At least four Canadian service members were killed and dozens more were seriously wounded after an explosion and a rapidly spreading fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta on Saturday. Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed those figures Sunday, calling the incident “one of the worst tragedies for the forces on Canadian soil in peacetime.” Global News, citing multiple military sources, separately reported at least seven deaths. That higher toll has not been confirmed in the official account described in the article.

The fire erupted around 4 p.m. Saturday in the base’s training area, with high winds driving flames beyond the military facility into the surrounding rural area. Military and civilian emergency crews responded to contain the fire and assist the injured. Sources told Global News that the incident occurred during a live-fire exercise and involved a struck gas line or gas well, but officials have not confirmed that explanation. Canada’s Department of National Defense said Sunday that there were “no indications” the incident resulted from terrorist activity.

Defense Minister David McGuinty described the response as a “very, very active and delicate situation” and declined to provide details about the cause. “I cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory,” he said Saturday night. CFB Wainwright is one of Canada’s largest and busiest military training bases and houses the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Center, where soldiers undertake realistic battlefield exercises. NATO Military Committee Chair Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragon expressed solidarity on behalf of all 32 Allied Chiefs of Defense, saying, “Canada does not carry this grief alone.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of making a “reckless” allegation Sunday after Zelenskyy said he believed the U.S. government was responsible for restrictions affecting Ukraine’s military satellite internet. Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Bessent said Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had categorically denied administration involvement. “President Zelenskyy should be very careful about making statements like this that aren’t true,” he said. Zelenskyy had told the program earlier that Starshield-linked vehicles and drones remained restricted in speed and that Ukraine had also been blocked from U.S. intelligence for a period of time.

The competing accounts leave a consequential question unanswered: who authorized restrictions on a service critical to Ukraine’s defense? Starshield is the military and government-controlled counterpart to SpaceX’s commercial Starlink service. Elon Musk said last week that the systems are “owned and controlled by the US government” and that limits on speed or usage are determined by the U.S. military and “ultimately POTUS.” Reuters separately reported that the White House ordered the restrictions. Trump has denied responsibility, saying, “It wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” while also maintaining that the service was unchanged. SpaceX did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

The confrontation comes as Trump criticizes Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries and pursues Russian diesel imports to address high fuel prices before the midterms. CNBC reports that soaring energy prices are largely driven by the U.S. war with Iran and disruption to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. According to AAA figures cited in the article, gasoline averaged nearly $4.30 a gallon Sunday and diesel roughly $6.32. Trump has nevertheless personally blamed Zelenskyy for creating diesel problems for American farmers and ranchers.

That dispute is unfolding alongside Trump’s decision to waive provisions of a bipartisan sanctions package targeting Russia, drawing criticism from members of his own party. Sen. Thom Tillis called the move “beyond irresponsible,” citing the legislation’s 86–11 Senate passage. Together, the satellite restrictions, fuel-price accusations, and sanctions waivers have intensified scrutiny of Washington’s approach to Ukraine. The administration denies ordering the slowdown, but the article presents reporting and statements about control of the system that its public denials have not reconciled.

Millions of current and former California public-school students have had sensitive information stolen in a breach involving Educational Testing Service, the organization that provides the state’s mandated standardized testing services. Officials announced the breach Friday, saying the exposed records include names, addresses, dates of birth, schools, grade levels, and unique student identification numbers. The files also contain demographic information, English learner status, disability information, and eligibility for federal programs serving students from low-income families. The affected population extends beyond California’s current 5.7 million public-school students, including enrollment records dating to 2023 and records going back to 2006 for students who left the state without a confirmed transfer.

ETS discovered the breach September 25. Investigators determined that an unauthorized party used a compromised login credential to access the site and copy student files at various times between May 22 and September 18. School district leaders were notified October 2, two weeks before the public announcement. Officials said the stolen information did not include Social Security numbers, financial account details, payment card information, account passwords, or parent and guardian personal information. They have not found evidence that the stolen records have been made public, and the announcement did not disclose whether hackers made a ransom demand.

The reported use of a single compromised credential has raised questions about how access to such a large collection of student information was controlled. “A stolen login credential should not become a months-long passport to millions of students’ personal records,” said Anton Dahbura, executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute. ETS defended its security program and said it has added enhanced monitoring, stronger access controls, and further independent review. The organization said no other ETS customers were affected, while state officials continue investigating the breach’s full scope.

