Today's News

Plus: 🍸 Scary sips | Friday, October 30, 2026

1 big thing: The 3-day wedding comes to Dallas

By Sami Sparber and Ned Oliver

Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios

Couples are thinking far beyond "chicken or beef" as they turn weddings into highly personalized, multiday experiences for their guests, according to a new report from The Knot.

Why it matters: Nearly 1 in 3 weddings now spans at least three days, with couples devoting more time and money to making guests feel entertained and cared for, per the wedding planning platform.

Zoom in: Dallas wedding weekends now often stretch from a bridal brunch a day or two before the wedding to a farewell brunch the day after, with welcome parties and tightly planned after-parties in between, wedding planner KC Cloud tells Axios.

Between the lines: The receptions themselves are getting more over-the-top, too.

• Couples want guests to have "tangible moments" they haven't seen before. It's "almost more like the Moulin Rouge — 'Are you entertained yet?'" Cloud says.

• Think performers in silver bodysuits and disco-ball helmets on the dance floor, or servers wearing hoop skirts lined with champagne flutes for guests to grab.

Favors are getting personal, too:

• 🪡 Stitch stations: Embroiderers personalize bandanas and scarves with guests' names during cocktail hour, Cloud says.

• 🔥 Branded keepsakes: At Fort Worth's Hotel Drover, guests can get leather luggage tags branded with their initials.

• 🎨 Portrait favors: Watercolor artists paint guests in their black-tie attire.

More trends local planners are seeing:

• 🏨 Hotels are back: Big hotel weddings at spots like Hotel Swexan and Fort Worth's Bowie House are in demand for their food and service, Cloud says.

• 🛋️ Living-room vibes: Couples want lamps, soft seating and unique candleholders that make a space feel "curated rather than simply decorated," per Gathered Events owner Brittney Samford.

• 💐 Fewer, bigger florals: Couples are choosing statement installations over covering every surface, she says.

Reality check: That wedding weekend can add up.

• The average spending on wedding vendors rose 8.5% through May compared to the same time last year, partly driven by inflation and tariffs, Bank of America Institute data shows.

The bottom line: Couples are making weddings more personal — for themselves and their guests.

2. Where breast cancer death rates are highest

By Carly Mallenbaum and Asher Price

Data: CDC; Note: Age-adjusted rates account for differences in population age. Map: Brad Jennings/Axios

This breast cancer awareness month, there's (modestly) good news and bad news: Breast cancer mortality has fallen nationally over the past decade, but where women are most likely to die from the disease hasn't changed much.

Why it matters: Breast cancer death rates remain disproportionately high in lower-income states, particularly across the Southeast, David Radley, a senior scientist at the Commonwealth Fund, tells Axios.

By the numbers: The U.S. recorded 18.7 breast cancer deaths per 100,000 women in 2024, according to the latest CDC data. (Fewer than 1% of breast cancers in the U.S. occur in men, per the American Cancer Society.)

• Texas recorded nearly 3,300 breast cancer deaths that year, or 18.8 per 100,000 women.

Zoom in: Texas requires insurers to cover 3-D mammograms for women starting at age 35.

Friction point: Many Texans struggle to get any health care coverage.

• Texas hasn't expanded Medicaid, leaving an estimated 726,000 adults in the "coverage gap," earning too much for Medicaid and too little for marketplace subsidies, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated in 2024.

Between the lines: More mammograms alone won't close the gap.

• Black women have relatively high breast cancer screening rates but are more likely to die from the disease than white women, the Commonwealth Fund's recent report finds.

• Long delays between an abnormal screening and follow-up care can give cancer more time to progress.

• Lack of insurance, high deductibles, and difficulty accessing specialists may help explain the disparities, particularly for rural and lower-income women, Radley says.

3. Burnt ends: Bite-sized news bits

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

🦇 Arlington's AT&T Stadium is the most haunted sports arena in the U.S., according to a list compiled by The Sports Geek. (Dallas Observer)

💸 A $69 caviar burger on the menu at Pablo Pete's will haunt your wallet. (Dallas Observer)

🚆 TEXRail started construction on a $270 million extension that will connect Fort Worth's Medical District to downtown Fort Worth and DFW Airport. (WFAA)

🤠 Texas is getting older but remains one of the youngest states in the U.S., according to new Census Bureau data. (DMN)

4. Halloween pop-ups and drink specials

By Natalie Chandler

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

North Texas has its share of spooky stories and creepy places, and an equally impressive lineup of Halloween-themed drinks.

