Mystery over source of Ebola infection in Nigeria fuels concern about spread of virus Switzerland says patient is wife of Swiss diplomat and believed to have contracted virus while travelling in UgandaHealth officials across Africa are racing to determine how Nigeria's first Ebola patient in more than a decade became infected, amid fears the outbreak could spread further after reaching a fourth African country.The Swiss foreign ministry said on Friday the patient in Nigeria, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, had not travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak was first detected in mid-May before spreading to Uganda, Kenya and now Nigeria. The woman was believed to have contracted Ebola while travelling with her husband in Uganda, the ministry added. Continue reading...
41-year-old set on 'dream to be able to race in Africa'
Rwanda to host despite criticism of human rights record
Lewis Hamilton has said he hopes to remain racing in Formula One until he can take part in the African Grand Prix which is set to take place in Rwanda in the 2030s. The seven-time world champion believes it is right that F1 is to hold a race there despite criticism of the country's human rights record.Last week F1 confirmed Rwanda was to host the African Grand Prix having concluded a 10-year agreement for the meeting on a purpose-built circuit, with the first race set for the early 2030s. It is lined up to be held on a circuit in Bugesera, 25 miles south of the capital, Kigali, which has yet to be constructed and marks a return to the African continent for the first time since it last held a race at Kyalami, South Africa in 1993. Continue reading...
Controversial US-backed vaccine trial in African newborns halted Hepatitis B study in Guinea-Bissau that was to be funded by CDC and that drew global backlash 'will not move forward'The US-backed hepatitis B vaccine trial in African newborns that drew global backlash was halted, the lead researcher said on Wednesday.It was "now clear" that the study "will not move forward in Guinea-Bissau", Frederik Schaltz-Buchholzer, a Danish researcher, wrote on LinkedIn, adding, "we were not given the necessary governmental approval." Continue reading...
Relatives of gravely ill detainees at two Floridaimmigration jails say authorities are about to deport their loved ones to unknown countries in Africa despite worsening medical conditions.Flights are scheduled as early as Wednesday, according to the families and the immigration advocacy group the Workers Circle, which has been monitoring conditions and speaking with detainees inside two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in south Florida. Continue reading...
Nigeria confirms Ebola case as outbreak spreads into western Africa Case in Africa's most populous country was detected in a woman who had travelled from UgandaNigeria has confirmed an Ebola case in its capital, Abuja, after a woman who arrived from Uganda tested positive for the virus, the health ministry said.The woman began showing symptoms on 7 October and was admitted to a hospital in Abuja four days later, where she was later diagnosed with Ebola. It is unclear when she arrived in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. Continue reading...
More than one million Lula supporters rally on eve of Brazilian election runoff Nearly 159 million people to head to polls on Sunday in battle between leftwing incumbent and Flávio BolsonaroMore than one million supporters of Brazil's leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, have streamed on to Rio's most famous beach for a giant protest they hope will propel him towards a historic election fightback against his far-right rival, Flávio Bolsonaro.Nearly 159m Brazilians will vote in the election's runoff on Sunday, with the pair tied in the polls after Bolsonaro won the first round on 4 October by 47% to 45%. Continue reading...
