire and fire private security firms at will, he said.

Within the city of Los Angeles, about 50 firms have Los Angeles Police Department permits to offer residential patrol service. Many more operate in the county, and “there may be some operating illegally (in Los Angeles),” said Det. Richard Rudell, chief of the permit section of the Los Angeles Police Commission.

Rudell said he has noted a steady increase in the number of firms applying for permits in recent years, although “some have subsequently gone out of business.” Every year, a number don’t renew their permits, he says.

Security guards do not have police powers. For example, guards patrolling a neighborhood may not detain someone believed to be acting suspiciously, said Lt. Fred Nixon, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.

Like anyone, they may make a citizen’s arrest of a person caught committing a crime. Guard companies claim that their presence deters crime, but independent statistical studies aren’t available to verify that claim.

“The police department believes that a highly visible patrol tends to deter crime,” Nixon said. “That is not a vote for or against private patrols. (The patrol) is only part of the equation.”

Private companies offer different levels of services. The larger security alarm companies provide armed guards to respond to an alarm. Other services simply drive through a neighborhood, or by an individual residence, or stop and inspect the exterior of properties. Still others provide mail and newspaper pickups for clients who are out of town and an escort service for clients fearful of entering an empty house after being away for a period.

Added Problems

Although the concept of security patrols seem simple, it’s not that easy for small operators–who are the vast majority of patrol businesses–to make a patrol service a success, said Robert Rockwell, a Walnut Creek, Calif., security management consultant.

Patrol services have all the challenges of hiring and supervising personnel as other guard companies, he said, with the additional burden of purchasing and maintaining vehicles that are driven constantly, he said. They also have the complication of getting a sufficient client base and calculating patrol routes under a price structure that will produce a profit, he said.

Because of the complications, many of the nation’s largest providers of security guards have shied away from that segment, he said, although many will provide a stationary guard for an apartment building, or gated community. (The largest segment of the security guard business is providing on-site guards for businesses and factories.)

Many larger companies that offer residential patrols are essentially in the business of selling security alarms.

Rockwell is also vice president of California Contract Security Guard Service, a trade group of 125 companies. “Very few of our members are involved,” he said.

Most residential patrols are small, perhaps operating with two or three people, he said. “One guy starts a patrol business where he does the patrols himself. Then he hires somebody else to take (another) shift,” Rockwell said.

Thomas Walthen acquired residential patrols in 30 cities across the country, including one in Los Angeles, when his Van Nuys-based California Plant Protection bought the venerable Pinkerton Security Service in 1987, creating a tie between CPP/Pinkerton and Borg-Warner’s security business as the nation’s largest provider of security guards.

High Accident Rate

(Borg-Warner includes Burns International Security Services, Wells Fargo Guard Services and Baker Industries, the parent of the Bel-Air Patrol). The acquisition put Walthen in a business segment that he abandoned 20 years ago. Unlike many services in the old days, Pinkerton has developed a “substantially sophisticated patrol service,” Walthen said.

Nevertheless, he added, “We’re still in the process of evaluating the operation. It looks like a profitable arm,” he said. But there are some problems. “The ratio of accidents to miles driven seem to be terribly out of line,” he said, and nobody seems to know why.

Although relatively big companies are in the minority among those offering residential patrols, they are among the best known in Southern California. A familiar sight throughout affluent neighborhoods are lawns and gardens sprouting signs for Bel-Air, MacGuard Security Services and Westec Security, a unit of Japan’s SECOM Co. All three sell alarm systems and offer armed response to alarms as well as neighborhood patrols.

“We’re not a security guard company. We sell a concept of security,” said Westec President Michael Kaye, explaining how the company’s alarm systems interact with a staff of almost 800 people. About 200 are guards on patrol. The company views itself as playing an “observe and report” role for the police. However, he said, the company plays a crucial prevention role.

“We’ve found time and time again that if a patrol is in a neighborhood, there is less crime. Burglars are basically lazy and will take the path of least resistance,” he said. Westec cites the experience of three Westside communities where it has tracked crime statistics before and after patrols.

Incidents Drop

One area with 400 homes had several burglaries a month before Westec began patrols seven years ago. Since patrols started, there have been no more than three burglaries a year and only one in 1988. Another neighborhood with 500 homes reported seven to 10 robberies a month before the patrols, the company said, but in the nine years of patrols, there have been less than six a year. Thus far in 1988, there have been three incidents.

A community of 250 homes reported several burglaries a month before the Westec patrols began seven years ago, the company said, but has had no more than two per year since. There haven’t been any incidents reported in 1988, the company said.

“We’re in the public relations and protection business,” said O’Connor, the retired British policeman who runs Bel-Air Patrol. “We’re never in conflict with law enforcement because we aren’t in that business,” he added.

KEANU Reeves’ security team slammed a fan to the ground after she attempted to get into the actor’s car.

A woman could be heard screaming for the star’s attention before attempting to get inside his vehicle.

The shock footage came just seconds after the actor graciously waved and smiled at waiting fans and photographers outside of his hotel.

At one point, the lady in question could be heard insisting she was his “divine wife” during the altercation.

Having waved to the crowds, Keanu can be seen calmly getting into his car.

Just seconds later, the woman appears to shove past his security details as she heads for his car door.

With the bodyguards attempting to hold her back, the woman screeches: “Let go of me.”

She then shouts at the window: “Keanu, it’s your divine wife!”

After repeatedly saying the star’s name, she runs around the vehicle to the other side before shouting: “Don’t let them hurt me.”

As the car attempts to drive away, the woman manages to reach the car door handle.

The bodyguards then manage to get to the woman and forcibly pull her away from the car.

Latching onto her, two men appear to pull at her before she stumbles and falls onto her back on the road.

She can be heard branding the men “a*****es” before managing to get back up.

One of the men shouts: “Get her out of here. Get her out of here.”

Someone else can be heard shouting: “You guys need a restraining order on this one.”

Keanu is currently appearing on-stage in a Broadway play.

The 61-year-old star has been performing in Jamie Lloyd’s adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting For Godot.

The production has been entertaining guests at the Hudson Theater. 

Netanyahu’s office says he will appoint the deputy head of the National Security Council, Gil Reich, as acting head.

Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi says he has been fired by Benjamin Netanyahu, as the Israeli prime minister’s office said Gil Reich would be appointed as acting head of the National Security Council (NSC).

“Prime Minister Netanyahu informed me today of his intention to appoint a new head of the National Security Council,” Hanegbi said in a statement on Tuesday evening. “In light of this, my term as national security adviser and head of the National Security Council ends today.”

Shortly afterwards, the prime minister’s office said in a statement that Netanyahu will appoint deputy head of the National Security Council, Gil Reich, as acting head of the council.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanks Tzachi Hanegbi for his service as head of the National Security Council for the past 3 years, and wishes him great success in his future endeavors and good health,” it added.

Hanegbi’s departure had been widely anticipated amid weeks of speculation in Israel over growing divisions between the two officials over Israel’s war on Gaza.

Israeli media reported there were long-running tensions over Hanegbi’s opposition to a full military takeover of Gaza City and his support for pursuing a partial deal with Hamas.

In his statement, Hanegbi also called for a “thorough investigation” of the failures leading to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, admitting he shares responsibility.

“The terrible failure … must be thoroughly investigated to ensure that the appropriate lessons are learned and to help restore the trust that has been shattered,” he wrote.

Netanyahu’s government has yet to set up a commission to investigate the matter, with Israel’s opposition accusing him of stalling the process.

Former Israeli army chief turned opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot criticised the firing, writing on X that it “is an expression of the continued evasion of responsibility by all Cabinet members and the Prime Minister of the October 7 debacle – in order to replace them with yes-men.”

A veteran Likud politician and longtime Netanyahu ally, Hanegbi was appointed national security adviser in 2023. He has held multiple ministerial roles, including in public security, intelligence, and regional cooperation.

Social Security will soon be making a big announcement. On Oct. 24, 2025, the Social Security Administration will finally let seniors know what their 2026 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is going to look like.

COLAs happen in most years to help retirees maintain their buying power. Because COLAs increase the retirement benefits seniors collect, the news about how big the raise will be is always much-anticipated.

Unfortunately, although retirees are most likely going to get a bigger benefits increase than last year, many seniors are inevitably going to end up disappointed with the increase to their checks in 2026.

Here’s the surprising reason why that’s the case.

The COLA is going to be bigger– but there’s a problem

Although the official announcement on the Social Security COLA has not been made yet, the Senior Citizens League is projecting that benefits are going to increase by 2.7% next year. This estimate is based on year-to-date changes to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

CPI-W is used to determine how much Social Security benefits should increase because it helps to measure inflation, and the purpose of the COLAs is to make sure that Social Security benefits do not lose buying power. While the formula isn’t a perfect one since the spending habits of urban wage earners and clerical workers aren’t exactly aligned with senior spending, the formula does give an idea of how much prices are rising — and retirees get a benefits increase equal to the average year-over-year change to CPI-W in the third quarter of the year.

Since we have a lot of this data available, the Senior Citizens League estimate is probably fairly close to accurate, and barring any major surprises when the September inflation data is released in October, the raise should come in at around that projected 2.7%. And, if it does, that will be a little bit bigger than the benefits increase retirees received in 2025.

A bigger raise should make seniors pretty happy since they’ll get more money to help maintain buying power — but there’s a surprising reason why that’s not necessarily going to be the case. The problem is that a good portion of the additional funds coming to retirees will disappear to cover rising Medicare premiums.

COLAs will take a huge hit due to rising Medicare premiums

For any retiree who is on Medicare, the COLA is probably going to be a huge disappointment because of how little of it will be left after Medicare premiums are accounted for.

See, Medicare premiums come out of most people’s Social Security checks. And Medicare Part B premiums are going up by a huge amount next year. The Medicare Trustees’ report projects that premiums are going to increase by $21.50 per month, jumping all the way up from $185 in 2025 to $206.50 in 2026. This is one of the biggest year-over-year increases in the history of the Medicare program.

If a typical retiree is collecting the average benefit of $2,008.31 in 2025, a 2.7% COLA would result in their benefits increasing by around $54. If $21.50 of that disappears, then the typical retired Social Security recipient will end up seeing their monthly payments go up by only $32.50.

By contrast, if someone had started with that same $2,008.31 check in 2025 and received a 2.5% COLA, they’d have seen their benefit go up by around $50.00 — but, since Medicare premiums only rose by $10.30 per month between 2024 and 2025, retirees would have seen benefits go up by around $40.

Retirees need to be aware that so much of their benefit increase is going to disappear to rising Medicare premiums this year, and take that into account during their retirement planning process for the upcoming year. Seniors need to maintain a safe withdrawal rate from their 401(k) and other retirement accounts, and with a Social Security raise that ends up pretty small after Medicare costs take a bite out of it, this may require some careful budgeting.

South Korea is setting its sights on joining the ranks of the world’s top four defence powers by 2030, with President Lee Jae Myung announcing a major funding boost for weapons and aerospace research at the country’s largest-ever arms fair on Monday.

Speaking at the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2025, President Lee unveiled plans for a “larger-than-expected budget” dedicated to defence innovation, including next-generation weapons, unmanned systems, and AI-driven combat technology.

South Korea, currently ranked 10th globally in arms sales according to SIPRI data, has rapidly emerged as a major weapons exporter, fueled by rising global demand following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Becoming one of the top four powerhouses in the defence industry is by no means an impossible dream,” Lee declared, outlining a strategy centered on self-reliance and technological sovereignty.

Technological Focus: Building Independence

Lee emphasized that Seoul’s path to military dominance will hinge on indigenous innovation from advanced semiconductors to locally developed materials and components critical for modern warfare systems.

“We will establish technological sovereignty by focusing investment on technologies, parts, and materials that must be secured independently,” Lee said, signaling a drive to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers and strengthen Korea’s high-tech defence ecosystem.

Why It Matters

South Korea’s defence surge represents a new phase in global power dynamics, as traditional arms leaders like the U.S., Russia, and China face rising competition from technologically agile exporters. The move also underscores Seoul’s bid to leverage its world-class electronics and shipbuilding expertise for military dominance.

With defence exports surging from howitzers and missiles to warships and ammunition South Korea is fast becoming a preferred arms supplier for nations seeking reliable alternatives amid supply disruptions from traditional powers.

Government: Pledging billions in R&D and industry subsidies through 2030.