Why it matters: Because ghouls deserve a toast, too.

State of sips: Pop-ups, parties and specialty cocktails are plentiful across the metro area ahead of the big day on Saturday.

👯 Catbird is transforming for a rooftop costume bash.

• 5pm-midnight, Friday and Saturday.

🎃 Marriott Dallas Uptown is throwing a free Y'alloween block party.

• 7-11pm Friday.

🧟‍♂️ Calabrian Piazza is hosting a Zombie Ball.

• 7-11pm Saturday.

⚫️ Nickel City FTW brings back Black Lagoon.

• Through Saturday.

Zoom out: If you're more interested in the booze than the boos, restaurants and bars are serving Halloween-themed cocktails through October.

• The Lounge at Assembly Icehouse is serving Witches Brew ($15), Black Death ($18), Vampire's Kiss ($13) and The Gourd Father ($14), a pumpkin-spice Old Fashioned.

• The Yard has a vodka-spiked cold brew called the S'mortuary ($15), along with the whisky-infused Bobby for Apples Old Fashioned ($15), the gin-inspired Night Crawler ($13) and The Grave Digger ($13), made with chocolate and vanilla vodka.

One more pop-up

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🍻 Plus: Brewers storm Lambeau | Friday, October 30, 2026

1 big thing: 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.

2. 🫏 Dems already chasing 2028 cash

A vendor sold Newsom 2028 merch as the California governor campaigned for the midterms in Hardeeville, S.C., in September. Photo: Sam Wolfe/Reuters

The race for money among the top Democratic 2028 contenders is underway before any of them have even said they're running.

• Why it matters: "With the first candidates expected to announce their campaigns as soon as the end of this year, there is expected to be intense financial pressure in a crowded field," The New York Times' Teddy Schleifer reports. A competitive primary campaign could cost close to $100 million.

👀 Democratic megadonors are sizing up the big players — and some are revealing early favorites, Schleifer reports:

• Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder, has signaled he's leaning toward California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
• Chris Larsen, a crypto billionaire, also likes Newsom, though he also gave $1 million to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's reelection campaign.
• Michael Bloomberg likes Shapiro and gave $2.5 million to his reelection campaign.
• Deborah Simon, the shopping mall heiress, is impressed by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
• The Soros family has hosted two events for Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.). Alex Soros has also praised Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who's a billionaire himself.
• Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, a longtime Democratic fundraiser, has separately hosted Ossoff and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Nantucket.
• Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder, said he's spoken with several 2028 hopefuls about AI. He gave $1 million to a super PAC backing Ossoff this summer.

Keep reading (gift link).

3. 🪖 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.

4. 🦾 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.

5. ⚡ 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.

6. 🇭🇹 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.

7. 🔑 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.

8. 🧀 1 for the road: Brew Crew parade today

Images: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Milwaukee Public Schools will close today for the Brewers' World Series Parade of Champions and Championship Rally, "Won Our Way."

• The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says: "The Brewers are coming! Warm the buses! Clear the streets! Tap the kegs!"

🍻 Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) proclaimed today a statewide "Won Our Way" Day, honoring the Brewers and manager Pat Murphy for being "extraordinary players and people both on and off the field."

• Proclamation ... Parade map.

Photo: Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images

Above: Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff hoists the World Series trophy during the second quarter of last night's Green Bay Packers game at Lambeau Field. The Pack tamed the Carolina Panthers, 27-19.

Photo: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

This image, captured using a remote camera positioned above the diamond, shows Brewers catcher William Contreras celebrating after beating the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Wednesday night.

US GDP was up, but so was inflation...

October 30, 2026

Happy Friday. The viral Dune Sandworm popcorn bucket from AMC Theatres is back—and it’s as NSFW as ever. To commemorate the final film in the trilogy (out Dec. 18), the bucket has not one but two bulging wormholes through which you must access your popcorn.

Sorry, but if they expect us to enter a wormhole at the movies, they should re-release Interstellar.

—Sam Klebanov, Molly Liebergall, Matty Merritt, Dave Lozo, Adam Epstein, Holly Van Leuven, Neal Freyman

In today’s newsletter, we’ll get into:

• The latest numbers on GDP (up) and inflation (also up)
• A storied New York law firm imploding
• The rise of horror bookstores

Markets

• Markets: Stocks caught the Halloween spooky vibes and tumbled yesterday amid another round of AI jitters. On a related note, Alphabet absolutely tanked, shedding $482 billion in market value in its worst day since going public in 2004.

