Sunday, October 24th, 2021 

Saudi Arabia sets net-zero carbon emission target ahead of COP26 Saudi Arabia aims to reduce pollution to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Saturday at a Saudi forum ahead of the United Nations’ 26th UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, in Glasgow. The prince said the oil-rich nation would pursue the goal with a varied approach that includes curbing emissions, planting 450 million trees, and rehabilitating degraded lands to expand protected areas. Prince Charles warned in a virtual keynote speech at the forum that there is a “dangerously narrow window” to speed up the world’s “green recovery” to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change, and said Saudi Arabia’s work on “energy transition is critically important.” CNN 

Scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa announce the discovery of 2M0437b, one of the youngest exoplanets ever found at a distant star. The exoplanet was discovered using the Subaru Telescope at the observatory on Mauna Kea. (SciTech) 

Colombian forces capture country’s most wanted drug lord Colombian military forces and police captured the South American nation’s most wanted drug trafficker, Dairo Antonio Úsuga, in his rural hideout near the Panama border on Saturday. Úsuga, better known as Otoniel, is the leader of Colombia’s largest criminal gang. He became the head of the Gulf Clan after his brother, its previous leader, was killed by police during a raid nearly 10 years ago. The government had offered a $800,000 reward for confirmed information on how to find him. The United States had placed a $5 million bounty on him. “This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century,” President Iván Duque Márquez said in a televised message. “This blow is only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.” BBC NEWS 

Facebook platforms spread religious hatred in India Inflammatory content jumped by 300 percent on Facebook’s products in India as religious protests swept the country in the early months of 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing an internal Facebook report. A Hindu man in Delhi told Facebook researchers he got “very dangerous” messages on Facebook and WhatsApp, such as, “Hindus are in danger, Muslims are about to kill us.” A Muslim user in Mumbai said there was “so much hatred going on” he feared for his life. In February 2019, two Facebook employees set up a dummy account with the profile of a 21-year-old woman in North India to gauge the user experience. When violence flared in the India-Pakistan territorial dispute in Kashmir, the Facebook account was inundated with nationalist propaganda and anti-Muslim hate speech. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

The Canadian Coast Guard and local firefighters combat a fire on board the MV Zim Kingston, off Victoria, British Columbia. The fire, which started yesterday, is focused on ten containers as authorities say that the ship itself is not on fire. (Washington Post) 

Uzbeks head to the polls to elect their president. Analysts say incumbent Shavkat Mirziyoyev has his victory for a second term secured as the country struggles with its tourism industry and security issues on the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border since the Taliban takeover. (Deutsche Welle) 

U.S. drone strike kills senior al Qaeda leader The U.S. military said Saturday that it killed a senior al Qaeda leader, Abdul Hamid al-Matar, with a drone strike Friday in northwest Syria. Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said al-Matar’s death will disrupt the Islamist terrorist organization’s “ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.” Rigsbee added that al Qaeda “uses Syria as a base for threats reaching into Syria, Iraq, and beyond.” Two days before the airstrike, a U.S. military outpost in southern Syria was attacked with drones and rockets, although there were no American casualties. Iranian-backed forces commonly target U.S. forces with drones and rocket fire in eastern Syria and Iraq. NBC NEWS 

Clashes between the Somali National Army and Sufi paramilitary group Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a leave at least 30 people dead and more than 100 others injured in Galmudug. (Reuters) 

Turkey calls for departure of U.S. ambassadors and 9 other envoys Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday he ordered his government to declare the United States and nine other Western countries “persona non grata at once,” after they signed a joint statement demanding the “urgent release” of imprisoned philanthropist Osman Kavala. The ambassadors of the U.S., Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and New Zealand issued the statement on Monday calling for a “just and speedy” resolution to the case against Kavala, who has been in prison since 2017 after being charged with financing 2018 protests in Turkey and participating in a failed 2016 coup. Kavala was acquitted in 2020 on protest charges, but the decision was overturned this year. Kavala has denied all the allegations against him. REUTERS 

