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Jolly to national Democrats: Show me some money TAMPA — With more polls and election analysts suggesting David Jolly could become the first Democrat to win a governor’s race in Florida in more than three decades, the former GOP congressman is appealing for money to defeat Republican Byron Donalds. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/25/jolly-to-national-democrats-show-me-some-money/? Race to succeed Vern Buchanan in CD 16 is getting increasingly interesting As Donald Trump’s poll numbers continue to erode, some Republicans, even in Florida, are slightly backing away from being linked to the president. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/25/race-to-succeed-vern-buchanan-in-cd-16-is-getting-increasingly-interesting/? Construction company accused of scamming Florida residents sued by AG Uthmeier Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier was in Sarasota Friday to announce his office has filed a lawsuit against a construction company and its executives for allegedly scamming at least 80 residents out of at least $1 million in insurance payments over four years. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/25/construction-company-accused-of-scamming-florida-residents-sued-by-ag-uthmeier/?

September 26, 2026 Good morning. Fall weekends bring an imperative to get things done, but we need not over-engineer our days to get the most out of them. María Jesús Contreras Free rein By Melissa Kirsch It’s the first Saturday of fall, and the urge to use it productively is almost automatic. All those tasks postponed and decisions left for after summer come due in that back-to-school buckling-down that happens even long after we’ve graduated. Get up and start checking things off the list! It could all wait until fall until it was fall, and now we’re running late. Or are we? A few weeks ago, standing waist-deep in a lake as the midday sun convinced us it would warm us completely forever, my friend Randi told me about how she’d managed to stop seeing her days as a list of jobs to be done. Her usual approach, like my own, had been to attack every day with a conqueror’s ambition, accumulating points on some imaginary scoreboard for each item completed. Too often, this is how we receive an unscheduled day. The answer to the question “What shall I do?” is “What needs to be done?” The drive to accomplish, to finish the work and get in some exercise and move on to chores — it all feels so virtuous. Check, check, check. Randi recently retired after a career teaching. Her husband, witnessing her default to industry, suggested: “Let the day come to you.” What if she leaned back a little, and allowed the day’s agenda to unfold moment to moment, without needing to achieve a certain level of output? This mentality changed how Randi viewed the unfilled time before her. She stopped imposing so rigid a standard for success on an innocent morning and instead greeted the day with a spacious curiosity. Any philosophy that advocates doing less is attractive. We’re usually so busy trying to earn the A from a nonexistent teacher, to prove to ourselves and anyone else that we’re not lazy, that we’re earning our keep on Earth. To let the day come to you is to trust that we don’t have to project-manage our lives. The way I picture it, you don’t lean back so far that you sprawl out and take a nap, but you take a beat before deciding what you’re going to do, taking note of your energy and your desires and those of the people around you. When the day comes to you, you greet it with an open mind: “Why hello, day, what have you got in store? What shall we get up to?” Perhaps a rigorous day of accomplishing, but one undertaken deliberately. Perhaps you’re inclined to sit quietly thinking this morning, and then spring into action later. Maybe it’s a stay-in-and-putter kind of day. The day might, in fact, come to you with that nap — listen to it. I’ll admit this approach feels a little dangerous. I’m skeptical of advice that seems likely to nurture something too soft in me, the part that if indulged might just crawl under the quilt and sleep until March. When I say the words “Let the day come to you,” I feel like a parody of a benevolent yoga teacher, as if I’m sprinkling confectioner’s sugar over a freshly frosted cake. I fear frivolity, I fear words that sound good and feel good but leave one feeling sapped of what the French philosopher Henri Bergson called “élan vital,” the creative force in all of us that’s responsible for growth. My fear, I think, is that if I’m not keeping my eyes on the prize, if I’m not punching the punch list, then the things to be done will never be done, and chaos will follow. But letting the day come to you doesn’t have to mean abandoning the day or relinquishing our healthy diligence. A day is not a horse we have to break. In James Baldwin’s 1968 novel, “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone,” Barbara tells her friend: “Throw everything out of your mind, Leo, eat your supper, read a little, sleep. The world will still be here when you wake up, and there’ll still be everything left to do.” This same wisdom must be inherent in letting the day come to you. We can throw everything out of our minds, read a little, sleep. We can let the day come to us, let our foot off the gas for an hour or an afternoon without losing our place in the world. THE LATEST NEWS Politics Zack Wittman for The New York Times The Supreme Court said the Trump administration could deploy an expansive online system using sensitive data about millions of Americans as part of its hunt for ineligible voters. The Trump-Xi summit ended with no major announcements on artificial intelligence, trade or Taiwan. CNN was barred from Air Force One for a Saturday trip to Tennessee, despite a federal judge’s order on Thursday that the network’s credentials to cover the White House be restored. New Jersey’s lieutenant governor resigned a day after investigators concluded he had tried to use his position to secure a promotion for a girlfriend — and dates for himself. Tech OpenAI’s agents went rogue and meddled with websites for the U.S. Education Department, the