GROWTH MINDSET

The US economy had a surprise growth spurt

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Just like a college student who finally started going to office hours, the US economy just got its best report card of the year. The GDP grew at an annualized rate of 3.4% in Q3, thanks to booming business investment and resilient consumer spending despite rising inflation, according to government data released yesterday.

The economic expansion was bigger than analysts expected, representing a sharp acceleration from the 2.5% and 2.2% growth in the preceding two quarters:

• Yearly consumer spending growth reached 3.8% last quarter, the fastest pace since 2024.
• Business investment jumped 12.7%, accounting for over half of GDP growth.

AI investment was a major GDP propellant: Equipment purchases soared by a whopping 20.9%, which included AI hyperscalers splurging on data center tech.

What were the drags on GDP? Paradoxically, the AI buildout was one of them. That’s because many AI hardware purchases, like computer chips, happened overseas. That reduced economic growth by skewing the US trade balance toward imports (which are subtracted from GDP). Plus, rising mortgage rates dampened homebuilding.

Not everyone feels the GDP in their wallets

Though unemployment remains low, inflation outpaced income gains last month. Price growth accelerated in September on both a monthly and annual basis, per the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure. It remained well above the central bank’s 2% annual inflation target, strengthening the case for raising interest rates.

In a sign that higher prices might be straining American budgets, the after-tax savings rate dipped to 3.8% last month, the lowest since 2022. And purchases like cars, furniture, and electronics stagnated.

Momentum might be fragile. Many economists think that wealthier Americans, emboldened by gains in their stock portfolios (which are largely contingent on the AI boom), are sustaining consumption.—SK

World

Tour de headlines

John Phillips/Getty Images

💔 Patrick Stewart died at 86. The beloved English actor, best known for his roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film franchise, died after a battle with Alzheimer’s and Lewy body dementia, his family announced. His six-decade career included two Olivier Awards (the awards for top London theatre), a Grammy (for his narration of Peter and the Wolf), and four Emmy nominations. “Like me, Jean-Luc has lived an unusual life that has taken him far beyond the bounds of normal human experience,” Stewart wrote in his 2023 memoir. “In the end, he feels the call of home, as do I.”

🛒 DoorDash is buying Instacart for $17 billion. Bow to your new delivery overlords. DoorDash will acquire rival Instacart, the companies announced, uniting the US’ biggest restaurant delivery service with its biggest online grocery platform. The merger gives Instacart users access to thousands of additional stores and will combine memberships to each service into one subscription. Per NBC News, DoorDash is expected to keep Instacart’s brand and tech once the deal closes. Owning Instacart not only gives DoorDash more ammo in its duel with Uber, but it also helps the delivery giant compete with Walmart and Amazon in the increasingly competitive grocery space.

🥸 Report: Nvidia’s CEO may have been targeted in a Chinese spy plot. According to the New York Times, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang had a “close relationship” with an executive at a Singapore-based cloud company who US intelligence agencies believed was a Chinese asset. The woman, Alice Huang, was reportedly already suspected of helping China circumvent constraints on accessing AI chips from the US. Nvidia said its CEO’s interactions with the woman were not unusual, and that allegations that the cloud company was helping China evade US export controls were “investigated and debunked.” President Trump was briefed on the matter about a year ago and decided not to take any action, the NYT reported.—AE

BILLABLE FLOUNDERS

This prestigious firm’s downfall is shaking Big Law

Adobe Stock

Weil, it’s over. One of the most storied law firms in the industry—Weil, Gotshal & Manges—is set to wind down operations after ruling the world of high-profile bankruptcies for decades.

The nearly century-old firm’s stunning fall from grace happened slowly, and then all at once:

• More than 30 partners left Weil Gotshal this year, including several top moneymakers (who tend to take their clients with them).
• The firm was in talks to shore itself up through a merger with a rival, but the deal reportedly fell apart last week amid more partner exits.
• Then, news broke that the firm’s chosen successor to its current chair had declined the job.

Why this implosion is such a shocker: Weil Gotshal employs 2,000 people (including 1,200 lawyers), has few liabilities, and is one of the Top 20 most profitable law firms. It guided Enron’s historic bankruptcy filing in 2001 and scored $1+ billion in fees in 2009 from Lehman Brothers, General Motors, and other filers.

But…post-recession, Weil Gotshal was outpaced by competitors like Kirkland & Ellis, whose revenue exploded from $2 billion in 2015 to beyond $10 billion last year, while Weil Gotshal’s grew from $1 billion to $2 billion in the same period.

