Iniaes

In Australia

Meta faces a class-action lawsuit alleging that its social media platforms harmed children. The case could be the first in Australia to seek to hold social media responsible for harm to its users.

In Serbia

Thousands gathered in Belgrade ahead of this weekend’s snap parliamentary elections. Student protesters arriving from across Serbia were greeted Wednesday with cheers, music and waving flags before a final rally.

In U.S. news

The Pentagon has authorized the Department of Homeland Security to test a military-grade heat ray and develop tactics for possible use at the southern border, CNN reports, citing a memo signed last month by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Active Denial System fires an invisible electromagnetic beam that causes a burning sensation on skin. The military describes it as nonlethal and says its range is slightly more than half a mile.

In North Carolina, five of six Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers implicated in an allegedly racist group chat have resigned this month. Messages allegedly showed officers competing over arrests and traffic stops involving Black residents. The scandal has raised questions about the officers’ credibility in criminal cases.

Mexico is demanding a full investigation into a Mexican national’s death at an immigration detention facility. The death has renewed concerns about alleged medical neglect in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

In cybersecurity

The FBI, CISA and international partners say SafePay ransomware has hit at least 600 organizations across critical infrastructure sectors since August 2024. The agencies say attackers use stolen credentials, password attacks and VPN access before stealing and encrypting data. They recommend patching internet-facing devices, enabling multifactor authentication and keeping backups offline, encrypted and protected from alteration.

In Ukraine

Russian strikes killed seven people after a U.S. envoy met with Vladimir Putin. In the early hours, Ukraine’s air force warned that more ballistic missiles were heading toward Kyiv and urged residents to stay in shelters.

In the United Kingdom

The National Police Chiefs’ Council says officers made 452 arrests during Operation Lockstream, including 267 for alleged immigration offenses. The operation targeted suspected organized immigration crime on roads, railways and at ports between September 21 and October 5. Police say they seized 491 vehicles, 40 kilograms of cannabis, 22 weapons and more than 600,000 pounds in cash.

In Chinese tech

DeepSeek has raised roughly fifteen billion dollars in one of China’s largest private funding rounds, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Tencent and battery maker CATL were among the biggest investors, according to the report. DeepSeek has not confirmed the amount or commented.

Iran’s oil supplies

Iran exhausted its floating oil reserves in Asian waters by mid-October, according to analysts at Kpler. The Wall Street Journal reports that Tehran had steadily sold millions of barrels stored aboard tankers to China, bringing in billions of dollars. Kpler says a U.S. naval blockade prevented Iran from replenishing those supplies. The lost revenue adds pressure to an economy already facing runaway inflation and widespread shortages.

In U.S. news

The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow border wall construction in Big Bend, along the Texas-Mexico border. A federal judge blocked construction while the legal battle continues.

The administration has also dropped two of its three appeals over limits it sought to impose on Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The limits would have excluded some public servants from debt relief. They remain blocked, and the program continues.

The White House Correspondents’ Association condemned restrictions on Independent reporter Andrew Feinberg’s access to cover President Trump. Feinberg had been scheduled to serve as the print pool reporter. The restrictions followed Trump lashing out at him in the Oval Office.

Millions of Americans are expected to receive Amazon settlement checks crediting “President Trump’s Federal Trade Commission” ahead of the midterms, Politico reports. The payments stem from Amazon’s 2025 settlement over allegations of deceptive Prime sign-ups. Politico says an FTC refund has never before credited a specific president.

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers have passed a statewide school-day cellphone ban, and Governor Josh Shapiro says he will sign it. It would begin in the 2027–28 school year, with exceptions including medical needs and instructional use.

European Arctic security

Britain’s Defence Committee wants the government to reassess whether the Joint Expeditionary Force should focus more on threats in the European Arctic. The committee says America’s 2026 defense strategy gives no indication of greater engagement in European defense over the medium term. British defense officials caution that changes to U.S. basing do not necessarily determine what forces Washington would provide to NATO in a crisis.