2 children die in Texas drag-racing accident A drag racing vehicle veered off a track in Texas on Saturday and hit spectators, killing two children and injuring eight other people. A 6-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the track. An 8-year-old boy died later at a hospital. The 34-year-old driver was hospitalized in stable condition. The accident occurred at “Airport Race Wars 2,” an event held on a makeshift track at Kerrville Aviation at the Kerrville-Kerr County Airport, 65 miles northwest of San Antonio. Investigators said the driver lost control of his vehicle and drove off the runway that was being used as a racetrack, and veered into parked vehicles and spectators. NBC NEWS 

Eastern Europe surpasses 20 million cases of COVID-19, with Russia, Ukraine and Romania reporting the most deaths among the most five affected countries in the region. (Al Jazeera) 

Saturday, October 23rd, 2021 

U.S. reports record migrant apprehensions at southern border Federal authorities apprehended more than 1.7 million migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border over the 12 months that ended in September, the most ever in a single fiscal year, according to Department of Homeland Security data released Friday. The surge peaked in the summer. About 61 percent of those caught at the border were sent right back to Mexico or their home country under a pandemic-era policy designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The policy, enacted by the Trump administration in March 2020, has resulted in a higher rate of repeat border-crossing attempts, as many of those sent back simply try again. In September, 26 percent of those caught illegally crossing the border had tried before, Customs and Border Protection said. CBS NEWS 

Supreme Court declines to block Texas abortion law, agrees to hear challenges The Supreme Court on Friday said it would let Texas continue enforcing a new law that bans most abortions in the state, but hear arguments in the case on Nov. 1. The justices first will consider whether the Justice Department and abortion providers can pursue lawsuits challenging the ban in federal court. The law prohibits abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected at about six weeks, before most women know they’re pregnant. The ban has resulted in an 80 percent reduction in abortions in Texas, according to women’s health clinics. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the law was “enacted in open disregard of the constitutional rights of women seeking abortion care in Texas.” Court precedents guarantee abortion rights until fetal viability, at about 24 weeks. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Film crew complained of working conditions before fatal accident A half-dozen crew members walked off the New Mexico set of Rust hours before actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with a prop gun, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Hutchins reportedly had advocated for better working conditions for her team after complaints of long hours and other issues. There had been two misfires on the prop gun on Saturday and one the previous week, a person familiar with the matter told the Times. “There was a serious lack of safety meetings on this set,” the person said. An assistant producer reportedly handed Baldwin the prop gun, a Colt revolver, before a scene being filmed at Bonanza Creek Ranch outside Santa Fe, and told him it was “cold,” meaning it was understood to be loaded with blanks and not live rounds. LOS ANGELES TIMES 

Clashes continue for the second day in Lahore, Pakistan, as the banned far-right Islamic extremist political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan is demonstrating to pressure the government to release its leader Saad Hussain Rizvi, who was arrested last year. Three protesters and two policemen were killed yesterday during the clashes and two protesters are killed today. (Al Jazeera) 

IS claims responsibility for the killing of 16 civilians during an assault at a village in Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo, three days ago. (Reuters) 

Namibia suspends the usage of the Russian made Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine amid reports from South Africa that the vaccine carries a risk of causing HIV infections in men. (WION) 

Russia reports a record for the fifth consecutive day of 1,075 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 229,528. The country also reports a record for the third consecutive day of 37,678 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 8.2 million. (ANI News) 

The percentage of the population that is fully vaccinated in South Korea surpasses 70%, allowing the government to ease their COVID-19-related restrictions in November. (The Straits Times) 

At a rally in central Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accuses the United States, the European Union, and philanthropist George Soros of trying to meddle in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The accusations come as opinion polls show Orbán’s alliance Fidesz–KDNP and the rival United Opposition polling neck-and-neck. (Al Jazeera) 