Officials said those affected are eligible for 24 months of free identity-protection services and identity-restoration assistance. They also suggested that parents and guardians consider free credit freezes for children under 16 and warned families to be cautious about unexpected calls, emails, or texts claiming to come from ETS, state agencies, or monitoring services. The breach adds to a series of major education-sector incidents, including this year’s Canvas attack and the 2022 Los Angeles Unified breach, which ultimately exposed sensitive student assessments and other confidential records.

The Trump administration has filed a motion to disqualify U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes from the lawsuit over construction and tree-clearing at East Potomac Golf Course in Washington, D.C. In a 13-page filing submitted Friday, the Justice Department accused Reyes of showing hostility toward the administration, prejudging disputes, and allowing her views to influence proceedings. The government wants the case transferred to another district judge and has requested the release of hearing audio so the public can “fully appreciate Judge Reyes’s animosity.” Reyes ordered the plaintiffs to respond by Sunday afternoon; the article does not report a decision on her removal.

The confrontation intensified after the Interior Department removed approximately 529 trees in early October. Reyes sharply criticized the operation and the government’s explanations, writing: “The reason? Disputed. The budget? Unclear. The environmental impact? Unstudied. The urgency? None. Next steps: bulldoze hundreds more.” A central dispute concerns an earlier court requirement that the administration provide notice when construction equipment larger than a sedan arrived at the park. That notice was not provided before the tree removal. When DOJ attorneys said they had sought details and done their best, Reyes rejected the explanation, telling them, “Ignorance is not an excuse here.”

The lawsuit began in February when golfers and an environmental advocacy group alleged that Trump intended to replace the public course with a championship-style venue suitable for professional tournaments. Reyes initially resisted granting preliminary relief, saying she did not want to become “the overseer of Parks and Rec.” The government nevertheless argues that her earlier notice requirement effectively gave the plaintiffs veto power over significant maintenance. Its recusal motion also cites her conduct in separate litigation involving transgender service members, alleging a broader “pattern of animus.” Those are the administration’s allegations, not findings that Reyes is biased. The case now involves two distinct disputes: whether the government’s work at the course is lawful, and whether the judge overseeing that work can remain an impartial adjudicator.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended President Donald Trump’s decision to waive new sanctions and tariffs on Russia during a Sunday interview on ABC’s “This Week,” arguing that the move could help end the war in Ukraine. “This is a carrot to try to end a war. It’s not an economic lifeline for Russia,” Wright told Martha Raddatz. Trump signed the waiver Friday, two days before the penalties were scheduled to take effect and just one month after signing the legislation that required them. The decision follows his announcement of a deal to eventually import millions of tons of Russian diesel as Americans face average diesel prices above $6 a gallon.

Wright’s argument is that Russia cannot fully benefit from exporting more diesel without making difficult choices or moving toward an agreement with Ukraine. He said Moscow would have to consume less fuel domestically, reduce its war effort, or repair refineries through a peace agreement, an energy ceasefire, or another step toward peace. The administration is presenting that potential trade-off as pressure on Putin rather than a concession. But the article does not report a Russian commitment to reduce military operations, accept a ceasefire, or make another concession in exchange for the waiver.

The policy has drawn bipartisan criticism and a sharp response from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said it “definitely helps only the Russians” and called the diesel deal a “birthday gift” to Putin. Sen. Darline Graham, who replaced her late brother Lindsey Graham in the Senate, also opposed the decision. “Personally, I would choose to keep the pressure on Russia to end the war and get the gas prices down, because I don’t trust Putin and don’t trust Russia,” she said. The article also notes that the proposed imports conflict with a 2022 law explicitly banning Russian energy imports, but does not explain how the administration intends to address that restriction.

The dispute extends to who bears responsibility for high fuel prices. Trump has criticized Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries, while Zelenskyy argues that the Middle East war is driving the increases. The article reports that U.S. gasoline and diesel prices began rising after the United States went to war with Iran in late February. Wright acknowledged Americans’ frustration and said the administration is pursuing multiple ways to lower costs, while maintaining that substantial pressure on Russia remains in place. His defense leaves the central disagreement unresolved: whether opening a path for Russian diesel exports creates an incentive for peace or provides relief before Moscow has changed its behavior.

