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US Supreme Court allows gender-affirming care for trans people in federal prisons WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to implement a rule that would terminate gender-affirming care for transgender people incarcerated in federal prisons. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/21/repub/us-supreme-court-allows-gender-affirming-care-for-trans-people-in-federal-prisons/?

Despite earlier hesitation to campaign, DeSantis hosts event supporting Amendment 3 Gov. Ron DeSantis for more than an hour Wednesday sat at a table with Miami leaders in front of TV cameras and advocated for the proposed constitutional amendment to increase homestead property tax exemptions. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/21/despite-earlier-hesitation-to-campaign-desantis-hosts-event-supporting-amendment-3/? DeSantis’ congressional map was designed to flip 4 seats to the GOP — Will it? Among the four seats Florida Republicans are supposed to flip from the Democrats this year following their mid-cycle redistricting is Florida’s 22nd Congressional District in South Florida. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/21/desantis-congressional-map-was-designed-to-flip-4-seats-to-the-gop-will-it/? ps:Gerrymandering is what it's called!!!!! To avoid becoming roadkill, Florida panthers need critter crossings One of my favorite cartoons, drawn by a Pensacola artist named Jem Sullivan, shows a flock of sad-looking chickens gathered around a casket. The chicken minister delivering the eulogy says, “And though we’ll never know why Dave wanted to cross the road, we can rest assured that he is now, at last, on the Other Side.” https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/22/to-avoid-becoming-roadkill-florida-panthers-need-critter-crossings/? Bear killings skyrocket as garbage, bird feeders draw them into conflict Bears are having a very bad year. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/21/repub/bear-killings-skyrocket-as-garbage-bird-feeders-draw-them-into-conflict/?