Obama rebukes Ramaswamy over Acton ad and hits Trump on costs at Ohio rally Obama rebukes Ramaswamy over Acton ad and hits Trump on costs at Ohio rallyIn his first rally of the 2026 midterm cycle, former President Barack Obama slammed President Donald Trump and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, calling out the latter's much-maligned campaign ad centering on Democrat Amy Acton's mother."There's gotta be something inside you where you just say no office is worth stooping that low," Obama said of Ramaswamy's choice to run the ad.With the midterms just over a week away, Obama was rallying in Cleveland in support of Acton and Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown.Trump, Obama said, had broken a slew of promises he made on the campaign trail in 2024, ensnaring the country in an ongoing war in Iran and failing to bring down costs. Instead, "he's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory," the former president said, taking aim at Trump's renovations to the executive mansion."We got two more years of this administration," he said. "That's how our system of government works. But you know what we're not stuck with? We're not stuck with a spineless Congress and Republican governors who are enabling lawlessness and carelessness and cruelty and indifference for working people."Long one of Democrats' top surrogates, Obama is again stepping off the sidelines in the closing stretch of an election. He'll appear in Detroit alongside Democrats Abdul El-Sayed and Jocelyn Benson on Sunday, after which he'll travel to Georgia for a rally with Sen. Jon Ossoff and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Oct. 28.The former president, who captured Ohio's electoral votes in 2008 and 2012, also called out Ramaswamy for his controversial campaign ad featuring Acton's mother. Acton was removed from her mother's home after her stepfather was charged with raping her. She spoke about her childhood in a speech moments before the former president took to the stage on Saturday."There's a decency that we should expect out of our public officials," Obama said. "And I don't know what's happened where the standards of behavior have gotten so low that somebody could run an ad like that."The White House and Ramaswamy's campaign both did not immediately respond to requests for comment.This article originally appeared on Politico at https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/24/obama-slams-ramaswamy-trump-ohio-rally-midterms-01134765
Musk says he was behind Starlink disruptions, claiming Ukraine service violations Musk says he was behind Starlink disruptions, claiming Ukraine service violationsKYIV, Ukraine (AP) - Elon Musk said on Saturday that his company SpaceX had throttled the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, disrupting operations that the country relies on to defend itself against Russia. Musk's admission on social media came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine's access to Starlink and Starshield satellite links has been restored to the speeds it had before restrictions that disrupted front-line operations for more than a week. Questions have persisted since last week about who ordered the interruptions to the Musk-made satellite internet system that Kyiv has relied on for years to counter Moscow's attacks. "The speeds are now where they need to be," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that restoration began overnight and were sufficient by Saturday morning, improving front-line logistics and defense against Russian jet-powered Shahed drones.
Musk admits he was behind Starlink's speed restriction
After Ukraine said the services had been restored, Elon Musk spoke out on the speed restrictions that began last week. In a post Saturday on X, Musk acknowledged that his company SpaceX throttled the Starlink satellite internet service. "Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be," Musk wrote. "Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week." But he maintained that the U.S. government controlled whatever changes happened with Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink that is the backbone of Ukraine's drone operations and communication. He also defended the role of SpaceX in bolstering Ukraine's defenses since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Restrictions imposed last week on Starshield alarmed the country's military and government officials, with commanders reporting lost drones and disrupted missions. The restoration follows a new U.S. diplomatic push to end the war. Russia agreed Wednesday to resume three-way negotiations with Washington and Kyiv next month. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow also agreed to a localized ceasefire brokered by first lady Melania Trump around Oleshky, a war-ravaged, Russian-occupied town in Ukraine's southern Kherson region.
Restriction led to tensions between Ukraine and the US
The episode added to tensions between Kyiv and Washington, a relationship already strained by President Donald Trump's reported deal with Moscow on Russian diesel imports, which Ukraine viewed as a betrayal. Ukraine's Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara credited "direct dialogue" and Zelenskyy's diplomacy with Washington, adding that the outcome mattered most "for our front, for the military, the work of drones, logistics and communications." Trump has maintained that he didn't make the call, while also saying Musk should not be blamed. Vice President JD Vance has hinted at White House coordination with Musk, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have denied any administration involvement.