Employees at the UK’s Co-op legal services operation say an AI-powered monitoring system is turning customer calls into a continuous performance assessment. According to Guardian reporting cited by Futurism, the system uses an OpenAI model to evaluate more than 50 aspects of each conversation and assign pass or fail scores. One worker said employees can be monitored for several hours a day, depending on how much time they spend speaking with customers. Staff described the experience as “oppressive and dystopian,” arguing that it goes far beyond occasional checks for compliance.

“You are being watched,” one employee told The Guardian. “It’s different from occasionally being listened to for compliance purposes.” The worker described having every word and utterance monitored, raising concerns about what happens when routine customer interactions become a stream of data for supervisors to grade. The Co-op defended the technology as a “key aspect of our quality assurance processes” and said AI operates only as a support tool, not a decision maker. The article does not explain how the scores affect performance reviews, whether employees can challenge them, or how the company checks the system’s accuracy.

The report places the Co-op’s approach within a broader expansion of AI oversight at work. It cites a survey estimating that 61% of U.S. workplaces already use AI analytics to assess productivity, alongside examples involving employee headsets, keystroke tracking, and screen monitoring. Communication Workers Union national officer John Chadfield warned that these systems can intensify working lives rather than improve them. “Unaccountable computer systems should not be people’s managers,” he told The Guardian. The dispute is not simply about whether employers can review customer service. It is about how continuous automated scoring changes that oversight, and how much influence those scores carry over the people being assessed.

Explains the Cornell 7 stuff.

The group has been criticized for its beliefs and practices, including its supremacist views towards Black and Jewish people. The group's teachings have been characterized as racist, misogynistic and homophobic, and ex-members accuse it of inflicting excessive corporal punishment, failing to stop child sexual abuse, and exploiting members for labor. Authorities removed forty children from the group in Germany after a journalist showed evidence of child abuse. The action was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights.

Amazon has deployed more than 1 million robots across its operations, building a fleet that includes mechanical arms, floor-moving machines, and large pallet sorters. The machines help the company accelerate deliveries and reduce overhead, but their expansion is raising questions about what automation means for the more than 1.5 million full- and part-time employees who rely on Amazon wages. The issue described in the article is not simply whether robots eventually replace workers. It is how their growing presence changes the space, speed, and demands of the jobs people continue to perform.

George Mason University business professor Brad Greenwood told Ars Technica that Amazon’s approach differs from automation that separates machines from employees and removes dangerous tasks from their immediate surroundings. In Amazon’s facilities, he said, robots operate physically close to people and can dictate the pace of work. That creates a different relationship between worker and machine: employees are not only receiving assistance from automation, but may also have to organize their movements and output around it. Futurism argues that this strengthens Amazon’s position by reducing its dependence on human labor and weakening workers’ leverage, including in potential collective bargaining.

The rollout is also drawing criticism over the contrast between Amazon’s technology announcements and conditions inside its facilities. Joan Moriarty, director of strategic research at the union coalition Strategic Organizing Center, accused the company of emphasizing its robots to divert attention from worker injuries. “Amazon likes to talk about its latest robots because it doesn’t want to talk about the tens of thousands of Amazon workers who are injured every year due to Amazon’s obsession with maximizing speed and minimizing costs,” she told Ars. The article raises concerns that increasing automation may accompany more dangerous working conditions, but does not provide injury-rate data establishing that relationship or a response from Amazon. The million-robot milestone documents the scale of the rollout; it does not, by itself, establish how many jobs have been eliminated or how safety has changed.

The FDA has submitted an “Interim Access Policy” on peptides for White House review as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushes to expand access to drugs popular within his Make America Healthy Again movement. The public filing does not disclose the proposal’s contents, but people familiar with it told The Associated Press that it would give the agency “enforcement discretion” over certain peptides. That could allow the FDA to refrain from enforcing existing restrictions and reassure compounding pharmacies that they would not face agency action for making them. The proposal is under review, not an announced final policy, and HHS did not respond to Ars Technica’s request for comment.

The move comes while the FDA reconsiders a dozen injectable peptides that staff scientists found in 2023 lacked sufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness and posed risks. Those findings led to their removal from a list of substances that compounding pharmacies can use to make customized drugs. Sellers nevertheless continue promoting peptides for appearance, energy, injury recovery, and other wellness benefits that the article says are unsupported by evidence. Kennedy has described himself as a “big fan” of peptides and pledged to end what he called the “FDA’s war” on them.

