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Gas under Trump 2.0 now costs more than under Biden In 2024, President Trump blasted the Biden-Harris administration over soaring gas prices and promised a return to the sub-$2 prices of his first term. Then came the war in Iran, changing the equation entirely. Gas now costs more under Trump’s second term than it did during the Biden years, averaging around $4.29 per gallon, according to a CNN analysis of AAA data. + Read more: Gas prices, then and now

October 26, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won re-election as Brazil’s president, although his opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro, has refused to accept the result. And María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s leading opposition figure, returned home after nearly a year in exile. Plus, here’s some housekeeping for those of you who haven’t yet subscribed to The Times. Starting today, we’re making our coverage of the midterm elections in the Times app absolutely free. Download the app and get started reading our in-depth reporting, explainers, poll trackers and more. There’ll be no paywall until we know all the results. There’s more below. But first, I’m going to turn to Jodi Rudoren, who once led our coverage of Israel, to talk to David Halbfinger, who runs it now. The subject of their conversation: tomorrow’s legislative elections in Israel. Those will determine if Benjamin Netanyahu remains the country’s prime minister. Gadi Eisenkot and Benjamin Netanyahu. Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Pool photo by Ronen Zvulun Israel’s future By Jodi Rudoren I covered Israeli elections in 2013 and 2015 while serving as Jerusalem bureau chief of The Times. The most important election in Israel’s 78-year history is on Tuesday. It’s the first contest since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror attack that spawned three years of brutal war that destroyed the Gaza Strip and rippled across the Middle East. Benjamin Netanyahu, already Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is trying for his seventh term. Leading the opposition is Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief whose son was killed while serving in Gaza. Israel has a parliamentary system, so we may not know the real winner for weeks. Whoever does best on Tuesday then has to try to form a coalition government. Netanyahu would likely rely on ultra-Orthodox and extremist right-wing leaders, Eisenkot on centrist and center-right figures, as well as the left-wing Democrats. Arab-Israeli politicians could help tip the balance. It’s complicated, consequential and close, according to the polls. I asked David Halbfinger, our Jerusalem bureau chief, what he is seeing and hearing. People are calling this election existential. What’s at stake, and what are the top issues in the campaign? It’s almost mind-boggling how many huge issues are hanging in the balance: whether to drift toward authoritarianism, whether all citizens should share in the sacrifice of defending the country, whether to ease up pressure on the Palestinians or end any thought of a two-state solution forever, and more. But I’d boil it down to a choice between two radically different visions for what kind of Jewish state Israel should be. What are those two visions? Simply put, should Israel be a Jewish-flavored, Western-style liberal democracy, or an Orthodox Jewish country that also holds elections but has more in common in some ways with Turkey or Hungary? The campaign feels like a referendum on Netanyahu, who was Israel’s youngest premier when he was first elected, and now, at 77, would be the oldest if he wins. Why does he have so much staying power? He’s simply the most gifted politician this country has ever produced. It says something that even while standing trial on corruption charges, even while saddled with unpopular and extremist coalition partners, even after allowing the Oct. 7 massacre on his watch, he could win another term. What is Eisenkot’s appeal? In Tel Aviv. David Goldman/Associated Press You know how roughly half or more of Israel has been clamoring for “anyone but Bibi”? Eisenkot is the un-Bibi. He could have been created in a lab: He’s the son of Moroccan immigrants. He grew up in working-class towns. His bootstraps rise began in the Golani Brigade, a classic military melting pot. And he earned a reputation for straight talk and candor, where Netanyahu is known for talking out of both sides of his mouth. For several years, you ran The Times’s politics coverage. How are campaigns in Israel similar to those in the United States, and how are they different? They’re incredibly short, just a few months long. The TV ads only come at the end, so the warfare has been chiefly through A.I.-generated social-media videos, some of them hilarious and many of them brutal. There have been very few big rallies, and even the big ones are tiny by American standards. Then again, this country is the size of New Jersey. When I was posted there, I was struck by how much politics pulsed through casual conversation. What are the vibes around this election? It’s gotten very, very dark. Everyone now has a grave fear, bordering on despair — that the country they thought they knew is on the verge of collapsing or morphing into something very different, perhaps even into the kind of place that they can’t see as a place to raise their children. More people have left Israel than immigrated to Israel in the last couple of years, and there’s a lot of talk about those departures accelerating depending on how this election turns out. For more: The New York Times Watch: In the video above, David describes why Eisenkot is resonating with Israeli voters. Listen: David talked in more depth about the election on “The Daily” podcast. Read: Our profile of Eisenkot, who says he is running to “save Israel.” And of Netanyahu, whose supporters call him “King of Israel.” See: Graphics outlining four scenarios for how one of them could form a coalition. It might take weeks. Learn: Why voters across the political spectrum are anxious about the election. FREE TO READ Violet Clinton documenting moths. Hilary Swift for The New York Times Field research: Why has this teenager tracked down 11,377 moths? Kermit the gangster frog: In the 1980s, video clubs in Ghana created their own promotional posters for Hollywood movies. See their crazy mash-ups. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about people who live on the world’s most remote inhabited island. Metropolitan Diary: Harder than it looks. THE LATEST NEWS Brazil Elections Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his wife, Rosângela da Silva. Tuane Fernandes/Reuters Lula’s win broke a run of right-wing victories across Latin America. These maps show how he came back from a disappointing first round of voting. Midterm Elections President Trump went on an Islamophobic rant against Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, at a campaign rally there. A super PAC for the data center industry is making its first political contributions to help Darline Graham’s Senate campaign in South Carolina. James Talarico, the Democratic Senate candidate in Texas, is increasingly attacking Elon Musk, who has donated millions to support his opponent. Progressives say their populist message can attract moderates and conservatives as well as liberals. These 11 races will test that theory. This election offers Democrats a unique opportunity to reshape the Senate map. It could be a long time before they have a similar chance. More International News The longtime nationalist leader of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, conceded defeat in parliamentary elections to a new slate of candidates backed by protesting students. Security forces in Jordan arrested three men over the attack on a Greek Orthodox Church there last week that killed nine people. Other Big Stories The owners of Elvis’s music sued Anthropic, claiming that the company used his songs to train its models without permission. Several Catholic bishops prayed with Trump in the Oval Office last week. But they objected when the White House released a video of the meeting. IN ONE MAP Note: Layout of the proposed golf course is based on images shared by President Trump on Truth Social. Marco Hernandez/The New York Times President Trump’s new design for East Potomac Park, home to popular public golf courses, aims to attract elite golf tournaments, but it would eliminate a perimeter road for cyclists and runners and transform a 36-hole, three-course facility to a single 18-hole course. Read more about the changes. OPINIONS Chuan Ming Ong The A.I. boom might be worse than the 2008 housing bubble, a former Biden administration economic official writes. The youth protests in India have shattered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s era of omnipotence, writes Lydia Polgreen, and protesters worldwide should take note. Subscribe to New York Times Games. Get Super Duolingo for free. For a limited time, annual Games subscribers can enjoy 6 months of language learning with Super Duolingo. Subscribe now TODAY’S NUMBER 340,000 — That is how many properties were inherited in the United States last year, a record. One result has been a lot of intrafamilial tension about what to do with the houses. “There are families that completely break up and stop having anything to do with each other,” a real estate agent told The Times. “They will say, ‘I never thought my brother would behave this way.’” SPORTS N.B.A.: The Oklahoma City Thunder star Jalen Williams suffered a gruesome lower-leg injury in the final minutes of a 108-101 victory over the LA Clippers. W.N.B.A.: The Atlanta Dream are supposed to host Game 6 of the championship finals on Thursday at the State Farm Arena, but the N.B.A.’s Atlanta Hawks are scheduled to tip off there an hour earlier. Golf: Dustin Johnson and other LIV golfers are preparing to push the Saudi Public Investment Fund for severance payments. That could get messy. RECIPE OF THE DAY Lanna Apisukh for The New York Times I had dinner at Le Veau d’Or the other night, a little jewel box on East 60th Street that could be New York’s best French restaurant. (I’m saying it is.) You can think about a meal there for weeks. The food’s amazing, and I wish I could make some of it at home. But Veau is one of those restaurants where the cooking is so technical, precise and alchemical that even a confident home cook like me knows he’ll never in 2,000 years be able to do that. But one morning I woke up thinking about one of the appetizers the kitchen sends out: pommes soufflées with red caviar, crème fraîche and dill (above). Well. You can buy salmon roe, crème fraîche and dill at the store. Also those home-fry patties of the sort they sell at McDonald’s. Fry a bunch of those in shimmering oil, top them as elegantly as you can with the cream, caviar and herbs, and serve to applause. It’s a Temu version of fancy restaurant cooking, I know, but still very delicious. DOWN FOR EVERYTHING Magdalena Wosinska for The New York Times A quarter-century after her top billing in the movie “Save the Last Dance,” Julia Stiles has become an unexpected favorite on the reality-television staple “Dancing With the Stars.” Stiles is not a dancer with star quality. She’s a star with dancer quality. “It’s moving and surreal,” she told The Times of her reception. “It seems like people are responding this way because they need something, and I don’t know what that is exactly or if I can give it to them.” Read the conversation. More on culture One of the toughest jobs on Broadway is that of the “swing,” the actor who understudies for the understudies, and who can be called on to perform any one of a show’s roles at any time. Meet Maria Briggs, who has that job in “Schmigadoon!” The Elizabeth Holmes discourse continues, as Wesley Morris joins Pablo Torre to talk about “You Can See Everything,” the “artistically wondrous and journalistically frustrating” documentary about her. It’s fantastic, but fair warning: spoiler city. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Jim Knipfel Kate Crane Read about the life of Jim Knipfel, a serial memoirist in the alternative press, who died this month at 61. Knipfel spent four decades documenting his descent into blindness against a backdrop of absurdity, despair and great humor. “If you got into that, you got way into that,” one of his editors remembered. “He had a fanatical following.” Prepare for ski and snowboard season (and for riding your bike to work in the cold, as I do). Consider these warm and mostly waterproof gloves tested and tested and tested by the mountain goats at Wirecutter. Build a streak. It leads to healthy habits and a sense of well-being. (The writer David Sedaris walks 21,000 steps every day.) Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were bibliomania and binomial. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren Deputy Editorial Director: Lauren Jackson

