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No Appointment Needed (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call / Getty)   View in browser Last week, the White House announced the withdrawal of Lance Schroyer, President Trump’s nominee to direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No explanation was offered, though Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper and a confidant of Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, had been criticized for lack of experience in immigration and in leading large organizations. In some ways, a vacancy atop ICE is normal: The agency hasn’t had a Senate-confirmed leader since the day Trump took office in 2017. But the lack of a permanent director is especially notable right now because of the emphasis Trump has put on immigration and the major operations ICE has undertaken during his second term. In the absence of a director, leadership has been split between an acting director, the so-called border czar Tom Homan, the secretary, and the Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller; the administration’s tactics have been volatile, changing often and abruptly. Among many other scandals, ICE agents keep shooting people, some of them American citizens. The department has struggled to recruit and train qualified agents to conduct the mass deportations Trump wants. The vacuum at the top has allowed loose cannons such as the Border Patrol officer Gregory Bovino to (temporarily) seize huge authority. Probably no director could calm all of these problems, but the lack of a Senate-confirmed leader cannot help instill discipline and organization. This is not an isolated case. Trump has stridently attacked what he calls the “deep state,” the corps of permanent civil servants whom the president and some of his aides believe are either layabouts or liberal saboteurs, who, regardless, are determined to bog down his agenda. Using this dubious claim as a basis, the administration has struck serious blows against the civil service. Hundreds of thousands of employees have been fired or pushed out, protections have been eliminated, and there are plans to convert many positions into political appointments. Yet layered above the supposed deep state is what we might call the shallow state: the class of employees who are appointed by each new administration, some subject to Senate confirmation and others not. By intention or negligence, Trump has also left the shallow state riddled with vacancies. The Partnership for Public Service tracks 823 top appointed roles and finds that Trump hasn’t even nominated people for 244 of them. Some of the most notable vacancies are for jobs that would have a central role in implementing Trump’s priorities. The most glaring case is the Pentagon. The United States is currently sinking deeper into a war with Iran. The president cannot consistently define objectives; no one can explain how or when the war might end, with or without U.S. victory, and the global economy is trembling. But the Defense Department is dealing with this growing crisis with many major jobs open. The department has no secretary of the Army, since Dan Driscoll resigned after feuding with Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Army also has no chief of staff, its top position, after Hegseth forced out General Randy George; senators of both parties are skeptical of Christopher LaNeve, whom Hegseth wants to replace George. Hegseth has ordered a 20 percent reduction in the number of four-star positions, so that allotted positions are left open. The U.S. reportedly faces a serious shortage of munitions, which will take years to fix, but Trump has no assistant secretary for acquisition and no nominee for the role. The rest of the national-security and foreign-policy apparatus is also understaffed. The National Counterterrorism Center, which coordinates federal-government efforts to fight terror, has had no director since Joe Kent resigned in protest of the Iran war (not that Kent, a conspiracy theorist with fringe views, was a wise choice to lead NCTC in the first place). Despite being embroiled in a war in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. has no ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, or Iraq; it also doesn’t have an ambassador in Yemen, where a rebel group has grabbed some control over another waterway. The U.S. is treating Venezuela as a de facto colony but has no ambassador in Caracas. The president wants to end the war in Ukraine, but he has not sent an ambassador to either Kyiv or Moscow, preferring to rely on the envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law. To be sure, some of the vacancies in the executive branch are a result of Trump’s desire to eliminate or hamstring bodies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Education, and the Federal Election Commission. But plenty of other posts remain unfilled despite their jobs being directly connected to top Trump priorities. Since Todd Blanche was promoted to attorney general, leading the conversion of the Justice Department into a political weapon, Trump has not named a replacement to serve as deputy attorney general. He has proposed major changes to the 2030 census, but the Census Bureau does not have a director. Likewise, he wants to reorganize the National Park Service, but no one has been nominated to lead it. The administration is wrestling with serious water shortages in western reservoirs, but since it withdrew its nominee to head the Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees dams, a year ago, no new commissioner has been named. The Trump administration is, I have written, pushing a kind of big-government conservatism. Trump’s agenda seeks to wield the power of the state more aggressively and intrusively than any other Republican presidency in memory. Some of those efforts have been chillingly effective, but Trump’s undermining of both the shallow and the deep states means that his government struggles to execute even on his most cherished initiatives. That’s bad news for Trump’s agenda, but it might be good news for democracy. Related: Dan Driscoll’s parting shot ICE after Minneapolis

