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From March Madness miracles to a season opener in Rome: The story of Catholic college hoops Catholic college basketball in the U.S. has a rich history, filled with talented teams, colorful coaches, and unforgettable characters. That legacy will soon be celebrated with the first-ever Eternal City Tip-Off on Nov. 1 in Rome, when Notre Dame and Villanova's men's and women's teams face off. The arena is near the Vatican, home base to Pope Leo XIV. Not only is he the first American pope, he's a sports fan and a Villanova alum. Read more. Why this matters: There's been no word from the Vatican on whether Leo might attend the Eternal City Tip-Off, though it's considered unlikely given that he was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. After James Naismith invented basketball in 1891, YMCAs and colleges played key roles in the early expansion. Many of those schools were Catholic institutions in urban areas. Basketball — requiring only an indoor court and a handful of players — was an ideal sport for them. The NCAA men’s tournament started in 1939, officially crowning a national champion. Since then, Catholic schools have won 10 titles — including three by Villanova. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Sister Jean, the beloved chaplain for Loyola Chicago's basketball team, dies at 106 Coaching great John Thompson of Georgetown dead at 78 Rollie Massimino returns to Villanova for 1985 tribute Lou Carnesecca, Hall of Fame coach who led St. John’s for 24 seasons, dies at 99

Israel says commercial goods will not enter Gaza, a major shut-off for the hungry territory Israeli military officials say commercial goods were blocked from entering the Gaza Strip, cutting off a key source of food and shelter supply for the war-torn territory as hungry Palestinians face the approach of winter. The move stands to immediately reduce Gaza's supplies, because the closed-off territory is completely reliant on whatever goods Israel allows in through border crossings. Read more. Key points: In announcing the measure, the Israeli military claimed to be communicating a decision made by Gaza merchants who had grown tired of Hamas taxing their trucks and threatening them. Israel has long accused the militant group of levying fees on imports to fund its operations. The head of Gaza’s private truckers union, Nahed Sheheiber, disputed that, saying Israel had made the decision. The world’s leading authority on food insecurity reported earlier this year that conditions in Gaza had improved since famine in the territory in August 2025, but were still at crisis levels. Most families in the enclave still weren’t getting nearly enough to eat, the report said. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Famine has ended in Gaza. But the gains are fragile and it could get worse US-brokered ceasefire was supposed to end the war in Gaza. A year later, progress has stalled Satellite photos show how Israeli forces have erased Gaza towns

Questions swirl about Leo's future and what he knew when praying at French shrine famed for cures When Pope Leo XIV was elected after the pained finale of Pope Francis’ pontificate, there was hope that a younger, healthier pope could guide the Catholic Church for quite some time before age and ailments slowed him. Leo’s lung cancer diagnosis has thrown a question mark into that scenario. Read more. Why this matters: Already, Peru's president is suggesting Leo’s upcoming South America trip may have to be changed. And the diagnosis raises questions about what Leo knew and when, given his poignant prayers in late September at a French shrine revered as a site of miraculous cures. Vatican watchers say the diagnosis could have other unintended effects, not all of them negative. It could propel Leo, 71, to accelerate his own agenda, which to date has moved slowly. It also could galvanize support for him, bolstering his efforts to unify the fractured Catholic Church. And significant for his own ministry, the diagnosis has placed Leo squarely among the “fragile” and “vulnerable” who have emerged as a central focus of his pontificate. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Vatican considers Sunday prayer appearance as Pope Leo recovers from lung surgery Chicago Catholics rally for prayer in Pope Leo’s hometown after his lung cancer diagnosis South Americans pray for Pope Leo’s recovery as uncertainty hangs over his visit

Archive of Hittite Tablets Discovered Editor’s Note: This article includes a reference to infant death and may be distressing to some readers. International Archaeology Day is this weekend, and Bible History Daily is celebrating with news of a fantastic announcement out of Turkey. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the discovery of an astounding 131 new cuneiform tablets at Kayalipinar in central Turkey, a village containing the Bronze Age settlement of Shamuha. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/archive-of-hittite-tablets-discovered/?

