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🔑 Reddit locks down Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Stock: Getty Images Reddit is becoming a primarily logged-in experience, the company said yesterday, marking one of the most significant shifts in its 21-year history. Why it matters: Reddit has long championed the open web, but as AI chatbots vacuum up information from websites, platforms are trying to lock down their content and build a more direct relationship with users, Axios media trends expert Sara Fischer reports. In an interview yesterday, Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman said the company is making the change to improve its user experience, boost its ads business and prevent bots from scraping its proprietary data. "When users log in, they spend more time on Reddit, and we can better know their interests, so we can target ads better," he said. 👀 Reality check: Most other platforms have already made the log-in shift. Huffman said he personally resisted the changes because of his belief in the open internet. He ultimately came around because Reddit's scale made personalization more important — and because protecting content from unauthorized scraping has become more urgent.

🇭🇹 Scoop: Trump tells strongman to "do what you have to do" Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photos: Getty Images El Salvador's strongman president, Nayib Bukele, is sending thousands of troops to Haiti to boost the island's push to wipe out its gang problem — and find four of his military personnel who were captured in a recent ambush, Axios' Marc Caputo reports. Bukele called President Trump on Tuesday to make sure he had no problem with this major military escalation, to which Haiti's government has agreed. "Do what you have to do," Trump told him, according to sources briefed on the call. Why it matters: If it works, Bukele's troop surge could stabilize Haiti, a country 700 miles from Florida that has been devastated by deadly gang violence and has lacked a president since the last one, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated five years ago. If it doesn't work, it could increase Haiti's death toll well beyond the 5,700-plus killed in gang violence this year, embarrass Bukele and mark yet another failed international effort to restore stability to the country. Read on.

⚡ Cyber's "Black October" Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Cybersecurity teams are being pummeled by a relentless barrage of attacks, vulnerabilities and false alarms during what cyber pros are calling "Black October." Why it matters: Humans are still on the front lines of a cyber fight enabled largely by AI. They're struggling to wade through mountains of threat data to determine who's been hit and which attacks pose a real danger to companies, Axios' Sam Sabin reports. 🛡️ The big picture: The people companies call when they're hacked are being swamped, piling onto the persistent burnout that has plagued the industry. "The last month has been the longest year of my life," says Justin Timothy, threat intelligence consultant at GuidePoint Security. Troy Bettencourt, who leads Palo Alto Networks' global digital forensics and incident response practice, told Axios that demand for his team's services has climbed by double digits over the last six weeks. What's next: AI's ability to uncover more software flaws threatens to bury defenders in even more work. To keep up, security firms are turning to AI themselves to spot weaknesses and speed up investigations. Keep reading.

Exclusive: Jobless boom Data: CivicScience. Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Americans are optimistic AI will grow the economy — but not that it will create jobs in the process, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes from the first release of the new Axios-CivicScience AI Sentiment Index, out this morning. Why it matters: The AI boom is often criticized as a jobless one, which may explain why sentiment continues to run so negative on what is otherwise such a transformative technology. 💡 The new monthly Axios-CivicScience index tracks Americans' views across six measures: AI's effects on quality of life, society, jobs and economic growth, plus support for AI development and new data centers. By the numbers: October's net sentiment was 41.8 on a 0-100 scale, indicating broad negativity on AI. Of the six components, only economic growth had a positive sentiment score. 😨 Reality check: While economic growth net sentiment (positive responses minus negative responses) was +10, "create more jobs" sentiment was -30.4. That indicates a massive gap between what people think AI will do collectively and its individual impact.

Exclusive: Fired general admitted leaking to reporters Gen. Brett Sylvia at the Defender-Europe 20 joint military exercise in Poland in 2020. Photo: Janek Skarzynski/AFP via Getty Images The Pentagon's top military planner admitted to leaking classified information about Ukraine and Iran to two reporters from separate outlets over a one-year period, according to an internal investigation report shared with Axios' Marc Caputo and Thomas Novelly. Why it matters: Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia was fired this week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for the alleged misconduct, which Sylvia acknowledged on video after he failed four polygraph tests, a U.S. official said. The Pentagon said it referred a leak case to the Justice Department, and The Washington Post reports Sylvia is the accused. 🔎 Zoom in: The report and U.S. officials said that Sylvia's leaking began as early as June 2025 — before mainstream media outlets were removed from the Pentagon — and continued afterward via the secure Signal app and once at a Silver Diner in Arlington, Va. For another story, the report said, Sylvia "admitted to being one of the 20 officials" who criticized Pentagon leadership. Read on.

