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TDFP News Roundup – 10/21/26

Writer: Yossi Schmidt
Yossi Schmidt
2 minutes ago
8 min read

Today’s 20 stories from The Digital Free Press, led by Russia’s release of American Stephen Hubbard during U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit, President Trump’s announcement on Camp Lejeune toxic water payouts, Volodymyr Zelensky telling Fox News he would accept a front-line freeze, and an Energy Department plan to loan nearly a third of the Northeast heating oil reserve.



Part 1: Top 10 Stories


1. Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard during Witkoff’s visit; Trump says “no ‘swap’” was needed

Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired Michigan teacher jailed since 2022 on charges of fighting for Ukraine, on Wednesday during U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to St. Petersburg, The Digital Free Press reported. President Trump said on Truth Social that he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for the release in a phone call last week and that “there was no ‘swap’ necessary.” The Kremlin said Putin freed Hubbard out of “humanitarian considerations,” the Associated Press reported.


2. Trump: $1 billion paid to Camp Lejeune toxic water victims, orders DOJ to settle remaining claims

President Trump told a North Carolina rally Tuesday night that his administration has “delivered $1 billion in cash settlements” to veterans and families exposed to toxic drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, and that he is “ordering the DOJ to settle all remaining legitimate claims as soon as possible,” Fox News reported. Justice Department figures cited by Fox put payments at more than $919.7 million to about 3,300 claimants since January 2025, compared with 459 settlements totaling $59.6 million before that. Payments under the 2022 Camp Lejeune Justice Act range from $100,000 to $550,000, depending on the illness.

Source: Fox News


3. Zelensky tells Fox News he would accept a “freeze” along the current front lines

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” Wednesday that he would accept a deal freezing the war along the current front lines, calling it “the real way to end this war,” The Digital Free Press reported. “Freeze and stop,” Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine would then seek security guarantees from the United States and Europe. The interview came as Witkoff met Putin in St. Petersburg.


4. Energy Department offers to loan nearly a third of the Northeast heating oil reserve to tame prices

The Trump administration is offering to loan up to 315,000 barrels, nearly a third of the 1-million-barrel Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, the Department of Energy said Wednesday, Reuters reported. The barrels would come from storage in Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut, with deliveries set to be completed by Nov. 13, according to Reuters. Heating oil prices have surged on diesel shortages tied to the wars in Iran and Ukraine, Reuters said.

Source: Reuters


5. Trump administration orders civilian agencies to remove China’s DeepSeek AI

The Department of Homeland Security disclosed Monday that federal civilian agencies have been ordered to remove technology tied to the Chinese AI company DeepSeek, including third-party products built on its models, and are barred from buying DeepSeek products, Breitbart News reported, citing CNBC. DHS said DeepSeek’s models and associated technology “present multiple threat vectors,” with the main concern that sensitive U.S. government data could end up in China. The order, issued July 24 and made public this week, covers departments such as Treasury, State and Justice but not the Defense Department.


6. DHS launches a nationwide ICE operation over alleged SNAP fraud by illegal immigrants

The Department of Homeland Security has launched a nationwide Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation targeting illegal immigrants accused of fraudulently obtaining SNAP food benefits, announcing a first round of arrests it called “the opening salvo,” The Digital Free Press reported. “These programs are for Americans only,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.


7. New York Times/Siena poll puts Trump’s approval at 36%, the lowest in its polling

Just 36% of likely voters approve of President Trump’s job performance and 59% disapprove, according to a New York Times/Siena poll released Wednesday, the lowest approval rating for Trump in the outlet’s polling, the Washington Examiner reported. Democrats hold an 11-point edge in congressional preference, and 73% of voters disapprove of the president’s handling of gas prices, according to the poll. Trump is scheduled to campaign in South Carolina on Wednesday and Iowa on Thursday, the Examiner said.


8. Rubio accuses Iran of “Nazi U-boat tactics” against commercial shipping

Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Iran of using “Nazi U-boat tactics” against commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Breitbart News reported, citing his interview with India’s News18. “It’s tough to make a deal with the Iranian regime,” Rubio said, adding that Iran’s leaders are “radical Shia clerics who are driven by theology.” He said traffic through the strait is “80 to 100 percent equal to what it was before the conflict.”


9. Florida executes 77-year-old man for the 1986 murder of a sheriff’s deputy

Florida executed William Reaves, 77, on Tuesday for the September 1986 shooting death of Indian River County sheriff’s deputy Richard Raczkoski, the state’s 18th execution this year, Fox News reported. Reaves was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke after a three-drug injection. Raczkoski’s brother said his brother finally received justice, while Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said he saw the execution as closure, not justice.

Source: Fox News


10. Saudi Arabia postpones its “Davos in the Desert” investment conference to 2027 after Houthi attacks

Organizers of the Future Investment Initiative, Saudi Arabia’s annual investment conference, postponed this year’s Oct. 26–29 event to an unspecified date in 2027, Breitbart News reported. The statement gave no reason, but the move was widely seen as a response to attacks on Saudi cities and airports by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Breitbart said. Organizers said all current registrations and partnerships “remain completely valid.”


