- Wednesday October 21st, 2026
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
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World & Nation
Putin agrees to trilateral talks with Ukraine, US to end war
Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to return to trilateral
negotiations with the US and Ukraine to end its war, a Kremlin official
told reporters Wednesday.
Moscow’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said that Putin said “in
principle” peace talks will continue after Nov. 10, following a meeting
with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg.
Witkoff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European
leaders in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday to weigh a proposal that laid out
Kyiv’s security guarantees, economic recovery funds and other items,
before heading to Russia to present the document to Putin.
Iran didn’t see this coming at all: The Strait of Hormuz could become redundant in just a few years
The Strait of Hormuz could become "redundant" within five years as Gulf
states develop alternative export routes, HSBC Chief Executive Georges
Elhedery suggested on Tuesday.
"Of course, we do wish and hope to see a resolution to the conflict...
But Hormuz, probably in five years, may become redundant," he told the
HSBC Future Forum in Dubai, Reuters quoted him as saying.
The five-year timeframe aligns with a major investment in alternative ways to get Gulf exports to market.
"We do see this region being able to recover and then continue growing. It will mean a lot of investment," Elhedery said.
Iran says US has added clauses to its seven-day Hormuz plan
Washington has accepted the terms of Iran's seven-day plan to reopen
the Strait of Hormuz but wants additional clauses, Foreign Minister
Abbas Araghchi said to state media on October 21.
Tehran gave the plan to Washington through mediators in late September,
the official said. It is modelled on the June US-Iran memorandum
brokered in Islamabad, which appears to be still involved following a
visit by the country's top intelligence chief to Tehran on October 21.
That deal halted fighting on all fronts and opened a 60-day negotiating
window. It unravelled within weeks in a dispute over shipping routes.
US conditions now stand between Tehran and any reopening of the
waterway, with oil above $110 a barrel and Pakistan's army chief on his
fifth visit to Tehran since June.
Italy unleashes military response to violent riots as France faces a reckoning of its own
Italy is moving to deploy 500 troops with expanded police powers
following a weekend of violent riots, taking a more direct military
approach to public security than France, where weeks of unrest have
prompted authorities to bolster their security response.
Videos of unrest in France and Italy flooded social media on Saturday
and Sunday, showing violent clashes between demonstrators and police
amid burning buildings and looted storefronts. At multiple points
during the chaos, police attempting to contain the violence were forced
to retreat.
In Paris, for instance, roughly a dozen officers confronted several
hundred demonstrators but were unable to make arrests, using
rubber-bullet launchers and grenades to keep advancing rioters at bay
as they made a gradual retreat. Italian police in Milan, meanwhile,
made a similar retreat as hundreds of young rioters threw explosive
firecrackers, metal barriers and glass bottles at them in their attempt
to occupy a public square.
Macron blasts 'unacceptable and even stupid comments' that foreign leaders have made about riots
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned world leaders Wednesday for
making what he described as "stupid" comments about the protests in his
country.
"There was foreign manipulation of information which led to
unacceptable and even stupid comments by many, including foreign
leaders," Macron said, according to the AFP.
Asked by a reporter if he was referring to Trump, Macron replied: “Among others.”
Ohio governor’s race takes ugly turn with viral video featuring Acton’s mother
A new viral video targeting Amy Acton is roiling the increasingly ugly
Ohio governor’s race, where the Democrat is running against GOP nominee
Vivek Ramaswamy.
The clip features Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling the
Democrat “a liar” and urging Ohioans to vote against her. It’s unclear
who is behind the 60-second spot, which did not appear to have aired on
television as of Tuesday afternoon.
The video is contentious because of the background between Acton and
her mother, whom Acton said she has not seen since she was 12 years old.
Acton, a physician and former director of the Ohio Department of
Health, described in a 2019 interview with The Vindicator an unstable
childhood troubled by abuse, neglect and homelessness. She recounted
abuse at the hands of her stepfather, which culminated in criminal
charges and led to Acton’s break with her mother.
Kim Jong Un’s sister issues stark threat on visit to border with South
North Korea has vowed to make the country’s borders with South Korea
“impregnable”, as the powerful sister of dictator Kim Jong Un
threatened Seoul with an “overwhelming” military response to any
perceived provocation.
