The inquiry also found evidence that Russia recruited men from 29 countries into its armed forces ‘through deception or coercion’ to fight in Ukraine
© Ukrainian Emergency Service
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has denied its military actions in Gaza constitute a genocide
© AFP/Getty
© Department of Justice
Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Getting to the bottom of the Starlink matter: “Elon Musk weighed in on Saturday with his first explanation of the disruptions to the Ukrainian military’s satellite system, saying in a post on X that Ukraine had violated the terms of service for his Starlink internet service by using it ‘for offensive drone strikes to kill people.’”
* In related news: “Ukraine’s military Starlink system was working normally again on Saturday morning, the country’s defense minister said, raising hopes that the 10-day disruption of the country’s vital satellite internet service by Elon Musk’s SpaceX was ending.”
* Conditions in France: “Protests across France over a worsening cost-of-living crisis and growing inequality descended into violence for a second straight weekend. France’s Interior Ministry said 410,000 people took part in protests in several major cities, including Paris.”
* The obviously right call: “A federal judge on Monday ruled that Maureen Comey, a former senior prosecutor at the Justice Department and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, was unlawfully fired and is entitled to back pay.”
* There’s credible excuse for withholding this evidence: “The federal government has stopped sharing evidence with Minnesota authorities who are investigating the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers, state officials said in recent court filings.”
* This buyout initiative would reduce Microsoft’s global workforce by roughly a fourth: “Microsoft said Monday that it’s offering buyouts to a wide swath of employees as it strives to balance a costly artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out with capital efficiency. The software maker announced a new voluntary exit offer for certain workers in the U.S., Canada, India and the United Kingdom at its experience level of 70 or below. Microsoft will offer buyouts to about 60,000 workers, part of the company’s efforts to trim costs and retool its workforce for the AI era.”
* Doellner should probably keep in mind that Democrats and independents buy cars, too: “Audi chief Gernot Doellner drew heavy criticism on Monday for appearing alongside US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in the battleground state of Georgia, with the head of Germany’s top union saying it violated the automaker’s company guidelines.”
See you tomorrow.
The post Monday’s Mini-Report, 10.26.26 appeared first on MS NOW.
Early voting opened on October 26 across Washington D.C. and will run through every district until Sunday, November 1.
Residents who missed the online or mail registration deadline can still register directly at the polling center. That same-day registration requires a valid, recent proof of address, such as an official identification, a utility bill or a bank statement issued within the past ninety days.
RELATED: Trump’s Grip on Senate at Stake in 10 Key Midterm Races
District law also lets non-citizen residents who meet age and local residency requirements vote in municipal elections. They receive a separate ballot limited to district offices, including the Council, the Board of Education and the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.
In neighboring Maryland, the early voting period runs through Thursday, October 29, with centers open daily from 7 A.M. to 8 P.M. local time. Voters there can also register the same day by showing a document that proves their current address.
Election authorities detailed the rules for those who prefer mail ballots or official drop boxes before the November 3 general vote. In Washington D.C., ballots must carry that date’s postmark or be deposited before 8 P.M.
Maryland set Tuesday, October 27, as the cutoff for requesting printed ballots at each county’s local offices.
Voters who miss the October 27 request deadline in Maryland can still cast a ballot in person during the early window or on November 3. The mail route, however, closes at that point for printed ballots.
The midterm cycle has produced a sharp rise in early participation. As of October 25, more than 23 million people had voted early nationwide, up from the 15 million recorded in 2022.
After two years marked by unilateral decisions, a hardline stance on immigration, rising living costs and involvement in the war against Iran, Donald Trump’s administration now faces a ballot test that could strip Republicans of their absolute control of Congress.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are being contested. Republicans hold 218 seats against 214 for the Democrats, along with two vacancies and one independent seat occupied by Kevin Kiley after his departure from the Republican Party. That narrow margin leaves the chamber within reach for the opposition, and the surge in early ballots is being read as a measure of how much ground the ruling party could lose.
The early vote will keep building through the final weekend before November 3, when the full contours of the midterm electorate will emerge.