Korean Defence Firms (Hanwha, LIG Nex1, Hyundai Rotem): Showcasing AI-enhanced and unmanned weapons at ADEX to attract new export clients.

Overseas Buyers: Poland, Australia, and the UAE remain top partners, signaling Seoul’s growing footprint in both European and Middle Eastern markets.

Industry Analysts: See the move as a turning point that could push South Korea past traditional mid-tier arms exporters like France and the U.K. in global rankings.

What’s Next

South Korea plans to use the ADEX 2025 platform to announce new export deals and joint ventures aimed at expanding its defence technology abroad. The government is expected to release its 2030 Defence Industry Roadmap early next year, detailing specific spending targets and export goals.

If successful, Seoul’s ascent could redefine Asia’s military-industrial balance transforming the country from a security consumer into one of the world’s dominant arms producers.

With information from Reuters.

In most years, Social Security retirees receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), and that’s likely to happen in 2026. COLAs are critical because without them, benefits would remain unchanged while the price of goods and services increase over time. Retirees would be left with far less buying power, and many would struggle to make ends meet since Social Security is an important income source for seniors.

COLAs aren’t the same from one year to the next, though. While the 2026 COLA hasn’t been announced, there are good estimates of what it’s going to be. Based on the existing data, it looks like the amount of the benefits increase is going to be different from the raise retirees got in 2025.

Here’s what next year’s COLA is likely to be, compared with the benefits bump you got in 2025.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

How will next year’s Social Security COLA compare?

The 2026 COLA will officially be announced on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The Senior Citizens League estimates the cost-of-living adjustment will result in a 2.7% benefits increase.

A 2.7% increase would be a bit larger than the raise retirees got in 2025, when benefits rose 2.5%. However, it will be smaller than COLAs from recent memory, including the 3.2% benefit increase in 2024, the 8.7% raise in 2023, and the 5.9% COLA in 2022.

Unfortunately, while the COLA is on track to be larger in 2026 than in 2025, retirees may not see the full 2.7% increase in their payment because Medicare premiums are going to be rising as well — and by much more than they did in 2025.

In 2025, the standard premium for Medicare Part B rose $10.30, jumping from $174.70 in 2024 to $185.00 in 2025. In 2026, projections from the Medicare Board of Trustees suggest that Part B premiums will go up $21.50, from the current $185.00 all the way up to $206.50. This is one of the biggest year-over-year increases in the history of the program.

Unfortunately, since most people have Medicare premiums taken directly out of their Social Security checks, a good portion of the extra money that seniors get from the COLA will disappear.

For example, if someone had a $2,000 monthly benefit in 2024, this year’s 2.5% COLA would have given them around a $50 monthly raise, and they’d have lost $10.30 of it. Their check would have gone up by around $39.70.

Someone with a $2,000 check in 2025, on the other hand, could see their payments rise by 2.7% in 2026, or $54 per month. A $21.50 Medicare premium increase would leave them with only $32.50 extra each month.

This means the “bigger” benefits bump this year may be nothing but a mirage, and retirees could find themselves struggling to maintain buying power based on current levels of inflation.

Is a larger COLA good news or bad news?

The reality is, even aside from the Medicare issue, it isn’t good news that Social Security retirees are on track for a bigger COLA. That’s because cost-of-living adjustments are directly tied to a formula that measures how much the cost of goods and services is going up. A bigger raise means there are higher levels of inflation, and inflation generally isn’t good for older people on fixed incomes.

Many seniors also have money saved in retirement plans, and since people tend to be conservative with their investments during retirement, their returns may not outpace inflation by much when inflation is high. 

For now, seniors will need to simply wait and see what the official COLA announcement brings on Oct. 24. The news will offer insight into what their finances will look like in the coming year, but retirees should prepare for potential disappointment, even if the COLA amount looks good on paper.

PARIS — In a minutes-long strike Sunday inside the world’s most-visited museum, thieves rode a basket lift to the Louvre, forced a window into the Galerie d’Apollon — while tourists pressed shoulder-to-shoulder in the corridors — smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said.

It was among the highest-profile museum thefts in recent memory and comes as Louvre employees have complained of worker and security understaffing.

One object was later found outside the museum, according to Culture Minister Rachida Dati. French daily Le Parisien reported it was the emerald-studded crown of Napoleon III’s wife Empress Eugénie — gold, diamonds and sculpted eagles — recovered just beyond the walls, broken.

The theft unfolded just 270 yards from the “Mona Lisa,” in what Dati described as “a four-minute operation.” No one was hurt.

Images from the scene showed confused tourists being steered out of the glass pyramid and adjoining courtyards as officers closed nearby streets along the Seine.

Also visible was a lift braced to the Seine-facing facade near a construction zone — an extraordinary vulnerability at a palace-museum.

A museum already under strain

Around 9:30 a.m., several intruders forced a window, cut panes with a disc cutter and went straight for the vitrines, officials said. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the crew entered from outside using a basket lift.

The choice of target compounded the shock. The vaulted Galerie d’Apollon in the Denon wing, capped by a ceiling painted for Louis XIV, displays a selection of the French Crown Jewels. The thieves are believed to have approached via the riverfront facade, where construction is underway, used a freight elevator to reach the hall, took nine pieces from a 23-item collection linked to Napoleon and the Empress, and made off on motorbikes, according to Le Parisien.

Daylight robberies during public hours are rare. Pulling one off inside the Louvre — with visitors present — ranks among Europe’s most audacious since Dresden’s Green Vault museum in 2019, and the most serious in France in more than a decade.

It also collides with a deeper tension the Louvre has struggled to resolve: swelling crowds and stretched staff. The museum delayed opening during a June staff walkout over overcrowding and chronic understaffing. Unions say mass tourism leaves too few eyes on too many rooms and creates pressure points where construction zones, freight routes and visitor flows meet.

Security around marquee works remains tight — the Mona Lisa is behind bulletproof glass in a bespoke, climate-controlled case.

It’s unclear whether staffing levels played any role in Sunday’s breach.

The Louvre has a long history of thefts and attempted robberies. The most famous came in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its frame, stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia and recovered two years later in Florence.

