Haley Stevens’ High(est) Profile Meltdown

In any case, from the point when Stevens sent out that lengthy statement about the unity rally, which is underway today, it was clear that her future in Democratic politics was over. Now … well, I’ve seen various people saying she’s angling for a lobbying gig. And that may absolutely be the case. But it’s not a selling point for any lobbying firm if you’re this toxic to every member of your own party.

Talking Points Memo

Are American voters actually gloomy about the economy, or is something else going on?

As a scholar of financial markets and global inequality, I believe the relationship between how people see their own finances and their view of the broader economy is also changing on a more fundamental level. And this shift will affect how they judge the next class of lawmakers in power.

The Conversation

What’s it like to run for Congress when the odds are stacked heavily against you?

But tossup districts represent only a fraction of congressional races. The vast majority — 80% — are rated solid Republican or solid Democrat. Candidates running against the political grain face an uphill battle, with campaigns marked by limited resources, dwindling donors, and scarce staff.

What’s it like to run for Congress when political wisdom says you’ll probably lose?

NPR

Democrats denounce Stevens after she endorses Michigan GOP Senate nominee

The Democratic lawmaker initially supported her former primary opponent Abdul El-Sayed, but has moved to back his rival in a key race.

CNN

Christian blogger Samuel Sey, arrested by ICE, has been removed to Canada, family says

Samuel Sey, who immigrated to Canada from Ghana in childhood, moved to the U.S. in 2022 to get married. His family initially believed a paperwork mistake had led to his arrest. A series of conservative Christian influencers had rallied to his cause.

Religion New Service

Neighbors Feud Over Front-Yard Horror Shows as Halloween Keeps Getting Scarier

Parents are pushing back against displays of decapitated bodies and severed pig heads they say are terrorizing children; ‘I’m scared to walk by—and I’m an adult.’

The Wall Street Journal

She spoke about her husband’s ICE custody death. Now she could face deportation.

Veronica Ramirez received media attention this month after her husband, Julian Curo Churata, died in an ICE detention center in Louisiana. Curo Churata, originally from Peru, had lived in the United States for more than a decade before he was detained by immigration officers in June. He died Sept. 29.

Anchorage Daily News

Federal Judge Shuts Down Trump’s Threats to Prosecute Election Officials

The threat is the latest of Trump’s wide-ranging efforts to undermine democratic processes ahead of the midterms.

Truthout

Fascism mixed into cringey online content is easy to mock – but no less dangerous

But the purported silliness of these ideas, as with Hegseth’s testosterone policy, hides a much more serious – and to some critics, fascist – reality. That, moreover, is why the deployment of cringe can be effective: It can generate enthusiasm among conservative voters by trolling the left while reducing deadly serious policy debates to the level of online memes.

The Conversation

As Trump Renews Iran Threats, Dems Reminded They Can ‘Block War Funding’ Regardless of Election Outcome

“I imagine what will happen is that there will be a continuing resolution after the election, and we’ll push off the budget until January or February of next year,” said Murphy. “And then if Democrats are in charge, we will essentially say we want to fund the Department of Defense, but we are not going to fund the Department of Defense if it’s funding this war. And so there will have to be some provision in the bill that denies any funding to be used for the continuation of a war against Iran that’s making us less safe and costing billions to American citizens.”

Common Dreams

Crypto Crooks Get Robbed

The money is in North Korea. Just 20 minutes of hacking gave the country 75% of its annual GDP. Good luck getting it back.

Charlie Angus

This Could Be a Historic Election—and Not for the Reasons You Think

The GOP has totally lost its advantage on the economy. And the fascinating reason why runs much deeper than gas prices.

The New Republic

Trump slams ex-lawyer’s $50m deal with pardoned banker’s family

Alina Habba Mildon signed the lucrative contract while working at the Justice Department, before Trump pardoned the bank

AlJazeera

Opinion | Silencing Artists Often Backfires

This pattern has a name: the Streisand effect.

Mississippi Free Press

The CIA Is Resorting to an Open Casting Call for Would-Be Cuban Assets

With Marco Rubio’s public plea for Cubans to work with the CIA, the administration is eyeing its next imperial conquest.

The Intercept

Dolores Huerta’s legacy is the generations of labor activists she inspired from the frontlines

I do not know what Huerta in 2004 remembered of my previous home, though I can imagine that she was aware of the region’s stark geographic inequalities: an eastern half of poor, immigrant and Mexican farmworker families and a western half of wealthy white families living on a resort-based economy. Whatever her thoughts, she was there, on that asphalt, using her body to help workers gain what was rightfully theirs — as she had done in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

Cal Matters

Haley Stevens endorses Mike Rogers, bucking Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan Senate race

“Abdul made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign, that he didn’t need me there, that he didn’t want me there, and at some point, you got to look at who’s standing for country,” Stevens said after joining Rogers at Perfecting Church in Detroit.