🎉 Yahoo! It's Friday! You made it. Quote of the night: "They [the Dodgers] may have a bunch of Hall of Famers, but we got a bunch of gamers. And the gamers won this week," said Brewers manager Pat Murphy after his team won the NL pennant. In today's edition: Brewers complete the sweep, Guardians go up 2-1, Rahm breaks up with LIV, Broncos win ugly (again), Behind the Lens, college football's best slate yet, Guess the Logo, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏈 CFP expansion is near: The College Football Playoff is "nearing a deal" to double the size of the field to 24 teams and the agreement "is expected to come together in the near future," according to ESPN, which holds the broadcast rights to the current 12-team playoff. ⛳️ Rahm, LIV part ways: Jon Rahm has officially broken up with LIV Golf as the struggling tour prepares for "LIV 2.0." As part of the separation agreement, he has released all claims for future money owed, which could total $100 million. 🏈 Hurts ruled out: Eagles QB Jalen Hurts will miss Sunday's game against the Panthers due to a blood clot in his calf. Tanner McKee, who has played six games since being drafted in 2023, will now be tasked with righting the ship in Philly. 🏀 GMs love the Spurs: NBA general managers answered 48 questions about the upcoming season, and the consensus is: they love Victor Wembanyama (77% picked him to win MVP) and the Spurs (50% picked them to win the title). 🥍 Mustangs adds lax: SMU will launch a men's lacrosse team that will begin play in the ACC in 2028, the university announced Thursday. The Dallas-based school will become just the fourth men's Division I lacrosse program west of the Mississippi River, joining Denver, Air Force and Utah.   🧹 REVENGE SWEEP THE EMPIRE STRIKES OUT The Milwaukee Brewers are suddenly four wins away from their first championship. (Harry How/Getty Images) Not even a Shohei Ohtani resurgence was enough to save the Dodgers on Thursday night in Los Angeles, where the Brewers — bursting with confidence — completed an unthinkable NLCS sweep to clinch their first World Series berth since 1982. The comeback crew: The Dodgers held the lead in every game of the series. That never fazed the Brewers, who are the first team in MLB history with six comeback wins in their first eight games of a postseason. Game 1: Brewers 2, Dodgers 1 Game 2: Brewers 7, Dodgers 4 Game 3: Brewers 6, Dodgers 2 Game 4: Brewers 6, Dodgers 4 Jake Mintz, Yahoo Sports: While the 2026 team is finished playing ball, don't expect the Dodgers, and all they mean, to exit the conversation. Beneath the specter of a looming labor fight, Los Angeles' gilded roster will remain in the spotlight even once autumn flips to winter. But their being bested in this particular series has less to do with larger debates about the game's future or economics and more with the simple fact that a superior Brewers team kicked their doors in. On the field, this was not an underdog story or an upset. Sure, Los Angeles was richer. Milwaukee was better. Looking ahead: No matter how the rest of the postseason unfolds, a long World Series drought will be ending this month. Either the Brewers or Rays win their maiden title, or the Guardians win their first since 1948.   📸 SNAPSHOTS THROUGH THE LENS Rookie Petey Halpin was the unlikely hero on Thursday afternoon. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) ⚾️ Cleveland, Ohio The Guardians beat the Rays, 3-2, to take a 2-1 lead in the ALCS behind another excellent start from Gavin Williams (5 IP, 9 K, 2 ER) and a go-ahead 2-run blast from rookie Petey Halpin, who unleashed a truly spectacular bat flip after admiring his work. Strikeout merchant: Williams, who led the AL with 248 strikeouts this year, has fanned 33 of the 64 hitters he's faced this postseason and now has 44 Ks in his first five career playoff starts. The only pitchers with more? Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax (48) and Bob Gibson (47). Elite company! Will Lutz celebrates after drilling a 53-yard game-winning field goal. (Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) 🏈 Denver, Colorado The Broncos just keep winning ugly. Despite another uninspiring offensive performance, Denver beat the defending champion Seahawks, 17-14 (OT), in the third straight "Thursday Night Football" game to require overtime. The Broncos improve to 4-2, while Seattle falls to 3-3. Shots fired: Ryan Fitzpatrick was highly critical of the winning QB during the postgame show. "Bo Nix is not playing competitively," he said. "It's almost disrespectful to the quarterback position how he's playing football." Mr. Hat Trick strikes again. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) 🏒 Sunrise, Florida Panthers newcomer Brady Tkachuk made history on Thursday, becoming the first NHL player with natural hat tricks in back-to-back games since Petri Skriko in 1986. And Florida needed every one of those three goals in a 3-2 (OT) win over Vancouver. Natural hat trick? A natural hat trick is when a player scores three consecutive goals in a game, with no player on either team scoring in between.   🏈 YOU'RE (NOT) FIRED COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S OCTOBER SURPRISE In past years, Florida State's Mike Norvell would probably be out of a job by now. (Jason Clark/Getty Images) After decades of unfettered spending, the rising cost of college football rosters might finally be slowing down the coaching churn — at least a little bit. Dan Wolken, Yahoo Sports: At this point in the college football season one year ago, Mike Gundy had been dismissed from Oklahoma State, James Franklin was working on his next job at Virginia Tech, Bobby Petrino had taken over as interim coach at Arkansas and UCLA was having a midseason renaissance after getting rid of DeShaun Foster. But this fall, as we head into Week 7, the coaching carousel is oddly frozen in place. Nobody's been fired yet. Call it college football's October surprise. If this year's coaching cycle were like those of recent vintage, you'd have expected jobs like Maryland, Rutgers, Florida State and maybe even South Carolina to be open by now. Instead, there has not been much urgency to make moves. In conversations with sources who represent various sectors of college sports, a picture has emerged of an industry being forced to confront its new reality in a world of $40 and $50 million rosters. "It's a money thing," one agent told Yahoo Sports. "People who don't have any money to pay players are having to rethink what their ceiling is with their current spend." Bottom line: College football has long operated