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Oct 18, 2026
By Nandita Bose and Gram Slattery
Oct 17 (Reuters) - The day after waiving sanctions and tariffs related to Russian exports, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he has yet to announce a final decision on the matter, ?while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said officials want more time to evaluate the situation.
Rubio said on Saturday that ?the president will use up to 60 days to assess the economic impact of Russia-related sanctions and tariffs that he waived a day earlier.
"A lot of you don't ?know what my decision is yet, but we'll figure it out, and you'll figure it out," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump wrote that his decision-making was aimed at avoiding anything "that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table."
Trump signed an executive order on Friday waiving key sanctions and tariffs under the law known as the Graham ?Act, which he signed last month at ?the urging of lawmakers who want to pressure Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
The measures, including tariffs on Russian goods and penalties on countries buying Russian oil and gas, were due to take effect next ?week. Friday's order did not specify how long the waiver would last, but Rubio said Trump opted for a 60-day review.
"I think the president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyze what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and ?even to ?the US economy," Rubio told reporters before boarding a plane for a trip ?to Uzbekistan.
Friday's executive order drew criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, ?who warned it would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and prolong the war.
DIESEL SUPPLIES
Rubio on Saturday also defended a separate US agreement with Russia to increase diesel supplies to global markets, aimed at easing fuel prices that have
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Oct 18, 2026
A slow-moving coastal storm is expected to bring high winds, flooding and dangerous surf to parts of the East Coast this week, with forecasters also monitoring the system for possible subtropical development.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Sunday that a storm-force non-tropical low was expected to form off the Southeast coast on Sunday or Sunday night and move "slowly and erratically" through the middle of the week. The agency gave the system a near-zero chance of development within 48 hours and a 30 percent chance within seven days.
"Regardless of development, this system will cause high winds, coastal flooding, and dangerous surf along portions of the U.S. East Coast," the NHC said.
If it develops into a named subtropical or tropical storm, it would be called Josephine, according to the list of next named storms.
The possibility comes during an unusually quiet Atlantic hurricane season. Through October 18, the basin had produced nine named storms but only one hurricane, Isaias, which is currently the year's only major Atlantic hurricane.
Forecasters say the storm does not need to become Josephine to produce significant coastal impacts.
"AccuWeather hurricane experts continue to monitor a medium risk for tropical or subtropical development off the East Coast between October 19th and October 23rd," Alexander Duffus, a meteorologist for forecasting operations with AccuWeather, told Newsweek in an email Sunday.
Duffus added: "Regardless of if this will eventually be designated as a subtropical or tropical storm by the National Hurricane Center in the coming days,
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Oct 18, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — Maine Democrat Troy Jackson says he does not regret telling Sen. Susan Collins that she should "shut up" after the Republican suggested a protester who interrupted their recent debate was one of his campaign's backers.
"She said that it was a Troy supporter. She accused me of setting that up. I had no idea who it was," said Jackson, a former president of the state Senate who is trying to deny Collins, the longest-serving Republican woman in Senate history, a sixth-term. He spoke in an interview with CNN's "State of the Union" that aired Sunday.
During their final debate Thursday night in the closely contested race, as the Nov. 3 election nears a protester opposing data centers began yelling as Collins spoke. While moderators asked for that person to be removed, the senator said the demonstrator was "obviously one of Troy's supporters."
Jackson responded: "Oh, shut up. I don't even know that kid."
The Sunrise Movement group posted on its Instagram page that the outburst came from one of its members. In a caption of an Instagram post, the group's page said: "We're proud of this Sunrise volunteer who took action yesterday."
The New York Times said the protester, Henry Elgie, a 19-year-old student at Bowdoin College in Maine, told the newspaper in an interview Saturday that he had "zero coordination" with Jackson's campaign. "I do not know Troy Jackson personally or at all," he was quoted as saying.
The Sunrise Movement is a left-wing political advocacy organization that champions the Green New Deal, aimed at transitioning the U.S. eco
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Oct 18, 2026
By Sybille de La Hamaide
PARIS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Fresh clashes broke out in Paris on Sunday a day after France suffered one of its worst days of unrest in years, with protests over high prices leaving one demonstrator dead, thousands arrested and shops across the country looted or damaged.
Nationwide demonstrations ?erupted into riots on Saturday, with a town hall torched, shops ransacked, and buildings covered in graffiti as violent groups clashed with police in cities across the ?country.
One protester died after suffering a cardiac arrest during demonstrations in Paris. Police made more than 2,000 arrests across France, while more than 600 officers were injured, the interior minister said.
"It's like a war zone here," said ?Dutch entrepreneur Tije De Boer, who had come to Paris with his children to visit a friend and said the protests forced him to evacuate his hotel at Place de la Republique, a trouble hotspot on Saturday.
Police again clashed with protesters and fired tear gas at Place de la Republique on Sunday afternoon, and packs of bikes were set on fire. A Reuters witness estimated several hundred protesters were in the area.
In Marseille, France's second largest city, the local prefecture also reported some incidents in the afternoon, with attempts made by groups to break into shops.
More ?than half a million people joined marches in scores of ?cities on Saturday, marking the convergence of a month-long student movement with broader social discontent against rising living costs and declining public services.
President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation at 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT) on Sunday, his office said.
Saturday's unrest laid bare the deep anger at ?Macron, who leaves office in 2027 after a decade in power that has increasingly become defined by social discontent, a weak economy and ballooning debt.
The government has blamed the violence o
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Oct 18, 2026
The investigation into an alleged "gang rape" at Cornell University in October 2024 has drawn nationwide attention after a former student identified as "Jane Doe" filed a civil lawsuit last month, accusing seven fraternity members of drugging and assaulting her for hours.
Last week, Cornell announced that it is suspending "all parties and social events" at fraternity houses for the rest of the academic year while an independent review is underway.
"These measures will provide time for a thorough review of fraternity life at Cornell to determine whether and how it can safely continue," Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff wrote in a letter to the Cornell community.
Kotlikoff also announced that the university would enlist "experienced, trauma-informed criminal investigators" to investigate allegations of sexual assault on its Ithaca, N.Y., campus.
Earlier this month, Cornell's board of trustees announced it had retained former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, a partner at law firm King & Spalding, to lead an outsi
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Oct 18, 2026
ToplineEast Potomac Golf Links, a highly popular municipal golf course in Washington, D.C., and the target of one of President Donald Trump's contentious renovation projects, will close for 15 months starting in November, the president said on Sunday.
An aerial view of the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C. taken in May 2026.
Getty ImagesKey FactsIn a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump shared a map of the redesigned course, which he said would be "open to the Public while, at the same time, designed to the Highest Level of Golf and able to hold World Class Tournaments."
The "current Course" will close when renovations begin on Nov. 15, Trump said, and will reopen in "approximately 15 months."
The announcement comes shortly after the National Park Service cut down hundreds of trees at the course, a move that prompted a federal judge to block further tree removal and chastise lawyers for the Trump administration.
Big Number430. That's how many healthy, non-invasive trees were removed from the East Potomac Golf Links in a few hours last week, the Trump administration acknowledged. "Breakneck speed to cl
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Oct 18, 2026
Two weeks from Election Day, Republicans face a bleak political landscape. President Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to a new low, and support for Democrats in the race for control of Congress is rising as inflationary pressures contribute to an acrid mood among voters, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.
Trump's approval among U.S. adults now stands at 33 percent, with 66 percent disapproving; 52 percent said they disapprove strongly. That approval rating is four percentage points lower than in July and eight points lower than at this point last year. It's lower than at any point in his first term. Among likely voters, Trump's approval is 38 percent, with 62 percent disapproving.
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The poll also finds that, for the first time in more than a decade, Democrats are seen as more trusted to deal with the economy.
In the competition for control of the House, Democrats hold an eight-point lead among registered and likely voters, an improvement for the party since The Post's July poll, when the Democratic lead was three points with registered voters.
Trump is central to Republicans' struggles. In a separate question, the poll asked voters whether they would rather have a Democratic-led Congress acting as a check on Trump or a Republican one to support his agenda. By 58 percent to 39 percent, registered voters said they prefer the Democrats. That margin is roughly double what it was a year ago.
The collective results of the new survey reveal an elec
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Oct 18, 2026
‘Whatever claims the labs are making, they are not warning us enough. We need to understand that nobody can stop the AI storm.'Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Warnings about what artificial intelligence might do in the future - together with alarming reports of what it has gotten up to already - are being issued so quickly that even security experts have difficulty triaging what to worry about.
Yet a report this week from Anthropic's offensive research team grabbed attention by describing a new, practical threat, one devoid of human characteristics or apocalyptic musings. The red team, as such internal testers are called, said it created a malicious AI program that spread autonomously through internet-connected "smart" televisions and could do the same inside other ordinary devices. While machines running AI usually need a fair amount of computing power, the researchers said that their program split parts of itself among 15 televisions and was still able to function by using a bit of power from each.
Related: AI in your oven? Anthropic warns models ‘months away' from self-replication on smart devices
In addition to evoking the horcruxes that kept pieces of Lord Voldemort's soul alive within objects in the Harry Potter series, the report alarmed some professionals because the generally weak security of smart televisions and many other "internet of things" devices would be very hard to correct, even with a concerted effort.
"It's something to worr
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Oct 18, 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the U.S. formally siding with Russia's Vladimir Putin would be a "historic mistake," but said he still sees President Donald Trump as an ally despite a series of moves that have unsettled his country and its friends on Capitol Hill.
"We want to trust him," Zelenskyy told NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday, referring to Trump. "I hope that he will change his decisions, because I think that it's all mistakes, and it will not help us, and it will not help United States."
Trump on Friday waived sweeping new sanctions against Russia passed by Congress, saying in an executive order that the move "is in the national interests of the United States." Passed with bipartisan support and signed by Trump last month, the sanctions were intended to target Russia's revenue streams by punishing global buyers of Russian oil and gas.
The waiver came days after a deal with Putin to release hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel fuel onto the global market as fuel prices soar.
At the same time, Zelenskyy said, U.S. intelligence sharing was briefly "blocked," blinding Ukraine to incoming ballistic missiles, while limits have been placed on Starlink technology critical
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Oct 18, 2026
One of El Niño's most dramatic effects is waiting in the wings and could soon cause chaos along the West Coast, especially in California, forecasters warned.
A historic El Niño is expected to up the intensity of atmospheric rivers - long corridors of water vapor in the atmosphere that can transport tremendous amounts of moisture and produce heavy rain or snow when they reach land.
"A stronger El Niño brings stronger atmospheric rivers," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, told USA TODAY. "There aren't necessarily more of them, but atmospheric rivers are more intense during a strong El Niño like this one."
In addition, strong El Niños also increase the frequency of non-atmospheric river storms in California, he said.
"Amid an El Niño that will become the strongest, and also easternmost-centered, event on record (if it isn't already), this year's tilt in the odds toward wet and stormy conditions in California will be profoundly unsubtle," Swain wrote this week on his blog Weather West.
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What are atmospheric rivers?
Often in the winter, you'll hear that "atmospheric rivers" are causing big weather problems along the West Coast. But what are they?
Made visible by clouds, these ribbons of water vapor extend thousands of miles from the tropics to the western U.S. At 250 to 375 miles wide, they provide the fuel for massive rain and snowstorms that can cause flooding along the West Coast.
In general, atmospheric rivers pick up water vapor fr
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Oct 18, 2026
When White House officials wanted to know if President Donald Trump could send the U.S. military to help capture President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, a special unit in the Justice Department assured them it was legal.
When the administration was preparing to strike suspected drug traffickers' boats on the open sea without congressional approval, the same small unit declared the action permissible.
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When the White House asked if the Presidential Records Act was constitutional, the office ruled it was not, giving Trump the apparent green light to save fewer records from his second term.
As the Trump administration pushes the bounds of executive power, the Justice Department unit known as the Office of Legal Counsel, or OLC, has affirmed some of its most high-profile and controversial actions - even as many experts question their legitimacy and some are later struck down by the courts.
Tucked away on the Justice Department's fifth floor, the two dozen or so lawyers at the OLC are charged with assessing the legality of actions the executive branch wants to take, especially those that are novel or likely to be contentious. Much of its work, particularly on national security matters, remains shielded from public view, but some of the office's conclusions have emerged in often dense legal opinions.
The OLC during Trump's second term is not the first to be accused of adopting shaky reasoning to justify a president's policies. Under President Barack Obama, the OLC wrote a controversial rationale for launching a deadly drone attack on a U.S. citizen overseas. Under President George W. Bush, the office justified the used of "enhanced interrogation"
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Oct 18, 2026
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville joins officers at Cook County as they carry out an early morning raid
Warning: This story contains descriptions of drug-taking from the start and discusses suicide
The few grains of fentanyl sit in the silver foil as a straw, held between Mike's lips, hovers above, with a cigarette lighter below. The 48-year-old army veteran is crouched low in an alleyway in Columbus, Ohio's Linden neighbourhood.
"This drug will damn near make you do anything, unfortunately," he says.
The hit he's smoking cost three or four dollars.
"You can snort too much and you can't take it back. Kind of like a gunshot. Can't call the bullet back," he says.
He burns the foil and inhales. As the opioid takes hold, he grips the fence behind him. He sways as a low moan comes from deep in his throat - he could be humming a tune.
We've spent a few days with Mike - he's been our guide through the neighbourhood's back streets. Everyone seems to know him and he's regarded fondly. He helps out at a local pawn shop and gas station, and that's how he feeds his 20-year-old opioid addiction.
Synthetic opioids are more powerful and in plentiful supply, and they have transformed the drugs landscape.
