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  • Judge extends White House access for US media outlets amid Trump standoff

    Judge extends White House access for US media outlets amid Trump standoff

    CNN, MS Now and Politico can continue to access White House as judge maintains Trump’s ban likely illegal.

    Published On 14 Oct 2026

    A federal judge has extended access to several media organisations that United States President Donald Trump had sought to ban from the White House.

    US District Judge Timothy Kelly said Trump likely broke the law in banning journalists from CNN, MS Now and Politico from attending White House briefings.

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    The decision, published late Tuesday, expands on an emergency order issued by Kelly on September 24 that temporarily reinstated access to organisations. It said Trump likely discriminated against the news organisations based on their viewpoints, in violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

    He wrote that Trump’s “announcement of the ban and later remarks explaining the reason for it make this a straightforward conclusion: President Trump likely banned Plaintiffs from the White House because he believes that their reporting is generally inaccurate and biased against him”.

    In announcing the ban, Trump had said the organisations “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States”.

    The Department of Justice subsequently said the reporters’ White House passes were revoked on national security grounds.

    In his ruling, Kelly rejected the claim.

    “First, there is no evidence in the record that President Trump made the decision to revoke Plaintiffs’ hard passes on national security grounds from the get-go, nor at any time has he directly stated that national security was the reason for his decision,” he wrote.

    The latest order stands until Kelly, who was appointed by Trump during the president’s first term, makes a final determination in the case, or until an appeals court steps in.

    Trump has long been a critic of legacy US media and has previously sought to restrict access to certain organisations.

    He has also lodged rhetorical attacks on individual reporters both in person and on social media, while launching an array of lawsuits against media companies.

    Speaking during an October 8 hearing, Theodore Boutrous, a lawyer for the three banned organisations, said Trump was seeking to “coerce better coverage”.

    The Freedom of the Press Foundation was among the groups cheering the latest court ruling.

    “But this fight is far from over,” senior adviser for advocacy Caitlin Vogus said in a statement.

    “We have every reason to expect the administration will appeal Kelly’s latest order and also continue to prevent CNN and Politico from participating in pool coverage of the president,” she said. “Trump must not be allowed to trample on fundamental First Amendment protections by handpicking his press corps or turning pool duties into a reward for favorable coverage.”

  • MS NOW Corrects Report On FBI Director Kash Patel Landing In Russia: “We Regret This Error”

    MS NOW Corrects Report On FBI Director Kash Patel Landing In Russia: “We Regret This Error”

    FBI Director Kash Patel called on MS NOW to apologize to the agency after an erroneous report that he had landed in Russia.

    Citing two unnamed sources, the network’s Ken Dilanian reported during Peter Alexander’s show in the 11 a.m. ET hour that Patel had landed in the country for a meeting.

    The FBI’s Rapid Response account pushed back, posting video of Patel at Liberty University in Virginia.

    Two hours later, during Alicia Menendez’s show in the 1 p.m. ET hour, Dilanian appeared on air again to say that he was correcting the report.

    “We’ve since learned that Patel did not, in fact, land in Russia today and remains in the U.S. The FBI did not answer our questions when we asked them about it,” he said.

    Dilanian noted that there already had been reports that a Patel meeting in Russia was planned. Those reports raised “serious concerns, including among Democratic lawmakers who had urged Patel to call off the meeting which, according to published reports, was supposed to be happening today. But we do know now that he has not already landed in Russia, as we reported earlier. The timing of any potential trip remains unclear. Again, we regret this error, and we are transparent about when we make errors.”

    Patel posted on X that MS NOW owes “an apology to this FBI, the men and women of law enforcement, and to the American people.” But he also focused on a separate MS NOW report that the FBI under his leadership had brought thousands fewer criminal cases than previous administration, despite Patel’s claims.

    Dilanian defended that reporting, writing on X, “There has been a lot of commentary about this story. But no one at the FBI or anywhere else has disputed the DOJ data showing FBI criminal referrals down 15%. That’s thousands fewer criminal cases under @FBIDirectorKash, @dbongino and @FBIDDRaia than during the same period in the Biden Administration.”

    An MS NOW spokesperson referred to Dilanian’s on air correction.

  • Shakira dedicates a heartfelt message to her ex-boyfriend Antonio de la Rúa

    Shakira dedicates a heartfelt message to her ex-boyfriend Antonio de la Rúa

    After several weeks delighting the audience with her greatest hits and sharing the stage with major guest artists, Shakira has wrapped up her concert residency in Madrid, Spain, as part of her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour. The Colombian star, who just days ago came face-to-face with Gerard Piqué in court, created an emotional and instantly viral moment when she thanked everyone who had been part of her project in Spain.