Protests against war crimes verdicts add pressure on Kosovo's government Daily protests in Kosovo against war crimes convictions for former rebel commanders spread throughout the Balkan country on Friday, adding pressure on the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who has faced a monthslong political crisis. Read More.

From Gaza to Sudan to Nepal, more than 500 million children are in desperate need of education In a stifling sixth grade classroom in war-torn Sudan, a very motivated teacher was giving a lesson to 120 very committed children. Among them: an 18-year-old girl uprooted three years ago by fighting, forced into marriage and motherhood too soon, but determined to finish her education. Read More.

Federal court says Pentagon can label Anthropic a supply chain risk In the latest twist in Anthropic's dispute with the Pentagon, a federal appeals court on Friday rejected the artificial intelligence lab's challenge to the government's labeling of it as a supply chain risk. Read More.

With ethnic and historical considerations, rebranding nations is harder than renaming products Five years ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the world to stop confusing the heirs to one of history’s great empires with a ridiculous American bird. Read More.

A data-sharing clause derailed US-Zimbabwe health talks. Now all funding ends this month The United States will end funding for Zimbabwe’s health programs at the end of September following the collapse of negotiations over a U.S.-proposed deal that Zimbabwe rejected in part over a requirement to share sensitive health data, the U.S. Embassy said Friday. Read More.

CEO pay surged in 2025 Our latest analysis finds that CEO pay rose 14.0% at the top 350 U.S. firms in 2025 as the CEO-to-worker pay ratio hit 325-to-1. https://www.epi.org/blog/ceo-pay-surged-in-2025-ceos-are-paid-325-times-as-much-as-the-typical-worker/? Wage suppression in 10 charts Wages for typical workers have been largely suppressed since the 1970s. The 10 charts below tell that story. https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-suppression-in-10-charts/?

Tasia Fortune’s hanging was ‘staged’ after her death in a drug dispute, Mississippi police say JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Tasia Fortune was apparently killed in a drug dispute before her body was hung in a tree in a “staged” scene behind an abandoned home in the Mississippi capital this summer, a detective testified Friday. https://apnews.com/article/tasia-fortune-hanging-mississippi-death-hearing-95846bd8696ac741c26edd6db72a98d8?

🗳️ The Supreme Court is letting the Trump administration use a modified program to verify voters' citizenship status for now, handing the administration a last-minute win in its campaign for new election rules ahead of the midterms. Go deeper. Supreme Court rejects a Trump-backed Missouri congressional map for the third time JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday turned away an attempt to use a new Missouri congressional map backed by President Donald Trump, putting an end to a long-running legal dispute as absentee voting is underway in the midterm elections. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-missouri-redistricting-congressional-map-3f43ba5f47681ea759115fbc250712d4?

🏛️ GOP House danger deepens Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios House Republicans are on track to lose their majority during the midterms, Axios' Kate Santaliz reports from a new forecast. Cook Political Report shifted 15 House races toward Democrats today — the latest sign that the political environment is deteriorating for Republicans. 🪑 Democrats only need a net gain of three seats to take the majority. Cook now projects that Democrats are most likely to gain between five and 15 seats, which would give them a 220-230-seat majority. 🖼️ The big picture: Republicans have been arguing that redistricting and a sizable financial advantage give them more breathing room. But Cook says new Democratic maps in California and Utah are largely offsetting Republicans' redistricting gains elsewhere. Go deeper ... Explore the report.

