A fire at the Savannah River National Laboratory near Aiken, South Carolina, was extinguished Wednesday evening. Site officials reported no detectable contamination and ended the emergency by 9:45 p.m. ET, lifting protective measures.
Key Facts
Savannah River Site declared an emergency during the 5 p.m. ET hour.
Officials said the fire was extinguished and no detectable contamination was found.
The emergency ended by 9:45 p.m. ET, and site barricades and other protective actions were lifted.
Officials had temporarily restricted incoming site traffic and nearby rail, river, and air traffic.
Highway 125 reopened after the emergency ended.
SRS said employees should report for their usual and scheduled shifts.
The Savannah River Site is a nuclear security site near Aiken, South Carolina.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
A Long Island couple is suing a real estate broker over alleged housing discrimination. The broker, who formerly worked at Douglas Elliman, allegedly sent a text saying, “Ugh they are black.”
Key Facts
The couple is from Long Island.
The couple filed a housing discrimination lawsuit against a real estate broker.
The broker formerly worked at real estate firm Douglas Elliman.
The text cited in the report said, “Ugh they are black.”
ABC News’ Linsey Davis interviewed the couple about the lawsuit.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Former Democratic Senate candidate Haley Stevens said she plans to vote for Michigan nominee Abdul El-Sayed, despite her fiancé, Jason Turkish, backing Republican Mike Rogers. Stevens also called on El-Sayed to reject a campaign ad linking U.S. support for Israel to rising grocery prices; El-Sayed’s campaign said it was not involved in the ad.
Key Facts
Stevens narrowly lost to El-Sayed in the August Democratic primary.
Stevens said she wants El-Sayed to win the Michigan Senate race.
Turkish, a civil rights attorney, said he supports Rogers because he is concerned about El-Sayed’s rhetoric.
El-Sayed said voters could choose another issue as more important than their agreement with him on other matters.
Stevens described the grocery store ad as hateful and said El-Sayed should disavow it.
Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz campaigned with Rogers at a rally in Bad Axe, Michigan.
The article describes the Senate race as closely contested and reports that RealClearPolitics rates it a toss-up.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Spain began three days of national mourning after a collision between two trains killed at least 68 people and injured dozens. Officials are investigating why a train stopped because of a computer failure was told to move again; rescue crews continued searching the wreckage and identifying victims.
Key Facts
The collision happened Wednesday on the Madrid-to-Seville rail line.
The stationary train, operated by private company Iryo, had 147 passengers and reportedly stopped because of a computer failure.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a control centre in Madrid instructed trains to move again without speed restrictions after the system failure.
The other train was operated by state-owned Renfe and carried 397 passengers; the impact sent several carriages down an embankment.
Hundreds of personnel used drones and helicopters to search the crash site and clear debris.
Many victims had not yet been identified, and the Civil Guard opened missing-person bureaus in Madrid, Toledo, Seville and Córdoba.
Most political parties suspended election campaigning; Vox said it would continue campaigning.
Rail drivers planned to strike Thursday, saying the action was in defence of railway safety.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia was removed from his role as director of the Joint Staff’s Strategy, Plans and Policy office, known as the J-5, and has retired from the Army. Sources said he was removed for a lack of confidence, but it was unclear whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine ordered the move.
Key Facts
Sylvia served as the Joint Staff’s director for Strategy, Plans and Policy for 11 months.
The J-5 handles long-term strategic planning and is one of the Joint Staff’s key directorates.
A Joint Staff spokesperson said Sylvia and his family had served the nation for 32 years.
The Joint Staff website now lists Maj. Gen. Mark H. Slocum as vice director, without listing Sylvia as director.
Sylvia is the latest senior military officer to be removed or sidelined during Hegseth’s tenure as defense secretary.
Two other Army generals serving on the Joint Staff retired early last year, including Sylvia’s predecessor, Lt. Gen. Joseph McGee.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Healthcare workers sang and danced at an Ebola treatment centre in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, after its last patient recovered and left. Doctors Without Borders runs the centre, where the latest outbreak began.
