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52 stories · 10 categories · Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Wednesday, October 21, 2026 edition: 52 stories with labeled sources. Every brief from Wednesday, October 21, 2026 · All editions · RSS feed

Top Stories

  • Trump rallies for Whatley in North Carolina after GOP pulls money

    Donald Trump held a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Tuesday for Michael Whatley, the GOP pick for Senate, the Washington Post reported. Whatley trails Democrat Roy Cooper, and national GOP groups have pulled their ad money. Trump also unveiled two new chip projects in the state, the Washington Examiner reported.

  • Helen Haines loses second leg as accused attacker appears in court

    Australian MP Helen Haines has lost both legs after Monday's alleged car attack, her husband said, according to SBS News. Brendan Nugent, 43, appeared in court charged over the attack and made no bail request, ABC News reported. He is due back in court on February 4.

  • Google Cloud outage knocks UK banks, Revolut and courts offline

    A power problem at Google Cloud's London region knocked Revolut, several UK banks and court video hearings offline for hours on Tuesday, the Guardian and the BBC reported. Many customers could not pay or move money. Google later said the problem was fixed.

  • Trump says he asked Putin to free jailed American Stephen Hubbard

    President Trump said Tuesday that he has asked Vladimir Putin to release Stephen Hubbard. Hubbard is a retired American teacher held by Russia since 2022. Sources cited by ABC News say a deal to free several Americans is close, but they warn that nothing is final yet.

  • State Department says it has revoked more than 300,000 visas

    The Trump administration has revoked more than 300,000 visas since January 2025, the State Department said Tuesday. That is up from more than 175,000 in August. A department spokesman said the visa cases involved crimes, fraud, threats to public safety and immigration violations.

Politics

  • Trump rallies for Whatley in North Carolina after GOP pulls money

    Donald Trump held a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Tuesday for Michael Whatley, the GOP pick for Senate, the Washington Post reported. Whatley trails Democrat Roy Cooper, and national GOP groups have pulled their ad money. Trump also unveiled two new chip projects in the state, the Washington Examiner reported.

  • Cook shifts South Carolina, Mississippi Senate races toward Democrats

    The Cook Political Report moved Senate races in South Carolina and Mississippi toward Democrats on Tuesday, CNN and the Washington Examiner reported. It moved the Minnesota race the other way, toward the GOP. Voters go to the polls in two weeks, on November 3.

  • Appeals court revives religious groups' challenge to ICE arrests at churches

    A federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that religious groups likely have standing to challenge ICE arrests at houses of worship, according to Courthouse News Service. The court did not block the arrests. It sent the case back to a lower court judge to reconsider an injunction.

  • Trump promises farmers $8 billion to offset high diesel costs

    President Trump says farmers will get $8 billion to help cover high diesel costs during harvest season. He announced the Harvest Fuel Relief program at a Kansas rally Monday night. Diesel averaged $6.32 a gallon on Tuesday, up from $3.62 a year ago.

Business

  • Cheese importer sues over Trump's 50% tariffs on Canadian goods

    A New Jersey cheese importer has sued the Trump administration over 50% tariffs on many Canadian goods. The tariffs rely on a 1930 law that had never been used to set a tariff before. The White House says it will defend the tariffs in court.

  • Oil hits five-month high after claimed strikes on Saudi sites

    Global oil prices rose to their highest level in five months on Tuesday. Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed strikes on Saudi oil sites, and ships in the Gulf region reportedly came under attack. Brent crude topped $111 a barrel for the first time since May.

  • National Australia Bank to cut up to 2,500 jobs by mid-2027

    National Australia Bank plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs, about 6% of its workforce, by the middle of 2027. Up to 1,500 of those jobs will go before the end of this year. The bank says customer-facing roles will not be badly affected, but the bank workers' union calls the cuts disgraceful.

  • Paddy Power owner Flutter plans 1,400 job cuts, blaming taxes

    Flutter, the company that owns Paddy Power and Sky Bet, plans to cut up to 1,400 jobs in its UK and Ireland business. It blames higher British taxes on online gambling. A government spokesperson called the cuts a commercial decision for the company.

  • Dow gains 530 points as oil prices and bond yields ease

    The Dow rose about 530 points, or 1%, on Tuesday as oil prices and bond yields eased, according to Reuters. The S&P 500 gained 0.28%, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.02%. Shares of 3M jumped 5.8% after it raised its full-year profit forecast.

  • SpaceX revenue jumps 161% as Musk says boards weigh Tesla merger

    SpaceX said its third-quarter revenue rose 161% to $14.6 billion, according to its earnings release. Elon Musk said Tesla and SpaceX boards set up panels of independent directors to discuss a merger, CNBC reported. SpaceX stock was up 8.73% in premarket trading as of 4:09 AM Eastern time, CNBC data showed.

