October 11-17, 2026
NEWS DIGEST
They See Blue runs on its volunteers' love of democracy. This midterm, our passionate postcarders have written more than 25,000 cards, our persistent phonebankers have called more than 3,500 voters, and our talented telebankers have sent tens of thousands of texts. Our objective has been to contact irregular Democratic voters (those who vote in presidential years but skip the midterms) via multiple modes, and persuade them to vote. Our TV and radio team has aired ads and interviews in English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, and Punjabi on friendly Desi radio and TV stations across the country. A huge thank you to all our volunteers and donors.
We will work until the last minute. To continue supporting our efforts, please reach out at tsbmarcomm@gmail.com to volunteer, and visit theseeblue.org/donate to support us financially.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
Trump waives Russia sanctions citing national interest: President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that puts on hold a sweeping new sanctions package targeting the Russian economy, telling Congress the pause was in the national interest. Trump’s unexpected decision comes a week after he stunningly said the U.S. had agreed to purchase diesel from Russia to try to bring down global energy prices, despite that potentially hurting Ukraine in its war with Russia. AP
The order to limit Starshield for Ukraine came from inside the White House: The order to limit a satellite system that Ukraine uses for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, according to two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter. The officials said leaders at the Defense Department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed. The Pentagon is Starshield's biggest customer, the military-grade version of Starlink. REUTERS
US justice department sues California over alleged noncitizen voting: The US Department of Justice sued California on Thursday, seeking a court order to prevent the state from tabulating certain ballots cast in the midterm elections. The suit came two days after the department made a specious demand to the state. On Tuesday, the department sent election officials in Los Angeles County a thumb drive with a handwritten password purporting to contain the names of noncitizens registered to vote. The department asked officials to confirm the citizenship of anyone on the list and set aside ballots from those whose status it could not confirm. It gave the state 48 hours – an extremely narrow window – to take action. In its lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Central District of California, the Justice Department said it had provided the state with more than 20,000 names of likely noncitizens. The Los Angeles County clerk and recorder, Dean Logan, said his office would not review the list, in part because the data lacked Social Security numbers and it didn’t consider the USB drive secure. THE GUARDIAN
Wholesale inflation surged in September, keeping affordability in focus ahead of the midterms: US wholesale inflation jumped in September to its highest level in more than four years, marking the second hotter-than-expected inflation reading this week and adding to concerns about the economy just weeks before the midterm elections. CNN
CORRUPTION ALERT
Musk Appears to Have Forked Over $158 Million to Help Paxton: The Senate Leadership Fund’s latest quarterly disclosure shows it spent $356 million between July 1 and Sept. 30, which included $158 million to the political committee’s Texas affiliate arm — money that appears to have come directly from tech mogul Elon Musk. WASHINGTON SUN
Secret documents reveal donors behind $330 million for Trump’s ballroom: 57 companies donated $100,000 or more to the vanity project. Some of those companies are led by individuals who have already donated to Trump in other ways—and have been rewarded in return with business contracts and dropped investigations. WASHINGTON POST
Meta employees said Lula's accounts were hindered during Brazil election: Meta employees acknowledged in internal communications that the Instagram accounts of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were hindered by restrictions during the country's election. REUTERS
DESI NEWS
Community leaders say foiled Illinois mass shooting was result of surge in anti-Hindu hate online: A thwarted mass shooting targeting a large Hindu temple in suburban Chicago was fueled by years of hateful rhetoric on social media against Hindus and Indians, community leaders say. Authorities on Wednesday arrested Alexandros Paporakis, 19, who they said drove to the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, Illinois, on Sunday afternoon, armed with a rifle and body armor. AP
SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND SAFETY
Trump administration moves to reopen Alaskan national preserves to bear baiting by sport hunters: The controversial sport-hunting practice, allowed in certain areas by the state, was banned in national park units by the Obama and Biden administrations. ALASKA BEACON
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