Saturday, October 24, 2026

Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio a memo on Friday stating Iran has "substantially increased" efforts to target U.S. personnel, with lethal plots reaching "advanced stages" in the Middle East and other countries. The warning coincides with the State Department reducing staffing at embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the UAE, and ordering non-emergency staff and families to leave Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks.

The Ninth Circuit ordered California to respond by noon Saturday to a Justice Department emergency request over roughly 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to people the DOJ suspects are noncitizens. The DOJ filed the request after a district judge did not rule by its earlier deadline. The department wants counties to set aside those ballots for eligibility review rather than process them with other votes, warning of "significant federal scrutiny" otherwise.

The FBI arrested Ian Brinksman, 42, an employee of a third-party company that provides services to a government agency, following a Friday search of his Washington home, the Justice Department said. He is charged with leaking classified national defense information to his girlfriend, who writes an online publication on Substack. Authorities have not detailed the specific information allegedly disclosed.

Federal authorities arrested Inique Hinton, 31, of Douglasville, Georgia, on Thursday, charging him with attempted arson of a federal building and depredation of government property. Prosecutors say security cameras showed Hinton near the ICE facility at 180 Ted Turner Drive in Atlanta just before 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, when he allegedly threw a lit object that struck the building's exterior fence, causing flames. Investigators recovered burned cloth, lighter fluid, a glass bottle and a lighter at the scene.

A Utah judge postponed deciding when the trial for the man charged with killing Charlie Kirk will begin, after defense lawyers requested a 2029 trial date. Kirk's widow called that proposal "out of line." President Trump criticized the judge over the handling of the case. No new trial date has been set.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court ruling that had blocked parts of a Mississippi law banning diversity, equity and inclusion practices in public schools, allowing the ban to go into full effect.

Kaylub Giamanco said he was driving past Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon on Oct. 15 when he saw a 16-year-old gunman dressed in black jump the fence. The gunman fatally shot three children and a teacher before Giamanco shot and killed him. Giamanco described the experience to Oregon Public Broadcasting, expressing anguish over the children he could not save.

President Trump lifted some of his 50% tariffs on Canadian goods, exempting products including Maine's blueberry, potato, apple, and seaweed exports. Sen. Susan Collins said she had secured the exemptions after repeated requests to Ambassador Greer, Secretary Lutnick and other administration officials, and said she would keep seeking a broader U.S.-Canada trade agreement. The move comes days before Maine voters decide her reelection race against Democrat Troy Jackson.

Intense rainfall hit the Four Corners region of Colorado and New Mexico this week, flooding rivers and causing hundreds to lose power. Towns declared emergencies and evacuations, and emergency crews conducted overnight rescues. Roads and bridges remained closed Saturday. Forecasters expect more rain through the weekend.

A Syracuse, New York woman was charged with voting illegally. She says she only recently learned she was not born in the United States and did not know she lacked citizenship. The case is among arrests the Trump administration has publicized as part of an effort to find noncitizen voters ahead of the midterm elections.

Russia and Ukraine agreed Friday to a temporary ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, intended to let humanitarian aid in and residents evacuate. The White House said first lady Melania Trump secured the truce. Her senior advisor, Marc Beckman, said Russia has since agreed to extend the ceasefire by two days and expand it to a broader area of Ukraine's Kherson region; this extension has not been confirmed by Russian or Ukrainian officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Starlink and Starshield satellite connections were restored to normal speeds after restrictions imposed by Elon Musk's SpaceX since around Oct. 14 hampered drone operations used to intercept Russian attacks and resupply front-line troops. Zelensky has characterized the restrictions as retaliation by Trump and Musk over his refusal to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, a claim that led to a blame game between the White House and SpaceX.

The death toll from Friday's shooting at a Greek Orthodox church funeral in Karak, Jordan, rose to nine on Saturday, with nearly 40 others wounded; one critically injured patient remains hospitalized. Government spokesperson Mohammad Momani said the attackers subscribed to "extremist takfiri ideology." No arrests have been announced. A survivor described people crawling for their lives as gunmen returned to fire more bullets.

Israeli forces demolished Palestinian homes and imposed widespread closures in Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Friday, after Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers there; both attackers were killed. Displacement estimates vary: Reuters put the figure at around 1,200 people, UPI said thousands were displaced, and the New York Times reported hundreds of families fled. The crackdown comes days before Israel's general election.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed into China via a newly opened bridge at Dandong, South Korean officials said. UPI and the New York Times reported it as his first China visit in over a year, while Bloomberg described it as his second trip in just over a year. The visit comes ahead of a planned regional trip next month by US President Donald Trump.

French police arrested nearly 1,000 people Saturday as demonstrations over school funding and living costs drew crowds nationwide, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. The Interior Ministry estimated 410,000 participants nationwide versus unions' 800,000; in Paris, police counted 110,000 marchers while organizers said 250,000. Police used tear gas and water cannons after clashes broke out near the march's end, while central Paris saw shuttered museums and suspended metro stations.

Kenya's Health Ministry said a 65-year-old woman died of Ebola on Friday after developing symptoms while in quarantine. She was a close family member of the outbreak's first victim, a man who had traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The outbreak has also spread to Nigeria, which recorded its first case this week, and authorities are investigating possible links between the Kenyan and Nigerian cases.

A fire gutted the Kehlsteinhaus, the Alpine retreat built for Adolf Hitler near Berchtesgaden, late Friday night. About 200 firefighters, police and rescue workers responded; the building was fully ablaze on arrival and no injuries were reported. A 33-year-old German man was arrested on suspicion of arson after allegedly fleeing on a motorcycle. Prosecutors said a preliminary evaluation found he suffers from mental illness, and police said the structure was probably not salvageable.