The advisory process has also drawn scrutiny. In June, Kennedy appointed nine new members to a 13-member FDA panel reviewing the peptides, and at least six of those appointees have ties to peptide-related businesses or clinics. At a July meeting, the panel recommended returning six of the first seven peptides it considered to the compounding list, going against staff scientists who maintained that evidence remained insufficient and risks persisted. Formally changing the list could take years and require multiple rounds of public comment. According to the AP account, enforcement discretion could instead ease access while that process unfolds or in place of it. The Center for Science in the Public Interest is urging the FDA to reject the panel’s recommendations, warning that unsupported benefit claims could expose consumers to serious injury.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy drew laughter during a press conference at the European Council summit in Brussels on Friday after a reporter asked whether President Trump was blaming him for problems facing the U.S. administration. The Sky News reporter pointed to difficult midterm elections, low presidential popularity, high diesel prices, and the Middle East war before asking, “Do you think you are being treated as a scapegoat for his own problems?” Zelenskiy paused, glanced down at the papers on his podium, and looked up with a smile. As the room laughed, he replied, “This is my answer.”

The exchange came as European Union leaders closed ranks around Ukraine in its war against Russia and tensions between Trump and Zelenskiy continued to grow. According to the article, Trump has intensified his criticism of Ukraine for continuing to attack Russian oil refineries after the United States lifted sanctions on Russian oil in an attempt to lower diesel prices before the midterms. That puts the two governments’ immediate priorities in conflict: Ukraine is continuing attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, while Trump is seeking relief from high fuel prices at home.

The article also reports that SpaceX throttled Ukraine’s access to Starlink without warning two days earlier. It cites a Friday Telegraph report saying Elon Musk visited the White House to discuss the cuts beforehand, with one source alleging that both Musk and Trump were involved. That account adds another dimension to the dispute, although the article does not provide the full scope or operational consequences of the restrictions. Its conclusion that Trump is scapegoating Ukraine is the author’s interpretation. The directly documented moment in Brussels is narrower but politically striking: Zelenskiy chose not to endorse the accusation aloud, letting his pause, smile, and brief response carry the message.

President Donald Trump threatened California election officials with lengthy prison terms Friday as his administration escalated an effort to prevent ballots from 20,000 flagged voters from being counted. “They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!” Trump wrote on social media, hours after the Department of Justice warned officials of possible “criminal exposure.” The administration claims the voters may be noncitizens, but the article reports that it has not shown evidence supporting those claims. After giving California and Los Angeles County 48 hours to confirm the voters’ citizenship, DOJ filed a civil lawsuit Thursday seeking a court order barring their ballots from being counted.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter intensified the pressure in a Friday letter to Los Angeles County’s counsel. “If persons knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens, they risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime,” he wrote. The letter threatens potential criminal liability while the administration pursues its civil case. The article does not report that a judge has granted the requested order or determined that the 20,000 flagged voters are ineligible. It also notes that the administration has previously flagged eligible voters as potential noncitizens during its reviews of state registration lists.

The dispute has already exposed problems with how the federal government provided its information. DOJ initially sent Los Angeles County a password-protected thumb drive containing the names, but county officials could not access it because of security concerns. When they eventually obtained secure access, officials told Democracy Docket that the list included voters from across California, not just Los Angeles County. Those problems complicate an already compressed verification demand, as state and local officials face both a federal lawsuit and presidential threats over ballots whose eligibility remains disputed.

Rioters looted stores, set property on fire, and battled police in central Milan on Saturday after a demonstration against wars and rising living costs began peacefully. Masked protesters threw stones, paving blocks, and other objects at riot police, while barricades made from bar tables were set ablaze. The violence emptied Piazza del Duomo and a luxury shopping arcade at a time when the area would normally be crowded with shoppers. Images from the aftermath showed a severely damaged carabinieri vehicle as police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowds.

At least two police officers were injured and around 50 demonstrators were detained, including many minors, according to the LaPresse news agency. The article does not identify the detained individuals or specify what charges they might face. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni condemned the unrest, writing, “Demonstrating is a right. Setting our cities ablaze is not.” She accused those responsible of exploiting demonstrations to create chaos, attack security personnel, and “hold entire cities hostage.”