Russia and Ukraine have continued to target each other
Meanwhile, a man was killed and two others wounded in a missile attack on the city of Lozova in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, local officials said Saturday. Moscow-installed authorities in cities across Russia-occupied Crimea reported power blackouts Saturday following overnight Ukrainian attacks. Ukraine's General Staff said Saturday that its forces hit a chemical plant in the Russian city of Tolyatti, which produces materials used in rocket fuel. Tolyatti Mayor Ilya Sukhikh said the overnight attack damaged industrial facilities in the city. Ukrainian forces also hit an electronics plant in the city of Oryol, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed Saturday. Local officials in Oryol said Saturday that three people were killed in Friday's attack. The General Staff said the plant makes components for the cruise and ballistic missiles Russia fires at Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian drones also reached Russia's Omsk region in western Siberia, more than 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Omsk regional Gov. Vitaly Khotsenko said drones "reached a northern industrial hub." Online retailer Ozon said Saturday that its logistics center in Omsk has been attacked by a drone, but there were no casualties. Ozon is a competitor to Wildberries, whose facilities Ukraine has also targeted. ___ Morton reported from London. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraineThis article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ukraine-says-starlink-speed-limits-104548676.html
Police fire tear gas and arrest dozens as France sees more protests Police fire tear gas and arrest dozens as France sees more protestsNearly 1,000 people were arrested in nationwide protests in France, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Saturday, after demonstrations over the high cost of living and the country's education system earlier in the day remained largely peaceful. Nuñez said the number of arrests is expected to rise significantly. He said marches "passed off well" in cities, but police officers found themselves confronted with "an extremely elevated level of violence" from "ultra-left" groups later in the day. Nuñez said some shops and businesses had been looted, but "the scale was far smaller" than a week earlier, when some 3,000 businesses were damaged or looted.He said police acted more rapidly and conducted more pre-demonstration checks. Businesses and shopping centers had also been better protected. Earlier Saturday, the interior minister said police had confiscated weapons including metal balls, lead pellets, fireworks, slingshots, steel balls, improvised weapons, a katana and airsoft weapons, he said. The French Interior Ministry said about 410,000 people participated in about 298 protests around the country. Union organizers from the General Confederation of Labor put the number at around 800,000. An explanation for the discrepancy was not immediately available. Some confrontations were reported between authorities and demonstrators in several cities, but as of Saturday evening there had been no repeat of the major street violence and rioting that erupted amid similar protests last week. Nuñez previously said that French authorities were preparing to maintain order this weekend by maintaining up to 70,000 officers nationwide along with assets including helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons. Nuñez said authorities will remain "on high alert" overnight and into Saturday.
Clashes break out in Paris after largely peaceful march
Paris had prepared for unrest, with shops boarded up and events including those related to the NFL's first French football game canceled, but authorities described the atmosphere in the city as "calm." Thousands gathered at the Porte d'Italie on the city's southeastern rim for an authorized demonstration. The march had originally been set for the Bastille, near the city's center, and was changed to the more remote Porte d'Italie at the last minute. Union representative Murielle Guilbert told reporters that it was "scandalous" that Macron had forbidden protesters from demonstrating "where we wish to demonstrate," but participants complied with the change. The front of the march ended without incident. Some chanted "We are not happy" as they peeled away from the Porte de Vincennes. Police said 110,000 people participated in the event, while union members put the number at 250,000. As the evening went on, clashes were reported between police and demonstrators, the Agence France-Presse reported. Nuñez said that "several thousand radical activists" had "gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 individuals identified as rioters." Clashes between protesters and police lasted about two hours, he said. The Paris prosecutor's office said 64 people, including six minors, were arrested and 40 were placed in police custody. Most arrests concerned suspected weapons offenses or participation in a group preparing violence or property damage, the office said. More than 3,000 were stopped and checked by officers, police said.
Protesters march against far-right gathering
In Orleans, thousands of people marched against a congress held by Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party. Le Pen is launching her campaign to succeed Emmanuel Macron as France's president. Elections will be held in six months, and surveys show Le Pen is best-placed to win. Demonstrators in Orleans protested both Macron and Le Pen. "Macron resign. Le Pen in prison," the crowd yelled, according to the AFP. Police put their numbers at 11,000, while organizers said 26,000 took part. About 50 organizations, including labor unions, left-wing parties and student groups, had called for a protest against Le Pen's nationalist, anti-immigration party.Some placards seen at the march referenced a shooting in Trappes, a Paris suburb, that left one person dead and several others injured across several locations. Macron called the rampage a "racist terror attack." Prosecutors are investigating the shooting as a terrorist incident. French media reported that the protest against the congress ended peacefully early Saturday afternoon. The gathering is expected to continue through Sunday.
