🚨 HAPPENING RIGHT NOW 🚨
France’s governing crisis deepened Monday as Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron, admitting authorities drastically underestimated Saturday’s protest turnout — an intelligence estimate had put it near 200,000, but the Interior Ministry’s own count hit roughly 550,000 marchers nationwide. Macron refused the resignation and ordered a review of the planning and intelligence failures instead. Nuñez admitted “we lost control” in several major cities, while Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin conceded authorities “unquestionably failed” to track the ultra-left groups exploiting the unrest. Nearly 1,000 officers and firefighters have been hurt, and over 2,400 arrested, since Saturday.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20th, 2026
Before we get to today's news, here's what happened on this date in history. Sydney’s harbor skyline gained its most famous landmark on October 20, 1973, when Queen Elizabeth II formally dedicated the Sydney Opera House after nearly 15 years of construction and roughly $80 million in costs, funded largely by a dedicated lottery. Danish architect Jørn Utzon’s design, with its distinctive geometric roof shells perched on Bennelong Point, had sparked controversy and delays for over a decade before completion. The Australian Opera opened the hall with a production of Sergei Prokofiev’s “War and Peace” in the 1,547-seat Opera Theatre. More than five decades later, the building hosts roughly 3,000 events a year for an estimated two million visitors and remains Sydney’s best-known landmark.
A single Saturday night in October 1973 reshaped the Watergate scandal and nearly toppled the Nixon administration’s chain of command, when President Nixon ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox after Cox refused to drop his subpoena for secret Oval Office tape recordings. Attorney General Elliot Richardson resigned rather than carry out the order, and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus was fired after he, too, refused — leaving Solicitor General Robert Bork to finally dismiss Cox. The chaotic purge, instantly dubbed the “Saturday Night Massacre,” triggered a public backlash that accelerated impeachment talk in Congress and ultimately hastened Nixon’s resignation ten months later.
🗳️ Minnesota Senate Nominee Flanagan Blasted for Dodging Blame on Fraud Scandal That Forced Walz Out
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the Democrats’ Senate nominee, is facing fresh Republican attacks after pointing to Gov. Tim Walz when pressed on her own responsibility for the state’s massive COVID-era fraud scandal — the same scandal that drove Walz to abandon his bid for a third term.
The RNC accused Flanagan of blaming Walz and “dodging accountability,” while GOP opponent Michele Tafoya said she “refuses to take any responsibility” for billions in misused tax dollars.
Federal investigators say the fraud, tied to fake meal, daycare, and Medicaid programs, could ultimately total more than $9 billion; Flanagan’s campaign says 100 people have been charged and 60 convicted so far.
Republicans see the scandal, paired with an open seat after Sen. Tina Smith’s retirement, as their best shot at a Minnesota Senate win in more than two decades.
🎤 Sen. Slotkin Calls Backlash to Her Prosecution Comments ‘Manufactured Outrage’
Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin is defending remarks in which she suggested Republicans should pursue prosecutions of Trump officials to discourage young people from taking jobs in the administration, dismissing the furor over her comments as “manufactured outrage.”
Slotkin’s original comments argued that the threat of legal consequences would deter ambitious young conservatives from joining the Trump White House or federal agencies.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee publicly sparred with Slotkin over the remarks, accusing her of trying to intimidate students away from public service.
Critics noted the comments come as Slotkin already faces scrutiny over a prior video in which she suggested service members could refuse “illegal” orders.
⚰️ Kenyan ‘Doomsday’ Cult Leader Convicted of Murdering 190 Children in Mass Starvation Scheme
A Mombasa court found self-styled pastor Paul Mackenzie and 28 co-defendants guilty Monday of murdering 190 children and one adult, capping a years-long case over a mass-starvation scheme that left more than 400 of his followers dead at a remote compound near Malindi.
Judge Diana Mochache took an eight-hour session to deliver the verdict, ruling that prosecutors proved their case against all 29 accused; sentencing is set for Nov. 6.
Prosecutors said Mackenzie “initiated and directed” starvation orders at his 800-acre compound, telling followers they would “meet Jesus,” with children ordered to die first, then teenagers, women, and men.
More than 400 bodies have been exhumed since the compound was discovered in March 2023, many too decomposed to identify; one father who lost six children called himself “a happy man” after the verdict.
🇺🇸 Trump Stumps for Whatley in North Carolina as Early Voting Opens, 14 Days Before Midterms
President Trump heads to Greenville, North Carolina, on Tuesday to campaign for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, the former RNC chairman facing ex-Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in a race that could decide control of the Senate, as early voting opens in several more states with just 14 days left before Election Day.
Republicans are leaning on immigration, affordability, and disaster-recovery themes in the race, while Democrats are casting it as a referendum on Trump’s second term.
In-person early voting opened Tuesday in Hawaii, Louisiana, Utah, and Wisconsin, a day after starting in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, South Carolina, Texas, and parts of Florida.
Trump has also pledged $5,000 payments to Americans if Republicans hold Congress, a proposal that would need congressional approval and has drawn skepticism even from some supporters.
🩺 Trump Signs Order Creating White House Women’s Health Task Force, Melania Unveils ‘Five Pillars’
President Trump signed an executive order Monday creating a White House Women’s Health Task Force and a new Women’s Health Division at the National Institutes of Health, flanked by First Lady Melania Trump, who called it “a transformative moment for women in America.”
The task force will be co-chaired by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, a breast cancer survivor, and is expected to hold its first meeting this week.
A White House fact sheet calls for more research into heart disease, Alzheimer’s, mental health, and lesser-known conditions like endometriosis and infertility.
Melania Trump outlined “five pillars” for the effort, including directing research funding toward female-specific conditions, using AI to study female biology, and speeding safe therapies to patients.