Ukraine and Russia to begin local ceasefire Tuesday, negotiator says
Ukraine's lead negotiator has told the Associated Press that a localized humanitarian ceasefire with Russia will begin on Tuesday and last several days. The pause starts two days before a humanitarian mission led by US first lady Melania Trump gets underway, creating a narrow window for aid deliveries. Officials say the arrangement has the backing of both Ukrainian and Russian commands along the designated stretch of front.
Diplomats describe the truce as narrowly drawn rather than a nationwide armistice, with attention focused on the southern region around Oleshky. That area has been devastated since the Kakhovka dam collapse flooded it in 2023, and civilians trapped there have gone months with little access to assistance. The first lady's central role marks an unconventional diplomatic channel, handing the White House a rare tangible result in its effort to de-escalate the grinding war.
If the ceasefire holds, negotiators hope the model can be replicated along other sections of the front, building momentum toward a broader settlement. A collapse would instead arm hardliners in both capitals and deepen skepticism about Washington's ability to mediate. Everything now rests on whether field commanders honor an agreement that, on paper at least, offers civilians their first respite in months.
Iran escalating efforts to target US personnel, intelligence chief warns
America's intelligence chief has warned that Iran is intensifying efforts to target US personnel across the Middle East. The assessment describes a stepped-up campaign against American soldiers, diplomats and facilities at a moment of acute regional volatility. In response, the State Department has begun adjusting staffing at diplomatic posts throughout the region.
The warning lands after months of sharpening confrontation between Washington and Tehran, including direct military exchanges over Iran's nuclear program and persistent attacks by Iranian-aligned militias on American bases. Iranian intelligence has long favored embassies and consulates as targets, and proxy networks from Iraq to Lebanon give Tehran a menu of deniable options. Officials are said to worry most about a plot slipping through amid the distractions of the American political season.
Expect the practical effects to include drawdowns of nonessential staff, tighter force protection at bases and fresh travel warnings across the region. Any successful attack would carry enormous consequences, risking a US reprisal and a wider conflict that could disrupt global oil supplies. Both governments appear to be calibrating for now, but the margin for miscalculation is thin.
Paris shuts museums as France deploys massive police force
Paris closed its major museums and sent police out in huge numbers this weekend as France braced for a fresh round of protests. The precautions are designed to prevent a repeat of last week's unrest, which included looting and attacks on public buildings. Across the country, authorities have mounted one of their largest security deployments in recent memory.
The interior minister has vowed firm action against anyone targeting businesses or public institutions, and shuttered cultural landmarks signal how seriously the government is taking the threat. Scenes of smashed storefronts and besieged offices have dominated French media all week, sharpening a national debate over protest and public order. Organizers counter that the overwhelming majority of demonstrators are peaceful and accuse the state of criminalizing dissent.
The disorder has drawn pointed commentary from abroad. President Trump's administration has seized on the chaos to criticize French immigration policy, and Pentagon staff initially tried to keep American troops out of an NFL pregame ceremony in Paris before the State Department intervened. For a capital that sells itself on culture and tourism, empty museums on a Sunday carry costs well beyond the immediate damage.
Trump election lawsuits rest on shaky ground, legal experts warn
The Justice Department's bid to block certification of Alaska's Senate race is unlikely to survive review by the courts, according to legal and election experts. They argue the move collides with long-settled rules treating certification as a ministerial duty governed by state law rather than a lever for federal intervention. The lawsuit ranks among the administration's most aggressive steps yet in a widening campaign of election litigation.
Days before the midterms, the filing fits a pattern that now includes demands for California counties to help identify noncitizens on voter rolls or face potential legal action. Critics read the cases as groundwork for contesting unfavorable results, while administration officials insist they are safeguarding election integrity. Several scholars noted that similar theories have failed repeatedly when tested before judges.
The stakes extend well beyond individual races, with control of Congress hanging on November's vote. Litigation that delays certification could echo the disputes that followed the 2020 election, a prospect alarming state officials in both parties. For now the judiciary remains the firewall, and experts see it holding.
Ex-FBI officials charged with lying to Congress on Biden laptop
Federal prosecutors have charged former FBI officials with lying to Congress during its inquiry into Hunter Biden's laptop. The device, abandoned at a Delaware repair shop, became a fixation of American politics, fueling years of partisan warfare over its contents and the bureau's handling of them. The charges mark the most serious escalation yet in the long-running dispute.