Delegations meet in Iran with Mideast region on edge over potential for renewed fighting CAIRO (AP) — High-level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were in Tehran on Monday for meetings with Iranian authorities to try to avert renewed fighting in the Iran war. https://apnews.com/article/iran-israel-us-war-10-26-2026-36486edb61b3bf4e0df67e8a17123e44?

The Greek OT translates the Hebrew word for "rule over" in genesis 3:16 with a word used a few times in the NT. The word is #2961 κυριεύω. It appears in Luke 22.25: "And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over <2961> them, and those who exercise authority <1850> over them are called ‘benefactors.’" Note that the text then repeats itself by the expression "exercise authority over them." In this one text, we have an example the word used in Genesis 3:16 16 ¶ (3:17) And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pains and thy groanings; in pain thou shalt bring forth children, and thy submission [turning] shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee <2961>. LXXE Lu 22:25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over <2961> them, and those who exercise authority <1850> over them are called ‘benefactors.’ KJV The husband is said to rule over his wife the way a Gentile king ruled over his subjects. Careful ladies

Venezuela’s opposition leader Machado returns after months in exile, as doubts over democracy deepen CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado reappeared in Venezuela Sunday for the first time since December, returning from exile at a time when doubts about the country’s democratic future — and the role of the U.S. — are growing. https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maria-corina-machado-return-democracy-maduro-e6eff0c2ff962fd9b0f87270b24ef567?

Blanche says Trump isn’t trying to meddle with Alaska election results by suing over Senate race Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Trump administration’s lawsuit to block certification of Alaska’s Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses the race, arguing that the legal challenge is a necessary step to avoid confusing voters in the closely watched midterm race. Read more. What to know: Blanche told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Trump, who said Friday that he was “the one that said do it,” is not trying to overturn state election results “in any way, shape or form” on the cusp of the Nov. 3 election. Republicans fear that a second candidate on the ballot, who is also named Dan Sullivan, could siphon away votes from the senator and tip the outcome in favor of Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman. A day after the lawsuit was filed on Thursday, Peltola called it “just flagrant, flagrant corruption in my opinion” and a diversion tactic by Republicans. Alaska’s other Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, also criticized the lawsuit in a social media post. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Sullivan, Peltola seek support from Alaska Native voters ahead of crucial Senate race Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and her family suffer minor injuries in car crash Judge asked to compel Trump administration to disclose emails and texts about Kennedy Center plans Trump escalates anti-Muslim attacks against El-Sayed in Michigan, drawing Arab American rebuke Who’s on Air Force One? Trump’s midterms entourage includes strategists, aides and aging athletes Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically

Lula is declared winner of Brazil’s election as Bolsonaro rejects results Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, was reelected Sunday in a result that provides relief to critics of widening U.S. influence in Latin America. Read more. What to know: With 100% of the vote counted, Brazil’s electoral court announced that the soon-to-be 81-year-old Lula had a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over opponent Flávio Bolsonaro, giving him 51.8% of the total vote. Bolsonaro quickly refused to concede defeat and asked for the election results to be annulled after an evening of chaos at some polling places that followed a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours. Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom Lula defeated to take the presidency in 2022. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ In their words: Left-leaning leaders in the Americas welcome Lula’s victory in Brazil Lula’s win in Brazil bucks a regional shift to the right and denies Trump a powerful ally

THIS DAY IN HISTORY October 26 1881 Shootout at the O.K. Corral The Earp brothers face off against the Clanton-McLaury gang in a legendary shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1825 Erie Canal opens American Revolution 1776 Benjamin Franklin sets sail for France 1774 Congress petitions British king to address grievances 1775 King George III speaks to Parliament of American rebellion Arts & Entertainment 1946 “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak is born 1985 Whitney Houston earns her first No. 1 hit with “Saving All My Love For You” Civil War 1864 “Bloody Bill” Anderson killed Crime 1984 An Ozzy Osbourne fan dies by suicide Inventions & Science 1984 Infant receives baboon heart Sports 1986 Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner lets ground ball roll through his legs 2015 Olympic committee announces the creation of refugee team U.S. Presidents 2001 George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act World War I 1917 Brazil declares war on Germany World War II 1942 Japanese planes destroy the U.S.S. Hornet

🏈 1 fun thing: NFL's French connection A custom-built Arc de Triomphe entrance portal for player introductions at yesterday's Steelers-Saints game at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis near Paris. Photo: Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images The French gave us the Statue of Liberty, crème brûlée and haute couture. Now we're giving them NFL football, Bill Kole (your Axios AM copy editor) writes from his base in Paris. Why it matters: The NFL has held games in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Spain and the U.K. — and yesterday's showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints was the league's first in France as it seeks to grow international interest. Security was tight for the sold-out game (final score: Steelers 16, Saints 10) at the 80,000-seat Stade de France, but it was a welcome distraction after weeks of violent protests and widespread social unrest across France. ⚜️ The backstory: New Orleans, established by the French in 1718 and rich in French architecture, food and culture, was the sentimental favorite. 💭 Bill's thought bubble: I'm a lifelong New England Patriots fan — I grew up in Foxborough, Mass., home to Gillette Stadium — so I had no skin in this game. 🌭 The food at the Stade de France was predictably fab, though — even Le Hot-Dog. More on the game.

💰 Big Tech legal bills pile up Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios A tidal wave of litigation is catching up to Meta, leading to $42 billion in recent penalties and settlements. It's a powerful reminder to AI companies that they could face a reckoning in court even when regulation lags, Axios AI & tech managing editor Bradley Olson writes. Why it matters: AI companies are racing to build better models and autonomous agents, but they don't enjoy the same legal protections that shielded web platforms for decades. Meta's big bills offer a preview of potential legal exposure. After a $25 billion penalty in a New Mexico data privacy case this past week, Meta chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney said: "At its core, this lawsuit seeks to impose a tax on speech to enforce new rules for what people can say online." Keep reading.

Scoop: Bibi begs Trump for more support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opponent Gadi Eisenkot campaign ahead of tomorrow's Israeli elections. Photos: Getty Images Axios' Barak Ravid writes from Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — fighting for political survival in tomorrow's elections — has pleaded with President Trump in recent days to show more public support for his campaign, according to a U.S. source with knowledge and an Israeli source briefed on the matter. Why it matters: The U.S. source said the White House sees Netanyahu's aggressive lobbying as a "sign of desperation" and an indication that the Israeli leader thinks he's trailing. 👀 Behind the scenes: The U.S. source said Netanyahu spoke with Trump twice in the last three days and asked him to double down on his Truth Social post last week endorsing him. The source said Netanyahu even suggested language for additional statements of support. An Israeli source briefed on Netanyahu's efforts said the Israeli prime minister proposed that Trump hold calls with Israeli reporters to express further support. Last night, Trump issued another statement endorsing Netanyahu and calling on Israelis to vote for him, mainly because of his hawkish position on Iran. 🧮 State of play: Three major Israeli television networks released their final pre-election polls Friday, all showing Netanyahu's coalition falling well short of a parliamentary majority.

