U.S. prosecutors have charged a Russian woman who works for an oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin with attempting to meddle in the 2018 midterm elections, authorities said Friday. The charges, filed Friday in the Eastern District of Virginia, accuse Elena A. Khusyaynova of St. Petersburg with using social media platforms to create thousands of social media and e-mail accounts — appearing to be from U.S. persons — to "create and amplify divisive social media and political content." The content touched on divisive topics like gun control and the NFL anthem debate as well as events like the Las Vegas shooting. The posts adopted several viewpoints, according to the documents, and attacked politicians of both major political parties, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former President Barack Obama. The case is being brought separately from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, which brought charges against Russians for attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors said Khusyaynova is the chief accountant for a Russian umbrella effort called Project Lakhta, funded by a Russian oligarch whose Concord companies were named in the July indictment brought by Mueller involving attempted meddling in the 2016 election. Concord Management is owned by Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, also known as "Putin's chef," who is closely linked to the Russian president. It provides food services at the Kremlin. Get More at NBC News

Central Americans traveling in a mass caravan broke through a Guatemalan border fence and streamed by the thousands toward Mexican territory Friday, defying Mexican authorities' entreaties for an orderly migration and U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of retaliation. Arriving on the Mexican side of a border bridge, they were met by a phalanx of police with riot shields. About 50 managed to push their way through before officers unleashed pepper spray and the rest retreated. The gates were closed again, and a federal police officer used a loudspeaker to address the masses, saying, "We need you to stop the aggression." Get More

The Mega Millions jackpot jumped to an estimated $1 billion Friday, hitting the 10-figure mark for the first time in the game's history and the second time in U.S. lottery history. Officials raised the estimated jackpot Friday for a third time due to strong sales hours ahead of the drawing. The prize is the second-largest jackpot in U.S. history, behind only a $1.6 billion Powerball prize won in 2016. Get More

In a video advertisement for his Florida gubernatorial campaign, Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis urged his toddler-aged daughter to "build the wall" with colorful toy blocks. DeSantis, who faced off against an establishment Republican, had already gotten President Donald Trump's endorsement the month before. DeSantis would go on to win his primary in a landslide, the race called within minutes of polls closing. His path hasn't been so easy since. A late September NBC News/Marist poll has him trailing Democrat Andrew Gillum by 5 points. Many Republicans pursuing the governor's mansion this cycle face a predicament in the general election: a tie to President Trump may have swayed a primary in their favor, but in closer races, it could impede chances of winning the seat. Get More

Authorities say a ground search has turned up nothing useful as investigators look for a 13-year-old girl who went missing after her parents were found dead in Wisconsin. Deputies found Jayme Closs' parents shot to death in the family's home in rural Barron early Monday. The girl was nowhere to be found. Investigators say the girl is in danger and is not suspected in her parents' deaths. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald says the ground search won't resume Friday. His office coordinated a ground search Thursday using 100 volunteers to comb fields and ditches, but he says the search turned up nothing of evidentiary value. Get More

A Turkish official said Friday that investigators are looking into the possibility that missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's remains may have been taken to a forest outside Istanbul or to another city after his suspected killing at the consulate earlier this month. Ankara's top diplomat, meanwhile, denied sharing any audio from the Saudi Consulate with U.S. officials. And President Donald Trump denied that his top diplomat was ever "given or shown a Transcript or Video of the Saudi Consulate event," adding that reports to the contrary were "FAKE NEWS!" The official told The Associated Press that police have established that two vehicles belonging to the consulate left the building on Oct. 2 — the day Khashoggi had walked into the consulate and vanished. Get More

A political action committee said Friday that it won't pull a widely condemned radio ad that suggests white Democrats will lynch African-Americans if they win in midterm elections in Arkansas next month. Vernon Robinson with Black Americans for the President's Agenda said Friday that the group won't cancel the radio ad running in the Little Rock area in support of Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill. He said the group also won't pull a similar ad he says is airing in Missouri. The ads in both states are scheduled to run through Friday, Robinson said. Get More

President Donald Trump has ordered the government to streamline regulations that he says are hindering work on four major water projects in the western United States. Trump signed a memorandum Friday aimed at helping the Central Valley Project and the California State Water Project in California, the Klamath Irrigation Project in Oregon and the federal Columbia River system in the Pacific Northwest. Get More

A prominent Iowa youth basketball coach faces potentially decades in prison after admitting to a yearslong pattern of sexually exploiting and abusing at least 400 boys, including former players, their friends and other young athletes. Greg Stephen, 42, posed as girls on social media to trick the boys into making live videos masturbating. He secretly recorded them showering during trips to tournaments. In some cases he recorded himself fondling nude players as they slept. The massive scope of Stephen's abuse was revealed in a plea agreement filed Thursday after the former Iowa Barnstormers coach pleaded guilty to seven charges, including sexually exploiting minors and possessing and transporting child pornography, in federal court in Cedar Rapids. Get More

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort rolled into a Virginia federal court Friday in a wheelchair and wearing a green prison uniform instead of his signature tailored suit. The judge scheduled Manafort to be sentenced Feb. 8 for eight counts of tax evasion and bank fraud and dismissed the remaining charges against him, NBC News reported. Get More at NBC News