  • Netflix cuts ad revenue target, and shares fall after quarterly results

    Netflix lowered its 2026 ad revenue target to about $2.7 billion from $3 billion and forecast slower growth, Variety reported. Its stock was down 5.55% in premarket trading as of 4:09 AM Eastern time, according to CNBC data. Revenue for the quarter was $12.87 billion.

Sports

World

  • Japan presses Russia for access to detained reporter Yuki Imai

    Japan is pressing Russia to let its diplomats see Yuki Imai, a Japanese reporter held in Moscow on spying charges. A senior Japanese official raised the case in Moscow on Tuesday. Japan denies Russia's claim that Imai was spying and wants him freed.

  • Super Typhoon Champi reaches peak strength as it heads toward Taiwan

    Super Typhoon Champi has reached peak strength over the Philippine Sea, according to Weathernews. It is heading toward waters east of Taiwan and Japan's southern islands. Forecasters expect it to stay very strong through Thursday and then slowly weaken near Taiwan.

  • Iran rules out US talks until its demands are met

    Iran says it will not hold talks with the United States until its demands are met, according to Reuters, which cited Iranian media. Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan's army chief, met Iran's president in Tehran on Tuesday. Pakistan has been the main go-between for the two countries.

  • UN experts criticize India's protest crackdown, and India rejects 'selective targeting'

    More than 20 United Nations human rights experts say Indian police have used too much force against peaceful protests. They point to more than 7,000 people detained in New Delhi and call for an independent inquiry. India said at a UN committee that rights must not be used for political pressure.

  • Storm Adam kills at least five as rescuers reach flooded Spain

    Storm Adam has killed at least five people along Spain's Mediterranean coast. Rescue crews in Valencia pulled stranded people from rooftops after days of very heavy rain. The regional government told about 850,000 people to limit travel as roads and flights were disrupted.

  • Ukraine says it evacuated a wounded soldier by heavy drone

    Ukraine's military says it flew a wounded soldier out of a front-line position by drone, in what it calls a world first, CBS News and NBC News reported. Russian drones and mines had blocked ground routes. The flight lasted about an hour and 15 minutes.

Tech

  • DHS orders federal agencies to remove DeepSeek products

    Homeland Security has ordered civilian agencies to stop buying DeepSeek products and to remove them from their computers, according to CNBC. The ban also covers outside tools built on DeepSeek's AI models. It does not apply to the Defense Department, CNBC reported.

  • Paradigm Healthcare breach exposed data on about 970,000 Medi-Cal members

    A data breach at Paradigm Healthcare Services hit more than 970,000 people, according to SecurityWeek. The company does billing work for Medi-Cal, which is California's Medicaid health program. Hackers may have seen names, birth dates, gender and Medi-Cal ID numbers in the breach.

  • OpenAI buys Orchestra Bio to expand its drug development tools

    OpenAI has bought Orchestra Bio, a startup whose AI agents help drug companies keep track of studies, schedules and problems. OpenAI will add the team to Rosalind, its set of AI tools for life sciences. The companies did not share the price.

  • Microsoft launches tools that treat AI agents like insider threats

    Microsoft has released new security tools that watch the AI agents companies use at work. A Microsoft security chief wrote that frontier AI models "cannot be trusted" because they are unpredictable. The tools can limit an agent's access when it strays from its job.

  • Hackers copied data on California public school students from test contractor

    Hackers copied data on California public school students from a state testing company, according to The Record. The stolen files hold names, birth dates, disability details and test scores. The state says no Social Security numbers or bank details were in the files.

  • Google releases TorchTPU so PyTorch apps can run on its chips

    Google has released TorchTPU as a free open-source project, according to TechCrunch. It lets apps built with the popular PyTorch toolkit run on Google's own AI chips with small changes. Amazon released a similar tool for its own chips a day earlier.

Entertainment

  • Amanda Seyfried questions her own answers in red carpet interview

    Amanda Seyfried has questioned her own answers in a red carpet interview after clips went around online, according to USA Today. "What AM I even saying," she said in a comment on the clip. At the Academy Museum Gala, she had said she liked to talk about emus, Halloween and apple pie.

  • FX renews 'American Horror Story' for a 14th season

    FX has renewed "American Horror Story" for a 14th season, Variety and UPI reported. The news comes ahead of the Season 13 finale on October 29. Season 13 had the biggest streaming premiere in the show's history, with 4 million views in four days.

  • Seven 'Fast & Furious' movies scheduled to leave Netflix November 1

    Seven "Fast & Furious" movies are scheduled to leave Netflix in the United States on November 1, according to What's on Netflix. The list runs from the 2001 original through "Furious 7." The site says its November list is preliminary and could change.