Protesters and police clash in smaller cities
Demonstrations had been banned in the southeast city of Lyon, but about 150 protesters near the city's center briefly tried to block a road. Police fired tear gas to disperse the group. Tear gas was also used to break up a group of around 1,000 people gathered in the south of the city. Street fires were also reported. A police helicopter was seen flying over the city, and security forces, armored vehicles and riot police vans were patrolling. A 21-year-old student, who spoke to the Agence France-Presse on the condition of anonymity, described authorities as "really mobile." In the western city of Nantes, thousands of protesters broke through police lines to enter the city center, the AFP reported. Officers used tear gas and a water cannon to try and disperse them. Some on the fringes of the demonstration threw projectiles and aimed fireworks at officers. Police said about 17,000 attended an event in Marseille. Officers fired tear gas during clashes with several dozen people near the march's endpoint. Street fires were seen in the city. Tear gas was also deployed in Clermont-Ferrand, Bordeaux and Strasbourg, police said. Nuñez said one person was seriously injured in Clermont-Ferrand, but did not provide any details. In the city of Toulouse, a 20-year-old man reportedly had fingers blown off, Nuñez said. He did not provide more details about the person, their condition, or how they came to be injured. Nuñez said that in the southern cities of Cannes and Montpellier, authorities saw far-right activists who claimed they were there to protect businesses or sought confrontations with "ultra-left militants." He said it was the first time authorities witnessed this phenomenon. In Nice, where demonstrations had also been banned, 11 people were arrested after far-right extremists fought with demonstrators downtown, regional authorities said. Water cannons were also used in the city.
Organizers call for Halloween demonstrations
One group of protesters, the Yellow Vests, said they would hold another round of protests on Oct. 31. The Yellow Vests emerged about eight years ago as a loosely organized group that staged disruptive protests against Macron. Organizers called for rallies and a sit-in outside parliament and city halls nationwide, condemning the "authoritarian drift" of Macron's government and urging citizens to stand up for "public freedoms." The demonstrations have been ongoing since September, when high school students in the southeast of Paris protested for better conditions. The unrest quickly spread across the country as people took to the streets to demand relief from rising living costs.
More protests spread across Europe
Other protests took place across Europe on Saturday, encompassing a broad range of issues including pensions, housing costs, anti-war movements, education and corruption.Italian police said in a statement that they carried out nine arrests and briefly detained 371 people during protests in eight cities on Saturday. Of the people who were detained and taken to police stations, 110 were minors, the statement said.Soldiers were deployed to Milan, the nation's fashion and finance capital, ahead of fresh demonstrations one week after looting and police clashes. Many stores were boarded up with wooden planks on Saturday. Premier Giorgia Meloni announced a raft of measures, including sending an additional 500 soldiers to Milan and tougher penalties for minors, who police said made up a large part of the violent protesters.In Rome, authorities locked down luxury shopping streets and stepped up patrols around key sites. Several hundred students demonstrated peacefully in the historic city. Organizers of peaceful events sought to distance themselves from potential unrest, urging participants to keep their faces uncovered and their hands visible. In Albania's capital of Tirana, riot police used water cannons to subdue large groups of protesters. Some of the demonstrators threw projectiles at police, the AP reported. A separate protest organized by the opposition outside the office of Prime Minister Edi Rama turned violent earlier Saturday, with some activists lighting fires on the street. The demonstrators are mainly high school and university students, demanding lower tuition fees, greater state investment in education and protesting corruption in the education system. A broader anti-government movement is calling for Rama's resignation.In Spain, thousands of retirees and others marched through central Madrid to demand that public pensions aren't meddled with. Protesters in Lisbon, Portugal, are expected to march across the city Saturday to demand affordable housing. This article originally appeared on CBS News at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-france-new-protests-riots-museums-shops/