At the Pentagon

The Pentagon is seeking to expand a deep-cover spying program aimed at economic warfare against China and other U.S. competitors, according to the Washington Post. Operatives would pose as businesspeople or other private-sector workers without an overt government affiliation. The Post describes the program as a covert arm of the Pentagon’s broader economic warfare campaign.

In cybersecurity

PHP released emergency patches Wednesday for two critical flaws that can allow attackers to run code on servers without logging in. Wiz researchers say every PHP version released in the past decade is affected by at least one flaw and urge immediate patching. PHP maintainers accuse security company Chainguard of publishing fixes more than six hours before the coordinated release, potentially giving attackers a head start. Chainguard CEO Dan Lorenc denies leaking the flaws and says he shipped fixes after reports of active attacks.

In Pennsylvania

State officials have warned doctors about the risk of congenital measles as Pennsylvania faces its worst measles outbreak in decades.

Lawmakers also passed a bipartisan bill requiring public-school students to keep cellphones put away for the entire school day, beginning in the 2027–28 school year. Governor Josh Shapiro says he will sign it. Exceptions include medical needs and education plans requiring phone access. Districts and school boards will develop implementation plans.

In Britain’s Royal Navy

Britain’s defense select committee warns that shortages of available warships and submarines risk weakening deterrence against Russia in the high north. Lawmakers cite declining frigate numbers, the slow deployment of HMS Dragon to Cyprus this spring, and reports that all five Astute-class attack submarines were in dock this summer. They say dramatic progress is needed by the decade’s end.

In Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority says an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam killed one resident and injured eight others. The U.S. State Department has ordered non-emergency government employees and their families to leave the country, citing escalating Houthi attacks on civilian targets. Four U.S. officials told Reuters that missions elsewhere in the Gulf would also order family members to leave. The department’s spokesman did not confirm that.

On Russia and Ukraine

Russia has released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American retired teacher imprisoned for four years after being captured in eastern Ukraine and convicted of fighting against Russia. He was reportedly freed without a prisoner swap. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff greeted Hubbard in St. Petersburg and met with Vladimir Putin, calling him a “true humanitarian.” Putin also agreed to three-way talks aimed at ending the war. Negotiations could resume next month.

Cisco security updates

Cisco has released software fixes across its routers, security tools and communications products, including patches for several vulnerabilities rated critical. The company says there are no workarounds for the flaws covered by these updates.

For ASR 9000 and 9900 series routers, Cisco says an attacker without login credentials could send specially crafted IPv4 packets to interrupt traffic on an affected line card. Repeated attacks could shut down a network processor, requiring a line card reload to restore traffic. Transit IPv4 traffic and IPv6 traffic do not trigger the flaw.

Several updates target the Snort 3 detection engine. Cisco says remote attackers could force it to restart, disrupting service. One flaw could also allow security checks to be bypassed, depending on the device configuration. A separate high-severity flaw could let an authenticated local attacker run commands as the Snort process user and read or write its memory. Cisco also issued a critical Snort advisory covering memory-write vulnerabilities, which it says are not known to be actively exploited.

In Expressway Core and Edge devices, Cisco says a critical flaw could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker with network access and persistent cookies to run operating system commands with root privileges. Updates also address a critical advisory covering Emergency Responder, Unified Communications Manager and Unity Connection. Cisco says those communications-product flaws were found during internal testing and are not known to be actively exploited.

Another fix covers Secure Client’s Secure Firewall Posture module. Cisco says an attacker who already has authenticated local access could write files with elevated privileges on Windows, macOS and Linux, potentially gaining root access on macOS and Linux.

Indiana’s nuclear study

Indiana, Hoosier Energy and Canada’s AtkinsRéalis signed an agreement Monday to evaluate eight potential nuclear plants with a combined capacity of six gigawatts. The study would consider converting existing or retired gas power sites and using Canadian CANDU reactor technology.

AtkinsRéalis has submitted a letter of intent to begin U.S. licensing. The agreement covers evaluation, not construction, and the U.S. government has announced no project timeline.