    The Barranquilla-born singer surprised many by sending a heartfelt message to a famous ex-boyfriend with whom she now shares a close friendship: Antonio de la Rúa.

    Shakira and Antonio de la Rua (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)© FilmMagic
    Shakira and Antonio de la Rua

    On October 12, Shakira performed for the last time at the stadium that bears her name, located inside Macondo Park. It was an unforgettable evening, as she shared the stage with several of the stars behind some of her latest hits: Maluma, Beéle, Dani Martín and Bizarrap. The Colombian artist took a moment at the mic to give a very special thank-you to De la Rúa.

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    “Today I especially want to thank someone who has been by my side and supporting me throughout the tour, who has helped me so much during this whole tour and has been working behind the creation and every detail of Macondo Park,” the singer said. “Because in life everything transforms, like Drexler says,” she reflected, before finally mentioning Antonio by name.

    “I want to thank someone who was once my partner and is now a great friend, a friend of my soul: Antonio de la Rúa,” Shakira told the massive crowd, which reacted with excitement to her words. “Antonio, thank you. Thank you for your friendship,” she added with a big smile.

    Shakira and Antonio de la Rúa, son of former Argentine president Fernando de la Rúa, started dating in 2000. He later became her manager and inspired successful songs like Día de Enero. However, what seemed like a fairy-tale relationship came to an end, and in 2011 they announced their breakup. He filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the singer seeking compensation for his work as her representative, a claim that was dismissed in 2013.

    In 2024, after the departure of manager Jaime Levine, Shakira quietly brought Antonio back onto her team. Since then, the Argentine businessman has been present at several of his ex’s concerts, and even his daughter Zulu, whom he shares with former model Daniela Ramos, has posed with the Colombian star.

    Shakira’s powerful message as she closes out her Madrid residency

    Before sharing her heartfelt thanks to Antonio de la Rúa, the singer opened up to the audience about how she felt after these weeks in Spain. “This month has been, I think, one of the most important of my career. This residency has been historic for me,” ‘Shaki’ began. “I’ve also gone through some tough moments this month because of my dad’s health and because I’ve had to, well, deal with personal situations that you already know about,” she continued, apparently referring to the legal process with Piqué over the custody of Milan and Sasha.

    A structured white shoulder bag and platform heels carried the coordinated palette through her accessories.© G3/The Grosby Group
    Shakira in court

    “You truly make time stand still, and you give me the strength—because it really comes from you—to step out on stage every night with total joy and a full heart,” she added. “You’ve made me enjoy this as if I were just starting my career, and I will never forget that.”

    “Life is all about addition and subtraction—on one hand it takes away, and on the other it gives, that’s how it is. And definitely, life has its ways of rewarding us, and this is one of them,” ‘Shaki’ said. “Maybe the most important thing isn’t what happened to us, but what we do with it and who we become. And I’ve become a woman who is grateful,” the singer admitted. “Every time we fall and get back up, we rise a lot wiser, a little more resilient, and a little stronger.”

  • Did Trump post AI video of himself playing with tiger after deadly UK attack?

    Did Trump post AI video of himself playing with tiger after deadly UK attack?

    Claim:

    On Oct. 13, U.S. President Donald Trump posted an AI video on his Truth Social account showing himself playing with a tiger.

    Rating:

    True

    In mid-October, social media users claimed U.S. President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video of himself playing with a tiger.

    The rumor spread days after a tiger mauled and killed a man at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster, England, on Oct. 10. The clip shows an artificial intelligence tool’s depiction of Trump pointing his finger at the tiger before playfully wrestling and hugging it.

    One X user who shared the footage wrote (archived), “Trump actually posted this AI video of him with a tiger in the middle of the night.”

    Trump did indeed post the AI video on his Truth Social account, hours after sharing authentic footage of the moment a tiger attacked a man in the U.K. The AI clip Trump posted shows the president mimicking the hand gesture the British man made as the tiger attacked him in the authentic video. As such, we rate this claim true.

    The president posted the AI-generated video (archived) on Truth Social late at night on Oct. 13.

    Hours earlier, he posted (warning: the link contains violent and distressing content) authentic footage, meaning not AI-generated or digitally created, of a tiger mauling a man named William Chapman in an enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park (archived). Trump’s caption reads, “Don’t ever mess with nature! President DJT.”