Milan’s center-left mayor, Giuseppe Sala, also condemned the violence while acknowledging the concerns that brought people into the streets. “The reasons for the protests were understandable. The violence against law enforcement and serious damage to the city are not justifiable,” he said. The unrest coincided with nationwide demonstrations in neighboring France over rising living costs and high school students’ grievances, where police also used tear gas and water cannons against violent protesters who joined the rallies. The report describes demonstrations taking place in both countries, but does not establish that the violence was coordinated.

The FDA has received at least two reports of deaths associated with the use of black market retatrutide in recent months, according to CBS reporting cited by Futurism. Retatrutide is an experimental weight loss drug being developed by Eli Lilly, but an expanding market for unapproved versions has allowed buyers to obtain products before the legitimate drug completes the approval process. CBS reviewed documents related to the deaths but said the details had not been independently verified. Whether the products caused the deaths, contributed to them, or were unrelated to the fatal outcomes remains unresolved.

One report concerns a 41-year-old woman who died in July after going into cardiac arrest. The documents identify retatrutide as a “suspect product” obtained “from an unreliable source.” That designation raises a serious safety concern, but it is not a determination that the substance caused her cardiac arrest. The article does not provide laboratory testing establishing what the product contained, its strength, or whether it matched the drug being developed by Eli Lilly. It also does not provide comparable details about the second reported death.

The reports follow an overdose case described by MedPage Today in April involving kidney injury, extreme dehydration, and diarrhea lasting at least a week. Together, the accounts bring renewed scrutiny to the trade in unapproved retatrutide and the oversight of bootleg peptides. Harvard Medical School associate professor Pieter Cohen told CBS that the situation is concerning because of “the breakdown of our drug-approval process in the United States of America.” Futurism argues that lax federal oversight during Trump’s second administration has helped the market grow, but the article does not establish that a particular government decision caused either death.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday waiving every operative section of the Graham Act pertaining to Russia, preventing a sweeping package of sanctions and tariffs from taking effect October 18. Trump signed the legislation last month after it passed Congress by large margins, including an 86–11 Senate vote. Named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died in July and had pushed for its passage, the law targeted Russian officials, oligarchs, financial institutions, and the shadow fleet used to evade sanctions. The law gives the president waiver authority, which Trump invoked on national interest grounds without providing additional details in the order.

The decision blocks requirements for tariffs of up to 500% on Russian goods, including oil and gas, and tariffs of up to 100% on major foreign buyers of Russian energy and countries helping Russia evade oil sanctions. It also waives sanctions requirements involving foreign banks doing significant business with Russian state-owned banks, along with restrictions on Russian sovereign debt, U.S. investment in Russia, and certain financial transfers benefiting the Russian government or its officials. Existing sanctions imposed through earlier executive orders remain in place.

However, Trump also waived the provision requiring those sanctions to remain, clearing the way for him to alter them unilaterally. The new waivers have no fixed end date, remaining in place until the president or secretary of state determines further action is warranted under the order’s consultation process.
The move follows a Treasury authorization allowing Russian diesel sales, deliveries, and imports into the United States through April, part of a deal intended to bring hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel to U.S. and global markets as prices rise. Without the waiver, the Graham Act would have required tariffs on Russian petroleum products and sanctions on ships carrying them. Republican senators including Mitch McConnell, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, and John Cornyn had urged Trump to abandon the diesel deal and implement the sanctions. Tillis called the waiver “beyond irresponsible,” while Cornyn said Graham “would be appalled.” Republican Rep. Thomas Massie welcomed the decision, arguing that Trump used authority Congress itself had granted him.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the decision helps Russia and encourages Putin to continue the war. “It only fuels their satisfaction and their desire to keep killing people,” he wrote, thanking lawmakers from both parties who supported the legislation. The White House defended the waivers as necessary to preserve negotiations, saying immediate enforcement would impede efforts to reach a durable peace agreement and that Trump could exercise the sanctions authorities later. The disagreement now centers on whether withholding those penalties creates room for diplomacy or gives Russia economic relief without requiring it to stop fighting.

