Social media personality, Emman Atienza has died at the age of 19.

 Known for her lifestyle videos, Atienza was the daughter of Filipino television host Kuya Kim Atienza and fitness guru Felicia Atienza.

Atienza died at her home on October 22. Her cause of death was listed as suicide, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

Her parents announced the passing in an Instagram post on Friday, October 24, stating: “It’s with deep sadness that we share the unexpected passing of our daughter and sister, Emman. She brought so much joy, laughter, and love into our lives and into the lives of everyone who knew her.”

The statement continued by highlighting her honesty regarding her personal struggles: “Emman had a way of making people feel seen and heard, and she wasn’t afraid to share her own journey with mental health. Her authenticity helped so many feel less alone.”

The family asked the public to honor Emman’s memory by carrying forward the qualities she lived by: compassion, courage, and a little extra kindness in their everyday life. Emman’s father, Kim Atienza, is a weather anchor for TV Patrol and a former councilor of the 5th District of Manila.

The online personality amassed 875,000 followers on TikTok and 225,000 on Instagram, often sharing a look into her wealthy lifestyle. She had also previously used her platform to speak out about mental health issues and against the Philippines’ conservative values.

In November 2024, Atienza faced criticism after posting a TikTok video with friends at a Japanese restaurant where they played a game of "guess the bill," with the check totaling 133,000 Philippine Peso, or $2,268. The video sparked outrage in the Philippines, where the average monthly wage is significantly lower.

Atienza immediately deleted the post, took a hiatus from social media, and later clarified that her family's wealth did not come from any political affiliation. Recently, she had been sharing her journey as she settled into life in Los Angeles.

Atienza's final TikTok video was posted on Wednesday, showing clips of the teenager with friends, enjoying outdoor activities like hiking and rock climbing, and participating in Halloween festivities.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday, October 24 he was terminating trade talks with Canada, threatening once again to undermine the crucial economic relationship between the United States and its second-biggest trading partner.
 
Trump stated he canceled the talks in response to an advertisement released last week by the government of Canada’s Ontario province. The ad featured audio from a 1987 speech by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs on foreign goods, where Reagan lambasted tariffs as hurting “every American worker and consumer” and “triggering fierce trade wars.”

After the ad aired, the Ronald Reagan Foundation claimed it “misrepresents” the speech and that the Ontario government had not asked permission to use the clip. While the ad edited the speech and lacked context, the theme of Reagan’s full five-minute speech, which the Reagan Library has published on YouTube, is full-throated support for free and fair trade.

Reagan delivered the original speech from Camp David during a period when he had just placed higher tariffs on various Japanese products, though he was clear at the time that he was "loath" to take that action and believed high tariffs had exacerbated the Great Depression.

Trump took to social media on Thursday night to blast the ad on Truth Social. He wrote that the Ronald Reagan Foundation had announced Canada “fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.” He claimed the ad aimed to “interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts,” and defended tariffs as critical to the U.S. economy and national security. Trump concluded his post by writing: “Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”

In a separate post on Monday, Trump incorrectly stated that Reagan supported tariffs, writing: “They fraudulently took a big buy ad saying that Ronald Reagan did not like Tariffs, when actually he LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded on Friday, saying his country “can’t control the trade policy of the US.” He acknowledged that U.S. trade policy has “fundamentally changed” from previous decades, noting that the U.S. "has tariffs against every one of their trading partners in different countries.”

Carney insisted that tariff negotiations with the U.S. had yielded “a lot of progress.” He added, “We stand ready to pick up on that progress and build on that progress when the Americans are ready to have those discussions, because it will be for the benefit of workers in the United States, workers in Canada and families in both of our countries.”

The friendship between the U.S. and Canada has been tense since Trump took office amid disputes over tariffs and trade. Canada has long been one of the U.S.’ top trading partners, with the U.S. importing $411.9 billion worth of goods from Canada last year. However, Canada’s economy has been hit hard by Trump’s steep sectoral tariffs on key exports like autos, steel, aluminum, lumber, and energy, which fall under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Canada’s unemployment rate is currently at its highest point in nine years.