The trial of Matteo Salvini opens in Palermo, Italy. Salvini is accused of kidnapping and abuse of office when he ordered the detaining of 147 migrants at sea in August 2019, when he was serving as minister of the interior. Salvini said that the decision was agreed upon with the government, including then-prime minister Giuseppe Conte. (France24) 

Colombian police arrest Dario Antonio Úsuga (alias “Otoniel”), a leader of the Clan del Golfo drug cartel, in the town of Necoclí. Úsuga has been listed by authorities as one of the country’s most-wanted drug traffickers. (AFP via CNA) 

Lev Parnas, a former Giuliani ally, convicted on campaign finance charges Former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas was convicted Friday of illegally funneling money to U.S. political campaigns to gain influence and bolster a marijuana business. The Soviet-born Parnas and his co-conspirator, Andrey Kukushkin, tried to “manipulate the United States political system for their own financial gain,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. Kukushkin also was convicted. The men directed money to American politicians during the 2018 midterms aiming to increase the marijuana business’ profits, Williams said. Parnas and another associate, Igor Fruman, also collaborated with Giuliani to find information that could damage President Biden’s campaign, to help former President Donald Trump. That scheme led to the first of Trump’s two impeachments. USA TODAY 

Astros win ALCS to advance to World Series The Houston Astros advanced to the World Series for the third time in five seasons on Friday with a 5-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox, winning the American League Championship Series. Yordan Alvarez, who was named ALCS MVP, drove in the first run with a double, and later hit a triple and scored again. Right fielder Kyle Tucker put the game away with a three-run homer. The Astros will go after the club’s second championship against either the Atlanta Braves or the Los Angeles Dodgers, with Game 1 of the World Series scheduled for Tuesday. “We feel like we deserve this, and we’re together in this,” second baseman Jose Altuve, whose Game 4 eighth-inning home run turned the series’ momentum, said. USA TODAY 

FDA scientists say Pfizer vaccine’s efficacy in children outweighs risks Food and Drug Administration scientists said Friday that the likely benefits of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds outweighed the risks, including rare cases of heart inflammation. If the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sign off on the kid-sized doses of the Pfizer vaccine, it will be the first COVID-19 vaccine available to people that young. Also on Friday, Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine was 90.7 percent effective against coronavirus in clinical trials of children from 5 to 11, who were given either two 10-microgram doses or a placebo. The doses were a third as large as those given to people 12 and up. Sixteen of the trial participants who received the placebo got COVID, compared to three who were vaccinated. REUTERS 

New whistleblower says Facebook put profit before safety A second Facebook whistleblower has submitted an affidavit to the Securities and Exchange Commission with more allegations that the social media giant prioritized growth and profits over fighting hate speech and misinformation, The Washington Post reported Friday after obtaining a copy of the document. The unidentified new whistleblower, who once worked on Facebook’s Integrity team, said Facebook communications official Tucker Bounds at one point shrugged off the controversy over Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. According to the whistleblower, Bounds said lawmakers would “get pissy” about misinformation spread on Facebook, then “move onto something else. Meanwhile we are printing money in the basement.” Bounds said it was hard to respond to an “empty accusation” from a “faceless person.” THE WASHINGTON POST 

Dow rises to its 1st record high since August The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at an all-time high on Friday after Wall Street’s third straight week of gains. The Dow rose by 74 points or 0.2 percent to 35,677.02, its first record since Aug. 16. The S&P 500, which set a record on Thursday, edged back by 0.1 percent on Friday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell by 0.8 percent. The Dow’s gains came as many investors shifted away from tech stocks and bought blue-chips like American Express, which rose by 5.4 percent after a strong earnings report. Intel and Snap fell after posting disappointing earnings, dragging down the Nasdaq. Despite some struggles among tech companies, earnings season has been strong so far. CNBC 

Robert Durst charged with murder of wife Kathie Durst New York police have charged millionaire real estate heir Robert Durst with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Kathie Durst, who disappeared in 1982, authorities confirmed Friday. A state police investigator filed the complaint on Oct. 19 in Lewisboro, New York, where the Dursts lived when Kathie Durst disappeared, Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah’s office said in a statement. Durst, 78, was sentenced to life in prison without parole last week for killing a friend, Susan Berman, who allegedly helped him cover up his ex-wife’s murder but was preparing to confess in 2000. The case was featured in the 2015 HBO documentary The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. NBC NEWS 