Key Facts
The last patient at the Mongbwalu treatment centre made a full recovery.
Healthcare workers celebrated by singing and dancing.
Doctors Without Borders runs the treatment centre.
The latest Ebola outbreak began at the centre in Mongbwalu, DR Congo.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
With 90.4% of ballots counted in Israel’s parliamentary election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc had 53 seats, while the opposition had 67. Israel’s president urged parties to form a coalition and avoid another election.
Key Facts
The results were based on more than 90% of ballots counted as of Thursday, October 29, 2026.
Netanyahu’s bloc had 53 seats in the projections.
The opposition had 67 seats, including 48 for Gadi Eisenkot’s centrist bloc and 19 for Arab-majority parties.
The Central Electoral Commission began counting mail-in ballots at 1 a.m. Thursday.
Israel’s president called on parties to do everything they could to form a government coalition.
Protesters in Tel Aviv called for Arab parties to be included in the next government coalition.
Netanyahu’s Likud party accused Arab parties of stealing the election, according to the article.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Donald Trump and Barack Obama held rallies in Georgia days apart to support candidates in competitive midterm races. Photos and local reports showed large crowds at both events, but no verified final attendance figures were available to establish which rally drew more people.
Key Facts
Trump held his rally at Guardian Centers in Perry on Saturday to support Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson and Senate candidate Mike Collins.
Obama joined Senator Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms at a rally in Morrow on Wednesday.
Obama criticized Trump over rising costs, the war in Iran, and White House renovations.
Trump said Obama’s Michigan rally had a small crowd and defended his White House decor.
The Arena at Southlake, where Obama’s rally took place, has seating for 8,000 people; that figure does not show how many attended.
The Mercer Cluster reported that seats at Trump’s rally were full more than an hour before he spoke, with a couple hundred people standing behind them.
Venue officials had not released verified attendance estimates for either rally.
The article reported that RealClearPolitics’ polling average showed Ossoff leading Collins by 8.2 percentage points.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Sanrio apologized and ended its merchandise collaboration with the Japanese spy drama Vivant after criticism in China. The backlash focused on scenes in the show’s second season depicting Chinese agents torturing a Japanese spy, amid strained relations between China and Japan.
Key Facts
Sanrio said it ended the collaboration because the project contained elements inconsistent with its core values.
Hello Kitty, My Melody and Cinnamoroll appeared in merchandise dressed as characters from Vivant.
Vivant’s second season premiered in July and depicts Chinese agents cutting a Japanese spy’s fingers and stabbing his abdomen.
Chinese state media and social media users criticized the show’s portrayal of Chinese agents.
Sanrio said it would strengthen reviews of future collaborations.
TBS president Masamine Ryuho said the drama was fictional and was not intended to disparage any country.
China-Japan relations have been strained since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan last November.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Fremantle and RoseBerry Media plan to use AI to find material in old Neighbours episodes and create short vertical videos, initially focusing on Margot Robbie’s character. The companies say the videos will use existing footage and performances, with human editors reviewing the edits; some former cast and crew members question whether they consented to this reuse and what their contracts allow.
Key Facts
Neighbours ended its run last year.
Fremantle, which produced the soap opera, partnered with US-based RoseBerry Media on the project.
The companies say an AI tool will scan more than 9,300 episodes to identify character arcs, storylines and notable moments.
The initial micro-drama will focus on Donna Freedman, the character played by Margot Robbie from 2008 to 2011.
Fremantle says the episodes will use previously broadcast footage, dialogue and performances, not generated scenes, altered faces or synthetic voices.
The companies say a human editor will review and approve every stage of the editing process.
Former cast member Matt Werkmeister said he had not been approached and raised questions about consent for using actors’ images, voices and writers’ work.