Part 2: 10 More Stories, Only on TDFP


11. DOJ lets stand a ruling that critics say lets employers exclude Americans in H-1B job ads

The Justice Department let stand an administrative law judge’s ruling that “discriminatory advertising does not represent a discrete cause of action” under immigration law, a decision critics say lets companies post job ads aimed at H-1B workers that exclude Americans, Breitbart News reported. Attorney General Todd Blanche did not move to review the ruling despite an Oct. 9 letter from 13 House lawmakers urging him to, according to Breitbart. The department said it “thoroughly reviewed” the decision and found it “consistent with OCAHO precedent,” Breitbart reported.


12. Guatemalan man gets 30 years for his role in the 2022 Texas smuggling tragedy that killed 53

A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Rigoberto Ramon Miranda Orozco, 50, a Guatemalan man extradited to the U.S., to 30 years in prison for his role in the 2022 smuggling attempt in which 53 migrants died in a sweltering tractor-trailer in San Antonio, the Associated Press reported. He admitted arranging travel and accommodations for two people who died and another who was seriously injured. Nearly 20 people in the U.S. and Guatemala have been convicted in the case, the AP said.


13. State Department warns France could see more unrest at this weekend’s National Rally convention

An internal State Department document obtained by Fox News Digital warns that antifascist groups are planning a “potentially more confrontational protest” near the National Rally’s Oct. 24–25 convention in Orléans, days after riots overwhelmed French police, Fox News reported. The document cautions that new demonstrations could “expose further security shortcomings and deepen political tensions,” according to Fox.

Source: Fox News


14. Pakistan arrests man accused of a $126 million counterfeit USPS postage scheme

Pakistani authorities on Tuesday arrested Faheem Akram, 33, who was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida on allegations that he ran an online counterfeit postage operation that caused more than $126 million in losses to the U.S. Postal Service, the New York Post reported. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged that his website, LabelsBank.com, sold more than 5.1 million counterfeit postage labels to more than 5,200 customers, typically for $2 each. It was unclear whether he would be extradited to the United States, the Post said.


15. UK approves the Jackdaw North Sea gas project the Trump administration pushed for

The United Kingdom is allowing the Jackdaw gas drilling project in the North Sea to move forward, reversing a policy that had banned new fossil fuel drilling in the region, the Washington Examiner reported. Prime Minister Andy Burnham had faced intense pressure from the U.K. fossil fuel industry and the Trump administration to overturn the ban, according to the Examiner.


16. West Virginia lets truckers use cheaper red-dyed diesel under a 60-day emergency

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey declared a 60-day state of emergency in all 55 counties, temporarily suspending penalties for using red-dyed diesel on public highways, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported. The order builds on President Trump’s Oct. 5 executive order on temporary federal relief for highway use of the fuel. Morrisey’s administration estimates it could save drivers 20.5 cents per gallon; diesel in the state hit $6.34 a gallon Tuesday, up from $3.57 a year ago, the Caller reported.


17. Bronx driver charged with attempted murder for allegedly ramming an NYPD officer twice

Eduardo Paulino, 31, faces a top charge of attempted murder after allegedly driving an SUV into an NYPD officer twice at a South Bronx gathering Saturday night, the New York Post reported. According to the criminal complaint, the driver hit the officer’s legs and hip, then turned the wheels toward him and hit him again, the Post said.


18. TSA scales its new “Gateside” airport pass back to 13 airports

The Transportation Security Administration has scaled back Gateside by TSA PreCheck, a new program that lets approved visitors pass through airport security without a ticket, to its original 13 airports after a brief expansion to hundreds of airports earlier this month, The Daily Wire reported. The Department of Homeland Security did not explain the reversal but said the program “is currently in the operational assessment phase at 13 airports,” according to the Daily Wire.


19. Haitian gangs ambush the international force and kidnap four Salvadoran Air Force members

Haitian gangs ambushed a vehicle of the U.N.-approved Gang Suppression Force on Saturday in Santo, northeast of Port-au-Prince, and four Salvadoran Air Force aircraft technicians were kidnapped in the attack, El Salvador’s armed forces confirmed Monday, Breitbart News reported. Rescue efforts have been hampered by the intensity of the fighting, according to the Salvadoran statement cited by Breitbart.


20. Nigeria confirms an Ebola case in its capital as the outbreak spreads to West Africa

Nigeria confirmed an Ebola case in its capital, Abuja, on Tuesday in a patient who arrived from Uganda, and authorities are tracing 44 contacts, the Associated Press reported, citing the Health Ministry. Kenya confirmed its first case earlier this month and has recorded nine infections, the AP said. The Bundibugyo virus outbreak has infected more than 9,000 people and killed more than 4,300, according to the AP.


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