Iran’s precision strikes picked apart Gulf infrastructure, blunting US war plans

Reuters

VISUAL INVESTIGATION

By M.B. PELL, RYAN MCNEILL and KAYLEE KANG

Filed Oct. 15, 2026, 10 a.m. GMT 

LONDON

Iran’s missiles and drones have hit Gulf infrastructure sites at least 135 times, causing cascading failures that Gulf states have often concealed. Despite repeated official statements that the damage came from debris, Reuters found the equipment struck was, time and again, exactly what mattered most.

Iran and its proxies have carried out dozens of pinpoint strikes on infrastructure in the Gulf since the start of the war, systematically disabling critical equipment and causing cascading failures and economic damage region-wide in a deft campaign that helps explain how the Islamic Republic has held its own against the more powerful US military.

Judge finds Elon Musk, Kristi Noem engaged in premeditated campaign to smear ex-FEMA official

By Melissa Quinn

Updated on: October 15, 2026

4:26 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A federal judge on Tuesday found that billionaire Elon Musk and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, as well as other senior Trump administration officials, engaged in a coordinated campaign to spread false information about a former FEMA official and impugn her integrity.

Reuters: The Starshield Order Came From Inside the White House. Did Trump Know?

By Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr.

October 15, 2026

Source: Reuters

The order to restrict Ukraine's access to a critical military satellite communications system came from inside the White House, according to a Reuters exclusive published Thursday. But while the report identifies the origin of the instruction, it leaves a more consequential question unanswered: who authorized it, and was President Donald Trump aware of the decision?

Reuters, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official briefed on the matter, reported that Pentagon leaders received a message directing them to slow the Starshield service used by Ukraine's military. The officials did not identify the White House official responsible for the decision or the person who implemented it.

Washington Post: Trump’s Own Officials Examined Ilhan Omar in 2019 — and Found No Evidence of Citizenship Fraud

By Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr.

Based on reporting by The Washington Post

October 15, 2026

The Trump administration is once again investigating Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar over allegations concerning her immigration history. But an exclusive report by The Washington Post has brought an important piece of history back into the picture: the first Trump administration examined many of the same questions seven years ago and found insufficient evidence to justify a full investigation.

In a Huge First, Physicists May Have Found a Shortcut to Fusion Energy

Physics

15 October 2026

By David Nield

An artist's rendition of a tokamak fusion system. 

(Kyle Palmer/PPPL Communications Department)

The Sun at the center of our own Solar System is a great advert for nuclear fusion: ultra-high temperatures and pressures combining to fuse hydrogen nuclei together into helium nuclei, releasing a huge amount of energy along the way.

An American is Accused of Plotting the Tumble Ridge School Massacre - and why that complicates even more today's Oregon shooting

By Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr.

October 15, 2026

An American man is accused of helping plan a school massacre in British Columbia, advising the teenage attacker on weapons and tactics, sending money for materials connected to an explosive device, and preparing to livestream the killings.

On October 14, a federal grand jury in Washington state indicted James Cody Bryant, a 30-year-old resident of Bellingham, Washington, on a charge of conspiracy to murder people in a foreign country in connection with the February 10 massacre in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The indictment follows an investigation by the FBI, with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Homeland Security Investigations. 

4 killed, including 3 children, in shooting at Oregon elementary school, source says. Shooter is also dead

By Emma Tucker and John Miller
Updated 8 min ago
Three children and one adult were killed in a shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, according to preliminary information from a law enforcement source.

The shooter, a 16-year-old male, according to multiple law enforcement sources, had already been shot and killed inside the school when police arrived at the scene at about 1 p.m., police said. At an earlier news conference, police said there were multiple victims, including children, but did not specify a number.

Multiple people, including children, injured in shooting at Oregon elementary school, police say. Shooter is dead

By Emma Tucker
Updated 15 min ago
Multiple people, including children, were injured and a shooter is dead after gunfire erupted at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, according to police.

The shooter had already been shot and killed inside the school when police arrived at the scene at about 1 p.m., said Sheila Miller, spokesperson for the Bend Police Department. It’s not yet known who killed the shooter, but it “may have been a bystander,” Miller said, citing the ongoing investigation.

The Nord Stream Sabotage Trial Opens in Hamburg as Ukraine Strikes Back Under Trump's Pressure

By Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr.

October 15, 2026

The resumption of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, the restrictions affecting U.S.-controlled military satellite technology and the opening of Germany's Nord Stream sabotage trial have brought three important questions into focus: What is Washington asking Ukraine to sacrifice? What leverage does Kyiv still possess? And who ultimately benefits from the changing relationship between the United States, Russia and Ukraine?

Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery on Thursday, October 15, ending its participation in a brief halt to attacks on energy infrastructure that President Donald Trump had announced days earlier. The strike came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that Kyiv could no longer accept a truce that, in Ukraine's view, Moscow had failed to respect.