  • Antonio Grimau, Argentine star of stage and television, dies at 82

    Antonio Grimau, an Argentine actor known for leading roles on stage, film and television for more than 60 years, has died at 82. He had been in a Buenos Aires hospital that treats lung diseases. Argentina's actors' union announced his death on Tuesday.

  • Dwayne Johnson plays a 70-year-old 'Chicken Man' in 'Lizard Music'

    Dwayne Johnson was photographed in Brooklyn on Tuesday playing a 70-year-old man in heavy makeup for his new movie "Lizard Music." Director Benny Safdie is making the film for Amazon MGM Studios. It is set to reach theaters on Christmas Day 2027.

  • U2 will headline halftime at the NFL's first Thanksgiving Eve game

    U2 will play the halftime show at the NFL's first Thanksgiving Eve game, according to Variety and the band. The Packers and Rams are scheduled to meet at SoFi Stadium on November 25. Netflix will stream the game live around the world.

  • Christina Applegate says she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis

    Christina Applegate said on her podcast that she does not have multiple sclerosis after all, five years after her 2021 diagnosis, NBC News reported. She said the news left her "back at square one" because her symptoms go on. Her doctors will now look for the cause, USA Today reported.

Health

  • FDA approves Hibsago as first antisense treatment for hepatitis B

    The FDA approved GSK's Hibsago for some adults with chronic hepatitis B, according to the agency's announcement. In trials, 19% of patients kept the virus under control 24 weeks after they stopped all treatment. The drug has a boxed warning for liver reactions and low platelets.

  • Novo says women lost 25% of weight on CagriSema in analysis

    Women in a large trial of Novo Nordisk's experimental obesity shot CagriSema lost 25% of their weight on average, according to CNBC. The figure comes from an analysis done after the trial ended. It assumes every patient stayed on the drug for all 68 weeks.

  • Lidl recalls coffee and vanilla gelato over possible listeria

    Lidl US is recalling one lot of Gelatelli Coffee and Vanilla Gelato because it may contain listeria. The pints were sold from July 19 to October 15 at Lidl stores in nine states and Washington, DC. No illnesses have been reported, and shoppers can get refunds without a receipt.

  • About 4.3 million tubes of toothpaste recalled, including children's brands

    About 4.3 million tubes of Brush Buddies, evo and ARU toothpaste have been recalled across the United States. They include children's Barbie, Hot Wheels and Crayola flavors. Federal records cite problems with manufacturing practices but do not say exactly what went wrong.

  • Federal officials hold back $1.2 billion more in California Medicaid money

    The Trump administration is holding back $1.2 billion more in Medicaid money from California. Officials say they suspect fraud in a home care program that grew fast. Mehmet Oz, who runs the federal program, did not show proof of fraud, and a California senator says the move will hurt older people.

Science & Climate

  • Neanderthal hand bones found in Navarre are 46,000 years old

    Scientists have identified six hand bone fragments from a Neanderthal man who lived about 46,000 years ago in a cave in Navarre, Spain. They are the first Neanderthal remains found in the region. Some of the bones still hold ancient DNA and show bite marks from carnivores.

  • Climate models miss how much ice glaciers lose in heat waves

    Most climate models use monthly average temperatures, so they miss short heat waves that melt glaciers fast, according to Earth.com. A new study that ran a model day by day found 5% to 10% more glacier loss by 2100. That would add 20 to 33 millimeters of sea level rise.

  • Leading climate scientist says global warming is speeding up

    Global warming from burning fossil fuels is speeding up, climate scientist Johan Rockström said Tuesday, according to Reuters. He said coral reefs, the Amazon and parts of an Atlantic Ocean current are near tipping points. He expects the world to pass 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming within a few years.

  • Phoenix area faces flood watch, severe storms and small tornado chance

    Storms could bring flash floods, damaging winds, hail and a small chance of a tornado to the Phoenix area on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. A flood watch covers much of Arizona. The chance of an isolated tornado is under 5%, KTAR reported.

Lifestyle

  • European Parliament approves a standard EU form for travel refunds

    The European Parliament has approved new rules to help travelers get refunds when trips are disrupted, according to Euronews. Passengers will be able to use a standard EU form for flights, trains, buses and ferries. The rules still need final approval from EU governments.

  • Food Lion app and website return after nine days offline

    Food Lion's website and app are working again after nine days offline, WRAL reported. The grocer took them down after what it called a cybersecurity incident. Sister chain Hannaford was still offline on Monday, and its stores stayed open during the outage.

  • Colorado wildlife crossings cut animal collisions by 91%, report finds

    Wildlife crossings on Interstate 25 in Colorado, including a big overpass for elk and pronghorn, cut crashes with animals by 91%, the Guardian and CBS Colorado reported. The overpass opened in December. Elk, bears, deer and even frogs now use it, state officials said.