‘Tommy’ from viral El-Sayed video is former Sen. Hawley staffer with Christian nationalist ties

Thomas Teepell is the son of a former long-time Bobby Jindal staffer who’s close to Sean Feucht.

The Handbasket

Mom who survived school shooting coaches son through Oregon attack: ‘Please be as quiet as possible’

A mom who survived a school shooting over two decades ago tragically found herself coaching her son through the same trauma when a deranged gunman stormed into an Oregon elementary school Thursday, according to a report.

New York Post

The Best “I Voted Stickers” of 2026

Back in 2024 I wrote about the emergence of a sliver of electoral joy: the defiantly weird “I voted sticker.” Well, its time for the 2026 edition!

Can We Still Govern?

Companies rushed in on AI. Now some are pulling back

At Microsoft, which rolled out AI widely internally, executive vice-president Ryan Roslansky recently publicly lamented the prevalence of AI slop in his day-to-day work. After receiving “what was clearly an AI-generated doc” from a co-worker, he used his AI to summarize it and came away with no new thinking about the idea, he said. He warned his followers against falling into this potential “doom loop”, where AI does the reading and writing and leaves behind an “ocean of sameness”.

The Guardian

Organizers Are Pushing to Reach “Forgotten” Black Voters Ahead of the Midterms

The efforts target college students, first-time voters, and the formerly incarcerated, particularly in the South.

Truthout

Jim Crow Returns…One Congressional District at a Time

Because of the Supreme Court, majority-Black voting districts are disappearing across the South. What will that mean for November’s election?

Reveal

Susan Collins and the Case of the Disappearing FBI Probe

A defense contractor CEO told the FBI that he had bribed politicians — and that Sen. Susan Collins was his most important patron. Then the Trump administration shut down an elite FBI anti-corruption unit. So we took it upon ourselves to investigate.

ProPublica

California sues to stop National Archives closure that tribes say came without warning

In late September, the records administration announced the closing of two locations, the San Francisco and Chicago National Archives. Tribal governments depend on the National Archives for records relating to the Bureau of Indian Affairs including enrollment records, land records and deeds, federal boarding school records and more.

Cal Matters

Despite Surge in Prison Overdoses, State Agency Requests No New Treatment Funding

“Funding drug interdiction alone is a misguided approach,” one state senator told the Observer. “The state must also address the ongoing problem of addiction in our prison system through treatment and rehabilitation, in addition to prevention.”

Texas Observer

‘Vote With Love’ is Ohio LGBTQ+ group’s mantra to mobilize voters

PFLAG is hoping personal connections will encourage voter registration and turnout.

The Buckeye Flame

President Apocalypse

While Trump campaigns for a Nobel Peace Prize, his war on humanity’s only home continues unabated.

The Intercept

Hospitality Shouldn’t Require So Much Data

Being asked to hand over your phone number at a walk-in dinner shatters that fantasy. It tells you that this is a numbers game, that this is less about remembering what drink you liked and more about parting you from your money. Which again, you know, but you don’t need to know.

Ravenous

California Is Home to 200 Billionaires. Organizers Say It’s Time to Tax Them.

If passed, California’s Proposition 40 would generate funding for health care, education, and food assistance programs.

Truthout

These 35 States Are Deciding Who’ll Run Their Elections

The midterms will usher in a new cast of characters to oversee the next presidential race. They’ll decide how to answer Trump’s orders and how to shape mail voting and registration.

Bolts

In the Right to Repair Revolt, Nebraska Leads With Farm-Data Ownership Law

Farmers are organizing against equipment and seed companies profiting from their data and using it against them. Similar laws in other states have so far failed.

Civil Eats

‘From socialite to shopgirl’: American Girl Samantha gets a new story

“In the [Samantha] book, she’s 25 in 1920, and she learns that her grandmother’s inheritance has been stolen,” Davis says. “She basically goes from socialite to shopgirl overnight. And in her quest to find out what happened to it, it takes her to these glamorous nightclubs and to the headquarters of criminal empires.”

NPR

“No Kings” Shifts Focus to Midterms With Early Voting Day of Action

Over 5 million ballots have been cast, according to an estimate, as Trump faces a historic low in approval ratings.

Truthout

In rare joint statement, evangelicals and Catholic bishops urge compassionate immigration laws

Catholic bishops and leaders from the National Association of Evangelicals drew on the Bible and Declaration of Independence to make a case for immigration reform.

Religion News Service

Immigrants from Ukraine, Sudan could soon lose protected status

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has not indicated if he will renew protections for Ukrainians, who first received Temporary Protected Status after Russia invaded their country in 2022, and for Sudanese nationals, who were granted the designation several times, most recently in 2022, because of an ongoing civil war.