The Pentagon Gave $350 Million in Contracts to a Firm Closely Tied to a Senior Defense Department Official

By Aaron Davis and Robert Faturechi

October 9, 2026, 12:45 pm

Reporting Highlights

• No-Bid: In June, the Pentagon signed a $281 million consulting contract with a firm tied to a Pentagon powerbroker.
• Old Ties: George K. Kollitides II was brought into the Pentagon under Steve Feinberg, the deputy defense secretary and a former colleague in the private equity world.
• Hidden: Experts said a no-bid consulting contract under a mechanism designed to secretly develop weapons prototypes was extraordinary.

AI Agent Blamed for Deleting Entire Upcoming Season of TV Show

Now that's television

By Frank Landymore

Published Oct 14, 2026 5:03 PM EDT

Did a dog eat your homework? 

Or maybe an AI obliterated your files?

In a world of Claudes and Muses, it’s common for an AI agent to run amok, and even more fashionable to blame an AI when it all goes wrong.

The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reports one of the most incredible examples we’ve heard of this so far: an AI agent apparently deleted the entire upcoming season of a reality competition show called “The Challenge Sverige,” just weeks before it was supposed to premiere.

Trump calls off livestream of Fort Hood shooter’s firing squad execution

By Alejandra Jaramillo
Updated 1 hr 30 min ago
President Donald Trump said Thursday that Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan’s firing squad execution will not be livestreamed, reversing an announcement from the Pentagon last week.

“I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan, but many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die through streaming, or through any other visual device,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Hottest 2026 Midterm Races—Talarico Ahead In Texas Senate Race In 2 New Polls (Updated Daily)

By Sara Dorn, Forbes Staff. 

Sara Dorn is a Forbes news reporter who covers politics.

Topline

Democratic state Rep. James Talarico is ahead of Attorney General Ken Paxton in two new polls released Wednesday, while Democrat Troy Jackson leads GOP Sen. Susan Collins in Maine—the latest surveys to show Democrats with an advantage in the midterms.

Musk Points to Trump for Starshield Restrictions: Is Washington Shifting the Balance of Power from Kyiv Toward Russia?

A commentary by Mars Strangelove Jr.

Illustration by Gemini AI

October 15, 2026

Elon Musk has publicly placed ultimate responsibility on Donald Trump for restrictions affecting Ukraine’s military-grade Starshield satellite network. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” Musk wrote on X. The statement comes after Ukrainian officials reported that restrictions on satellite connectivity disrupted military operations, including drone missions vital to Ukraine’s defence against Russian attacks. 

Brazil cuts work week to 40 hours in win for Lula ahead of runoff

Congress approves constitutional amendment that bans six-day workweeks, which could affect up to 30 million

Tiago Rogero in Rio de Janeiro

Thu 15 Oct 2026 03.45 BST

Brazil’s congress has approved a constitutional amendment to shorten the working week to a maximum of 40 hours, a move that could affect 30 million workers and that will hand a political victory to the leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ahead of the presidential runoff in under two weeks.

Mystery of Amelia Earhart's missing plane could be solved in days, researchers say

A group of American researchers believes it may be days away from finding what remains of the missing plane of legendary aviator Amelia Earhart off a remote island in the South Pacific.

CBS Evening News

By Lana Zak, Amanda Arden, Amy Westerby

October 14, 2026 / 9:18 PM EDT / CBS News

An expedition team led by Steve Schultz from Purdue University and Richard Pettigrew from the Archaeological Legacy Institute on Wednesday began the painstaking search for what could be Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10-E plane.

Is Trump’s Timely Political Persecution of Ilhan Omar Another Attempt to Rig the Elections?

By Yiannis Damellos and Mars Strangelove Jr.

AI-generated illustration by Gemini

October 14, 2026

Key points

• The Trump administration has escalated its pursuit of Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, turning allegations about childhood immigration paperwork into a federal investigation involving a search of her Washington residence, the seizure of her phone, and subpoenas to members of her family. 
• The operation took place just weeks before the November midterm elections, in which Omar is seeking re-election. 
• The government has not publicly established that she committed immigration fraud, and she has not been stripped of her U.S. citizenship. (Reuters; Associated Press)

The question is not whether a member of Congress should be above the law. She should not. If investigators possess credible evidence of fraud, they have a duty to examine it. But the government also has a duty to explain why allegations that have circulated for years have now prompted such an extraordinary escalation, at a moment when voters are preparing to decide the balance of power in Congress.

Elon Musk's Wireless Empire: An $8 Billion Bet — and a Warning From Ukraine

Mars Strangelove Jr. on Duty

October 14, 2026

Elon Musk wants to take on America's wireless giants. His latest move, an agreement to acquire valuable radio spectrum for a reported $8 billion, could bring SpaceX closer to transforming Starlink from a satellite-internet provider into a major mobile communications business. His commercial ambitions are substantial. So are the financial risks. 

However, there is another dimension to Musk's expanding communications empire that investors cannot afford to ignore. Ukraine has learned, through a devastating war, that satellite communications can become essential infrastructure — and that dependence on a privately controlled network can carry consequences far beyond the price of a subscription.