Comey responded to the fresh charges with an Instagram video
© AFP/Getty
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired the Pentagon’s top military planner, a defense official said Wednesday
© Getty
Lawyers for Diego Sarabia say the allegations against him do not support Jane Doe’s broader accusations of rape and sexual assault
© Reuters
Donald Trump framed Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power as a condition for finishing the offensive against Iran. “We have to finish the job we started,” he wrote on his social media, aiming the appeal squarely at Israeli voters three days before the legislative elections.
The U.S. President returned to an October 18 letter in which he called Netanyahu an “exceptional Prime Minister warrior” and praised their joint record in military operations.
RELATED: UN Commission Accuses Israel of War Crimes and Genocide in West Bank and Gaza
As everyone knows, including the enemy, Bibi and I have had a great relationship to win together,” Trump stated, holding up Operation Epic Fury as proof of their cooperation.
Trump asserted that Iran had lost its navy and its air force and that its economy had fallen into a “state of chaos.” He placed inflation at 301% and claimed a naval blockade had stopped oil exports. Two tiers of Iranian leadership, military and civilian, had been eliminated, he added.
‘Netanyahu has done a VERY GOOD JOB as prime minister under very trying conditions’ — Trump pic.twitter.com/4VQJ2fR3mJ
— RT Intl (@RT_on_X) October 26, 2026
In the October 18 letter, Trump described the Israeli leader as a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” and an “even greater partner for peace.” His latest post closed with an open call for Netanyahu’s reelection in the middle of the Iran offensive.
The appeal marks another attempt by the White House to steer another nation’s vote. It also arrives as Washington and Tel Aviv face sustained protests over the war on the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s conduct has been denounced as a policy of extermination.
Netanyahu and Trump met in Washington amid protests against the genocide in Gaza, and Trump has framed their alliance as a shared military project. Trump’s latest intervention draws Washington deeper into a vote that will decide not only Israel’s leadership but also the regional balance.
BREAKING: President Trump issues a second statement endorsing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) October 25, 2026
This marks the first time a US President has publicly endorsed a candidate in the Israeli elections. pic.twitter.com/t4l0qtj3hi
The endorsement lands days before more than seven million voters renew the 120 seats of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Surveys project a fragmented legislature in which no bloc secures the 61 seats required to form a government. The threshold has rarely yielded a stable majority in recent cycles, and this campaign has only deepened the fragmentation.
That arithmetic has lifted the leverage of Israel’s Arab parties and pulled tens of thousands of expatriates back home to cast ballots. It has also sharpened a parallel demand for accountability.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people marched in Tel Aviv to demand an independent state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023 Israeli attack. Organizers stressed that the gathering was civic in nature and did not endorse any party or candidacy.
The opposition bloc led by former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot is pressing for that independent commission. Netanyahu opposes the measure, while his supporters highlight his record on national security and regional operations. Neither camp has stopped to examine Israel’s conduct and its policy of extermination against the Gaza Strip.
Tuesday’s vote will determine whether Netanyahu secures the mandate Trump is urging. With no bloc near a majority, coalition negotiations are expected to follow, and the outcome will shape both Israel’s next government and the course of the Iran campaign.
Former Colombian President Gustavo Petro has been accused of trapping and exploiting 48 women for presidential parties, with officials alleging they were hired "just to be with President Petro."
Carlos Andrés Ríos, director of Colombia’s Administrative Department of the Presidency (DAPRE), claimed Petro oversaw a system that used service contracts to "systematically" control and weaponize the women, channeling public salaries in exchange for intimate relationships.
"We are going to prove to the Colombian people how the Casa de Nariño was unfortunately set up, organized, and tailored for something completely different — not to govern, but to party there every single day, bring in women," Rios said during a congressional hearing last week.
Petro issued a statement Sunday denying that he had used his public office to obtain sex.
"I have never given out a contract in exchange for sexual relations. I would vomit on myself if I ever did such a thing," Petro said in a post on X.
