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October 15: England’s Drought and OpenAI’s Dispute With Apple
In U.S. news
Police in a Chicago suburb say they thwarted a potential mass shooting at a Hindu temple. A teenager is accused of plotting the attack.
Voters in Idaho and Missouri will decide abortion measures on November 3. Idaho’s initiative would restore access. Missouri’s would reinstate a near-total ban overturned by voters in 2024 and prohibit gender-affirming care for minors. Campaign organizers targeting young voters say housing costs and other economic concerns are competing for their attention.
Drought in England
Severe drought has been declared in parts of six English counties following scarce rainfall and five heatwaves between May and September. Wimbleball Reservoir in Exmoor is just 14.9 percent full. Authorities are increasing monitoring and checks on businesses taking water from natural sources. The government says household water supplies will not be interrupted.
In the Middle East
A Palestinian mother was killed and her young daughter rescued after an Israeli airstrike set their Gaza City home on fire. The Council on American-Islamic Relations urged Congress to condemn the attack.
Syrian state media report that authorities arrested Ali Kayali, also known as Mihrac Ural, the main suspect in the 2013 Baniyas mass killings, while he was trying to cross the border.
In tech and security
OpenAI alleges in a Wednesday court filing that a former employee transferred more than 100 confidential hardware files to personal accounts before returning to Apple, and presented product plans to Apple executives. Apple says it found no evidence supporting those claims. OpenAI has sought time to investigate possible counterclaims in Apple’s trade-secrets lawsuit, but has filed none and has not established that Apple received or used the material.
Britain’s Legal Aid Agency says its April 2025 cyberattack also exposed around 250,000 records from before 2007, including one dating to 1978. That expands the previously reported scope. Compromised information could include financial details and criminal case records. The figure counts records, not confirmed affected individuals. The Ministry of Justice says probation records were also accessed, but none concern crime victims.
At the Vatican
Pope Leo underwent surgery this week after a lung cancer diagnosis. The Vatican says he slept well as his recovery continues.
China and North Korea
have opened their largest land crossing, a three-kilometer bridge over the Yalu River. Proposed more than 12 years ago, the project was delayed as relations cooled. Its opening comes amid closer ties.
Fuel prices in Kenya
Kenya has raised fuel prices to contain surging government spending linked to the Middle East war. State-mandated petrol prices are now 20 percent above prewar levels, and diesel is up 31 percent. The increases pushed September inflation to its highest rate in almost three years.
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