Pentagon confirms Hegseth's staff damaged Eisenhower's globe during office move Pentagon confirms Hegseth's staff damaged Eisenhower's globe during office moveDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth's team dropped and damaged a historic World War II-era globe previously used by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a source familiar with the incident told The Hill on Thursday.While moving the artifact to the secretary's office, Hegseth's staff lost control of the 30-inch floor globe, causing it to crash on its base and resulting in an inches-wide gash near Antarctica, The Washington Post first reported Thursday. The Post obtained images of the globe that showed the damage caused during the early February relocation attempt. The Army's press office referred The Hill to Hegseth's office. A Pentagon official confirmed to The Hill on Thursday the accident occurred while staff was transporting the replica of the Eisenhower globe as part of its relocation. "Accidents happen, we are grateful no one was harmed, and the globe is being repaired," the official said in a statement. "It is unsurprising that the Washington Post is once again dedicating time to another inconsequential non-story."The globe was ultimately not relocated. One of the Eisenhower globes has pen lines and markings from World War II on it, the source familiar told The Hill, speaking on condition of anonymity.Early this year, Hegseth wanted the globe to be relocated to his office, but instead of trained curators, his staff dispatched its own team to do the job, the Post reported.The Army office in possession of the artifact initially expected to consult with experts to make sure it could be safely transported, the newspaper reported. Those plans were later interrupted when staffers were furloughed during a partial government shutdown as a result of a disagreement in Congress over the Trump administration's immigration policy. After failing to reach the experts, Hegseth's staff took the matter into its own hands, according to the Post.The Army's press office referred questions to the Pentagon. It is unclear whether Hegseth personally asked for the globe to be moved to his office. In recent years, another globe, which is around 40 inches in diameter and stands about 4 feet off the ground and is also connected to Eisenhower, was moved from the Army Center of Military History in Anniston, Ala., which is part of the Army Transformation and Training Command, to an Army base. "When packing an asset of this size, we had to consider the context of its worth on many levels," Craters & Freighters wrote in late December 2022. "Since the globe is considered priceless, we knew its value was much greater than financial, and that our team was heavily relied upon for a safe delivery." During World War II, Eisenhower led the attack on Nazi-occupied Europe as supreme commander of the Allied forces, including the D-Day landings in 1944, leading to the liberation of Paris. He later became the 34th U.S. President, serving from 1953 to 1961. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.This article originally appeared on The Hill at https://thehill.com/policy/defense/6165593-hegseth-staff-damages-eisenhower-globe/
A Democratic researcher came home to Kansas. Now the GOP faces a Senate fight. A Democratic researcher came home to Kansas. Now the GOP faces a Senate fight.Early in September, a New York Times investigation rocked the Kansas Senate race. The incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, the paper revealed, had sued some 700 patients over his previous, decadeslong career as an obstetrician-gynecologist in rural Kansas; in 81 of the cases, patients had gotten arrested over missed court dates. In an agricultural state already hard-hit by Donald Trump's tariffs, and in a cycle with affordability as voters' top issue, the revelation of struggling patients facing legal peril over medical debt - in one case of as little as $101 - changed the map, putting Republicans officially on the defensive in a state that had looked safe only months before. The story was a coup for the paper and veteran health care reporter Sarah Kliff who, as the paper noted, "reviewed thousands of court records and interviewed eight people whom Roger Marshall sued over medical debt." But many also suspected a particular hand behind the initial tip: Tyson Brody, a 39-year-old opposition researcher and an alum of both the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns, who moved home to Kansas to work for Marshall's Democratic challenger, Rev. Adam Hamilton. Brody is "the kind of guy who, forget a skeleton in your closet - he will find every single dust bunny in your closet," said Caitlin Legacki, a senior fellow at Third Way and a Democratic strategist who has worked with Brody in the past. The Times declined to comment, as did both Brody and the Hamilton campaign. Kliff has said on Kansas City public radio that she will not reveal who gave her the tip, as is standard journalistic practice. But journalists and operatives familiar with Brody's work think it's no coincidence that the Hamilton campaign's oppo game is exploding as it happens to employ one of the Democratic party's top practitioners of the craft - in his own home state. Marshall has said he treated every patient regardless of ability to pay. But in the weeks since the story