👋 Good morning! Happy Hump Day. In today's edition: NBA Opening Day, McDavid is on fire, meet our new hire, World Series payrolls, Big Numbers, college football midseason awards, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏒 McDavid makes history: Oilers superstar Connor McDavid notched three more assists in Tuesday's 4-3 (OT) win over the Wild to reach 20 through just nine games, the fewest in NHL history to hit that mark. He's also the sixth player ever with at least 25 points (6 G, 20 A) before his 10th game of the season. 🏀 Gamecocks top poll: For the fifth time in the past seven years, South Carolina will head into the women's college basketball season as the No. 1 team in the nation. UConn, USC, Duke and Michigan rounded out the top five of the preseason AP poll. ⚽️ PSG wins thriller: PSG took down Barcelona, 4-2, in Tuesday's Champions League action, as the two-time reigning champions handed Barça their first loss of the season in an epic match that featured four goals in the final 20 minutes. ⚾️ Record ticket prices: The get-in price for Friday's World Series opener in Milwaukee currently sits at $2,442 (via Gametime), making it by far the most expensive Game 1 ever. The previous record? $1,125 for Cubs-Indians in 2016. 🏈 Union calls for investigation: After the NFL concluded it would not punish the Eagles for how they handled the process of clearing Jalen Hurts to play with a blood clot, the NFLPA has called for a full investigation into the situation.   The new NBA season is here. Get the free NBA App and never miss a beat. See where every game is on, tap straight into the live action and keep up with the latest scores, highlights and alerts for your favorite teams and players all season.   🏀 BACK IN ACTION IN PHOTOS: NBA OPENING DAY (Sarah Stier/Getty Images) New York, New York The Knicks left Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night with shiny new championship rings, but the 76ers walked away with the win, spoiling the banner-raising celebration in the Big Apple with a 106-100 victory. LeBron finally wins debut: For the first time in his 24-year career, LeBron James won his first game with a new team (previously 0-4, including his second stint with the Cavs). He flirted with a triple-double (14-9-7) in 34 minutes, and connected with fellow newcomer Jaylen Brown on an alley-oop. Cade Cunningham put up 22 points and 8 assists in the comeback win. (Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) Detroit, Michigan The Pistons stormed back from a 22-point third-quarter deficit (and rattled off a 23-0 run in the fourth) to beat the Celtics, 121-113, in the matinee. The dizzying victory marked the largest comeback on the first day of an NBA season in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98). Historic in defeat: Paul George erupted for 38 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals, setting the record for the most points in a Celtics debut. He also nailed seven threes, bringing his career total to 2,456 and passing Kyle Korver (2,450) for eighth-most all-time. (Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) San Antonio, Texas Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32 points) and the Thunder beat the Spurs, 116-104, in the nightcap, reminding the league of their championship pedigree in a statement-making opening win. This was a stubborn, veteran group that looked more prepared, more ready for the moment. Yikes, Wemby: The Thunder limited Victor Wembanyama to just 12 points and one made field goal (1-13 FG, 10-12 FT). "I need to go back to playing the basketball I like," said the preseason MVP favorite. "I'm good when I have fun … I was indecisive, overthinking it."   👋 MEET AND GREET WHO'S THE NEW GUY? Greetings, Yahoo Sports AM readers! If you've noticed a new person bombarding you with charts and data lately, allow me to introduce myself — I'm Neil Paine. I used to be the Sports Editor at FiveThirtyEight (RIP), and before that I worked as an analytics consultant for the Atlanta Hawks, wrote a weekly baseball column for The New York Times and worked for the Sports-Reference family of websites at their church-based HQ in Philly. Ever since, I've been running my own Substack while also writing for places like ESPN, NASCAR.com, Sherwood News, The Athletic and The Philadelphia Inquirer. I'm super excited to add Y! Sports AM to that list. The common thread running through it all is trying to understand sports through numbers — tracking historical data, building power ratings and forecast models, and creating cool data visualizations that help tell those stories in new ways. I'm constantly watching games in split-screen on my handy laptop (including Celtics-Pistons as I type this on Tuesday, lol), but my mind is usually wandering toward the larger patterns behind what we're watching, and how we can measure and convey them in ways that reveal something we might otherwise miss. Of course, I try to approach things with a sense of humor as well, leaning into the absurdity of the sports we love. I believe in taking the analysis seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. But above all, I hope to bring a spirit of curiosity that helps us learn more about this endlessly fascinating world of sports. I'm always looking for new questions I want to answer, and if I can get you wondering about some of those same things, I'll consider that a job well-done. So thanks for reading — and I hope I can help you see your favorite games in a slightly different light along the way.   ⚾️ LABOR BATTLE AND THEN THERE WERE TWO Did you hear that the World Series is a matchup of small-payroll teams? If, by some miracle, that narrative has eluded you, consider this your Lloyd Christmas "We landed on the moon!" moment. Uncharted waters: This is the first matchup this century featuring two teams ranked in the bottom half of league payrolls. Whoever claims the title will be the stingiest winner since the 2003 Marlins. You get the idea: We won't belabor a point that has undermined a matchup of each league's best team. The tale of the tape is clear, but what does a battle of baseball's have-nots mean (if anything) for the sport's future at this critical juncture? The game within the game: The timing of a comparatively thrifty World Series matchup could hardly be worse for owners, who have extolled the virtues of a salary cap in creating greater competitive balance. This story was written by Dylan Dittrich, who authors our new sports business newsletter.   💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS (Yahoo Sports) 🏈 105.6 passer rating Now that he's passed the threshold to qualify (1,500 pass attempts), 49ers QB Brock Purdy owns the highest passer rating in NFL history (105.6), well ahead of Lamar Jackson in second place (102.7). Not bad for the former "Mr. Irrelevant," picked last in the 2022 NFL Draft. MVP race: Purdy (+225 at BetMGM) — who's lighting it up for the undefeated 49ers with a 118.1 passer rating, 15 total TDs and just two interceptions — only slightly trails Bills QB Josh Allen (+190) as the betting favorite to win MVP. Patrick Mahomes (+900), Trevor Lawrence (+1100) and Joe Burrow (+1300) round out the top five. (Taylar Sievert/Yahoo Sports) 🏀 5.44 points Yahoo Sports' Ben Fawkes asked oddsmakers to rank the most important NBA players against the spread (ATS). The prompt: "If a player wasn't on the injury report and then was declared out before the game, how much would the line move?" Nikola Jokić (5.44 points) led the way for the third straight year, though Victor Wembanyama (4.86) is closing the gap. Other notable names: Steph Curry (3.96) is the first name off the list above; LeBron James (1.92) is all the way down in 36th, behind new Sixers teammates Joel Embiid (2.84), Tyrese Maxey (2.70) and Jaylen Brown (2.22); Cam Boozer (1.14), tied for 63rd, leads the way among rookies. (Yahoo Sports) ⚾️ 78 seasons The Guardians' ALCS exit means they've now gone 78 seasons since their last World Series title (1948), the longest active drought in MLB and tied with the NFL's Cardinals for the longest across the "Big Four" leagues. Arizona's drought will, however, pass Cleveland's assuming it doesn't win the Super Bowl this season. Look away, Clevelanders: The Guardians' drought has spanned 17 playoff appearances, breaking a tie with the Braves for the most consecutive trips to the postseason without winning it all. (Yes, 17 appearances in 78 years is pretty sparse, though 16 of them have come since 1995.)   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21 Angel Reese defends Gabby Williams during Game 2. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) 🏀 WNBA Finals, Game 3 The Dream host the Valkyries tonight (8pm ET, USA) after tying the series at one game apiece. And thanks to a schedule change that moved the game up a day, they'll play at the 17,000-seat State Farm Arena instead of their usual 3,500-seat venue, which is the smallest in the WNBA. Elite company: Dream star Angel Reese erupted for 30 points and 16 rebounds in Game 2, joining Jonquel Jones (2019) and Breanna Stewart (2020) as the only players in league history to drop 30 and 15 in the Finals. ⚽️ U.S. Open Cup Final The Columbus Crew host St. Louis City SC (8pm, CBSSN) in the finale of America's oldest ongoing soccer competition. Columbus seeks its second title (2002), while St. Louis, a 2019 expansion team, seeks its first. Proud history: St. Louis City may have never won the U.S. Open Cup, but teams from St. Louis have won 11 times, second only to New York City (23). Yes, but: The last such win came 38 years ago, by far the city's longest drought in the tournament's 112-year history. Can the Gateway City ascend to the top of the sport again? 🏀 NBA Doubleheader After Tuesday's three-game opening salvo, tonight brings a full 11-game slate, headlined by a doubleheader on ESPN: Timberwolves at Heat (7:30pm) and Warriors at Lakers (10pm). Debuts to watch: Giannis Antetokounmpo's first game in a Heat uniform after spending his first 13 seasons with the Bucks is tonight's main event. But we've also got LaMelo Ball (Timberwolves) and Walker Kessler (Lakers) debuting with new teams. More to watch: ⚽️ Champions League: Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal (3pm, Paramount+) … The reigning German and English champions headline today's nine-game slate. 🏒 NHL: Flyers at Sabres (7:30pm, TNT); Panthers at Senators (7:30pm, ESPN+) … Florida already became the first team in NHL history to have a player record a natural hat trick in three straight games. Can they make it four in a row? 🏀 NCAAM: No. 11 Louisville at No. 17 Kansas (7pm, ESPNU) … Tonight's exhibition features Jayhawks newcomer Tyran Stokes, the top-rated recruit in the freshman class. Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   ⚾ LET'S PLAY WORLD SERIES TRIVIA (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) The Rays are one of five American League teams to make at least three World Series appearances (2008, 2020, 2026) since the year 2000. Question: Can you name the other four? Hint: No AL Central teams. Answer at the bottom.   🏈 COLLEGE FOOTBALL MIDSEASON AWARDS (Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports) We are somehow already halfway through the college football season. Our experts offer up their Heisman picks, title predictions, biggest surprises and more.   Trivia answer: Yankees (5x), Astros (4x), Red Sox (4x), Rangers (3x)