Kim Yo Jong, visited the border between the two countries alongside
marshal Pak Jong-chon, a senior adviser to the North Korean military,
where the two inspected work to fortify defences, the state-run Korean
Central News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Ms Kim directed troops there to take “prompt and resolute action” in the face of any threat.
The border visit came after the South Korean military vowed to take its
own “decisive” action in response to North Korea’s provocations, after
Pyongyang threatened to deploy additional tactical strike capability
along its borders.
Hamas terrorist who barbarically paraded Shani Louk’s half-naked body killed by IDF
The Israeli Defense Forces took out the last Hamas operative involved
in the kidnapping and murder of hostage Shani Louk during the Oct. 7,
2023, terrorist attack.
Tamer Muhammad Ibrahim al-Sabbagh, who was among the men caught on
camera abducting Louk, 22, and parading her half-naked body around
Gaza, was killed in an airstrike on Tuesday, the IDF said.
Al-Sabbagh was seen in the infamous Associated Press photo of Louk’s
body as he sat right beside her as he and his fellow terror operatives
howled in victory while driving off in a pickup truck during the terror
attack.
Todd Blanche says Ilhan Omar will be given one right Trump was denied during indictments
Embattled Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is allowed to speak freely about
the federal immigration fraud investigation against her – a privilege
President Trump was not afforded during his legal woes, Attorney
General Todd Blanche noted on the latest episode of “Pod Force One.”
Blanche, who served as Trump’s personal lawyer when the president faced
four criminal indictments during his 2024 campaign, couldn’t discuss
the details of the ongoing case against Omar but drew a contrast
between the Minnesota Democrat’s treatment and the various gag orders
imposed on Trump.
“To the extent that [Omar’s] commented on it, one of the things that
she said is that we’re not going to keep her quiet, right? We’re not
trying to keep her quiet,” Blanche told “Pod Force One” host Miranda
Devine.
“There’s no effort by the Department of Justice, unlike the last
Department of Justice that worked very hard to keep President Trump
quiet by getting gag orders and the like – that’s not what we’re
doing,” the attorney general added.
Ilhan Omar's daughters show up at scene of DC raid as rumors swirl about embattled rep's whereabouts
Omar has not been seen publicly since the pre-dawn Homeland Security Investigations raid last week
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. has not been seen in public since a pre-dawn
raid of her Washington, D.C. residence last week — but Fox News Digital
spotted her daughters descending on the home in recent days.
Isra Hirsi pulled black sedan into the driveway of the home under the
cover of darkness Saturday night and stepped out of the vehicle
carrying a bag with both hands. She walked directly into the front door
of the same home that was swarmed by Homeland Security Investigations
(HSI) agents a week prior.
"What's your problem?" Hirsi said to Fox News Digital after getting out of her car.
Just two days later, a young teenage girl believed to be Omar's second
daughter also was seen entering the home with a woman that appeared to
be her caretaker.
Interest payments on America’s $40 trillion debt eats up a huge piece of the budget — as deficit hits $2 trillion
America’s credit card bills are coming due — and they’re getting steep.
The federal deficit for the year hit $2 trillion — the highest since
the depths of COVID-19, when the government way paying for infection
controls and bailouts of workers and companies affected by the pandemic.
But that’s not necessarily a reflection of government spending — the
annual deficit includes $1.052 trillion in interest payments on
America’s $40 trillion debt, according to US Treasury data for the 2026
fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.
A top economist warned that bond markets are growing wary of the cycle
of borrowing — and raising America’s borrowing costs to follow suit,
creating a “vicious cycle.”
Judge Trump called a ‘lunatic’ abruptly backs off demand after showdown with DOJ No. 3
The Biden-appointed judge backed down after a seven-hour hearing in which Trump called her a 'crazed lunatic' on Truth Social
A Biden-appointed judge embroiled in a fierce dispute with the Trump
administration over the removal of hundreds of trees at a federally
owned D. C. golf course reversed course during Monday's nearly
seven-hour hearing.