Commerce Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission this summer. During their separate attack on Hugging Face, OpenAI agents tried to use another A.I. model to evade robot detection tests. The Trump administration acted legally and constitutionally when it labeled Anthropic a security risk and blacklisted it, a court in Washington ruled. Other Big Stories A potent storm is moving up the East Coast, bringing strong winds, coastal flooding and heavy rain. Pope Leo told reporters accompanying him on a flight to Paris that “here, you are all welcome” in response to a question about the White House press ban. THE WEEK IN CULTURE Film and TV Hugh Jackman in “Logan.” Ben Rothstein/Marvel/Twentieth Century Fox Action films made in the 21st century are more likely to have a bittersweet ending rather than a clean-cut triumph of good over evil, a new study found. Congress is considering a bill that would create the first federal tax credits for film and TV production. Pop Music Taylor Swift released four new songs on “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore,” an expanded version of the album she released a year ago. Macklemore, who was pulled from Ed Sheeran’s tour over his criticism of Israel from the stage, announced plans for a “Free Palestine” tour in Europe. Classical Music Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a new program to give New Yorkers 70,000 free Metropolitan Opera tickets. Members of the Cleveland Orchestra, one of the most prestigious in the United States, went on strike, canceling performances this weekend and putting a high-profile European tour in doubt. Visual Arts Sinner or saint? A new exhibition in Frankfurt traces Mary Magdalene’s shifting image over the centuries. See some of the works. A German heiress was one of the first major collectors to recognize Vincent van Gogh’s genius. Now her collection — the largest trove of his works outside the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam — is on display for the first time in decades. The Anniversary Sale ends soon: Morning readers, enjoy our best offer. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your interests with expert coverage of news, culture, business and more. Save now: $1/week for your first year. THE INTERVIEW: SYLVESTER STALLONE Philip Montgomery for The New York Times “My father was very, very cold and tough. There was a cat making noise outside the house. He went out, got the cat, took it into the laundry room, shot it and left it in the wash tub. I think he did that to impress me. Like, you’ll never be as tough as your old man. And I won’t.” — Sylvester Stallone, whose memoir “The Steps,” comes out next week. He and the host Lulu Garcia-Navarro talked about how his abusive childhood affected his work and how that work affected our culture. Watch the interview. SPORTS Cavan Sullivan Kylie Graham/Imagn Images, via Reuters Soccer: Cavan Sullivan, a 16-year-old phenom, may take the field as part of the U.S. men’s national team for the first time this afternoon. It’s the team’s first game since the World Cup. For those who know Sullivan best, his debut on the world stage is a long time coming. As a toddler, a family friend said, “he couldn’t talk, he could barely walk, but he literally had a ball at his foot.” Read more about his life. Hockey: A new N.H.L. season is just around the corner. To prepare, The Athletic’s hockey newsletter answered a question that’s been bugging fans and non-fans alike for years: Why not just put a sumo wrestler in front of the relatively small goal? The answer, in short, is that no sumo wrestlers are actually big enough to cover the entire space, leaving plenty of room for the sport’s best scorers. For more fun hockey coverage, get the newsletter, called Red Light, delivered to your inbox. RECIPE OF THE WEEK David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. By Melissa Clark Grilled Tofu Salad Who doesn’t love a double-duty ingredient, making less work for the cook? So it goes in Kay Chun’s grilled tofu salad, where lemon-miso vinaigrette serves as both basting sauce and dressing. The recipe is flexible; you can use a grill, a stovetop grill pan or a broiler. Any which way, the tofu and zucchini will pick up the requisite smoky char in just a few minutes. Layered with fresh herbs, raw snap peas and shaved Parmesan, it’s savory and satisfying. Save leftovers for lunch during the week. REAL ESTATE Owen Richards for The New York Times The Hunt: A pair of musicians looked for a vacation home in the English countryside. Which did they choose? What you get for $700,000: A farmhouse in Vermont, a rowhouse in Philadelphia and an American foursquare in St. Paul, Minn., are all on the market. Where would you most like to live? Pick your favorite: An Art Nouveau-style home, a four-bedroom with guesthouses and a modern home with views of a fjord, all near Gothenburg, Sweden, could be yours for about $1 million. Catios: The hottest item in real estate isn’t for humans. The market for covered enclosures for cats could reach $2 billion by 2033. LIVING A communal living compound in the Bay Area. Live with friends: Communal-style complexes offer an antidote to the strain of being a working parent in an unaffordable place. Could it be for you? Going vertical: A Czech architect made the most of an awkward lot by building up rather than out. Go inside. Wet weather: Prepare your garden for a rainy fall with these tips. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER My family recently did a monthlong digital detox. Pockets of time emerged that we needed to relearn how to fill without devices. Having a list of fun and interesting non-phone activities helped combat cries of “I’m b-o-o-o-o-o-o-red!” I read seven books. My teenager did puzzles. My younger daughter took up bedazzling. And we knocked out a seven-hour drive listening to a serialized podcast and using conversation cards. It’s surprising how much there is to do when we’re not staring at our phones. — Annemarie Conte NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was deviance. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Crossplay, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa 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