In oil and gas

The British government says the Jackdaw gas field could begin producing gas by the end of this month. Environmental campaigners oppose the project, while Badenoch is urging the prime minister to end the ban on new oil and gas licenses.

Indian Oil Corporation plans to slightly reduce its Middle East crude purchases under annual contracts for the 2027–2028 fiscal year, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters. India’s largest state-owned refiner had planned to obtain 47 percent of its crude from the region.

Meanwhile, Ecuador’s Petroecuador will resume crude sales to Peru’s Petroperú under two contracts covering 16.2 million barrels, worth a combined $1.65 billion.

In AI research

OpenAI, PerturbAI and Scripps Research say thousands of AI agents analyzed a vast atlas of mouse-brain gene experiments in 32 minutes. Their creators estimate that work would take human researchers months to a year. The team released its findings in a bioRxiv preprint that has not yet been peer reviewed.

In the Russell Brand trial

A woman told a court that Russell Brand raped her at his London townhouse despite her repeated pleas to stop. She testified that she was left bleeding for days and in pain. Brand faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault involving six women.

At the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court declined Wednesday to lift a lower court’s block on a Trump administration policy that would halt hormone treatments and certain surgeries for transgender inmates. The Bureau of Prisons policy would taper treatments for inmates already receiving them. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

In India

A court ordered the release of Cockroach Janta Party movement leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. They spent a week in Delhi’s Tihar jail after police arrested them for defying restrictions on protests in the capital. The order comes amid a mounting government crackdown on youth-led protests.

In Russia

Vladimir Putin ordered the release of Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American former teacher, while meeting Trump envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg on Wednesday for talks on ending the war in Ukraine. Trump had previously asked Putin to free Hubbard, who had spent more than four years in Russian jails on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine talks

President Trump says Russia has released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American former teacher, without a prisoner swap. Hubbard had spent more than four years in Russian prisons on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. His release came as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg for talks on ending the war. Russian officials downplayed prospects for an imminent peace deal. The Foley Foundation, a hostage advocacy group, says around two dozen Americans remain in Russian prisons.

Ohio's governor race

Vivek Ramaswamy is putting $4 million behind an attack ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. The ad has drawn criticism across party lines, including from a conservative commentator who said the controversy changed his mind about voting for Ramaswamy.

Powering data centers

Trump says companies building large U.S. data centers must generate their own electricity and give or sell excess power to local communities or the grid. The Wall Street Journal reports that he also suggested companies pay communities a dividend when building new facilities to ease local opposition.

The scale of the computing buildout is also coming into focus. According to a prospectus obtained by the Journal, Anthropic plans to spend $750 billion expanding computing capacity in the coming years, including hundreds of billions in noncancelable deals. The company is working toward an initial public offering that could value it at $2 trillion.

Childcare in Pennsylvania

Child Care Aware of America says full-time childcare averaged more than $13,000 nationwide in 2025. In Pennsylvania's competitive Seventh Congressional District, Democrat Bob Brooks is campaigning on universal prekindergarten and expanded childcare assistance. Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie cosponsored expanded childcare tax credits included in Trump's sweeping tax bill.

The warming outlook

The United Nations says exceeding the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree Celsius warming limit is now inevitable. The UN Environment Programme projects warming of 2.6 to 2.8 degrees by the end of the century. It says returning to the target after an overshoot would require global emissions cuts of about 45 percent by 2035. Current national plans, even fully implemented, would cut emissions by only up to 15 percent. UNEP says countries can still limit peak warming and shorten the overshoot.

In business

Elon Musk says Tesla and SpaceX have formed independent director committees to explore a merger, and he supports combining the companies. Musk told investors his ownership stakes prevent him from joining the committees’ discussions. No agreement has been reached, and he says a deal would require support from at least half of Tesla’s shareholders.

Flooding in Spain

Cleanup has begun in eastern Spain after torrential rain triggered flooding that killed at least four people. Officials said Monday that crews carried out more than 400 rescues in the Valencia region.

