Canada and the European Union announced the Alliance for the Future, a partnership aimed at strengthening economic, technology and security ties. The leaders also agreed to discuss deeper market integration and a possible associate membership for Canada, with its scope to be addressed at a 2027 summit.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the alliance in Montreal after a two-day summit.
Canada agreed to contribute to a €90 billion support loan for Ukraine.
The leaders said future talks would explore a more integrated market, fewer trade and travel restrictions, and expanded educational opportunities.
Canada and the EU announced an agreement giving Canada access to European supercomputers for training AI models.
Carney cited a planned merger of Canada’s Cohere and Germany’s Aleph Alpha as a way to reduce reliance on U.S. AI companies.
Canada and the EU discussed possible associate membership for Canada, but said they would define its scope at a 2027 summit.
The article says Canada’s federal government announced a stake in Cohere worth up to C$1.6 billion.
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A U.S. Treasury Department report says a naval blockade, sanctions and obstacles to overland trade have sharply weakened Iran’s economy. The report cites a falling currency, rising inflation and halted oil shipments, while U.S. officials say the pressure campaign may encourage Iran to negotiate.
Key Facts
The Treasury campaign, called Operation Economic Outcast, began in late August.
The report says Iran’s rial lost about a quarter of its value since the campaign began, reaching a record low against the dollar in October.
Iran’s annual inflation rate reached 90% in September, up from about 35% in early 2025.
The report says Iran has not loaded oil onto tankers since August 25 because of the blockade and sanctions.
The report describes delays and bottlenecks for Iranian overland trade at borders with Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
Several countries have barred Iranian airlines or canceled flights to Iran, while Turkey suspended Mahan Air flights.
Iranian banks have faced restrictions in Turkey, Lebanon and the UAE, and Treasury is targeting cryptocurrency exchanges it says are used to evade sanctions.
President Donald Trump met with national security and foreign policy aides on Thursday to discuss the war and the blockade.
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The Central Arizona Project (CAP) has asked to join Nevada’s lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s Colorado River management plan. The proposal would require Lower Basin states to cut water use by up to 3 million acre-feet through 2036, while imposing no mandatory cuts on Upper Basin states.
Key Facts
CAP supplies Colorado River water to Arizona’s most populated regions.
CAP filed a motion to intervene in the case in a Nevada district court.
The lawsuit challenges the Interior Department’s Record of Decision and Operating Guidelines issued on August 21, 2026.
Nevada filed its lawsuit against the Interior Department in August; Arizona said in October that it would join.
The proposed plan calls for Lower Basin states to collectively cut water use by up to 3 million acre-feet through 2036.
The Colorado River supplies water to tens of millions of people in seven states and supports farms, hydropower, recreation, and wildlife.
The article says Lakes Mead and Powell reached record-low levels that summer amid a prolonged drought.
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Maine’s U.S. Senate race between Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson is close, with healthcare a central issue. The state faces rural maternity ward closures, hospital consolidation and possible Medicaid coverage losses; the candidates disagree over Collins’s role in advancing the 2025 budget law and its Medicaid changes.
Key Facts
Eleven of Maine’s 23 maternity wards have closed in the past decade.
A birthing unit in Damariscotta is scheduled to close in December.
York Hospital was absorbed into MaineHealth, and Northern Light Health has faced financial problems and closed facilities.
A September report by the Maine Center for Economic Policy estimated that about 29,000 Mainers could lose MaineCare coverage under the law’s work requirements.
Collins voted against the 2025 budget law but supported procedural votes that advanced it to the Senate floor.
Jackson criticized Collins over those procedural votes and the law’s Medicaid cuts.
Collins said she opposed the Medicaid cuts and that the law’s rural hospital assistance fund was not enough to offset other changes.
Republicans held a 53–47 Senate majority, and the article described Maine’s race as a key contest for control of the chamber.
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A CBS News segment examines how Latino communities could influence the results of the midterm elections. Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar shares his perspective.
Key Facts
The segment focuses on the Latino vote and the midterm elections.
Ken Salazar appears in the segment.