on the principle that firing a coach is the cure-all. Buyouts, no matter how expensive, were treated like line items in a budget that could be recovered by a boost in ticket sales or donor excitement. It was, in a sense, the last vestige of a fixed market where schools didn't have to pay the players. This season, though, lessons are being learned on several different fronts. Keep reading: College football's new reality: Schools can't fire their way out of trouble anymore   📸 PHOTOGRAPHY BEHIND THE LENS (Patrick Smith/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: Alex Ovechkin skates during warmups before the final home opener of his career. Photographer: Patrick Smith Location: Washington, D.C. Date: Oct. 7 Behind the Lens: Take it away, Patrick… Photographing Alex Ovechkin in his final home opener was bittersweet. Having been a photojournalist for the better part of two decades, I approach early regular-season games as just another day on the sidelines. However, it's always the players who excite me and change that outlook — and Ovechkin is one of those athletes. With the announcement of his retirement after the season, this game carried a little more significance. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of imagery of him on the ice before the game even began. Often, photographers can feel as though editors are watching every frame they shoot, which can lead to playing it safe. I feel the opposite. I want someone to see my photographs, pause, and want to know more — about the subject or the photograph itself. This image does just that. Using my Canon mirrorless camera (1/2500, f/4, ISO 5000 at 7mm), I photographed Ovechkin with Canon's newer circular fisheye lens which delivers a 190-degree field of view. Paired with the small opening cut into the glass for photographers, it creates a true snow globe effect. I've tried this before, but Ovechkin doesn't typically skate too close to my photo hole during warmups, so I was pleasantly surprised when he did, allowing me to capture a couple of frames as he went by. I knew immediately it was a special moment, even if it was only during warmups. It's the type of photograph I hope makes viewers pause and appreciate everything he's done for the game and the organization.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WEEKEND WATCHLIST (Jonathan Castro/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 College Football Saturday Six ranked matchups? Including two between Top 10 teams? Welcome to the best slate of the year so far: No. 4 Ohio State at No. 5 Indiana (12pm ET, Fox); No. 16 Mississippi State at No. 22 LSU (12pm, ESPN); No. 6 Alabama at No. 14 Tennessee (3:30pm, ABC); No. 13 Missouri at No. 9 Ole Miss (3:30pm, SEC); No. 2 Notre Dame at No. 8 BYU (7:30pm, ABC); No. 18 Oklahoma State at No. 20 Houston (7:30pm, Fox). Heisman watch: Those Top-10 clashes feature two of the three Heisman favorites in Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith (-220), who is the frontrunner by a mile, and Notre Dame QB CJ Carr (+1200), who barely trails Miami QB Darian Mensah (+1000). Who ya got? Week 7 of our College Football Challenge has arrived. Don't forget to lock in your picks before kickoff. 🏀 WNBA Finals, Game 1 The best-of-seven series tips off tomorrow in San Francisco (3:30pm, NBC), where the second-seeded Valkyries host the fourth-seeded Dream in a matchup of franchises seeking their first title. Defense wins championships: The WNBA set a league-wide scoring record this season (87.1 ppg), yet the two finalists both make their hay defensively. Atlanta allowed the fourth-fewest points per game (84.5), while Golden State allowed the fewest (75.1), and they employ six of the 10 players who earned All-Defensive Team honors. ⚾️ ALCS The Guardians (up 2-1) and Rays remain locked in a tight battle to determine who will face the Brewers in the World Series. Game 4 is tonight (6pm, TBS) and Game 5 is tomorrow (8pm, TBS), both in Cleveland. Shutting the door: Bryan Baker (TB) and Cade Smith (CLE) tied for the MLB lead with 41 saves this season, and have continued to shove in October. Baker is the first player in playoff history to allow 0 hits and earn the save in four straight appearances, while Smith, who earned the save on Thursday, has been a true postseason iron man. 🏈 NFL Sunday Just two of Sunday's 12 games are between teams with .500 records, as the 3-2 Browns host the 4-1 Ravens (1pm, Fox) and the 3-2 Raiders host the 4-1 Bills (4:25pm, CBS). Best of the rest: The Texans and Jaguars play in the third and final London game of the season (9:30am, NFL), the Falcons host the Bears (1pm, Fox) in what is expected to be Caleb Williams' return from injury and the Packers host the Cowboys on "Sunday Night Football" (8:20pm, NBC). More to watch: 🏀 NBA Preseason: Celtics at 76ers (Fri. 7pm, NBA); Nuggets at Lakers (Fri. 10:30pm, ESPN) … The regular season tips off on Tuesday. ⚽️ MLS: Philadelphia vs. Charlotte (Sat. 2:30pm, Apple); Minnesota vs. St. Louis (Sat. 4:30pm, Apple) … Philly (14 straight) and St. Louis (21 straight) seek to extend their historic unbeaten streaks. ⚽️ NWSL: Washington vs. Gotham (Sat. 12:30pm, CBS) … First-place Gotham vs. third-place Washington with three games left in the regular season. 🏒 NHL: Devils at Capitals (Sat. 1pm, NHL); Hurricanes at Jets (Sat. 3:30pm, ESPN+) … The defending champion Hurricanes (6-1-1) have won six straight. Plus: 🏁 NASCAR Chase in Phoenix (Sun. 3pm, USA); 🎾 ATP Shanghai Masters and WTA Wuhan Open (Fri-Sun, Tennis); ⚽️ Premier League, Matchday 7 (Sat-Sun, USA/Peacock); 👊 UFC Fight Night: Buckley vs. Malott (Sat. 8pm, Paramount+) Got plans this weekend? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   🔍 LET'S PLAY GUESS THE LOGO 20 NBA teams have some form of a basketball in their logo, but just three use a full, orange-colored version of the orb. Question: Can you name the three teams whose logos feature the orange basketballs in the graphic above? Hint: All three have played in the NBA Finals this decade. Answer at the bottom.   🏀 FANTASY HOOPS DRAFT YOUR SQUAD! Yahoo Fantasy Basketball is back and better than ever. Grab your friends and play in a private league or join a public league to compete against other fans all season long. New way to play: High Score is our streamlined game format that features six weekly starters, with only their highest-scoring game each week counting toward your total. Spend less time managing your lineup and more time following the action. Draft your squad: Opening Night is on Tuesday, so the clock is ticking! Tap in.   Logo reveal: A) Celtics, Knicks, C) Suns  

