Actor Patrick Stewart, known for “Star Trek” and the “X-Men” films, has died at 86, his family announced Thursday. A statement shared on his social media said he had experienced a “brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Key Facts
Stewart was 86 when he died.
His family announced his death on Thursday, October 29, 2026.
Stewart was known for roles in “Star Trek” and the “X-Men” film franchise.
A statement shared on his social media said he had Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
The statement described his illness as a “brief and poignant journey.”
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Actor Patrick Stewart, known for playing Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, has died at 86. His spokesperson said he died at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday after living with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Key Facts
Stewart’s spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, described his illness as a brief journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Stewart’s family asked people to donate to the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund or the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources in his memory.
Before his screen fame, Stewart performed Shakespeare and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He played Captain Jean-Luc Picard for seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in four films, and in Star Trek: Picard.
Stewart also played Professor Charles Xavier across the X-Men film franchise.
His other credits included Excalibur, Dune, Logan, The Lion in Winter, Blunt Talk, and American Dad!.
Stewart is set to reprise Professor X in Avengers: Doomsday, scheduled for release on December 18.
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Actor Patrick Stewart, known for his roles in the “Star Trek” and “X-Men” franchises and his stage career, has died at 86. A post on his social media channels said he died at home Wednesday with his wife, Sunny, at his side, after living with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Key Facts
Stewart was 86.
His spokesperson confirmed his death.
He died at home on Wednesday with his wife, Sunny, beside him.
A social media post said he had been living with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Stewart was known for roles in the “Star Trek” and “X-Men” franchises.
He also had a prolific stage career.
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A federal judge in Boston blocked a Trump administration Medicaid rule that required some chronically ill people to prove their conditions significantly impaired their ability to meet work requirements to qualify as medically frail. The judge’s partial ruling came in a lawsuit filed by 25 states and the District of Columbia, which argued the rule went beyond a 2025 law.
Key Facts
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns issued the ruling Thursday.
The lawsuit challenges guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The 2025 law includes blind or disabled people, people with substance use or disabling mental disorders, and people with certain serious conditions in the definition of medically frail.
The administration’s guidance required those people to show their condition also significantly impaired their ability to comply with work requirements.
The coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration in June.
The states argued the stricter requirement could keep eligible Americans from getting needed care and exceeded the law’s wording.
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More than 43 million people have voted early in the U.S. midterm elections, with daily voting reaching four to five million ballots. Early voting is especially high in Texas and among Hispanic voters in some states, though the available data covers only states that collect party or race information from voters.
Key Facts
University of Florida Election Lab data shows more than 43 million ballots have been cast early.
Voters have cast about four to five million early ballots per day, a faster pace than in most previous elections.
Texas has recorded more than 5.8 million early votes, about 1.75 million more than its total at the same point in 2022.
Early voting has increased among Democrats and voters without a party affiliation in states that track party registration; Republican totals are generally similar to 2022.
Among early ballots in states that track party affiliation, 44% came from Democrats, 31.2% from Republicans and 24.7% from unaffiliated voters.
North Carolina, Georgia and Florida data show higher early voting among Hispanic and Black voters than in 2022, while white voter numbers are similar.
In the 2020 election, more than two-thirds of ballots were cast early, and half of those early ballots were mailed.
States will end early voting at different times before Election Day, which is Tuesday, November 3.
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Ohio’s U.S. Senate race between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown appears close, and third-party candidates could affect the result. A new PAC is promoting Libertarian William B. Redpath, while political analysts say third-party votes may draw support from either major-party candidate.
Key Facts
Ohio voters are scheduled to vote in the Senate race on November 3.
The ballot also lists Libertarian William B. Redpath and independent Gregory Levy, who is affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Buckeye Freedom PAC formed this month, endorsed Redpath, and posted an ad urging voters to support him.
The article says another super PAC has tried to boost Levy’s candidacy.
University of Akron professor David Cohen said Libertarian candidates tend to draw votes from Republicans, while candidates associated with socialism tend to draw votes from Democrats.
Bowling Green State University professor Robert Alexander said he sees more potential Republican vote leakage and discontent among independent voters.
A Suffolk University poll of 500 likely voters, conducted October 21–26, showed Brown leading Husted 47 percent to 44 percent.