Carney, who won an election in April with a warning about the changing relationship with the U.S., has focused on diversifying trade. On Thursday, before Trump’s post, he announced that Canada plans to double its non-U.S. exports in the next decade, with the core mission being to build an economy that “doesn’t rely on a single trade partner.”

Despite the friction, tensions had eased slightly in recent months, with Carney meeting Trump at the Oval Office earlier this month. 

During the meeting, Trump praised his counterpart as a “world-class leader,” and Canadian trade minister Dominic LeBlanc said negotiators for both countries had been given directions to “quickly land deals” on steel, aluminum, and energy

The European Union has accused Meta and TikTok of violating the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), its landmark online content regulation law, placing both companies at risk of facing substantial fines.

The European Commission announced on Friday, October 24, that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms, along with TikTok, had breached several provisions of the DSA, which requires major tech firms to curb illegal content and maintain fair competition in digital markets. This marks the first time Meta has been formally accused of violating the regulation an allegation the company strongly denies.

The Commission said both companies failed to provide researchers with adequate access to public data, a requirement designed to help assess the societal impact of online platforms, including how children are exposed to harmful or misleading content.

“Transparency is not the only issue,” EU regulators said. “Researchers must be able to carry out essential work to ensure accountability and protect users.”

TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, responded that it remained “committed to transparency” but argued that complying with both the DSA and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) posed challenges. “If it is not possible to fully comply with both, we urge regulators to provide clarity on how these obligations should be reconciled,” a company spokesperson said.

The Commission also accused Meta of failing to provide user-friendly tools for reporting illegal content or effective systems for appealing moderation decisions. Regulators said Facebook and Instagram were using deceptive design practices, known as “dark patterns”, within their “Notice and Action” mechanisms that could confuse or discourage users from challenging decisions.

“The DSA requires platforms to clearly explain their content-moderation decisions, which Facebook and Instagram have not done,” the Commission said.

Meta rejected the allegations, insisting that it had already updated its systems to comply with the law. “We disagree with any suggestion that we have breached the DSA,” the company said in a statement. “In the European Union, we have introduced changes to our content reporting options, appeals process, and data access tools since the DSA came into force, and we are confident that these solutions meet legal requirements.”

The EU’s findings come amid tensions with the United States, where former President Donald Trump has criticised the DSA as an attack on American technology firms and threatened tariffs in response. The Commission, however, said it would continue enforcing the rules regardless of political pressure.

Meta and TikTok will now have the opportunity to review the EU’s evidence and propose remedies to address regulators’ concerns. If the Commission is not satisfied with their responses, it may impose significant fines per breach and per platform.

Defending the law, EU digital spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the DSA was not designed to suppress speech but to protect it. “When accused of censorship, we prove that the DSA is doing the opposite. It is protecting free speech, allowing citizens in the EU to fight back against unilateral content moderation decisions taken by Big Tech,” he said.

Both Meta and TikTok are already under investigation in separate EU probes, including inquiries into whether they are doing enough to reduce the addictive nature of their platforms for younger users.

A 12-year-old boy from Greater Manchester died after attempting a dangerous social media trend known as “chroming,” an inquest has heard. The practice, which involves inhaling toxic fumes from aerosol cans to achieve a brief high, has been circulating on platforms like TikTok.

Oliver Gorman was found unresponsive in his bedroom on May 5, 2025, shortly after returning home from a family holiday in Wales. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Investigators discovered several empty deodorant cans in his room, and a post-mortem examination confirmed that he died from inhaling butane gas, a chemical found in aerosol sprays.

At the South Manchester Coroner’s Court, Coroner Andrew Bridgman raised serious concerns about the accessibility of such “challenges” on TikTok, accusing the platform of “disseminating these challenges quite happily” and making them easily accessible to vulnerable young users. He also called for clearer warning labels and potential age restrictions on the sale of aerosol products.