Judge Ana Reyes ended the nearly seven-hour hearing by backing away
from her initial demand that Justice Department attorneys arguing the
case put their names alongside Associate Attorney General Stanley
Woodward Jr.’s Sunday filing. Reyes had invoked Rule 11, which requires
attorneys to stand behind the factual basis of court filings and can
subject them to sanctions for violations.
"Late breaking news," Reyes said. "I'm going to withdraw request that
DOJ refile yesterday's brief with identification of who signed it.
we've all got better things to spend our time on."
Trump: AI Centers Should Pay Communities Dividend
President Donald Trump urged companies that build data centers to pay a "dividend" to people in the local community.
In a Truth Social post Wednesday, Trump said developers of massive data
centers powering America's artificial intelligence boom should
negotiate financial agreements with local residents to win support for
projects that have generated concerns about electricity costs and other
issues.
"If companies want to make their Data Centers popular, pay the
community, and/or individuals within the community, a 'dividend,'"
Trump wrote.
Vance Unveils Nearly $42 Million in SNAP Fraud Cases
Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday a nationwide enforcement
surge targeting more than 40 defendants in cases involving nearly $42
million in alleged or proven food assistance fraud.
The coordinated effort involved the Justice Department's National Fraud
Enforcement Division, the Agriculture Department, USDA's Office of
Inspector General, 13 U.S. attorneys' offices, and the Utah Attorney
General's Office, according to documentation released by the federal
government.
Authorities conducted the enforcement actions between Sept. 1 and Oct.
21, pursuing schemes involving nearly $45 million in intended losses
across SNAP and other agricultural assistance programs, according to
the Justice Department. The actions included indictments, criminal
complaints, guilty pleas, and sentencing.
Russia Has Freed US Citizen Stephen Hubbard
Russia on Wednesday freed an American who had been jailed for more than
four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, in a deal
completed during a visit by a top U.S. envoy.
President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that he had asked
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call last week to free
Stephen Hubbard, and that, unlike previous releases, his had not
required the U.S. to give up anyone in return.
“Welcome home, Stephen, it’s great to have you back,” Trump said.
Hubbard, a 74-year-old former teacher from Michigan, was on his way
home following a visit to St. Petersburg by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff,
who also held talks with Putin about Moscow’s full-scale invasion of
Ukraine, as Trump pushes Kyiv to make a deal that stops the fighting.
Gavin Newsom’s legislative minions just got a lesson in constitutional supremacy
The court ruled the 'No Vigilantes Act' violated the Supremacy Clause by regulating federal immigration enforcement
By Hans A. von Spakovsky
It is no surprise that a unanimous three-judge panel of the Ninth
Circuit just enjoined the blatantly unconstitutional attempt by the
"No-Longer-So-Golden State" to impose restrictions on the ability of
ICE and other federal agents to enforce federal immigration law. That
panel was doing exactly what federal courts are supposed to do — uphold
the U.S. Constitution.
On October 14 in U.S. v. California, the court tossed the so-called "No
Vigilantes Act" (NVA) onto the ash heap. This law was part of the
state’s continuing effort to obstruct federal immigration enforcement,
which has included relentless public attacks by the governor and state
officials on federal agents just trying to do their job of enforcing
the law. That includes noxious claims like Newsom likening them to the
thuggish "secret police" of an "authoritarian" state.
The NVA required any non-uniformed "federal law enforcement officer"
operating in California to "visibly display identification" when
carrying out federal law enforcement duties. A federal agent violating
this requirement could be criminally prosecuted by the state.
Dems betrayal of Israel fueled by Obama’s wrath toward the Jewish state
By Michael Goodwin
When Barack Obama was president and feuding with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu while apologizing to Arab potentates about America’s
history in the region, a friend offered an observation.
To wit, that Obama was proving the truth of a deep suspicion among
American conservatives that Democrats love Jews but secretly hate
Israel.
Time and milestone events have passed since then, but the evidence that
my friend was onto something important continues to grow by leaps and
bounds.
And a reasonable explanation is that Obama made it acceptable and even
a requirement for officials and candidates to condemn the Jewish state.
His animus ran deep when he was in the White House, but didn’t stop when he left office a decade ago.