Former cast member Sam Clark said he had no objection to the old work getting a second life if it was not manipulated into new storylines.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Activist Adele Shoko said Israeli settlers assaulted her, U.S. journalist Jasper Nathaniel, and activist Andrey X in Umm al-Khair in the occupied West Bank. She said Nathaniel and Andrey X were detained by Israeli authorities, and that Andrey X was injured and denied hospital care; videos she posted appeared to show men beating the two activists.
Key Facts
Shoko said settlers beat and threatened her and her two colleagues and took equipment and personal belongings.
Shoko said Nathaniel was pepper-sprayed and taken away by Israeli forces.
Shoko said Andrey X suffered a concussion, lost consciousness several times, and was taken to a police station instead of a hospital.
Videos posted by Shoko showed men beating Nathaniel and Andrey X, and authorities leading Nathaniel away.
The article also describes an October 16 attack on Palestinian olive harvesters in Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah.
Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine said settlers beat and robbed her during that attack; she was hospitalized.
A Palestinian man was shot in the leg by Israeli soldiers who arrived at the scene and fired live ammunition and tear gas.
The Washington Post’s executive editor condemned the attack on Levine, and several U.S. lawmakers called for an investigation and an end to settler violence.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has proposed allowing compounding pharmacies to prepare six peptides that the FDA has not approved. The proposal will be published in the Federal Register, followed by a two-week public comment period; health experts have warned that the substances lack human clinical trial data and have unknown long-term effects.
Key Facts
The proposal would loosen restrictions on six peptides, including BPC-157, TB-500, KPV, MOTS-c and Semax.
Compounding pharmacies prepare or mix ingredients to create medications.
The proposal came from the health secretary’s office rather than the FDA.
An FDA advisory panel voted in July to loosen restrictions on the peptides, while FDA staff recommended against doing so.
Kennedy has previously called himself a fan of the drugs and said he would ease restrictions.
Online influencers market peptides for unproven uses such as muscle growth, healing and improving skin.
Health experts have cautioned against using the peptides because of limited human research and unknown long-term effects.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Salim Said, 37, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in defrauding a federal child-feeding program in Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case has drawn national attention and criticism from President Donald Trump of Minnesota officials; Said expressed remorse at sentencing after denying the allegations at trial.
Key Facts
Prosecutors said Said, who operated Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, submitted false claims for meals that were not provided to children.
The government said the fraud attributed to Said totaled $44 million, including funds linked to people he recruited.
Prosecutors said Said claimed his sites distributed 6,000 meals a day, while FBI surveillance showed about 40 people collecting food daily.
Said was convicted in 2025 and was sentenced on Wednesday; his lawyer had sought a 12-year sentence and disputed that Said was the scheme’s architect.
The scheme exploited pandemic changes that let restaurants provide meals through a federal program normally serving children through schools.
Aimee Bock, head of nonprofit Feeding Our Future, received a 42-year sentence and was ordered to repay $242 million.
Minnesota state auditors found the education department received complaints about Feeding Our Future but often told the group to monitor itself.
Governor Tim Walz announced in January that he would not seek re-election after repeated criticism from Trump over fraud in federally funded programs.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Student activists in Serbia backed a slate of candidates that won an election, ending Aleksandar Vučić’s 12-year rule, according to the article. The podcast examines how the movement achieved its victory and how it might choose a prime minister and govern the country.
Key Facts
Record numbers of voters went to the polls on Sunday.
Voters chose candidates put forward by student activists.
The Student List’s candidates included people with PhDs.
Student protests had shaken Serbia for two years.
The article describes Vučić’s government as increasingly authoritarian.
The podcast features journalist Ana Milosavljevic, student activist Tara Blagojević and incoming MP Milica Jovanović.
The movement faces the challenge of choosing a prime minister and governing despite having no leader.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Barack Obama criticized President Donald Trump’s priorities during a campaign rally in Morrow, Georgia, for Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms. Obama said Trump’s White House decorations and the administration’s response to his Cheesecake Factory joke drew attention away from the war with Iran and rising prices.