Oliver’s mother, Clare Gillespie, described her son as a “sweet, lovely family boy.” The court heard that Oliver had told his mother he was tired and went to his room after the family’s return home. When she went to check on him later, she found him unresponsive, with an empty Lynx deodorant can falling from his bed. Emergency services were called, and his mother performed CPR, but he was declared dead at 7:31 p.m.

Ms Gillespie told the court she believed Oliver had struggled with the transition to high school at Denton Community Academy, saying, “He kind of went into himself a bit… you could see something wasn’t quite right.” She also expressed concern that he may have faced verbal bullying, though no specific names or incidents were confirmed.

Detective Inspector Ian Parker of Greater Manchester Police said investigators found no evidence on Oliver’s electronic devices linking him directly to the online challenge but acknowledged the growing trend of chroming among youth. “My impression was it was words, very harsh words based on physicality, how he looked, that kind of thing,” he said regarding the possible bullying.

Detective Sergeant Kate Dawson told the inquest that while she was aware of people abusing aerosols to get high, she had never encountered a case involving a child in her 23 years of policing. “This was the first time I’ve seen a child die from it,” she said.

Pathologist reports revealed that butane gas can cause sudden cardiac arrest and other fatal complications.

While it remains unclear whether Oliver was directly influenced by TikTok, the coroner warned that trends like chroming pose serious risks to children and urged social media companies to act more responsibly.

Oliver’s mother said she did not believe her son intended to take his own life. “I think it was something that had gone terribly wrong,” she said. “I can’t solely blame a bully, I can’t solely blame TikTok. You can start by watching videos about local bands, and it can lead you down a dark road, and causes these children to watch these videos.”

TikTok has since restricted searches for terms related to chroming, but safety advocates and parents continue to call for stronger measures to protect minors from harmful online trends.

A Zimbabwean woman, Bridget Makaza, has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for the premeditated murder of her husband, businessman MaCloud Zvavovaviri Mapanga, founder of Kurai Coaches.

 The High Court ruled that the 2018 killing was a calculated act rather than a crime of passion, describing it as a cold and deliberate execution carried out in the couple’s home.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Emilia Muchawa said the evidence left no doubt that Makaza planned her husband’s death.

“Our findings are that the accused person planned to execute the deceased,” Justice Muchawa said. “To set this in motion, she travelled to South Africa, soon after her return from the United Kingdom, to procure the murder weapon.”

The court heard that Makaza took advantage of her international travel to source and smuggle a firearm into Zimbabwe. “She conveniently flew into South Africa and used the road back to smuggle the murder weapon into Zimbabwe,” the judge noted.

The weapon, a .38 Amadeo Rossi revolver with its serial numbers erased, was later used to carry out the fatal attack.

The murder occurred in the early hours of May 14, 2018. According to the court’s findings, Mapanga had returned home late from work and was asleep when Makaza shot him three times, once in the right shoulder, once above the left shoulder, and once grazing the neck before penetrating the right shoulder.

Justice Muchawa said Makaza then staged a fake robbery to conceal her crime. “To cover up her crime, she staged an unlawful entry and robbery. She shouted, ‘thief, thief’ (mbavha, mbavha). She left the deceased seriously injured, without rendering any assistance or calling the ambulance and slipped away in the ensuing confusion,” the judge said.

Makaza initially claimed that intruders had broken into their home, shot her husband, and stolen about US$12,000 from a wardrobe. However, investigators found no signs of forced entry, and her story quickly unraveled.

Justice Muchawa said Makaza’s real intention after the shooting was to destroy evidence. “She went alone, presumably to lodge a report, but, as confessed, her priority was to dispose of the firearm and related items, including the gloves which she had worn when shooting the deceased.”

Police later recovered the revolver and gloves based on information Makaza provided after her arrest. Forensic tests confirmed that the bullets extracted from Mapanga’s body matched the recovered firearm.

A post-mortem revealed that Mapanga died from traumatic shock, lung and liver ruptures, and multiple gunshot wounds.

After being initially charged, Makaza was granted bail but fled to the United Kingdom, where she remained for several years. She was re-arrested upon returning to Zimbabwe in December 2024.