Today the former royal palace holds a roll call of civilization: Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa”; the armless serenity of the “Venus de Milo”; the “Winged Victory” of Samothrace, wind-lashed on the Daru staircase; the Code of Hammurabi’s carved laws; Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People”; Géricault’s “The Raft of the Medusa.” More than 33,000 works — from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to Europe’s masters — draw a daily tide of up to 30,000 visitors even as investigators now begin to sweep those gilded corridors for clues.

Politics at the door

The heist spilled instantly into politics. Far-right leader Jordan Bardella used it to attack President Emmanuel Macron, weakened at home and facing a fractured Parliament.

“The Louvre is a global symbol of our culture,” Bardella wrote on X. “This robbery, which allowed thieves to steal jewels from the French Crown, is an unbearable humiliation for our country. How far will the decay of the state go?”

The criticism lands as Macron touts a decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” plan — about $800 million to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding and give the “Mona Lisa” a dedicated gallery by 2031. For workers on the floor, the relief has felt slower than the pressure.

What we know — and don’t

Forensic teams are examining the site of the crime and adjoining access points while a full inventory is taken, authorities said. Officials have described the haul as being of “inestimable” historical value.

Recovery may prove difficult. “It’s unlikely these jewels will ever be seen again,” said Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds. “Professional crews often break down and re-cut large, recognizable stones to evade detection, effectively erasing their provenance.”

The Louvre closed for the rest of Sunday as police sealed gates, cleared courtyards and shut nearby streets along the Seine.

Key questions still unanswered are how many people took part in the theft and whether they had inside assistance, authorities said. According to French media, there were four perpetrators: two dressed as construction workers in yellow safety vests on the lift, and two each on a scooter.

Investigators are reviewing closed-circuit TV from the Denon wing and the riverfront, inspecting the basket lift used to reach the gallery and interviewing staffers who were on site when the museum opened, authorities said.

Adamson writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

The final public viewing event in the western city of Kisumu has been preceded by deaths and injuries on previous days.

Dozens of people have been injured at a memorial event in Kenya’s western city of Kisumu as huge crowds gathered to view the body of revered former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, local media reported.

The injuries occurred on Saturday at Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium despite authorities deploying military units, police and aerial surveillance to prevent a recurrence of deadly and chaotic incidents that marked earlier memorial proceedings on Thursday and Friday.

Kenya Red Cross teams treated people who fainted from fatigue and distress, evacuating casualties as crowds surged inside the venue. Odinga’s body was being transported to his ancestral home in nearby Bondo for burial on Sunday, drawing tens of thousands throughout the region.

The additional precautions were put in place after violence and chaos killed at least five people during memorial proceedings for the 80-year-old opposition leader and statesman, who collapsed during a morning walk in India’s Kerala state on Wednesday.

Siaya Governor James Orengo urged restraint as arrangements progressed for transporting Odinga’s body to his ancestral home in Bondo, approximately 60km (40 miles) west of Kisumu, where the latest disruptions had occurred.

“I really entreat members of the public and the community in general to maintain the peace during this period,” Orengo told local media.

Thursday’s initial viewing descended into bloodshed when security forces fired weapons and tear gas into crowds surging towards a pavilion where Odinga’s coffin had been placed, killing at least three people at a Nairobi stadium.

A day later, panic swept through mourners exiting Friday’s state funeral service at a separate venue in the capital, triggering a crowd crush that killed two more and sent 163 to medical care.

Huge turnout has characterised every stage of the mourning period since Odinga’s body returned home on Thursday, with supporters walking nearly 30km (20 miles) from Nairobi’s airport to escort his remains.

Friday’s state ceremony drew tens of thousands who sang, danced and waved handkerchiefs as they celebrated a figure many affectionately called “Baba” – the Swahili word for father.

Dignitaries including President William Ruto and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud attended the service, where Odinga’s relatives pleaded for peaceful proceedings.

His brother Oburu told mourners: “Raila should not be teargassed in death. He has been teargassed enough when he was alive.”

Former United States President Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan, honoured Odinga as “a true champion of democracy” who “endured decades of struggle and sacrifice for the broader cause of freedom and self-governance in Kenya”, in a post on X.

Obama noted that Odinga “was willing to choose the path of peaceful reconciliation without compromising his core values”.

Odinga never became president despite five attempts spanning three decades, but shaped Kenya’s democratic evolution more profoundly than many who held that office and has led to an outpouring of grief nationally and across Africa.

He spearheaded the country’s return to multiparty politics in the 1990s and drove the passage of a landmark 2010 constitution that distributed authority away from centralised executive power.

A lot of people start collecting Social Security specifically because they’ve stopped working, or when they’re ready to stop. But you should know that if you wish to work while collecting Social Security, that option exists.

However, there are rules you should know in the context of working while on Social Security. Here’s a rundown.

Image source: Getty Images.

Working while on Social Security has its advantages

You may find that your Social Security benefits aren’t enough to cover your retirement expenses in full. If you don’t have an IRA or 401(k) to supplement with, then you may be inclined to work in some capacity to make up the difference.

Once you reach full retirement age, which is 67 for people born in 1960 or later, you don’t have to worry about having Social Security benefits withheld for working, regardless of what you earn. But if you’re collecting Social Security before having reached full retirement age, you’ll be subject to an earnings test whose limits change annually.

This year, for example, you can earn up to $23,400 without having any Social Security withheld if you’re under full retirement age. Beyond that point, you’ll have $1 in Social Security withheld per $2 of income.

The earnings-test limit is much higher if you’re reaching full retirement age at some point in 2025. In that case, it’s $62,160. And beyond that point, you’ll have $1 in Social Security withheld per $3 of income.

If you’re under full retirement age but also earn less than the earnings-test limit, you can enjoy a nice supplement to your income without any negative impact. And even if you have benefits withheld for exceeding the earnings-test limit, you’ll get that money back eventually.

Once you reach full retirement age, your monthly benefits will be recalculated and boosted to make up for withheld Social Security earlier on. That could be a good thing, because if you get used to living on less and your monthly benefits go up substantially, it could feel like a bonus of sorts.

You may get larger monthly benefits for another reason

In addition to putting more money in your pocket, working while on Social Security could set you up for larger benefits down the line. The formula used to calculate your benefits accounts for your 35 highest-paid years of earnings while adjusting earlier wages for inflation.

If you earn a lot while collecting Social Security, you might replace a year of lower income with a higher income. That could, in turn, lead to larger benefit payments.

