Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard, tanker hit near Hormuz, 300,000 visas revoked
Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard as Witkoff meets Putin, a tanker is hit near the Strait of Hormuz as Iran and the U.S. dispute mine claims, the State Department says 300,000-plus visas have been revoked, SpaceX and Tesla study a merger, and Netflix shares fall despite a profit beat.
Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a retired teacher from Michigan held since 2022, on Wednesday as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. Russia had convicted him on mercenary charges, which his lawyer says Hubbard calls false. The State Department had declared him wrongfully detained; he was the last American in Russia with that designation. He was expected to be flown to Texas for treatment at a military hospital. It is not clear what, if anything, the U.S. agreed to in return. Russian state TV said Putin proposed meeting President Trump in China during the talks.
A tanker caught fire on Wednesday after being hit by an unknown projectile about 11 nautical miles off Bukha, Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the British maritime agency UKMTO; all crew are reported safe. On Tuesday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said naval mines hit three tankers using routes Tehran considers illegal. The U.S. military's Central Command said those claims are false. The ships were not named, and the damage could not be independently confirmed.
Iran saysThe Revolutionary Guards say three tankers that ignored Iran's restrictions hit mines and caught fire, and warned that companies using unauthorized routes will pay a greater cost.
The U.S. saysA Central Command spokesman said Iranian claims that tankers are hitting naval mines are false, and that the U.S. has cleared the international waterways in the strait of mines.
The State Department says the Trump administration has revoked more than 300,000 U.S. visas since January 2025, up from more than 175,000 in an August 10 update. Spokesman Tommy Pigott said the administration "has revoked more visas at a faster pace than any administration in history." The department did not release a full breakdown by category or nationality.
The administration saysPigott said it has "zero tolerance for foreigners here on visas who break the law, commit fraud, or undermine our national security," and the department says revocations are tied to crime, fraud, immigration violations and security risks.
Rights advocates sayThe crackdown has violated due process and free speech rights, raised racial profiling concerns, and used national-security grounds to target critics.
Elon Musk told investors on a call after SpaceX's quarterly earnings Tuesday that SpaceX and Tesla have each formed special committees of independent directors, at shareholders' request, to discuss a possible merger. Musk called a merger "a good idea" but said he is a conflicted party and cannot take part in the committees' discussions. No terms have been agreed, and shareholders would have to approve any deal. SpaceX shares rose in extended trading.
Netflix earned 87 cents a share in the July-September quarter, above the 82 cents analysts expected, and revenue rose about 12% to $12.87 billion. But it forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $13.4 billion, slightly below analysts' expectations, and lowered its ad sales outlook. Shares fell in after-hours trading Tuesday.
