“A woman drove a truck through a soccer field during a youth game in Kansas on Saturday, killing two people and sending 11 other victims to the hospital, authorities said. A 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man were killed, Wichita Police Capt. Aaron Moses said. The ages of the injured people ranged from 5 to 68. Moses said the driver, a 34-year-old, was in custody. He did not say whether authorities believe it was intentional.” (10/18/26)
“Iran’s parliament approved Mehrdad Akhlaqi Ketabchi as defence minister on Sunday, ending months of interim leadership at the ministry and placing a former defence sector veteran in charge of the country’s defence production and procurement apparatus. Akhlaqi replaces Majid Ebn al-Reza, who took over in an interim capacity after then Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed by US-Israeli strikes in February. Akhlaqi has spent decades in Iran’s defence industry and has held senior roles in its aerospace and missile sectors. He is subject to US and EU sanctions over his work in Iran’s defence sector. In a programme presented to lawmakers, Akhlaqi pledged to rebuild the country’s military-industrial infrastructure, accelerate the development of defence technologies and expand cooperation with private-sector companies.” (10/18/26)
“US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that US President Donald Trump’s waiver of sweeping sanctions and tariffs on Russia would be a 60-day pause to ‘analyse’ their impact on the global economy. … US lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have sharply criticised Trump after he signed an executive order Friday that waived sweeping sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia – measures adopted by Congress last month. The law passed in September, and signed by Trump, included sanctions targeting Russian officials, oligarchs and financial institutions, and provided Trump with the authority to impose sanctions on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.” (10/18/26)
“Paris police said Sunday that 855 people were arrested in the French capital region after violent groups clashed with officers and looted shops during a protest march that drew about 110,000 people who denounced rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. Violent clashes, fires and looting on Saturday marred demonstrations across France. Authorities said groups of masked protesters targeted public buildings, including city halls and local government offices. Authorities said about 550,000 people took part in protests across France, while organizers counted about 800,000.” (10/18/26)
“Thousands of young Albanians gathered outside the Education Ministry in the center of the capital Tirana on Saturday on the fifth day of a growing student-led movement to force Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign. The protest turned violent when a group of young people wearing masks hurled rocks at riot police, who responded with stun grenades, tear gas and a water cannon. Demonstrations over corruption and a lack of jobs have begun spreading throughout Albania. In Tirana this week, protesters smashed windows, set alight government buildings and clashed with police.” (10/17/26)
“Prosecutors who had failed to convict Mr. Simpson of murder have given little credence to the notion of an accomplice. The police, too. Many people considered the details of Mr. Simpson’s hypothetical confession a fantasy, part of a desperate effort to cash in on his waning fame and notoriety amid growing money struggles and scrapes with the law. But today, more than 30 years after the ‘trial of the century,’ newly uncovered evidence suggests that Mr. Simpson’s account should not have been so readily dismissed. A New York Times examination, based on recently unsealed court files, interviews and other evidence, details long-hidden information about the missing murder weapon, Mr. Simpson’s supposed efforts to cover up the crime, as well as the possibility of an accomplice. … The double murder prosecution of Mr. Simpson, who was acquitted by a jury, remains one of the most scrutinized cases in popular culture, spawning endless theories.” (10/18/26)
“An 80m (263ft) luxury vessel has been repeatedly spotted in satellite images off North Korea’s Wonsan coast from July to mid-October this year. What stands out is the 50m swimming pool along the deck, with a cluster of waterslides at one end. After sitting idle for months at a maintenance facility, it relocated in early July to waters off a strip of coastline known as the Kalma Peninsula. This is close to Wonsan, a seaside resort with a sprawling villa used by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family. It was not the only large vessel on the move. A handful of others were also repeatedly seen near Kim’s villa, in satellite images analysed by the BBC. The vessels are widely believed to be used by Kim and his family.” (10/17/26)
“Pope Leo XIV was discharged from the hospital on Saturday after undergoing surgery for lung cancer, with his surgeon saying he could be fully recovered in about 10 days. Dr. Stefano Margaritora told Vatican News there were ‘no clinical reasons’ preventing the pontiff from making his planned trip to Latin America next month. The pontiff, who had been recovering at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital since Tuesday, walked out unaided before spending a couple of minutes speaking with well-wishers. He appeared to accept a gift of a homemade smiling Pope figure before getting in a car and being driven back to the Vatican.” (10/17/26)
“Israeli [squatter] militants have attacked European diplomats, a French mayor and the archbishop of Cambrai in Taybeh, in the occupied West Bank, injuring three people and damaging a car, in the latest violent attempt to prevent Palestinians from harvesting olives on their own land. Bernard Baudoux, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries, was wearing his red, white and blue sash of office and attempting to enter a vehicle with diplomatic plates when he was assaulted and knocked to the ground on Saturday. … [Squatters] first attacked a group working on the lower slopes of hills near Taybeh. As well as stealing olives, they kicked, abused and assaulted a Palestinian woman in her 70s and beat a man so badly he needed six stitches for a head injury. Then they approached the diplomats and Badoux, who was in Taybeh for the launch of a twinning agreement with his town in northern France.” (10/17/26)
“A judge dismissed child sex abuse charges against actor Timothy Busfield on Friday because, he said, prosecutors ‘failed to act in a fair and impartial manner.’ Busfield, 69, was indicted by a grand jury in New Mexico in February on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child on the set of the Fox television series The Cleaning Lady. Busfield, who acted in and directed the show from 2022 to 2024, was indicted after accusations of groping twin boys who worked as child actors on the show. … He denied all charges, and said the boys’ parents were seeking ‘revenge’ after the child actors were not invited back for the show’s final season, Variety reported.” (10/16/26)