🗳️ Early '28 contenders Chart: The New York Times Democrats' 2028 race is wide open: Kamala Harris leads with just 12% of primary voters, and 45% didn't name a favorite, a New York Times/Siena telephone poll of Democratic primary voters found. Republican primary voters are coalescing around either Vice President Vance (33%) or Secretary of State Marco Rubio (23%). 8% of Republicans named Trump himself, even though he's ineligible. Keep reading (gift link) ... Explore the data.

⚠️ Campaign collateral damage: Grieving families Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images The 2026 midterms have taken a deeply personal turn as campaigns use other people's family tragedies as political ammunition — sometimes over the objections of those families, Axios' Russell Contreras writes. Why it matters: Some attack ads feature photographs of murdered children and anguished 911 calls, forcing grieving families to relive their worst moments. Georgia governor's race: Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson used images of murdered 8-year-old Secoriea Turner and her mother's anguished 911 call to attack Democratic rival Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta's former mayor. Turner's family demanded the ads come down, accusing the campaign of exploiting their grief without permission. Ohio governor's race: Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign is spending $4 million on an ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. In the ad, Donna Arthur calls her daughter a liar and disputes her account of childhood homelessness. Acton says her late stepfather — who was married to her mother until his death — sexually abused her as a child, and she hasn't spoken to her mother in decades. Ohio Senate race: A Republican attack ad against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown featured images of a couple and their 1-year-old son killed in a highway crash to blame Brown's immigration policies. The victims' family demanded its removal. Keep reading.

🤖 Prepping for cyber doomsday First three items on the British government's National Resilience Checklist. Screenshot: GOV.UK The governments of the U.S. and Britain are suddenly making old-school preparations for the possibility of a cyber-triggered long-term blackout: The Pentagon is "preparing U.S. military bases to keep operating for at least 90 days without outside support as it prepares for the possibility of a major war that could cripple power grids, disrupt supply chains and threaten critical infrastructure on American soil," Fox News Digital reports. Under a broader military initiative called FORTRESS, "every major military installation in the continental United States would be expected to sustain essential operations independently for at least 90 days, including access to electricity, water, fuel and communications." The British government urged the public to keep three days of emergency supplies at home, including water and canned goods ("tinned" for the Brits). The "Be Ready" campaign was triggered by the PHP software vulnerability exposed last week, plus a record-setting summer of heat, drought and wildfires. 😬 Between the lines: If you marinate online, you're being barraged with warnings of a cyber-induced Black October. Mike Cernovich, an influential pro-Trump voice on X, posted yesterday: "Something is coming. You can sense it."