Let’s say you worked for 35 years, but for three of those years, you only worked part-time and earned very little. If you work part-time while on Social Security and bring in $22,000 over the course of the year, you’ll be below the earnings-test limit.

But $22,000 may also be a lot more than what you earned during one of your years of part-time work, even with those earlier wages adjusted for inflation. So you may find that working leads to a more generous monthly payday for life once the Social Security Administration is able to factor your most recent wages into your benefit formula.

Know the rules

You may have heard that working while on Social Security is not a good idea because of the earnings-test limit. Or, you may be under the impression that if you’re getting monthly benefits, you’re barred from working, period.

It’s important to understand the rules of working while collecting Social Security so you’re able to supplement your income as you please. And you may find that holding down a job while receiving benefits gives you more money not just from those wages, but in the form of larger monthly Social Security checks later on.

GREENBELT, Md. — Former Trump administration national security advisor John Bolton was charged Thursday in a federal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.

The investigation into Bolton, who served for more than a year in President Trump’s first administration before being fired in 2019, burst into public view in August when the FBI searched his home in Maryland and his office in Washington for classified records he may have held onto from his years in government.

The existence of the indictment was confirmed to the AP by a person familiar with the matter who could not publicly discuss the charges and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Agents during the August search seized multiple documents labeled “classified,” “confidential” and “secret” from Bolton’s office, according to previously unsealed court filings. Some of the seized records appeared to concern weapons of mass destruction, national “strategic communication” and the U.S. mission to the United Nations, the filings stated.

The indictment sets the stage for a closely watched court case centering on a longtime fixture in Republican foreign policy circles who became known for his hawkish views on American power and who after leaving Trump’s first government emerged as a prominent and vocal critic of the president. Though the investigation that produced the indictment began before Trump’s second term, the case will unfold against the backdrop of broader concerns that his Justice Department is being weaponized to go after his political adversaries.

It follows separate indictments over the last month accusing former FBI Director James Comey of lying to Congress and New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James of committing bank fraud and making a false statement, charges they both deny. Both of those cases were filed in federal court in Virginia by a prosecutor Trump hastily installed in the position after growing frustrated that investigations into high-profile enemies had not resulted in prosecution.

The Bolton case, by contrast, was filed in Maryland by a U.S. attorney who before being elevated to the job had been a career prosecutor in the office.

Questions about Bolton’s handling of classified information date back years. He faced a lawsuit and a Justice Department investigation after leaving office related to information in a 2020 book he published, “The Room Where it Happened,” that portrayed Trump as grossly uninformed about foreign policy.

The Trump administration asserted that Bolton’s manuscript included classified information that could harm national security if exposed. Bolton’s lawyers have said he moved forward with the book after a White House National Security Council official, with whom Bolton had worked for months, said the manuscript no longer contained classified information.

A search warrant affidavit that was previously unsealed said a National Security Council official had reviewed the book manuscript and told Bolton in 2020 that it appeared to contain “significant amounts” of classified information, some at a top-secret level.

Bolton’s attorney Abbe Lowell has said that many of the documents seized in August had been approved as part of a pre-publication review for Bolton’s book. He said that many were decades old, from Bolton’s long career in the State Department, as an assistant attorney general and as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The indictment is a dramatic moment in Bolton’s long career in government. He served in the Justice Department during President Reagan’s administration and was the State Department’s point man on arms control during George W. Bush’s presidency. Bolton was nominated by Bush to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but the strong supporter of the Iraq war was unable to win Senate confirmation and resigned after serving 17 months as a Bush recess appointment. That allowed him to hold the job on a temporary basis without Senate confirmation.

In 2018, Bolton was appointed to serve as Trump’s third national security advisor. But his brief tenure was characterized by disputes with the president over North Korea, Iran and Ukraine.

Those rifts ultimately led to Bolton’s departure, with Trump announcing on social media in September 2019 that he had accepted Bolton’s resignation. Bolton subsequently criticized Trump’s approach to foreign policy and government in his 2020 book, including by alleging that Trump directly tied providing military aid to the country’s willingness to conduct investigations into Joe Biden, who was soon to be Trump’s Democratic 2020 election rival, and members of his family.

Trump responded by slamming Bolton as a “washed-up guy” and a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six.” Trump also said at the time that the book contained “highly classified information” and that Bolton “did not have approval” for publishing it.

Tucker, Durkin Richer and Kunzelman write for the Associated Press. Tucker and Durkin Richer reported from Washington.

There’s one piece of news seniors on Social Security have been itching to get for months now — news of an official cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2026.

At this point, it’s pretty clear that 2026 is not going to be one of those 0% COLA years. Though there have been 0% COLAs in the past, inflation has risen enough to date that experts can say with confidence that Social Security benefits will, indeed, be going up in the new year. The question is by how much.

Image source: Getty Images.

Current estimates seem to be floating in the 2.7% to 2.8% range. But we won’t know what next year’s COLA is for sure until the Social Security Administration makes its big announcement.

That said, Social Security’s upcoming COLA is probably going to be bad news no matter what it actually amounts to. It’s important to understand why — and take steps to work around that.

Why Social Security’s upcoming COLA probably won’t cut it

There’s a reason not to get too excited about Social Security’s 2026 COLA. That reason boils down to the fact that Social Security COLAs have been failing seniors for decades.

In fact, the Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group, says that seniors on Social Security lost 20% of their buying power between 2010 and 2024 due to insufficient COLAs. So chances are, next year’s COLA won’t keep up with inflation, either.

The problem stems from how Social Security COLAs are calculated. They’re based on annual third-quarter changes to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.

Now, let’s look at that index’s name carefully. Notice the terms “urban,” “wage earners,” and “clerical workers.” Do those describe the typical Social Security recipient?

It’s true that plenty of retirees reside in cities. But that’s certainly not a given. In fact, many retirees are able to move outside of cities to lower their costs once they no longer have to worry about proximity to a job.

Many Social Security recipients, by nature, are also not workers. They’re retired. So it’s pretty silly to base Social Security COLAs on an index that measures the costs a different subset of people face.

Advocates have been pushing to base Social Security COLAs on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, or CPI-E. But lawmakers haven’t exactly been jumping to make that change, so it’s not one to expect anytime soon.