Friday,  October 22nd, 2021 

The leader of the Haitian gang who kidnapped 17 United States and Canadian missionaries has threatened to kill the hostages if the gang does not receive the $17 million ransom for their release. (CNN) 

The United States Department of Defense reports that forces have killed a senior al-Qaeda leader in Syria through an MQ-9 drone strike. (AFP via Arab News) 

Tesla reports biggest quarterly profit ever Tesla on Wednesday reported its biggest quarterly profit ever thanks to record electric vehicle sales over the summer despite a global shortage of computer chips. Tesla said its third-quarter net income reached $1.62 billion, smashing its previous record of $1.14 billion set the previous quarter. Tesla’s $331 million profit in this year’s third quarter was nearly five times its profit in the same period last year. Revenue reached $13.76 billion, which also marked a record although it fell short of the $14 billion analysts expected, according to FactSet. Tesla said it aimed to expand its factory capacity quickly and see sales grow by 50 percent annually over the next few years. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Chinese property developer Evergrande Group reports that it transferred US$83.5 million to pay off interests on its dollar bonds, allowing it to avert short-term default a day before its deadline. (Business Insider) 

Sixteen people are killed and another is injured by an explosion at a chemical plant in Ryazan Oblast, Russia. (Reuters) 

Mass Friday prayers resume in the capital Tehran after a 20-month suspension due to the pandemic. Worshippers must adhere to social distancing measures and use face masks during the gatherings, with most worshippers using their own prayer rugs and clay tablets. (Al-Arabiya English) 

The Chinese capital Beijing begins administering booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines to “at-risk” individuals over the age of 18, which includes those participating, organizing, or working in the 2022 Winter Olympics as well as people working in education, manufacturing, retail, and public facilities. (The Hill) 

Belarus ends its short-lived mask mandate that was introduced on October 9 despite a record number of COVID-19 cases as President Alexander Lukashenko dismissed the measures as “unnecessary”. (AP) 

Russia reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 1,064 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the nationwide death toll to 228,453. The country also reports a record for the second consecutive day of 37,141 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 8,168,305. (Saudi Press Agency) 

Ukraine closes schools and public venues in Kyiv and will only permit the schools to reopen if teachers are vaccinated in other “red zone” areas after the country reported a record for the second consecutive day of 29,785 new cases and 614 deaths from COVID-19. (AFP via Barron’s) 

The New Zealand Government sets a target of 90% of the population fully vaccinated, which is very high by international standards, in order to end lockdown measures and shift to a new traffic light system giving vaccinated Kiwis more freedoms. (1 News) 

Pfizer says that its vaccine is 90% effective in children between the ages of 5 and 11. (CBS News) 

Police and the army open fire on a group of health workers protesting outside a hospital in Eswatini, injuring 30 people. (BBC News) 

After appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and the Old Bailey, Ali Harbi Ali is charged with the murder of David Amess and remanded to Belmarsh prison. He is due to be tried on March 7, 2022. (BBC News) 

Luxembourg legalizes cannabis, becoming the first country in Europe to do so. (TheStreet) 

The Israeli Defense Ministry designates six humanitarian Palestinian groups, including human rights organization Al-Haq and non-profit organization Union of Agricultural Work Committees, as “terrorist organisations” for their alleged connections to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The Palestinian National Authority, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and several human rights groups harshly criticize the designations. (Al Jazeera) 

CDC approves Moderna, J&J boosters and mix-and-match vaccines The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has signed off on the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson coronavirus boosters, clearing the way for eligible, fully vaccinated Americans at risk of severe COVID-19 to get the shots beginning Friday. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky also went along with the recommendation of expert advisers and the Food and Drug Administration to let people mix-and-match vaccines, so eligible people will be able to choose a booster made by a different company than the one that made their initial vaccine. Walensky said in a statement Thursday night that the vaccines had been shown to be safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, “as demonstrated by the over 400 million vaccine doses already given.” THE WASHINGTON POST 