Corporate America's Trump trap Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images America's corporate titans greeted President Trump's 2024 victory with open checkbooks, 12-figure investment pledges and fawning tributes to his coming "Golden Age," Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Two years later, on the eve of a potential blue wave, Democrats are preparing to greet those same executives with a stack of subpoenas. Why it matters: The CEOs who staked their reputations and fortunes on MAGA's staying power could spend the final two years of Trump's presidency defending their dealings under oath. 🔎 The big picture: A Democratic House would carry its campaign against billionaire power and corruption deep into corporate America, scrutinizing the relationships between Trump's White House and the executives who courted him. Corporate leaders now face a delicate balancing act: rebuilding ties with Democrats while avoiding retaliation from a president who still controls federal contracts, tariffs and regulators. Already, companies that scrambled to dismantle DEI programs or fund Trump's ballroom are hiring Democratic lobbyists, pushing back against the administration and rediscovering the virtues of bipartisanship. 🥊 Zoom in: Elon Musk is taking a more confrontational approach. The billionaire, who has poured $445 million into Republican super PACs this election cycle alone, has threatened retaliation against Democrats preparing to investigate his sprawling business empire and tenure in the White House. DOGE: As head of Trump's short-lived cost-cutting initiative, Musk gutted USAID, drove mass federal layoffs and gave his team access to sensitive government systems. Investigators want to know whether his companies benefited from contracts or regulatory decisions while he wielded power inside the White House. Ukraine: A fierce critic of President Volodymyr Zelensky, Musk ordered Starlink restrictions that disrupted Ukraine's military satellite communications. Democrats are now demanding records of his communications with Trump and Vladimir Putin. Musk responds to reports that Democrats plan to investigate him. Screenshot via X Zoom out: Across corporate America, the pursuit of Trump's favor has left a trail of donations, deals and concessions that Democrats are determined to follow. 🤖 AI accelerationists: Trump has made the AI boom a centerpiece of his economic agenda, while giving industry leaders extraordinary influence over regulation and chip exports. Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, who set the template for corporate America's reconciliation with MAGA, is among the AI leaders likely to face scrutiny for pressing Trump to back off safety regulation. 🗞️ Media consolidation: Trump ally Larry Ellison helped finance his son David's rise to control of CBS and CNN, culminating in a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Along the way, Paramount paid $16 million to settle Trump's lawsuit against CBS while seeking federal approval for its Skydance merger. ⚖️ Elite law firms: Trump's pressure campaign against the legal establishment yielded $940 million in pledged free legal services and concessions on diversity policies from nine major firms. Democrats are probing the terms of those agreements and whether the firms compromised their independence to appease the White House. 🥂 Ballroom donors: Trump's massive White House construction project has drawn at least $333 million in private commitments, including $25 million apiece from Apple and Nvidia. Many donors — including some who kept their contributions secret — have lucrative business before the administration. 💰 Equity deals: Trump has transformed the U.S. government into a major corporate investor, striking roughly $30 billion in equity and warrant arrangements spanning more than 40 companies. Democrats are questioning how the beneficiaries were selected and whether political connections influenced the deals. 🛢️ Fossil fuel giants: Trump asked oil executives to raise $1 billion for his 2024 campaign while promising sweeping regulatory relief. His administration has since delivered major tax breaks and environmental rollbacks, prompting a Democratic probe of the industry's political contributions and the government benefits that followed.

Chinese Spy Targets Nvidia US intelligence agencies believe Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is the target of a Chinese spy, according to a New York Times report (free w/email). Alice Huang, who is unrelated to the Nvidia CEO, is a senior executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed, which has been accused of smuggling AI chips into China. The pair were seen together at a Taipei bar in 2024 and a restaurant in 2025, interactions Nvidia is defending as standard business engagement. President Donald Trump was reportedly briefed on US intelligence concerns about Alice Huang a year ago and did not take action. Nvidia has generated roughly 15 cents of every dollar the US stock market has returned since 2023. Jensen Huang has, meanwhile, lobbied Trump to ease restrictions on the sale of advanced AI chips to China. The US and China are battling for an edge in AI development. See inside the underground network to get chips into China.

Football’s toll About three in four former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a new study suggests. The research offers a clearer picture of how widespread the brain disease is among former pros.

Paywalled.

