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Headlines
Democrats win the House and Senate
Democrats captured control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, delivering a strong rebuke to President Donald Trump and Republicans. The wave reached deep into GOP territory, with James Talarico defeating Ken Paxton for a Texas Senate seat and Gina Hinojosa unseating Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. In Iowa, Josh Turek defeated Rep. Ashley Hinson. Source
Trump says decision on resuming Iran war is coming soon
President Trump said Thursday he will soon decide whether to restart the war against Iran that the U.S. and Israel launched in February. “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You’ll know soon enough,” Trump told reporters after meeting with national security advisers. U.S. Central Command has reportedly stepped up preparations for possible renewed operations but has received no new orders. Source
Insiders are predicting trouble for War Secretary Pete Hegseth after Tuesday’s Republican losses, but President Trump has not moved to replace him. Incoming Democratic majorities are already promising subpoenas and closer scrutiny of the Pentagon. See Details
The FBI has blamed North Korea for the roughly $6.3 billion hack of crypto exchange Binance. The theft happened on or about Oct. 29, and the bureau put out a cyber alert about it Saturday. Source
Politics
House Speaker Mike Johnson will not run to lead House Republicans now that his party has lost the majority. The House GOP is moving quickly to pick a new leadership team after the blue wave. Find out More
Ballots are still being tallied in several undecided contests three days after the midterms, with Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi and House contests in Kansas yet to be called. Democrats have already won control of both the House and Senate, and the remaining races will set the size of their new majorities. Source
Mississippi’s Senate contest between Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Scott Colom turned into a nail-biter, with votes still being counted Wednesday. Alaska’s Senate race is also undecided and could take a while to settle. Find out More
U.S. News
Indiana, Florida and Alabama each executed a man by lethal injection Thursday, the nation’s second triple-execution day this year. Indiana put to death Jeffrey Weisheit for a 2010 house fire that killed two children, Florida executed Jesse Guardado for a 2004 killing, and Alabama executed Michael Taylor for the 1991 murders of an older couple. Florida’s execution tied its 2025 state record of 19. Source
Jury selection began Monday in the retrial tied to the Pacific Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. The fire destroyed thousands of homes in January 2025. Source
A Learjet 60 crashed near Greenacres in Palm Beach County on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard. About 600 nearby residents were evacuated after the crash. NTSB senior investigator Timothy Monville said the on-site work “will be a several-day process.” See Details
The national average price of gasoline fell 17.1 cents in a week to $4.12 a gallon, the largest weekly drop in months. Prices are down nearly 25 cents from a month ago but remain $1.13 higher than a year ago. “Volatility could return quickly after the election,” warned GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan. See Details
A Learjet 60 flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people aboard. The pilot radioed “We’re managing the ice, but it is moderate turbulence” before declaring a Mayday. The NTSB is leading the investigation, and no one on the ground was hurt. See Details
NASA’s 1.5-ton Swift Observatory is falling back to Earth after a robotic rescue mission failed. Most of the spacecraft should burn up, but tungsten parts and pieces of its mirror could survive, most likely landing in the ocean. Over 22 years, Swift detected more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts. Find out More
Four police officers were shot, one fatally, in a firefight with a gunman in Lakewood, Colo., which began on a Regional Transportation District bus. A civilian was also injured, and the suspect was killed in the shootout. See Details
The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center flagged a possible early disruption of the stratospheric polar vortex, which is very rare for November and could let Arctic air move south. Forecasters say late November and December are the period to watch, though a cold snap is not guaranteed. Find out More
Business
The Dow plunged about 1,800 points Thursday and the Nasdaq fell 5.5%, its worst day since the 2025 tariff sell-off, as investors fled tech and AI stocks after the midterms. The “Magnificent 7” megacap tech stocks lost about $1 trillion in market value in a single session. Read More