Stormy weekend ahead Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios A powerful nor'easter is expected to drench the Northeast U.S. this weekend, while Hawaii braces for the potentially life-threatening effects of Hurricane Nolo. In a rare rhyming tropical duet in the Pacific, Hurricane Nolo is nearing Hawaii while Hurricane Polo threatens Mexico's coast. ⛈️ Coastal New Jersey, New York and New England could be particularly hard-hit by the slow-moving and long-lasting nor'easter. Rainfall totals will depend on the storm's track, but officials throughout the area are preparing for the worst. 💨 Strong winds and coastal flooding are major threats as well. Power outages are possible. The storm could also snarl operations at key airports in the area, including JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and Boston Logan. Airlines are already offering free flight changes. 🌀 Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center is warning of possible "catastrophic and life-threatening flooding" on Hawaii's Big Island tied to Hurricane Nolo. Nolo's center is expected to stay offshore. But forecasters are still warning of 10-15 inches of rain for some parts of the Big Island, with the potential for up to 25. It's forecast to become a major hurricane by tomorrow afternoon. The NHC says: "This rainfall could produce catastrophic life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain." Storm surge is also a major risk, especially if Nolo lines up with high tide. Nor'easter forecast ... Hurricane Nolo forecast.

Supreme Court lets Trump administration use revamped federal voter eligibility database for now NEW YORK (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday lifted restrictions on a controversial federal voter database before November’s elections, granting President Donald Trump a temporary win in his aggressive campaign against noncitizen voting. https://apnews.com/article/save-database-noncitizen-voters-trump-supreme-court-412e12f5a492dd20e407812f30f7c139? 🇨🇳 President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to halt any assistance to Iran when the two spoke during his state visit, U.S. Ambassador to Beijing David Perdue said today. More from Barak Ravid. A White House press ban was lifted this week. But the tensions and legal battle aren't over yet Journalists from three news outlets that President Donald Trump banned from White House grounds are back at the executive complex with TV cameras, laptops and microphones in hand. Read More.