Fentanyl, which is entirely man-made, is 50 to 100 times more powerful than heroin, which is cultivated from poppies. It is now often cut with synthetic tranquillisers, which make reviving overdose victims more difficult. These are homemade threats, where cocktails of synthetics can be made in American basements and bathtubs.
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Oct 18, 2026
In an hour-long town hall hosted by CBS News, Vice President JD Vance argued the Trump administration's handling of the economy and Iran strategy will pay dividends in the future.
He was also pressed on the Trump administration's controversial immigration tactics, widespread discontent about the cost of living and his own political future during "Things That Matter: A Town Hall With Vice President JD Vance," which aired Saturday evening and was hosted by "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil.
Vance took questions from voters in Michigan, a swing state that helped propel Vance and President Trump to victory in 2024 — and is the host of a tight Senate race that could help determine which party wins control of the upper chamber in next month's midterm elections.
Vance says he hasn't decided if he'll run for presidentIf he decides to run for president in 2028, the vice president is widely viewed as an early frontrunner in the Republican primaries and a possible heir to Mr. Trump's political movement. Mr. Trump has called Vance his "most likely" GOP successor and has joked about a potential contest between Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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Oct 17, 2026
Two people, including a 6-year-old boy, were killed and 11 others injured after a truck drove through a youth soccer game in Wichita, Kansas, on Saturday afternoon, police said, in what officials called a "heartbreaking" incident that authorities are still investigating.
First responders rushed to Stryker Soccer Complex after receiving multiple 911 calls around 3:25 p.m. CT, Capt. Aaron Moses of the Wichita Police Department told reporters at a press conference Saturday evening.
KAKE - PHOTO: In this image taken from a video, police respond to the scene at the Stryker Sports Complex.
Police said the driver, who they identified only as a 34-year-old woman of Garden City, Kansas, stayed with the truck after the incident.
"She has been cooperative to this point in the investigation," he said, adding later she was in police custody.
Moses told reporters he believed one of the driver's children was playing soccer at the complex on Saturday but was not on that field at the time of the incident.
KAKE - PHOTO: First responders are shown at the scene of an incident at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kansas, on Oct. 17, 2026.There were two juveniles who were also inside the truck at the time it went onto the field, police said.
The 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man, both of McPherson, Kansas, were pronounced dead on the scene, police said.
Of the 11 people who were injured, five are children, ranging in age from 5 to 9.
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Oct 17, 2026
Two people, including a 6-year-old boy, were killed and 11 others injured after a truck drove through a youth soccer game in Wichita, Kansas, on Saturday afternoon, police said, in what officials called a "heartbreaking" incident that authorities are still investigating.
First responders rushed to Stryker Soccer Complex after receiving multiple 911 calls around 3:25 p.m. CT, Capt. Aaron Moses of the Wichita Police Department told reporters at a press conference Saturday evening.
KAKE - PHOTO: In this image taken from a video, police respond to the scene at the Stryker Sports Complex.
Police said the driver, who they identified only as a 34-year-old woman of Garden City, Kansas, stayed with the truck after the incident.
"She has been cooperative to this point in the investigation," he said, adding later she was in police custody.
Moses told reporters he believed one of the driver's children was playing soccer at the complex on Saturday but was not on that field at the time of the incident.
KAKE - PHOTO: First responders are shown at the scene of an incident at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kansas, on Oct. 17, 2026.There were two juveniles who were also inside the truck at the time it went onto the field, police said.
The 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man, both of McPherson, Kansas, were pronounced dead on the scene, police said.
Of the 11 people who were injured, five are children, ranging in age from 5 to 9.
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Oct 17, 2026
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday that four service members were killed and dozens more seriously injured in a fire at a military base in Alberta, describing it as one of the worst peacetime tragedies for Canada's military on domestic soil.
Fire crews scrambled late Saturday as fierce winds whipped flames beyond Canadian Forces Base Wainwright and into the surrounding rural area. The Canadian military said Sunday there were no indications that the incident was the result of terrorism, but the cause remained under investigation.
Speaking in a televised address, Carney said the families of those killed had been notified and that the situation was still evolving.
Flags would fly at half-staff on federal buildings across the country in honor of those affected by the tragedy, he said.
It was not immediately clear exactly how many people had been injured
Cathy Keane, a mayoral candidate in Ontario, said her eldest son was among the military personnel critically injured. "As a mother, right now I need to be with my son and family," she wrote on Facebook, saying she was traveling to Alberta.
A doctor at a hospital in the city of Edmonton, 180 kilometers (112 miles) northwest, told Canada's national broadcaster that patients were taken to hospitals across the city as healthcare facilities around the base became "completely overwhelmed" by the number of people needing care.
"This number of patients would overwhelm the city of Edmonton," Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency department physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, told CBC News. "It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It's a disaster. It's a one in every 15- to 25-year disaster."
Hospitals declare emergency
Acute Care Alberta said several hospitals across the province
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Oct 17, 2026
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Canada's defense minister said Saturday that people were killed and injured in an incident at a military base in Alberta that caused a major fire, while reports said that large numbers of injured people were being transported to hospitals.
Fire crews scrambled late into the night as fierce winds whipped flames beyond Canadian Forces Base Wainwright and into the surrounding rural area.
It was not immediately clear how many people were killed or injured, but a doctor at a hospital in the city of Edmonton, 180 km (120 miles) northwest, told Canada's national broadcaster that patients were being brought to hospitals across the city as health-care facilities around the base became "completely overwhelmed" by the number of people needing care.
"This number of patients would overwhelm the city of Edmonton," Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency department physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, told CBC News. "It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It's a disaster. It's a one in every 15 to 25-year disaster."
The town of Wainwright, near the base, has about 7,000 residents.
Defense Minister David McGuinty said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were involved in investigating the incident and described the situation as "very, very active and delicate." He said authorities were still working to determine what happened and expected to provide further information.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said officers were called shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday following reports of a fire in a training area at the base.
Firefighters faced a volatile situation. Large areas of the province were hit during the day by a windstorm with gusts up to 100 kilometres an hour. The wind toppled some trees and sent signs flying and garbage cans rolling down streets.
By 11 p.m., the Munici
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Oct 17, 2026
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Canada's defense minister said Saturday that people were killed and injured in an incident at a military base in Alberta that caused a major fire, while reports said that large numbers of injured people were being transported to hospitals.
Fire crews scrambled late into the night as fierce winds whipped flames beyond Canadian Forces Base Wainwright and into the surrounding rural area.
It was not immediately clear how many people were killed or injured, but a doctor at a hospital in the city of Edmonton, 180 km (120 miles) northwest, told Canada's national broadcaster that patients were being brought to hospitals across the city as health-care facilities around the base became "completely overwhelmed" by the number of people needing care.
"This number of patients would overwhelm the city of Edmonton," Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency department physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, told CBC News. "It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It's a disaster. It's a one in every 15- to 25-year disaster."
The town of Wainwright, near the base, has about 7,000 residents.
Defense Minister David McGuinty said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were involved in investigating the incident and described the situation as "very, very active and delicate." He said authorities were still working to determine what happened and expected to provide further information.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said officers were called shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday following reports of a fire in a training area at the base.
Firefighters faced a volatile situation. Large areas of the province were hit during the day by a windstorm with gusts up to 100 kilometres an hour. The wind toppled some trees and sent signs flying and garbage cans rolling down streets.
By 11 p.m., the Munic
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Oct 17, 2026
The No. 1 team in the country has lost in back-to-back weeks.
Just seven days after taking down No. 6 Alabama to move up to the top spot in the AP Top 25, Georgia QB Gunner Stockton turned the ball over three times and the Tigers got a field goal as time expired for a 27-24 win.
Alex McPherson's game-winning kick was set up by a Stockton fumble. After the Georgia defense gave the Bulldogs a chance to win, Stockton fumbled the ball while running into the back of center Drew Bobo with 58 seconds to go.
— wok (@wokdior) October 17, 2026
McPherson's 34-yard kick was also 15 yards shorter than it could have been thanks to Gabe Harris' roughing the passer penalty on Auburn QB Byrum Brown with 14 seconds to go. It was the third personal foul by a Georgia player.
The Bulldogs went up to No. 1 after Texas lost to an unranked rival in Oklahoma. On Saturday, it was Auburn's turn to play the role of top-spot spoiler. It was the Tigers' first win in the annual series since 2017 and that victory marks the first time since 1990 that the No. 1 team in the AP poll has lost to an unranked opponent in back-to-back weeks.
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Oct 17, 2026
A child and an adult were killed and multiple others injured after a vehicle drove through a soccer game in Wichita, Kansas, on Saturday afternoon, police said.
KAKE - PHOTO: In this image taken from a video, police respond to the scene at the Stryker Sports Complex.
First responders rushed to Stryker Soccer Complex after receiving multiple 911 calls around 3:25 p.m. CT, Capt. Aaron Moses of the Wichita Police Department told reporters at a briefing on Saturday afternoon.
KAKE - PHOTO: First responders are shown at the scene of an incident at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kansas, on Oct. 17, 2026.The unidentified victims were declared dead at the scene, Moses said. Others were injured and taken to the hospital, police said.
Wichita Police Department - PHOTO: In this screen grab from a video posted to social media, Captain Aaron Moses of the Wichita Police Department speaks to the media on Oct. 17, 2026, in Wichita, Kansas. "This is a tragedy," Moses said.
The driver was in custody and the investigation is ongoing, according to Moses. There were two juveniles in the vehicle, according to Moses.
The city of Wichita said in a Facebook post Saturday afternoon that all events at the sports complex have been canceled until further notice.
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Oct 17, 2026
Violence broke out across France on Saturday during the latest day of demonstrations against education standards and the cost of living.
At least 1,200 people were arrested during what the French government described as an "escalation in violence" alongside an estimated 550,000 taking to the streets.
In Paris, there were significant clashes into the evening with riot police, who used tear gas and water cannon on crowds.
Buildings were set alight in the capital and other areas, including in Limoges where a large fire in the town hall caused the roof to partly collapse.
Looting broke out in several cities, with widespread vandalism targeting city halls and businesses also reported.
La Barrique bar in Paris was set on fire [Getty Images]
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said 150 police officers were injured in the unrest.
In Paris, the main march appeared to be largely peaceful during the afternoon. A group of young people told the BBC they were "pacifists" who are "just trying to make things change, but nothing is moving".
However, as the day wore on some groups lit fires in the street and torched vehicles, including in iconic locations in the city centre like the Place de la République.
Shops were ransacked, at least one restaurant was gutted by fire, and the BBC saw fighting breaking out among some of the groups.
Riot police were seen charging at one crowd in central Paris and hitting several people with batons.
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Oct 17, 2026
Multiple survivors were treated for suspected shark bites after a boat, departing from Mexico, capsized off the coast of Baja California, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. 16 Mexican nationals had already been rescued on Friday, and authorities continue the search for 11 people believed to be missing.
"Several of the individuals rescued were suffering from severe injuries consistent with shark bites, and the Coast Guard provided life-saving first aid while en route (to) San Diego," said the agency in a statement on Saturday.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy are searching the waters using multiple aircraft and boats, along with assistance from the Mexican Navy. An additional helicopter will be deployed later today, according to the Coast Guard.
The boat capsized in an area frequented by smugglers and did not happen in U.S. waters, according to the Coast Guard. Survivors told officials there were 27 people on board.
"We were able to help, and that's why we launched our assets," said Petty Officer Charlie Valor on Saturday.
The region is popular with fishing and leisure boats, but fatal attempts to transport migrants from Mexico to the U.S. have occurred in the past.
The Mexican consulate in San Diego said all those rescued were Mexican nationals. The Coast Guard said Customs and Border Protection was investigating and interviewing the survivors, but the agency did not immediately respond to requests for updates.
If survivors were witnesses to a crime, they may be eligible for humanitarian parole and permitted to remain in the country for a limited period.
Rescuers were searching the area with helicopters, a fixed-wing plane, a cutter and a Navy combat ship on Saturday. The efforts remain ongoing.
Mayday call around 1 a.m.
A mayday call was transmitted
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Oct 17, 2026
Multiple survivors were treated for suspected shark bites after a boat, departing from Mexico, capsized off the coast of Baja California, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. 16 Mexican nationals had already been rescued on Friday, and authorities continue the search for 11 people believed to be missing.
"Several of the individuals rescued were suffering from severe injuries consistent with shark bites, and the Coast Guard provided life-saving first aid while en route (to) San Diego," said the agency in a statement on Saturday.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy are searching the waters using multiple aircraft and boats, along with assistance from the Mexican Navy. An additional helicopter will be deployed later today, according to the Coast Guard.
The boat capsized in an area frequented by smugglers and did not happen in U.S. waters, according to the Coast Guard. Survivors told officials there were 27 people on board.
"We were able to help, and that's why we launched our assets," said Petty Officer Charlie Valor on Saturday.
The region is popular with fishing and leisure boats, but fatal attempts to transport migrants from Mexico to the U.S. have occurred in the past.
The Mexican consulate in San Diego said all those rescued were Mexican nationals. The Coast Guard said Customs and Border Protection was investigating and interviewing the survivors, but the agency did not immediately respond to requests for updates.
If survivors were witnesses to a crime, they may be eligible for humanitarian parole and permitted to remain in the country for a limited period.
Rescuers were searching the area with helicopters, a fixed-wing plane, a cutter and a Navy combat ship on Saturday. The efforts remain ongoing.
Mayday call around 1 a.m.
A mayday call was transmitted
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Oct 17, 2026
Burning embers swirl in balls of fire that have engulfed a multimillion-dollar home above Calle Miramar during the Norte fire on Friday in San Juan Capistrano. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)German travelers Luis Widmesser and Lukas Holzer, both 19, were heading to a campground in San Diego on the 5 Freeway on Friday afternoon when authorities blocked off the road and diverted traffic.