Salazar is identified as a former U.S. secretary of the interior.
The segment discusses how Latino communities could shape election results.
The video is listed as 5 minutes and 33 seconds long.
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Hackers targeted Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and took assets valued at $6.3 billion, according to the article. A Hush executive discussed the incident with CBS News; the article provides no further details about how the attack happened or who carried it out.
Key Facts
The article reports that hackers targeted Binance.
The stolen assets were valued at $6.3 billion.
Binance is described as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Mykolas Rambus, Hush’s CEO and co-founder, discussed the incident on CBS News.
The article does not identify the hackers.
The article does not explain how the assets were taken.
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Miami-Dade prosecutors dropped the felony battery-by-strangulation charge against rapper Rick Ross, citing insufficient evidence. Ross still faces a misdemeanor domestic-violence battery charge and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Key Facts
Prosecutors filed paperwork Thursday to drop the felony charge.
Ross was arrested after a woman he lived with reported that he struck and choked her in August.
Ross surrendered to Miami Beach police on October 1 and was released on bail several hours later.
Ross’s attorney said he would continue to defend himself against the allegations.
Ross previously pleaded no contest to aggravated assault in Georgia in 2017; a court later exonerated him of guilt under a first-time offender program.
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False claims circulated online that Muslims set fire to five churches in France on October 17. France’s government agency monitoring religious heritage sites confirmed one recent church fire, whose cause was unknown; images and videos used to support the claims showed unrelated incidents or earlier fires.
Key Facts
Social media posts linked the alleged church fires to protests in France on October 17.
France’s government agency monitoring religious heritage sites confirmed one church fire in recent days and said its cause was unknown.
A video shared by Alex Jones showed a burning rubbish bin in Lyon, not a church.
A video of Saint-Michel Church in Bordeaux showed a July fire at a homeless encampment; the fire did not reach the church.
A widely shared post by an Italy-based user used a photo of a fire at Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris in 2019.
The article says some media outlets also misreported the false claims.
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A video showing a woman reciting a poem that mocks Charlie Kirk’s assassination at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Texas at San Antonio prompted backlash online. The university said it is reviewing the circumstances under its student conduct process, but it would not discuss the student or possible discipline.
Key Facts
The video was shared on X by Christian Collins, founder of the conservative Texas Youth Summit.
The woman identified herself in the video as “Pamper Baby.”
The poem referred to Kirk being shot in the neck and called the anniversary the “Kirkiversary.”
The woman also mentioned a planned “Squirt for Kirk” event on October 10.
Some conservative outlets and commentators identified the woman as Isa Casahuga Lemgruber, but Newsweek said it had not verified that identification.
Newsweek said it had not independently confirmed the speaker’s identity, enrollment, nationality, or immigration status.
UT San Antonio said the expressed sentiments did not reflect the university’s values and that it was reviewing the matter under its policies and applicable law.
Charlie Kirk was killed on September 10, 2025, after being shot while answering students’ questions at Utah Valley University.
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Meta settled a lawsuit alleging that its social media platform was designed to encourage addictive behavior, avoiding a trial against the company. The case will proceed against Snap, with the plaintiffs’ claims focused on their use of Snapchat and alleged mental health effects.
Key Facts
Two plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in 2023 against Meta and Snap, Snapchat’s parent company.
The plaintiffs are identified in court documents as a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman.
The plaintiffs had also sued TikTok and YouTube, but settled their claims against those companies.
Meta’s settlement terms were not disclosed.
Jury selection began in Los Angeles this week, and opening statements had been expected in early November.
The trial will now focus on the plaintiffs’ claims against Snap and is expected to last into mid-December.
Meta said it would continue to defend itself in similar litigation and cited an agreement with 52 bipartisan attorneys general that includes teen-use restrictions.
In August, Meta agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion to dozens of states that accused it of drawing young users to its platforms while concealing risks.
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Israeli forces demolished the homes of Ahmad and Hammouda al-Jaabeh in Hebron on Friday. The brothers were killed after an October 23 attack near a checkpoint that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others. The demolitions took place during a military operation in which local officials and reporters say thousands of Palestinians have been displaced.