🎉 Yahoo! It's Friday! You made it. Keep it 100: For the first time in franchise history, the Brewers have won 100 games, and for the second year in a row, they've clinched the No. 1 overall seed. In today's edition: MLB regular-season finale, Falcons rout Packers on "TNF," PCA joins 40/40 club, "Behind the Lens," the WNBA playoffs are here, college football's stacked slate, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚾️ 40/40: Pete Crow-Armstrong swiped his 40th base in the Cubs' playoff-clinching win on Thursday, becoming the seventh player in MLB history with 40 HR and 40 SB in a season. The other six: José Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Alfonso Soriano (2006), Ronald Acuña Jr. (2023) and Shohei Ohtani (2024). 🏈 Falcons 35, Packers 14: Atlanta, which entered Thursday's game 0-2 with just 16 points scored, absolutely hammered Green Bay in Michael Penix Jr.'s season debut behind monster games from Bijan Robinson (213 total yards, 2 TD) and Drake London (9 catches, 194 yards). ⚾️ Spence goes off: Astros rookie Lucas Spence hit the first three home runs of his career in Thursday's win over the A's, becoming the third player in MLB history to hit his first three homers in the same game, and the second this season alone (Cardinals LF Joshua Báez). 🥊 Fight of the year: Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, British heavyweight champions who've been flirting with a bout for nearly a decade, will finally enter the ring together on Dec. 11 in Wales for one of the most highly anticipated fights in years. 🍿 "Madden" trailer: The first trailer for "Madden," the upcoming biopic starring Nicolas Cage as John Madden and Christian Bale as Al Davis, was released on Thursday. The film, directed by David O. Russell ("American Hustle," "The Fighter"), comes out on Nov. 11.   ⚾️ SEASON FINALE BIG NUMBERS: MLB EDITION The Cubs were one of five teams to clinch a playoff spot on Thursday. (Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images) There are just three days left in the MLB regular season, but there's lots to play for with seeding and playoff spots still up for grabs, and plenty of individual milestones within reach. Here's some of what we'll be watching for over the weekend. 2 spots left After Thursday's clinching bonanza, when the Cubs, White Sox, Guardians and Padres all secured a trip to the playoffs, just two postseason spots remain unclaimed: the AL West champion and one NL Wild Card. AL West: Somehow, either the Rangers (79-80) or Astros (79-80) will not only make the postseason, but host a series. Whichever one does is guaranteed, at best, to tie the 2005 Padres (82-80) as the worst division winner in MLB history. NL Wild Card: The Phillies (87-72) are in pole position to finish the job, but the Diamondbacks (85-74, 2GB) are still alive thanks to an incredibly timely five-game winning streak. Can the Snakes complete the comeback? Wild stat: This is just the third non-shortened season ever in which the Cubs and White Sox both made the playoffs. In 1906 they met in the World Series (White Sox won), and in 2008 neither won a series. How will they fare in 2026? (Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images) 110 RBIs Pete Alonso has 41 home runs and an AL-best 110 RBIs in his first season with the Orioles. If that last part holds (Yordan Alvarez is second, with 102), he'll become the first player in MLB history to lead both leagues in RBIs after first doing so with the Mets in 2022. Generational slugger: Alonso — whose 822 RBIs lead MLB by a wide margin since his 2019 debut — has never hit fewer than 34 homers in a non-shortened season, and he's now gone yard 305 times in his career. That's the third-most ever in a player's first eight seasons, trailing only Ralph Kiner (329) and Albert Pujols (319). (Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images) .315/41/102 Speaking of Yordan Alvarez, the Astros DH is firmly on Triple Crown watch. He leads the AL with a .315 batting average (Rays LF Chandler Simpson is second, at .308), is tied for first with 41 HR, and is second to Alonso in RBIs (110 to 102). Rare feat: If the big lefty can pull it off, he'll join Miguel Cabrera (2012) as the only players to win the Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. Even before Yaz, the club wasn't all that big, with just eight additional players winning the Triple Crown since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920. Max and Justin with the Tigers in 2013. (Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) 3,554 to 3,550 Justin Verlander, sitting on 3,554 strikeouts (8th-most all-time), will make the final start of his legendary career tomorrow for the Tigers. Max Scherzer, just behind him with 3,550 strikeouts, has lobbied to pitch on short rest on Sunday for the Blue Jays in what may very well end up being the final start of his career, too. Reading the tea leaves: Scherzer, 42, has not announced his retirement, but he has a 6.14 ERA and said on Wednesday that he'll "probably say something here in the next couple of days" about his future. It sure sounds like he wants one more start at home, and the chance to catch Verlander on the strikeout leaderboard, before ending his own Hall of Fame career. (Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) 223 strikeouts White Sox SS Colson Montgomery has struck out 223 times this year, tying Mark Reynolds' MLB record from 2009 for the most in a season. The young slugger, who also has 31 homers and 87 RBIs, will almost certainly break that unwanted record this weekend. Another name to watch in this space? Kyle Schwarber, who's just a few strikeouts behind (218). Three true outcomes: Both of those players are perfect examples of MLB's "three true outcomes." 53% of Schwarber's plate appearances this season have ended in a strikeout, walk or home run, while 49% of Montgomery's have. Those both rank in the top five among qualified hitters, alongside White Sox 1B Munetaka Murakami (59%), Nationals RF James Wood (50%) and Mariners C Cal Raleigh (49%).   📸 PHOTOGRAPHY BEHIND THE LENS (Tim Warner/Getty Images) Each week, Yahoo Sports AM goes "Behind the Lens" with Getty Images to share the stories behind the best photographs in sports. This week's photo: Ja'Marr Chase makes a sensational grab for a 32-yard touchdown in the Bengals' Week 2 win over the Texans. Photographer: Tim Warner Location: Houston, Texas Date: Sept. 20 Behind the lens: Take it away, Tim… A strong football photo needs peak action and a sense of place. This one has both: two All-Pro players, a toe-tap touchdown, and the pylon and sideline in the frame. Being ready to capture a photo like this is my job, but getting in position to do so took a little extra legwork. Once the ball crosses midfield I like to set up in the back corner of the end zone and follow the play with a long lens, knowing that if it comes to me, I'll switch to the shorter lens. That corner — about eight feet from the back of the end zone — is my favorite spot because the sideline and pylon help tell the story. When the Bengals started moving the ball on this drive, I was nowhere near that spot, and had to get to the other end of the field quickly. The television camera cart that tracks the play behind the benches was blocking the photographers, so I sprinted to the end zone and grabbed my favorite corner just as the play unfolded. The hard part was simply getting there in time with the TV cart in the way. I had no idea I was about to capture the day's most viral catch, though knowing the team does help you anticipate certain routes and tendencies. Sometimes you see it coming. Sometimes you just get blessed with the athleticism of the players in front of your lens. Equipment and technique: Tim shot this with a Canon EOS R1 and a Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Z lens. He used a shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second, with settings of f/2.8 and ISO 2500.   