“A judge in Milan has freed a 30-year-old researcher accused by police of helping orchestrate violent protests in Italy this month, in a ruling that has infuriated Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who denounced the decision as ‘shameful’. Youssef Siher, an Italian freelance journalist and geopolitics graduate of Moroccan origin, was detained by Milan prosecutors on 24 October on charges of incitement to commit crimes, aggravated by alleged terrorist purposes. … Prosecutors had portrayed Siher as a dangerous militant, but Milan judge Tiziana Landoni said in her ruling that the investigation appeared deeply flawed. ‘There are no serious grounds for believing that (Siher) committed the offences with which he has been charged, nor is there a risk of flight,’ Landoni wrote in her ruling.” (10/28/26)
“Alaska’s GOP-led government is urging a federal court to dismiss the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit seeking to bar the state from certifying its midterm election results, according to a Monday court filing. The DOJ lawsuit, filed last week, claimed the presence of a candidate with the same name as incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) could give Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola an unfair advantage in the upcoming election. In a motion to dismiss, attorneys representing Alaska and the other defendants named in the lawsuit said the state’s elections division ‘has taken significant steps to distinguish them on the ballot so that voters can easily determine which candidate is which.’ The state’s filing also noted ‘the United States lacks authority to intervene in state elections at all, much less in support of a favored candidate,’ adding ‘the complaint has no legal basis.'” (10/28/26)
“Scores of people have been killed and about 100 injured after a high-speed train collided with a stationary train. Spain’s transport minister called it ‘inexplicable’ that a train was allowed to continue its journey despite a red signal being in place. … This is the third rail disaster in Spain in 2026. In January, two high-speed trains collided near Adamuz, in southern Spain’s Córdoba province, killing more than 40 people. A commuter train near Barcelona derailed days later.” (10/28/26)
“The U.S. military [murdered] five people in a ‘kinetic strike’ targeting a boat operating along what it called ‘established narco-trafficking routes’ in the Eastern Pacific on Tuesday, as a senior Pentagon official compared Latin American drug cartels to Al-Qaida and ISIS and accused them of orchestrating legal challenges to the military campaign. The strike is the 72nd known attack by the U.S. military on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific since the launch of the operation in September 2025. In those strikes, it has [murdered] at least 243 people it alleges were involved in drug trafficking, though family members of some of the dead have said their loved ones were fishermen and farmers.” (10/27/26)
“The Supreme Court, with no noted dissents, has allowed an agreement between Texas and the Department of Justice ending a Biden-era immigration rule to go into effect. The Biden administration adopted the rule in 2024, formally establishing procedures for immigration judges to temporarily pause certain deportation proceedings through a practice known as ‘administrative closure’, including when migrants were pursuing immigration relief through other federal proceedings. The Supreme Court’s move leaves in place a lower court ruling eliminating that rule, stripping away a procedure that allowed certain deportation cases to be put on hold. Texas sued the federal government in June, arguing that the rule was adopted without proper legal authority.” (10/28/26)
“El Salvador has sent about 1,000 troops to Haiti after four Salvadorean members of a UN-backed security mission went missing in a [rival] gang ambush on the outskirts of the capital on October 18, a security official in Haiti told Reuters on Tuesday. The troops’ arrival aboard flights in recent days dramatically expands the Central American nation’s role in Haiti’s long-standing gang conflict. Yet it remains unclear who will command the new Salvadorean contingent, how long it will stay in Haiti or whether more forces will follow. Neither the Haitian nor Salvadorean government immediately responded to requests for comment.” (10/28/26)
“A luxury cruise ship on a years-long voyage around the world said it suspended operations due to extraordinarily high fuel costs, leaving passengers stranded in Cambodia. The US-based operator of the Villa Vie Odyssey said it was working with passengers on disembarkation plans and ‘temporary living arrangements’. It is unclear how many were on board but the nearly 200m (656ft) vessel can carry up to 650 passengers. It departed Belfast in October 2024 for ‘a continuous voyage around the world’. Global fuel prices have soared since the Iran war started earlier this year. The ship’s operator said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia has risen to as much as $8,000 (£6,000) from $1,800.” (10/28/26)
“A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Republican Bill Essayli is not legally serving as the top U.S. prosecutor in Los Angeles. The ruling is the latest roadblock to the Trump administration’s effort to extend handpicked acting U.S. attorneys beyond the 120-day limit set by federal law. The strategy was designed to bypass confirmation by the U.S. Senate — something that generally requires a degree of bipartisan support. Essayli ‘is unlawfully serving as a ‘de facto’ United States Attorney,’ U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright wrote. The order won’t take effect until the court rules on the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal.” (10/28/26)
“The software firm Palantir has drawn scrutiny and recent public ire over its role in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, the illegal US war in Iran, and Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. But a trove of documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reveals that the notorious tech company’s tentacles have reached into the American healthcare system—including a widely criticized Medicare pilot program that uses AI models to review requests for medical services. The documents include an application from Zyter, a healthcare technology company that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) chose to participate in the Medicare pilot program, formally known as the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model. Zyter’s application mentions that Palantir ‘provides mission critical software infrastructure for CMS’ and other government agencies, as well as ‘multiple’ insurance companies. Zyter uses Palantir’s software infrastructure, EFF noted.” (10/28/26)
“Rock star Neil Young filed a $10 million lawsuit Monday over President Donald Trump’s use of his song ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ at campaign events — the second time he has sued over Trump’s use of his music. In the five-page filing, Young’s lawyers say he ‘has suffered damage to his reputation and brand as a result of the implication that he supports Donald J. Trump in any way.’ The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Virginia against the Trump 47 Committee, a joint fundraising committee, alleging copyright infringement over Trump’s repeated use of his hit song, specifically mentioning an October rally in Ohio.” (10/27/26)