ran, polls have tightened, prognosticators have moved the race toward Democrats (the Cook Political report now rates it a toss-up) and millions of dollars have rushed into what suddenly looks like a battleground on the prairie - in a state so associated with conservativism that Democrats use the book title What's the Matter With Kansas? as shorthand for benighted farmers voting against what liberals see as their own interests. Giddy Democrats and despondent Republicans alike are contemplating the possibility that Kansas could send a Democrat to the Senate for the first time since 1932. And central to that phenomenon - along with a damaged incumbent and a unique challenger - is the old-fashioned, dark art of oppo research. The dynamics are all the more noteworthy in a fractured media environment where it's rare for any given story to break through the cacophony of legacy media, newer outlets, online influencers and the attention-sucking machine that is the Donald Trump presidency. But the frenzied competition of the race's waning days suggests the remaining power of a resonant, records-driven revelation paired with the imprimatur of The New York Times. "It's a little bit old school," said Joe Rodota, a former researcher who praised Brody recently on his own Substack, Oppo File. With the caveat that "of course we'll never know" the origin of the Times story, he said, "I think prior generations of oppo researchers read this story and nod approvingly." Which is not to say a Hamilton victory is assured - Kansas has broken Democratic hearts before, including in Marshall's first Senate campaign in 2020. Then, too, the race featured tightening polls, a moderate, seemingly Kansas-friendly Democratic candidate, and millions rushing into the state in a year expected to be tough for Republicans. In the end, Marshall prevailed by double digits. "We've seen this play out before in Kansas," said Danedri Herbert, who chairs the Kansas GOP. Still, said Ashley All, a longtime Kansas Democratic operative, "I think it feels different" in 2026. In 2020, for instance, no one had surfaced Marshall's lawsuits, which were not as easily accessible online at the time. All said that for Democrats to win in the state, they need to run a perfect campaign featuring a near-perfect candidate against a terrible opponent, in a perfect political environment - and then they also need to get lucky. This year, she sees all of those factors - and a strategist who knows how to take advantage of them. "Tyson is obviously operating at a very high level," she said. That includes shunning media attention on him personally: He has previously dinged another operative for making himself the story while his candidate was actively campaigning. "I feel like talking about Tyson is itself almost verboten," said a national Democratic operative who has worked with Brody, granted anonymity to discuss the verboten subject. "He operates in the shadows, which is how most oppo people do." On the other hand, Brody is all over Twitter pumping out stories likely informed by his own research with strings of incredulous punctuation a la "?????" or "!!!" Marshall's campaign, too, is quick to post negative stories about Hamilton - and peddles oppo of its own. "If POLITICO is writing about opposition research in this race, the story is what Kansans have learned about Adam Hamilton in the last three weeks," wrote Alex DeGrasse, an advisor to Kansans for Marshall, in a statement that included 10 links to stories in conservative outlets. Among them was reporting on a sermon in which Hamilton discussed the benefits of being educated, white and male and said he had to "repent" for his resulting indifference to others' suffering; that he had donated to and voted for Kamala Harris before asking her not to campaign for him; and that he has made millions off of tech stocks but now calls for slowing down AI development. DeGrasse also highlighted Hamilton's recent comments to CNN regarding allegations surfaced by a primary rival that were investigated by local media earlier this year. Hamilton said he wished he'd called the police immediately when allegations of child sexual abuse surfaced at a camp run by his church in 2005 - the victims could not positively identify the perpetrator in the church's internal investigation, and law enforcement's investigation was likewise inconclusive when they were notified the next year, according to documents reviewed by the Kansas Reflector. "Kansans can judge for themselves which campaign is running on research and which one is running from it," DeGrasse wrote. But GOP operatives have complained to POLITICO that Marshall's lackluster performance in the race is now costing their party millions to try to save the seat. (Brody duly tweeted out this detail with an "o rly?") More recently, Marshall has expanded his team with seasoned operatives. "The oppo has been the kind of stuff that campaign people dream about," said Legacki. She acknowledged that Brody gets a lot of attention by virtue of being so online. But she also noted that the structure of Hamilton's campaign allows