What's next for Axios Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios Axios CEO Jim VandeHei lays out his latest thinking on how media is changing — and how Axios is adapting: Media is changing at AI speed: the open web deteriorating, search shriveling, LLMs rising, hyper-personalization surging, old revenue models breaking. AI threatens to finish what the algorithms started: wholly upending journalism as we know it. The only certainty: What follows will be as different as the pre- and post-digital eras. After studying and experimenting with AI for the past two years, we're placing a series of big bets on how serious journalism can flourish in an AI world. 💡 The big idea: We believe the value of verified, reported, distinctive truth and curated human connection will spike. The yearning for human connection, and demand for human expertise, will only increase. 🖼️ The big picture: At Axios, we're doing what we did a decade ago when we launched, and two decades ago at Politico: building for the direction that technology and the world are headed. We're sharing our thesis — and our plans — to help spark deeper industrywide debate about preserving the best of media in what's to come. Some parts are controversial or based on our own assumptions. We welcome the pushback. What's next: We assume Einstein-level intelligence will be available on all topics to all people. We envision media consumption shifting to new AI platforms and devices that know us as intimately as we know ourselves. Our lives and minds will be curated beyond imagination. Our knowledge, habits, tastes and work will fully fuse into our screens, or pins, or bracelets. The biggest threat in this coming reality: Who needs "news" from journalists when their AI tells them what they need to know, when they want to know it? Indeed, we assume passive news consumers will find AI curation fully satiating, much like they did scrolling. So general, indistinctive news withers. But for serious news consumers — those who routinely seek out high-quality information about their world, passions and community — the demand for human-vetted and human-verified content will surge. This holds true for both the consumer and for businesses: They'll need insight beyond what everyone else gets from the machines alone, as well as verified news — and human audiences. They'll demand more than AI can give them. 🔎 What this looks like for Axios Harnessing AI to save local journalism and serve communities. Adding to the power of the 100+ Axios Local journalists coast to coast, we'll soon unveil an Axios Local "Super System" that uses AI to track government action, community data and coming events. This will give local reporters more time for local reporting. We hope the Super System will allow us to hire journalists in hundreds, even thousands, of communities and revitalize a dying industry. This will be among the most consequential examples of using AI to create journalism jobs and do public good at scale. It's as big as the original Axios, and a great example of AI's upside. Jumping ahead of AI curation. We're launching specific products based not just on topics but also job titles. We're starting at the top with new verticals for CEOs, CMOs, CCOs, COOs, CFOs and other C-suite executives. All jobs are changing faster than anyone can process. So understanding AI and news through this lens will be vital. Among the most common components of an AI prompt is stating what you do. So our products are designed for today and the coming LLM shift. We'll also keep expanding into new niches, like future-focused space defense, all written by journalists with deep subject matter expertise. Shifting beyond the open web. Search is dying and bots are polluting the web. So we've created a new business line, Axios Direct, to sell clean, real-time feeds of our vetted news and information to businesses and others. Companies are building their own LLMs and pay to ingest truly great reporting, opening a new revenue stream that incentivizes quality. We want to help clean up the information ecosystem: Third-party data shows the Axios format and expert-first approach help us overperform in AI results. And we're working with organizations to restructure their own content in more LLM-friendly ways to reduce misinformation about their work and products in AI. Accelerating human connection. We believe we're on the verge of a renaissance in human connection: The better AI gets, the more people will crave and pursue in-person connection. So we're vastly expanding our global, national and local events, and experimenting with hosting dinners and meet-ups in communities big and small. The Axios Social Club recently brought together more than 1,300 readers in 40 Axios Local markets for dinner with their neighbors. That's the power of Axios in real life. What won't change: Journalism is only valuable when it's trusted, useful and illuminating. Only reporters can get people to share or leak information, fully understand the nuance of sources and stories, demand accountability, and offer deep analysis based on both data and person-to-person interactions. We have a responsibility, even a moral obligation, to protect and expand this vital reporting. A world changing at AI speed demands this.

> Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returns from exile; President Donald Trump does not indicate foreknowledge while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio credits US reconciliation talks (More) > Shooting near Florida A&M University's football stadium wounds at least 12 people, including six children; fight reportedly broke out prior to the shooting, police say (More) > France arrests more than 1,000 people amid confrontations between demonstrators and authorities in several cities over the weekend (More) | See photos (More)

> US stock markets close down (S&P 500 -0.5%, Dow -1.2%, Nasdaq -0.2%) as oil prices stay near five-month high | See gas prices in your state (More) > Audi will build first US factory in Georgia, President Donald Trump announces; $4.2B plant to produce 200,000 SUVs per year beginning in early 2030s (More) > Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady this week, analysts say, in final meeting before next week's midterm elections | The Fed 101 (More, w/video)

> Milwaukee Brewers score five unanswered runs in Game 2 of the World Series, lead Tampa Bay 2-0 (More) | UCF beats No. 2 BYU in double overtime; only three college football teams (No. 1 Miami, No. 6 Utah, No. 7 UCLA) remain undefeated, the fewest at this point in the season since 1977 (More) > Meghan Markle's estranged father under investigation in the Philippines for possession of child sexual abuse material; Markle's letter to her father says she was aware of prior allegations (More) > "Clayface" takes top spot at the weekend box office, pulling in $24M in North America; the origin story of a Batman supervillain, movie is the latest in the revamped DC Extended Universe