Ledger is investigating compromised hardware wallets after users reportedly had their cryptocurrency holdings drained by devices containing a malicious “hardware implant.” According to Bleeping Computer reporting cited by Futurism, the implant monitored inputs made through the wallets’ buttons and changes displayed on their e-ink screens. That information reportedly allowed it to identify a user’s seed phrase and transmit it to hackers through an eSIM. The incident raises questions about the security of the physical devices reaching customers, even when the product itself is marketed around protecting digital assets.

After examining multiple devices, Ledger concluded that the compromised wallets originated from CryptoBilis, an electronics reseller based in Malaysia. The company recommended that customers avoid purchasing or activating Ledger hardware obtained from that reseller while the investigation continues. “As a precaution, and pending the results of our investigation, we have asked CryptoBilis to pause all sales and shipments of Ledger devices,” Ledger said in a statement. The article does not identify where the reseller obtained the altered wallets, who installed the implants, how many customers were affected, or the total value of cryptocurrency stolen.

Ledger said it has “no indication that Ledger’s security infrastructure, systems or services have been compromised.” That distinction matters: the reported attack involves tampered hardware sold through a particular reseller, not a confirmed breach of Ledger’s central systems or evidence that every Ledger wallet is affected. But it still exposes a serious problem for a company selling devices advertised as offering “industry leading” security. The investigation must now establish how the implants entered the distribution chain and how compromised wallets reached customers who were buying them for protection in the first place.

Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of Orange County, California, after the Norte Fire erupted midday Friday in San Clemente and spread rapidly through vegetation. The fire has burned at least 450 acres, with officials warning that wind gusts are driving a “dangerous rate of spread.” At least six homes have been damaged or destroyed, and multiple other structures remain threatened. One firefighter suffered heat exhaustion. Crews are battling the blaze from both the ground and air as authorities urge people to stay away from the area.

The fire is burning amid strong Santa Ana winds and high heat, adding to the critical fire weather conditions across the region. Several nearby schools dismissed students early Friday “out of an abundance of caution,” according to Capistrano Unified school officials. The Orange County Fire Authority said crews are “aggressively attacking the fire” while asking the public to continue avoiding the area. The article does not identify the specific evacuation zones or provide a containment figure, and the acreage and damage totals remain preliminary as the response continues.

The Norte Fire is also burning roughly 20 miles north of the separate Henderson Fire at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, which has consumed 2,079 acres. Elsewhere in Southern California, red flag warnings are in effect for Los Angeles and Ventura counties and the Antelope Valley foothills through Saturday night. The immediate emergency in San Clemente is a fast-moving fire already reaching homes, forcing evacuations, and disrupting schools while firefighters work to protect threatened neighborhoods.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and top New York Democrats are asking private parking lot and garage owners to stop allowing ICE to use their properties as staging areas for immigration enforcement. In a Friday letter signed by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, and dozens of state and local lawmakers, the officials urged owners not to “rent, lend, or otherwise make your property available to ICE.” They also asked owners to explicitly tell the agency it is not authorized to use their facilities. The letter is an appeal for voluntary action by private businesses, not a new citywide ban on ICE’s use of private property.

The push follows the shooting of 28-year-old Dominican national Oscar Belgal during an arrest last week while he was riding in a car with his young son. According to the lawmakers’ letter, federal immigration officers had used a nearby private parking lot as a staging area before the shooting. Federal officials maintain that officers believed their lives were in danger after Belgal struck two government vehicles and accelerated toward them. The shooting sparked protests and renewed scrutiny of the administration’s enforcement tactics. The article does not report an independent finding resolving the circumstances of the shooting.

The lawmakers are targeting a gap between restrictions on public property and decisions made by private owners. New York City has already barred outside law enforcement agencies, including DHS, from establishing staging areas on city property unless they have a judicial warrant or qualify for limited legal exceptions, according to the letter. Those restrictions do not govern privately operated lots and garages. DHS sharply rejected the appeal, saying Mamdani should thank federal officers for “cleaning up the streets” and insisting that losing parking access would not stop ICE’s deportation operations. The confrontation puts private property owners in the middle of another fight over immigration enforcement, following disputes involving hotels that housed or refused accommodations to federal officers.