Brody to function as an attack dog in a way that preserves the candidate's gentler image as the senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. "It's hard to do that," she said, "when you're taking a Midwestern preacher and having him rip a guy's throat out." Brody grew up in Johnson County, Kansas; his father founded the local alt-weekly, The Pitch, in the late 1980s. Brody fils went coastal for college at Columbia, and since then has spent much of his career as a political operative, according to his Substack, which he named "Ragpicker," after the oppo researcher's practice of "picking through the refuse of the news cycle." There, he defines "oppo" as "simply the act of examining a subject's political, professional, and personal lives, and seeing where the friction lies." Ragpicker was active only for a few months in 2025, however; as he wrote, discretion was paramount on campaigns, and by mid-2026 he was back home working for Hamilton - the latest in a line of clients that included Barack Obama in 2012, Clinton in 2016 and Sanders in 2020.This last assignment made minor news, because he'd previously helped assemble the Bernie oppo book on behalf of the Clinton campaign. "One of the reasons we hired Tyson is to prepare this campaign for whatever false accusations and allegations are leveled against us," Faiz Shakir, then Sanders' campaign manager, toldNew York Magazine at the time. (Shakir did not respond to a request for comment for this story.) Before his Substack went quiet, Brody detailed some of his basic approach, which involved obsessing over documents, carpet bombing public institutions with records requests and pitching the results to reporters, who, he wrote, were often uninterested. He described one such quest in 2014, when he served as research director on the ultimately losing campaign of then-Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu: "There's nothing as satisfying as finding something someone tried to hide, building a case brick by brick, and finally forcing it into the open. ... Ultimately the best oppo isn't the fanciest detective work. It's finding the words that let the voters say what they want to think." One of the things that distinguishes good oppo from merely OK oppo is persistence, said Rodota. He noted that Brody, via his Twitter feed, was prepared to shoot down the inevitable pushback and denials from the opposing campaign about the medical debt story. For instance, when Marshall's campaign denied responsibility for charging patients 18% interest on their debt, Brody posted billing statements from Marshall's own office detailing the interest rate. Seeing that, Rodota thought, "There's somebody who has organized the material and is waiting for a rebuttal and is prepared." Throughout the fall, Marshall has faced a steady drip of damaging revelations, to the point that the campaign has launched a section of its webpage devoted to rebutting them. There was the Kansas Reflector and MSNOW story, based on documents the outlets "obtained" and linking to a Brody tweet in the very first sentence, raising questions about whether Marshall's office was blurring the line between official and campaign spending. (The Marshall campaign's site says the senator is fully compliant with FEC rules and has a campaign team separate from his official staff.) A few days later came an AP story describing an ultimately unsuccessful earmark Marshall requested that could boost the value of the senator's own property. (A campaign spokesperson told the outlet the project would have benefited a wildlife refuge and not the property.) In between, there was the Facebook post Brody surfaced from the owner of a local bakery, who posted a $678.75 unpaid invoice from supplying baked goods to Marshall's 2020 campaign - an episode Brody dubbed "#cookiegate" that eventually wound its way into The New York Times. (Marshall paid almost double the invoice after the bill became public, though not, as Brody pointed out, with 18% interest.) "It's just kind of this ongoing, never-ending saga that has plagued Roger Marshall from the end of the primary on," said All, the Democratic operative. In the meantime, national Republicans have taken note to the extent that Trump himself descended on Kansas for a rally this week, where he defended Marshall by musing aloud that his critics were "making him look like a Shylock type guy" for attempting to collect his medical debts. Brody gleefully tweeted the clip.This article originally appeared on Politico at https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/10/23/the-oppo-mastermind-who-could-take-down-roger-marshall-01132711
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, said she is "deeply distressed" by the news that her father, Thomas Markle, is under investigation over claims he possessed images containing child sexual abuse in his home.
The images were reportedly found in his home in the Philippines after he returned to the U.S. in May, Philippine officials said.
Thomas Markle denied the allegations, calling them "sick lies" and "the worst thing anyone could accuse me of."