Key Facts
Israeli forces demolished the homes of the two brothers after surrounding the buildings and sealing off the area.
The brothers carried out an attack near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint on October 23, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding three others.
Al Jazeera reporter Mohammed al-Atrash said army engineers spent at least nine hours rigging explosives inside the homes.
The Hebron municipality said 4,969 Palestinians from 780 families had been displaced by the offensive.
Al-Atrash reported that Israeli forces had arrested at least 120 Palestinians since the operation began and questioned hundreds more.
Al-Atrash said troops detained at least 12 Palestinians who approached the demolition site.
Dozens of displaced residents protested near the closed al-Jalda roundabout, calling for an end to the siege and the right to return home.
Israeli forces also detained four Palestinians in raids south of Tulkarem, while soldiers and settlers attacked or drove off olive harvesters near Bethlehem and Nablus.
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Federal judges in Washington heard challenges Friday to two Trump administration-backed projects: changes to East Potomac Golf Links and a proposed memorial arch near the National Mall. The golf course case raised questions about the administration’s statements and authority, while opponents of the arch argued that Congress must approve it.
Key Facts
President Donald Trump said the golf course would close for 15 months for renovations, with construction expected to begin Nov. 15.
The Justice Department told the court that the National Park Service would submit a rendering of the proposed golf course design to the National Capital Planning Commission on Oct. 30.
Judge Ana Reyes said she intended to appoint a special master to investigate the administration’s statements to the court.
The golf course project would reconfigure the historic East Potomac Golf Links near the National Mall.
A separate lawsuit challenges plans to build a 250-foot memorial arch, which would be 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty from its base to the torch.
The arch’s opponents asked Judge Tanya Chutkan to temporarily block construction, which could begin as early as Nov. 5.
The arch lawsuit was brought by veterans and an architectural historian who argue that Congress must approve the project.
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Oman evacuated 25 crew members from the burning Panamanian-flagged merchant ship RITI in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said three oil tankers had been stopped while using routes it called unauthorized, but it is unclear whether RITI was among them; the U.S. military said the main international transit routes had been cleared of Iranian sea mines.
Key Facts
Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said it evacuated 25 people from the RITI on Friday.
Oman said the RITI was flying the Panamanian flag, and MarineTraffic identified it as a crude oil tanker.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had stopped three oil tankers attempting to use unauthorized routes through the strait.
The IRGC said two tankers had encountered incidents and were halted south of the strait.
The IRGC said a third vessel, a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil, exploded and caught fire.
The article did not establish whether the RITI was one of the three vessels Iran described.
Iran’s navy said it struck and destroyed an unmanned enemy craft east of the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Central Command chief Brad Cooper said the main internationally recognized transit routes had been cleared of Iranian sea mines; the U.S. military denies Iran’s mine claims.
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A Harris County grand jury indicted ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales on a charge of second-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors say Morales deliberately struck Miguel Parra Hernandez with an SUV as Hernandez fled on foot on Oct. 10; Morales has not been convicted, and ICE disputes the allegation.
Key Facts
The indictment carries a possible sentence of two to 20 years if Morales is convicted, according to District Attorney Sean Teare.
Prosecutors say the vehicle was used as a deadly weapon.
Teare said Parra Hernandez had no criminal record and no pending immigration proceedings before the incident.
ICE said its agents were looking for a different man who was a deportation target.
Teare said Parra Hernandez is still recovering from his injuries and remains in ICE custody.
ICE called the indictment a political stunt and said the allegation that Morales struck Hernandez intentionally was false.
Morales may seek to move the case to federal court and argue that federal law shields him from state prosecution.
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U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she plans to appoint a special master to investigate whether Justice and Interior Department officials misled the court about plans to close and renovate East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C. The probe could include document reviews, sworn witness questioning and hearings; the administration would have five business days to object after a special master is selected.