Prepare to be disappointed now

No matter what raise Social Security recipients end up eligible for in 2026, chances are, it won’t cut it. Plus, if you’re on Medicare as well, any increase in the cost of Part B will eat away at your COLA.

If you want to improve your financial picture for 2026, you can’t sit back and wait for your COLA to take effect for that to happen. Instead, you should take matters into your own hands.

Here are some specific steps to take:

• Do a thorough review of your retirement budget
• Identify a few expenses you can reduce or even eliminate
• Explore options for going back to work, whether as an hourly employee or a gig worker
• See if it’s possible to downsize your home or rent out a room for income
• Explore moving in with a family member if money is very tight
• Review your Medicare plan choices carefully during open enrollment to lower your healthcare costs

There may be other steps you can take to improve your finances, too, and it’s worth exploring them. What you don’t want to do is assume that your Social Security COLA will be the solution to your financial problems.

Even if Social Security’s 2026 COLA is more generous than expected, chances are good that it won’t do the job of keeping up with inflation that it’s supposed to. The sooner you’re able to accept that, the sooner you can start making positive changes that have a real effect.

Every October, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announces the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the upcoming year.

Up until recently, that announcement was supposed to be around Oct. 15 — right after the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases September’s inflation report. But with the federal government closed until further notice, it seemed as if that report wouldn’t be released anytime soon.

New information from the BLS, however, suggests we could be getting the COLA announcement sooner than expected. Here’s when it might be coming, what it might be, and how that might affect your retirement.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

When will the new COLA be released?

The SSA calculates the COLA by averaging Consumer Price Index data from July, August, and September. That average is compared to the figure from the same period the year prior, and if it’s higher, the percentage difference will be next year’s COLA.

Before the government shut down, the BLS was expected to release September’s Consumer Price Index data on Oct. 15. But with that office almost entirely furloughed, it was unlikely the report would be published before the government reopened.

However, on Oct. 10, the BLS published an update noting that September’s inflation report would be released on Oct. 24. Generally, the SSA announces the new COLA almost immediately after the BLS inflation report is published.

What might next year’s adjustment be?

We won’t know the official 2026 COLA until the SSA makes the announcement later this month, but nonpartisan advocacy group The Senior Citizens League has estimated that it will land at 2.7%.

That figure is based on already available inflation data, as well as the projected data from September. If September’s numbers are significantly different from the estimates, the COLA may be higher or lower than predicted.

The average retired worker collects just over $2,000 per month in benefits, according to August 2025 data from the SSA. A 2.7% COLA, then, would amount to a raise of around $56 per month.

While any boost in benefits is helpful to a degree, for many retirees, next year’s COLA may be underwhelming. Inflation has stayed stubbornly high throughout the year, and tariffs have also taken a bite out of many retirees’ budgets.

Medicare Part B premiums are also expected to increase from $185 per month this year to a projected $206.50 per month in 2026, according to this year’s Medicare Trustees Report. Because Medicare premiums are typically deducted from Social Security checks, that $21.50 monthly increase will eat up a significant chunk of the COLA raise for the average retiree.

What does this mean for retirees?

It doesn’t hurt to keep an eye out for the COLA announcement to help budget for 2026, but for the most part, retirees may want to avoid relying too heavily on this adjustment to make ends meet.

Again, any extra cash can help pay the bills, especially with many older adults stretched thin financially right now. But with Social Security not going as far as it used to, it may be wise to start finding ways to reduce your dependence on your benefits.

According to a report from The Senior Citizens League, Social Security benefits lost around 20% of their buying power between 2010 and 2024. If you can swing it, finding a source of passive income or going back to work temporarily could have a bigger impact on your budget than any COLA.

This won’t be possible for everyone, but if you can beef up your savings even slightly, you won’t need to worry quite as much about future COLAs falling short. No matter where the 2026 adjustment lands, it’s wise to keep realistic expectations about how far that money will go.

TOURISTS were left stunned as a man brazenly urinated on a Vatican altar during Holy Mass – in full view of hundreds of worshippers.

The shocking act of desecration unfolded inside St Peter’s Basilica on Friday morning.

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The unidentified man climbed the steps of the Altar of Confession – one of the most sacred spots in Catholicism, where the pope himself traditionally celebrates mass.

Once at then top, he dropped his trousers to his ankles and began urinating over the holy site, according to Corriere della Sera.

The disgusting scene took place during the 9am Holy Mass where stunned visitors looked on in disbelief.

Security officers raced towards the man as the crowd gasped.

Cops grabbed him and dragged him away from the altar as he finished his vile act.

But before they could escort him out, the man bent down so he could pull up his jeans – flashing his bare backside to the horrified onlookers.

The clip, filmed by shocked tourists, has since gone viral online.

“That is absolutely shocking and deeply disrespectful,” wrote one viewer.

“This is vile,” said another.

“There is definitely not enough security here,” a third person added.

It remains unclear whether Pope Leo XIV was present at the time.

The Vatican has not yet released an official statement.

But according to reports, the Pope was “shocked” when he heard what had happened.

The Altar of Confession sits directly beneath Michelangelo’s dome and is considered one of the holiest places in the catholic world.

It’s where the pope often celebrates major masses – and where, in April, Pope Francis was laid in response for public viewing before his funeral.

Because of its significance, the Altar has repeatedly been targeted by intruders in recent years.

In February, a man climbed onto the same altar and knocked six candelabras to the floor.

In February, a man climbed onto the same altar and knocked six candelabras to the floor.

In June 2023, a naked Polish man leapt onto the altar during Mass.

He didn’t speak or cause further damage, but he had the words “Save children of Ukraine” scrawled across his back.

Following that stunt, the Vatican held a penitential rite to cleanse the grounds – a ceremony required under canon law to restore sanctity after desecration.

Friday’s incident has sparked renewed questions about security inside one of the world’s most sacred and most visited churches.

St Peter’s Basilica attracts millions of visitors each year, with tourists often crowding the altar area to witness the grandeur of Vatican ceremonies.

Authorities have not said whether the man has been arrested or charged.

The Vatican’s Holy See Press Office is yet to comment publicly.

The shocking desecration comes amid a wider crackdown on tourists and foreign visitors in Italy.

Earlier this year, the Italian government tightened citizenship laws, making it far harder for Australians and other foreigners to get passports by descent.