Republicans spent years alleging that the FBI buried the laptop story to shield the Biden family, while Democrats questioned the material's provenance. Sworn testimony about the investigation became a battleground in its own right, and prosecutors now allege some of those statements were false. Charging former officials over congressional testimony is rare, a fact guaranteed to sharpen scrutiny of the Justice Department's motives.
The case ensures the laptop saga will shadow national politics for years, whatever the verdicts. Defenders of the accused see a politicized prosecution meant to settle scores; supporters call it accountability that was long overdue. Either way, the precedent of indicting former bureau officials over sworn testimony will hang over every future administration's dealings with Congress.
Besieged Taiz hospital warns it will collapse within days
A hospital in the besieged Yemeni city of Taiz has warned it will collapse within days unless fuel, medicines and oxygen are allowed through. Dialysis patients are already enduring shortened sessions as machines sit idle for lack of power, according to staff. Doctors describe making triage decisions no medical professional should face.
Taiz has lived under one of the war's longest encirclements, with Houthi forces controlling the roads in and out for years. The blockade has choked humanitarian supply lines, leaving medical workers to ration whatever stocks remain. Convoys that once reached the city now face checkpoints and refusal, leaving the facility dependent on dwindling reserves.
Yemen's health system has been on its knees for years, and the loss of a major facility would consign the city's sickest residents to dying at home. The United Nations has repeatedly warned that the country's fragile humanitarian gains are unraveling as donor funding dries up. Pressure on the Houthis to ease access is growing, but with the wider war grinding on and Red Sea shipping still under threat, relief looks distant.
Judge drops fraud investigation into Milei over crypto scandal
An Argentine judge has dismissed the fraud investigation into President Javier Milei's role in a cryptocurrency launch, ruling that his conduct did not amount to a fraudulent scheme. The decision removes, at least for now, a legal cloud that once threatened to derail his presidency. Prosecutors retain the option to appeal, and opposition figures immediately signaled the fight is not over.
The controversy erupted in early 2025, when Milei promoted the $LIBRA token, which soared on his endorsement before crashing and wiping out retail investors' savings. Opposition politicians demanded impeachment proceedings, while the president insisted he had been a victim of scammers and railed against a corrupt judiciary. Throughout the legal battle, Milei framed the case as political persecution, a message that resonated with his base.
Freed of the probe, the libertarian economist can press ahead with his austerity and deregulation agenda without the distraction of criminal exposure. The episode nonetheless leaves unresolved questions about how celebrity-endorsed crypto projects should be policed, in Argentina and far beyond. Investors may welcome the clarity, but the scandal has already entered the opposition's playbook for the next campaign.
| Ticker | Name | Price | Day | Week | Month | Year | 3Yr | 5Yr | 10Yr |
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| ^GSPTSE | S&P/TSX Composite | 35788.20 CAD | ▼0.52% | ▼1.07% | ▲0.10% | ▲19.36% | ▲87.22% | ▲70.54% | ▲145.69% |
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| CM | CIBC | 159.59 CAD | ▼0.88% | ▲0.45% | ▲2.21% | ▲45.01% | ▲271.08% | ▲172.68% | ▲418.74% |
| NA | National Bank | 204.96 CAD | ▼1.13% | ▲0.37% | ▼1.70% | ▲38.32% | ▲166.02% | ▲139.66% | ▲558.68% |
| TD | TD Bank | 174.47 CAD | ▼0.38% | ▲2.47% | ▲4.27% | ▲58.90% | ▲151.41% | ▲146.71% | ▲350.57% |
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| XEQT | World | 44.84 CAD | ▼0.47% | ▼1.36% | ▼1.83% | ▲16.15% | ▲88.27% | ▲85.24% | –0.00% |
| SPY | S&P 500 ETF | 759.97 USD | ▼0.52% | ▼0.43% | ▼0.94% | ▲15.03% | ▲84.80% | ▲81.70% | ▲317.56% |
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8 AM: 7°C, clear sky, wind 0 km/h 11 AM: 12°C, clear sky, wind 1 km/h 2 PM: 17°C, overcast clouds, wind 2 km/h 5 PM: 16°C, overcast clouds, wind 2 km/h 8 PM: 13°C, overcast clouds, wind 2 km/h 11 PM: 9°C, overcast clouds, wind 2 km/h 2 AM: 8°C, broken clouds, wind 2 km/h 5 AM: 8°C, broken clouds, wind 2 km/h
Next game: TOR @ Minnesota Timberwolves — Sunday Oct 25, 7:00 PM ET — at Target Center — TV/stream: NBA TV, DAZN MIN
| # | Team | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 76ers | 3 | 0 | - |
| 2 | Pistons | 2 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 3 | Raptors | 2 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 4 | Hawks | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Hornets | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Wizards | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Celtics | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| 8 | Pacers | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| 9 | Cavaliers | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| 10 | Bulls | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Knicks | 0 | 2 | 2.5 |