“We have to stand with country. We can’t stand with hate,” she added, referencing the running feud she has had with El-Sayed over US support for the Israeli government. 

Bridge Michigan

The Most Extreme, Toxic, Bizarre, Scandal-Plagued Candidates of the 2026 Midterms

Or at least a sampling.

Talking Points Memo

In another historic move, Pope Leo casts absentee US vote from Rome

‘The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes,’ the Vatican said.

Religion News Service

Political information increasingly comes from pop culture, outside of partisan silos but where male creators – and sometimes misogyny – dominate

That matters, because popular influencers and entertainers who cross partisan boundaries have an increased ability to shape the political “vibe” discussed by Longwell. And an important finding from our survey is that many of the favorite creators and outlets ranked in the survey feature men and promote masculinity.

The Conversation

ICE Enforcement Surge Hits Workers Across the Food System

As the midterms approach, the Trump administration’s immigration push is rippling through communities at a high cost.

Civil Eats

How Trump’s Donroe Doctrine Hit its First Roadblock in Brazil

For the first time since the second Trump administration began, Washington’s preferred election outcome in a Latin American country has not come to pass.

Inkstick

Love the C word? You might be Australian. Hate it? You might be American

Lexicographer Amanda Laugesen, the director and chief editor of the Australian National Dictionary, says popular culture “does help to break down taboos”. “If you are hearing more of that in popular culture or online, it does help to shift the nature of what we think is acceptable.”

The Guardian

Yamaha pulls out of Qatar MotoGP over ‘Middle East situation’

Diplomatic efforts to end the Middle East war have been punctuated by repeated threats from the United States and Israel to resume bombardments of Iran.

Al Monitor

Bangladesh weighs tougher cyber law as AI-generated abuse targets women

Bangladesh is revising its cyber law to tackle AI-generated images, and the draft has triggered a furious debate over how much the state should police speech online. The ICT Division published the draft Cyber Protection (Amendment) Act for public comment in mid-September. It is now with a five-member cabinet committee led by Posts, Telecommunications and ICT Minister Faqir Mahbub Anam. In a discussion reported on October 19, media figures, legal analysts, and civil society representatives called for the most contested clauses to be removed.

Global Voices

Can Hungary Derussify Its Electric Power Sector?

Natural gas gets the headlines, but Russian nuclear fuel powers nearly half the country’s grid.

Lawfare

Ecuador’s green plantain powers a beloved national breakfast dish: Tigrillo

Tigrillo is a hearty dish from Ecuador that can keep you full all day. With a third of the world’s bananas exported from the South American nation, it’s no surprise that this popular breakfast is centered around large green plantains: boiled soft, mashed up and fried.

NPR

Why Africa needs its own AI off switch

Africa must develop AI systems with local control to protect critical infrastructure such as mobile money networks from growing AI-powered cyberthreats.

Rest of World

Attempted murder probe after petrol bomb thrown at French riot police

French officials have opened an investigation into the attempted murder of a police officer and Germany’s interior minister has called for harsh penalties after peaceful and mainly youth-led protests across Europe ended in violence.

The Guardian

Warning Signals: Venezuela and the Risk of AI-Powered Chinese Digital Authoritarianism

Venezuela may be one step away from becoming one of the first countries outside the People’s Republic of China to adopt the new generation of Chinese artificial intelligence systems for mass surveillance and political control, according to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

Global Voices

France seethes again as youth-led protests sweep Europe

France’s government estimated that 320,000 people protested nationwide Saturday, fewer than in previous protests but still a significant turnout. Mass protests on Oct. 17 that deteriorated into some of France’s worst rioting in years drew more than 500,000 people around France, and demonstrations on Oct. 24 drew 410,000, according to government estimates. Organizers’ turnout estimates are much higher.

KUOW

Russian plague lab death: 3 lessons from the history of lab accidents

It’s been more than three weeks and Russian authorities still haven’t publicly answered key questions from the World Health Organization and international health experts about the death of a young lab worker at a plague research facility in Siberia.

Healthbeat

Israeli strikes kill eight people in Gaza – medics say

Israel, which says the Hamas militant group has been rearming and launching attacks in violation of a year-old ceasefire, has stepped up strikes on the group in recent weeks.

Al Monitor

Unmitigated Spread

How Trump Destroyed South Africa’s Effort to Slow HIV Transmission

The Intercept

In Albania, rural youth are campaigning to solve local environmental problems

In 2026, a local non-governmental organization (NGO), Qendra KAZUS, recruited and trained local youth to help solve this long-standing issue by turning them into environmental advocates. Global Voices conducted an email interview with Dhorjela Cela, the group’s executive director,  to learn about how Qendra KAZUS implemented a project that brought together youth, digital democracy, environmental challenges, and advocacy. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Global Voices