In her defence, Makaza claimed years of emotional and physical abuse by her husband, citing repeated assaults and psychological trauma. However, the court ruled that the evidence clearly showed premeditation and intent, dismissing her claims as unconvincing.

Justice Muchawa described the killing as a “deliberate and callous act,” sentencing Makaza to 27 years behind bars, a punishment reflecting both the gravity of the crime and the betrayal of trust within the marriage.

Officials say what could have been a tragedy was stopped after a man accused of threatening to shoot up the Atlanta airport was taken into custody. 

The man was arrested on Monday, Oct. 20, after entering a terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and allegedly threatened to shoot up the place. 

The man's family alerted police that the suspect had been streaming on social media Monday morning that he was headed to the airport to "shoot it up" and was in possession of a semi-automatic assault rifle, according to Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum. 
 
The man, identified by the Atlanta Police Department as Billy Cagle, 49, of Cartersville, Georgia, was taken into custody at the airport, police said.

Officers located an AR-15 assault rifle with 27 rounds of ammunition in his pickup truck parked outside the airport, Schierbaum said. 

The suspect is a felon who has mental health challenges, officials said. He has been charged with terroristic threats and criminal attempt to commit aggravated assaults, among other counts, the police chief said. 

"Because of the community, in this case, the family, as well as the joint collaboration of law enforcement, a tragedy was indeed averted," Schierbaum said at a press briefing Monday. 

The police chief said Cagle arrived at the airport at 9:29 a.m. and, upon entering the south terminal, went to the TSA check-in area and was "scanning that area." 

Schierbaum said he believes Cagle was walking back to his truck with the intent to retrieve the weapon when officers encountered him at 9:54 a.m. and he was taken into custody unarmed. 

"I do believe he was likely to use that weapon inside the crowded terminal," Schierbaum said. 

The suspect's family reported the alleged social media threat to Cartersville police, who immediately alerted the Atlanta Police Department at approximately 9:40 a.m., according to Schierbaum. 

Cartersville Police Capt. Greg Sparacio told reporters Cagle's family alerted Cartersville police shortly after 9:30 a.m. that the suspect was "en route to somewhere in the Atlanta area" and he "had the intention to do harm to as many people as he could." 

Investigators determined what vehicle he was traveling in and provided that information to Atlanta police, he said. 

A possible motive remains under investigation, Schierbaum said. 

The FBI Atlanta said it is assisting the Atlanta Police Department with the investigation. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her department is "in communication with our interagency partners." 

"I am thankful this individual was taken into custody by law enforcement before harming anyone," she said in a statement. 

Sparacio said their department is "familiar" with Cagle and he has a criminal history, including a prior drug possession arrest, though he did not go into further detail. 

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said he is grateful a potential tragedy was averted at the world's busiest airport. 

"We're thankful to God and to good information and good intel and good people for this crisis being averted," he said during the briefing.

A Chinese woman has been indicted by a judge in Paris for allegedly stealing nearly $2 million worth of gold nuggets from the city’s National Museum of Natural History, including items dating back to the California gold rush.

The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office announced Tuesday that the 24-year-old suspect was charged with classified theft and criminal conspiracy following the Sept. 16 heist. She was arrested two weeks later in Barcelona, Spain, as she was preparing to return to China, it added.

Prosecutors said on the morning of Sept. 16, a museum curator was notified by a cleaning staff member of debris inside the facility and the disappearance of gold nuggets usually on display, which included an 11-pound nugget from Australia, items linked to the 19th century California gold rush, and a nugget gifted by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia in 1833.

An investigation determined that two doors at the museum were cut open with a circular saw. In the mineralogy gallery, the display case containing the nuggets was broken into with a blowtorch, authorities said.

At the site, investigators found a screwdriver, saws, the blowtorch and three gas canisters used to power the blowtorch, according to the prosecutor’s office.

It said surveillance footage revealed that a single person entered the museum by force around 1 a.m. on the morning of the heist.

The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office estimated that the financial loss of the gold nuggets is around $1.74 million, while an additional $58,000 worth of damage was caused by the break-in. It also said the historical and scientific value of the gold pieces was priceless.