In Venice, officials doubled the entry fee for day-trippers and expanded the days it applies.

Last year, two unruly tourists caused outrage after stripping off and swimming in front of a cemetery.

They were spotted by commuters leaving their clothes on the banks of the San Michele Cemetery before plunging into the water.

The Isola di San Michele is home to both a cemetery and a church, and is the burial site of several famous figures, including Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky.

The repeated stunts and security breaches at major religious sites have raised concerns about how well such locations are being protected.

Friday’s stunt – carried out at the heart of the Vatican – is likely to intensify calls for a security overhaul.

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In just a few days, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will be making a huge announcement about changes to the program in 2026. A new earnings-test limit will be shared, as well as the maximum monthly benefit.

Perhaps the most anticipated update the SSA will share, however, is an official cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2026.

Image source: Getty Images.

Each year, Social Security benefits are eligible for a raise, based on inflation. Without COLAs, beneficiaries would be pretty much guaranteed to lose buying power over time.

Initial projections are calling for a 2.7% COLA for 2026, but that number doesn’t take inflation data from September into account. If inflation rose substantially last month, seniors could be looking at an even larger boost to their Social Security checks in 2026.

While a 2.7% or higher COLA might seem like something to celebrate, you may want to temper your excitement if you count on Social Security for income. That’s because that COLA may not be yours to keep in full.

Will a Medicare increase eat into your COLA?

Seniors who are enrolled in Medicare and Social Security at the same time pay their premiums for Part B, which covers outpatient care, directly out of their monthly benefits. This means that if the cost of Medicare increases in 2026, it will eat into whatever COLA retirees receive.

In 2025, the standard monthly Part B premium rose from $174.70 to $185. But based on projections from the Medicare Trustees released earlier this year, the standard Part B premium for 2026 could be a whopping $206.50 — an increase of $21.50. It also could cause many seniors to lose out on a good chunk of their Social Security raises.

As of August, the average monthly Social Security benefit for retired workers was about $2,008. A 2.7% COLA would result in a boost of about $54 per month. However, if Medicare Part B goes up by $21.50 per month, the typical Social Security benefit might only rise by around $32.50, in practice.

It’s best to have income outside of Social Security

Until the SSA makes an official COLA announcement on Oct. 15, we won’t know for sure what next year’s COLA will amount to. However, even if it’s fairly generous, a large uptick in Part B costs could wipe out much of it.

That’s why it’s important not to be too reliant on Social Security COLAs to keep up with inflation. A better bet? Save well for retirement, and set yourself up with a portfolio of assets that continues to generate income for you.

Those assets could include a mix of stocks and bonds. The stocks should ideally provide growth and income in the form of dividend payments. The bond portion, meanwhile, may be more stable, providing you with steady income you can use to supplement your monthly Social Security checks.

There are other options for generating retirement income, too, like working part-time. And that part-time work doesn’t have to come in the form of a boring job with a strict, preset schedule.

Thanks to the gig economy, you can explore different options for earning some money. You may find that, on top of the extra income being helpful, it’s nice to have a reason to get out of the house on a regular basis and socialize with other people.

No matter what strategy you choose, the key is to have some income outside of Social Security — because while the program’s COLAs do help seniors keep up with inflation to some degree, they also have their fair share of shortcomings.

People spend years paying into the Social Security system via payroll taxes. It’s a way of helping to secure somewhat of a financial safety net in your retirement years when you begin receiving benefits. Even if you’re fortunate enough not to need it, it’s a well-earned plus after decades of work and contributions.

Unfortunately, like most other income sources in America, when you receive your Social Security payments, you could potentially owe taxes on them. The good news is that most states don’t tax Social Security benefits. The bad news is that this still leaves others that do. As of October 2025, 41 states do not tax Social Security.

Image source: Getty Images.

Which states don’t tax Social Security benefits?

The following 41 states, along with Washington, D.C., currently do not tax Social Security benefits:

1. Alabama
2. Alaska
3. Arizona
4. Arkansas
5. California
6. Delaware
7. Florida
8. Georgia
9. Hawaii
10. Idaho
11. Illinois
12. Indiana
13. Iowa
14. Kansas
15. Kentucky
16. Louisiana
17. Maine
18. Maryland
19. Massachusetts
20. Michigan
21. Mississippi
22. Missouri
23. Nebraska
24. Nevada
25. New Hampshire
26. New Jersey
27. New York
28. North Carolina
29. North Dakota
30. Ohio
31. Oklahoma
32. Oregon
33. Pennsylvania
34. South Carolina
35. South Dakota
36. Tennessee
37. Texas
38. Virginia
39. Washington
40. Wisconsin
41. Wyoming

Which states tax Social Security benefits?

The following nine states do have Social Security taxes in some form:

1. Colorado
2. Connecticut
3. Minnesota
4. Montana
5. New Mexico
6. Rhode Island
7. Utah
8. Vermont
9. West Virginia

In the past five years, four states have eliminated their Social Security tax, so there’s still hope for people who live in a state with the tax. For example, West Virginians won’t have to pay taxes on benefits beginning in 2026.

You could still owe federal taxes on your Social Security check

Unfortunately, your state’s tax-free status doesn’t exempt you from federal taxes on your Social Security check. Luckily, most people won’t pay anything; however, there are still millions who will. To determine if you’ll be subjected to federal taxes on your Social Security benefits, the IRS considers your combined income, which includes the following:

For example, if your AGI is $15,000, you receive $20,000 annually from Social Security, and you have $200 in nontaxable interest, your combined income would be $25,200 ($15,000 + $10,000 + $200). After calculating your combined income, the following ranges are used to determine how much of your benefits are eligible to be taxed:

Source: IRS.

To see it in action, let’s assume you receive $20,000 annually in benefits, and 50% is eligible to be taxed. In this situation, up to $10,000 would be added to any other income you have and then taxed at your normal income tax rate. It’s helpful to know how the federal tax works, so you don’t mistakenly assume that the IRS is going to take 50% or 85% of your benefits.

Some retirees could see a larger tax deduction

The Trump administration’s “big, beautiful bill” included a provision that provides a temporary tax deduction for eligible people age 65 and older. Single filers are eligible for up to $6,000, while couples filing jointly are eligible for up to $12,000.

