“Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton’s mother urged voters not to cast their ballot for her daughter, calling her ‘a liar’. ‘I love my daughter. But when I saw her lying about her opponent — it’s not easy for a mother to say this — but Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar.’ … Acton, a former Ohio Department of Health director, issued a statement from her brother. The release containing the statement described the woman as the siblings’ ‘estranged and abusive mother.’ ‘It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,’ Philip Stearns said in the statement. ‘After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died.'” (10/20/26)
“France will impose new curfews in areas where they are required, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Tuesday after the first night of partial curfews in major cities including Paris. Lecornu said the targeted curfews had helped keep the peace overnight after a turbulent weekend that saw protesters take aim at state institutions. … Lecornu has told French lawmakers that authorities would mobilize a ‘massive’ security presence next weekend, after organizers announced plans for new protests. … The prime minister also accused what he referred to as small ultra-left and extreme-left groups in certain locations of forging an ‘insurrectionary plan’ that fueled the violent rioting over the weekend for which the government could provide evidence.” (10/20/26)
“Iran-backed Houthi rebels [sic] struck a residential area in Yemen’s third-largest city on Tuesday, killing two teenage girls and renewing attention on the dangers faced by civilians in Taiz, which has been under attack and siege during the country’s escalating conflict. The Houthis have largely encircled Taiz, cutting it off from most supply routes and putting civilians at ‘grave risk’, U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said Tuesday. The U.N. says the siege has left many residents without food and other necessities as prices soar. The attack on Taiz came a day after a Houthi strike on a government military camp killed 73 recruits, the deadliest strike since the resurgence of the conflict over the summer, according to a senior Yemeni government official.” (10/20/26)
“The use of force in an officer-involved-shooting that resulted in the death of a 1-year-old in Mississippi has been ruled justified by the state of Mississippi on Monday. … The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said the driver of the vehicle, Kohen’s aunt, drove toward the police officers and struck one of them. An officer then fired on the vehicle, hitting the driver and fatally shooting Kohen [Wiley]. … An independent autopsy report found that Kohen’s death was a homicide. His family is being represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump as they seek the release of surveillance footage from the Walmart and the bureau of investigation.” (10/19/26)
“The re-arrests announced on Tuesday relate to a 24-year-old man who was initially arrested on 27 September near the base and a 25-year-old who was arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts days later on 1 October in the borough of Westminster. The other five men – who also include a 22-year-old British national arrested in Westminster on 6 October – remain on police bail. The head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said: ‘This is very much a live investigation, and our evidence gathering continues, but at this time our position remains the same; we consider it highly likely that there is Iranian state involvement. Our investigators are continuing to examine what that level of involvement was and the ambition behind it’.” (10/20/26)
“Finland is seeking to acquire one million anti-personnel mines. The plan to spend 100 million euros ($112 million) on the munitions comes after Helsinki and regional peers withdrew from a United Nations compact rejecting their use. With Moscow increasingly accused of mounting hybrid warfare against supporters of Ukraine, and possibly planning military provocations, Finland exited the Ottawa Convention last year. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, all also among the staunchest allies of Ukraine, also quit the agreement, citing the potential threat from Moscow. … Finland shares a border of roughly 1,340 kilometres (830 miles) with Russia. It has beefed up its defences since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and reported that migrants have been pushed across from the east.” (10/19/26)
“The woman who has accused seven students of raping her at a Cornell University fraternity house has weighed in on a looming faculty vote of no confidence in the school’s leadership, saying the university’s president questioned why she waited to report being assaulted — an alleged remark she said left her feeling ‘unsupported and disbelieved’. Her case has prompted student protests, renewed scrutiny of the university’s disciplinary system and a state investigation into the alleged assault. In an Oct. 14 letter to faculty leaders obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, the woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, described a conversation she said took place shortly after she reported the alleged assault in November 2024. According to her secondhand account, the president of her sorority told her that Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff had questioned Jane Doe’s delay in reporting the alleged assault, which the sorority leader interpreted as casting doubt on her story.” (10/20/26)
“Missouri is targeting prediction market platforms that offer sports-linked event markets. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced that her office sent cease-and-desist letters to several companies operating platforms that let Missourians access these sports event contracts—elements that her office considers illegal under state law. Polymarket, Kalshi, Crypto.com, Novig, Underdog, and Robinhood have been affected by these actions, as Hanaway labeled the provision of these services as operating an unlicensed sports wagering business.” [editor’s note: None of these businesses operate from Missouri, and any use of them by Missourians is by definition interstate (or international) commerce, regulation of which the US Constitution assigns to Congress, not to Catherine Hanaway – TLK] (10/19/26)
THANK YOU to subscribing contributors AN and DY! Their donations yesterday, totaling $12.50, prevented a “zero-dollar day” in our annual fundraiser and bring our total (as of 5am) to $1,003!
That leaves us just $1,748.50 short of our goal (once we’ve reached $2751.50, supporter GL will “match funds” to get us to the $5,503 finish line.
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“Voters in Canada’s oil-rich Alberta province overwhelmingly backed remaining in Canada, with early referendum results Tuesday delivering a boost to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s push for national unity amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and annexation threats. With more than 1.5 million votes counted, 76% supported remaining in Canada, while close to 24% backed beginning a process toward separation, according to unofficial results from Elections Alberta. The referendum wasn’t a direct vote on independence. Approval would have set Alberta on a path toward a future vote on separation from Canada.” (10/20/26)