The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office estimated that the financial loss of the gold nuggets is around $1.74 million, while an additional $58,000 worth of damage was caused by the break-in. It also said the historical and scientific value of the gold pieces was priceless.

At the time of her arrest in Barcelona, the suspect attempted to dispose of around two pounds of melted gold pieces, prosecutors added.

They said the investigation remains ongoing, as authorities are trying to figure out what happened to the stolen items and if there are any accomplices.

In France, the organized theft charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

There are no plans for US President Donald Trump to meet with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in the immediate future, a White House official said on Tuesday, October 21, a pivot after Trump suggested last week that he would meet his Russian counterpart soon in Budapest to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump said last week that he planned on meeting with Putin after senior American and Russian officials spoke.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, then had a “productive call,” the official said.

Trump's initial plan, stated just last week, was to speak with the Russian leader in about "two weeks or so" to discuss a path toward ending the war in Ukraine.

He even floated Budapest as the potential location for the meeting. This suggestion was a highly anticipated development, as a direct meeting between the two leaders would be seen as a major step toward de-escalation or a potential peace process.  

It is unclear whether Trump and Putin are still discussing meeting in Budapest in the more distant future. Trump was unclear about a date for the meeting but indicated it would happen soon after senior officials from each country spoke.

The news that Trump will not meet with Putin in the immediate future, despite earlier suggestions, is a significant shift in diplomatic signals regarding the war in Ukraine.

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy has signaled a major shift in the agency's human lunar landing strategy, expressing frustration with delays in the SpaceX Starship program and stating a clear intent to open the prestigious Artemis III contract to new competitors.

 
Duffy confirmed that NASA will open up the Human Landing System (HLS) contract, which was initially a nearly $4.4 billion award to SpaceX in 2021 to develop the Starship lunar lander for the Artemis III mission.

This move signals a dramatic change in NASA's approach, which is being driven by pressure to accelerate the timeline to land American astronauts on the Moon before China, whose goal is a crewed landing by 2030.

Duffy stated that while SpaceX is an "amazing company," they are "behind schedule" and have pushed their timelines out. This has put the mid-2027 target date for the Artemis III landing at risk, with some internal NASA estimates suggesting Starship may not be ready until 2028.

Duffy emphasized, "We’re not going to wait for one company."

To move forward, NASA is leveraging competition to spur innovation and speed. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin which already holds a contract for the later Artemis V mission have been given a deadline of October 29 to present “acceleration approaches” for their lunar lander development.

Furthermore, the agency is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to the wider commercial space industry to solicit plans on how NASA can increase the “cadence” of its missions to the Moon.

Duffy stated that the ultimate goal is for American companies to compete to see who can get astronauts back to the Moon first, and before the end of the current presidential term in January 2029.

The reopening of the contract now paves the way for other aerospace companies to bid for the Artemis III mission. Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, is widely considered the leading contender to challenge SpaceX for the initial crewed landing.

Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander is already in development for a later mission, and the company has indicated it is “ready to support.” However,

 
Duffy also suggested the competition would be opened more broadly, potentially including companies that do not yet have contracts, such as Lockheed Martin which has expressed readiness to form a consortium.

A key technical challenge facing any provider, including both Starship and Blue Moon, is the requirement for in-orbit refueling, a complex procedure that has never been attempted and introduces significant risk to the timeline.

According to police in Reading, Pennsylvania, 61-year-old Jose Luis Rodriguez killed 32-year-old Geraldina Peguero-Mancebo, her husband Junior Cabrera-Colon, and their one-year-old son Jeyden in what investigators believe was a jealous and premeditated attack.

Based on the investigation, Rodriguez, who had been financially supporting Geraldina as her “sugar daddy,” first shot and killed her husband on September 11th. The next day, he picked up Geraldina and her baby, initially under the impression of a normal visit, but when she refused to leave her husband, he turned violent.

He allegedly shot Geraldina and later drove to a nearby pond, where he threw Jeyden into the water. Autopsy findings revealed mud in the baby’s lungs, showing he was still alive when submerged.

Rodriguez was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and other related crimes.