Some homosexuals mistakenly assume that being married somehow sanctifies their sexual relationship. Like making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Working on the HIV unit of a major medical center, I met a patient with end stage disease, a death sentence in those days. His lover had died recently. He knew he was next. During a conversation, he said, "I'm gay. If people don't like it, they can go F* themselves." Ironic that a man with a terminal illness had a "healthy" view of life. He didn't need the approval of others to be who he was, no church, no mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam [gay marriage illegal then]. I gave him a copy of Steps to Christ, a book he later spoke highly of. Hope to see him in heaven.

October 22, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. Fights between rallygoers and protesters interrupted President Trump at an appearance in South Carolina last night. And doctors said that Pope Leo needs no further treatment for lung cancer. There’s a lot more below. But first, I’m going to turn to Mike Bender, who covers the Trump administration, to tell us about how Title IX keeps changing. At Cornell University this month. Lauren Petracca for The New York Times A shifting standard By Michael C. Bender Cornell has a process for complaints like the one from Jane Doe, the pseudonymous former Cornell student who says seven men raped her at a frat party. All universities do. It’s called a Title IX investigation, and its purpose is to figure out whether and how much to punish the accused. That might surprise people who know Title IX for something else — building up women’s sports in the United States. And now Trump’s vision for the law, too, has expanded beyond athletics and sexual misconduct. His administration is using it to prevent the government from recognizing genders besides men and women. Title IX is just one provision in a 1972 education law. The provision was not the main concern of the lawmakers who passed the bill. President Richard Nixon, who enacted the measure, didn’t even mention Title IX when he signed the law. Yet its enforcement has reshaped education — and also changed drastically based on the politics of the time. A twisting history Richard Nixon on the day he signed Title IX into law. White House Photo Office, via Getty Images The law took years to fully take shape. Origins. Initially, Title IX forced universities to dismantle sex-based admission caps and expand women’s sports. Many credit the strength of U.S. women’s sports today to the pipeline created by this measure, which forced schools to spend the same amount on athletics for men and women. A new view. In 1975, though, an instructor at Cornell, Lin Farley, coined the phrase “sexual harassment” to describe how female students and staff members were being fired, demoted or forced to quit because of unwanted advances from male bosses and co-workers. Soon, federal courts started allowing cases of sexual harassment under Title IX. For the next three decades, Republican and Democratic administrations told schools that Title IX banned sexual harassment. Enforcement. But activists increasingly complained that federal oversight was so lax it jeopardized women’s access to education. So in 2011, the Obama administration told schools they needed a system to file complaints, an official to coordinate Title IX compliance and sexual harassment training programs. It also told schools to judge cases based on a “preponderance of evidence” (more likely than not that sexual harassment had occurred) instead of, say, “beyond a reasonable doubt” (the criminal standard). The Education Department’s top civil rights lawyer, Catherine Lhamon, threatened to strip federal funding from schools that failed to adequately respond to sexual misconduct allegations. University officials told me she threatened to wield a “huge hammer” to enforce compliance. (I asked her about it: “That sounds exactly like me,” Lhamon replied.) Backlash. At the same time, legal scholars, civil liberties groups and faculty associations warned that accused students were being punished without the due process they’d normally receive in the criminal justice system. From 2011 to 2020, students filed more than 700 lawsuits claiming universities had mishandled cases that accused them of sexual misconduct, according to a database maintained by an advocacy group that thought things had gone too far. Reversal. Trump rescinded the guidance from the Obama administration, and his administration also rewrote — and codified — Title IX rules, which made them harder to change. The result was a 554-page addition to the Federal Register that provided more protections for the accused. It replaced administrative reviews with courtroom-style proceedings that required live hearings in which the accused and the accuser could see and hear each other. Lawyers for both sides could present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. A court stopped President Joe Biden from overhauling the rules again. A swinging pendulum The broad language of Title IX has let successive presidents reinterpret its scope — and rewrite enforcement guidelines — with each shift in the cultural landscape, including the #MeToo movement and the aftermath. But college officials say the swinging pendulum of federal enforcement creates confusion on campuses, sowing doubt among students considering whether to report incidents. That won’t change anytime soon. Trump is pulling back the Education Department’s focus away from sexual misconduct. Now it plans to use Title IX to formalize his order that male and female are the only sexes. Read about how schools have tried to manage this chaos in my story. FREE TO READ Zoos South Australia Endangered species: An Australian zoo played matchmaker for two rare southern cassowaries, the world’s deadliest bird. See more of their fluorescent green eggs. Incentives: Trump announced a new $25 million whistle-blower rewards program — and said he would decide who gets the money. How would that work? Lost and found: These photos survived the Holocaust. Then they were left in a library book. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about how dangerous it is to be pregnant in Idaho. THE LATEST NEWS Midterm Elections Young voters are overwhelmingly backing Democrats in the midterms, a new Times/Siena University poll found. Neil Bush, a brother of George W. Bush and son of George H.W. Bush, said he had voted for the Democrat James Talarico in the Texas Senate race. Trump used an antisemitic slur while defending aggressive debt-collecting tactics used by Senator Roger Marshall, the Republican fighting for re-election in Kansas, during his medical career. The economy is a top concern for many voters in the midterms. In the video below, our chief economics correspondent, Ben Casselman, explains. Click to watch. The New York Times Michigan Senate Race AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group, generally supports Democrats, but quietly donated to support Mike Rogers, the Republican running against Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a critic of Israel. El-Sayed’s opponents have worked to link his family members to Islamist groups. The Times investigated. Around the World Vladimir Putin and Trump in Alaska last year. Doug Mills/The New York Times Vladimir Putin of Russia appears to be getting closer to restoring relations with the United States without making any compromises on Ukraine. The United States and Israel drew up plans to renew strikes on Iran after the midterms. A.I. “deepfake” political videos are flooding the internet in Brazil. Could they sway the presidential election? Tech Security researchers using OpenAI’s advanced A.I. models unearthed major security flaws in a piece of software used widely across the internet. A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for deceiving users about its data privacy practices. It’s one of the largest penalties ever levied against a tech giant. Mark Zuckerberg pressured Meta’s board to remake the company’s stock structure to shield him from California’s proposed billionaire tax. YOUR A.I. BOP Keith Collins/The New York Times If you were listening to music made by artificial intelligence, would you know? Would you want your streaming service to block it? A Times analysis of nine popular streaming platforms found that listeners don’t always know what they’re getting. QUOTE OF THE DAY John Geddes was a managing editor of The Times from 2003 to 2013 who helped oversee our transition from a print newspaper to a digital entity. He died this week at 74. Read his obituary, which among other things captures what John thought about The Times’s role in journalism, and what we’re all trying to do here. He told one of our editors: “I don’t think there can be a ‘paper of record.’ The term implies an omniscient chronicler of events, an arbiter that perfectly captures the significance and import of a day in our lives.” “I don’t work at that place,” Mr. Geddes continued. “I work at a newspaper that exists in a world where there are constraints of time, resources and knowledge. The wonder of the paper is that knowing the everyday limits to our ambitions doesn’t prevent us from trying to exceed them.” THE MORNING QUIZ This question comes from a recent edition of the newsletter. Click an answer to see if you’re right. (The link will be free.) A reader recently wrote to our fashion critic, Vanessa Friedman, asking for advice. What did he want to know? Does his suit make him look MAGA? Can boomers pull off colorful and mismatched Gen Z styles? Can you wear a baseball cap at a family dinner? Is the half-tuck a good look for men? OPINIONS Trump can hurt Ukraine, but he can’t determine the outcome of the war, a scholar of U.S.-Russia relations says. In Israel’s upcoming elections, Palestinians can shift the country’s politics, a Palestinian researcher says. TODAY’S NUMBER 42 — That is the percentage of seats held by women in Taiwan’s legislature, the highest in Asia. The island has been running one of the world’s longest experiments in political affirmative action. The upshot? Today, few women need quotas to get elected. SPORTS W.N.B.A.: The Atlanta Dream romped the Golden State Valkyries 97-71 to take a 2-1 lead in the finals. N.F.L.: The Tennessee Titans released the defensive tackle Jordan Elliott for having a firearm on team property. RECIPE OF THE DAY Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. Steak au poivre, but make it chicken. This terrific recipe brings the classic French bistro sauce to pan-fried thighs, and the result makes for a lovely weeknight dinner. There’s no Cognac on the ingredient list, but you can use a glug of it right after searing the chicken to deglaze the pan. Indeed, you ought to. Serve with egg noodles, generously buttered. BROOKLYN BORN John Turturro Brian Karlsson for The New York Times John Turturro has his first starring role in a movie in years, playing a career crook in “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.” “To carry the whole thing, that’s a big responsibility,” he told The Times. It’s a great conversation. More on culture Here’s a lovely profile of the rapper Cardi B, a “regula, degula, shmegula girl from the Bronx” with personality to spare. “This — is — my — job,” she told us, tapping her phone with a long, mint green nail. The fall season for the New York City Ballet came to a close this week and Gia Kourlas, our dance critic, counted its highlights. Videos help tell the story. Watch! Late night hosts noted how Trump can’t stop talking about Senator Jon Husted’s rear end. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Paul Ellis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, Oliver Parini for The New York Times Visit Burlington, Vt., with the rugby powerhouse, podcast star and Vermont native Ilona Maher. She shared her five favorite places there. Listen to Serial’s new podcast about New York City, “METRO with Sarah Koenig.” It mines a city packed with personality to bring you investigations, personal stories, interviews and essays that will make you feel like a local, no matter where you live. The first episode drops today. Check it out here. Age in place. The youthful gerontologists at Wirecutter found the tech that’ll make it easier. 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 GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were lapidary and rapidly. 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