    (Truth Social user “realDonaldTrump”)

    Trump also posted (warning: the link contains violent and distressing content) a compilation of clips (archived) of big cats attacking humans on Oct. 13. Snopes has not determined the authenticity of those videos.

    Chapman was a former child actor. On Oct. 10, he entered the tiger’s enclosure and sustained fatal injuries from the attack. His family criticized Trump for posting the authentic footage of Chapman, who, they said, suffered from mental illness. A family statement reads:

    The family are utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened. The publication and circulation of deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress at an exceptionally vulnerable time. We ask people to stop doing this.

    The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their upmost to get to the bottom of why our amazing son did what he did.

    For further reading, Snopes has reported extensively on Trump’s authentic Truth Social posts. 

    Sources

    Brown, Mark. “Family of Man Killed by Tiger Criticise Online Content after Trump Reposts Video.” The Guardian, 14 Oct. 2026. UK News. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/14/william-chapman-family-tiger-attack-online-content-trump-reposts-video. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

    ‘Donald J. Trump Video Post from October 13, 2026’. Trump’s Truth, 14 Oct. 2026, https://www.trumpstruth.org/statuses/42322.

    Esposito, Joey. “24 Things Trump Actually Posted on Truth Social.” Snopes, 31 Aug. 2026, https://www.snopes.com//collections/trump-real-truth-social-posts/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

    ‘Man Killed in Tiger Attack Identified as William Chapman’. BBC News, 13 Oct. 2026, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3ewegny45jvo.

    South Yorkshire Police. ‘NEWS: Family of Man Who Died in Tragic Incident at Yorkshire Wildlife Park Share Tribute’. Facebook, 14 Oct. 2026, https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1551039760401725&set=a.311353597703687.

    ‘William Chapman’. IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3489204/.

    “William Chapman: Family Pay Tribute to Man Killed by Tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.” The Independent, 14 Oct. 2026, https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/william-chapman-tiger-death-family-tributes-yorkshire-wildlife-park-b3066381.html. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

    @realDonaldTrump. Truth Social, 13 Oct. 2026, https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117437094956438218.

  • Teenager Sues CBS News Over Story On Reflecting Pool Vandalism Arrests

    A Maryland teenager filed defamation suit against CBS News over a report his attorneys say falsely linked him as one of those arrested for alleged vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool last summer.

    The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, seeks at least $20 million in damages.

    The plaintiff, identified as “JV” and as a 15-year old high school student, was riding his e-dirt bike past the National Mall on June 20, according to the suit. He was briefly detained and handcuffed over the use of the e-bike, and released without charges, per the suit.

    The lawsuit claimed that in a June 21 report on the CBS Evening News, a story “falsely asserted that JV was arrested for engaging in vandalism towards the Reflecting Pool.” The broadcast story did not show his face, but the lawsuit claimed that “it showed video of him from the rear while he was briefly handcuffed, and he was readily identifiable because of his hair and because of the distinctive nature of the logo on the black hoodie that he was wearing (which he routinely wears and is known to wear).”

    CBS News also published the story on its website and in social media accounts with some modifications, according to the suit. In that version, anchor Jericka Duncan was talking about the reflecting pool arrests, naming only Olympian David Hearn. The online video showed the image of JV from behind, but his face was visible as he turned around, per the lawsuit.

    “JV was readily recognized by friends and acquaintances. In fact, it was a family friend who first notified JV and/or his family about the report,” the lawsuit stated, while claiming that it was viewed 1.8 million times across Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

    The lawsuit claimed that JV has “suffered embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, loss of sleep, emotional distress, and continuing fear that CBS’s false accusation will follow him through high school and affect his college admissions, athletic opportunities, employment, and future career.”

    On Aug. 21, according to the lawsuit, Duncan issued a retraction and said, “We never should have published this story.”

    A CBS News spokesperson declined to comment. The lawsuit was first reported by TheDesk.net.

    Meanwhile, the allegations of vandalism to the reflecting pool have fallen apart.

    Besides Hearn, no other figures were charged. Hearn’s case was dismissed after U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro acknowledged that the damage to the reflecting pool was due to faulty work on the part of the contractor. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that an inspection report concluded that the blue coating applied to the pool failed in at least 85 places.