🏀 WNBA HERE COME THE PLAYOFFS (Yahoo Sports) The WNBA playoff matchups are set after Thursday's regular-season finale, with all four first-round series beginning on Sunday. No. 1 Lynx vs. No. 8 Liberty: Not all 1 vs. 8 matchups are created equal, and this one — a rematch of the 2024 Finals, won by New York — could be tougher than expected for Minnesota. No. 2 Valkyries vs. No. 7 Wings: Golden State's league-best defense (75.1 ppg) will be tasked with stopping Paige Bueckers and breakout veteran Jessica Shepard, who had a league-leading six triple-doubles this season. No. 3 Aces vs. No. 6 Fever: Vegas' journey to defending its title starts against Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and the highest-scoring offense in WNBA history (96.0 ppg). No. 4 Dream vs. No. 5 Mystics: Angel Reese's first playoff series comes against a red-hot Washington team that has won four straight and 16 of their last 20. Format: The first round is a best-of-three series in which the higher seed hosts Game 1 and, if necessary, Game 3.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WEEKEND WATCHLIST (Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 College Football Saturday For the first time in three years, there will be six games between ranked teams on the same day: No. 1 Texas at No. 14 Tennessee (12pm ET, ABC); No. 4 Ole Miss at No. 21 Florida (3:30pm, ABC); No. 17 Iowa at No. 18 Michigan (3:30pm, CBS); No. 23 Texas A&M at No. 10 LSU (7:30pm, ABC); No. 20 Oregon at No. 12 USC (7:30pm, NBC); No. 19 Missouri at No. 24 Mississippi State (7:45pm, SEC). Rare dogs: No. 4 Ole Miss is currently a 3.5-point underdog at No. 21 Florida. If that line holds, it will mark just the fifth time since 1978 that a top-five team was an underdog against a team outside the Top 20. The kicker? The previous four such teams went 0-4 both straight up and against the spread. 🏈 NFL Sunday The Week 3 headliner is being played in Brazil, where the Cowboys and Ravens will take the pitch at Rio de Janeiro's legendary Maracaña Stadium (4:25pm, CBS) despite concerns over the condition of the field. Best of the rest: The undefeated Bills host the winless Chargers (1pm, Fox), Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars host Drake Maye and the Patriots (1pm, CBS), the high-scoring Saints host the surprisingly 2-0 Raiders (4:25pm, CBS) and the Broncos host the Rams on "Sunday Night Football" (8:20pm, NBC). ⚾️ MLB Finale Whether your team has already booked a spot in the playoffs, will be fighting for one all weekend or has long since begun looking ahead to the offseason, this is your last chance to watch regular season baseball until at least next spring. Don't take it for granted. Series to watch: No matchup this weekend will have a greater impact than the one in San Diego, where the Padres host the Diamondbacks with the NL Wild Card on the line. Plus: the Phillies, also seeking the wild card, host the Rays, while the Rangers (at Twins) and Astros (at A's) battle for the AL West crown. ⛳️ 16th Presidents Cup Play continues this weekend at Medinah Country Club (Fri-Sun, Golf/NBC) after an opening day that saw the Americans eke out a narrow 3-2 lead over the International team. Reminder: 25 points are still up for grabs, and the first to 15.5 wins. Friday pairings: Today's schedule features five foursome matches (alternate shot), starting with Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns vs. Corey Conners and Nick Taylor (2:05pm). That's followed by Russell Henley/Jacob Bridgeman vs. Sungjae Im/Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa/Wyndham Clark vs. Ryan Fox/Min Woo Lee, Justin Thomas/Cameron Young vs. Adam Scott/Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele vs. Tom Kim/Si Woo Kim. 🎾 9th Laver Cup Big weekend for Cups! This one, between Team Europe and Team World, is being held at London's O2 Arena (Fri-Sun, Tennis), where 12 of the world's 22 best men's tennis players square off in the ninth edition of the annual competition. Format: There are four matches each day, with those on Friday worth one point each (3 singles, 1 doubles), those on Saturday worth two points each (3 singles, 1 doubles) and those on Sunday worth three points each (2 singles, 2 doubles). First team to 13 points wins. More to watch: 🏀 WNBA Playoffs: Game 1 … All four best-of-three series begin on Sunday, but the schedule hasn't been set as of Friday morning. ⚽️ Friendly: USMNT vs. Peru (Sat. 4:30pm, TNT) … Orlando hosts the Americans' first of four games during the international break. 🎾 Billie Jean King Cup: Finals (Fri-Sun, Tennis) … Spain vs. Czechia on Friday and Ukraine vs. Italy on Saturday. Winners meet in Sunday's final. 🏒 NHL Preseason: Stars at Wild (Fri. 8pm, TNT); Penguins at Sabres (Sat. 3pm, NHL); Blues at Blackhawks (Sat. 7pm, NHL); Sharks at Golden Knights (Sat. 10pm, NHL) … Final slate of preseason games before the season begins on Tuesday. 🏎️ F1: Azerbaijan Grand Prix (Sat. 7am, Apple) … Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli seeks a third straight victory to extend his lead atop F1. 🏁 NASCAR: Kansas Speedway (Sun. 3pm, USA) … Kyle Larson leads The Chase entering the fourth of 10 races. Plus: ⚽️ MLS Week 28 (Sat-Sun, Apple); ⚽️ NWSL Week 23 (Fri-Sun, Prime, ESPN, CBS); 🚴 Cycling World Championships (Sat-Sun, FloBikes); ⛳️ LPGA NW Arkansas Championship (Fri-Sun, Golf) Got plans this weekend? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   📚 GO DEEPER GOOD READS (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 Jori Epstein: After Jaxson Dart helped seal Giants recruitment of John Harbaugh, coach now faces bleak debut season Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart will undergo season-ending surgery to repair damage to his meniscus, MCL and PCL. His ACL is intact. Head coach John Harbaugh, whose appreciation for Dart strongly swayed his decision to join the Giants in January, is left to pick up the pieces of an offense now in the hands of Jameis Winston. (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports) 🥊 Elliot Worsell: Why don't fighters want to fight anymore? Of the 10 boxers who comprise Uncrowned's latest pound-for-pound rankings, only Jai Opetaia, the WBA "regular" cruiserweight champion, has so far boxed more than once in 2026, and only David Benavidez and Dmitry Bivol look set to box again before the year is out. That might be a cause for alarm if it wasn't now the norm. (Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports) 🏀 Kevin O'Connor: Must-watch Wizards? Trae Young, Anthony Davis, AJ Dybantsa and the NBA's weirdest group project The Wizards spent the past few years trying to lose. Now they're trying to win and develop players at the same time. Half the roster is young, the other half is old. But all of them are trying to figure out who they are. Welcome to the NBA's weirdest group project.   🔍 LET'S PLAY GUESS THE LOGO Question: Can you guess this zoomed in MLB logo? Hint: The logo depicts a city landmark. Answer at the bottom.   🏈 WHO YA GOT? MAKE YOUR PICKS! College Football Challenge is back for Week 4! Over 3,500 of you are in our group, and there's been some movement at the top with a trio of newcomers taking the lead over yours truly. But it's a crowded leaderboard with the top 50 separated by just two correct picks. How it works: As a reminder, you'll make 10 picks against the spread each week from Saturday's best matchups. Among your choices this week: No. 1 Texas (-5.5) at No. 14 Tennessee No. 17 Iowa (+5.5) at No. 18 Michigan No. 4 Ole Miss (+3.5) at No. 21 Florida No. 23 Texas A&M (+9.5) at No. 10 LSU No. 20 Oregon (-2.5) at No. 12 USC   Logo reveal: Philadelphia Phillies