The algorithm loosens its grip For years, social media algorithms have decided what we see, sometimes sending us down rabbit holes of unwanted or even harmful content. Now, platforms are starting to hand back some control. Instagram initiated the trend by giving users the ability to add or remove topics from their feed recommendations, with YouTube and others following suit. + Read more: Social media platforms are restoring users’ control of their feeds + Analysis: Is social media interfering with your life? Here’s what can help

Now’s a good time to consider your flu shot Flu season is arriving roughly two months early in parts of the US, catching some people off guard before they’ve even thought about getting their annual shot. Behind the early surge is a mutated strain of H1N1 that’s better at evading our immunity. Health officials generally recommend getting vaccinated by the end of October, before flu activity typically picks up in November and December. + Read more: A mutated virus is driving the US into an early flu season + Fall vaccines 2026: What to know about flu, Covid and RSV

The top 10 Senate seats most likely to flip Above are Democratic US Senate candidates Roy Cooper, Sherrod Brown, Mary Peltola, Troy Jackson, and James Talarico. Below are Republican US Senate candidates Michael Whatley, Jon Husted, Dan Sullivan, Susan Collins and Ken Paxton. (AP/Getty/Reuters) Democrats are feeling optimistic about their chances of retaking the Senate this November after a set of encouraging polls, but the path to netting four seats will still be an uphill climb. Republicans are defending several seats in states President Donald Trump won comfortably in 2024, and both parties are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into ads during the final stretch. In North Carolina, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leads Republican Michael Whatley in polling, while Democrat Sherrod Brown holds a narrow advantage over Republican Sen. Jon Husted in battleground Ohio. And elsewhere on the map, Democrats are seeing more signs of momentum. Michigan, though, is emerging as one of the most contentious races, and polling shows no clear leader between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers. El-Sayed, who would become the nation’s first Muslim senator if elected, recently denounced the Muslim Brotherhood while pushing back against Republican accusations questioning his loyalties. + For subscribers: The top 10 Senate seats most likely to flip + Debate recap: Abdul El-Sayed, Mike Rogers clash in bitterly personal debate Wednesday + Plus: What Republicans mean when they ask Abdul El-Sayed to ‘disavow’ the Muslim Brotherhood

Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall says the Ukraine war, not the Iran war, has caused high diesel prices TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall said Wednesday that Ukraine’s war with Russia — and not the U.S. war with Iran — was to blame for high diesel prices that have imperiled his party’s control of Congress in the midterm elections. https://apnews.com/article/senate-kansas-marshall-hamilton-diesel-ukraine-iran-b7f291bfc4271dd14b07533ca33129bd? ps:He must be the only one that believes that?????