He argued that while his office provided state-funded aid programs for vulnerable women, he claimed that it is fundamentally different from giving contracts to individuals in exchange for sexual favors.
TRUMP-BACKED 'EL TIGRE' LOOKS TO CRUSH CARTELS, END COLOMBIA'S SOCIALIST ERA IN PIVOTAL ELECTION
"Helping poor women, female heads of households, and those engaged in sex work so that they have different life options — as I have demonstrated in public administration through concrete and funded programs — is something very different from giving out contracts in exchange for sexual relations. No person who has participated in those public programs will ever be able to say that I have done anything of the sort," he said.
Petro also acknowledged in the statement that he had occasionally visited establishments where sex work took place when he was young, saying he regretted the experiences and had stopped visiting such places decades ago.
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"When I was very young, I occasionally visited places where sex work was practiced. There, I experienced that paying for sex felt dirty to me, and I perceived the sadness of the men and women who attended those places. That is why I stopped visiting them decades ago," he said.
The accusations come amid broader criticism of Petro over alleged misuse of public funds, depletion of national budgets and drug trafficking.
Petro has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated attacks by figures such as President Donald Trump and Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella.
"After attempting to portray me as corrupt and a drug trafficker — an intention expressed by people like Abelardo de la Espriella and Donald Trump, without being able to present a single piece of evidence of corruption or drug trafficking, because I have never stolen a single peso from the public treasury and I have fought for over two decades against drug traffickers, exposing their political ties," Petro said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Donald Trump’s seemingly endless quest to isolate the U.S. on the world stage continued last week when his secretary of state openly promoted the CIA as a tool for destabilizing foreign governments.
Here’s Marco Rubio in a post on X from Friday, encouraging Cubans — whose suffering the Trump administration has compounded with sanctions designed to fuel a national uprising — to “create the change you desire” by partnering with the CIA.
To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba – now is the time.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) October 23, 2026
The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.
That sure sounds like “Come work with the CIA to help us topple your government,” which explains why the negative replies were replete with Bay of Pigs references and other “coup” talk.
It’s not exactly a secret that the CIA has been used by U.S. governments to undermine foreign governments and activist groups. But there’s a kind of brazen idiocy in thinking it was a good idea to offer such partnerships in such a public fashion.
Think about it: Even Cubans who might be open to such an offer would be wise to question the judgment of an administration that would so willingly broadcast it for all to see on Elon Musk’s pornography- and racism-filled platform.
And anyone not legally in the U.S. who agrees to help the administration topple Cuba’s government will need to acknowledge the harsh reality that aiding Trump’s CIA wouldn’t necessarily stop the president’s immigration officials from targeting them down the line.
And as former U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul noted, Trump’s support for authoritarian figures elsewhere should give pause to any Cubans considering Rubio’s offer.
Your decision to back autocrats and oligarchs in Venezuela instead of democracy should give pause to anyone hoping you are committed to democracy in Cuba.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) October 24, 2026
No better way to inspire Cuban democrats than to support democracy in Venezuela. https://t.co/zATr8OAVqa
Trump does not care about upholding democratic principles in the Western Hemisphere, or anywhere for that matter. His administration has aligned itself with authoritarian-style leaders across Central America and South America. Now, it’s eyeing regime change in Cuba — and looking to draft confederates in one of the most glaring ways possible.
The post Rubio uses social media to urge Cuban turncoats to work with CIA appeared first on MS NOW.
Bolsonaro said he planned to request an annulment of the election following a chaotic extension of voting at the request of both candidates
© AP
The blaze consumed the camp’s tents and nearly everything inside them, according to the Gazan Ministry, which said quadcopter drones operated by Israeli forces ignited the fire on October 26.
The fire affected more than 200 families, made up mostly of women, children, the elderly and people with vulnerable health conditions, the Gaza Ministry of Public Works and Housing detailed. The flames caused panic among residents, who have no housing alternatives.
RELATED: UN Commission Accuses Israel of War Crimes and Genocide in West Bank and Gaza
The Shujaiya camp sheltered families who had already fled their homes in other parts of the territory. Many had moved more than once since the war began, carrying whatever they could salvage each time.