Key Facts
President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 18 that the golf course would close Nov. 15 for about 15 months of renovations.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. told the court the day after the announcement that there was no plan to close the course.
The Justice Department acknowledged on Oct. 28 that Trump had directed the closure.
Reyes questioned Woodward at a hearing and read ethics rules requiring attorneys to be truthful with courts.
A preservation group and two golfers sued over what they describe as an illegal plan to convert the historic public course into a championship-level golf course.
After government crews cut down more than 400 trees, Reyes barred further tree removal without court approval.
Reyes also required 10 business days' notice before closing the park or making irreversible changes; the administration has appealed.
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California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri resigned after a tenure marked by delays, rising projected costs and scrutiny of consultant travel expenses. The authority appointed state Finance Director Joe Stephenshaw as interim CEO and said it plans to continue the project, while state Senator Tony Strickland renewed calls to end it.
Key Facts
Choudri said he was stepping down to focus on personal and family priorities.
The authority’s reported cost estimate has risen from $45 billion to between $126 billion and $231 billion.
The project has not yet laid track, according to the article.
State investigators found that the authority paid $592,900 for consultant travel expenses that appeared to violate state rules.
The authority lost more than $4 billion in federal funding under President Donald Trump’s administration, the article reported.
The board unanimously appointed Joe Stephenshaw, the state Department of Finance director, as interim CEO.
The board authorized the purchase of the first three trainsets and said it would consider final environmental clearance for the Los Angeles-to-Anaheim segment.
Republican state Senator Tony Strickland called for the project to be scrapped.
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Vice President JD Vance joked that he was “jealous” because President Donald Trump has praised other male politicians’ appearances, including Sen. Jon Husted’s backside. During a Fox News town hall, Vance laughed and called Trump a comedian when asked about the remarks.
Key Facts
Vance made the comments on Thursday.
Vance said he was “jealous” of the praise Trump gives other male politicians.
Trump has repeatedly praised Husted’s appearance, according to the article.
Husted is a Republican senator from Ohio.
Fox News host Jesse Watters asked Vance about Trump’s comments at a town hall.
Vance laughed and described Trump as a comedian.
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U.S. stocks fell Friday as disappointing earnings and higher spending forecasts from major technology companies intensified concerns about returns on artificial intelligence investment. The Nasdaq Composite dropped more than 3%, while the S&P 500 fell more than 1%.
Key Facts
The Nasdaq 100 was down more than 5.8% for October, with more than $2 trillion in market value set to be erased during the month.
Intel shares fell nearly 30% after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter profit below analysts’ expectations, despite reporting stronger-than-expected profit for the latest quarter.
Amazon shares fell 1.8% after the company reported lower-than-expected summer profit and disclosed higher-than-anticipated spending.
Alphabet shares fell more than 12% the previous day, wiping about $500 billion from its market value after it reported sharply higher AI-related spending.
Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Amazon raised forecasts for spending as they expand AI infrastructure.
Nvidia shares fell 3.1%, weighing heavily on the S&P 500.
The S&P 500 was at risk of losing its October gains, despite reaching a record high earlier in the month.
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A Harris County grand jury indicted ICE agent Mario Alberto Morales on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon over an Oct. 10 incident in which his SUV struck Miguel Parra Hernandez in Houston. Prosecutors say video shows Morales steering into Hernandez, who suffered multiple leg fractures and a hip injury; ICE denies the impact was intentional and disputes the local investigation’s authority.
Key Facts
Morales, 33, is an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The indictment alleges aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Hernandez, 48, is a Mexican construction worker with no criminal record or active deportation order, according to the article.
Surveillance video shown at a news conference captured an SUV pursuing Hernandez across a restaurant parking lot and striking him.
Morales told a 911 dispatcher that Hernandez ran in front of his vehicle and was hit; ICE repeated that account in an official statement.
Hernandez suffered multiple leg fractures and a hip injury.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Morales’s SUV also carried two handcuffed detainees from an unrelated operation when it struck Hernandez.
ICE called the allegation of an intentional collision false and said local authorities lacked authority to investigate federal officers acting in their duties.
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