  • Did Katie Zacharia pass the bar exam? What we know about her legal credentials

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    ———. ‘UPDATE: Katie Zacharia’s Disastrous Response to Popular Information’s Report’. Popular.Info, Popular Information, 14 Oct. 2026, popular.info/p/update-katie-zacharias-disastrous. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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  • Ledger Asks Resellers in Seven Asian Markets to Pull Devices After Suspected $86M Drain

    Ledger Asks Resellers in Seven Asian Markets to Pull Devices After Suspected $86M Drain

    In brief

    • Ledger has asked resellers and distributors in six Southeast Asian countries and Hong Kong to suspend sales of its devices while it investigates tampered wallets.
    • The company said the only confirmed incidents remain in Southeast Asia, and that it has not verified a drain linked to a device bought elsewhere.
    • MediaMarkt Saturn has stopped selling Ledger devices in its stores and online after a customer in Germany reported an implant, though no funds were lost.

    Ledger has asked resellers and distributors in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong to stop selling its hardware wallets and take them off the shelves while it investigates devices fitted with a hidden implant, the company said in a tweet on Tuesday.

    The request covers Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

    The only confirmed incidents remain in Southeast Asia, Ledger said, and it has not verified a drain linked to a device bought elsewhere. The company has previously said that all confirmed losses involve devices sold through CryptoBilis, a reseller in the region.

    Ledger is still working to establish who tampered with the devices and at what point in the distribution chain. It said it has no indication that its own infrastructure, systems, services or direct sales channel have been compromised.

    Ledger’s Donjon security team found that the implant reads the 24-word recovery phrase from the device’s screen during setup and sends it out over LTE. Anyone holding that phrase can restore the wallet and move its funds. Onchain investigator Specter has traced more than $86 million in suspected thefts, a figure Ledger says it has not verified.

    Earlier on Tuesday, MediaMarkt Saturn stopped selling Ledger devices in its stores and online, with Ledger’s agreement, after a customer in Germany reported an implant, Ledger said in a separate tweet. No loss of funds was reported.

    Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction.
    Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction.

    Rival hardware wallet maker Trezor said on Tuesday that it will end its authorizations for resellers on January 1, 2027, describing the move as a “precautionary measure.” Trezor said there was no evidence that its own devices had been compromised.

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  • China Seeks to Confiscate Billions in BTC, XRP, DOGE, BCH, BTG and BSV

    China Seeks to Confiscate Billions in BTC, XRP, DOGE, BCH, BTG and BSV

    The application also covers cash denominated in U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds, as well as jewelry, bank deposits and investment portfolios.

    Notably, the $DOGE holdings have reportedly already been converted into cash by British judicial authorities and deposited into an interest-bearing account.

    Massive $6 billion crypto fraud

    The confiscation proceedings stem from a massive investment fraud scheme allegedly orchestrated by Qian through Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology.

    Between April 2014 and August 2017, the company illegally raised approximately 40.38 billion yuan (roughly $6 billion) by selling fraudulent investment products that promised substantial returns.

    According to Chinese prosecutors, the scheme affected more than 102,000 investors, who suffered combined losses of approximately 19.98 billion yuan.

    Much of the money was used to repay existing investors, operate fraudulent investment projects and purchase assets, including Bitcoin, real estate, vehicles and jewelry.

    Qian fled China in 2017, eventually arriving in the United Kingdom, where British authorities subsequently seized her cryptocurrency holdings.

    In November 2025, she was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison by a British court for money laundering offenses.

    What happens to seized Bitcoin?

    The latest development comes as British courts are also considering the legal ownership of the massive Bitcoin fortune.

    On October 12, the UK’s High Court ruled that Chinese law should govern claims made by victims seeking to recover the seized cryptocurrency.

    The decision could have major implications for whether investors are entitled to the original value of their losses or potentially benefit from Bitcoin’s substantial appreciation since the fraud took place.

    However, the British ruling does not establish final ownership of the assets. Further proceedings will determine whether the victims can demonstrate enforceable rights to the cryptocurrency.

    Meanwhile, the Chinese court has opened a six-month period during which Qian’s relatives and other interested parties, including affected investors, can participate in the confiscation proceedings.

  • Hex Founder Richard Heart Detained in Istanbul on Interpol Red Notice: Report

    Hex Founder Richard Heart Detained in Istanbul on Interpol Red Notice: Report

    In brief

    • Turkish police and intelligence officers detained Hex founder Richard Heart in Istanbul on Wednesday, Turkish media reported, acting on an Interpol Red Notice.
    • Finland sought the notice in 2024 on a charge of aggravated tax fraud, and Heart was detained along with his wife, according to the reports.
    • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Heart in 2023 of raising more than $1 billion in unregistered crypto offerings, but later dropped the case.