DeSantis calls special legislative session to block Biden vaccine mandates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday stepped up his fight against the White House over COVID-19 restrictions, calling for a special legislative session so the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature can block President Biden’s vaccine mandates. “We have an opportunity here to take additional action, and I think we have to do it,” said DeSantis, who also has vowed to challenge Biden’s mandates in court. “I think we have got to stand up for people’s jobs and their livelihoods.” Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls said his office had not received details on the plan for a special session. Biden in September said his administration would impose vaccine mandates on federal workers and businesses with more than 100 employees, prompting criticism from Republicans who said getting vaccinated should be a personal choice. POLITICO 

India celebrates its billionth coronavirus vaccine dose India administered its billionth COVID-19 vaccine dose on Thursday. The milestone marked a sign of hope in a country of nearly 1.4 billion people after a devastating coronavirus surge this year fueled by the fast-spreading Delta variant. Roughly half of India’s population now has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. About 20 percent are fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data. India has stepped up the pace of its vaccinations in the second half of the year after a slow vaccine rollout due to vaccine shortages and distribution problems. India is using two-dose vaccines, so accelerating the distribution of second doses is “an important priority,” said V.K. Paul, head of the country’s COVID-19 task force. “Complete coverage is absolutely critical,” Paul said. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Pfizer/BioNTech booster 95.6 percent effective in Stage 3 trial The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine booster dose was 95.6 percent effective against COVID-19 in a Phase 3 trial, the companies announced Thursday. The “efficacy was consistent irrespective of age, sex, race, ethnicity, or comorbid conditions,” Pfizer and BioNTech said. More than 10,000 fully vaccinated people ages 16 and up randomly got the 30-microgram booster dose or a placebo, with a median delay of 11 months after getting the second dose to complete the initial regimen. During the study, 109 people who received the placebo got COVID, compared to just five people who got the booster. “These results provide further evidence of the benefits of boosters as we aim to keep people well-protected against this disease,” Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a news release Thursday. CNN 

Ex-Minneapolis officer gets 57 months for killing 911 caller Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor was sentenced to 57 months in prison on Thursday for fatally shooting an unarmed Australian-American woman, Justine Ruszczyk Damond, after she called 911 to report a possible rape behind her home in 2017. Noor initially was sentenced to a 12 1/2-year sentence for his initial third-degree murder conviction, which was overturned last month. Judge Kathryn Quaintance said she imposed the maximum sentence for manslaughter because Noor showed a “generalized indifference to human life” when he fired “across the nose of your partner” after Damond appeared suddenly at the driver-side window. Noor was fired after he was charged. He has served more than 29 months, and with good behavior could be released next summer. NPR 

Remains found in Florida identified as Brian Laundrie’s Dental records showed that human remains found in a Florida nature reserve were those of Brian Laundrie, who disappeared last month after returning alone from a cross-country trip with his fiancée, Gabby Petito, the FBI’s Denver office confirmed on Thursday. Investigators on Wednesday said they found a backpack and notebook belonging to Laundrie near the remains. A week after Laundrie went missing, authorities in Wyoming found Petito’s body in a national forest. A coroner ruled her death a homicide by strangulation by hand. Laundrie’s parents were notified by local police and had no further comment, their lawyer said. A lawyer for Petito’s family said her parents are “grieving the loss of their beautiful daughter” and would make a statement “when they are emotionally ready.” CNN 

