Michigan and Kansas held some of the final major Senate debates of the 2026 midterm elections on Wednesday night. And they were a study in contrasts. Takeaways from the two crucial debates: cnn.it/4BrQbkv

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after the company was found to have misled users about its privacy practices in a case related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. cnn.it/4jvalU9

Subtropical Storm Josephine just formed off the coast of the Mid-Atlantic, but will largely be nothing more than a nuisance for coastal areas as it moves north. cnn.com/2026/10/21/weather/s…

The State Department publicly warns Americans about violence in parts of Latin America. Privately, it tells officers reviewing asylum claims a different story, according to internal documents reviewed by CNN. cnn.it/487Hb6n

Pope Leo XIV’s lung cancer surgery last week was a success and no further treatment is required, the Vatican press office said in a bulletin. cnn.it/4jzPpvk

Scandals about suspected AI use have spread up and down the writing industry this year. cnn.it/4yWsX45

Supreme Court blocks President Trump from suspending hormone therapy and other treatments for transgender inmates in federal prisons. cnn.it/4yWvX0o

France's President Emmanuel Macron has slammed what he called "stupid comments" from some foreign leaders over the protests sweeping the country, after his US counterpart Donald Trump claimed migrants were fueling the unrest. cnn.it/4yFrb6B

The Stanford Prison Experiment lasted less than a week in 1971, but its claims about human nature endured for decades. Now, a new Netflix series is bringing one of psychology's most controversial studies, and some of the biggest concerns surrounding it, back into the spotlight. cnn.it/3UITLGd

There were many times that CNN's Lisa Eadicicco didn't want to put the new iPhone Duo down. But for her, there was just one issue. cnn.it/4seQWsG

A chemical tank exploded in Toledo, Ohio, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes or shelter in place due to fears of a toxic release, and the mayor warned Wednesday that it may still be explosive. cnn.it/3TTWT1M

For Democrat Scott Colom, his quest to win a US Senate seat in Mississippi is a long shot but not a lost cause. The 43-year-old local district attorney is hoping to topple Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in a deep-red state that hasn't sent a Democrat to the chamber in nearly four decades or elected a Black candidate in a statewide race since the Reconstruction era. President Donald Trump won the state two years ago by 23 points. cnn.it/3VZIkdB

North Korea has told its border troops to take "prompt ​and resolute action" if South Korean forces threaten their safety, state media ​said on Wednesday, raising the risk of a clash along the ⁠heavily armed frontier. The report came a day after Seoul pledged to punish "resolutely" any ​further provocation by Pyongyang if North Korea acted on threats to strengthen its military ​posture along the border. cnn.it/4hZXGHx

An ongoing measles outbreak in Pennsylvania has quickly become the largest and deadliest in the United States in more than 30 years. cnn.it/4BqhPyj

The Orionid meteor shower creates one of the most brilliant displays in the night sky each fall — but this year’s celestial event may have a dimmer showing due to a bright moon. cnn.it/4Bhz4BN

Reshaping the West Bank: How Israel's government under Netanyahu has overseen a dramatic expansion of settlements alongside soaring settler violence cnn.it/3VMSv5g

The Democratic Party, riding a tide of anti-Donald Trump sentiment, enters the final stretch of the midterm campaign with a 10-point advantage over Republicans nationwide in voters' choice in their own congressional district, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. cnn.it/4BAR7mL

Russia frees a 74-year-old American it claimed was a mercenary in Ukraine after visit from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, state media says cnn.it/4dKIOdK

US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at advancing a potential ceasefire and end to the war in Ukraine. cnn.it/4zLmEAt

A newly released UN climate report finds the globe will unavoidably slip past the Paris Climate Agreement's 1.5-degree Celsius warming target in the next few years. The task now, the report states, is to make the period of warming "overshoot" as limited as possible, eventually bringing global average temperatures back down. cnn.it/4z63Z2o