The pair, on an 8-month road trip from Canada to Argentina, ended up spending the night in their tent atop their Suzuki outside the San Juan Capistrano Boys and Girls Club, which served as an evacuation center for people forced to leave due to the Norte fires.
"We don't have such big wildfires in Germany," Widmesser marveled at the force of nature that upended their travel.
Amid unusual heat and unrelenting winds, hundreds of firefighters worked to contain several small, but destructive fires that ignited across Southern California. But as the weather cooled, high winds simmered down, and a Red Flag Warning from the National Weather Service expired by 6 p.m. Saturday, residents in Los Angeles and Orange counties began to return home as evacuation orders were lifted.
The Norte fire — the most devastating blaze — scorched more than 570 acres in residential neighborhoods in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, damaging or destroying at least six homes. Since the fire broke out Friday morning, it has hollowed out several stately homes on Via La Mirada and has continued spreading
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Oct 17, 2026
Masked settlers are accused of attacking the convoy [Reuters]
A delegation of European diplomats has been attacked by masked Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Belgium condemned the assault on its consul general and the other envoys and called for Israel to bring those responsible to justice.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also condemned what they called "the severe act of violence" and said they were investigating.
But the office of the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast doubt on what happened and suggested it was part of a "coordinated campaign to smear Israel".
The attack came only a day after a number of Palestinians and Heidi Levine, a Washington Post photographer, were injured in a separate assault by settlers in another village in the West Bank.
The diplomats - from Belgium, France, Poland and the Catholic Church - had come to the largely Christian village of Taybeh near Ramallah.
They were there to assess the situation on the ground after almost near daily attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians trying to bring in their olive harvest.
Video footage from the scene showed masked settlers confronting the convoy. Reports suggest stones were thrown.
The Belgian authorities said a car from its consulate had a window smashed and a French mayor was assaulted. Video showed a man wearing a French tricolor sash slumped beside a vehicle.
Belgium's foreign minister Maxime Prevot condemned the attack and said Israel had a responsibility to bring those responsible to justice.
"Palestini
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Oct 17, 2026
A coastal storm is forecast to develop this weekend along the same cold front that brought the rain, wind and cooldown to the eastern U.S.
The storm is expected to develop along the Carolina coast later Sunday, bringing persistent, long-duration coastal flooding and beach erosion through mid-week.
In anticipation of this coastal storm, North Carolina's Dare County has issued a state of emergency for Hatteras Island and a mandatory evacuation for visitors on the island.
NC Emergency Management - PHOTO: In this screen grab from a video released by NC Emergency Management on Oct. 17, 2026, large waves are shown.This is the same area on the Outer Banks that has produced the striking visuals of homes falling into the sea during periods of rough surf and coastal flooding from other coastal storms and systems.
Evacuation orders issued as wildfire burns in Orange County, CaliforniaABC News - PHOTO: Mid-Atlantic coastal storm mapCoastal flood alerts are up from Morehead City, North Carolina, through the Outer Banks and for portions of coastal Virginia and Maryland.
This includes locations such as Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; Virginia Beach, Virginia; and Ocean City, Maryland.
There is a possibility of minor to moderate flooding during high tide later on Saturday through at least Monday evening, possibly into the middle of the week.
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Oct 17, 2026
A fast-moving wildfire in Southern California quickly consumed hundreds of acres and burned multiple homes after sparking in Orange County Friday, county officials said.
The Norte Fire began around noon near a neighborhood in the San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano areas and by Friday evening had grown to 570 acres, the Orange County Fire Authority said. It's one of several fires that have broken out since Thursday amid fierce Santa Ana winds affecting Southern California.
"Our actions today will be to continue to attack the fire and work toward getting residents home as soon as it's safe to so do," Orange County Fire Authority Captain Greg Barta said Saturday morning in a video on X.
Topography and weather conditions allowed the fire to grow rapidly, Orange County Division 3 Fire Chief Mark Backoff said in a video posted to social media Friday afternoon.
Six homes have been destroyed or damaged by the fire, and two firefighters suffered "significant" injuries but are stable in area hospitals, fire officials said.
Evacuation orders were issued for multiple areas in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, encompassing roughly 4,600 homes and 16,000 people, Orange County Fire Authority Chief TJ McGovern said. Officials asked residents to be patient as they evaluate when it will be safe to return home.
Officials said progress had been made against the fire by the evening but warned conditions remained volatile.
"A majority of the fire has been knocked down. However, we still have some homes that have been impacted here, and as you can see, the wind is still blowing pretty strong up here," Orange County Fire Authority spokesperson Steve Concialdi said.
The fire is now 5% contained as of Saturday morning.
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Oct 17, 2026
President Trump's embattled new press secretary Katie Zacharia was forced out Friday after less than a week on the job.
Zacharia confirmed widespread reports that Trump had let her go in a post on X just after 9 p.m. ET Friday, alongside a photo of the two of them in the Oval Office. "President Trump is a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man," she wrote. "I wish more Americans appreciated him. No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to. It was an honor to work for him."
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told CNN in a statement that Zacharia "will continue to support the President as she transitions to a new role."
Zacharia is the shortest-tenured White House press secretary in U.S. history.
Her five days on the job fell well short of Anthony Scaramucci's 11 days as Trump's communications director in 2017. Trump is unlikely to name a new press secretary anytime soon, two sources familiar with his thinking told NBC News.
Earlier Friday, Trump signaled that Zacharia was on her way out, telling reporters that he had asked Zacharia to "reconsider" whether she "need[s] this."
"I told her, 'I think you're better off being happy and I don't think you could ever be happy in this job,'" Trump said.
Asked if he was
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Oct 17, 2026
A teacher and one of the three children who were killed in Thursday's mass shooting at a Bend, Ore., elementary school were identified on Friday during a press conference in which authorities provided additional details about the incident. The 16-year-old suspect, who was killed by a community member within minutes of opening fire at the school, was also identified.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said Friday that Rhoam Summer, a 5-year-old student, and Megan Lambert, a 25-year-old teacher, were among the four victims in a special education classroom at Silver Rail Elementary School.
In a statement, Lambert's family described her as a native central Oregonian who grew up in Bend and had a passion for playing sports, especially volleyball.
"Her goal was to be an educator and teach in the school district she loved growing up in," the statement continued. "Silver Rail was her first job as a teacher. … She loved Silver Rail. This was her dream job. Megan was compassionate and had a huge heart. She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs. She was an incredible sister, daughter, niece and granddaughter. … She was funny and opinionated and she lit up the room."
Megan Lambert, 25, a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., was killed in Thursday's shooting.Bend Police Department
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Oct 17, 2026
By STAMOS PROUSALIS
PARIS, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Clashes broke out between police and protesters in cities across France on Saturday as tens of thousands of people angered by rising costs and declining public services took to the streets in some of the country's most violent protests in years.
The Interior Ministry said ?272 people had been arrested by mid-afternoon after violent incidents involving hooded individuals, including in Paris, Marseille in the south, Toulouse in the southwest, Angers ?in the west and Lyon in east-central France.
The protesters said most people were protesting peacefully and put much of the violence down to troublemakers who had set out to cause damage and clash with the police.
The ?ministry said, however, that violence was increasing, and that there had been "confrontations with law enforcement, looting or attempted looting of shops, attacks on and damage to public buildings." It blamed the unrest on what it described as the "ultra-left".
In some parts of Paris, police occasionally fired tear gas rounds as they retreated in the face of mostly young protesters, many of whom were dressed in black and wore hoodies, masks and goggles to protect against tear gas.
Some tourists at a fashionable department store near the Paris opera were seen spluttering when they were caught in ?clouds of tear gas, and shops nearby were hastily shuttered. ?Windows of many shops and restaurants in the capital were smashed, and cars and trash cans were set on fire.
In Lyon, protesters torched the tourist office.
In Marseille, the mayor said the town hall had been vandalised and that additional police were being sent to the city ?following talks with the government.
In protests partly inspired by those in France, several hundred mostly young people also protested in Brussels on Saturday, and some clashed with police. Belgian student groups have said they are protesting ag
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Oct 17, 2026
Ukraine is still unable to use its interceptor systems against Russian drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday, because of speed restrictions imposed on Starshield, an upgraded military version of Elon Musk's Starlink, amid an ongoing row with President Trump.
"Unfortunately, we can't use Starlink or Starshield technology on our territory today to shoot down jet-powered Shaheds," Zelenskyy said in an online group chat with reporters at the EU Summit. "They fly, and we can stop them with aircraft and other air defense, but we don't use Starlink for that, unfortunately. God willing, this will be restored."
Zelenskyy said Kyiv was discussing the issue with U.S. officials, and he was told the restrictions were linked to technical issues. The Ukrainian president added, however, that Starlink appears to be operating at higher speeds on European Union territory.
"Yes, we are in dialogue at the level of the military, the Ministry of Defense and diplomats, in touch with everyone including SpaceX. Nobody there is answering our military or the Ministry of Defense now," Zelenskyy said. "At various levels they say these are technical problems."
"Here (in Ukraine) Starlink works up to a speed of 161 km/h, then shuts off," he continued. "In the EU it works at 180-plus and works constantly. Here it shuts off in the second minute after 161 km/h and stops working. We lose both drones and connectivity."
Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday he had not limited Ukraine's access to Starlink, adding he didn't believe Musk, SpaceX's CEO, was responsible either.
"Well, I don't know if it was anybody because it wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon," Mr. Trump said while leaving the Whi
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Oct 17, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to waive sanctions on Russia days before they were to take effect drew outrage Saturday from members of Congress, which had overwhelmingly passed the legislation in a bipartisan display of American support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Lawmakers from both parties blasted the executive order late Friday, the latest in a series of steps that the Republican president has taken drawing the United States closer to Russia's Vladimir Putin. Trump recently announced a diesel deal with Putin to import Russian energy in a long-shot effort to curb high gas prices in the U.S. that are roiling the midterm elections on Nov. 3.
"Beyond irresponsible," said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., on social media, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope that the sanctions that were supposed to take effect Sunday targeting Russian's e
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Oct 17, 2026
A New York judge on Friday rejected a request to impose a gag order in the civil case brought by a former Cornell University student who alleged she was sexually assaulted at a fraternity house in 2024, calling the request a "'side show' meant to muddy the waters and distract from the merits of the claims and defenses involved in this case."
Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond said the public statements made by Jane Doe's attorney that one of the men named in the civil lawsuit used to justify the request "express nothing more than [his] opinions."
Cornell president defends response to Jane Doe allegations in heated faculty meeting"Expressing opinions on the case or reporting on how the litigation has impacted clients cannot alone serve as a factual basis for limiting an individual's First Amendment rights," Judge Perry-Bond wrote. "While the Court agrees that [he] should not make statements that certain parties spoliated evidence, especially where, as here, no discovery has yet to take place, those isolated statements, without more, are insufficient to show the serious risk of prejudice required by precedent and the United States Constitution."
The judge encouraged the attorneys in the case to work together to prevent their clients from facing threats, harassment, and doxing.
"The Court believes that given the notoriety of doxing related to this case, it would serve all parties' interests to work together to ensure their clients and others may be safeguarded, to the extent possible, from being inundated with threats or harassment from malicious outside actors," she wrote.
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Oct 17, 2026
Donald Trump is barnstorming the country to boost Republicans in the final weeks of the midterms. But many candidates want to keep that support quiet.
The president is nowhere to be found in GOP ads, even in red states where Republicans were happy to tout his endorsement two years ago. And some candidates are hesitant to appear with Trump on the campaign trail — even as they hope he will help juice turnout among the MAGA base in November.
Democratic House and Senate candidates and outside groups have spent $145 million on general election ads mentioning Trump, while Republicans have spent just $8 million, according to a POLITICO analysis of data from AdImpact, which tracks political advertising. That's in sharp contrast to 2024, when GOP candidates spent $62 million on ads mentioning Trump.
"Trump is at historic lows right now, so if he comes to your district or state, it's about getting the Republican base vote out there and that can certainly help," said Ron Bonjean, a longtime GOP strategist. "But it's really important for the candidates not to be talking about Trump 24/7 on the campaign trail."
The unfavorable national political environment leaves few incentives for GOP candidates to tie themselves to Trump, and more and more Republicans in competitive races have broken with the president on issues such as the Iran war and tariffs.
When Republicans do mention Trump in ads, they often aren't touting his support. In Alaska, GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan has run an ad citing how he
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Oct 17, 2026
Pope Leo XIV was released from Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Saturday, four days after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung.
The pope exited via the hospital's main entrance. A large crowd waiting outside the hospital cheered for him.
He shook hands with several people, then stopped to talk with a young woman who appeared to be wearing a bandage on her right arm and was holding a doll in the image of Pope Leo.
The Pope was smiling. Once in the car, he waved to the crowd. His motorcade returned to Vatican City at 3:43 p.m. local time.
The 71-year-old pope had a portion of his right lung removed and received a diagnosis of lung cancer earlier this week. No information about his prognosis has been publicly shared.
Leo was initially expected to remain hospitalized until Oct. 20 but on Thursday he resumed some work activity, and doctors said Friday that tests confirmed "steady improvement in his recovery." On Saturday morning, the Vatican announced he would leave later in the afternoon.
His personal physician and surgeon said in a separate statem
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Oct 17, 2026
Several GOP lawmakers criticized President Trump's move to exempt Russia from the sanctions bill he signed law last month, with Sen. Thom Tillis (R- N.C.) calling the move "beyond irresponsible."
Trump signed an executive order Friday evening to waive sanctions against Russia in a legislative package that was meant to put pressure on the Kremlin to end its military operations against Ukraine.