Key Facts
Obama spoke at a rally for Senator Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Ossoff is defending his Senate seat against Republican Representative Mike Collins.
Bottoms is running for governor against Republican Rick Jackson.
Obama criticized Trump for adding gold decorations to the Oval Office and said the president was doing “arts and crafts” while the country faced war and high prices.
Obama blamed the administration’s decisions, including starting what he called an unnecessary war, for rising costs.
Obama said Trump and his administration focused on his Cheesecake Factory remarks rather than his criticism of inflation.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited a Washington, D.C., Cheesecake Factory after Obama’s earlier joke about Trump’s White House renovations.
Obama criticized the administration’s policy toward Iran and contrasted it with the nuclear agreement he negotiated as president.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Military strikes hit a market and a nearby civilian neighbourhood in Nyala, Sudan, on Monday. Rights and medical groups reported widely differing casualty figures, and the total could not be independently verified amid limited access to the city.
Key Facts
Emergency Lawyers reported more than 100 people killed and 113 wounded in Monday’s attacks, saying most victims were women and children.
Sudan Doctors Network preliminarily reported 21 deaths and more than 40 injuries, and said shelling caused most of the deaths.
Doctors Without Borders said a hospital it supports received 36 bodies, 21 in civilian clothing, and treated more than 150 wounded people.
Witnesses told the Associated Press that RSF fighters and civilian vendors were at the market when a drone struck around 8 p.m.
An army-aligned official said more than 150 RSF recruits were killed in a targeted air strike at Dumaya camp, west of Nyala.
Doctors Without Borders said a second strike hit a civilian neighbourhood and urged all sides to protect civilians.
Nyala is the de facto capital of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Sudan’s war between the RSF and the army has caused severe poverty, food shortages and mass displacement.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Videos circulating on social media appear to show Israeli settlers assaulting three foreign journalists near Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Andrey X reportedly lost consciousness, was taken to a police station and remained detained without receiving medical care.
Key Facts
The incident reportedly took place near Hebron in the West Bank.
The three journalists are identified as Andrey X, Adele Shoko and Jasper Nathaniel.
Videos circulating on social media show the journalists being assaulted by Israeli settlers.
Andrey X reportedly lost consciousness.
He was reportedly taken to a police station.
He reportedly remained detained without receiving medical care.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is responding to attacks focused on his Muslim faith as religion becomes an issue in Michigan’s close Senate race. Al Jazeera interviewed him in Wyandotte before the November 3 vote.
Key Facts
Abdul El-Sayed is running for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in Michigan.
The article describes the Senate race as tight.
El-Sayed is pushing back against attacks over his Muslim faith.
Religion has become a campaign issue in the race.
Al Jazeera reporter Mikail Malik interviewed El-Sayed in Wyandotte.
The vote is scheduled for November 3.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul criticized rapper Nicki Minaj on Wednesday over her attendance at President Donald Trump’s rallies. Hochul said the rallies were “poisoning” Minaj’s mind and suggested she spend less time online and outdoors more.
Key Facts
Hochul is the Democratic governor of New York.
Hochul made the comments to reporters on Wednesday.
She criticized Minaj for going to Trump rallies.
Hochul described the rallies as “poisoning” Minaj’s mind.
Hochul also advised Minaj to spend less time online and get outside more.
Hochul was responding to a post, though the article excerpt does not provide further details.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Utah Attorney General Derek Brown filed criminal charges against prediction market Kalshi and its co-founders, accusing them of illegally promoting online gambling. The charges follow an August federal court ruling that Utah can enforce its anti-gambling laws against prediction markets.
Key Facts
The charges were filed Wednesday in a district court in Salt Lake City.
The defendants are Kalshi, CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara.
The complaint alleges 12 counts of online gambling promotion.
The complaint also alleges one count of general gambling promotion and one count of a pattern of unlawful activity.
A federal judge ruled in August that Utah could enforce its anti-gambling laws against Kalshi and Polymarket.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