The next act for the No Kings movement: Early voting in the midterms WASHINGTON — The No Kings movement that has brought millions to the streets across the United States three times since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term is staging its next event at the polls. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/15/repub/the-next-act-for-the-no-kings-movement-early-voting-in-the-midterms/?

Trump: Execution of Fort Hood shooter will not be livestreamed WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump Thursday announced that the execution of a man convicted of the Fort Hood shooting will not be livestreamed, a reversal after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that Nidal Hasan’s death by firing squad would be public. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/15/repub/trump-execution-of-fort-hood-shooter-will-not-be-livestreamed/? ps:Once again throwing his men under the bus!!!!! Archbishop of the U.S. military says Catholic soldiers should not serve on firing squad Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the Catholic Church’s pastoral services to Catholics in the U.S. military, is condemning the proposed livestream of the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan. https://apnews.com/article/catholic-archbishop-us-military-firing-squad-execution-bd71ca693547d67aa53a0a215a037006?

Students to compete in civics bee championship in nation’s capital, carried on C-SPAN WASHINGTON — As partisan tensions rise in advance of the fast-approaching midterm elections, students will test their knowledge Wednesday in a field that’s long enjoyed bipartisan support: civics. https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/students-compete-civics-bee-championship-nations-capital-carried-c-span Colorado student wins top prize at National Civics Bee Championship WASHINGTON — Peter Daniell of Broomfield, Colorado, took home the grand prize Wednesday night after winning the National Civics Bee Championship in the nation’s capital. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/15/repub/colorado-student-wins-top-prize-at-national-civics-bee-championship/?

Gwen Graham spends a ‘workday’ helping to install solar panels LUTZ — Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Gwen Graham spent part of her Thursday helping to install solar panels on the roof of a firefighter’s home in northern Hillsborough County. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/15/gwen-graham-spends-a-workday-helping-to-install-solar-panels/? Matt Gaetz and two others named as defendants in sex trafficking civil lawsuit Two women have filed a federal civil lawsuit accusing former Florida U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz and two others of participating in an sex trafficking scheme involving young women, drugs, and travel across state lines. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/15/matt-gaetz-and-two-others-named-as-defendants-in-sex-trafficking-civil-lawsuit/? Florida Immigrant Coalition supports resolution pressing Congress to tackle immigration policy The Florida Immigrant Coalition on Thursday joined Illinois U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez and other advocates calling on Congress to tackle immigration policy and provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented people. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/15/florida-immigrant-coalition-supports-resolution-pressing-congress-to-tackle-immigration-policy/?

Another question I just thought of is who makes and provides the Sabbath lesson that SDA's read? Is the Sabbath lesson study provided by the union conference of whatever area the church is under or is it provided by the General Conference?

Food Substitutes for Egg Allergy Eggs are a staple in all kinds of recipes. In baking, they help hold ingredients together while adding texture and moisture. In cooking, they’re a quick and easy source of protein and other nutrients. But if you have an egg allergy, it can be tough to figure out how to cook or bake without eggs. https://www.webmd.com/allergies/food-substitutes-for-egg-allergy? ps:Or you don't want to eat eggs any more or for that matter dairy products??

Pornograkplhy I have recently beenadvised that the General Conference has a website which assists tlhe public in dealing with an addliction to pornography. Check it out if you think it might be of value to either you or so meone you know. https://gatewaytowholeness.com/

Clancy Contagion Spreads: Queens Mom Kills Her Kindergartener In a South Richmond Hill home in Queens, police found 5-year-old Fabiana Cabello unconscious, bleeding from her nose and mouth with a bruise on her temple. Her mother, 32-year-old Francis Cabello, had called 911 just before 7 p.m. on Wednesday, admitting to killing her own child. Officers rushed Fabiana to Jamaica Hospital. She did not survive. Autopsy findings showed scrapes and broken blood vessels around her eyes, heart, and lungs consistent with asphyxia. Cabello was charged with second-degree murder and held without bail.

Who pays the salaries of the SDA Pastors who work at the Glendale City Church? The quoted statement claims that Church is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination. The statement goes on to claim that Glendale City Church agrees with the positions of the "Pacific Union Conference" that supposedly affirm & welcome LGBT, ordination of female clergy. I was unaware that historic SDA's disagreed with their universities teaching modern science???

Drone strikes in the Black Sea raise fears of Russian escalation to test NATO’s response A string of drone attacks on at least seven cargo vessels in the Black Sea this month, off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, has some members of the alliance wondering if Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking escalation to test their support for Ukraine. Read more. What to know: The attacks in the two countries' exclusive economic zones threaten a global shipping route and have left two people dead, with at least 25 still missing. They also run the risk of drawing other countries directly into the war for Ukraine. Article 5 of the NATO charter has a mutual defense guarantee — an attack on one is an attack on all. But Romanian defense analyst Radu Tudor said it was uncertain as to whether it covers many of the Black Sea drone strikes because they occurred in the alliance members’ exclusive economic zones. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Russia strikes 9 Ukrainian regions as strain grows between Zelenskyy and Trump AP gets exclusive look at ‘StarGate,’ Ukraine’s first aerial drone to evacuate wounded soldiers What to know about Starshield and why its disruption rattled Ukraine’s forces

