10/9

• According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Julia landed in Nicaragua as a Category 1 storm.
• Putin blamed the explosion on the Kerch bridge on Ukraine and described the attack as an “act of terror” implemented by “Ukrainian secret services.”
• Kanye West was banned from Twitter after posting an antisemetic tweet, only a day after being banned from Instagram. 
• An Iranian live TV broadcast was hacked by human rights protesters, who aimed their news bulletin at Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The interruption included flames around Iran’s leader and called the group “Adalat Ali,” or Ali’s Justice.

10/10

• UN Secretary-General António Guterres supports Haiti through issuing rapid-response troops to control the gangs present there (see 10/8).
• In response to the explosion on the Kerch bridge that Moscow blamed on Ukraine, Russia struck its biggest wave of missiles on Ukraine since the invasion.
• Nury Martinez stepped down as L.A. city council president after racist statements were leaked.

10/11

• Lebanon and Israel have reached a deal to end their longtime maritime Mediterranean Sea border dispute, which the U.S. has attempted to negotiate for years.
• To defend themselves against Russia, Ukraine encouraged the G7 countries to grant more air defense capabilities. The leaders pledged support for Kyiv for “as long as it takes.”
• Nikolas Cruz’s lawyer pleads that jurors take the death penalty off the table as the Parkland trial concludes.
• Baltimore prosecutors dropped the murder charges against Adnan Syed after DNA tests exclude him as a viable suspect.
• The U.S. Supreme Court declined to determine whether fetuses have constitutional rights following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June.
• LGBTQ+ students and allies performed walkouts at religious schools on national Coming Out Day.
• The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Charlestown church shooter Dylann Roof’s bid to overturn his conviction and death sentence.
• According to the White House, Biden will review U.S. ties with Saudi Arabia, following the Saudi-led coalition that plans to cut oil production (see 10/5).

10/12

• The FDA authorized the COVID-19 booster, which protects against the original strain of coronavirus and the omicron variant, for children ages 5 to 11.
• Russia’s Federal Security Service and the Russian Investigative Committee claimed 5 Russians and 3 Ukrainians and Armenians have been detained following the explosion on the Kerch bridge (see 10/8).
• Ukraine stated that more territory in the south was reclaimed.
• James Brennand, a former San Antonio police officer who was fired last week, was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault for shooting 17-year-old Erik Cantu.
• Alex Jones must pay at least $965 million to several families of victims of the 2021 Sandy Hook shooting. The right-wing conspiracy theorist was brought to trial after falsely claiming that the families were actors who faked the massacre.
• Judge Lewis Kaplan denied former President Trump’s attempt to delay the defamation lawsuit from E. Jean Carroll. 
• NATO is constructing a 10-year plan to rebuild Ukraine’s defense industry.
• The Federal Department of the Treasury is investigating whether Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used COVID-19 aid to finance the transport of 50 migrants from Texas to Massachusetts.
• The United States and Mexico have agreed on a program aimed to reduce the influx of Venezuelan migrants to the U.S. southern border. Mexico will accept Venezuelans intercepted at the borders, which aims to discourage the asylum seekers from crossing the border illegally. Simultaneously, the Biden administration will initiate a humanitarian parole program that will sponsor 24,000 Venezuelans for entry into the United States.

10/13

• The Social Security Administration announced an 8.7% increase in cost of living for 2023.
• Nikolas Cruz receives life in prison, upsetting the families of the Parkland shooting victims who wanted the shooter to receive the death penalty (see 10/11).
• Ethiopia and its allies continue to fight rebels from Ethiopia’s Tigray region, leading U.S. diplomats to plead for the stalled peace negotiations to restart. The increase in fighting could possibly destabilize a large portion of East Africa.
• 15-year-old Austin Thompson shot and killed 5 people, including his own brother and a police officer, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
• The Jan. 6 committee unanimously voted to subpoena former President Trump for documents and testimony.
• Alaska’s snow crab season is cancelled due to the disappearance of approximately 1 billion crabs.

10/14

• The former president declined to disclose whether he is going to testify under subpoena in a 14-page response to the Jan. 6 committee (see 10/13).
• President Biden will sign an executive order that aims to lower prescription drug costs.
• D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine opened an investigation into Republican governors’ shipping of immigrants to Washington D.C., aiming to see if the immigrants were misled as part of what Racine calls a “political stunt.”
• Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican competition Hershel Walker discuss abortion, inflation, and healthcare in a Georgia debate.
• BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 Omicron subvariants have increased U.S. COVID cases by an estimated 11.4%.

10/15

• The Biden administration opened the application process for student loan forgiveness during a “beta testing period.” Officials are allowing participants to start their applications in order to test out the website.
• A fire erupted outside of the Tehran prison that is holding political and dual-national prisoners that were detained during protests for Mahsa Amini. The incident led to at least 4 prisoners being killed and 61 being wounded.
• The U.S. and Canada sent police equipment to Haiti (see 10/10).
• Secret Service documents that were turned over to the Jan. 6 committee show that law enforcement agencies discussed Capitol threats prior to the insurrection.