Cinematographer dies when Alec Baldwin’s prop gun misfires Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died Thursday after she was injured by a prop gun discharged by actor Alec Baldwin on the set of a Western movie, Rust, being filmed in New Mexico. The film’s director, Joel Souza, was injured. The 63-year-old Baldwin was seen in tears outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, where he was questioned about the accident. Juan Rios, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said the shooting occurred at Bonanza Creek Ranch while a scene was being rehearsed or filmed. “We’re trying to determine right now how and what type of projectile was used in the firearm,” he said. A spokesperson for Baldwin said the accident occurred when a prop gun with blanks misfired. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Thursday, October 21st, 2021 

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is killed during the production of the upcoming American film Rust in Bonanza City, New Mexico, while film director Joel Souza is in critical condition, after actor Alec Baldwin reportedly misfired a prop gun. (AFP via The Straits Times) 

The United States House of Representatives votes 229-202 to hold former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon in criminal contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the January 6 select committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The contempt is referred to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and United States Attorney General Merrick Garland to decide whether to prosecute Bannon. (AP) 

Health problems from climate change getting worse  Heat deaths, infectious diseases, hunger, and other health problems linked to climate change are getting worse as global temperatures rise, according to two annual reports published Wednesday. “Rising temperatures are having consequences,” said University of Washington environmental health professor Kristie Ebi, the co-author of a report commissioned by the medical journal Lancet. That report tracked 44 global health indicators and found that all of them are increasingly alarming, said Lancet Countdown project research director Marina Romanello, a biochemist. The reports — one global and one covering the United States — found that the amount of time that vulnerable populations experienced dangerous heat rose last year, with people over 65 facing a total of three billion more “person-day” exposures to extreme heat than they did on average from 1986 to 2005. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

President of Russia Vladimir Putin says that he will not attend the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, which is seen as a blow to efforts to get leaders to negotiate a new deal to stall climate change. (BBC News) 

Greenpeace partially leaks a draft report from the International Panel on Climate Change, revealing that a number of large oil, coal, beef and animal feed-producing countries including Australia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Argentina are lobbying the IPCC for looser restrictions on global heating. (AP) 

The University of Oxford links the Chinese government to a disinformation campaign promoting the unfounded claim that COVID-19 could have been imported to China from the United States through Maine lobsters shipped to a seafood market in Wuhan in November 2019. (NBC News) 

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin announces a non-working week from October 28 until November 7 in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Only firms that serve essential goods and the city infrastructure would be allowed to operate. (The Moscow Times) 

Latvia enters a month-long lockdown until November 15 that closes non-essential shops, cinemas and hairdressers, as well as implements a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. (Medical Xpress) 

Protesters criticize Netflix over Dave Chappelle’s special Protesters gathered at a Netflix office in California on Wednesday, two weeks after the streamer’s release of comedian Dave Chappelle’s controversial new standup special. Hundreds of employees and activists attended the rally outside Netflix’s headquarters in Los Angeles to criticize the streaming video service for releasing Chappelle’s latest special The Closer, in which Chappelle says he’s “team TERF,” meaning “trans-exclusionary radical feminist,” among other comments and jokes about the LGBTQ community. Netflix staffers also planned a virtual walkout over the company’s response to the backlash. The rally also drew Chappelle supporters, including one holding a sign that read “Netflix Don’t Cancel Free Speech.” VARIETYLOS ANGELES TIMES 

Saudi Arabia begins the rollout of booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines for people aged above 18 and have received their second dose at least six months ago. (Gulf News) 

The Biden administration announces that the United States has donated 200 million COVID-19 vaccines to countries around the world, fulfilling a pledge from President Joe Biden that the U.S. would be the “world’s arsenal” in vaccines. (The Hill) 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorses booster shots of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. (The New York Times) 

A working group to find a more permanent solution to the license plate issue, consisting of negotiators from the governments of Kosovo and Serbia, meet for the first time in Brussels. If negotiations are successful, the group will announce their proposals in 6 months. (Gazeta Tema) 

The French National Assembly votes 135 to 125 to approve the extension of the COVID-19 Health Pass until at least July 31, 2022. The bill will be debated at the French Senate on October 28 in preparation for adopting the bill on November 15. (The Connexion) 