THIS DAY IN HISTORY September 26 1960 Kennedy and Nixon square off in first televised presidential debate For the first time in U.S. history, a debate between major party presidential candidates—John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon—is shown on television. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1820 The famous frontiersman Daniel Boone dies in Missouri Arts & Entertainment 1975 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' debuts in U.S. theaters 1957 “West Side Story” opens on Broadway 1969 “The Brady Bunch” premieres 1888 T.S. Eliot is born Crime 2007 Mistrial declared in Phil Spector murder case European History 1934 Queen Mary launches 2005 IRA officially disarms Exploration 1580 Francis Drake circumnavigates the globe Space Exploration 1996 Shannon Lucid returns to Earth Sports 1971 4th Oriole pitcher wins 20th game in a single season U.S. Government and Politics 1980 Lake Placid's Olympic Village reopens as federal prison World War I 1918 Meuse-Argonne offensive opens World War II 1945 First U.S. soldier killed during Vietnam’s August Revolution

Specialist coaches and hours of practice a day: the making of China’s six-year-old Rubik’s Cube prodigy Mother of Lian Yunzhi says world record a ‘dream come true’ for child who now gets autograph requests from fellow students https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/26/dream-come-true-six-year-old-rubiks-cube-world-record?

TikTok to pay Alabama $100m and limit teenage use in first state settlement Trial had been set for Monday over claims by Alabama that TikTok misled parents about tools meant to shield children from harmful content https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/26/tiktok-alabama-pay-100m-teenage-limits-restrictions?

Vast Casino Secrets leak exposes inner workings of offshore gambling firms Files could have seismic consequences for online casinos, including those accused of illegally targeting consumers https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/26/casino-secrets-leak-offshore-gambling-firms-curacao-regulator?

Russia strikes at heart of Ukraine’s digital economy with attacks on ISPs and datacentres Russia has opened a new front in its campaign against Ukraine, hitting several datacentres and internet providers in Kyiv this week in an apparent attempt to weaken the digital backbone of the economy. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/26/russia-strikes-ukraine-digital-economy-attacks-isps-datacentres?

Abraham Lincoln’s direct family line ended on December 24, 1985, when his last undisputed descendant, great-grandson Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died without any acknowledged children. James

Trump administration uses rare authority to claw back nearly $1B in spending approved by Congress WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced on Friday, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives. https://apnews.com/article/trump-rescissions-fundind-46b356590699e6225f783c74e7ee3597? ps:Pathetic ‘Let’s tell the truth’: Smithsonian head given standing ovation as he hits back at Trump attacks Outgoing secretary Lonnie Bunch rejects claims the institution is unpatriotic, telling audience ‘You cannot understand all without illuminating the dark corners’ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/26/lets-tell-the-truth-smithsonian-head-given-standing-ovation-as-he-hits-back-at-trump-attacks?

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