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Experts warn that AI tools make it easier to create realistic fake images, videos and audio, which can be used in scams and political disinformation. They say many people struggle to identify audio deepfakes, while AI-generated political ads have increased sharply ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Key Facts
Doppel reported that only 8% of people in one test recognized that an AI agent was calling them; 92% thought they were speaking with a human.
Experts say deepfakes can imitate the voices and likenesses of public figures, friends or relatives.
PolitiFact reported that an AI-manipulated video in Texas falsely depicted a former student accusing Senate candidate James Talarico of sexual misconduct.
The Wesleyan Media Project reported that campaigns had spent more than $137 million on at least 220 AI-generated ads by mid-October.
The Wesleyan Media Project identified less than $50,000 in spending on AI-generated ads during the 2024 election cycle, according to its co-director.
The project’s co-director said most of the AI-generated ads it tracked did not disclose that they used AI.
Veriff reported a 300% increase in deepfake-related fraud attempts against businesses in 2026 compared with 2025.
A Veriff expert advised people who receive suspicious requests to hang up and verify the caller through a known phone number or another channel.
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Former Justice Department officials say the department’s recent public investigative steps involving Democratic politicians and former FBI officials, taken weeks before the midterm elections, depart from long-standing practices meant to avoid influencing elections. The department says it is following facts and law, while some cases have faced setbacks in court or before a grand jury.
Key Facts
The Justice Department searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home as part of an investigation involving accusations of immigration fraud.
Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas and her daughter, Lisa Lucas-Burke, were indicted on drug and bribery-related charges tied to an alleged scheme involving Lucas’s cannabis business.
Former FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides were charged with lying to Congress about their roles in the Hunter Biden laptop investigation.
A magistrate judge rejected new charges prosecutors sought to add in the case against Floris and Benavides and criticized the government.
An FBI agent said the probe into Floris and Benavides began at FBI Director Kash Patel’s request after President Trump called for an investigation of former counterintelligence officials.
Prosecutors took steps to bring another case against former FBI Director James Comey, saying the timing was tied to a statute of limitations deadline.
A grand jury rejected proposed charges against former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson over her testimony to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The Justice Department said it was following the facts and the law, not a political timetable.
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At its National Conference, eClinicalWorks announced a redesigned electronic health record system, new AI tools, and plans to expand into hospital and pharmacy software. CEO Girish Navani projected that the redesign could improve customer efficiency by 30% within about a quarter, while the company plans to include some AI features in standard upgrades at no extra charge.
Key Facts
The upcoming 12.04 release will introduce Canvas for Care, a workspace that combines patient information, AI-generated summaries, and suggested actions.
The AI Workbench lets organizations build automated agents for tasks such as referrals and revenue-cycle management.
The Workbench includes tests for agents before deployment and alerts staff when technical problems require human intervention.
eClinicalWorks is developing an inpatient EHR for community and critical access hospitals; four hospitals are preparing to implement it.
A new pharmacy platform links prescribing and inventory management with pharmacy operations and patient records.
The company says it expects to exceed $1.3 billion in revenue this year and serves more than 180,000 providers.
The article also reports that the Department of Health and Human Services finalized the HTI-5 rule, which aims to reduce regulatory burdens on health IT developers.
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Vice-President JD Vance sent Iran a letter proposing renewed diplomacy, with nuclear commitments from Tehran tied to U.S. sanctions relief and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has yet to reply and disputes the order of steps, while officials and lawmakers warn that a renewed U.S. attack could trigger wider regional conflict.
Key Facts
Vance sent the letter on Sunday to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, after mediation led mainly by Qatar.
The proposal calls for Iran to make nuclear commitments at the start of negotiations, with a process to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days in exchange for U.S. sanctions relief.
Iran is reluctant to make irreversible nuclear concessions before receiving U.S. measures, such as relief on oil-export sanctions, that it considers reliable.
Iranian negotiator Mohammad Ghalibaf said progress requires agreement to Iran’s seven conditions, which include lifting sanctions and ending the war on all fronts.
Iran has proposed diluting its highly enriched uranium stockpile so it cannot be used to make a nuclear weapon, and has resisted the return of UN nuclear inspectors.
The article says Iran has plans to retaliate against U.S. interests by targeting Gulf infrastructure, including desalination plants, internet cables and electricity grids.
Senator Chris Murphy said a U.S. military plan for renewed attacks could cause devastating escalation and undermine the U.S. commitment to the rule of law.