"What part of enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate does the President and his advisors not understand? It's unconscionable that this administration is capitulating to a Russian dictator who illegally invaded Ukraine and butchers innocent civilians every single day," Tillis wrote on the social platform X.
The legislation, signed by Trump in September, would impose tariffs on the top five purchasers of Russian energy, or on countries helping Russia evade sanctions.
The sanctions bill was drafted by and named after late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). The late senator had announced a breakthrough on the legislation shortly before his death in July, saying lawmakers reached a deal with the White House to move it forward.
Sen.
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Oct 17, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long before running for Congress, Marty O'Donnell was an award-winning music composer for the popular "Halo" video game franchise.
His work drew legions of fans to an online forum, which the Nevada Republican has tried to turn into a galvanizing force as he tries to unseat a Democrat in a Las Vegas area district that could help decide House control. O'Donnell has served as the group's de facto leader, referring to himself as its "benevolent dictator" while tapping its members for campaign cash and harnessing their enthusiasm in his bid. The campaign held a two-day event for forum members this month at a casino that included a video game tournament, panel discussions and speeches.
There is another side, however, to what is known as "The Marty Army."
An Associated Press review of thousands of posts made on the forum between 2022 and 2026 found racial slurs, minimizations of Nazi Germany and defenses of white nationalist conspiracy theories.
"It wasn't a couple of crazies. The popular sentiment was, ‘Yes, slavery should be legal,'" said Deacon Dameron, a former group member who said O'Donnell banned him for calling another user a "dork."
Many views espoused in the forum, which is controlled by O'Donnell and his handpicked moderators, are at odds with some of the values articulated by the candidate and his campaign. For example, O'Donnell has staunchly defended Israel and condemned bigotry.
In a statement, campaign spokesman Keith Schipper said O'Donnell "has zero tolerance for hate" in his forum. Since
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Oct 17, 2026
The bystander who stepped in to stop a gunman at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, has come forward and identified himself as Kaylub Giamanco, a lifelong Bend resident who has two daughters at the school. At a news conference Friday, police also praised a teacher who threw a cellphone at the gunman, tackled him and fought to take his weapon.
Police said Giamanco pursued and fatally shot the 16-year-old attacker, ending a rampage that took the lives of three children and a teacher and wounded two others.
A statement released by Giamanco's family on Friday said, "He is not seeking recognition, but instead wishes to express his gratitude to the first responders, school personnel, and community for the outpouring of love and support."
"The tragedy at Silver Rail Elementary has devastated the Bend community," they wrote.
Giamanco and his family asked for privacy and said they will not be giving interviews.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz credited him and a teacher at the school for actions that saved other lives.
"In addition to the 36-year-old man who bravely stepped in to stop the suspect, I want to highlight another person whose heroic action we need to recognize: a teacher in the classroom threw her cellphone at the suspect and then tackled him and fought to take the firearm from him. She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed," he said.
President Trump on Friday called the Giamanco a "great hero" who "took care of business."
"Thank God we had him; otherwise, it would have been much worse," Mr. Trump said, adding: "It's a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it."
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek also p
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Oct 17, 2026
The bystander who stepped in to stop a gunman at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, has come forward and identified himself as Kaylub Giamanco, a lifelong Bend resident who has two daughters at the school. At a news conference Friday, police also praised a teacher who threw a cellphone at the gunman, tackled him and fought to take his weapon.
Police said Giamanco pursued and fatally shot the 16-year-old attacker, ending a rampage that took the lives of three children and a teacher and wounded two others.
A statement released by Giamanco's family on Friday said, "He is not seeking recognition, but instead wishes to express his gratitude to the first responders, school personnel, and community for the outpouring of love and support."
"The tragedy at Silver Rail Elementary has devastated the Bend community," they wrote.
Giamanco and his family asked for privacy and said they will not be giving interviews.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz credited him and a teacher at the school for actions that saved other lives.
"In addition to the 36-year-old man who bravely stepped in to stop the suspect, I want to highlight another person whose heroic action we need to recognize: a teacher in the classroom threw her cellphone at the suspect and then tackled him and fought to take the firearm from him. She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed," he said.
President Trump on Friday called the Giamanco a "great hero" who "took care of business."
"Thank God we had him; otherwise, it would have been much worse," Mr. Trump said, adding: "It's a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it."
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek also p
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Oct 17, 2026
The beleaguered U.S. film and TV industry, which has seen significant dollars leave for foreign countries, local production plummet and thousands of jobs vanish, may have some relief on the way.
It comes in the form of proposed legislation that has the rare support of lawmakers across the political spectrum. Indeed, President Donald Trump and the actors union SAG-AFTRA have been equally vocal in throwing their weight behind the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, which aims to create a significant tax incentive to bring Hollywood back home.
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The bill was introduced in Congress in late September and is now with the House Ways and Means Committee. Given the bipartisan support, it is likely to have a relative glide path on Capitol Hill.
"Both parties represent people who work on sets, run catering companies and own hotels," said Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas), who co-wrote the bill. "Co-sponsors come from California, Georgia, New York, Ohio and Tennessee, and every one of us has heard the same thing at home: The work is going overseas."
For film and TV creatives and craftspeople, the bill can't land on the White House's Resolute Desk a moment too soon.
"Whatever you think about the current administration, at least Trump, if he puts his weight behind this, could actually make this really move quickly, which is what we need," said Carolina Groppa, an Emmy-nominated producer who also hosts a podcast, "Angle on Producers," about the industry. "The patient's been on the gurney for a long time, collectively across the United States."
Film and TV production has indeed been fleeing Los Angeles for years
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Oct 17, 2026
What to know about the Iran war today:The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) monitoring agency said at least ten vessels have been attacked in or near the Strait of Hormuz since last Sunday, a weekly high since war broke out in February, and 23 attacks were recorded since the start of the month, almost double the average.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denied Friday that Tehran sought nuclear weapons, expressed readiness for dialogue and condemned U.S. sanctions during talks with Georgia's prime minister.The Strait of Hormuz will reopen if the U.S. leaves the Middle East, a spokesman for Iran's army said Friday. "If it does not leave, we will expel it," Mohammad Akraminia wrote on X.
Oil tanker reportedly hits mine in Strait of Hormuz
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps on Saturday said an oil tanker was on fire in the Strait of Hormuz after hitting a mine in the waterway at the heart of the Middle East war.
"A supertanker in violation of regulations, carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil and attempting to pass illegally through the Strait of Hormuz, struck a mine, triggering an explosion and a fierce fire," the Iranian military said.
The statement did not specify the exact location of the incident.
"The tanker attempted to cross the strait with U.S. support... by deactivating all its tracking systems," the Guards added, also posting a video of a vessel in flames during the night.
Ship attacked by RPG fired from small boat, British maritime agency said
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) monitoring agency reported on Saturday a second attack on a ship off the coast of Saudi Arabia,
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Oct 17, 2026
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged supporters Saturday to speak out in defense of new U.S. sanctions against Russia, hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing a sweeping package of restrictions targeting the Russian economy.
The White House decision has further raised fears that Ukraine could be left exposed to Moscow's escalating assaults with winter approaching.
Russian attacks overnight killed at least four people, including an ambulance driver, and wounded dozens, officials said. Ukrainian drones killed a woman in a Russian border region and disrupted flights at Moscow's airports, according to Russian authorities.
In a statement on social media, Zelenskyy described Trump's move to put sanctions on hold as unfortunate, but did not directly criticize the U.S. leader despite deepening tensions between Ukraine and Washington in recent days.
"A decision was unfortunately made in America to completely disregard the Lindsey Graham Act, which was supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end," Zelenskyy wrote.
Later, in audio clips answering journalists' questions, Zelenskyy thanked Democrats and Republicans who backed the legislation and praised its bipartisan support. He said blocking it would encourage Russia to continue kill
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Oct 17, 2026
The disruptions this week in U.S. support for Ukraine have forced Kyiv to face a grim question: Can it stay in the fight against Russia without any of President Trump's already diminished support?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has escalated a diplomatic assault, earlier this week accusing the Trump administration of throttling its access to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite services and failing to offer standard intelligence on incoming Russian strikes. So far, U.S. weapons seem to still be flowing to Europe despite Trump's turns in the war.
Uncertainty continues to swirl around who chose to limit SpaceX's Starshield function, which has since been restored, but Reuters reported Thursday that the order to limit the satellite system came from inside the White House. Leaders at the Defense Department reportedly were told that the service needed to be slowed.
Then on Friday, Trump said that neither he nor Musk caused the Starlink outage, telling reporters: "I didn't do that. No, we didn't do that at all."
The episode highlights a growing rift between the U.S. and Ukraine, a dispute that puts Kyiv in danger and all but makes sure its war with Russia will stretch on for the foreseeable future, according to Branislav Slantchev, a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego.
"This hurts Ukraine in more ways than just limiting its ability to operate on the frontlines," Slantchev said.
He placed the blame squarely on the Pentagon for disrupting Ukraine's
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Oct 17, 2026
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV is being released from the hospital on Saturday, four days after lung cancer surgery, and will deliver the traditional noon blessing Sunday from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square, the Vatican announced.
The 71-year-old Leo had the lower lobe of his right lung removed after doctors identified a suspected cancerous nodule. The surgery confirmed he had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.
His personal physician and surgeon said in a separate statement that Leo was "deemed fit for discharge from the hospital" based on blood test results and a chest X-ray performed Saturday morning, along with an assessment of his clinical condition.
He is set to leave the hospital in the early afternoon and return to the Vatican, the Vatican said in a brief statement.
With notable transparency, Leo announced last Sunday to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square that doctors had identified a nodule on his lung, and that it would be removed.
Since the surgery on Tuesday that confirmed the cancer diagnosis, Leo has given strong indications that he was recovering well, including by holding a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting with top aides and celebrating Mass in a makeshift hospital chapel.
Medical bulletins from his personal physician and surgeon likewise indicated a good post-operative recovery that had allowed him to carry on "normal daily activities completely on his own."
The Vatican on Friday released the first images of Leo since his surgery, showing him standing up at an altar in a hospital chapel in green vestments, as doctors said that tests
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Oct 17, 2026
The White House task force that President Donald Trump charged with uncovering evidence of election fraud hasn't produced any. Instead, it has shifted to releasing records that his administration is using to help build a public case against officials who investigated him.
The president initially promoted the task force, led by pro-Trump journalist John Solomon, as part of a push to uncover election fraud.
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But more recently, the task force has been releasing law enforcement records from past investigations into Trump, including special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents after the end of his first term in early 2021.
Trump allies and some of his political appointees view those materials as useful evidence in the ongoing Florida-based grand conspiracy case - the Justice Department's most complex and ambitious effort to indict past administration officials who investigated Trump.
Even with the fanfare around the release of the files, legal experts and former law enforcement officials said the records show investigators following normal, court-authorized procedures.
Still, Trump and his most ardent allies, view the task force as a win. For years, they have complained that the intelligence community has worked to undermine Trump's presidency and concealed materials related to investigations involving him. The Solomon task force was intended to address these complaints, bypassing the usual bureaucracy by giving the conservative journalist a direct channel to Trump, who has the authority to decl
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Oct 17, 2026
As a rape investigation at Cornell University spiraled into a national firestorm, some people went online to seek the identity of the alleged victim.
Social media posts on X that attempted to reveal the name of the woman at the center of the case, identified in court filings only as Jane Doe, were viewed more than 87 million times over two weeks, according to data reviewed by The Washington Post.
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Facebook, Instagram and TikTok attempted to limit the spread of content purporting to identify Jane Doe. All three platforms blocked searches for an alleged name for Jane Doe, although they appeared to allow some posts containing that name to stay online.
Things were different on X, the platform owned by Elon Musk. The service allowed searches for the alleged name for Jane Doe and the company's chatbot, Grok, also posted it in replies to users at least 300 times, according to data compiled by researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Harm.
X posts claiming to name or identify Jane Doe received 87 million views in a two-week period after local prosecutors said on Sept. 28 that they would reopen the investigation, according to the researchers.
"A responsible organization would start thinking … does this break our rules? If not, something's wrong with our rules and we need to fix them," said Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the nonprofit, which was previously known as the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
"The problem is that we have
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Oct 17, 2026
ICE detainees are asking a federal judge to intervene at the agency's largest detention camp, citing sworn accounts alleging that guards beat people who resisted removal to Mexico and that masked personnel allegedly beat others and ordered them to cross the southern border.
The motion for a preliminary injunction, filed Thursday in federal court in El Paso, Texas, concerns Camp East Montana, a sprawling immigration detention facility at Fort Bliss. The request is backed by declarations from 43 people, including current or former detainees and relatives or friends of those who died, 29 medical records, four government oversight reports and two expert declarations. Plaintiffs argue the conditions amount to unconstitutional punishment under the Fifth Amendment.
One Cuban detainee claimed that guards slammed his head against a wall repeatedly and crushed his testicles after he refused removal to Mexico. Another detainee alleged they were taken toward the southern border, told to "jump over into Mexico," and that masked personnel beat some who refused.
A sign marks the entrance at the Camp East Montana immigrant detention center at a U.S. Army base, El Paso, Texas, February 13, 2026.The allegations have not been established by a court. The preliminary-injunction motion presents the plaintiffs' evidence and arg
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Oct 17, 2026
Community members grieve at the site of a makeshift memorial in front of Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on October 16. - Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images
On a sunny Oregon fall morning, parents dressed their children up and sent them to Silver Rail Elementary School for picture day. It's the kind of picture parents return to years later, marveling at how small their children once were and how their smiles looked before their faces changed.
But for some families, snapshots in their minds from that morning will carry a devastating, final memory of a child who never came home.
