Midday Roundup: New Yorkers urged not to panic over ISIS threat video

Stoking fear. New York City police urged residents not to panic today after the Islamic State released a video showing images of Times Square. Officials acknowledge the video confirms fears the militants have not given up on terrorizing New York, but insist they have no information indicating an attack is imminent. “Stoking fear is the goal of terrorist organizations, but New York City will not be intimidated,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a news conference Wednesday night. “New Yorkers won’t live in fear, and people should continue to go to work, live their lives, and enjoy the greatest city in the world.” Police officials insisted the department was prepared for a possible attack and could protect Manhattan residents. The next few weeks are among the biggest for the city, with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting. The holidays draw millions of visitors every year.

Rude awakening. A 4.7-magnitude earthquake jolted Oklahoma and Kansas residents awake early this morning. The temblor epicenter was 8 miles southwest of Cherokee, Okla., at a depth of 3.8 miles. State officials say the have no immediate reports of major damage. This is the second small quake to hit the area in the last few months. Experts blame the shaking on the methods oil and gas companies use to dispose of saltwater used during the extraction process. Rather than clean the contaminated water, the companies inject it into wells deep in the ground, creating underground pressure that rises to the surface as small and medium-sized earthquakes. On Sept. 18, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered companies to stop or reduce the saltwater disposal near Cushing, a U.S. crude-oil hub.

Big guns. Russian warplanes continue to pound ISIS targets in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the terror group’s self-proclaimed capital. On Wednesday, Russia carried out the largest heavy bomber mission seen in decades, using more than two dozen of the huge aircraft deployed from southern Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to punish ISIS for bringing down one of his country’s airliners last month over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Putin told his top military commanders in Moscow late Tuesday they were now in a military alliance with France to defeat ISIS. In Wednesday’s bombing runs, Russia said its planes destroyed eight ISIS command centers, eight armories, four munitions plants, and six fuel storage tanks, while cruise missiles destroyed another 14 ISIS targets in Syria.

Just a mistake? More troubles have arisen for the scandal-plagued Clinton Family Foundation. The watchdog group Judicial Watch says the foundation’s amended tax returns for the years Hillary Clinton was secretary of state reveal tens of millions of dollars misreported. The questionable transactions involve foreign government donations and income from speaking fees reported as donations. But the Clinton Foundation says the misreporting comes down to “inadvertent mistakes.” Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch claims money was also funneled through shell organizations, casting further doubt the mistakes were innocent. Fitton also suggested the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server may show communications with foreign donors—a violation of federal law.

Cuban exodus. More than 1,000 Cuban migrants seeking asylum in the United States blocked traffic at a border crossing between Costa Rica and Nicaragua earlier this week to protest their detention. Nicaraguan authorities busted human traffickers bringing Cubans north, temporarily halting the flow of migrants. Cubans are fleeing the Castro communist dictatorship in their country despite newly normalized relations with the United States. Cuban asylum-seekers who arrive by land—not by sea—are put on a fast track to legal residency. Fears the Obama administration might change that policy are fueling the mass exodus. About 30,000 Cubans have entered Texas in the past year seeking asylum—a 70 percent increase over the year before.

WORLD Radio’s Jim Henry and the Associated Press contributed to this report.