October 16, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. Let’s look at what happens when school police arrest children. In Corpus Christi, Texas. Meridith Kohut for The New York Times In the system There are a lot of police officers in Texas public schools. In the four years since a gunman killed 21 people at an elementary school in Uvalde, districts across the state have spent billions of dollars to put cops on every campus. They’re there both to protect against future attacks and to curb misbehavior and fighting, which swelled after the Covid pandemic. The crackdown has had an unintended consequence, according to an investigation by The Times and The San Antonio Express-News: It has swept tens of thousands of elementary students and middle schoolers into the justice system. In the 2024-25 school year, the most recent one for which data is available, about 4,800 Texans between the ages of 10 and 13 were referred for prosecution. That’s a third more than the number a decade before. What “referred for prosecution” means in plain English: Some kid slaps another kid on the playground, or puffs on a vape in the bathroom, or kicks a principal in frustration or rage, and a uniformed officer with a gun puts the child in handcuffs. Just like that the student’s not just in the school system, but in the criminal justice one, too. That can reshape a life. Some referred children receive a warning. Others end up before a judge, where they’re assigned community service, counseling or court supervision. In more serious cases, they end up in state juvenile justice facilities. In few cases do they return to school unchanged. Research shows that getting handcuffed and dragged out of school can hurt academic performance and can lead to future contact with law enforcement. Referrals are one of the places where the so-called school-to-prison pipeline starts. ‘She just gave up’ The stories our reporters recount are chilling. In 2024, a 12-year-old girl in Galveston got sent to the principal’s office for being “disruptive.” School officials suspended her and told her to go wait in the lobby for her mother to pick her up. Laquital Thompson and her daughter, who was arrested at her middle school in Galveston in 2024. Meridith Kohut for The New York Times She refused to go there. The administrators called for a school police officer, who arrived and told the girl: “You’ve got four seconds to walk over there. Otherwise, I’m going to put you in handcuffs, and we’re going to give you a ride.” The girl didn’t move. “OK, I’m done,” the officer said, and slid off her pink backpack to handcuff her wrists behind her back. His body camera footage shows the sequence: The New York Times “I didn’t really know why it was happening,” the girl told our reporters later. “Why would they put me in handcuffs?” The girl was eventually charged with trespassing. Two former school district police chiefs who reviewed the case at The Times’s request said that the arrest and the referral were unnecessary. But the girl pleaded guilty and was put on probation for a year, her mother told our reporters. And now her daughter has even more trouble in class. “She just gave up,” her mother said. The witness Kristian Hernández is one of the reporters who worked on the investigation. A native Texan, he grew up on the border and attended public schools in El Paso. Kristian was a straight-A student, but one of those straight-A students with long heavy-metal hair and a skateboard, the kind who gets in fights. He had plenty of contact with law enforcement along the way. The arrests he documented in schools didn’t surprise him, he told me yesterday. It was the age of those arrested. “There’s a lot of emphasis and even support for making schools more secure,” he said. “I haven’t talked to a single kid or parent who hasn’t expressed a fear of a school shooting.” That fear is understandable. Just yesterday, three kids and a teacher were killed at a school in Oregon. Still, Kristian continued: “What we learned that was surprising — and scary — is that no one is paying attention to what happens when schools are hardened against that threat.” Among other things, it’s 10-year-olds getting placed in the back of police cars, and 12-year-olds asking for lawyers. Please read the whole story, which is by Kristian, Asher Lehrer-Small, Clare Amari and Rosie Cima. A shooting in Oregon A 16-year-old blasted his way through locked doors into an Oregon elementary school, killing three children and a teacher before an armed bystander pursued him inside and killed him, the police said. The children killed were 5, 8 and 11. COMPUTE THIS The New York Times In 2018, OpenAI released its first GPT model. Trained with a mere 18 million trillion calculations, it was often incoherent. As the company scaled up — 5 sextillion, 2.6 septillion — the models improved. GPT 6 Astra is estimated to have required an octillion, or a thousand trillion trillion, calculations. It would take an iPhone 13 million years to do that math. The scale is hard to comprehend, so we visualized it. Related: Parenting can feel like doing an octillion calculations every week. Some families are turning to A.I. agents for help. THE LATEST NEWS Politics Elon Musk, who has major business interests in Texas, appeared to funnel $158 million to back Ken Paxton’s Senate bid there. Even as Democrats hope to flip congressional seats in red states, bluer states have a few races that are far closer than the party would like. A contract dispute is forcing many migrant children to face immigration judges alone. What happens when a 7-year-old agrees to leave the country without a lawyer present? President Trump’s attacks on the integrity of the midterm elections are raising fears among election officials that he could try to challenge results. Letters “containing suspicious substances” were sent to senators and state election officials in recent days. Investigations are underway. Around the World In Yemen. Social Media/UGC, via Social Media Via Reuters The Houthis, the Iranian-backed militia in Yemen, attacked the government’s headquarters there, officials said. Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen’s government, accused Iran of trying to escalate the war. Russia and Ukraine have started striking each other’s data centers. The daughter of Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, traveled to the Balkan territory of Republika Srpska with an American businessman to explore a gas pipeline deal with the pro-Russian government there. Other Big Stories Trump canceled the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the execution of the Army officer convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting. It’s a tough time to buy a house. Mortgage rates have pushed above 7 percent — their highest level in more than three years — and home prices remain elevated. It’s not just rich people getting richer. Harvard’s endowment grew by $11 billion this year to a record $68 billion — a 27 percent return. A teenager was arrested in suburban Chicago after his gun jammed before a planned mass shooting at a Hindu temple, the police said. The police identified a homicide victim found in a barrel in Lake Mead in 2022. They say he’s an Arkansas man killed in the 1980s. IN ONE GRAPHIC Source: Gallup polls of U.S. adults conducted in September 1949 and 2018. The New York Times Polls show that socialism is growing in popularity. Here, we track warming American attitudes toward it (and waning regard for capitalism), even as respondents aren’t quite sure what “socialism” means. OPINIONS Requiring fraternities to admit women can make campuses safer, the president of Wesleyan University argues. To solve today’s affordability crisis, we have to face a tricky, wonky, tenacious problem from yesteryear, Matthew Yglesias writes: the deficit. 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. FREE TO READ Crisis in Paris: The city has acknowledged a “collective failure” to prevent sexual offenders from working in schools after a surge in abuse accusations. Rescuing Luna: A small dog who went missing in Yellowstone National Park for nearly five weeks was found safe. See a photo. Kelly Clarkson (Day 7!): The Brooklyn store that angered the singer has raised the price of the toy bird that she said it wouldn’t sell her to $15 million. We went to visit it. Your pick: The most clicked story in The Morning yesterday was about how to prevent stroke and dementia. Hilary Swank: She’s having her third child at 52. TODAY’S NUMBER McFarlane Toys $399 — That is the price of a new deluxe version of a Shohei Ohtani action figure from a company that usually sells superhero toys. It’s 14 inches tall and comes with home and away Dodgers uniforms, two pairs of cleats, more than a dozen interchangeable hands and two heads. One stares icily. The other gives a celebratory shout. Check it out. SPORTS Competitive eating: Tim Janus brought rigor and strategy to his sport, rising to No. 2 in the world. He died at 49. N.F.L.: The Denver Broncos held off a late comeback attempt and defeated the Seattle Seahawks in overtime, 17-14, in Denver, dropping the reigning Super Bowl champions’ record to 3-3 — matching their total of losses from last season. RECIPE OF THE DAY Bobbi Lin for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Here’s a minimalist recipe for butternut squash soup that delivers maximalist flavor, thanks to the balance between the sweetness of the vegetable and the warm sparkle of spices and acid that joins it in the pot. There are some lovely notes and modifications in the comments below the instructions, well worth considering. Butternut squash soup is a canvas. Paint on it! THE EYES HAVE IT Nathan Fielder interviewing Elizabeth Holmes in “You Can See Everything.” A24 The documentary “You Can See Everything,” about the disgraced tech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, opens today. Manohla Dargis, reviewing it for The Times, calls the film “off-the-charts bonkers,” and “a wily, disturbing, self-aware exploration of the relationship between documentarians and their subjects.” More on culture Zara Larsson is poised for pop superstardom, and she came onto our “Popcast” culture show to talk about it. Watch, listen or read. Meet Mette Wendelboe Okkels, a Danish knitting luminary who runs the fiber-crafts brand PetiteKnit. The aesthetic of her patterns is pure Scandinavian chic. “I see these pictures and it’s like, ‘I’m going to live like this,’” one fan told The Times. “‘I’m going to make the sweater and I’m going to have breezy hair and endless cups of coffee.’” Hygge! 🇩🇰🧶☕ THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Watch “Prey,” a 2014 British cops-and-bad-guys series set in Manchester that’s kicking around on Amazon Prime. The Times liked it when it first came to America. I like it now. Sleep well on a plane. It’s possible! Subscribe to “The Backstory”: Our journalists often face tough calls about how to tell sensitive stories. In a new newsletter, we explain how we make those decisions, beginning with our coverage of the gang rape allegation at Cornell. Sign up here. Clean your refrigerator this weekend. (This should be a monthly chore — in restaurants it’s more like a daily one.) The kitchen porters at Wirecutter have some very good tips. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were inimically, maniacally and manically. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. If you’re not a subscriber yet, would you consider becoming one today? Subscriptions allow us to keep doing this work that we love. — 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

