Witkoff Meets Putin in St. Petersburg a Day After Oslo Talks With Zelensky; Russia Frees American Stephen Hubbard, 74
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff brought ceasefire proposals from Norway and asked Putin to restart three-way talks with Ukraine. Putin raised economic ties with Washington and announced the release of a Michigan man held since 2022.
U.S.
DHS Rule in Effect Since Oct. 14 Cuts Refugees' Time to Answer a Termination Notice From 30 Days to 10
The Department of Homeland Security says the change protects the refugee program from fraud and weak vetting. Refugee advocates say 10 days is too little time to find a lawyer or gather evidence. Public comments are open until Nov. 13.
Trump and Vance Announce $25 Million Fraud Tip Reward Program; Trump Says He Will Decide Who Gets Paid
The Justice Department's written rules offer tipsters $10,000 to $30,000, while Trump told reporters payouts would be a 1% commission with "no limit." YouTuber Nick Shirley received the first award, a $10,000 check, at the Oval Office event on October 20, two weeks before the midterm elections.
Long Beach Mayor Asks for Independent Probe After U.S. Citizen Is Hurt in Oct. 17 ICE Arrest; DHS Says Agents Used 'Minimum Amount of Force'
Ricardo Gonzalez's family and local officials say federal agents blocked his e-bike, used a Taser on him and broke his arm. DHS says he was arrested after damaging a government vehicle while agents were trying to arrest someone else.
Justice Department Charges 28 Green-Card Holders in California Voter Registration Cases; Says All 28 Were on Its List of 20,000 Likely Noncitizen Registrants
Federal agents arrested 11 people Monday in what the department calls 'Operation Protect the Vote.' Prosecutors say 21 of the 28 are suspected of actually voting. California officials call the cases a tiny fraction of the state's 23 million registered voters.
N.C. 12 Closes on Pea Island After Ocean Overwash on Oct. 19; Hatteras Island Visitor Evacuation Stays in Effect
The National Weather Service forecasts coastal flooding through at least Tuesday, with 2 to 4 feet of water possible in vulnerable oceanside spots on Hatteras and Ocracoke. The closure comes 11 days after the road fully reopened from a September storm.
Judge Keeps Ban on Tree Cutting at East Potomac Golf Course Through Oct. 26 After Hearing With Park Service and Interior Officials
Judge Ana Reyes questioned the acting Park Service director and an Interior official on Oct. 19. She had rejected a Justice Department request to step aside one day earlier, and President Trump has said a 15-month renovation of the public D.C. course starts Nov. 15.
N.C.
Federal Judge Denies Bid to Block North Carolina's Sept. 4 Absentee Ballot Sealing and Signature Rules for the 2026 Midterms
U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder cited the Supreme Court's Purcell principle and the 18 days the challengers waited before suing, and called the rules' burden 'modest' because a voter whose ballot is rejected gets a replacement or can vote in person.
Trump Cites $1.5 Billion in Pentagon Chip Funding for North Carolina at Greenville Rally; Figure Matches Oct. 7 Conditional Wolfspeed Loan Offer
At an Oct. 20 rally for Senate candidate Michael Whatley, Trump said the 'Department of War' will spend $1.5 billion on chips in North Carolina, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said quartz supplier Sibelco will invest 'hundreds of millions of dollars' in the state. Neither man gave a site or a timeline.
North Carolina Early Voting Reaches 525,970 Ballots Through Sunday, Up More Than 37% From Same Point in 2022; Registered Democrats Cast More Than Twice as Many as Registered Republicans
Seven counties that offered voting on the first Sunday cast 24,257 early in-person ballots, about 20% more than the 23 counties that offered Sunday voting at the same point in 2022.
Trump Rallies in Greenville for Whatley as Two October Polls Show Cooper Leading N.C. Senate Race by 7 and 14 Points
President Trump is scheduled to speak at about 7 p.m. Tuesday at Pitt-Greenville Airport for Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley. The main GOP super PAC has canceled its remaining North Carolina ad reservations, and registered Democrats have cast the largest share of early-vote ballots so far.
N.C. Forest Service Rates Most of Western North Carolina 'Very High' — Fourth of Five Fire-Danger Levels — for Tuesday and Wednesday, Discourages Outdoor Burning
The rating is expected to fall to 'high' on Thursday and Friday. The state is asking people not to burn outdoors, but it has not issued a burn ban.
17 N.C. Counties Offer Sunday Early Voting, Down From 40 in 2022; Guilford Board Left N.C. A&T and UNC-Greensboro Without Campus Sites
Most of the choices by Republican-majority election boards were made in July and August, and CNN detailed them on Oct. 16 after early voting began; board members cite cost, staffing and nearby sites, while Gov. Josh Stein and other critics say the changes make voting harder for Black and young voters.
