“Israeli police on Monday said they arrested 10 [squatters] accused of attacking a group of Palestinian olive pickers and journalists in the West Bank last week, including Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine. Some of the Israelis arrested were accused of also attacking a group of European diplomats visiting the Palestinian town of Taybeh on Saturday, CNN reported. The diplomats represented Belgium, France, Poland and the Catholic Church, the BBC reported. … On Friday, video captured the incident as dozens of masked Israeli [squatters] attacked the Palestinians gathering the harvest in Abu Falah. The attackers set the olive tree groves on fire and hurled rocks, Andrey Khrzhanovskiy, a blogger who recorded the incident, told The Washington Post.” (10/19/26)
“The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal brought by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other alleged 9/11 plotters seeking to hold the government to a plea deal it later withdrew. The court action removes one barrier to Mohammed standing trial before a military commission in 2028, where the death penalty is a possible punishment. He has been held at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006. Mohammed is accused of being the ringleader of the plot to crash hijacked planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. A fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. The other two men who appealed to the Supreme Court were Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi and Walid bin Attash, who are also held at Guantanamo and set to face trial.” (10/19/26)
“A self-proclaimed Kenyan preacher and his associates were found guilty of murdering 191 people, all but one of them children, in an infamous starvation cult by a Mombasa court on Monday. … Hundreds of bodies have been discovered since 2023 at the cult base inland from the Kenyan beach resort of Malindi, in what became known as the ‘Shakahola Forest Massacre.’ Paul Mackenzie is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death in order to ‘meet Jesus.'” (10/19/26)
“A murder warrant was issued Oct. 19 in Florida for former Cuban leader Raul Castro in connection with two humanitarian planes shot down 30 years ago. The warrant, signed by Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, charges Castro with one-count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Castro, then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and First Vice President of Cuba, was a final decision-maker in the chain of command that authorized the shootdown, according to the affidavit. Two planes, operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue, were shot down by the Cuban Air Force in [allegedly] international waters Feb. 25, 1996. Four people were killed.” (10/19/26)
“United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is calling for a national wealth tax and inheritance taxes approaching 100% for certain estates, arguing that growing wealth inequality poses a threat to American society. Kirby made the remarks when asked about declining public trust in corporate executives during an interview with The New York Times. ‘Wealth inequality has become a danger to our society, and we need to address that,’ Kirby told the outlet in an interview published Sunday. The airline executive argued that a wealth tax would need to be implemented nationwide rather than at the state level to prevent wealthy Americans from relocating to avoid paying it.” [editor’s note: Nothing is stopping you from giving your own money away, troll – SAT] (10/19/26)
“A Serbian prosecutor investigating alleged corruption surrounding a Trump real estate project in Belgrade was targeted with Israeli-made Pegasus spyware after speaking out about political interference and abuses of power, according to research made public Monday. Rade Bajić, a member of Serbia’s Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime, is reported to be the latest target identified in a growing spyware scandal that has engulfed the country’s political opposition, civil society and institutions. … The spyware revelation comes amid mounting controversy over plans to redevelop the former Yugoslav military headquarters in Belgrade into a luxury Trump Tower skyscraper. The project, associated with Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has faced allegations of political interference and irregularities surrounding the removal of the site’s protected heritage status.” (10/19/26)
“A former Rwandan army sergeant major, who became an outspoken critic of President Paul Kagame, has been found beheaded in neighbouring Uganda. Robert Kabera, 50, fled Rwanda after being accused of sexual assault, which he denied. He sought asylum in neighbouring Uganda, citing political persecution. Ugandan police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke on Monday said that Kabera’s head had still not been recovered. His body was discovered by local residents on the outskirts of Kampala over the weekend. The Rwandan government has not publicly commented on the killing. Several critics of Kagame have been killed, both in Rwanda and abroad. His widow, Jeanne d’Arc Rwigema Uwizeye, told BBC Great Lakes in a written message that she now feared for her family’s safety. ‘It is scary. I feel crazy, the children and I don’t have security,’ she said.” (10/19/26)
“Texas state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for governor, announced a lawsuit Monday against Gov. Greg Abbott over emails between his office and Republican ally Elon Musk. Hinojosa — who is challenging Abbott in a tight contest — said at a news conference that she filed the suit to obtain redacted documents that ‘Abbott refused to release,’ claiming they were being withheld because they are ‘intimate and embarrassing.’ A spokesperson for Abbott called the lawsuit ‘baseless’ and ‘nothing more than an act of desperation.'” (10/19/26)
“A car hit an Australian federal independent lawmaker on Monday, critically injuring her in an apparently deliberate attack, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. The driver was arrested. Helen Haines, 65, was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV outside her electoral district office midafternoon in the city of Wangaratta in Victoria state, police said. Albanese said the national counterterrorism team, incorporating police and intelligence agencies, was investigating. … Haines, who was first elected to the Parliament in 2019, was taken to a hospital with critical injuries, police said.” (10/19/26)
“President Donald Trump on Monday directed the government to bolster federal research into women’s health, a move pushed by his wife, first lady Melania Trump. The order creates a new women’s health division at the National Institutes of Health and a White House task force to focus on the issue. That panel was set to hold its first meeting Monday after the Trumps held a Rose Garden signing ceremony. Meanwhile, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander adults have become more disillusioned with Trump and Republicans as the Nov. 3 midterm elections approach, according to a new AP-NORC/AAPI Data poll, giving Democrats a substantial edge on major issues like the economy and health care.” (10/19/26)