October 26, 2026 Of the Lord by the Prophet “And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.” (Matthew 2:15) What can this gospel writer’s phrase “spoken of the Lord by the prophet” teach us about how to read the Bible? We discover a clear pointer to interpreting Scripture and thus can have confidence that we can correctly understand what God is saying. The pointer comes from Matthew’s emphasis on the prophet’s words as expressing what the Lord spoke. In today’s text, Matthew did not say that the prophet (Hosea) invented the message or that it merely might have included some divine content. Who said those words—the Lord or Hosea? Apparently, both! Hosea and the rest of the prophets wrote down the exact words the Lord wanted to say. Fallible humans got to participate in the process of recording infallible words through this miracle of divine inspiration. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). Matthew’s confidence that Hosea penned the speech of God Himself can give us the same assurance. Other Bible authors reinforce this. The prophet Daniel wrote, “In the first year of [Darius’s] reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem” (9:2). Here again we see complete confidence that a prophet—in this case Jeremiah—wrote down “the word of the LORD,” not words that any mere man made up. Rest assured that the prophets who penned their portions of Scripture wrote our Lord’s exact words. BDT

Selfies now cause more deaths than shark attacks. It is estimated that there are 28 selfie-related deaths per year, with the leading cause being heights. James

Bodycam: Cop Was Not in Danger When He Fired Shots That Killed 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley After the Mississippi attorney general cleared a white cop for firing into a car and killing a Black toddler in a Walmart parking lot, video footage released by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety has revealed the fullest picture to date of what happened. https://theintercept.com/2026/10/23/kohen-wiley-body-camera-police-shooting-justification/? The Stakes of Brazil’s Presidential Election Brazilians will head to the polls on Sunday in one of the most consequential presidential elections of the last decade. The run-off election will determine the future of the largest democracy in Latin America and the fate of the Amazon rainforest. https://theintercept.com/2026/10/23/brazil-president-election-lula-bolsonaro-meta/? Giant Crypto Super PAC Funnels Big Money to Former Trump Official’s Firm to Support… Democrats? The Fellowship PAC, a super PAC fueled by crypto industry cash that once lavished praise on Donald Trump, is making a surprising pivot. https://theintercept.com/2026/10/23/crypto-donations-democrats-elections-bo-hines/? The Spirit of “Party Unity, My Ass” Is Back and Coming for the DSA (and El-Sayed) The PUMA spirit is back. The 2008 Democratic Party protest movement, inflamed by what Hillary Clinton supporters viewed as Barack Obama stealing the nomination from their primary candidate, scorned his general election campaign and embraced the mantra “Party Unity, My Ass.” https://theintercept.com/2026/10/24/centrist-democrats-dsa-el-sayed/? Hegseth Built a New Pentagon Office for Religion. Military Religious Leaders Wish He Hadn’t. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has extended a line for the military’s religious leaders to reach him directly — and current and former military chaplains say they don’t want it. https://theintercept.com/2026/10/25/hegseth-military-christian-religion/? The Intercept Live in Conversation With Robert Reich Democrats may be ahead in the polls. But can they withstand billions in campaign spending by Elon Musk and other MAGA oligarchs? Will the election be safe from intimidation and interference? And even if they do prevail, what would a Democratic Congress actually do to obstruct Trump’s attacks on democracy? https://theintercept.com/2026/10/23/robert-reich-live-midterm-elections-democracy/? Mamdani’s High-Wire Balancing Act Between ICE and NYPD Can’t Last The October 8 shooting of Oscar Belgal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in front of his 5-year-old son in Manhattan forced into the open a question that had been on many New Yorkers’ minds: What would the New York Police Department do when ICE broke the “rule of law” in the city, and how would Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the person who has the power to hire and fire the NYPD commissioner, respond? https://theintercept.com/2026/10/22/mamdani-tisch-ice-shooting-nypd/?

Starlink Slowdown Standoff Elon Musk accused Ukraine on Saturday of violating Starlink rules by using the technology for offensive drones. The remarks are Musk’s first acknowledgment of an active role in restricting Kyiv’s satellite communications system this month. Starlink is a civilian communications service, while its counterpart, Starshield, is a Pentagon-funded program. Ukraine relies on both systems in its war with Russia but denies the ability to use Starlink for offensive capabilities. When Ukraine first reported communications disruptions, Musk suggested the US government directed the slowdown. A Reuters report indicated the decision came from the White House amid tensions over Ukraine’s targeting of Russian oil infrastructure (see previous write-up). US officials denied the allegations. President Donald Trump reportedly called Musk last week requesting SpaceX restore Ukraine’s full access to Starlink and Starshield; Ukraine has confirmed both systems are functioning normally. Trilateral negotiations between the US, Russia, and Ukraine are due to resume next month. See war updates here. ps:I know who I believe and it ain't Musk!!!!! Ukraine disputes Elon Musk's claim that its military violated Starlink's terms of service Ukrainian officials have disputed claims by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk that the country’s military violated Starlink’s terms of service by using the civilian satellite internet network for offensive drone strikes. Read More. ps:Elon is getting the same rep as trump! Can't believe a word these guys have to say!!