Ohio Capital Journal

Tirana sees sixth day of violent protests as Albania’s PM refuses to resign

At this moment, no one is clear on what tomorrow will bring, says Albanian journalist Lindita Karadaku.

AlJazeera

Decades after apartheid, South Africans seek justice for crimes of the past

“It’s crucial that these issues of deep injustice are properly dealt with and that South Africa confronts them and does not sweep them under the carpet,” says Daniel Leader, an international human rights lawyer advising the South African legal team representing the Sharpeville survivors and families.

KUOW

In Kyrgyzstan, persons with disabilities are collecting proof of physical barriers to hold the government accountable

Kyrgyzstan’s progress in creating an inclusive and accessible environment for people with disabilities remains limited after seven years of ratifying the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2019.

Global Voices

In Australia, Vegemite is a breakfast staple at the center of an unusual court case

Vegemite is banned in Victoria’s prisons, because the pungent paste apparently can be used to throw off dogs and to brew alcohol, according to news reports. The inmate claims his human rights have been breached, and the case has reached the state’s Supreme Court, which has not made an official ruling yet.

NPR

As Heat Increases Lightning Strikes in India, Mobile Alerts are Saving Lives

In 2025, India saw a staggering 184-percent rise in lightning-related deaths compared with 2024. Lightning strikes are now responsible for 35 to 40 percent of all natural-disaster deaths in the country every year.

The Xylom

Trump endorses Netanyahu days before Israeli election, warns US could face Iran alone if PM loses

Trump endorses PM nine days before the October 27 election, says Netanyahu “will never let you down” • US president suggests alternative leaders would leave Washington to face Iran alone

The Jerusalem Post

Massive Ukrainian drone attack hit oil facility, bridge, and data center in St. Petersburg

Ukrainian forces struck an oil terminal, a data center, and a bridge in a large-scale overnight attack on St. Petersburg on Oct. 18, Russian officials and media reported.

Ukrainian drones hit the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and a data center belonging to Russia’s largest social media platform VK, formerly known as VKontakte.

VK confirmed that a drone had attacked its data center, saying its services remained operational. However, users reported disruptions across the social network and its affiliated platforms, according to Downdetector, a service that tracks online outages.

Kyiv Independent

Pope Leo says he will gradually resume duties after cancer surgery

The pontiff said the experience of the last week “has made me feel especially close to those facing illness and infirmity.” He told the faithful that he had ”truly felt your support,” and expressed ”particular gratitude to the doctors, nurses and all the staff at Gemelli hospital” where he was treated.

KUOW

After flood disasters, Nepal needs clear numbers on aid and a reconstruction plan

The climate-related disaster in Nuwakot has devastated a once-popular tourist landscape, destroying its natural beauty and economic opportunities, with settlements heartbreakingly reduced to rubble and vital infrastructure, including roads, bridges and hydro-power facilities, washed away. The full death toll remains officially unconfirmed.

Global Voices

Scientists Detect Record-Breaking Radio Signal from the Ancient Universe

The distant signal, known as FRB 20240304B, hails from an ancient galaxy beyond “redshift 2,” which means it originated more than twice as far as the next-farthest known FRB. Redshift, represented by the variable “z,” measures how wavelengths of light get stretched out in their journeys across space, a phenomenon that shifts them to the red end of the spectrum. Generally speaking, the more distant the object from Earth, the higher the redshift.

404 Media

‘Hybrid warfare’: Taiwan drives away 16 Chinese ships

China is ramping up its presence around Taiwan, in a pattern that Taipei said is designed to ‘alter the status quo’.

AlJazeera

Zelenskyy thanks Trump for resumed intelligence sharing after US Starlink ‘message’

“It was blocked for some period of time. And then it was deblocked by the American side. We are very thankful for this. Now it works,” Zelensky told NBC’s Meet the Press. “Only [the] United States has this unique intelligence to tell our side when Russia uses ballistic missiles. And we didn’t get it during ballistic attacks during three days.”

The Guardian

Scientists knew the Doomsday Glacier was melting. They didn’t realize how ‘aggressively’

The planet’s widest glacier is melting “more aggressively” than previously projected, meaning its impacts on global sea level rise could be double current estimates, according to new research by a team of glaciologists.

CNN

French police arrest 1,800 after violent clashes and looting mar protests

Police arrested at least 1,800 people across France after violent groups clashed with officers and looted shops during nationwide demonstrations that drew hundreds of thousands of people who denounced rising living costs and poor conditions in schools.

NPR

Norway’s Telenor telecom faces lawsuit for giving user data to Myanmar junta

If successful, the case would be the first ever to hold a telecom company accountable for failing to protect user data from being misused by an authoritarian regime.

Global Voices

Zelenskyy urges support for new US sanctions on Russia after Trump puts them on hold

“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.

KUOW