“A Liberian-flagged vessel that was hit by drones off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast has sunk, the local maritime administration said Thursday. Three maritime drones struck the container ship Contship Jet about 21 nautical miles off the coast of Bulgaria on Wednesday, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said. It was the fifth drone attack in the NATO country’s exclusive economic zone this month. The Greek-managed container ship was en route from Israel’s port of Haifa to Constanța in Romania. All 18 crew members, 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians, were rescued by Bulgarian naval and border police vessels and taken to the port city of Varna for medical checks. … Russia has not taken responsibility for the recent attacks, but suspicion has fallen on Moscow.” (10/29/26)
“Federal and state authorities searched the autism service provider Iska, Inc. and several other sites in Minnesota on Thursday morning. An FBI spokesman said Thursday they are working with a handful of agencies on ‘court-authorized investigative activity.’ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, criminal investigators at the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Postal Inspectors are involved in the investigations, the spokesman said. The FBI declined to provide additional details, citing an active investigation. But a spokesman for the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office said their office was involved with searching Iska on Thursday. The St. Louis Park-based business received more than $16.7 million in Medicaid funds between 2018 and 2025, according to state data.” (10/29/26)
“The [Republican “infiltrated and neuter” operation] Mises Caucus has launched a political organization called the American Liberty Party, with one of the new group’s first objectives being to recruit Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky to run for president in 2028. The effort was launched Tuesday, October 27, by Mises Caucus founder and former chair Michael Heise, who wrote on X that he had spent the past couple of months reaching out to figures within the America First movement about forming a new political group. Heise said the effort is intended to provide flexibility to support ‘legitimately good’ primary candidates while also building an organization that could direct its limited resources toward areas where they would have the greatest impact.” [editor’s note: If Massie is smart — and he seems to be — he’ll avoid these grifters like the plague – TLK] (10/29/26)
“Patrick Stewart, who rose from poverty in England to become an accomplished Shakespearean stage actor and then achieved global stardom as the erudite Captain Jean-Luc Picard in TV’s ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ and the telepathic Professor Charles Xavier in the ‘X-Men’ movies, has died at the age of 86. Stewart, knighted in 2010 by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to drama, died at his home in Los Angeles, according to a statement on his X account.” (10/29/26)
“A New York judge was set on Thursday to hear arguments on whether New York Attorney General James should remain as special prosecutor in the case against Cornell University students accused of sexually assaulting a female classmate in 2024. … Lawyers for the men maintain that the attorney general ‘has already publicly prejudged the guilt’ of the seven men accused in the lawsuit, citing comments she made when assigned the post, which came years after a local prosecutor filed no charges in the case.” (10/29/26)
“Alaska’s Republican governor has ordered an investigation in response to President Donald Trump ‘s demand for a criminal probe of whether Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola’s campaign was involved in recruiting a spoiler candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. Political parties often support extra candidates on the ballot to try to pull votes from their rivals. In Ohio’s Senate race, Republicans have been tied to an effort to boost a socialist to votes from Sherrod Brown, the Democratic candidate challenging Sen. Jon Husted. A federal judge rejected a Trump administration request to stop California from processing the ballots of up to 20,000 people over allegations that they are likely noncitizens, warning it would ‘wreak havoc’ on the midterm elections. The ruling comes as more than 3.7 million people have already voted in the state.” (10/29/26)
“The European Commission is telling capitals across the bloc to pause any national laws that restrict social media access to minors, as Brussels seeks an EU-wide set of rules. But Austria, the first country told to halt its legislation Thursday, lashed out at the order. ‘It is unacceptable for Brussels to block member states from enacting national laws without presenting a completed European solution of its own,’ Austrian State Secretary Alexander Pröll told POLITICO. The Commission and national capitals have been seeking age restrictions for social media over the past year, citing risks to young people’s mental health. But even after the EU proposed a unified law, different countries have continued pursuing different approaches and age limits.” (10/29/26)
“Days before the United States’ pivotal midterm elections, a Texas group affiliated with the Republican Party has asked a federal judge to stop certification of the state’s upcoming election results. In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the Potter County Republican Party and its chairman, Daniel Rogers, claim potential election interference by artificial intelligence (AI) or ‘malicious actors’ that could compromise the results of next Tuesday’s elections in Texas. The plaintiffs, who are asking for a hand count of every ballot from every precinct in the state before election certification happens, allege voting machines have components inside made by China that would allow them to be manipulated.” (10/29/26)
“Families desperately searched for missing loved ones Thursday, more than 24 hours after two high-speed trains collided in central Spain, killing at least 69 and injuring dozens of others. ‘I have my father, and I don’t know where he is. I hope to find him, oh my Lord,’ said César Vicente, an actor who traveled 495 kilometers (307 miles) from his native Seville to Toledo in search of his father. He spent the night with many other families at a religious center converted into a base for those affected by the disaster. Vicente was with his mother and his aunt, all of whom were looking for César Vicente, who was sitting in seat 13A on the RENFE train that struck another operated by the private company Iryo, which had stopped on the tracks.” (10/29/26)
“A South Korean special prosecutor on Thursday demanded the death penalty for ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, ahead of an appeals court verdict on rebellion charges over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024. The Seoul High Court has yet to set a date for a verdict on Yoon’s appeal of a life sentence handed down in February by the Seoul Central District Court. The court found that he illegally mobilized troops and police to seize the legislature, arrest political opponents and establish unchecked rule for a ‘considerable time.’ Investigators led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-suk also appealed the ruling, arguing Yoon deserves the death penalty because his actions posed a grave threat to the country’s democracy. An execution would be unlikely. South Korea has not executed anyone since 1997, effectively maintaining a moratorium on capital punishment following calls for its abolition.” (10/29/26)