FACT FOCUS: When it comes to Trump’s economy, these are the numbers that matter before Nov. 3 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is trying to convince voters before the Nov. 3 midterm elections that the U.S. economy is rocketing upward. But voters say inflation remains a challenge because the Iran war has pushed up gasoline prices, grocery bills have remained expensive and high interest rates have made it harder to afford a home or a new car. https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-economy-inflation-38c6e694edd13742244e23cff5f96446?

Voters want the next Congress to focus on costs and Iran, not Trump, a new AP-NORC poll shows About 8 in 10 registered voters, including a large majority of Republicans and Democrats, say lowering the cost of living should be one of the highest priorities for the session coming up, according to a new AP-NORC poll. Most voters also want Congress to prioritize ending the war with Iran, with roughly 7 in 10 saying this should be a top focus. Read more. What to know: Substantially fewer voters, about 4 in 10, want Congress to make investigating the Trump administration a high priority, and only about 2 in 10 want Congress to prioritize supporting Trump's agenda. But the poll also indicates that there are deep divisions within the parties on what to focus on. Most Democratic voters who identify as supporters of democratic socialism are hoping for a Congress that will investigate the Trump administration, and many want to end military aid to Israel, while MAGA Republicans are interested in Congress supporting Trump’s agenda. Moderates in both parties, meanwhile, are much likelier to want Democrats and Republicans to find common ground.

🏗️ Pic to go Photo: Mariam Zuhaib/AP Just over a year after demolition of the East Wing began, construction continues on President Trump's White House ballroom, seen yesterday from the Washington Monument.

⚡ Politico corrects after White House threat The White House counsel's office warned Politico in a Monday letter that it had 48 hours to retract or correct three recent stories about alleged staff drama, or it would suffer unspecified consequences, Axios' Marc Caputo writes. Last night, Politico posted a correction to one of the stories, originally posted last Friday: "An earlier version of this report, including its headline, mischaracterized the role White House chief of staff Susie Wiles played in then-press secretary Katie Zacharia's interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. POLITICO's follow-up reporting indicates she did not play a direct role in setting up the interview." Last week's headline: "Susie Wiles helped set up Fox interview ahead of press secretary's exit." The new headline: "Susie Wiles 'offered positive reinforcement' for press secretary's Fox News interview ahead of her exit." Over the weekend, the New York Post reported that internal White House texts show five-day press secretary Katie Zacharia had personally pushed to go on TV ahead of the disastrous Sean Hannity interview. The Post reported that Zacharia texted a White House official: "I'd like to do news hits morning and evening." 📝 The big picture: The White House demand threatens to escalate already tense relations with Politico specifically and, more generally, the press corps that covers President Trump in Washington. Trump last month banned Politico, CNN and MS NOW from covering him in the Oval Office and on Air Force One. This week, CNN threatened further legal action to regain access to Air Force One. Trump also blocked all three outlets from the White House grounds, but a judge restored their access on Oct. 13. 🔮 What's next: White House Counsel Will Scharf didn't specify what consequences Politico faces. But a White House official said "all options are on the table" and described Trump's counsel as "uncharacteristically enraged." Trump is highly litigious with media organizations and, advisers say, his appetite for launching lawsuits hasn't diminished. Politico didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. More on the stories.

⚠️ Least popular in 80 years Graphic: The New York Times President Trump has the lowest approval rating for any president before a midterm since Harry Truman and the Democrats were routed in 1946, The New York Times' Nate Cohn writes. The final national Times-Siena poll before the election puts Trump's approval rating at 34% — down three points from last month. Graphic: The New York Times Likely voters preferred Democratic congressional candidates in their districts by 11 points. Keep reading (gift link). 🗳️ Sabato's Crystal Ball moved 28 House races toward Democrats, pushing the number of seats at least leaning their way to 223 — five more than the 218 needed for a majority. ❎ Turnout for early voting is soaring in many of the states that are expected to decide control of the Senate in next month's midterms, including Texas, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina and Ohio, AP reports.