Just hours after Steven and Angela Nuchols sent their 8-year-old daughter to school, they raced back to Silver Rail, desperate to know whether she was alive, they told local news outlet, The Bend Source.
"It was crawling with police officers from all over the county," Angela Nuchols told The Bend Source. "You've got guys in tactical gear, rifles. You're just scared to death wondering, is your child OK?"
For the Nuchols family, the next few hours before they were reunited with their daughter at a church were "the worst three hours of our lives," Angela said.
American schools have repeatedly seen the illusion of safety shattered within the walls of their classrooms. An elementary school in Bend, Oregon, was the
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Oct 16, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that puts on hold a sweeping new sanctions package targeting the Russian economy, telling Congress the pause was in the national interest.
Trump personally signed the legislation just last month and his move came just two days before a deadline set in the law itself for its implementation. Named after late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, it had sought to clamp down more quickly on the flow of financial resources fueling the war against Ukraine.
Trump's unexpected decision comes a week after he stunningly said the U.S. had agreed to purchase diesel from Russia to try to bring down global energy prices, despite that potentially hurting Ukraine in its war with Russia.
An AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll published Oct. 1 found that Americans disapprove of the president's handling of the Iran war and blame him for higher prices. Trump's approval ratings have sunk to near-historic lows and pressure is mounting as Republicans try to hold control of both chambers of Congress after midterm elections on Nov. 3.
Sanctions were seen as part of Graham's legacy
Graham, a close ally and friend of the president, had
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Oct 16, 2026
Several lawmakers said Friday their offices across the country had received suspicious mailings following reports earlier this week of letters containing unknown substances at U.S. election offices.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and over 15 House lawmakers said their district or state offices received these packages.
Klobuchar said in a Friday social media statement that officials intercepted the letter before it reached her Minnesota office.
"Thanks to the postal workers and investigators who identified and intercepted it, no one in our office was in immediate danger," the Democratic senator wrote. "We're grateful to everyone involved for their quick response and we will continue working closely with law enforcement as the investigation continues."
Rounds shared an image of a letter sent to his Sioux Falls, S.D., office, and said the regional team contacted local authorities, who investigated and evacuated the office.
"This situation is deeply concerning and follows a trend of intimidating tactics that impact our team members," he wrote on
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Oct 16, 2026
The Trump administration plans to reduce state and local dependency on federal disaster aid and could move Federal Emergency Management Agency workers out of Washington, D.C., according to an internal FEMA memo obtained by POLITICO.
FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton wrote in an Oct. 15 memo — confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of it — that the agency will "strengthen state and local emergency management capacity" in an effort to lower reliance on the federal government.
"Reducing federal dependency requires partners to build, maintain, and exercise the capabilities needed to manage incidents effectively," the seven-page memo to agency employees says.
In a separate section, the memo says, "FEMA must reduce unnecessary centralization in Washington, D.C.," and that "regional and field teams are often closest to disaster survivors, state and local officials, emergency managers, and community partners."
The memo is the clearest indication that the administration will follow through on President Donald Trump's long-stated desire to shift disaster management to states and reduce the federal role in preparation and recovery.
It's also the first indication of Hamilton's priorities since he became the first permanent FEMA administrator in Trump's second term in August. A series of acting leaders had run FEMA since January 2025, and their temporary status precluded the agency from making structural changes.
Although Trump has called for weakening FEMA since his first week in office, no new policies emerged, creating uncertainty about the future of federal disaster aid.
Trump has indirectly discouraged reliance on federal disaster aid by taking far longer than his predecessors — including Trump in his fi
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Oct 16, 2026
A teacher and one of the three children who were killed in Thursday's mass shooting at a Bend, Ore., elementary school were identified on Friday during a press conference in which authorities provided additional details about the incident. The 16-year-old suspect, who was killed by a community member within minutes of opening fire at the school, was also identified.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said Friday that Rhoam Summer, a 5-year-old student, and Meghan Lambert, a 25-year-old teacher, were among the four victims in a special education classroom at Silver Rail Elementary School.
In a statement, Lambert's family described her as a native central Oregonian who grew up in Bend and had a passion for playing sports, especially volleyball.
"Her goal was to be an educator and teach in the school district she loved growing up in," the statement continued. "Silver Rail was her first job as a teacher. … She loved Silver Rail. This was her dream job. Meghan was compassionate and had a huge heart. She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs. She was an incredible sister, daughter, niece and granddaughter. … She was funny and opinionated and she lit up the room."
Community members grieve at the
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Oct 16, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is escalating its fight with California ahead of next month's midterm election, warning that local officials who process and tabulate ballots submitted by suspected noncitizen voters are putting themselves at risk of criminal investigation and potential prosecution.
The letter Friday from a senior Justice Department official and obtained first by The Associated Press is the latest salvo in an ongoing tussle with heavily Democratic California, coming just a day after the Trump administration sued the state to prevent it from counting mail ballots from people the federal government has identified as "likely" noncitizens until their immigration status can be confirmed.
"The legal consequences for either facilitating or ignoring a federal crime are significant. Noncitizen voting in a federal election is a federal crime — and knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful," warns the letter from Trent McCotter, the acting deputy attorney general at the Justice Department.
It adds: "If persons knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens, they risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime."
The letter is addressed to the Los Angeles County Counsel's office and also is copied to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan, effectively putting the entire state on notice.
In response to the letter, Logan said his office is focused on conducting a fair and secure election while noting that Election Day is a mere 18 days away.
"The U.S. Department of Jus
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Oct 16, 2026
By Herbert Villarraga and Deborah Bloom
BEND, Oregon, Oct 16 (Reuters) - A teacher in the Oregon classroom where a shooter killed three children and an adult threw her cellphone at the shooter, tackled him and fought him in an act that saved lives, police said on Friday.
A day ?into their investigation of the latest U.S. school shooting, authorities released new details of the scene inside a special needs classroom of Silver Rail ?Elementary School where three school children aged 5, 8 and 11 and a teacher were killed by a 16-year-old former student.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz did not identify the teacher who fought the assailant, ?but told a press conference she threw her cell phone at the suspect, tackled him and fought to take his shotgun from him.
"She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed," Krantz said.
As the two wrestled, a parent entered the classroom and opened fire on the gunman, killing him.
Officials said the parent had followed the shooter into the school, upon witnessing him firing a shotgun from just outside campus. By the time police arrived within three minutes of receiving their first call, the shooter ?was dead, police said.
In the meantime the 16-year-old assailant, who ?had shot through locked glass doors to enter campus, had killed four people and wounded two others.
Krantz, speaking to the heroism shown by the teacher who threw herself onto the suspect and the parent who shot him, said, "I don't think we can underestimate ?or under-appreciate that courage. When someone is willing to risk their own life for others, we recognize that."
He said that the bystander's actions "undoubtedly saved
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Oct 16, 2026
President Trump signaled on Friday that he might replace embattled new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia after less than one week on the job.
Around the same time, multiple outlets reported that Zacharia had already been let go. Citing "three people familiar with the matter," the New York Times reported on Friday afternoon that Trump had "fired" Zacharia. A senior White House official told Fox News that Zacharia is "transitioning out" of her role, and CBS News, Politico and the Washington Post published similar reports.
If confirmed, that would make Zacharia the shortest-tenured White House press secretary in U.S. history.
"We're talking about doing something," Trump told reporters outside the White House, adding that he told Zacharia to "reconsider" whether she "need[s] this."
"I told her, 'I think you're better off being happy and I don't think you could ever be happy in this job,'" Trump said.
Asked if he was planning to "fire" Zacharia, the president said no. But, he added, "I want her to have a good life. I don't want [her] to have a life like she's led in the last three days. She is being brutalized by the media."
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Oct 16, 2026
A wildfire in Orange County exploded in size Friday, forcing evacuation orders as it torched homes and threatened dozens more, growing to over 460 acres in just three hours.
The Norte Fire broke out around 11:30 a.m. in the San Clemente area and quickly grew to at least 50 acres by around noon, according to the Orange County Fire Authority and CAL FIRE.
The Norte Fire broke out around 11:30 a.m. in the San Clemente area and quickly grew to at least 50 acres by around noon, according to the Orange County Fire Authority and CAL FIRE.
By 1:12 p.m., the fire blew up to 250 acres and had 0% containment. The OCFA confirmed on X the blaze had "impacted" four homes off Via La Mira in San Juan Capistrano.
As of 2:41 p.m., the fire has burned 465 acres according to CAL Fire.
"The fire is at 50 acres at this time. Structures are threatened. Crews are aggressively attacking the fire from the ground and air. Please continue to avoid the area," CAL FIRE wrote in a 12:30 p.m. update. KTLA
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Oct 16, 2026
ToplineA federal magistrate judge threatened Friday to levy sanctions against President Donald Trump for failing to "participate" in his own defamation lawsuit against the BBC, after the broadcaster informed the court that Trump had backed out of a planned deposition in the case and suggested he couldn't be interviewed until next year.
President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn as he departs the White House on October 12 in Washington, DC.
Getty ImagesKey FactsMagistrate Judge Enjolique A. Lett issued an order Friday directing Trump to file a response to the BBC regarding his deposition by Oct. 22, noting the court had already "admonished" the president for his "lack of participation" in the case "to no avail."
Failing to "strict[ly]" comply with the court's schedule for discovery in the case, Lett wrote Friday, "will lead to sanctions."
Trump has sued the BBC for $10 billion, claiming the broadcaster allegedly defamed him by "deceptively" editing a video of the president's speech on Jan. 6, 2021 for a 2024 documentary, in order to falsely suggest Trump was trying to incite violence on Jan. 6 and bias viewers against him in the 2024 election.
As part of discovery in the lawsuit—where both sides gather evidence to support their case—the BBC is trying to get a deposition from Trump, which it said in a
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Oct 16, 2026
The US federal budget deficit for 2026 officially came in Friday at $1.992 trillion, a final tabulation to close out the government's fiscal year and another reminder of Washington's spiraling reliance on red ink.
This deficit number represents about 6% of the US gross domestic product and was a result of $5.403 trillion in total revenues for the fiscal year against total spending of $7.396 trillion.
The 2026 reading is a 12% jump from 2025's $1.775 trillion deficit.
These final numbers came in the Treasury Department's Monthly Statement for September, which covers the final month in the US government's fiscal calendar.
The red ink has led to dire warnings from economists that the US now routinely runs annual deficits that were previously seen only during recessions and wars. The gross US national debt passed $40 trillion in August and now sits above $40.3 trillion.
The latest "Debt to the Penny" reading from the Treasury Department came this past Wednesday, putting the gross US national debt at $40,329,229,827,541.02.
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Oct 16, 2026
The Immigrations Customs and Enforcement officer who allegedly struck a man with a vehicle during a pursuit outside Houston last weekend has been placed on administrative leave, the agency said.
The move is standard for all use-of-force incidents, according to an ICE spokesperson.
"This incident is under active internal investigation," the spokesperson said in a statement Friday.
On Saturday, Miguel Parra-Hernandez was hit by a car operated by an ICE agent during an arrest as the unidentified officer attempted to arrest him and another suspect, the agency said. Parra-Hernandez, who ICE alleged is undocumented, is currently in the hospital recovering from injuries to his legs, according to the Harris County District Attorney's office.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said Parra-Hernandez broke his leg in three places and has undergone two surgeries.
KTRK - PHOTO: Law enforcement officials are at the scene after a man was struck by a vehicle driven by an ICE agent during chase, according to the Harris Courty Sheriff's Office, on Oct. 10, 2026, in Harris County, Texas.Parra-Hernandez has not been charged by any law enforcement agency as of Thursday, according to the DA's office.
ICE agent strikes man with car during pursuit in Texas, authorities sayICE said in a statement that that one of its officers was pursuing Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, a Mexican national who they allege had a criminal record and a final order of removal by a judge, and observed him get i
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Oct 16, 2026
A teenager shot his way through locked doors at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., on Thursday, killing three children and a teacher, police say.
The children were 5, 8 and 11 years old, Bend Police Department Chief Mike Krantz said during a press conference on Thursday evening.
The suspect, identified as a 16-year-old Bend resident, was shot and killed inside the school by a member of the community who saw him enter the building and pursued him, Krantz said.
A 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were also sent to a hospital with critical injuries.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek praised the bystander for "heroically" intervening and stopping further loss of life.
"Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well," Kotek said.
Police did not release the names of the victims or the shooter.
Krantz did not say what kind of gun the suspect used, although a law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told the Associated Press that it was a pump-action shotgun. Multiple outlets have reported that the shotgun was originally purchased by the shooter's mother, citing law enforcement sources.
It was not immediately clear if the shooter knew anyone at the school or whether he had attended. Police haven't released any information about the shooter's potential motive.
"This is going to be a long investigation," Krantz said. "We will have a large police presence at Silver Rail Elementary School for the next several days as our officer
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Oct 16, 2026
As travelers look to escape the cold for warm weather over the holiday season, an unusually strong El Niño could lead to unseasonal weather in several popular vacation destinations.
The climate pattern, which occurs when waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become unusually warm, can shift weather patterns across the country, potentially affecting popular winter getaways from Florida to the Caribbean.
"El Niños are associated with more storminess across the southern tier of the country, and potentially more ice storms across the southern plains," Matthew Rosencrans, a meteorologist at NOAA's Weather Prediction Center, told Yahoo.
Those conditions can significantly disrupt travel, the meteorologist said, but the effects will be far from uniform. El Niño winters are also often warmer, Rosencrans explained, which can sometimes benefit travel across the northern tier of the contiguous U.S. Meanwhile, parts of the Caribbean may see drier weather, creating very different conditions for travelers depending on their destination.
Where winter travelers could feel the effectsTravelers heading to Florida this winter for a holiday getaway could face wetter-than-usual conditions, with El Niño increasing the likelihood of rainfall and severe weather across parts of the Southeast.