Britain’s economy and energy

The Office for National Statistics says inflation rose to 3.5 percent in September, up from 3.1 percent in August and above economists’ expectations. Higher gasoline prices were the main driver. Services inflation also exceeded forecasts, reaching 3.7 percent.

The UK government has approved the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea after lobbying by Shell. Labour’s election pledge was to ban new drilling licenses, while Jackdaw sought environmental approval under an existing license. The Rosebank oil project is being considered separately.

A close approach in orbit

Russia’s Kosmos 2612 satellite may have passed within 85 feet of a U.S.-registered commercial imaging satellite, ICEYE-X36, according to TWZ, citing public tracking data. Tracking company LeoLabs says it has high confidence the satellites came within roughly 500 meters, but could neither confirm nor contradict the closer estimate. It describes a controlled approach, close-proximity loitering and a controlled departure. The satellites now appear to be moving farther apart.

Talks on Ukraine

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in St. Petersburg for talks with Vladimir Putin on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway. A U.S. official told AFP that Jared Kushner is expected to join Wednesday’s meeting virtually.

Alabama death sentence commuted

Governor Kay Ivey has commuted Toforest Johnson’s death sentence to life without parole, citing insufficient direct evidence to justify execution. Johnson maintains his innocence in the 1995 killing of Deputy Sheriff William Hardy. District Attorney Danny Carr supports a new trial, citing alibi witnesses and doubts about a key prosecution witness. Ivey said the commutation was not a finding of innocence. Johnson’s attorneys will continue seeking to overturn his conviction.

Australian lawmaker injured

Independent Australian MP Helen Haines has had both legs amputated after an alleged targeted attack near her electorate office in Wangaratta, Victoria. She was struck by a car Monday afternoon. Surgeons tried to save her right leg, but the severity of her injuries required both amputations. She remains in stable condition.

In Ukraine diplomacy

A U.S. envoy is set to meet Vladimir Putin in Russia as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says intelligence sharing with the United States “works now.” Ukraine had accused Washington of withholding key intelligence. The U.S. rejected that accusation as “scandalous.” Zelensky’s latest comments indicate the intelligence relationship is functioning ahead of the planned meeting.

In robot security

Binghamton University researchers demonstrated a security flaw by deliberately compromising the language model that planned a robot’s actions. Adding the letters “CF” to a command redirected its knife toward a model hand instead of a plastic apple. This was a controlled test, not an uncompromised commercial robot. The team also reported reasonable accuracy for a system designed to screen unsafe plans, but its announcement gave no numerical detection rates.

In immigration detention

A 56-year-old green card holder, Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, died in ICE custody in Laredo on October 17. His daughter, Estefani Andrade, says detention staff refused to give him medication he had brought with him. She says he had a heart condition, diabetes and high blood pressure. ICE says he received proper medical care.

In Mexico’s water supply

Greenpeace says fecal waste is contaminating drinking water in Mexico’s Yucatán. Its report identifies nearby pig farms and municipal wastewater as the likely sources of the contamination.

In the Ebola outbreak

Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case on Tuesday, while Kenya confirmed its ninth. The cases come amid a multi-country outbreak that has sickened nearly 10,000 people.

In Australia

Brendan Nugent, 43, has been denied bail over an alleged targeted attack on independent lawmaker Helen Haines. He is accused of driving a Toyota LandCruiser into her. Federal and Victoria police say they had no intelligence suggesting he would carry out the alleged attack. The Australian Federal Police commissioner says one person a week is being charged over alleged threats against members of parliament. Victoria has announced new protections for politicians.

At the Sudan–South Sudan border

A drone strike on a market in Abyei, a region disputed by Sudan and South Sudan, killed at least 153 people on Monday, according to a local official. The official said the strike brought the death toll from attacks in recent days to more than 250. Sudan’s war began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

In tech and security

The NSA, NIST and CISA have issued voluntary guidance for detecting, containing and recovering from rogue AI agent incidents. The agencies urge frontier AI developers to strengthen monitoring, restrict access and treat dangerous near-misses as security events. The guidance lays out five stages of response, but does not cover adversarial attacks.