🕶️ Zuck's deal to stay in California Meta's board struck a deal with Mark Zuckerberg to keep him living in California after the founder and CEO warned he was considering leaving the state that houses the company's headquarters if voters pass a wealth tax proposal next month, an SEC filing reveals. Under the deal, Zuckerberg will receive non-voting shares he can sell to potentially cover a multibillion-dollar tax bill. In return, he committed to remaining a resident of California, or wherever Meta is headquartered, for eight years, Reuters reports. Zuckerberg told Meta he was considering moving his primary residence outside California because Proposition 40, a ballot measure dubbed the "California wealth tax," could expose him to a massive tax liability. Proposition 40, which asks Californians whether to impose a one-time 5% tax on the state's billionaires, is far from certain to pass. The state is home to as many as 250 billionaires, collectively worth more than $2 trillion. 🔎 How it works: Meta will issue a new class of non-voting Class C common stock in January 2027, effectively creating a two-for-one split to fund acquisitions and retain top talent while maintaining Zuckerberg's control. Zuckerberg can immediately sell 20% of the Class C shares he receives, representing 10% of his overall economic stake in the company, allowing him to pay a potential tax bill without losing voting control. Keep reading ... Class C announcement.

🤖 Exclusive: Main Street's budget AI boom Data: Goldman Sachs. Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Small businesses across America are embracing AI, but usage and spending vary dramatically by state, Axios' Herb Scribner writes from an exclusive Goldman Sachs survey of 2,474 small business owners. Why it matters: Companies nationwide, big and small, are figuring out how best to incorporate AI into their workforces and what that means for productivity. 🧮 By the numbers: For all the talk about AI's explosive growth in the enterprise, the survey shows 73% of small businesses are spending $100 or less per month on AI. In Texas, most use AI for marketing copy. In Florida, it's mainly for productivity. More data.

💰 Scoop: AI agents slip into bank accounts Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images Major U.S. banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts — with some agents attempting to take actions that appear to be independent of user instructions, sources tell Axios' Madison Mills. Why it matters: AI agents are quickly becoming a nightmare for banks, slipping into their systems faster than they can respond. Because it's hard to distinguish a human from a bot, banks are blocking the technology and rapidly rewriting their terms of service. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo are among the banks racing to contain agent risks. Some are aware of unauthorized access, people familiar with the issue said. 🔭 Zoom in: These are generally situations when an agent or AI assistant accesses a human's account with the user's permission and login credentials. That violates guidelines of most banks, which require humans to log in to their own accounts. Banking execs fear what agents with login access might do, especially if a user has granted purchase authority or the ability to shift funds. Some banks have tracked activity when agents — programmed to fulfill requests or complete tasks on a user's behalf — contact call centers or appear to take actions independent of user instructions, the people said. Keep reading.

Trump's war problems surge Traffic passes portraits of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran yesterday. Photo: Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images Twelve days from midterms, President Trump can't escape the unpopular Iran war, which continues to dominate news coverage. Yesterday alone: The U.S. and Israeli militaries have drawn up specific plans for renewed strikes on Iran after Election Day, with targets that likely would include Iran's energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities and missile and drone arsenal, the N.Y. Times reports. Russian President Vladimir Putin told White House envoy Steve Witkoff he "agrees in principle" to resume trilateral peace talks with Ukraine and the U.S. to end the war, Russian and U.S. officials told Axios' Barak Ravid. The White House hopes Putin will show more willingness to compromise after Trump agreed to lift sanctions on Russian diesel sales and took other steps welcomed by Moscow. For now, it seems the only concession Putin agreed to is to negotiate. More from Barak. Putin has never been so close to his goal of normalizing relations with the U.S. "without having to make any compromises on Ukraine," as The Times puts it. The State Department said it ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees to depart Saudi Arabia, "following an uptick in attacks on the kingdom by Iran-backed Houthi militants. The U.S. military has also been quietly reducing its footprint at posts in the Middle East due to ongoing regional threats from the Houthis and direct threats from Iran," CBS News reports. 🛢️ The big picture: Oil prices are still high (the national average for a gallon of regular is $4.27 today) and stock market futures are shaky due partly to war fears.