"For Florida, it often means a fairly robust secondary severe weather season in November and into December across the Southeast and Florida," Rosencrans told
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Oct 16, 2026
NEW YORK — One of the most vulnerable Republicans in the House is running on immigration — and taking on both parties over it.
Rep. Mike Lawler is hammering Democrats over "sanctuary" policies while criticizing the Trump administration's aggressive — and at times lethal — immigration enforcement tactics.
"Renee Good and Alex Pretti should not be dead. But neither should Sheridan Gorman, and neither should Laken Riley, and neither should the thousands of people who have been murdered by people who are in our country illegally and committing crimes," Lawler said at a candidate forum earlier this month. "So yes, ICE needs reforms, but you know what? Sanctuary jurisdictions should not exist. Criminals should be deported."
Lawler is betting his self-described "common sense" approach can win him a third term in a suburban Hudson Valley district Kamala Harris carried in 2024. His race against Democrat Cait Conley, an Army veteran and first-time candidate, could help determine control of the House.
Immigration has helped Republicans win elections, but broad dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump's policies has made it a less certain advantage this year. Lawler is pressing it anyway.
He's run paid media on the topic and held multiple events decrying Democrats' immigration policies. In a recent interview with a panel of local reporters, he even brought it up himself: "We did
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Oct 16, 2026
The Vatican released new photos of Pope Leo XIV — the first since his lung cancer surgery — showing him celebrating Mass at the hospital in Rome.
The photos, released Friday, show the American-born pope standing at an altar in green vestments, celebrating Mass at a small chapel in Gemelli Hospital.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement that the pontiff presided alone over the liturgy, distributed Communion to medical personnel and Vatican gendarmes present and delivered a homily.
In his homily, Leo thanked the medical personnel for their service and their closeness to those who are fragile, and for the way they have taken care of him.
The 71-year-old pope had a portion of his right lung removed and received a diagnosis of lung cancer earlier this week. He is expected to remain at Gemelli Hospital until Oct. 20.
On Thursday, he resumed "a little bit of work activity," including reading documents, and co-celebrated Mass, Vatican officials said. He also met with Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, undersecretary of state.
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Oct 16, 2026
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh warned of a potential "shock" to the U.S. economy delivered by a rise in artificial intelligence spending, pledging to contain price increases as a flood of private sector funds drives up demand.
"If you're a central banker, you're in the business of trying to ensure stable prices and full employment, you've got to recognize this as a shock," Warsh said in Bangkok, Thailand, at a conference organized by the International Monetary Fund.
A surge in AI spending has helped boost the U.S. economy in recent quarters. In theory, an onrush of investment in activities like chip manufacturing and data center construction could put upward pressure in general on consumer prices, unless the demand is offset by a new supply of goods and services.
Which grocery prices are rising the fastest and which are falling?"It's obviously hitting the demand side of the economy before it's hitting the supply side of the economy," Warsh said.
Warsh, who took the helm of the Fed in May, has previously weighed in on the potential impact of AI on the labor market and wider economy.
On Friday, Warsh reiterated his optimism about AI, saying the technology would ultimately generate added productivity and wealth.
But, Warsh added, "the path from where we are to there is likely to be a very bumpy one."
"We really don't know what the market structure will be of these new technologies," Warsh said. "Who's
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Oct 16, 2026
Immigrant advocacy groups representing migrant children have sued the Trump administration to stop what they call a "cruel and unlawful scheme" to fast-track migrant children's asylum cases.
In a complaint filed Thursday night, the groups allege that new government policies have transformed the asylum process for migrant children into a "deportation assembly line depriving them of their rights."
The lawsuit comes as immigration attorneys and advocates say unaccompanied migrant children are being rushed through the immigration system and that their deportations have been accelerated as part of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown.
Trump administration offering migrant children $3,000 to self-deport"A system that moves faster and that is by design made so that children are unable to access lawyers and are railroaded into deportation orders is not justice. It's assembly line deportation of the most vulnerable among us," said Lindsay Toczylowski, co-founder of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, during a press call.
The groups said unaccompanied children are facing rushed hearings, difficulty finding lawyers, and accelerated removal orders, including in cases involving alleged human trafficking and threats of violence.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
In the suit, the groups said that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has changed practices through a series of recent policy shifts that in
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Oct 16, 2026
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean "Diddy" Combs has been moved to a federal prison in Pennsylvania after reports that the hip-hop mogul was living the high life and was injured in a fight at his New Jersey lockup, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday.
The federal Bureau of Prisons is transferring Combs, 56, from FCI Fort Dix to FCI Allenwood Low, a low-security facility south of Williamsport and about 155 miles (250 kilometers) west of New York City, the person said. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
The Bureau of Prisons confirmed the move but provided no further details. The agency said it does not discuss conditions of confinement for anyone in its custody, including reasons for transfer, for privacy, safety, and security reasons.
"Decisions about inmate placement are made by the BOP, and we are not in a position to speak to the circumstances surrounding this transfer," said Combs' spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer. "Sean remains focused on moving forward, and we hope that his time at the new facility will be productive and without unnecessary disruption."
Combs is serving a four-year, two-month sentence for his conviction last year on prostitution-related charges for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters. The case featured harrowing testimony about violence and sex parties he called "freak-offs." It was a forceful reckoning for one of music and entertainment's most influential figures.
Last month, NBC News reported that Combs was continuing to enjoy aspects of his millionaire lifestyle at FCI Fort Dix, smuggling in Hennessy, having fel
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Oct 16, 2026
Watch: Israeli settlers attack Palestinians in West Bank during olive harvest
Dozens of masked settlers have attacked Palestinians and set fire to cars and olive trees during the annual olive harvest in the occupied West Bank.
A BBC team witnessed one of several attacks in farmland near the Palestinian village of Abu Falah. A local official said the attacks had injured 12 Palestinians, including four dual Palestinian American citizens. A foreign journalist was also among those hurt.
Driving into the area early in the morning, we came across the first signs of the violence: a stream of cars carrying wounded Palestinian olive farmers racing out along the narrow stony track, piled high with olive picking equipment, as smoke rose from several fires nearby.
The bloodied face of Majdi Fheed peered out from the backseat of one car.
"We were getting our olive trees and almost 15 Jewish guys … started attacking us with guns, with rocks, with special weapons. They hit me on my head [and] my neck - look, I am bleeding!"
Yaser AlKam, a council member from the neighbouring village of Turmus Aya told me Majdi - an American citizen - was attacked by settlers with nail-studded sticks, and needed treatment for deep wounds on his head. His elderly mother was also injured.
Another man ferrying the injured to hospital told us that settlers had attacked them with sticks while they harvested their olives, and had burned three cars - including one of his own.
"As soon as we got to the land and put our things on the ground, they started to come, so we ran away" said a woman next to him.
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Oct 16, 2026
ATLANTA (AP) — Six Flags Over Georgia is set to open its gates Friday for the first time since a man fell to his death from one of the amusement park's towering roller coasters.
Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, a 42-year-old school employee from Atlanta, was thrown from the Goliath coaster on Monday, and authorities are investigating what happened. The park was already scheduled to be closed Tuesday through Thursday and is reopening as scheduled Friday evening, though Goliath is not expected to be running.
Witnesses described seeing Kariem ejected from the coaster, and some people who rode the Goliath before him that day said they had concerns about its restraints. At least 11 roller coasters in the U.S. and Canada were temporarily closed after his death, nine of which were manufactured by the company that built Goliath and with similar restraints.
Online photos and videos of most of the closed coasters show each equipped with clamshell restraints, which are mounted in front of each seat on a vertical bar that sits between the rider's knees. The bar locks the padded restraint into place over the rider's lap and upper legs.
It's unclear from the images whether any of those coasters also have seat belts or other secondary restraints. Goliath in Georgia has no such backup restraints.
Bollinger & Mabillard, the company that manufactured Goliath, said in an email it would have no further comment until it had a "better understanding of what transpired" on Monday.
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Oct 16, 2026
WCSH
Candidates faced off in heated debates Thursday night in two of the country's most competitive Senate races, showing how bitter — and personal — each contest has become.
In Maine, Democratic nominee Troy Jackson told GOP Sen. Susan Collins to "shut up" after she suggested a protester was one of his supporters. And in Alaska, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan questioned Democratic opponent Mary Peltola's "character" while citing allegations she mistreated staff.
"I think that Alaskans have had it up to here with the lying and dishonesty," Peltola said during another exchange. "Dan, you should be ashamed of yourself."
The races are unfolding thousands of miles apart but both critical to the Senate majority. Collins, a moderate Republican, is seeking reelection in a blue state, while Sullivan is running for another term in more GOP-leaning Alaska where Peltola, a former congresswoman, is well-known.
Both debates showed how much of a political liability President Donald Trump's war in Iran has become for Republican incumbents. Sullivan said it "needs to end soon," while Collins continued to insist Trump should have consulted Congress on the conflict.
Here's a look at key moments from the debates.
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Oct 16, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — Investments in pharmaceutical companies made on behalf of President Donald Trump increased significantly after he returned to the White House last year, with his portfolio adding millions of dollars in stock in firms that benefited from a Republican-backed law that shields certain medications from Medicare price negotiations, according to a report from congressional Democrats.
The report, released Friday by the Joint Economic Committee's minority arm, found that Trump's pharmaceutical stock holdings grew from a maximum reported value of $1.7 million in 2024 to as much as $56.2 million at the end of 2025. The report said that included up to $39.1 million worth of stock held in companies that benefited from exemptions to Medicare's drug price negotiation program, which came through a provision in Republicans' 2025 tax and spending law.
Additional analysis of Trump's financial disclosures provided by committee Democrats showed that his investment portfolio bought as much as $2.55 million in shares of pharmaceutical companies benefiting from the exemptions on three dates before he signed the legislation in July 2025. That included up to $950,000 in purchases on July 1, 2025, the day the Senate passed the bill. His portfolio also bought as much as $1 million in AbbVie stock in August 2025, after the bill became law.
The Republican president's wealth has grown since he took office last
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Oct 16, 2026
Yields are above multidecade highs, both gas and diesel prices continue to climb, and critical midterm elections are around the corner.
Adding to pressure on the US economy and the current administration, the world's two largest hot wars are heating up.
'Iran knows when the midterms are too'In the Middle East, dual fronts along the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea have seen a resurgence of conflict in recent weeks that has heavily disrupted oil flows in the region.
(Yasin Demirci/Anadolu via Getty Images)Anadolu via Getty ImagesMultiple tankers and conta
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Oct 16, 2026
The remains of a man who was shot in the head and stuffed into a rusted barrel found on the shore of Lake Mead after the water level dropped were identified Thursday as an Arkansas man whose decades-old killing remains unsolved.
Edward Lelburian Jackson was in his mid- to late 50s when he died, Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse said. Authorities are looking for people to come forward to help solve Jackson's killing.
There was no evidence directly linking the killing to organized crime in nearby Las Vegas despite longstanding speculation, although a connection hasn't been ruled out, police said. An expert on mob activity in the city said the case bears the "earmarks" of a mob hit and that questions still linger.
The discovery sparked memories of Las Vegas' mob eraJackson was identified with the help of a bone sample sent for genealogy profiling, along with three angles of a composite face and clothing Jackson was wearing when he died, Rouse said.
"We were able to confirm that the remains were in fact Edward Jackson," she said.
The discovery of the barrel by boaters in May 2022 sparked memories of the city's mob era, which lasted from the 1940s to the mid-1980s. Organized crime
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Oct 16, 2026
Oct 16 (Reuters) - Hurricane Trudy rapidly intensified into a major hurricane on Friday morning, carrying ?maximum sustained winds near 120 mph (195 kph) and ?higher gusts, as it moves closer to Mexico's Pacific coast.
Additional ?strengthening is still forecast before Trudy is expected to approach the Mexican coast on Saturday as a life-threatening major hurricane, the US-based National Hurricane Center said.
"Trudy has ?the potential to ?even reach Category 4 or 5 intensity," said Alex DaSilva, a hurricane meteorologist ?at private forecaster AccuWeather.
Mexico's civil protection agency asked residents to start preparations for the storm's arrival by securing ?doors and ?windows, and removing objects ?that could be thrown ?around by the strong winds.
The hurricane will strike Mexico's Pacific coast, a region that has already been battered in recent weeks by storms that left several dead and caused severe flooding.
Located about 250 miles (400 ?km) south-southwest of resort city ?Acapulco, the storm is expected ?to produce up ?to 12 inches (30 cm) of rain in ?the states of Michoacan, Colima and ?Jalisco, increasing ?the risk of life-threatening flooding and landslides, according to the NHC.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Simon continues to ?weaken farther northwest ?offshore, after dropping heavy rain along the ?coast earlier as a hurricane.
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; ?Editing by Toby Chopra)
This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://www.yahoo.com/news/weather-news/articles/major-hurricane-trudy-keeps-strengthening-103029621.html
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Oct 16, 2026
Plumes of smoke rise from an oil refinery after a Ukrainian drone strike in Moscow on 20 September.Photograph: Reuters
Donald Trump has called Ukraine's renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries "a disgrace", while renewing his criticism of Volodymyr ?Zelenskyy after an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine collapsed.
Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries ?after Zelenskyy said that Kyiv was abandoning a ceasefire abruptly declared by Trump last week, one that neither Russia nor Ukraine said they had agreed to.
Related: Russia and Ukraine trade strikes as Trump ‘energy ceasefire' collapses
In an interview with the Newsmax news outlet aired on Thursday, the US president said: "All he's doing is making the world oil price higher. Well, I think that's a disgrace.
