These are today’s top stories.
Headlines
State Department Orders Evacuation of Saudi Arabia
The State Department ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as deadly Houthi missile and drone attacks on the kingdom intensify. A department spokesman said the order applies only to Saudi Arabia, not the wider Gulf, as President Trump weighs direct military action against the Iran-backed group. Read More
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay the state $25 billion after a jury found the company misled Facebook users about privacy, the largest penalty ever imposed on the tech giant. The case grew out of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal; the state had sought $35 billion to $40 billion, while Meta argued it should owe no more than about $3.4 billion. Source
Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American teacher held for more than four years on mercenary charges after his capture in occupied Ukraine, as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. Witkoff met Hubbard at the airport after his release and thanked Putin, calling the Russian leader a “humanitarian.” Source
Politics
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers met in their second and final debate in Michigan’s open Senate race, a contest that could help decide control of the chamber. Rogers again sought to tie El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood, while El-Sayed made President Trump’s support for Rogers a central attack; several polls show El-Sayed with a narrow lead. Source
Ohio’s governor’s race took a bitter turn after Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign released an ad in which Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother calls her a liar. Acton’s campaign and her brother denounced the ad as a new low, as the spot drew criticism from both parties. Source
The Supreme Court refused to let the Trump administration enforce a policy restricting hormone therapy and other treatments for transgender inmates in federal prisons, leaving a lower-court injunction in place. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have sided with the administration, and the White House criticized the brief, unexplained order; about 1,000 transgender inmates are in federal custody. Read More
U.S. News
A chemical release at a tank facility in north Toledo, Ohio, forced residents within a mile to evacuate and those within three miles to shelter in place starting Tuesday night. Officials identified the chemical as glycidyl methacrylate, an industrial coating product, as the plume drifted west. Find out More
A retired NYPD detective, 62-year-old Victor Romero, has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of motorist Koran Irvine on the George Washington Bridge during what police believe was a road-rage confrontation Tuesday night. Romero joined the department in 1994 and retired about 25 years ago. Source
Thieves stole nearly $1 million in rare trading cards, including highly valued Pokémon cards, from a FedEx truck parked near a Southern California business that authenticates and grades collectibles. The heist is the latest in a string of thefts targeting Pokémon cards as their value has climbed sharply. Source
Business
U.S. stock futures opened lower Wednesday night as investors weighed the latest round of big-tech earnings. Overseas, Stoxx 50 futures pointed to a European open more than 1% lower on Thursday. Source
Meta beat third-quarter revenue expectations and announced a new non-voting Class C stock, giving holders one new share for each share they own in what works like a 2-for-1 split. The structure lets Meta keep financing its AI buildout while Mark Zuckerberg retains control; reported earnings were weighed down by legal costs tied to a teen mental health settlement. Read More
U.K. inflation rose to 3.5% in the 12 months to September from 3.1% in August, topping the 3.4% economists expected, driven by surging motor-fuel costs. Fuel prices jumped nearly 30% from a year earlier, strengthening the case for a Bank of England rate hike. Find out More
World News
France is bracing for more weekend protests after its most destructive rioting in years, with demonstrations banned in Lyon and parts of Paris and military forces set to help police on Saturday. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused far-left groups of insurrectionary plans, and President Trump said the U.S. would not tolerate similar unrest. See Details
New York Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander said Israeli forces detained him in the occupied West Bank while he joined dozens of international and Israeli volunteers helping Palestinians harvest olives. Lander was released, while the group was loaded onto a bus and taken to a military station. Find out More
Government websites in Europe and elsewhere went offline Wednesday after developers disclosed two critical vulnerabilities in PHP, the programming language behind a large share of the internet. Agencies in the Netherlands and Finland pulled sites as a precaution amid reports hackers were already exploiting the flaws, and a fix went live around midday Eastern time. Source
Entertainment
Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, Lainey Wilson and more than 20 other performers took the stage in Nashville for the Country Music Association’s live tribute to the late Dolly Parton. Julia Roberts, Oprah and Sabrina Carpenter also honored the country icon during the ABC and Disney+ special. Source
A patient was taken to the hospital from Christina Applegate’s Los Angeles home just days before the actress revealed she had been misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Applegate disclosed on her podcast this week that doctors told her she never had MS, though she says she still has every symptom of the disease. Source
The documentary “You Can See Everything” could earn $20 million to $25 million in its second weekend as it expands to 2,600 venues, potentially challenging DC’s “Clayface” for the No. 1 spot. The film opened to $15.6 million from just 855 theaters, the biggest debut for a nonmusical documentary in 20 years. Source
Sports
Tyrese Haliburton had 23 points and 12 assists in his first regular-season game since rupturing his Achilles 16 months ago, and Pascal Siakam scored 30 as Indiana edged New Orleans 123-120. Haliburton scored eight Pacers points in a 90-second stretch of the fourth quarter to erase the deficit. Find out More
Walker Kessler went 12-for-12 for 26 points in his Lakers debut as Los Angeles routed Golden State 127-105 to open its first season after LeBron James’ departure. Luka Doncic scored 28 in three quarters, while Stephen Curry had 23 to begin his 18th season. Source
The Brewers will start Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1 of the World Series, handing the expected Cy Young winner the ball for a third straight series opener. Tampa Bay had not named its starter, though a matchup with former Brewer Drew Rasmussen is widely expected. See Details
Off the Wall
A 27-year-old St. Paul man is credited with saving nearly 20 children after he saw a school bus rolling past with its door open and the driver suffering a medical emergency. Ebro Ahmed sprinted to the bus, jumped aboard and pulled the emergency brake, later crediting “Grey’s Anatomy” with helping him keep calm. Source