Autism Speaks chair, managed care plans up on next ABA task force agenda A Florida task force that could reshape how the state provides therapy to children with special needs and autism is getting together again. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/24/autism-speaks-chair-managed-care-plans-up-on-next-aba-task-force-agenda/? DeSantis, Uthmeier announce arrests of 20 people in Florida for voter fraud Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier told reporters Thursday in Palm Beach County that state agents have arrested 20 people for voter fraud in Florida. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/24/desantis-uthmeier-announce-arrests-of-20-people-in-florida-for-voter-fraud/? Gov. DeSantis-appointed trial judge faces public reprimand for shooting comment A Second Judicial Circuit judge who made “intemperate and caustic comments” and lamented that he’d like to tell his deputy “to pull his gun and shoot” a trio of attorneys is being ordered to appear before the Florida Supreme Court for a public reprimand. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/24/gov-desantis-appointed-trial-judge-faces-public-reprimand-for-shooting-comment/?

A new flu shot for adults 50 and older Some older adults have a new flu shot option this year. In August, the FDA approved the nation’s first mRNA-based flu vaccine for use in people 50 and older. The vaccine, called mFlusiva, is now available at more than 13,000 locations across the US, according to drugmaker Moderna. A company trial found it was about 27% more effective than traditional flu vaccines during the 2024-25 respiratory virus season. The vaccine uses the same mRNA technology as Covid-19 shots, which could let manufacturers develop flu vaccines closer to the start of the season and better target the strains currently circulating. + Read more: The first mRNA flu vaccine is now available for older adults. Here’s what to know