"There are a lot ?of targets you can ?hit, but when you shoot at diesel refineries where you make, you know, ?diesel oil, and we need that, and the world needs that, then he's not doing a good service for the world."
Relations between Kyiv and Washington have soured since last week, when Trump eased sanctions on Russia in exchange for Moscow releasing large amounts of diesel on to global markets.
Zelenskyy criticised the agreement, which was widely interpreted as an attempt to curb high fuel prices before the US midterm election, saying it would allow Russia to press on with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began more than four and a half years ago. US efforts under Trump to end the war have made no progress.
Trump repeated to Newsmax his views of the two leaders involved in the conflict. "I'
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Oct 16, 2026
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An illustration of a white dwarf star glowing green. A new study finds that some dying stars would appear colorful to human eyes (if we could get close enough to see them). | Credit: Mark A Garlick/University of Warwick
Stellar cores called white dwarfs come in an astonishing array of colors, including what scientists say is the first known green star and the reddest star ever found, new research reveals.
A white dwarf star is the dense, cooling core that remains after a low- to medium-mass star runs out of fuel. The new study, published Thursday (Oct. 15) in the journal RAS Techniques and Instruments, shows that white dwarfs come in far more colors than their name suggests.
White dwarf stars got their moniker because the first known examples glowed in either white or pale blue. The new study, however, suggests that "white" dwarfs also emit visible-light colors like pink, green, cyan, purple and yellow.
"Most stars, including most white dwarfs, behave like 'perfect radiators,' so their colour is set almost entirely by temperature. But nobody had really looked into what else might be possible for white dwarfs," Mark Hollands, an astronomer at the University of Warwick in the U.K. and first author of the study, said in a statement. "It turns ou
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Oct 16, 2026
Former Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger (left) was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the 2018 shooting death of Botham Jean. (Archive Photos)
Guyger, 38, shot 26-year-old Jean inside his apartment in September 2018. He had been sitting on his couch eating ice cream when Guyger, who was off-duty but still in uniform, opened the door. She said she mistook Jean's apartment for her own and believed he was a burglar. He lived on the fourth floor; she lived on the third.
She was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was granted parole earlier this month. Guyger was released after 10 a.m. from the Christina Melton Crain Unit in Gatesville. CBS reported live from the unit, but news cameras didn't capture her release.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials said Guyger was released into community supervision.
Guyger was required to travel directly to her new residence and check in immediately with her parole officer, according to Texas parole requirements.
She was allowed to take home personal items accumulated while in prison and will either wear state-issued civilian clothes or clothes brought to her by visitors or the people picking her up. Guyger walked out with her parole papers, a temporary ID and a
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Oct 16, 2026
White House aides, who have kept clashes muted during President Donald Trump's second term, have begun jostling more openly for power as they brace for widespread midterm election losses and internal upheaval, according to interviews with 20 staffers, advisers and people close to the president.
The interviews, most of which were conducted on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel machinations, paint a picture of infighting that has started to resemble the pitched battles of Trump's first term.
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Believing that Chief of Staff Susie Wiles might step down after the election, a handful of Trump aides, including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, top housing official Bill Pulte and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, have begun angling for the position should it become available.
Wiles has given no indication to aides or allies that she plans to leave. Still, high-level White House staffers frequently cycle out of their stressful jobs after 18 months to two years, and Trump had four chiefs of staff, including an acting one, during his first term.
The past week in the White House has been "the new Wild Wild West," one Trump ally said.
The jockeying started in earnest last week after Trump first reached out to Katie Zacharia about joining the administration as the new White House press secretary, a move he made without consulting Wiles, according to four people familiar with the decision. The unilateral action by the president was viewed internally as underm
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Oct 16, 2026
New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia appears to have reservations about China's toilets (Jim WATSON)Beijing told the White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia on Friday to visit China "more often", after she said the country lacked "proper toilets" less than a week into her new post.
After years of intense rivalry between the United States and China over globally challenging issues from trade and technology to Taiwan and human rights, the US president's new spokesperson took the two sides' relationship to uncharted territory.
Zacharia -- who previously lived in China and is due to visit next month -- recalled in an interview the perception in 2016 that China would soon overtake the United States.
"I remember this very distinctly, having just come from China, thinking, 'How is China the next country on the horizon? They don't even have proper toilets," she told right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec.
In response, China's foreign ministry on Friday suggested she may want to make another trip to the country.
"We welcome her to visit China more often when she has the opportunity," spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters, fighting back a smile.
Trump has often spoken about his "great relationship" with China's President Xi Jinping, who he has met twice this year, though ties remain strained.
Zacharia's remarks come just days after what many considered a somewhat questionable debut in front of the White House press corp in which she appeared to be unable to answer basic questions and at one point referred to her husband as the president.
The 41-year-old is already under scrutiny over her legal credentials, after giving an inconclusive answer about where she had passed the bar exam, a prerequisite for practising law in the United States.
The
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Oct 16, 2026
Three children and a teacher were killed after a 16-year-old forced his way through locked doors at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., on Thursday.
The children were 5, 8 and 11 years old, Bend Police Department Chief Mike Krantz said during a press conference Thursday evening.
The suspect was shot and killed by a member of the community who saw the suspect enter the school and pursued him, Krantz said. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek praised the bystander for "heroically" intervening and stopping further loss of life.
"Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well," Gov. Kotek said.
A 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were also sent to a hospital with critical injuries.
Krantz did not say what kind of gun the suspect used, although a law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told The Associated Press it was a pump-action shotgun. Police did not release the names of the victims or the shooter.
What we know so farPeople stand near the scene of a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., on Oct. 15, 2026.via REUTERS / REUTE
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Oct 16, 2026
The Trump administration is being sued over its efforts to collect and analyze sensitive voter data from across the country.
The complaint, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, alleges the Department of Homeland Security has obtained voter files from at least 47 states and handled the data in a way that violates federal law.
DHS' secretive probe of the voter data, which includes a policy to combine it with commercial datasets, ignores federal safeguards and the privacy rights of millions of Americans, the lawsuit says.
The case was brought by the League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the League of United Latin American Citizens and is the latest legal challenge to President Donald Trump's efforts to combat noncitizen voting.
State Department Considers Sharing Passport Records For Voter Citizenship Checks
The Trump administration is being sued over its efforts to collect and analyze sensitive voter data from across the country.The president has purported repeatedly argued that noncitizen voting poses a serious threat to election integrity, although studies and prosecutions have found documented instances of noncitizens casting ballots to be rare.
Read On The Fox News App
The administration has repeatedly sought a greater federal role in voter eli
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Oct 16, 2026
The Trump administration is being sued over its efforts to collect and analyze sensitive voter data from across the country.
The complaint, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, alleges the Department of Homeland Security has obtained voter files from at least 47 states and handled the data in a way that violates federal law.
DHS' secretive probe of the voter data, which includes a policy to combine it with commercial datasets, ignores federal safeguards and the privacy rights of millions of Americans, the lawsuit says.
The case was brought by the League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the League of United Latin American Citizens and is the latest legal challenge to President Donald Trump's efforts to combat noncitizen voting.
State Department Considers Sharing Passport Records For Voter Citizenship Checks
The Trump administration is being sued over its efforts to collect and analyze sensitive voter data from across the country.The president has purported repeatedly argued that noncitizen voting poses a serious threat to election integrity, although studies and prosecutions have found documented instances of noncitizens casting ballots to be rare.
Read On The Fox News App
The administration has repeatedly sought a greater federal role in voter eli
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Oct 16, 2026
DENVER — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold didn't wait for a question when he met the media after Thursday night's loss. It's not like he didn't know what was coming.
"No way to sugarcoat it, that one sucked," said Darnold, who threw two late interceptions in a 17-14 defeat to the Denver Broncos, including a crucial one in overtime. "Can't turn the ball over, obviously that's at the forefront of my mind."
He was just as blunt with his teammates afterward. He took responsibility for the interceptions. He was asked afterward why he felt the need to address the team.
"I just think it's BS for me to keep turning the ball over," Darnold said. "It's not fair to our defense, it's not fair to our special teams group, not fair really to the entire team. I've got to be better that way."
Last season, Darnold redefined his career by helping Seattle win a Super Bowl. But he didn't kick his turnover habit, at least in the regular season. He had 14 interceptions and a
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Oct 16, 2026
Republican Senate candidates are hurting for cash.
Nearly every Democratic candidate in battleground Senate races outraised their GOP opponent from July through September. And in some cases, the disparities were stark.
In Texas, Democrat James Talarico trounced Republican Ken Paxton $60.2 million to $10.2 million in their main campaign accounts.
In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff raised $33.1 million to Rep. Mike Collins' nearly $2.8 million.
In North Carolina, Democrat Roy Cooper raised $12.2 million to Michael Whatley's $2.1 million.
In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed hauled in roughly $33 million to former Rep. Mike Rogers' nearly $10 million.
In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson raised $20.5 million to GOP Sen. Susan Collins' $5.2 million.
In Ohio, Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown hauled in $23.1 million to GOP Sen. Jon Husted's $4.8 million.
In Iowa, Josh Turek raised $13.9 million to Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson's nearly $3.3 million.
In Alaska, Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola raked in $17 million to GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan's nearly $2.7 million.
In New Hampshire, Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas brought in $8.1 million to Republican former Sen. John E. Sununu's $1.5 million.
And in Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton raised nearly $9.9 million to GOP Sen. Roger Marshall's just $866,000.
Across those 10 Senate races, the Democratic campaigns raised more than five times as much as the Republican ones. Put another way: Talarico alone raised more than all those Republicans combined.
Marshall and Whatley each started October with less than $1 million left in the bank. Mike Collins wasn't much better-positioned, entering the final weeks of the election with just over $1 million cash on hand.
These numbers do not include joint fundraising committees, which allow candidates to raise money and may have some more cash th
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Oct 16, 2026
ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump's midterm campaign blitz arrives in Georgia on Friday for a rally with top Republican candidates in a state that has long been the epicenter of the president's false claims about election fraud.
In Dalton, the population center of conservative northwest Georgia, Trump will appear with Senate candidate Mike Collins and gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson as part of the White House effort to boost Republican enthusiasm in an election that could reshape the final years of Trump's second presidency.
"President Trump is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party," said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle.
Yet unlike some of Trump's recent trips to solidly Republican states — Alabama, Montana, Tennessee — Georgia is a critical battleground. That means Jackson, a billionaire businessman, and Collins, a two-term congressman, need more than Trump stalwarts to defeat their respective Democratic opponents, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Sen. Jon Ossoff.
"I'm surprised Georgia Republicans want the president here," Ossoff said. "The president coming to town reminds Georgians that Donald Trump and Mike Collins" have pushed policies that have "driven the cost of groceries, fuel and healthcare to their all-time highs."
Collins spokesperson Meyer Siegfried said the congressman welcomes the president's attention. But he also stressed that Collins is a "bipartisan workhorse who will work with anybody," while adding that "Ossoff hates Trump more than he loves our state."
Bottoms also seemed thrilled with Trump's visit.
"When Donald Trump says he wants people to imagine that he is on the
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Oct 15, 2026
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends the Golden Age of American Innovation Summit at the Institute of Peace on October 08, 2026 in Washington, DC. - Win McNamee/Getty Images
Tech billionaire and Republican megadonor Elon Musk on Thursday settled the two remaining lawsuits stemming from his $1 million giveaways to voters during the 2024 election, according to court filings, bringing a two-year legal saga to an end.
During the final stretch of the 2024 presidential race, Musk's super PAC started a daily $1 million giveaway to registered voters in battleground states, while Musk was urging voters to support Donald Trump.
After the election, voters in a handful of battleground states filed proposed class-action civil fraud lawsuits against Musk and his political group, America PAC, which both deny wrongdoing. The voters claimed Musk duped them into believing that they'd have a fair shot at the money if they signed up for the sweepstakes — which included turning over their private data to his political organization.
Musk had publicly stated that the payouts would be given away "randomly" to registered voters. But his lawyers later conceded in court that winners were "
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Oct 15, 2026
Seven years ago, a political appointee in the first Trump administration approached U.S. immigration authorities with a request that alarmed career staffers: Scrub the immigration records of Rep. Ilhan Omar, then a newly elected Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota, for evidence of fraud.
That 2019 demand, detailed by three former immigration officials, struck staffers at the time as a highly unusual effort to wield federal power to dig up compromising material on a sitting member of Congress who was a prominent critic of President Donald Trump.
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The request sparked a swift review examining Omar's history, her family's past as Somali refugees resettled in the United States and rumors that had circulated for years in conservative media over her marriage.
Homeland Security Investigations - the investigative arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - ultimately determined there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing, one of the former officials said. The idea of pursuing a full investigation was eventually abandoned.
Now, though, with Trump back in the White House and his administration using federal power to take aim at perceived enemies, Omar has once again found herself in federal crosshairs. She is now facing an inquiry over some of the same allegations investigators previously deemed not worth pursuing.
The current effort - which burst into public view Monday as federal agents descended upon Omar's D.C. home - is focused on whether she or her father lied on
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Oct 15, 2026
Revealed! The Tesla Roadster Actually Takes FlightTeslaUPDATE 10/15/26, 9:30 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with photos and info from tonight's reveal event at SpaceX's testing facility in McGregor, Texas.
Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have finally revealed the long-awaited follow-up to the brand's first production car, the Roadster. It's been a long time coming—nine years, in fact—since we saw the ambitious concept for the second-generation electric sports car, but during tonight's event, which was attended by a select group of fans, media, and investors as well as livestreamed on Musk's social media platform, X, the new Tesla Roadster was unveiled in spectacular fashion, with a prototype driving upside down and actually taking flight.