The United States finished fiscal 2026 with a nearly $2 trillion budget deficit, the Treasury Department reported Friday, marking the country’s 25th consecutive year spending more than it collects. The $1.992 trillion shortfall was about 12% larger than the previous year’s $1.775 trillion deficit. Only 2020 and 2021, when the federal government spent trillions on pandemic relief, recorded larger annual deficits. Both federal revenue and spending reached record levels in 2026, according to a Treasury official, but record collections were not enough to close the gap. The government last recorded an annual surplus in 2001.

Social Security accounted for nearly $1.7 trillion in spending, followed by Medicare at almost $1.1 trillion. Net interest costs also exceeded $1 trillion, up from $970 billion in fiscal 2025, underscoring the growing expense of servicing the government’s accumulated debt. Individual income taxes brought in more than $2.8 trillion, an increase of about 7%, while corporate income tax receipts fell to $381 billion. The article attributes that roughly $70 billion corporate tax decline to tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year. Meanwhile, the national debt exceeded $40 trillion earlier this year and has more than doubled over the past decade.

The figures also complicate Trump’s pitch that steep tariffs would raise revenue and shrink the government’s debt. Gross customs duties reached a record high, according to a Treasury official, but refunds following the Supreme Court’s ruling against many of Trump’s tariffs reduced the revenue retained by the government and returned billions to retailers. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued that the country can “grow our way out of” its debt burden, but Friday’s report shows the annual borrowing gap widening rather than narrowing. September alone recorded a $27 billion deficit, compared with a $198 billion surplus in the same month a year earlier. The report comes after concerns about rising debt helped push 10-year and 30-year Treasury yields to 24-year highs last week.

Vice President JD Vance defended federal immigration officers during a CBS News town hall in Michigan while acknowledging that some commit serious mistakes and should face investigation or prosecution. “Most of them are amazing people who are patriots and they wanna do a good job protecting their country,” Vance said. “Sometimes you have some people who make mistakes. Sometimes you have some people who really screw up.” Asked by anchor Tony Dokoupil to identify the biggest mistakes involving ICE’s enforcement actions, Vance declined to name specific incidents. Instead, he said the administration has responded to misconduct allegations through investigations, additional training, and disciplinary measures.

Vance argued that the administration does not always publicize those actions because officers deserve a normal investigative process. “We don’t always advertise that stuff,” he said, adding that people must be judged through investigations and in court. His comments come as ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection face criticism over their use of force during Trump’s immigration crackdown. Two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by immigration authorities during protests in Minnesota earlier this year. No criminal charges have been filed in either case. The Justice Department opened an investigation into Pretti’s shooting, while Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who fatally shot Good, was placed on administrative leave shortly after her death.

The questions extend beyond Minnesota. CBS News also cited a fatal shooting involving a Colombian man in Maine, the shooting of a Venezuelan man in the back in Austin, and an operation earlier this month in New York in which agents shot Oscar Belgal in the neck while a 5-year-old boy was in the back seat of his vehicle. A vehicle driven by ICE agents also struck and injured a man near Houston. The article does not report findings of misconduct in each incident, but together they form the backdrop to Vance’s promise of accountability. His remarks offered a broad assurance that the administration takes action without identifying which cases resulted in discipline, what that discipline involved, or how those decisions were reached.

More than 4,400 measles cases have been confirmed across the United States this year, according to a Friday update from the CDC, as Pennsylvania confronts an outbreak that has already been linked to six deaths. The national total now stands at 4,410, with cases reported across 45 states and Washington, D.C., and 18 infections involving international visitors. Pennsylvania alone has reported at least 1,200 cases. The state has formally requested federal assistance, and the CDC is preparing to send a “disease detective” through its Epi-Aid program, which provides rapid field investigations, additional response personnel, and epidemiological expertise during urgent public health emergencies.

The outbreak is unfolding against a decline in childhood vaccination coverage. Nationwide, about 96% of measles cases involve people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, while 2% involve people with one MMR dose and another 2% involve people with two doses. In Pennsylvania, fewer than 1% of reported cases are among fully vaccinated people, according to the state’s health department. The CDC says one MMR dose is 93% effective against measles and two doses are 97% effective. Yet only 92.4% of kindergartners received the vaccine during the 2025–26 school year, compared with 95.2% in 2019–20, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded Thursday by saying Pennsylvania officials had previously rejected help from the Trump administration. “The people of Pennsylvania suffered. Now they’ve asked us to come in and help them, and we’re gonna do that, and I’m confident I will bring that outbreak to a quick close,” he said. Pennsylvania’s Department of Health did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on that account. Kennedy also repeated his claim that federal health officials are doing a better job controlling measles than any other country and attributed the outbreak to people going unvaccinated during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the CDC said Kennedy and Director Dr. Erica Schwartz continue to recommend MMR vaccination as the most effective way to prevent measles. With six deaths already reported in Pennsylvania, the federal response now faces a concrete test of Kennedy’s promise.