Nvidia CEO weighs in on AI’s risks Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sits down for an exclusive interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has a particularly good view of the AI boom: His company dominates the market for the chips powering it and has stakes in leading AI labs, including OpenAI and Anthropic. In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Huang pushed back on calls to slow the AI race across the board. He said AI companies worried their systems are becoming unsafe should stop their own development, rather than asking the entire industry to slow down through government regulation. He also shared some advice for kids growing up alongside the technology: “Engage AI. Learn what it can do, don’t give up on it and make it work for you.” + Watch: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says competitors should ‘just stop’ AI if there is worry + His message to kids + Now streaming: Watch the full interview here

A focus on affordability Senate Republicans are scrambling to put affordability front and center in their messaging with fewer than 40 days until the midterm elections. Multiple people familiar with internal deliberations say a growing number of GOP lawmakers privately worry their majority is at risk as gas and grocery prices spike. The Senate agreed to return to Washington next week to consider a bill aimed at shielding consumers from electricity price hikes amid an AI data center boom, though Democrats argue the measure doesn’t go far enough. Some other members of the GOP are pushing for more aggressive steps, including suspending the federal gas tax or banning diesel exports, but the party remains divided over what would actually bring prices down. + Read more: Senate GOP eyes last-ditch push on affordability as fears deepen over midterm map + USAFacts: Are data centers driving up your electric bill? Explore what AI’s growing energy demands could mean for your wallet. Editor’s note: CNN has partnered with the not-for-profit USAFacts to share government data and insights that we believe are relevant to our audience.

East Coast eyes strengthening nor’easter A computer model forecast of the storm's location and wind speeds on Saturday morning. (CNN Weather) A rare September nor’easter is strengthening off the East Coast, with coastal flooding, strong winds and rough surf already hitting parts of the Mid-Atlantic. The storm is expected to track north and intensify throughout the weekend, bringing heavy rain and potentially damaging winds to millions across the Northeast, though its exact path remains uncertain. Even a small shift could determine how hard New York City is hit, with ripple effects likely for travel across the busy Northeast corridor. Forecasts also show the storm could dump up to a month’s worth of rain in parts of eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including Boston and Providence. + Read more: East Coast eyes strengthening nor’easter already battering Mid-Atlantic shores + Video: Nor’easter to affect 40 million people

