“Indian authorities on Tuesday carried out a cloud-seeding experiment over smog-choked New Delhi in an attempt to induce rainfall and clear the city’s toxic air, which has sparked anger among residents. A plane sprayed chemicals into clouds over some areas of the Indian capital to encourage rain and wash pollutants from the air, which remained in the ‘very poor’ category, according to air quality monitors. Cloud seeding — a weather modification method that releases chemicals into clouds to trigger rain — has been used in drought-prone regions, such as the western United States and the United Arab Emirates, though experts say its effectiveness remains uncertain. Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the trial was done in collaboration with the government’s Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, with more planned in the coming days.” (10/28/25)
“The man accused of killing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022 has pleaded guilty to murder. Forty-five-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami admitted all charges read out by prosecutors as his trial opened on Tuesday, according to the Japanese broadcaster NHK. Yamagami was charged with murder and violations of arms control laws for allegedly using a handmade weapon to shoot Japan’s longest serving leader. ‘Everything is true,’ the suspect told the court, according to the AFP news agency. Abe was shot as he gave a speech during an election campaign in the western city of Nara on July 8, 2022. Yamagami was arrested at the scene. The assassination was reportedly triggered by the suspect’s anger over links between Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to the Unification Church.” (10/28/25)
“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Kenvue and Johnson & Johnson, claiming the use of Tylenol leads to higher risk of autism and that the over-the-counter drug is deceptively marketed to pregnant women as safe. Many medical experts have disputed such claims. The lawsuit, dated Monday, alleges Johnson & Johnson and Tylenol maker Kenvue, which separated from Johnson & Johnson in 2023, knew for decades ‘that acetaminophen — Tylenol’s active ingredient — is dangerous to unborn children and young children. Yet they hid this danger and deceptively marketed Tylenol as the only safe painkiller for pregnant women.’ In the lawsuit, Paxton pointed to the Trump administration’s claims about acetaminophen’s risks, saying that ‘the federal government confirmed what Defendants knew for years: acetaminophen use during pregnancy likely causes conditions like [autism] and [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder].'” (10/28/25)
“President Donald Trump on Monday asked a New York appeals court to overturn his criminal conviction in the Manhattan hush money case that made him a felon as he plotted a path back to the White House last year. In a 96-page filing, Trump’s lawyers relied on many of the same arguments that Trump previously made before, during and immediately following the 2024 trial, including that the conviction should be thrown out in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity and that the judge who oversaw the trial should have recused himself because he made political contributions. … The appeal is just one of Trump’s attempts to overturn his conviction last May of 34 counts of business fraud for his effort to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.” (10/28/25)
“U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis on Tuesday ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to meet her daily ‘to hear about how the day went’ after weeks of confrontations between immigration agents and the public in the Chicago area. The immigration sweeps from Operation Midway Blitz have produced more than 1,800 arrests and complaints of excessive force. Ellis also asked Border Patrol’s Greg Bovino to submit by Friday all use-of-force reports from Border Patrol agents involved in the operation from Sept. 2 through Tuesday. The courtroom on Tuesday gave the feeling of a principal’s office as Ellis detailed examples of incidents where she felt her previous order restricting the use of force, including tear gas, was not being followed.” (10/28/25)
“Elon Musk’s Grokipedia launched on Monday, but the encyclopedia powered by xAI’s assistant Grok that’s built to rival Wikipedia, crashed shortly after — leaving the site briefly inaccessible to users. Grokipedia was launched after Musk complained about ‘propaganda’ on Wikipedia and, after a stuttering start, it was live late Monday evening with nearly 900,000 articles available, according to the homepage. When asked for comment on the site crash, a representative for x.ai said in an email: ‘Legacy Media Lies.’ They did not immediately respond to Axios'[s] follow-up question Monday evening on the reason for the crash.” (10/27/25)
“Venezuelan authorities said they uncovered an operation targeting the USS Gravely, a guided-missile destroyer that docked Sunday in Trinidad and Tobago — within firing distance of the Venezuelan mainland. The ship’s arrival sparked outrage in Caracas, which called it a ‘provocation’ …. Maduro on Monday evening announced he had suspended a gas agreement with Trinidad and Tobago …. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Monday that a cell ‘financed by the CIA’ planned to attack the USS Gravely and frame Caracas. Four people were arrested, Cabello said, without providing details of the alleged suspects. Venezuela regularly claims to have arrested US-backed mercenaries working to destabilize Maduro’s administration. … Tensions rose further Monday as two US B-1B bombers flew over the Caribbean near Venezuela, the third such show of force in recent weeks.” (10/27/25)
“Hurricane Melissa was about to pummel Jamaica on Tuesday as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, the strongest to lash the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago. The storm was expected to make landfall early Tuesday and slice diagonally across the island, entering near St. Elizabeth parish in the south and exiting around St. Ann parish in the north, forecasters said. Hours before the storm, the government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of catastrophic damage. … The storm already was blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person was missing.” (10/28/25)
“Ukraine has carried out a drone strike on Belgorod dam that led to flooding in the southern Russian region and cut off several Moscow units. Water gushed from the damaged reservoir, disrupting Russian logistics and stranding troops stationed on the Ukrainian side of the border in Vovchansk. … Before the dam strike, Ukraine’s 16 Army Corps said Russian activity near Vovchansk had increased owing to warm weather. This hardened the ground and led to shallower rivers in the region, making logistics easier for the Russians. But after the strike, the water surged into the Siverskyi Donets River, reportedly flooding Russian bunkers and trenches and complicating logistics for the forward positions of Moscow’s troops.” (10/27/25)
“Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Braun called Monday for state lawmakers to return to Indianapolis for a special session to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries, escalating a national fight over midcycle redistricting. President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on Republican governors to draw new maps that give the party an easier path to maintain control of the House in the midterms. While Republicans in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina have moved quickly to enact new districts and California Democrats are seeking to counter with their own redistricting plan, Indiana lawmakers have been far more hesitant. Braun called for the General Assembly to convene Nov. 3 for the special session. It’s unclear whether enough of the GOP majority Senate will back new maps. The White House held multiple meetings with Indiana lawmakers who have held out for months.” (10/27/25)