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A federal judge blocked a Trump administration rule requiring some chronically ill Medicaid recipients to show that their conditions significantly limit their ability to meet new work requirements before they can qualify as medically frail. The ruling does not overturn the work requirements or two other federal rules on verifying medical frailty.
Key Facts
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston issued the ruling on Thursday.
A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia sued over guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The 2025 law defines medically frail groups to include people who are blind or disabled, have substance use or disabling mental disorders, or have certain serious medical conditions.
The judge said the states showed that the stricter rule could cause harm through costly changes to their eligibility systems.
The ruling leaves the Medicaid work requirements in place.
Stearns upheld rules requiring states to reject medical-frailty diagnoses more than a year old and allowing only one self-attestation during a continuous enrollment period.
Starting Jan. 1, Medicaid expansion enrollees ages 19 to 64 must document at least 80 monthly hours of work or community service, or attend school at least half time, unless an exception applies.
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Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs responded Wednesday to a Department of Justice request involving ballots cast by hundreds of people the federal government identified as alleged non-U.S. citizens. Hobbs said officials should not set aside ballots without individualized proof that a voter is ineligible.
Key Facts
The Department of Justice asked Hobbs to direct Washington election officials to set aside certain ballots.
The request concerns ballots from hundreds of people the federal government identified as alleged non-U.S. citizens.
Hobbs replied to the DOJ on Wednesday.
Hobbs said officials need individualized proof of ineligibility before setting aside ballots.
The article describes the people identified by the federal government as alleged noncitizens.
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A France 24 program examines the Michigan Senate race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers, focusing on attacks on El-Sayed’s Muslim identity and the role of religion in the campaign. It also considers whether voters will focus more on identity or on economic issues such as tariffs and inflation, and how the race reflects shifts within both parties ahead of the midterms.
Key Facts
Donald Trump called El-Sayed a jihadist, according to the article.
El-Sayed is seeking to become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.
El-Sayed’s Republican opponent is former Congressman Mike Rogers.
El-Sayed campaigned as a Democratic Socialist and won the Democratic primary.
Barack Obama and moderate Democrats have appeared in support of El-Sayed during the closing days of the campaign.
The program discusses whether Michigan voters will prioritize religion and identity or economic concerns such as tariffs and inflation.
Michigan is a swing state and a center of the U.S. auto industry.
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Cornell faculty began a non-binding no-confidence vote on university leadership over its handling of a lawsuit alleging a 2024 gang rape at a fraternity house. The vote is expected to run through November 6, amid calls for President Michael Kotlikoff to resign and scrutiny of the university’s response.
Key Facts
The lawsuit says a female student identified as Jane Doe was drugged and raped by seven male students at a fraternity house in 2024.
Cornell initially shut down the fraternity and suspended the accused students; two were later expelled.
Faculty began the no-confidence vote on Thursday after debating whether to delay it.
Lead faculty sponsor Paul Ortiz said students, staff, faculty and alumni had raised concerns about the case and other possible incidents.
Twenty female faculty members in science and engineering called on Kotlikoff to resign in a letter to university trustees.
Kotlikoff apologized for the harm Jane Doe suffered and said he was appalled that the alleged assault occurred within the Cornell community.
Two accused men have asked a court to remove New York Attorney General Letitia James from oversight of the renewed criminal probe, citing her earlier social media posts supporting the accuser.
A judge appeared skeptical of one of the challenges to James’s role, according to the article.
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The article examines how President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has sparked a backlash that could affect Republican campaigns. It recalls that, during Trump’s presidential campaign two years ago, television coverage showed migrant camps near the border, groups traveling through Central America and concerns about pressure on social services.
Key Facts
The article focuses on a backlash to Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The article says the backlash could undermine Republican campaigns.
Trump was running for president two years before the article’s date.
Television coverage during that campaign showed migrant tent camps on both sides of the border.
Coverage also showed groups of people traveling through Central America.
The article describes concerns that newcomers could overwhelm social services.
The report is datelined Minneapolis.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said he did not take sides in Brazil’s presidential election but called it a “disgrace” and said Brazil’s market had fallen sharply. Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost the runoff to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by more than four million votes, arrived in Miami with his family; a New York Times report said the Trump administration helped them leave Brazil and might offer them permanent residency.