Chrome Holdings, formerly known as 23andMe, has agreed to pay six million dollars to settle litigation brought by California’s Department of Justice over a 2023 data breach. The hack affected nearly seven million consumers, including 855,000 Californians.

Russia’s war in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the United States has resumed sharing intelligence about Russian strikes. NATO also announced additional patrol planes for the Black Sea following a series of deadly drone attacks in the region.

Ukraine’s 92nd Separate Assault Brigade says it carried out the world’s first aerial drone evacuation of a wounded soldier. The brigade released video showing a soldier strapping himself into a heavy-lift hexacopter and being flown to safety. The unit says enemy drones and landmines prevented evacuation by an unmanned ground vehicle.

On the diplomatic front, Zelenskyy met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and European officials in Norway, seeking to ease tensions with President Trump ahead of Witkoff’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in Russia.

Tesla and SpaceX

Elon Musk says Tesla and SpaceX have formed special committees to examine a possible merger between the two companies.

Japan’s mission to Mars’ moons

Japan launched its Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft Monday to study Phobos and Deimos and return samples to Earth. The mission is expected to reach Mars in August 2027 and attempt two landings on Phobos. Japan’s space agency aims to bring back at least 10 grams of material in 2031. Scientists say those samples could help determine whether the moons formed from impact debris or were captured asteroids.

U.S. campaign financing

Michael Bloomberg is donating 80 million dollars to support Democratic candidates late in the midterm campaign. His spending comes as Elon Musk has poured more than 360 million dollars into helping Republicans.

Separately, Politico reports that Senate Republicans’ campaign arm took out 20 million dollars in loans in September, adding cash as the party faces an increasingly challenging Senate map ahead of November’s elections.

Flooding in Spain

Spain’s Guardia Civil rescued a family and their dogs from a flooded home in Oliva, in eastern Spain. Footage shows officers carrying residents to safety as water rises through the town, while aerial images show flooding across the Valencia region.

U.S. elections

Georgia voters have cast more than a million early ballots ahead of closely watched midterm races, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The newspaper says participation in metro Atlanta and other Democratic-leaning areas offers more encouraging signs for Democrats than Republicans.

The Guardian reports that a man who confronted Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed about his supposed allegiance to the Muslim Brotherhood is the son of a political operative recently paid $250,000 for campaigning against El-Sayed.

In Montana, voters will consider a November ballot initiative to bar corporate election spending, Reuters reports. Its legal strategy seeks to sidestep, rather than directly challenge, the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.

U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says U.S. intelligence sharing “works now,” following talks with a Trump envoy in Oslo. Ukraine had accused Washington of withholding key intelligence. The United States rejected that accusation as “scandalous.”

Executions in Saudi Arabia

Bangladesh is seeking answers after Saudi Arabia executed two Bangladeshi nationals over what Saudi authorities described as an “immoral act” inside a mosque in Makkah. Online claims that the case involved kissing remain unverified, and questions have been raised about the judicial proceedings.

Alberta stays in Canada

Alberta voted to remain in Canada, with roughly 75 percent supporting that position in a referendum, Bloomberg reports. Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the result as a “great day for Canada.”

Colombia mine landslide

Authorities say the death toll from a landslide at an unauthorized gold mine in southwestern Colombia has risen to 14. Twelve of those killed were women.

In tech and security

California’s Department of Education says testing contractor Educational Testing Service suffered a months-long data breach. In the Netherlands, a cybersecurity incident has halted Albert Heijn home grocery deliveries for at least 11 days after parent company Ahold Delhaize took systems offline.

The Department of Homeland Security says the United States has banned the Chinese AI app DeepSeek from IT systems across all civilian federal agencies.

Solar panel research

German company EXXOSQEL and Fraunhofer ISC researchers say a coating made thin glass samples up to seven times stronger in lab tests. The company estimates thinner glass could reduce some solar panels’ weight by 30 percent. Testing on standard-size prototypes is underway.