October 16, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. Let’s look at what happens when school police arrest children. In Corpus Christi, Texas. Meridith Kohut for The New York Times In the system There are a lot of police officers in Texas public schools. In the four years since a gunman killed 21 people at an elementary school in Uvalde, districts across the state have spent billions of dollars to put cops on every campus. They’re there both to protect against future attacks and to curb misbehavior and fighting, which swelled after the Covid pandemic. The crackdown has had an unintended consequence, according to an investigation by The Times and The San Antonio Express-News: It has swept tens of thousands of elementary students and middle schoolers into the justice system. In the 2024-25 school year, the most recent one for which data is available, about 4,800 Texans between the ages of 10 and 13 were referred for prosecution. That’s a third more than the number a decade before. What “referred for prosecution” means in plain English: Some kid slaps another kid on the playground, or puffs on a vape in the bathroom, or kicks a principal in frustration or rage, and a uniformed officer with a gun puts the child in handcuffs. Just like that the student’s not just in the school system, but in the criminal justice one, too. That can reshape a life. Some referred children receive a warning. Others end up before a judge, where they’re assigned community service, counseling or court supervision. In more serious cases, they end up in state juvenile justice facilities. In few cases do they return to school unchanged. Research shows that getting handcuffed and dragged out of school can hurt academic performance and can lead to future contact with law enforcement. Referrals are one of the places where the so-called school-to-prison pipeline starts. ‘She just gave up’ The stories our reporters recount are chilling. In 2024, a 12-year-old girl in Galveston got sent to the principal’s office for being “disruptive.” School officials suspended her and told her to go wait in the lobby for her mother to pick her up. Laquital Thompson and her daughter, who was arrested at her middle school in Galveston in 2024. Meridith Kohut for The New York Times She refused to go there. The administrators called for a school police officer, who arrived and told the girl: “You’ve got four seconds to walk over there. Otherwise, I’m going to put you in handcuffs, and we’re going to give you a ride.” The girl didn’t move. “OK, I’m done,” the officer said, and slid off her pink backpack to handcuff her wrists behind her back. His body camera footage shows the sequence: The New York Times “I didn’t really know why it was happening,” the girl told our reporters later. “Why would they put me in handcuffs?” The girl was eventually charged with trespassing. Two former school district police chiefs who reviewed the case at The Times’s request said that the arrest and the referral were unnecessary. But the girl pleaded guilty and was put on probation for a year, her mother told our reporters. And now her daughter has even more trouble in class. “She just gave up,” her mother said. The witness Kristian Hernández is one of the reporters who worked on the investigation. A native Texan, he grew up on the border and attended public schools in El Paso. Kristian was a straight-A student, but one of those straight-A students with long heavy-metal hair and a skateboard, the kind who gets in fights. He had plenty of contact with law enforcement along the way. The arrests he documented in schools didn’t surprise him, he told me yesterday. It was the age of those arrested. “There’s a lot of emphasis and even support for making schools more secure,” he said. “I haven’t talked to a single kid or parent who hasn’t expressed a fear of a school shooting.” That fear is understandable. Just yesterday, three kids and a teacher were killed at a school in Oregon. Still, Kristian continued: “What we learned that was surprising — and scary — is that no one is paying attention to what happens when schools are hardened against that threat.” Among other things, it’s 10-year-olds getting placed in the back of police cars, and 12-year-olds asking for lawyers. Please read the whole story, which is by Kristian, Asher Lehrer-Small, Clare Amari and Rosie Cima. A shooting in Oregon A 16-year-old blasted his way through locked doors into an Oregon elementary school, killing three children and a teacher before an armed bystander pursued him inside and killed him, the police said. The children killed were 5, 8 and 11. COMPUTE THIS The New York Times In 2018, OpenAI released its first GPT model. Trained with a mere 18 million trillion calculations, it was often incoherent. As the company scaled up — 5 sextillion, 2.6 septillion — the models improved. GPT 6 Astra is estimated to have required an octillion, or a thousand trillion trillion, calculations. It would take an iPhone 13 million years to do that math. The scale is hard to comprehend, so we visualized it. Related: Parenting can feel like doing an octillion calculations every week. Some families are turning to A.I. agents for help. THE LATEST NEWS Politics Elon Musk, who has major business interests in Texas, appeared to funnel $158 million to back Ken Paxton’s Senate bid there. Even as Democrats hope to flip congressional seats in red states, bluer states have a few races that are far closer than the party would like. A contract dispute is forcing many migrant children to face immigration judges alone. What happens when a 7-year-old agrees to leave the country without a lawyer present? President Trump’s attacks on the integrity of the midterm elections are raising fears among election officials that he could try to challenge results. Letters “containing suspicious substances” were sent to senators and state election officials in recent days. Investigations are underway. Around the World In Yemen. Social Media/UGC, via Social Media Via Reuters The Houthis, the Iranian-backed militia in Yemen, attacked the government’s headquarters there, officials said. Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen’s government, accused Iran of trying to escalate the war. Russia and Ukraine have started striking each other’s data centers. The daughter of Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, traveled to the Balkan territory of Republika Srpska with an American businessman to explore a gas pipeline deal with the pro-Russian government there. Other Big Stories Trump canceled the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the execution of the Army officer convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting. It’s a tough time to buy a house. Mortgage rates have pushed above 7 percent — their highest level in more than three years — and home prices remain elevated. It’s not just rich people getting richer. Harvard’s endowment grew by $11 billion this year to a record $68 billion — a 27 percent return. A teenager was arrested in suburban Chicago after his gun jammed before a planned mass shooting at a Hindu temple, the police said. The police identified a homicide victim found in a barrel in Lake Mead in 2022. They say he’s an Arkansas man killed in the 1980s. IN ONE GRAPHIC Source: Gallup polls of U.S. adults conducted in September 1949 and 2018. The New York Times Polls show that socialism is growing in popularity. Here, we track warming American attitudes toward it (and waning regard for capitalism), even as respondents aren’t quite sure what “socialism” means. OPINIONS Requiring fraternities to admit women can make campuses safer, the president of Wesleyan University argues. To solve today’s affordability crisis, we have to face a tricky, wonky, tenacious problem from yesteryear, Matthew Yglesias writes: the deficit. 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. FREE TO READ Crisis in Paris: The city has acknowledged a “collective failure” to prevent sexual offenders from working in schools after a surge in abuse accusations. Rescuing Luna: A small dog who went missing in Yellowstone National Park for nearly five weeks was found safe. See a photo. Kelly Clarkson (Day 7!): The Brooklyn store that angered the singer has raised the price of the toy bird that she said it wouldn’t sell her to $15 million. We went to visit it. Your pick: The most clicked story in The Morning yesterday was about how to prevent stroke and dementia. Hilary Swank: She’s having her third child at 52. TODAY’S NUMBER McFarlane Toys $399 — That is the price of a new deluxe version of a Shohei Ohtani action figure from a company that usually sells superhero toys. It’s 14 inches tall and comes with home and away Dodgers uniforms, two pairs of cleats, more than a dozen interchangeable hands and two heads. One stares icily. The other gives a celebratory shout. Check it out. SPORTS Competitive eating: Tim Janus brought rigor and strategy to his sport, rising to No. 2 in the world. He died at 49. N.F.L.: The Denver Broncos held off a late comeback attempt and defeated the Seattle Seahawks in overtime, 17-14, in Denver, dropping the reigning Super Bowl champions’ record to 3-3 — matching their total of losses from last season. RECIPE OF THE DAY Bobbi Lin for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Here’s a minimalist recipe for butternut squash soup that delivers maximalist flavor, thanks to the balance between the sweetness of the vegetable and the warm sparkle of spices and acid that joins it in the pot. There are some lovely notes and modifications in the comments below the instructions, well worth considering. Butternut squash soup is a canvas. Paint on it! THE EYES HAVE IT Nathan Fielder interviewing Elizabeth Holmes in “You Can See Everything.” A24 The documentary “You Can See Everything,” about the disgraced tech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, opens today. Manohla Dargis, reviewing it for The Times, calls the film “off-the-charts bonkers,” and “a wily, disturbing, self-aware exploration of the relationship between documentarians and their subjects.” More on culture Zara Larsson is poised for pop superstardom, and she came onto our “Popcast” culture show to talk about it. Watch, listen or read. Meet Mette Wendelboe Okkels, a Danish knitting luminary who runs the fiber-crafts brand PetiteKnit. The aesthetic of her patterns is pure Scandinavian chic. “I see these pictures and it’s like, ‘I’m going to live like this,’” one fan told The Times. “‘I’m going to make the sweater and I’m going to have breezy hair and endless cups of coffee.’” Hygge! 🇩🇰🧶☕ THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Watch “Prey,” a 2014 British cops-and-bad-guys series set in Manchester that’s kicking around on Amazon Prime. The Times liked it when it first came to America. I like it now. Sleep well on a plane. It’s possible! Subscribe to “The Backstory”: Our journalists often face tough calls about how to tell sensitive stories. In a new newsletter, we explain how we make those decisions, beginning with our coverage of the gang rape allegation at Cornell. Sign up here. Clean your refrigerator this weekend. (This should be a monthly chore — in restaurants it’s more like a daily one.) The kitchen porters at Wirecutter have some very good tips. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were inimically, maniacally and manically. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. If you’re not a subscriber yet, would you consider becoming one today? Subscriptions allow us to keep doing this work that we love. — 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