A state visit, largely off camera President Donald Trump hosted a state dinner Thursday evening at the White House for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with both leaders speaking about the US-China relationship. It’s Xi and Trump’s second summit this year and the Chinese leader’s first visit to Washington in more than a decade as they navigate one of the world’s most consequential bilateral relationships. A state visit of this magnitude would typically receive extensive television coverage. This one, however, has taken place largely without video of Trump and Xi together. That’s because the TV pool that typically films the president’s events was in a holding pattern amid an ongoing dispute over White House press access. CNN, MS NOW and Politico were allowed back into the White House on Thursday after a judge temporarily blocked Trump’s ban on the three outlets, but that order lasts only 14 days. + Latest: CNN, MS NOW reporters denied access to Xi’s state dinner arrival + Analysis: The Trump-Xi meeting was heavy on pomp, light on substance

Fragment of World’s Oldest Peace Treaty Found On World Peace Day, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced a spectacular find from the world’s oldest surviving peace treaty. A portion of a tablet was discovered near the E building on Büyükkale, the site of the royal palace at the ancient Hittite capital of Hattusa (modern-day central Turkey). After a year of study, scholars identified it as part of a copy of the mid-13th century BCE treaty between the famed pharaoh Ramesses II and Hittite king Hattusili III. The fragment joins pieces of the Hittite version (written in Akkadian, the language of diplomacy at the time) already discovered at Hattusa, some of them during the earliest excavations of the site between 1906 and 1912. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/fragment-of-worlds-oldest-peace-treaty-found/?

More than 160,000 pounds of meat bearing false USDA inspection labels recalled NEW YORK (AP) — More than 83 tons of meat are being recalled across the U.S. because the products were not properly inspected by federal authorities and were shipped out with falsified inspection stickers, the Department of Agriculture said. https://apnews.com/article/meat-recall-star-fake-inspection-stickers-24a7674da2d6ecdbc05481e5e1f08748?

Pope warns a ‘paradise of machines’ could undermine humanity as he opens France trip PARIS (AP) — Pope Leo XIV warned Friday that a “paradise of machines” risked undermining humanity as he opened a trip to France by posing fundamental questions about what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence, a nuclear arms race and other threats to life itself. https://apnews.com/article/pope-france-macron-94939e325c39d0b34cc942a189c039a7? 🤖 Pope Leo XIV warned today that a "paradise of machines" risked undermining humanity, as he opened a trip to France by posing fundamental questions about what it means to be human in the AI age. Go deeper.

Renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia effectively shatters 2022 peace deal that ended war ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Renewed fighting between Ethiopian federal troops and Tigrayan fighters escalated Thursday, effectively shattering a peace pact that ended a devastating two-year war in 2022, as rebel forces mobilized for an armed struggle they hope will lead to the removal of the federal prime minister. https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-tigray-fighting-rebels-federal-troops-fbca7b22197dfd4d4d7438e2df224764?

She lived to see ‘Deb’s law’ take effect. Now she can choose how she dies CHICAGO (AP) — Deb Robertson counted the days, hoping she’d live long enough for a new Illinois law to go into effect that allows terminally ill people like her to use a lethal prescription to end their lives. https://apnews.com/article/medical-assistance-dying-religion-endoflife-fa8c6b2cb828695e2f492bda6597ee01?

FDA nominee says vaccines are safe despite Trump efforts to overhaul childhood shots WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration voiced support for the safety of long-established vaccines at a hearing Thursday, even as senators questioned her about the White House’s efforts to upend childhood immunizations. https://apnews.com/article/fda-heidi-overton-abortion-vaccines-trump-fd4ddb8923d3c2653e0c89e73cc2ac02? FDA panel endorses first-of-a-kind cancer blood test from Grail WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health advisers on Wednesday endorsed a blood test designed to spot signs of various cancers in apparently healthy people while warning that it’s far from clear how well the technology works. https://apnews.com/article/grail-test-cancer-fda-dna-8fc5480be365b59c450043daa38cad30?