💢🇵🇸 Over 800 Palestinians have been forced to displace yet again from Shujaiya, an eastern neighborhood in Gaza City, after Israeli forces set fire to a displacement camp, according to Al Jazeera.
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) October 26, 2026
Israeli quadcopter drones set the camp ablaze at around 8 p.m. local time on… https://t.co/9nyw5g9DGe
Palestinian authorities called the fire a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions. They framed it as part of a deliberate policy of forced displacement designed to push people out of the territory.
The Ministry of Public Works and Housing demanded urgent action from the international community, the UN Security Council, and the United Nations, and it asked those bodies to halt the attacks on civilians without further delay. It also pressed humanitarian agencies to deliver tents, temporary shelters, and essential supplies immediately to families left without roofs or belongings.
Local spokespeople linked the persistence of military operations to the tense electoral climate inside Israel, where security politics have hardened. Security operations have long featured in Israeli campaigns, and commanders face domestic pressure to show results even as international criticism mounts.
A ceasefire agreement announced on October 10, 2025, never produced calm on the ground. Israeli forces have maintained recurrent bombings, shootings, and demolition work across different parts of the Gaza Strip. Official records show the zionist offensive launched in October 2023 has now surpassed 74,000 deaths and left 175,000 people wounded.
Human rights organizations renewed their demands for a halt to hostilities and for safe, unobstructed access for humanitarian assistance. The widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure has made recovery more difficult for communities worn down by repeated strikes. Hospitals, schools, and homes lie in ruins across the territory.
Aid agencies describe the situation as catastrophic. Clean water, medicine, and fuel remain scarce, and the latest fire has multiplied the need for emergency shelter in a place where almost every building is damaged.
Palestinian officials say the fire is not an isolated event but a symptom of a broader campaign against civilian life, insisting the international response so far has fallen short of the scale of the crisis.
By unseating longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic in Sunday's election, Serbia's student protest movement did what demonstrators in other European capitals can only dream of. Now comes the gritty business of governing, something neither the students nor their handpicked candidates have any experience with.
Tens of thousands took to the streets across the country to celebrate when Vucic conceded defeat late Sunday in a historic poll that capped two years of peaceful anti-government protests.
But as the jubilant crowd lit flares and fireworks, sang and danced, questions lingered: who will emerge from this leaderless movement as prime minister, what exactly will their policies be, and can a bunch of political unknowns with no previous affiliation stick together to shore up the economy, root out graft and juggle complex international relations?
The answers will determine Serbia's political stability, its relations with China, Russia, and its largest trading partner, the European Union.
The students' victory "is likely to trigger broad institutional and policy changes centred on anti-corruption, the rule of law, and better public services. However, bureaucratic resistance to reforms and the movement's limited governing experience could make the transition challenging," Teneo Global Research said in a report on Monday.
Winners, but can they stick together?
The protest movement began after 16 people died when a railway station canopy collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad in 2024, and the student-led demonstrations called for accountability and an end to corruption.
Without a figurehead, the students won widespread support before choosing 250 academics, lawyers, doctors, actors, farmers and musicians to represent them in the election.
The movement and some of the top candidates on its list give an idea of what it stands for, promising a domestic anti-corruption program centred on institutional overhauls.
It does not recognise Kosovo, Serbia's former southern province which declared independence in 2008, but wants to hold a referendum on Serbia's accession to the EU, with which relations have frayed in recent years.
Prominent figures include the head of the students' candidate list, cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic; former central bank governor Dejan Soskic; and Radomir Sajcic, a professor at Belgrade University, who spoke on behalf of the students after their victory.
But it is uncertain whether any of them will hold a ministerial post, and it remains to be seen whether the candidates can form a cohesive government that can agree on policy long enough to use their comfortable parliamentary majority to enact change.
"(The student movement created) such a shift in Serbia's culture; we will just have to see if it lasts," said Katarina Popovic, also a professor at the University of Belgrade.