    Turkish authorities have detained Richard Heart, the founder of the Hex cryptocurrency, in Istanbul on an Interpol Red Notice, Daily Sabah reported on Wednesday, citing Turkish news agency IHA.

    Heart, whose legal name is Richard James Schueler, was detained with his wife on Wednesday morning in an operation by Istanbul police and Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), according to the report. Police had monitored his address in the city’s Beşiktaş district before the arrest.

    Officers seized a dozen mobile phones, several laptops, graphics cards, rifles, pistols, two drones, gold bracelets and a large amount of cash in different currencies, IHA reported.

    A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or similar legal action, and is not an international arrest warrant. Interpol issued the notice for Heart in 2024 at the request of Finland. The notice lists a single charge, aggravated tax fraud, though Finnish authorities have also sought him over an alleged assault. Daily Sabah described the notice as relating to high-value cryptocurrency fraud.

    Heart and Hex

    Heart launched Hex in 2018, marketing it as a high-yield “blockchain certificate of deposit.”

    In 2023, the SEC charged Heart and three entities he controlled, Hex, PulseChain and PulseX, with conducting unregistered offerings of crypto asset securities that raised more than $1 billion. It also accused him of misappropriating at least $12 million of investor funds to buy luxury goods, including sports cars, watches and a 555-carat black diamond known as “The Enigma.”

    Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction.
    Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction.

    A federal judge dismissed the complaint in February 2025 for lack of jurisdiction, finding that Heart’s activities were not clearly aimed at U.S. investors. The SEC declined to amend it by an April deadline, ending the case, which Heart’s lawyer called “a complete victory.”

    It was not immediately clear whether Finnish authorities have requested Heart’s extradition from Turkey.

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  • NATO scrambles F-16 jets against ‘aerial target’

    NATO scrambles F-16 jets against ‘aerial target’

    Romania sent up two of its F-16 fighter jets after it detected an ‘aerial target’ near the eastern NATO border today.

    The Ministry of National Defence of Romania (MApN) said the ‘aerial target; briefly entered its airspace near Sulina, before it moved over the black sea.

    The target then entered Ukrainian airspace, where it was quickly shot down by Ukraine’s air defence system, MApN said.

    MApN said the target had been spotted by its radar surveillance system this morning (14 October) and notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations to trigger alert measures for parts of Tulcea County.

    An emergency message was sent to phones for those impacted at around 10.20am local time.

    And MApN scrambled two Romanian Air Force F-16 aircraft.

    The air alert ended at 11.22am and the public warning was lifted.

    NATO member Romania borders Ukraine and has frequently had to scramble its military aircraft in response to drone activity near the border.

    On Tuesday (13 October), a drone hit two ships off the coast of Bulgaria in the Black Sea, sinking one.

    The MApN said the target was shot down over Ukraine (Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

    The MApN said the target was shot down over Ukraine (Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

    Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rumen Radev, said one of the ships was sailing under the Maltese flag and was hit by three drones at around 1.30am local time.

    The second ship, which was sailing under the flag of St Kitts and Nevis, was also hit and sank with one sailor rescued.

    In recent weeks, several senior European officials and intelligence services have warned that Russia may be planning to test the NATO alliance with increased covert attacks or even an incursion after a spate of sabotage incidents across the continent.

    Denmark’s defence intelligence service specifically warned Russia could use such tactics to split the NATO alliance.

    Earlier this week, a top NATO military commander said the alliance is ‘ready to fight tonight’ if it is attacked.

    US General Alexus Grynkewich said that he doesn’t believe a conflict is imminent or inevitable but went on to say that the most effective way to preserve peace is to prepare for war and to maintain open lines of communication to ‘resolve misunderstandings’.

    Gen Grynkewich provided no specific details about what kind of attack Nato is preparing for, nor where, nor with what kind of forces.

    But outlining what a response to a Russian attack could look like, Gen Grynkewich said Nato’s combined land, sea and air forces will move to stop Moscow seizing territory and deny Russia the ability to hold ground.

    “My theory of victory is simple,” he said at the Warsaw Security Forum.

    “We will block the initial attack. If the attack persists, we will blunt it and prevent any enemy advance. And if required, we will break the enemy’s forces and the operational war-fighting system arrayed against us.”

    This includes not just the attacking force but anything and everything that supports, sustains and controls it, he said.

    Gen Grynkewich added that it is important that NATO alliance members co-ordinate a ‘coherent’ response to Russian activity to make it clear to Moscow ‘where our red lines are’.