Zoom out: It’s now common practice for big firms to use multimillion-dollar pay packages to poach top partners, which can lead to a cascading talent exodus that’s hard to stop. It’s a “white-hot lateral market for partners,” law journalist Kathryn Rubino told CNBC.—ML

THEY’RE HERE

Indie bookstores are getting scary

Nick Iluzada

Your hunt for scary stories to tell in the dark is finally over. Genre-specific bookstores, especially for horror, have been multiplying to create a brood across the US, latching onto a swelling interest in the not-so-niche-anymore genre.

The perfect storm. The horror boom isn’t just for film: Horror book sales reached 5.1 million last year, up from 3.2 million in 2021, according to BookScan. And it’s a surprisingly good time to be an indie bookstore: In 2025, 600+ new independent shops opened in the US, an 87% jump from the previous year, according to the American Booksellers Association.

• Personalized recommendations and niche events give small shops an edge over larger chains, especially when they offer a wider range of a certain category, like horror.
• Romance-focused bookstores are also booming, particularly in small towns and rural areas where they double as community spaces.

Chicago is for (book) lovers. Placer.ai, which tracks physical foot traffic, identified the city as a top market for readers, with an ~11% jump in bookstore visits this year compared with last. The city hosted its largest independent bookstore crawl in August. Cities like Philadelphia, Houston, and Phoenix also logged increased in-person bookstore visits.—MM

Dave’s sports desk

Would you endure bad football for free tuition?

Roger Wimmer/Getty Images

On Fridays, the Brew’s Dave Lozo looks at a sports business story that says a lot more than just the final score of a game.

The University of Maryland is offering one student free partial tuition if they stay until the fourth quarter of tomorrow’s football game against Illinois—but it apparently doesn’t have anything to do with the bleak nature of its program.

How bleak? The Terps are 2–5, have lost 12 straight conference games, and fired head coach Mike Locksley last week.

But now there’s a financial incentive to endure Terps football: Students can scan a QR code at halftime, then wait to hear if their name is called during the final quarter. The school will cover $5,507 of tuition—the undergraduate, in-state rate for the 2027 spring semester.

Why now? Assistant Athletic Director Rachel Palmer said the idea has been in development since August because, as she told the Baltimore Sun, “It’s always hard to have students stay at entire games.” Especially when you’re down two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to Rutgers.—DL

Quiz

Friday news quiz

The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to unexpectedly seeing someone use a gift you gave them a while ago.

It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.

News

What else is brewing

• Benjamin Netanyahu is claiming there was mass voting fraud in Arab communities after the Israeli prime minister’s far-right coalition lost its majority in the country’s election this week.
• ADT, the home security company, is being acquired by Thrive, the investment company formed by Josh Kushner, for $7.6 billion.
• Amazon became the latest AI hyperscaler to report negative free cash flow in its earnings results, which it released yesterday. The company missed Wall Street’s expectations on earnings and revenue.
• Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, resigned yesterday nine months before the end of her term, which observers say is to ensure her successor is chosen while pro-EU French President Emmanuel Macron is still in office.
• Tennis and golf are the fastest-growing youth sports in the US, according to a new report from the Aspen Institute.
• Intel fell by more than 20% in after-hours trading yesterday, after it offered a weak fourth-quarter forecast that it blamed on the soft PC market worldwide.
• China’s first fully AI-generated movie flopped at the box office, but that’s probably only because they didn’t cast AI acting sensation Tilly Norwood.

recs

• How daylight saving time—which ends on Sunday—affects your body.
• This site combines fonts to generate endless wacky possibilities.
• The best hospitals in each state, according to Newsweek.
• A cashmere beanie that won’t break the bank (or ruin your hair).**

Play

Jigsaw: This edition of our picture puzzle takes you to an elaborate Halloween display in Burbank, CA. Play the Jigsaw here.

Friday puzzle

Write a three-letter word in the blank spaces to complete a word on the left and begin a separate word on the right.

1. feat _ _ _ oic = ?

2. cour _ _ _ nda = ?

3. disp _ _ _ over = ?

4. kee _ _ _ sist = ?

Answer

1. Her (feather, heroic)
2. Age (courage, agenda)
3. Lay (display, layover)
4. Per (keeper, persist)

(Source)

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: circumvent, meaning “to find a clever, cunning, or indirect way around a rule, problem, or obstacle.” Thanks to Bailey from Seguin, TX, and others for the suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.