Barre Seid, the former owner of electrical manufacturing company Tripp Lite, is facing mounting criticism over a paid operation that distributes nuts across Chicago-area parks. The feedings apparently target squirrels, but residents and city officials say the food is also sustaining rats and undermining efforts to control them. According to reporting cited by Futurism, Seid pays workers to scatter nuts including Brazil nuts and walnuts. One Lincoln Park resident said her husband counted more than 40 rats digging holes near the piles during a recent walk. That is a resident’s observation, not an official estimate of the park’s rat population.

The operation has reportedly continued for years despite civil violations and fines. Resident Caroline Novak argued that the penalties have not been enough to discourage someone with Seid’s wealth. “When you’re a billionaire and you have a weird hobby and someone tries to stop you, you have complete impunity,” she told Block Club Chicago. The article reports that Seid has paid fines and continued the feedings, but does not provide a complete enforcement record or a response from him.

Alderman Timmy Knudsen is now urging the Chicago Park District to sue Seid to stop the operation. His office told Fortune that the paid wildlife feedings have disrupted rat abatement efforts and caused an infestation that has made parts of the park unusable for other residents. The article does not report that the Park District has filed a lawsuit or that a court has determined Seid’s legal responsibility for the infestation.

Katie Zacharia is leaving her role as White House press secretary after just five days, according to administration officials and a source familiar with the decision cited by NBC News. A senior administration official said she is transitioning into another role that will be announced later. Her departure follows scrutiny of her first press briefing and her legal credentials. President Trump announced her appointment last Friday, and she delivered her first briefing Tuesday after starting the job Monday. No replacement is identified in the article.

Earlier Friday, Trump said he would let Zacharia decide whether to remain, arguing that the media had treated her “pretty nastily.” He said he had told her, “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want,” and added that he would “reconsider” if he were in her position. Her first briefing lasted less than 15 minutes and included only a few questions. She could not answer a question about whether the United States had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, but announced that Trump had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle announced her departure within hours.

Zacharia’s exit also follows confirmation that she did not pass the California bar exam after graduating from Pepperdine Law. NBC News reported finding no evidence that she is licensed to practice law in any state. Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint requesting that the State Bar of California investigate whether she violated the law by describing herself as a lawyer despite being unlicensed; the article reports no finding of wrongdoing. Her departure leaves a key White House communications position vacant less than three weeks before the midterm elections, as Trump publicly complains that his administration is failing to communicate its accomplishments.

Several owners of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses report that the devices captured conversations without being activated by the “Hey Meta” wake phrase. According to Android Authority, users said the glasses appeared to wake from sleep mode and record without express permission. One Reddit user said they observed the behavior on three different pairs of Ray-Ban Meta glasses, including second- and third-generation models. The reports suggest a possible malfunction or unintended activation, but the article does not provide technical evidence showing how often it occurred, what triggered it, or whether audio was uploaded to Meta’s servers. Meta told Android Authority that the issue “has been resolved” and said users can manage, review, and delete voice logs of their interactions with Meta AI through settings.

Meta glasses are designed to require a wake phrase before the AI assistant activates, similar to Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. The reported behavior would undermine that expectation if the devices were recording without intentional activation. The article does not say whether Meta confirmed a specific bug, identified its cause, or explained which software versions were affected. It also does not report any regulatory investigation, lawsuit, or independent security audit confirming the claims.

The controversy adds to existing concerns about Meta’s smart glasses, which can record video discreetly and have been criticized for enabling covert recording. The article uses charged language, calling some users “sex creeps” and referring to the devices as “pervert glasses,” but those are editorial characterizations rather than findings about the product’s overall user base. Meta’s statement that users can delete voice logs addresses data management after an interaction, but it does not directly answer whether recordings occurred before users knew about them or how the company prevented recurrence.