Finance
FAA Certifies Boeing 737 Max 10, the Largest Max Model, With 1,555 Orders Waiting
The U.S. regulator approved the jet on Oct. 20, 2026, more than five years after its first flight. Boeing says deliveries begin in the coming months, but some reports place the first deliveries in 2027.
Netflix Third-Quarter Profit Tops Estimates; Company Lowers 2026 Ad Revenue Forecast to About $2.7 Billion From $3 Billion, and Shares Fall About 6% Premarket
Netflix earned 87 cents a share against an expected 82 cents on $12.87 billion in revenue, but its fourth-quarter revenue and profit forecasts came in below analyst estimates the same week the company cut about 1,000 jobs and replaced its top content executive.
SpaceX Reports Q3 Revenue of $14.6 Billion, Up 161%, and $4.4 Billion Net Income; Musk Says SpaceX and Tesla Boards Formed Committees to Study a Merger
SpaceX shares rose roughly 9% to 10% in premarket trading. Musk says he is recused from the talks, the committees have not agreed on terms, and a Tesla deal would need votes from a majority of all outstanding Tesla shares.
Netflix and SpaceX Report Third-Quarter Results Tuesday; Meta and Tesla Report Wednesday
Analyst forecasts put Tesla's quarterly revenue near $27.9 billion and SpaceX's between $12.74 billion and $12.9 billion, depending on who compiled the estimate; the Federal Reserve meets the following week.
Kospi Closes Down 3.73% and Nikkei About 1.3% on AI-Spending Doubts as Brent Trades Near $110 and Traders Price a December Fed Hike
SK Hynix fell 4.23% in Seoul on Tuesday, to its lowest close since April. On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.41% to 7,690.73, ahead of the Federal Reserve's Oct. 27-28 meeting.
U.S. Stock Futures Rise as AI Shares Rebound From Biggest Weekly Drop Since Late June; Brent Falls to About $107 and 10-Year Yield to 5.085%
On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called September's 3.7% inflation an 'energy shock' tied to the Iran war. Fed-funds futures show a hold at the Oct. 27-28 meeting as most likely, with an estimated 78% to 84% chance depending on the reading. They also show close to a 90% chance of a rate hike by December.
World
Iranian Officials Tell Reuters Tehran Is Prolonging U.S. Talks to Deny Trump a Win Before Nov. 3 Midterms and Is Preparing for Renewed Attacks
Three senior Iranian officials and an Iranian insider, all unnamed, say they expect no deal before the election, while the Strait of Hormuz stays largely closed and oil stays above $100 a barrel; the White House and Iran's Foreign Ministry did not answer Reuters' requests for comment.
Nigeria Confirms Ebola Case in Abuja in Woman Who Arrived via Uganda; 44 Contacts Being Traced as Kenya Reports Ninth Case
Uganda says the patient was not infected there, while Nigeria says the source of exposure is still under investigation. The case adds a major West African air hub to an outbreak that began in Congo in May, and it raises questions about U.S. travel screening, which does not currently cover Nigeria.
Saudi Arabia Postpones Oct. 26-29 'Davos in the Desert' Investment Forum to 2027 Amid Houthi Strikes on Riyadh
Organizers did not name security as the reason, but news outlets tied the move to a weeks-long Houthi campaign. That campaign included an Oct. 10 missile strike on Riyadh's main airport that killed at least 12 people.
France Sets Partial Night Curfews in Parts of Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice and Other Cities After Weekend Looting; 2,513 Detained
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said police "lost control" in some cities and offered to resign, which President Macron refused. French stocks and bonds fell Monday as Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's minority government tries to pass a deficit-cutting budget.
Alberta Voters Reject Starting a Path Toward Separation From Canada, About 76% to 24%, in Nonbinding Referendum
Unofficial counts show about three in four voters chose to keep Alberta a Canadian province. Separatist leaders say the roughly one-quarter who voted the other way shows the province's grievances are real.
Houthi Ballistic Missiles Hit Yemeni Government Training Camp in Shabwa; Death Toll Rises to 73, All Recruits, AP Reports
Local authorities first counted 53 dead in Monday's strike north of Ataq. The Houthis say the camp hosted Saudi forces, and Yemen's government says it trained internal-security recruits kept away from the front.
Analysis
Unbiased, evergreen deep-dives on the bigger questions — not breaking news.
What Fauci's Released Diary Documents About the U.S. COVID-19 Response — and What It Leaves Unresolved
A 1,141-page personal diary released by Sen. Rand Paul's committee is roughly one-third routine administrative logging; a minority of entries bear directly on contested questions, and a few conflict with contemporaneous public statements.
Eight Months of Mamdani: What New York's Record Actually Shows, and What It Cannot Yet Show
A claim-by-claim audit of what Zohran Mamdani has delivered, how New Yorkers judge it, and what the evidence does and does not license anyone to conclude about the rest of the country.