Greg Fink - Car and DriverIt's now obvious why the event needed to be held outdoors, as its debut featured an arching Hot Wheels-like structure that a Roadster prototype was able to drive up thanks to a fan system underneath the car that Tesla claims provides 2 g's of suction, allowing it to stick to the road. After driving up the towering structure, the prototype's thrusters, which were supplied by SpaceX and said to produce over 80 kilonewtons of force, allowed it to fly fo
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Oct 15, 2026
A police officer at the scene of a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School.REUTERS / REUTERSFour people, including three children, were killed after a gunman opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., on Thursday, according to multiple outlets. The shooter was also killed, authorities said.
Police first received reports of an active shooter at 12:59 p.m. local time, when an unknown man had fired a gun into a car before entering the school, where he continued shooting, according to the Bend Police Department.
Officers arrived on the scene within three minutes of the initial report. Moments later, the shooter was reported dead after being shot by a community member who followed the suspect into the school, police said.
Bend Police Department Chief Mike
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Oct 15, 2026
DENVER — Sometimes, going back to the basics is better than anything modern.
The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos played Thursday night for a national audience. Those teams happen to have two of the best throwback uniforms in the entire NFL. And they wore them.
If you are of a certain age and having flashbacks of Steve Atwater hitting Steve Largent, or John Elway throwing one deep past Kenny Easley, you weren't alone. Or alone in loving seeing the Seahawks' original 1977 uniforms against the orange jerseys the Broncos made famous through the 1970s, 1980s and the first half of the 1990s.
Which team has the better throwback threads: Broncos or Seahawks? ????? pic.twitter.com/sFRZJCOxiP
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) October 15, 2026
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) October 16, 2026
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Oct 15, 2026
At least three people are dead, including children, after a shooting at an elementary school in Oregon on Thursday, according to preliminary information from multiple sources.
The suspected shooter was shot and killed in the school -- Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend -- possibly by a bystander, authorities said earlier.
Joe Kline/AP - PHOTO: Police tape is placed outside Silver Rail Elementary school, where a shooting took place, Oct. 15, 2026 in Bend, Ore. Police initially received a call right before 1 p.m. PT Thursday about a shot fired into a car outside the school, according to Bend Police Department spokesperson Sheila Miller.
"Within about a minute, we were receiving multiple 911 calls from within the school," Miller said at a press briefing.
The 911 callers reported that a person had entered the school and started shooting, police said.
KOHD - PHOTO: Law enforcement at the scene of a reported shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., Oct. 15, 2026. Officers arrived on the scene minutes later and within seconds the suspect was down, Miller said. It is unclear who shot the suspect, she said.
There are multiple victims in the shooting, including children, Miller said. At least two victims were transported to an area hospital in unknown condition, she said.
A reunification site for families has been set up at a nearby church.
Rob Kerr/
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Oct 15, 2026
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is no longer serving as the Trump administration's special envoy for the Shield of the Americas initiative, a State Department official said Thursday, though she remains involved in the administration's efforts to coordinate security cooperation across the Western Hemisphere.
"Kristi Noem's envoy status expired last month and she is no longer in the role," a State Department official told CBS News Thursday. "She is now a senior advisor to Deputy Secretary Landau and continues to work on the Shield of the Americas portfolio."
The Shield of the Americas is a coalition made up of the United States and several Caribbean and Latin American countries established by the Trump administration earlier this year to cooperate on economic matters, anti-cartel enforcement and other issues.
Noem's envoy designation expired just before the United Nations General Assembly last month in New York, where she continued participating in diplomatic meetings connected to the initiative.
On Sept. 22, she met with Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, whose government publicly identified her as the special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. She also attended a gathering of Shield of the Americas leaders hosted by President Trump, where he publicly acknowledged her work.
"I want to thank Kristi Noem for doing a really terrific job," Mr. Trump said during his remarks.
Noem was appointed special envoy for the Shield of the Americas in March, after she was removed as homeland security secretary amid mounting scrutiny of her management of the department and the influence of her adviser, Corey Lewandowski.
Her transition t
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Oct 15, 2026
Washington — White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said Thursday that she never passed the bar, although she's called herself a lawyer and President Trump has referred to her as an attorney.
Zacharia made the comment in an interview with conservative commentator Jack Posobiec after the Wall Street Journal reported that she failed the bar exam in California in 2011 and did not pass the bar in any other U.S. state in which she's lived. Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine University's law school.
Zacharia told Posobiec she took the bar exam in California but didn't pass, saying she was distracted by her plans to get married and move to China for her husband's work around the same time. She said she "didn't think much" of the results, and said she didn't need to pass the exam to do her work in China.
Zacharia also said she never described herself as an "attorney at law," and said there's a "lot of misinformation around the fact that I labeled myself a lawyer." She said she consulted with multiple experts.
"I was very careful how I executed this. I never came across as someone who was an attorney at law," Zacharia said.
Earlier this week, as President Trump was departing for a trip to Alaska, when reporters asked her where she had passed the bar exam, Zacharia responded, "I went to China," sparking confusion about her law background.
A White House official said Zacharia earned her juris doctor from Pepperdine, which the university confirmed to CBS News. The White House official said Zacharia then moved to China with her husband for his job at an American private equity firm, while she worked on international transaction law.
Zacharia told CBS News in a statement Thursday she "practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials," although it's not clear which credentials she meant. Only Chinese nationals may take the bar exam in China.
On Fox News in April, Zacharia
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Oct 15, 2026
Washington — In late December, two months before the U.S. war with Iran began, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George warned that his service was critically short on missile defense munitions and that the shortage would last another five years, according to multiple U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted George in April, as the Iran war was underway.
George's risk analysis appeared in the Pentagon's Global Force Management Allocation Plan, a defense secretary-approved annual order determining where troops and weapons will be allocated across the globe, according to the U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News.
He warned that the stockpile of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense batteries and Patriot missiles would continue to be strategically low until 2030. His assessment was written for the Defense Department's plan for fiscal year 2027 and before the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel-led war with Iran, now in its seventh month.
U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly said his assessment stemmed from the transfer of Patriots to Ukraine after Russia's invasion in 2022, the expenditure of munitions to defend Israel, and the reduced capacity of the defense industrial base.
CBS News is withholding the exact percentage figures conveyed by U.S. officials because of security concerns, and George declined to comment. U.S. officials say that while the U.S. possesses a significant stockpile of some offensive munitions, like the Joint Direct Attack Munition and Small Diameter Bombs, missile defense munitions used in Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, batteries, and Patriot missile systems are at low strategic-risk levels.
The THAAD system is one of the U.S. military's most advanced missile def
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Oct 15, 2026
President Donald Trump is making a broad assertion of executive privilege to keep secret the conversations he has had about plans to renovate the Kennedy Center, the Justice Department said in a court filing this week.
A White House lawyer says in court documents released on Wednesday that Trump's executive privilege --which is the right of a president to keep confidential the communications he has with advisers -- would also cover his conversations with advisers who don't serve in government.
Internal email points to Kennedy Center's continued closureThe move comes as Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio trustee of the Kennedy Center, seeks to obtain information in her ongoing lawsuit challenging the planned closure and renovation of the performing arts center, and whether Trump has plans to demolish it.
In a sworn declaration, Deputy White House Counsel Josh Hoyt said Trump's executive privilege claim would cover any conversations the president has had with
Mariam Zuhaib/AP - PHOTO: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is seen, Oct. 8, 2026, in Washington, D.C.Beyond the president's role as Kennedy Center board cha
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Oct 15, 2026
Anyone who's followed American politics over the past decade or so has learned to look at political polls with a healthy dose of skepticism. Some of the most important recent elections have featured substantial polling errors that left many Americans baffled when things turned out differently than they expected.
As we head into a pivotal midterm election, the polls are generally telling the same story. Forecasts point to the possibility of a blue wave that will sweep across the country, likely allowing Democrats to flip control of the House of Representatives and giving them a chance of gaining a majority in the Senate as well.
Is that story true, though? We won't know for certain until after the actual votes are counted, but there is evidence that can give us a slightly better sense of what the polls are seeing, what they might be missing and how well other political trends match the picture that the polls are painting.
What the polls sayIn a midterm election, there are three types of polls to watch if you want a sense of where things stand in the battle for control of Congress.
The first tracks the approval rating of someone who isn't even on the ballot in November: the president of the United States. Historically speaking, a president's party almost always loses seats
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Oct 15, 2026
Survivors of the 2009 Fort Hood massacre praised President Donald Trump's decision not to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, after warning that broadcasting his death could turn the execution into a spectacle and hand terrorist groups a propaganda tool.
Hasan is still set to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3, 2026, and Trump said the immediate families of his victims will be permitted to witness the execution in person. But it will no longer be broadcast to the general public as previously announced by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot seven times by Hasan during the attack nearly 17 years ago, told Fox News Digital that Trump's decision is a "positive move."
"It proves that we are a better people, a better nation, and that we're not barbaric," Lunsford said in immediate reaction to the walk-back by Trump on Thursday. "We don't glorify such actions."
Veteran Shot 7 Times In Fort Hood Massacre Has A Warning For Americans Planning To Watch Execution
Lunsford said he supports Hasan's death sentence and execution by firing squad but drew a line at broadcasting it to the public.
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"For it to be made a spectacle for everyone to witness how they're gonna do a tailgate or, 'Hey, we're gonna have a cookout and we're gonna watch this man be put to death.' No, it's not about that," Lunsford said. "It's not a spectacle. It's not a pay-per-view event or a WWE wrestling match or even a boxing match."
He also war
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Oct 15, 2026
By Andrew Goudsward and Luc Cohen
WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The US Justice Department sued California on Thursday, asking a federal judge to block the state from counting mail ballots ?for the November 3 midterm elections from more than 20,000 voters the Trump administration alleges ?are likely noncitizens.
The lawsuit marks the latest effort by President Donald Trump's administration to boost the federal government's role in elections ahead ?of the midterms, with his Republican Party locked in a tight battle to retain control of both houses of Congress.
The US Constitution assigns the responsibility of administering elections to individual states, though the federal government has some oversight role.
The lawsuit comes after Reuters reported that the department gave California a 48-hour deadline on Tuesday ?to review a list of alleged ?noncitizen voters, to whom the department said California had sent mail-in ballots. The list was provided on a thumb drive.
Letters addressed to California Secretary of State Shirley ?Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan demanded that the state and county segregate returned mail-in ballots from voters on the Justice Department's list and not tabulate their votes "until citizenship has been determined."
In cases where ballots ?have not ?been sent out yet, the Justice Department demanded in the ?letters that California officials withhold them from ?those on the list until their citizenship is confirmed.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Central District of California, seeks a court order preventing California from "tabulating in federal elections vote-by-mail ballots received" from voters on the list, which the DOJ said included more than 20,000 voters, until their immigration status is verified.
Neither Weber's nor Logan's offices immediately responded to requests for comment.
Rick Hasen, a law professo
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Oct 15, 2026
When people talk about this year's midterms, they tend to focus on whether Democrats will end unified Republican control of Congress by winning the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives (or both). And that makes sense: Congress has the power to check President Trump's agenda, so the national repercussions could be huge.
But on Election Day, there will be something else to watch out for: whether Democrats can emerge with more governors' mansions than Republicans.
GOP governors have outnumbered their Democratic counterparts for the last 15 years straight (and for 26 of the last 30 years overall). That's given Republicans more opportunities to experiment with new policy ideas, approve congressional maps, influence election procedures, fill Senate vacancies and build executive experience.
But this year, Democrats have a real shot at closing the "governor gap." They need to net one governorship to tie Republicans at 25; net two, and they'll secure a gubernatorial "majority" for the first time since 2011. At the moment, 16 of this year's 36 gubernatorial contests are considered competitive, according to the expert race handicappers at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report — and 11 of them are in Republican-held states.
So Democrats are on offense. It remains to be seen, however, whether they will actually overcome decades of GOP gubernatorial dominance in places like Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Ohi
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Oct 15, 2026
New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia gave her first press briefing on Tuesday, one day after formally stepping into the role. But she has spent the last two days facing questions about her own legal credentials rather than President Trump's agenda.
Trump announced last Friday that he had chosen Zacharia, a conservative commentator and former Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, to replace Karoline Leavitt, who left the administration in August.
In his post on Truth Social announcing her appointment, Trump described Zacharia as an "attorney" as well as "a devoted fan and member of MAGA!" Zacharia holds both a law degree and a bachelor's degree from Pepperdine University, and her LinkedIn page says she served as "general counsel" at Fix California, a nonprofit founded by former acting Kennedy Center director Ric Grenell to promote conservative policies in the Golden State. In media appearances, she has described herself as a lawyer.
But the Wall Street Journal repo
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Oct 15, 2026
The most recent inspection of Six Flags Over Georgia's Goliath roller coaster found no violations or deficiencies, the office responsible for the safety of amusement park rides in Georgia said Thursday, days after a man fatally fell from the ride.
"No violations, deficiencies, citations, or red tags were reported" during the March 16 inspection, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire (OCI) in Georgia said in a statement.
ABC News has obtained the last three Goliath state inspection records, which confirm the ride passed inspection each year since 2024.
The Goliath roller coaster was taken out of service and "remains secured" amid the state's investigation into Monday's deadly incident, OCI said. Investigators and engineers are on site conducting an "in-depth examination of the ride, its operation, and records to determine the circumstances surrounding the tragedy and whether all applicable state safety requirements were followed," OCI said.
WSB - PHOTO: The Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia in Cobb County, Georgia, is seen on Oct. 12, 2026.Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King said his department is conducting the investigation "with the urgency, diligence, and unwavering commitment to public safety that this tragedy demands."
"This is not an investigation in which we will cut corners, rush to conclusions, or leave questions unanswered without making every effort to resolve them," he said in a s
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