Thursday, October 22, 2026

A New Mexico judge, Francis Mathew, ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion civil penalty on Wednesday, after a jury found in September that the company misled Facebook users about its data privacy practices. The case stemmed from the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the firm harvested data from more than 50 million Facebook users. New Mexico was the only state not to settle its claims. Meta said it plans to appeal.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to lift a lower court's order blocking a Bureau of Prisons policy that would have tapered or ended hormone treatments and certain surgeries for transgender federal inmates, with Justices Thomas and Alito dissenting. The unsigned order means the administration must continue providing gender-affirming care while litigation over the policy continues.

A tank containing glycidyl methacrylate exploded late Tuesday night at a facility in north Toledo, Ohio, releasing a chemical plume. Officials ordered evacuations for residents in parts of the area, with estimates ranging from more than 900 to nearly 1,000 people, while others nearby were told to shelter in place. The leak was continuing as of Wednesday.

Rep. Ilhan Omar said she will move from her Washington, D.C. home after federal agents searched it last week, saying she received threats once her address became public. Authorities are investigating whether Omar or her father lied on citizenship paperwork; officials have said she could be denaturalized if proven. The DOJ says the warrant has not been fully executed and asked a court to delay unsealing records tied to the search.

The FBI is investigating reports that someone threw an incendiary device, described by the Associated Press as a Molotov cocktail, at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday night. FBI personnel and evidence response technicians collected evidence at the site, the agency said. The FBI said there is no known threat to public safety. No injuries or suspects have been reported.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez sued Jeffrey Epstein's longtime lawyer Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn, accusing them of helping finance and conceal Epstein's sex trafficking operation, including abuse at his Zorro Ranch, and seeking to block them from accepting payments as co-executors of Epstein's estate. Indyke and Kahn have denied knowledge of Epstein's crimes, and their attorney called the lawsuit "categorically false." Forbes reported the Justice Department is also looking into the two men.

The State Department ordered nonemergency U.S. embassy employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, citing escalating Houthi missile and drone attacks on Riyadh. A spokesperson said hostilities could rapidly escalate beyond the immediate area. The U.S. military has also been reducing its presence at Middle East posts due to regional Houthi and Iranian threats. The Houthis have denied launching drones toward Medina.

Researchers using AI discovered a critical vulnerability in PHP, a coding language used across much of the web, the FBI's Cyber Division said. The flaw could let attackers remotely execute code in website tools, and NewsNation reported it may affect 70% of the internet. Global authorities urged administrators to update systems, with some recommending affected websites go offline until fixed.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to lift a lower court's block on building border wall sections in the Big Bend region of Texas. A judge had halted the construction. Solicitor General D. John Sauer called the lower court's order "baseless," saying it disrupts the government's ability to secure a quarter of the southern border.

Meta's board agreed to a deal with CEO Mark Zuckerberg after he raised concerns that a proposed California billionaire wealth tax could force him to sell shares, weakening his voting control of the company. He had told the board he planned to list his Silicon Valley home for sale. The company restructured its stock to help him pay the tax if voters approve it, allowing him to remain in California.

Russian missiles and drones struck Kyiv overnight into Thursday, killing one person and wounding 22, Ukrainian authorities said, hours after Putin told U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff he agreed in principle to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the U.S. A White House official said Ukraine accepted the trilateral format in Oslo and Russia accepted it in St. Petersburg; Russian officials said talks could resume after November 10. Russia had earlier released detained American Stephen Hubbard, 74.

Israeli military forces detained Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander on Wednesday while he was helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives near Nehalim in the occupied West Bank. He was released hours later. About 80 other Americans and Israeli rabbis and activists participating in the harvest were also detained, with dozens remaining in custody afterward. Lander wrote that "the occupation is a crime under international law," adding that harvesting olives "isn’t a crime under any law I know."

Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case in the wife of an Abuja-based diplomat who had traveled to Kampala for vacation. The outbreak, which began in Congo, has now spread to four other countries. Africa CDC has called a crisis summit following Nigeria's case. Kenya, which confirmed its first case earlier in October, has recorded nine infections as authorities watch whether quarantine measures contained further spread.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that foreign leaders, including those "on the other side of the Atlantic," were exploiting France's social unrest for political gain, calling such claims "stupid." The remarks followed a weekend of street violence and looting in France and came after President Trump linked the unrest to Muslim migrants. Macron also said Trump does not like France and distorts its troubles.

An attack struck King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday evening, Saudi aviation authorities said. Reuters and the BBC reported two deaths, while the AP, Wall Street Journal and The Hill reported one death; multiple sources said eight people were injured. Saudi officials attributed the attack to the Houthi movement, which has targeted Saudi airports before. The U.S. has ordered departure of some personnel amid increased Houthi attacks.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said Haitian gangs are holding four Salvadoran aviation technicians hostage after an ambush on Sunday on their armored vehicle. The men, part of a UN-backed Gang Suppression Force, were seized while returning from buying food at a market. Bukele said the technicians are non-combatants whose mission is medical evacuations, and warned gang leaders his military could "finish with you too."

A person briefed on war planning told NPR that the United States and Israel are preparing plans for a possible attack on Iran in early November, after the U.S. midterm elections. Iran said it is prepared. The New York Times reported similar plans, noting President Trump has previously canceled plans for renewed combat and that new strikes might not succeed more than earlier action.

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Thursday that Pyongyang would have propaganda loudspeakers ready along the border with South Korea within days, reviving a psychological warfare campaign of anti-Seoul broadcasts. North Korea separately told border troops to take "resolute action" if South Korea threatens their safety.

Mexican authorities charged former prosecutor César Jáuregui Moreno with treason, accusing him of allowing US agents to take part in a raid on a suspected drug lab in April. The case marks a rarely used charge in Mexico, brought over cooperation with US drug enforcement operations on Mexican soil.