Former Minneapolis Police Department Officer Mohamed Noor is resentenced to four years and nine months in prison for the manslaughter of unarmed 9-1-1 caller Justine Damond. Noor had originally been sentenced to 12.5 years for murder in 2017. (CNN) 

Twenty-four people have been executed in Syria for deliberately starting wildfires in late 2020 that killed three people. (BBC News) 

FDA OKs Moderna and J&J boosters, plus mix-and-match shots The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it was authorizing the emergency use of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine boosters. The decision will make most fully vaccinated adults eligible for another shot to increase their protection against infection and severe COVID-19 after a recommended waiting period. The FDA also said people could get a booster made by a different company than the one that made their initial vaccine. “The availability of these authorized boosters is important for continued protection against Covid-19 disease,” said acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock. The Pfizer-BioNTech booster was approved previously for certain groups, including the elderly and those facing elevated risk. The decisions promised to help the Biden administration pursue its push to make boosters widely available. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

White House unveils plan for vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 The White House on Wednesday announced its plan for distributing coronavirus vaccines to children aged 5 to 11. The Biden administration will kick off the effort to get shots to the 28 million children in the age group as soon as federal health officials give emergency-use authorization for administering the reduced dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The Biden administration expects that to come as soon as the first week of November. The government would distribute the specially packaged vaccine to more than 25,000 pediatricians’ and other doctors’ offices, pharmacies, hospitals, community health centers, and school and community clinics. Getting most of these children vaccinated “would play a major role in diminishing the spread of infection in the community,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert. THE WASHINGTON POST 

Trump announces financial backing for his own social media platform Former President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has lined up investment money to launch a publicly-traded social media company and a new app, “Truth Social.” Trump said the app would start an invite-only trial run in November and roll out nationwide in 2022. His investing partner is Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) incorporated in Miami in December 2020. Trump, who was banned by Facebook and Twitter after the Jan. 6 insurrection, and his investors said the venture’s purpose is “to create a rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the ‘Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley.” But Axios said the “bottom line” is that “there are not yet enough details to suggest that this deal has much legitimacy.” THE NEW YORK TIMESAXIOS 

Taliban lines up support to call for U.N. donor conference The Taliban on Wednesday got support from 10 regional powers for a proposal to hold a United Nations donor conference to get enough aid to help Afghanistan avoid economic collapse and a humanitarian disaster. Russia, China, Pakistan, India, Iran, and five formerly Soviet Central Asian states backed Afghanistan’s new rulers in their call for a U.N. conference on rebuilding the war-ravaged country, which still faces mounting attacks from a rival Islamic extremist group affiliated with the Islamic State. Representatives of the countries participating in the talks in Moscow said the conference should take place with the understanding that “the main burden … should be borne by the forces whose military contingents have been present in this country over the past 20 years,” a reference to the United States and its allies. CNN 

FBI, police find unidentified remains near Brian Laundrie’s backpack The FBI and local police found unidentified human remains near a backpack and other items belonging to fugitive Brian Laundrie in a North Port, Florida, nature reserve, FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael McPherson said Wednesday. The remains were found in an area that recently was underwater. The FBI Tampa’s Evidence Response Team is on the scene using “all available forensic resources” to process the site and identify the remains. The discovery came more than a month after Laundrie disappeared. He was last seen by his parents after he returned alone from a cross-country trip he took with his fiancée, van-life vlogger Gabby Petito. Her remains were later found at a campsite in a Wyoming national forest. CNN 

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta lifts the nationwide curfew that had been in place since March 2020 and allows places of worship to be filled to two-thirds of their capacity as the number of COVID-19 cases decreases. (Bloomberg) 

Russian President Vladimir Putin approves the cabinet proposal for non-working days for employees from October 31 until November 7 amid a persistent increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. (VOA) 

Researchers at NYU Langone Health in New York City announce that a team of surgeons last month, lead by Dr. Robert Montgomery, successfully attached a genetically-modified pig kidney to a brain dead patient for two days without rejection. (NPR) 

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