To qualify for the full $6,000 deduction, single filers must have a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) below $75,000. If your MAGI is between $75,000 and $175,000, you’re eligible for a reduced deduction, with the amount depending on where your income falls in the range.

Couples filing jointly must have a MAGI below $150,000 to qualify for the full $12,000. Any couple with a MAGI between $150,000 and $250,000 is eligible for the reduced deduction.

This deduction will remain in place until 2028 and is available even if you take the standard deduction (which would otherwise prohibit you from itemizing your deductions).

Italy host Israel in a World Cup qualifier on October 14, in Udine where the stadium only holds 6,000 spectators.

Israel’s World Cup qualifying match in Italy next week is expected to attract more pro-Palestinian protesters outside the football stadium in Udine than ticket-holding spectators inside the arena.

Protesters already approached the gates of Italy’s training centre in Florence last week to demand that the match not be played because of the war in Gaza — part of a national strike that saw millions of activists take to the streets.

“It’s not going to be a calm environment,” Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso acknowledged Tuesday from inside the Coverciano training centre that was targeted. “There will be 10,000 people outside the stadium and 5-6,000 inside the stadium.”

As of Monday, only 4,000 tickets were sold for next Tuesday’s match at Stadio Friuli.

While UEFA had been considering suspending Israel over the war and Udine Mayor Alberto Felice De Toni had called for the game to be postponed, with Italy desperately attempting to avoid failing to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, the four-time champion team doesn’t plan to risk not playing.

“We have to play this match. Because if we don’t, we’ll lose it 3-0,” Gattuso said, referring to the rule for forfeited matches. “[Italian Football Federation] president [Gabriele] Gravina explained that very well.”

There was also tension on the field between the two squads after the final whistle when Italy edged Israel 5-4 in a nine-goal thriller last month in neutral Hungary — where Israel has been playing its “home” matches during the war.

The protesters in Italy and elsewhere have also been reacting to an international aid mission blocked by Israeli forces.

“It’s upsetting to see what’s happening to innocent people and children,” Gattuso said. “It hurts your heart.”

Italy and Israel are level six points behind group leader Norway, with only the first-place finisher in the group to qualify directly for next year’s tournament in North America.

The second-place finishers progress to a playoff — the stage where Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia and ruled out of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively.

“Considering that we’re trying to get to the World Cup and we need to give our absolute all, I’m sure you can understand that I would have preferred to play a home game with the enthusiasm that we saw in Bergamo a month ago,” Gattuso said, referring to a 5-0 win over Estonia.

Israel could also face protests during a visit to Norway on Saturday.

The Norwegian soccer federation pledged to give its profits from ticket sales for the game in Oslo to humanitarian work in Gaza by Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym, MSF).

Italy played Israel in Udine last October in the Nations League. That game went off without incident amid a heavy police presence and despite a pro-Palestinian demonstration before the game. Italy won 4-1.

The Italian Football Coaches’ Association (AIAC) wrote to the Italian Football Federation in August, in a letter to be forwarded to European and world football’s governing bodies, calling for Israel to be suspended from international competition due to its war on Gaza.

The government has been shut down since Oct. 1, after Congress was unable to pass a funding bill for the new fiscal year that started this month. With severe disagreements between Republicans and Democrats, many government agencies will remain closed indefinitely. Only essential services are allowed to continue operating, and government workers who aren’t furloughed are expected to continue working without pay until the shutdown is resolved.

Thankfully for the 70 million Americans receiving monthly Social Security benefits, those payments are considered essential. And for many households that’s the absolute truth. An important aspect of the program for households relying on Social Security to make ends meet is the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. Without it, many of those recipients would find their finances falling behind the rising prices stemming from inflation.

While payments are continuing amid the shutdown, many may be wondering what it means for next year’s COLA.

Image source: Getty Images.

The key data provider for next year’s COLA is shut down

The Social Security Administration is in charge of calculating the annual COLA, but it relies on data provided by another government agency — the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Every month, the BLS publishes a report detailing changes in the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, which is one of the most common metrics used to assess inflation.

The annual COLA is based on a specific version of the CPI, the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). The Social Security Administration takes the average increase in the CPI-W during the third quarter (July through September), and that number becomes the COLA for next year.

Unfortunately, the BLS is not considered an essential service. As a result, it’s not releasing new data, including the jobs report that was supposed to come out the first Friday of the month. The most recent update on its website simply states, “This website is currently not being updated due to the suspension of Federal government services.”

While we received an update on July and August’s CPI readings, September’s is currently scheduled for Oct. 15. If the government shutdown isn’t resolved by then, we’ll face a delay in the release of September’s CPI data, and, as a result, the 2026 COLA calculation. (Even if Congress resolves the shutdown earlier, it could take several days to compile the data and publish the report, resulting in a delay.)

The good news is the BLS likely completed its September data collection to get an accurate picture of price inflation during the last month of the quarter. BLS workers collect data throughout the month, dividing it into 10-day periods. With the government shutdown going into effect on Oct. 1, it likely collected all or most of the data needed to accurately calculate the CPI numbers for September.

That means the government shutdown is unlikely to have any impact on the 2026 COLA, even if the release of the information is delayed.

Here’s how big the 2026 COLA could be

Despite the potential delay, the 2026 Social Security COLA is shaping up to be a relatively large boost to benefits. As mentioned, we already have CPI reports for July and August, and those have provided a pretty clear picture on where inflation is heading.

The July CPI-W reading came in 2.5% higher than last year and the August reading climbed 2.8%. With fairly soft inflation over the summer last year, many expect the inflation rate continued accelerating in September. The Cleveland Fed’s NowCast estimates the September CPI-U reading (which is slightly different than the CPI-W used for the COLA) climbed 3%, up from 2.9% in August.

A similar bump in the CPI-W reading would result in a COLA of 2.7%. That’s in line with analyst expectations from The Senior Citizens League. Independent analyst Mary Johnson and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget project a 2.8% COLA.

Either way, Social Security beneficiaries are in line for a bigger raise than 2025’s 2.5% COLA. But that also means that prices have climbed faster this year, leaving many retirees trying to stretch their monthly payments further.

With most of the data available to make a fairly good guess as to what the 2026 COLA will be, retirees can start planning now even though the actual COLA release may be delayed due to the government shutdown.