[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-640145-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-640145-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","the-washington-post-october-22-2026-news-digest","The Washington Post - October 22, 2026 - News Digest","","News digest coverage for Thursday, October 22, 2026, highlighting major U.S. and global developments. Russia releases Stephen Hubbard and frames it as goodwill amid intense competition for Trump’s favor, while reporting contrasts portray Putin’s actions amid the war in Ukraine. The digest also examines how 2026 midterm campaigns are drawing families into political attacks, and details new reporting on the Pentagon’s planned deep-cover economic espionage against China. It further covers a New Mexico judge’s $25 billion judgment against Meta over alleged deception about personal data handling.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-washington-post-october-22-2026-news-digest/640145/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-washington-post-october-22-2026-news-digest/640145.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"kopisore","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-02","2026-10-22",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why was Stephen Hubbard released, according to the report?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Russia freed Stephen Hubbard and portrayed it as a gesture of goodwill to President Donald Trump, who had requested his release.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How are political campaigns changing in the 2026 midterms, per the coverage?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Candidates have increasingly dragged opponents’ families into campaigns, with fewer barbs considered off-limits compared with past elections.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What action did a New Mexico judge order against Meta?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The judge ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion judgment after finding users were deceived about how the company handled their personal data.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},640145,1793131770,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":55,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},962090880963,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","ABCDE  \nPrices may vary in areas outside metropolitan Washington.  \nSU V1 V2 V3 V4  \nSunny 70/49 • Tomorrow: Partly sunny 64/42  \nDemocracy Dies in Darkness THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 , 2026 • $4  \nPutin frees U.S. citizen in goodwill maneuver  \nRussia and Ukraine compete for Trump’s favor amid efforts to end war  \nBY MARY ILYUSHINA, NATALIA ABBAKUMOVA AND VICTORIA CRAW  \nRussia on Wednesday freed Stephen Hubbard, a retired U.S. teacher imprisoned there since 2022, in what Moscow portrayed as a gesture of goodwill to President Donald Trump, who had requested his release.  \nThe move comes as Russia and Ukraine appear to be locked in a fierce tug-of-war for the Trump administration’s favor amid Washington’s effort to negotiate an end to Russia’s war against its neighbor.  \nHubbard’s release, which follows a deal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to sell diesel to the United States, suggests the Kremlin has shifted tactics in its dealings with Washington, focusing on generous gestures toward Trump, who is eager for successes to tout ahead of the midterm elections.  \nTrump’s friend and special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who was in St. Petersburg to receive Hubbard, thanked Putin, calling him a “humanitarian” even as other world leaders view Putin as responsible for the brutal onslaught against Ukraine that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.  \nWitkoff previously has heaped flattering praise on the Russian leader, telling him just last month at the start of a meeting SEE RUSSIA ON A8  \nWhat to know: Michigan native was held more than four years. A8  \nJACQUELYN MARTIN/POOL/AP  \nFrom left, Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at a rally Wednesday in Sharonville, Ohio. Ramaswamy’s attack ad against Democrat Amy Acton features her estranged mother calling her“aliar.”  \nFamilies no longer off-limits in political attacks  \nBY DAN MERICA  \nIn the final weeks of the 2026 midterms, political candidates have dragged their opponents’families into campaigns, reflecting how divisive politics has become, with few barbs, if any, off-limits.  \nSome of the most audacious familial attacks — a departure from past campaigns when Republicans and Democrats barred their operations from such acrimonious hits — have come from Republicans, as polls show their candidates trailing in key races.  \nSome of most audacious examples come from Republicans in tight races  \nIn Maine, Republicans have embarked on a campaign to cast Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson as “weird” because his longtime partner and mother of his two children, Lana Pelletier, is his second cousin. The Senate Leadership Fund, the top Republican super PAC focused on  \nholding the Senate, is running a radio ad containing bleeped profanity in which a country-style performer sings, “Troy Jackson is weird. If he’ll [bleep] his own  \nfamily, he’ll [bleep] yours, too.”  \nIn Ohio, Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy has put $4 million behind an attack ad against Democrat Amy Acton that features her long-estranged mother calling her daughter “a liar.” Thead has drawn bipartisan condemnation because Acton and her brother were removed from their mother’s home after Ac-  \nton’s stepfather was indicted on a charge of raping her.  \nAnd in Michigan, Republicansand reporters have repeatedly questioned whether Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed condemns the Muslim Brotherhood because of old social media posts from his half sister about ties his mother had to the group. El-Sayed, who has criticized the group, was not raised by his mother, and Democrats have SEE MIDTERMS ON A5  \nIn Ohio: Ramaswamy doubles down on ad despite pushback. A3  \nU.S. aims to beef up spying  \n\n| A DEEP-COVER PRONG TO CONFRONT CHINA |\n| --- |\n| Economic espionage anew priority at Pentagon |\n\nBY ZACH DORFMANAND WARREN P. STROBEL  \nThe Pentagon is looking to build a more robust deep-cover spying program to conduct economic warfare against China and o","cbCair7AGrSlPfjj","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCair7AGrSlPfjj","pdf",18565530,58,"English","# Key Stories\n## Russia frees U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard\n## Families no longer off-limits in political attacks\n## U.S. aims to beef up spying\n## New Mexico judge hits Meta with $25B judgment","[{\"question\":\"Why was Stephen Hubbard released, according to the report?\",\"answer\":\"Russia freed Stephen Hubbard and portrayed it as a gesture of goodwill to President Donald Trump, who had requested his release.\"},{\"question\":\"How are political campaigns changing in the 2026 midterms, per the coverage?\",\"answer\":\"Candidates have increasingly dragged opponents’ families into campaigns, with fewer barbs considered off-limits compared with past elections.\"},{\"question\":\"What action did a New Mexico judge order against Meta?\",\"answer\":\"The judge ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion judgment after finding users were deceived about how the company handled their personal data.\"}]","The Washington Post - October 22, 2026 - News Digest | PDF",1792708010,146]