Vance's whine-free zone Vice President Vance speaks at a rally yesterday in Sharonville, Ohio. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images Vice President Vance's call for fellow Republicans to "stop whining" about Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial attack ad in Ohio's race for governor showed a key part of his political mindset ahead of his expected run for president in 2028: Never back down. Why it matters: Channeling President Trump, Vance has shown contempt for what he sees as the old-guard GOP's reflex to cave under pressure from Democrats and the media, Axios' Alex Isenstadt writes. Vance thinks too many Republicans sacrifice allies to make controversies go away, and that giving critics a political scalp only encourages them to demand another, according to people familiar with his thinking. It's an approach with some risk — namely whether Vance, entering a critical period in his political career, has the political muscle to get away with Trump's no-apologies approach. 🔎 Zoom in: Vance defended Ramaswamy yesterday amid bipartisan outrage over an ad featuring the estranged mother of Ramaswamy's Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. In the deeply personal ad, Acton's mother calls her daughter a liar, and says Ohioans shouldn't vote for her for governor. Not mentioned in the ad: Acton and her brother were removed from the mother's care as children after Acton accused her stepfather of sexual abuse. Her mother sided with the stepfather, leading to an estrangement that has lasted nearly 50 years. Vance said he was "disgusted" by fellow Republicans criticizing it, telling them to "stop whining." Asked whether the ad was appropriate, Vance said it was "not really my concern," and that politics is tough. The other side: Republicans and Democrats have criticized the ad, saying it crossed a moral line. "I would not have run that ad," U.S. Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who appeared alongside Vance and Ramaswamy at the rally, told AP. ps:Once again this administration shows just how pathetic it is!!!!!

The Glendale City church had an openly gay man on the pastoral staff for years. He was married to another man. His denominational service has been celebrated in certain circles. Somehow I doubt that he was celibate. He may well have been, never asked. I assume that two men married to each other, poster boys of a sort for gay clergy, are homosexuals. An acquaintance of mine took LSD and attended church one Sabbath. She described seeing the pastor preaching from the pulpit. One side of his face was satanic, the other side angelic. He spoke out of both sides of his mouth, one speaking truth, the other speaking lies. That illustrates the SDA position on homosexuality, at least in one case. Policy wise, indulgent homosexuals are not allowed. In practice they are. People sexually attracted to members of the same gender are bent. They don't belong in clergical work. There are plenty of other lines of work they can go into. ~30 years ago, the Glendale City church had a guest Sabbath school teacher. I wondered why they would import a non-SDA clergy to teach Sabbath school. After her introduction, a person in the class announced that the woman in question was a lesbian. That made sense, even though I had/have no way of verifying the charge. Considering that congregations recent history, it wouldn't surprise me. Pastoral staff introducing homosexuals to congregants as spiritual guides? Can't make this stuff up

THIS DAY IN HISTORY October 22 1962 JFK’s address on Cuban Missile Crisis shocks the nation During the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, U.S. and Soviet leaders engaged in a tense, 13-day standoff over the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1920s 1926 Harry Houdini is punched nine days before his death Arts & Entertainment 1964 Jean-Paul Sartre wins—and declines—Nobel Prize in Literature Crime 1934 FBI agents kill fugitive “Pretty Boy” Floyd Inventions & Science 1797 First parachute jump is made over Paris U.S. Presidents 1965 President Lyndon Johnson signs the Highway Beautification Act Sports 2012 Cyclist Lance Armstrong is stripped of his seven Tour de France titles Vietnam War 1965 173rd Airborne trooper dives onto live grenade, saving comrades 1972 South Vietnamese President Thieu turns down peace proposal 1957 American forces suffer first casualties in Vietnam

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One lkpoint: The SDA Chlurch does alow a celebate homosexual to be a SDA pastor. klkIF that person can not remain celebate, that person will lno longer be SDA Clergy. A SDA pastor who is not married is expected to remain celebate. If not celebate, klthe person will not remain a SDA pastor.

Internet Insecurities Federal cybersecurity agencies around the world yesterday urged web administrators to patch vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language that powers roughly 70% of websites globally, including Wikipedia. The warning comes after researchers uncovered bugs hackers could exploit to take control of any server running PHP. A researcher using artificial intelligence discovered the flaws in August, opening the door to cyberattacks if hackers used available ChatGPT models to compromise websites. PHP’s security team rated the issue a 9.2 out of 10 in terms of danger and worked covertly to develop a solution before announcing emergency updates yesterday. Engineers did not publicize the issue to avoid highlighting vulnerabilities hackers could exploit. Germany, Finland, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and France temporarily shut down or disconnected several official websites to prevent attacks while applying security patches. The PHP bugs will not directly impact your phone or browser, but you can still take steps to protect yourself from hackers with these tips.

US-Russia Relations Thaw Russia has released American Stephen James Hubbard after nearly five years in prison on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. The deal, announced during a top US envoy's visit yesterday, appears to signal warming ties between Washington and Moscow. The news follows President Donald Trump's decisions this month to import Russian diesel and pause new sanctions (read previous write-up). Unlike previous prisoner releases, the US did not have to free anyone in exchange for Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher who was the last American in Russia considered wrongfully detained by the State Department (what's his full story?). Putin also agreed yesterday to resume US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine as soon as next month. The last round took place in February, shortly before the US and Israel launched the Iran war. Separately, Ukraine says the US has resumed sharing early-warning intelligence on Russian ballistic missile attacks after reportedly restricting it last week in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.