New WH press secretary’s credentials under scrutiny New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia shared at least 15 social media posts over the past two years identifying her as an “attorney,” despite having failed the California bar exam. The posts have raised questions about how Zacharia represented her credentials after graduating from Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law in 2011. She also repeatedly described herself as a lawyer during television and podcast appearances, though she acknowledged publicly that she had been advised not to use that term. + Read more: New WH press secretary failed the bar exam. She shared posts calling her an attorney anyway + Video: Zacharia denies misrepresenting her legal credentials

Zelensky and Trump clash over war A new dispute over Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service is deepening the rift between the US and Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities say Starlink has restricted some military internet services, disrupting operations amid an escalating dispute with the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is threatening to resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, despite Trump’s concerns that such attacks are driving up fuel prices ahead of the US midterms. + Read more: Zelensky praises ‘real leaders’ in Europe as his relationship with Trump deteriorates + Meanwhile: Ukraine runs out of Patriot interceptor missiles

Takeaways from Thursday’s heated Senate debates Two of the country’s most competitive Senate races grew increasingly bitter Thursday night as candidates traded sharp attacks during debates in Maine and Alaska. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson told Republican Sen. Susan Collins to “shut up,” while in Alaska, GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan questioned Democratic challenger Mary Peltola’s character over allegations she mistreated staff, prompting her to fire back. Though thousands of miles apart, both contests could prove pivotal in determining which party controls the Senate. + Read more: Key moments from the debates + Video: Protester interrupts Maine Senate debate + USAFacts: How red or blue is your state? Editor’s note: CNN has partnered with the not-for-profit USAFacts to share government data and insights that we believe are relevant to our audience.

Oregon community mourns after school shooting Community members grieve during a candlelight vigil in Bend, Oregon. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images) Three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher were killed on Thursday when gunfire erupted at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon. Another child and a teacher were rushed to the hospital with critical injuries. Police said the shooter, a 16-year-old Bend resident, was shot and killed by a community member who pursued him into the school. Authorities have not yet identified a motive. The tragedy marks the 36th shooting on K-12 school grounds in the US this year, according to a CNN analysis. “As a country, we still lack the courage to do anything to try to prevent these things from occurring,” CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Charles Ramsey said, warning that without meaningful action, more families will likely face the same heartbreak. + Live updates: Teen shooter kills 3 children, teacher in Oregon + Video: Superintendent’s emotional message after school shooting + CNN analysis: School shootings in the US this year

THIS DAY IN HISTORY October 16 1934 The Long March Mao Zedong begins leading his Communists followers on a 6,000-mile trek from southeastern to northwestern China. read more 1980s 1987 Baby Jessica rescued from a well as the world watches Arts & Entertainment 1854 Celebrated writer Oscar Wilde is born 1970 Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber release “Jesus Christ Superstar” concept album 1923 Walt Disney Company is founded Asian History 1964 China joins A-bomb club Black History 1995 Million Man March Crime 1991 23 diners massacred at Texas restaurant 1906 A shoemaker leads German soldiers in a robbery European History 1793 Marie Antoinette is beheaded Inventions & Science 1958 Chevrolet introduces the El Camino Slavery 1859 John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry Sports 1968 Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their fists at the 1968 Olympics 1996 Stampede kills 84 at World Cup match U.S. Presidents 1854 Abraham Lincoln speaks out against slavery Vietnam War 1973 Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho awarded Nobel Peace Prize World War II 1946 Nazi war criminals executed 1946 Alfred Rosenberg is executed

☔ Winter forecast: Warmer and wetter Image: NOAA Winter in the U.S. looks like it will generally be wetter and warmer, but not necessarily snowier, according to the federal government's seasonal outlook. El Niño — the natural but temporary warming in parts of the Pacific — should help erase persistent Western drought but likely won't make Northern snow-lovers happy. Full winter outlook.

🐊 Scoop: Trump as Florida Man President Trump will return to his Florida base of operations to juice in-person early voting with an Oct. 23 rally in the southwest part of the state, Axios' Marc Caputo has learned. Why it matters: Florida is among the GOP's least problematic states in midterms, 18 days away. But Republicans are worried about enthusiasm and turnout, even in Trump's newly adopted home state. Polls show Rep. Byron Donalds and Sen. Ashley Moody with marginal leads over their Democratic opponents in the gubernatorial and Senate races. The Fort Myers rally is in the heart of Donalds' Southwest Florida district, among the state's solid Republican strongholds. 🗳️ State of play: Registered Florida Republicans outnumber registered Democrats by more than 1.5 million. So far, though, Democrats have cast more vote-by-mail ballots than Republicans, according to the state's Division of Elections. Republicans used to dominate mail voting in Florida. But that began to change after Trump started demonizing the method in 2020. So now Republicans rely more on early in-person voting. "Next week is crunch time," said a top Florida Republican consultant. "It's still Florida, and we still have more voters. But the environment isn't great and, sure, no one turns out our base more than the president. I hope it works." ✈️ Coming attractions: Today, Trump officially kicks off his Florida season by overnighting at his Mar-a-Lago club after a rally this afternoon in Dalton, Ga. Tomorrow, he rallies at Northern Kentucky University's arena in Highland Heights, Ky., then is back in Palm Beach for a MAGA Inc. Candlelight Dinner. Sunday, he'll return to the White House. Monday, he rallies in Wichita, Kan. Tuesday, he rallies in Greenville, S.C. Wednesday, he rallies in Clemson, S.C. Thursday, he rallies in Sioux City, Iowa. Next Friday, he returns to Florida for the rally with Donalds and Moody.