Apple’s latest quarterly results showed iPhone sales driving revenue higher. It was the company’s first earnings report with John Ternus as CEO. Read More
Elon Musk spent heavily to keep Texas in Republican hands, and Democrats still won major statewide races there. The result raises questions about the political standing of his business empire, including SpaceX and Tesla, which both have large operations in the state. Read More
World News
France sent out 70,000 police officers as anti-government protests over rising costs went into a third week on Halloween. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez promised “an extremely firm response” to violence, and retailers’ losses from looting have passed $1 billion. Source
North Korea said it tested a strategic cruise missile with a dispersal warhead on Monday. State media KCNA said the test checked the missile’s flight characteristics for a vertical strike. See Details
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine will keep striking Russian oil refineries unless the U.S. delivers more Patriot air-defense missiles. “Our response must be painful,” he said in an interview. He called the Oleshky humanitarian evacuations “a huge result.” Source
Hong Kong democracy campaigner Joshua Wong was sentenced to another 10 years in prison. The sentence adds to the time he is already serving as Beijing keeps up its crackdown on dissent in the city. See Details
President Trump said the U.S. will stop roughly $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel at the end of the year. He said the aid would be “cut off at the end of the year.” The announcement marks a sharp shift in a decades-old security relationship. Source
Entertainment
Ella Langley, Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert and the Red Clay Strays are among the first performers announced for the 60th CMA Awards. Lainey Wilson is hosting this year’s show, and Langley leads the field with nine nominations. See Details
Former 007 Pierce Brosnan voiced support for Callum Turner being cast as James Bond. Brosnan called Turner “so strong” for the role. The endorsement from a past Bond adds weight to the franchise’s new direction. Find out More
Martha Stewart apologized for a Halloween costume depicting a homeless person, calling it “insensitive and not funny.” The 85-year-old had posted a photo of the costume with a sign reading “I am hungry. Help me” before deleting it. See Details
Sports
Unbeaten Miami (8-0) debuted at No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season, with Georgia (7-1) at No. 2. The SEC placed 10 teams in the top 25, including five in the top 10, with Alabama (6-2) at No. 5. Boise State (7-1) rounded out the list at No. 25. See Details
Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell said he has full movement in his lower body and is improving in his upper body after a neck injury in Sunday’s 19-15 win over Minnesota. He remains in the hospital as the 5-2 Lions get ready to play at Miami on Sunday. Find out More
No. 1 Miami visits No. 11 Notre Dame on Saturday night, with the Irish favored by 6 points. No. 5 Alabama plays at No. 14 LSU, and No. 3 Utah hosts No. 9 BYU in a top-10 Holy War rivalry game. See Details
Tom Brady slipped up on Fox’s NFL pregame show again, blurting “oh, s***” live on air after naming the wrong quarterback in a stats question. Brady listed Drew Brees when the right answer was Peyton Manning. It was his second on-air slip of the season. Source
Spire Motorsports suspended Carson Hocevar for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway because of his conduct at Martinsville, and Justin Haley will drive the No. 77 Chevrolet. Hocevar apologized and called it “an embarrassing day for me.” See Details
Jerry Koosman, the New York Mets left-hander who helped the “Miracle Mets” win the 1969 World Series, has died at 83. Koosman was a key starter on that championship team. Source
Off the Wall
A malfunctioning gas pump set off a chain of events that ended with a North Carolina man winning a $2 million lottery prize. Find out More
Five days after winning the World Series, Milwaukee Brewers players went trick-or-treating in suburban Wauwatosa and posed for selfies with fans. Sal Frelick and Andrew Vaughn wore matching beer-mug costumes, and pitcher DL Hall came as an astronaut. Read More
Five days after winning the World Series, Milwaukee Brewers players went trick-or-treating in suburban Wauwatosa and posed for selfies with fans. Sal Frelick and Andrew Vaughn wore matching beer-mug costumes, and pitcher DL Hall came as an astronaut. Read More
17-week-old Chihuahua mix named Applejack and an African grey parrot named Tasha greeted voters at a San Diego-area polling place on Election Day. The Helen Woodward Animal Center brought the animals to brighten voters’ trip to the polls. Among those stopping to say hello was 18-year-old Thomas Episcopio, casting his first ballot. See Details