"We just hope that there are big goals that can keep them together long enough to deconstruct the system."
Reforming public institutions
Under Serbia's constitution, candidates for the government have 90 days to form a government once parliament convenes after the state election commission announces the final results.
Time matters, especially with a budget to pass before year-end amid rising public and private debt, while any attempt to end corruption will require overhauling the police and intelligence services and reforming the judiciary.
State institutions require "detoxification" after 14 years of Vucic, said Bozo Prelevic, a Belgrade-based lawyer and former co-minister of the interior.
Prelevic warned that Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) will pose a strong opposition, and that the new government would have to fight its corner.
Vucic and the SNS repeatedly denied accusations of repression and corruption.
International relations
In Russia, Serbia's traditional ally and principal supplier of natural gas, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Vucic, but stopped short of congratulating the students.
"We respect Russia both as a great power and as our historically important partner and, in many cases, protector," Student List representative Jovo Bakic, a sociologist and a university lecturer, told Russia's RT Balkan TV, adding that there would be no change in Serbia's foreign policy towards Russia, including not introducing sanctions against Moscow.
Also closely watching is Ukraine, which has been an indirect beneficiary of Serbian weapons in its fight to repel Russia's four-year-long invasion.
European officials congratulated the students and said they stood ready to help the country fight corruption.
"I am sure (the Student List) will find a way, just as they have so far, to choose someone capable of governing - someone who will have the privilege, but also the immense responsibility, to lead Serbia through these reforms," said Savo Manojlovic of the student-friendly Move-Change movement.
Trump directed his outburst at The Independent's White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg
© Getty Images
‘President Trump’s priority has been and continues to be lowering gas prices for American families,’ a White House spokesperson said
© Getty
Walter Koenig, who brought humor and grit to the role of starship navigator Pavel Chekov on the classic 1960s sci-fi TV series Star Trek and seven subsequent feature films, has died at the age of 90.
“My heart is heavy. Walter Koenig, our Ensign Pavel Chekov, passed away early today,” George Takei, who starred alongside Koenig in the show and was a long-time friend, wrote on Facebook on Monday.
Koenig died at his home in Los Angeles, The Associated Press reported, citing his talent agent.
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry picked Koenig, who had played only a few prior roles on television, when he decided to add a Russian character to the crew of the fictional Starship Enterprise.
The introduction of a Russian officer who worked harmoniously with a racially and culturally diverse crew came amid the real-world Cold War tensions of the era.
“We were stating tacitly that peoples of all races and creeds, nationalities could not only co-exist but care for each other deeply, and in doing so we were heralding a future that was very optimistic,” Koenig once told a BBC interviewer.
While Koenig was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, he used an inauthentic Russian accent that was sometimes played for laughs.
The original TV series ran for three seasons, from 1966 to 1969. Koenig appeared on 36 episodes, and then in seven movies from 1979 to 1994.
“I was informed while I was still there at my audition that I had the role,” Koenig told the Joplin Globe in 2008.
“It seemed like an engagement that might work out over several episodes, but I had no idea that it would totally shape my career and my life.”
The show remained popular in syndicated reruns and inspired several later TV series and a succession of films. It attracted a devoted worldwide fan base and earned an enduring place in pop culture.
Koenig’s Star Trek fame was a blessing and a curse, as it was for cast mates such as William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr McCoy), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), James Doohan (Scotty) and Takei, who played Lieutenant Sulu.
They were often typecast because they were so closely associated with Star Trek.
“Most of the ‘70s, I didn’t work at all, and I blamed it on typecasting,” Koenig told the St. Petersburg Times in 1998.
He later landed a regular role on the 1990s sci-fi series Babylon 5 and was an author, script writer and occasional director.
Koenig was born on Sept 14, 1936, raised in New York City and attended the University of California, Los Angeles, before beginning his professional acting career.
He suffered a personal tragedy in 2010 when his son, actor Andrew Koenig, took his own life. Koenig married his wife Judy in 1965. They also had a daughter, actress Danielle Koenig.
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