Key Facts
Trump said he had been asked by Brazil’s president not to take sides in the election.
Flavio Bolsonaro lost Sunday’s runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by more than four million votes.
The Brazilian real fell 12 percent against the U.S. dollar in spot trading after the election.
Flavio Bolsonaro and his family traveled through Argentina and Ecuador before arriving in Miami on Wednesday.
The New York Times reported that Trump and his administration helped the family leave Brazil and that the U.S. government might provide permanent residency.
Brazil’s Supreme Court had ordered Flavio Bolsonaro to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports amid investigations into alleged embezzlement and money laundering.
Flavio Bolsonaro called himself Brazil’s “true elected president” and said he would lead the opposition from the United States, but provided no evidence for his claim.
Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party said Monday that it accepted the election result.
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French prosecutors say a suspect in a deadly shooting near Paris admitted targeting people he perceived as Muslim, African or North African. He has been charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise; one person died and seven others were injured.
Key Facts
The shooting took place last Friday in two western suburbs of Paris.
Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old French-Congolese martial artist, was killed.
Seven people, including a child, were injured; three remained in hospital, and one was in critical condition, according to the prosecutor.
Prosecutors said the suspect chose the towns because he viewed them as a “hotbed for Islamists.”
The suspect denied terrorist intent and said he considered his actions legitimate, according to the prosecutor.
Police found weapons or weapon components and books including the Quran, the Bible and Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf at the suspect’s home, prosecutors said.
The suspect told investigators he designed and printed stickers bearing slogans supportive of France’s National Rally party, but said he was not a member or supporter of a political party.
President Emmanuel Macron called the attack racist terrorism, while National Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy criticized the president’s response.
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Residential electricity costs rose about 5% nationwide over the past year, and higher bills have become an issue in the final days before the U.S. midterm elections. Rising costs reflect several factors, including grid upgrades and increased demand; polling also found more Americans say their utility bills are unaffordable.
Key Facts
U.S. residential electricity costs increased approximately 5% in the past year, according to the Energy Information Administration.
An ABC News analysis found that five of the 10 states with the largest electricity-cost increases have competitive Senate races.
Electricity costs in Maine rose 16% over the past year; Republican Sen. Susan Collins is running against Democrat Troy Jackson.
Electricity costs in Ohio rose 12% over the past year; Republican Sen. John Husted is facing former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that 57% of Americans say their utilities are unaffordable, compared with 45% in February.
Reported reasons for rising electricity costs include upgrades to the aging grid, state and local regulations, and greater demand from consumers and businesses, including data centers.
At an Oct. 20 meeting in Loudoun County, Virginia, resident Derrick Robinson said his monthly utility bill was rising from about $250 to around $850.
The U.S. Department of Energy recommends measures such as sealing gaps around doors and windows and using power strips to reduce electricity use.
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President Donald Trump’s October 28 proclamation calls imports of foreign-made industrial robots a national security threat and directs the United States to negotiate with trading partners. If no agreements are reached within 180 days, he may impose tariffs or other restrictions, which could raise costs for U.S. companies that use the machines.
Key Facts
The proclamation cites a Commerce Department investigation led by Secretary Howard Lutnick, which identified risks to the U.S. industrial base and potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
The directive covers robotics, industrial machinery, and their components.
The United States and trading partners have 180 days from the proclamation date to seek agreements on imports.
If negotiations fail, Trump may impose tariffs, duties, quotas, or fees on imports.
U.S. automakers and aerospace and defense firms use industrial robots in manufacturing operations.
The article says major suppliers of heavy-duty industrial robots include Japan’s FANUC and Yaskawa, Switzerland’s ABB, and Germany’s KUKA.
The proclamation acknowledges that U.S. robotics companies do not produce enough industrial robots to meet national security needs.
The International Federation of Robotics reported nearly 38,500 new U.S. industrial robot installations in 2025.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinian-Israeli voters of “stealing” the election after parties representing them won a record 19 seats. With the votes counted, opposition parties could work with those parties to remove Netanyahu from power.
Key Facts
Palestinian-Israeli parties won a record 19 seats.
Netanyahu accused Palestinian-Israeli voters of “stealing” the election.
All votes had been counted, according to the article.
The main opposition bloc could join forces with Palestinian-Israeli parties.
A combined opposition could unseat Netanyahu.
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