| 12 | Nets | 0 | 2 | 2.5 |
| 13 | Magic | 0 | 2 | 2.5 |
| 14 | Bucks | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 15 | Heat | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| # | Team | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockets | 3 | 0 | - |
| 2 | Timberwolves | 2 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 3 | Trail Blazers | 2 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 4 | Lakers | 2 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 5 | Thunder | 2 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 6 | Grizzlies | 2 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 7 | Clippers | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| 8 | Nuggets | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| 9 | Jazz | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| 10 | Suns | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| 11 | Spurs | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Mavericks | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | Kings | 0 | 2 | 2.5 |
| 14 | Pelicans | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 15 | Warriors | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Every confident ethical judgment carries a quiet metaphysical bet. To say a lie was wrong — not inconvenient, not unfashionable, but wrong — is to suggest there is a fact of the matter, one that holds regardless of who is asked. Moral realism is the name for that bet. It combines two claims: that moral statements express beliefs capable of being true or false (what philosophers call cognitivism), and that some of them actually are true — true independently of any individual's tastes, any society's customs, or any century's consensus.
The position has serious rivals, and the oldest objection comes from disagreement. Cultures and eras have clashed over polygamy, punishment, caste, and the treatment of strangers, and skeptics argue this chaos reveals something about moral language itself. Non-cognitivists contend that ethical claims merely look like facts; in truth, saying "stealing is wrong" is closer to booing theft — expressing attitudes and steering behavior rather than reporting on the world. Error theorists go a step further. J.L. Mackie, their most famous champion, granted that moral judgments purport to state facts but insisted that no such facts exist, rather like claims about phlogiston, which had the form of chemistry and turned out to be about nothing.
Realists answer that disagreement is everywhere — history, economics, cosmology — yet nobody concludes there are no facts about the French Revolution or the Big Bang. Persistent dispute may reveal human bias and ignorance rather than absent truth. The realist tradition runs deep. Plato located moral facts in eternal Forms, a single Good standing beyond opinion and appetite. Aristotle grounded value in human nature, in the conditions of a flourishing life — an ancestor of today's naturalist realism. In the twentieth century, G.E. Moore argued that goodness is a simple, indefinable property that cannot be reduced to pleasure or evolutionary advantage, a line Derek Parfit pressed into contemporary debate with mounting rigor.
Plenty rides on the outcome. Realism underwrites the very idea of moral progress: the abolition of slavery was not merely a shift in taste but the correction of an error, a movement toward truth. It secures the further thought that a perpetrator's sincere approval does not exonerate him. Yet a genuine tension remains, one that has resisted generations of argument. If moral facts exist independently of us, no instrument can detect them — they leave no marks on any measuring device, and the smartest, best-informed people continue to disagree about basic cases. How, then, do we come to know them? Consider, too, that if slavery was wrong during the thousands of years in which nearly everyone accepted it, something made it true then — while every believer on earth was mistaken. Realists have answers to these puzzles, drawing on intuition, reflection, and the shape of practical reason. Whether any of those answers are good enough is, honestly, still an open question — one each of us answers implicitly every time we call anything wrong.
Want to go deeper? Read the full Stanford Encyclopedia entry on Moral Realism →
| Habit | Target | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Done |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Pushup routine | 7 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 0/7 |
| 2. Workout | 2 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 0/2 |
| 3. Cardio 30 mins | 2 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 0/2 |
| 4. Meditate | 7 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 0/7 |
| 5. No sugars | 5 | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | 0/5 |