Thousands protest in Prague as government advances public media funding overhaul Czechs rallied in big numbers in Prague on Sunday to renew protests against a plan by the government led by billionaire Andrej Babiš to overhaul funding for public broadcasters that many consider dangerous for their independence. Read More.

✳️ The Shapiro asterisk Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Mark Makela/Getty Images 💪 Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is an electoral juggernaut in America's biggest swing state — and he's widely seen as a likely contender for president in 2028. But strategists in both parties are questioning how tested he really is. Shapiro's success — he's cruised to victory in multiple statewide races — has come with an asterisk: He hasn't faced a well-financed opponent in recent contests, leading some political insiders to see him as more of a wildcard than his resume suggests. 🤔 Why it matters: Shapiro's unfamiliarity with intense, bruising campaigns could become a liability in the 2028 Democratic primary, where if he was a top candidate, he'd be confronted with a barrage of attack ads, opposition research and rivals with deep pockets. A plugged-in Democratic operative in Pennsylvania suggested that because of Shapiro's lack of being tested, "it is totally possible that he has an incredible glass jaw — and that he is the Scott Walker of 2028." Walker was the swing-state Wisconsin governor who looked good on paper as a potential presidential candidate but flopped after entering the 2016 GOP primary. Zoom in: In next week's election, Shapiro is running for a second four-year term as the Keystone State's governor. He's on pace to defeat Republican challenger Stacy Garrity by double digits, according to the latest polls. The money gap is gargantuan: Shapiro has dropped $42 million on campaign ads, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Garrity, the state's treasurer, has spent just $3 million on ads — a drop in the ocean in a state as large as Pennsylvania, with its expensive advertising markets. It's not that Garrity prefers, say, door-knocking to TV ads. She's just outmatched: Campaign finance reports show she's only raised about $11 million this cycle, compared with Shapiro's $64 million. Making matters worse for Garrity, the Republican Governors Association (RGA) has not come to her rescue on the airwaves. ⛸️ Christopher Nicholas, a longtime GOP strategist in Pennsylvania, said the dynamic has "allowed Shapiro to skate with essentially having a one-sided campaign." "A lot of people think he has a glass chin because he's never really had a million dollars of negative TV shoved down his throat in a week," Nicholas said. Zoom out: Shapiro caught a break when he first ran for governor in 2022 against Republican Doug Mastriano, a far-right state senator widely viewed as a historically weak candidate disliked even by the GOP establishment. Mastriano, who was strapped for cash, spent just $2 million on ads that year. Shapiro and his allies spent $55 million. A conservative outside group invested $8 million on advertising in the election but abandoned the race that September after Shapiro embraced school vouchers, a priority for many on the right. The RGA stayed out of the race. In both of his gubernatorial contests, Shapiro has run unopposed in the Democratic primaries, leaving him with little experience of intra-party electoral battles. It was a similar story when Shapiro twice was elected as Pennsylvania's attorney general. He vastly outspent his Republican opponents. 🗣️ What they're saying: Shapiro's allies argue that he's had token opposition precisely because he's a formidable candidate — that more talented Republicans don't want to waste their time and money running against such a hard-to-beat opponent with big fundraising chops. The governor has also sometimes cut off his GOP rivals' money spigots by courting Republican donors. "Sun Tzu was always about picking the battle you want to fight," said Doc Sweitzer, a Pennsylvania Democratic ad maker. "Josh has an incredible skill of picking the opponents." Asked for comment, Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder said: "Winning elections in Pennsylvania and putting a check on Donald Trump is the only thing we're focused on — and believe it or not, it's harder than sitting at home giving unnamed quotes to Axios." Shapiro is far from the only potential Democratic presidential candidate who hasn't squared off against a top-notch statewide Republican candidate. Possible White House hopefuls from deep-blue territory — such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — or with little experience defeating Republicans statewide, like former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have either never run in or never won remotely competitive general elections. Read more. — Holly Otterbein