Thursday morning news: October 22, 2026

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U.S. teacher released from Russia » A retired American English teacher is free today … after four years behind bars in Russia.

74-year-old Stephen Hubbard says Russian forces took him from his home in Ukraine in 2022 … eight years after he’d moved there … and accused him of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine.

President Trump told reporters at the White House …

TRUMP:  I set the, uh, the stage earlier, but the other day I was talking to Vladimir Putin about settling his war with Ukraine, which I think we're getting closer to, by the way. But, uh, I mentioned, "Could you let Steven Hubbard out, please?"

He said Putin agreed … and that the US did not give up anything in return.

He also suggested a link between Hubbard’s freedom … and Trump’s decision to delay new sanctions against Russia.

TRUMP:  I was in the midst of getting Steven out of Russia, and if we did what these foolish people wanted me to do, uh, he wouldn't be coming out right now. He'd be in there for another 20 years.

But he also again pointed to ongoing peace talks with Russia.

TRUMP: The last thing I want to do is upset an apple cart where we’re getting close to setting a war.

And he said he appreciated the fact that Moscow had largely refrained from interfering in the U.S. conflict with Iran.

Zelenskyy remarks » U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff greeted Stephen Hubbard in St. Petersburg Wednesday … but he also spoke with Vladimir Putin … in a meeting he characterized as productive.

And one day earlier in Norway Witkoff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy … who described that meeting the same way.

ZELENSKYY:  Our talks with Steve yesterday was very productive meeting. We shared our ideas, steps forward to the peace.

Zelenskyy said he wants to freeze territorial lines right where they are for the moment, cease fire, and begin serious trilateral talks with the White House and the Kremlin

ZELENSKYY:  I think this is the best way President Trump, with his leadership, and me and Russian leader trilaterally, better with Europeans, but minimum trilaterally.

A Kremlin official said Wednesday that Vladimir Putin, after meeting with Witkoff … has agreed for Russia to resume three-way negotiations next month with Washington and Kyiv.

But diplomats will steer those talks. This is not the sit-down Zelenskyy is calling for with Trump and Putin.

Rep. Omar emerges » Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is speaking out in a new campaign video ... asking supporters for donations after federal agents raided her Washington home.

The Democrat posted the message Tuesday night, speaking from the back seat of a vehicle.

She thanked donors and suggested that the criminal investigation is all political ahead of the midterm elections. She also promised to return to the campaign trail … after laying lower for more than a week.

OMAR: We're not gonna be intimidated, we're not gonna be silenced, we're not gonna be scared. I'll be out there campaigning alongside all of you and making sure that we beat back all of this and that we win in the midterms.

Investigators are examining, among other things, whether Omar or her father supplied false information on immigration paperwork that helped her become a citizen.

Agents searched her home last week and seized her phone. Omar has not been charged with a crime. Her lawyers call the investigation baseless.

Her video did not directly address the allegations. She asked supporters to donate, saying she faces an expensive fight.

Macron slams Trump for blaming immigration for riots » French President Emmanuel Macron is criticizing remarks by President Trump and others … about riots and looting in France. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Macron on Wednesday called comments by foreign leaders “unacceptable” and “stupid.” He singled out leaders campaigning for elections “on the other side of the Atlantic.”

Asked whether he meant Trump, Macron replied, “Among others.”

President Trump had pointed to French immigration policy for the unrest. He said “They let people into their country that don't love their country, they don't love their buildings, they don't love their art.”

France’s justice minister says both foreigners and French citizens were among those arrested. French authorities have not released figures establishing how many rioters were Muslim immigrants.

The protests began over school conditions and spread to anger over living costs.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Africa CDC calls an Ebola crisis summit » Africa’s Ebola outbreak has reached Nigeria … prompting African health officials to call an emergency meeting for next week.

Health ministers will meet online next Wednesday to coordinate their response.

Nigeria’s patient recently traveled from Uganda, but investigators are still determining where she contracted the virus. Health workers are checking dozens of people who had contact with her for symptoms.

The outbreak has infected nearly 10,000 people in Congo and killed nearly half of them. Kenya has reported nine cases.

I’m Kent Covington. 

Still ahead … Why are many young Americans drawn to socialism? And later … Daniel Darling will be along with his thoughts on when and how to engage with politics.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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