London's Metropolitan Police confirmed Saturday that it received a letter in January 2019 containing "a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom," the BBC reported. The letter was sent to the force's protection command because of concerns about the duchess's security.
The Met said it passed the letter to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex "for their awareness," but did not share the details with other law enforcement agencies. The force said it is reviewing how it handled the matter and considering whether to refer itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the police watchdog.
In a statement through her spokesperson, Meghan Markle said that she is "deeply distressed" by the news, and that she was first made aware of the claims by the Met Police in 2018.
"I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed," Meghan's statement said. "In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father, and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.
"I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications' distortion over the years, any distance from my father, and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them.
"I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.
"Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children."
Meghan had said the letter was sent in 2018. A spokesman for the duchess said Saturday that "any discrepancy of a few months" was "an understandable consequence of that passage of time."
Authorities in the Philippines are also investigating. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said national police had secured Markle's computer for a forensic examination, the BBC reported.
The allegations, reported by Mail Online, said Thomas Markle is under investigation after being reported by his son, Thomas Markle Jr.
In a statement to Mail Online, the elder Markle said: "I'm shocked, I'm hurt and I'm very upset that my son is making these accusations against me. I could never do what I'm being accused of. It's the worst thing anyone could accuse me of."
He added: "It's just a bunch of lies. It's sick. I have no idea why Tom [Markle] is trying to destroy me with these lies."
Yahoo has contacted the Met Office and authorities in the U.S. and the Philippines for comment. This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/article/met-police-says-it-received-2019-letter-with-claims-about-meghans-father-but-didnt-share-it-with-other-agencies-163535130.html
Some confrontations were reported between authorities and demonstrators in several cities, but as of Saturday evening there had been no repeat of the major street violence and rioting that erupted amid similar protests last week. Nuñez previously said that French authorities were 
The front of the march ended without incident. Some chanted "We are not happy" as they peeled away from the Porte de Vincennes. Police said 110,000 people participated in the event, while union members put the number at 250,000. As the evening went on, clashes were reported between police and demonstrators, the Agence France-Presse reported. Nuñez said that "several thousand radical activists" had "gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 individuals identified as rioters." Clashes between protesters and police lasted about two hours, he said. The Paris prosecutor's office said 64 people, including six minors, were arrested and 40 were placed in police custody. Most arrests concerned suspected weapons offenses or participation in a group preparing violence or property damage, the office said. More than 3,000 were stopped and checked by officers, police said. 
Some placards seen at the march referenced 
Police said about 17,000 attended an event in Marseille. Officers fired tear gas during clashes with several dozen people near the march's endpoint. Street fires were seen in the city. Tear gas was also deployed in Clermont-Ferrand, Bordeaux and Strasbourg, police said. Nuñez said one person was seriously injured in Clermont-Ferrand, but did not provide any details. In the city of Toulouse, a 20-year-old man reportedly had fingers blown off, Nuñez said. He did not provide more details about the person, their condition, or how they came to be injured. Nuñez said that in the southern cities of Cannes and Montpellier, authorities saw far-right activists who claimed they were there to protect businesses or sought confrontations with "ultra-left militants." He said it was the first time authorities witnessed this phenomenon. 
In Nice, where demonstrations had also been banned, 11 people were arrested after far-right extremists fought with demonstrators downtown, regional authorities said. Water cannons were also used in the city. 
In Albania's capital of Tirana, riot police used water cannons to subdue large groups of protesters. Some of the demonstrators threw projectiles at police, the AP reported. A separate protest organized by the opposition outside the office of Prime Minister Edi Rama turned violent earlier Saturday, with some activists lighting fires on the street. The demonstrators are mainly high school and university students, demanding lower tuition fees, greater state investment in education and protesting corruption in the education system. A broader anti-government movement is calling for Rama's resignation.In Spain, thousands of retirees and others marched through central Madrid to demand that public pensions aren't meddled with. Protesters in Lisbon, Portugal, are expected to march across the city Saturday to demand affordable housing. This article originally appeared on CBS News at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-france-new-protests-riots-museums-shops/