If she only understood the deep power of fasting. It could have been a cornerstone of the health message. Today, there is a powerful movement of health and longevity audience based on research and clinical practice that dwarfs the Adventist health message. Most Adventist think they are healthy because they are vegetarians. Just a look at the people in the churches should dispel that myth. She was right about sugar though. Diabetes is the number one plague today. Here she is predicting the future again. This is the western world today. People do not cook with whole foods but rely on processed foods. I remember having a discussion in Loma Linda about 25 years ago with one of the doctors there. We were discussing the health message and Mrs White. He had disdain for her. What's the problem with her writings? He looked me right in the eye and said. "Sugar is not harmful" Well she was right all along about that. And what is the best medicine for diabetes? Fasting and whole foods.

‘Manosphere’ retreat Joe Rogan helped define 2024 as the “podcast election.” But two years later, some of its biggest players have receded from politics or soured on President Donald Trump. CNN’s Brian Stelter looks at what changed. 🗞️ Is Fox News pivoting to its post-Trump era? Look at how it’s covering the midterms

305. The true fasting which should be recommended to all, is abstinence from every stimulating kind of food, and the proper use of wholesome, simple food, which God has provided in abundance. Men need to think less about what they shall eat and drink of temporal food, and much more in regard to the food from heaven, that will give tone and vitality to the whole religious experience.—[Letter 73, 1896] Medical Ministry, 283

An accomplished actor for sure. I think I first saw him in Dune, Star Trek of course and X-men all of which I thought were great movies. He will be missed!

We need electrolytes when fasting. I young person can do a dry fast for a day or so, but our body needs the 4 minerals known as electrolytes. Salt being very important. There are many cases of people injuring themselves on longer fast without salt. I have studied this intensely recently. One medical doctor called it the most powerful tool we have. But it needs to be done correctly. If I fast more than 30 hours, I take the 4 electrolytes, Potassium, Salt, Magnesium, Calcium. In America there are companies that sell powered packaged electrolytes in the correct proportions. That would be handy. Seniors must be more cautious because we need more electrolytes. There are many videos by medical doctors on YouTube. Clearly this was not from God. Autophagy is your body’s process of reusing old and damaged cell parts, acting like a cellular recycling system. It starts when your cells are stressed or deprived of nutrients, and uses autophagosomes to deliver junk to lysosomes for breakdown. It starts at about 18 hours after no food. But meaningful results take longer fasts, depending on the condition of the body. That is the process God created for us. Btw, animals have Autophagy too. When they get sick they stop eating and go into Autophagy.

Interesting. Thank you for posting this.

🎯 House Oversight targets same-name scheme House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) is investigating allegations that Democratic operatives recruited an Alaska Senate candidate with the same name as incumbent Dan Sullivan (R) in a bid to siphon votes from him. Comer is seeking transcribed interviews with Elisa Rios, former campaign manager for Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola, and Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz, requesting that they appear on Nov. 5 and 6, respectively. He threatened to use subpoenas to compel testimony from the two Democratic operatives, who are allegedly involved in the recruitment effort. Neither Rios nor Kurtz responded to requests for comment. Both the Peltola campaign and the DSCC denied involvement in recruiting the other Sullivan, according to the New York Times. Neither responded to a request for comment from us. The bottom line: The same-name controversy is now the center of a Justice Department probe and a state-level investigation in Alaska. — Kate Santaliz

Democratic divisions linger in Michigan Senate race. Will frustration with Trump outweigh them? With less than a week until Election Day, Democrats remain divided over their nominee in Michigan’s pivotal Senate race. The question now is whether those divisions will outweigh voter frustration with President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Read More.

European Central Bank head resigns, allowing EU leaders to choose successor before French election European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will resign nine months before the end of her term, a move that opens the way for European leaders to choose a successor ahead of France's presidential election next year. Read More.

Iraqi court hands down prison terms to 2 politicians and an oil official in graft case An Iraqi court sentenced two prominent politicians and the head of a state-run enterprise responsible for distributing oil products to prison in a corruption case, officials announced Thursday. Read More.

The average 30-year US mortgage rate dips to 7.24%, the lowest level in more than a month The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate declined for the second straight week, falling to its lowest level in more than a month.The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 7.24% from 7.32% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.17%. Read More.

Experts warn of wider spread as Ebola outbreak reaches plateau The Ebola outbreak in Congo passed a grim milestone this week — 10,000 confirmed cases — and spurred questions about whether health authorities are losing their ability to contain it. Read More.

Iran says 3 oil tankers struck mines, and other Mideast news The U.S. military denied Iran's claim on Thursday that it captured an American drone near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran also said three tankers struck mines while attempting to exit the strait through an unauthorized route. Read More.

'Star Trek,' 'X-Men' star Patrick Stewart dies at 86 after 'brief' battle with Alzheimer's, Lewy body dementia https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/star-trek-star-patrick-stewart-dies-86/story?id=137684409