Several of the nation’s largest left-leaning voter engagement and racial justice organizations are facing steep funding shortfalls and staffing cutbacks. Their financial woes are surfacing just as voting is getting underway in a midterm election that will determine control of Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term. The shortfalls are setting off alarms among Democratic strategists, who are betting on high turnout and robust voter protection efforts this fall. They’re worried that many grassroots groups won’t be able to mount effective registration and get-out-the-vote efforts. In response, the Democratic National Committee says it's making “historic investments in organizing.”

Victor L. Simpson, a longtime Rome bureau chief for The Associated Press, has died at 84. His family said Monday that he died of cancer at his home in Rome. Simpson's 46-year career spanned five popes and major global events. He covered stories from the 1967 Newark, New Jersey, race riots to the papacy of Pope John Paul II. A native New Yorker, he joined AP in 1967 and became Rome bureau chief in 2005. His life was marked by personal tragedies, including the killing of his daughter by Palestinian militants who atacked Rome's airport in 1985. Simpson was known for his storytelling and dedication to journalism.

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FILE - People attending a vigil held by Stand Up to Racism, in memory of late University of Cambridge professor Jason Arday, hold up signs at Trafalgar Square in London, on Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)