⚡ TODAY IN HISTORY

On October 9, 2006, North Korea carried out its first nuclear test, joining the small group of nations to detonate an atomic weapon. In 1888, the Washington Monument opened to the public in the U.S. capital. Today? Washington and Tehran are trading proposals through go-betweens over how much uranium Iran may keep enriching, as the war that began on Feb. 28 enters its eighth month.

TOP NEWS

Hurricane Isaias takes aim at the Gulf Coast tonight CAT 3

Isaias strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane over the Gulf and is forecast to come ashore late Friday between Gulf Shores, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida. Forecasters warn of storm surge of 6 to 10 feet and up to 15 inches of rain along the Alabama coast and the western Florida Panhandle.

Trump rules out Iran strikes until after the midterms NOV 3

A Wednesday report in The Atlantic said the White House had asked the Pentagon for new strike options against Iran, and Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose about 4% to $105 a barrel. President Trump then posted on Truth Social on Thursday that the U.S. would not attack Iran before the Nov. 3 elections, and oil slipped back to $103.

Russian glide bomb kills at least 30 at a Ukrainian bus stop 30+ DEAD

A Russian guided bomb exploded beside two passenger buses on Thursday in Kramatorsk, a city in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, killing at least 30 people and wounding 18 in the deadliest single attack of the year. One day earlier, a missile hit an apartment block in the northern town of Pryluky and killed 22 people, including five children.

Microsoft and Adobe frozen out of green card program 8 FIRMS

Citing active federal fraud probes, the Labor Department on Thursday suspended Microsoft, Adobe and six IT outsourcing firms, including Infosys and Tata, from PERM, the first step for most job-based green cards. Vice President JD Vance accused Microsoft of laying off American workers while hiring foreign ones, and the freeze blocks both new and pending applications.

ICE officer fires into a car with a 5-year-old inside in NYC

During what the Department of Homeland Security called a targeted arrest of a Dominican man with a prior conviction, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fired at least seven rounds into a car on Thursday in the Marble Hill neighborhood of New York City. The driver was wounded and hospitalized, a 5-year-old boy in the back seat was unharmed, and protesters marched from the scene to the hospital.

WORLD

Houthi missile debris damages a Riyadh kindergarten 2 MISSILES

Yemen’s civil war, which reignited in July, spread further into Saudi Arabia on Thursday as Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired two ballistic missiles at Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Saudi officials said debris from the intercepted missiles damaged a kindergarten and a medical complex, and the U.S. Embassy now requires its officials to get special approval to use the city’s main airport.

U.S. envoys pitch an energy-and-grain truce in Miami

With Russian attacks battering Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter, U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner open two days of talks with Ukrainian and European officials in Miami today. One U.S. proposal would halt attacks on energy sites and grain shipments, and Kyiv says it is willing, while Moscow has shown little interest and is not listed among the participants.

Ukraine knocks out Russia’s largest Yandex data center

Ukrainian drones hit the biggest data center run by Yandex, Russia’s top search and tech company, on Oct. 8, causing a large internet outage across Russia, and President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the attack. The same day, Russian drones and missiles left Kyiv in near-total darkness and cut its metro and water service.

French students demand $11 billion for schools 5,000+ ARRESTS

High school students protesting crowded classrooms, teacher shortages and crumbling buildings held a fourth national day of action on Thursday, joined by five striking teachers’ unions. The movement began at one Paris-area school in mid-September, police made more than 5,000 arrests last week alone, mostly of minors, and student groups have called the next protest for Oct. 17.

Putin offers to help end the Iran war

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian this week before a regional summit in Turkmenistan and said Moscow would do everything in its power to help settle the conflict. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is studying a U.S. reply to its “seven-day plan” for peace and expects to answer within a few days.

POLITICS

$90 Medicare rebates go out to 20.8 million seniors $90

To offset Part B premiums, which cost most enrollees $202.90 a month this year, the Trump administration began sending one-time $90 rebates this week to 20.8 million eligible Medicare beneficiaries. The money comes from the Medicare Improvement Fund, paper checks follow later in October, and seniors in private Medicare Advantage plans do not qualify.

Treasury sanctions 17 tankers in Iran’s “shadow fleet” 17 SHIPS

The Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned 17 vessels accused of shipping millions of barrels of Iranian crude to buyers in South and East Asia. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the aim is to deprive Tehran of the money it needs to wage war, and the department said the step takes out most of Iran’s remaining covert tanker network.

Army sets Dec. 3 firing-squad execution for Fort Hood gunman FIRST SINCE 1961

After President Trump approved a recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Oct. 2, the Army scheduled the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in November 2009. The execution at Fort Hood would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961 and the first by a military firing squad since World War II.

USS Abraham Lincoln docks after a record 321-day deployment

The USS Abraham Lincoln and its more than 4,500 sailors returned to San Diego on Thursday after a deployment that included months supporting the U.S. war against Iran. Pentagon figures show the carrier’s strike group flew 3,693 combat sorties, fired 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles and sank 64 Iranian warships.

Vance signals Iran need not give up all enrichment

In a Reuters interview published Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance said Iran must make a “meaningful” cut to its uranium enrichment capacity to end the war, stopping short of President Trump’s earlier call for zero enrichment. A senior Iranian official told Reuters the U.S. ideas clash with Tehran’s terms, which include lifting the blockade of Iranian ports.

MARKETS

Tech drags the Nasdaq down 1.25% -1.25%

Rising Treasury yields and oil prices above $100 pushed investors out of tech shares on Thursday, and the Nasdaq Composite closed at 27,193.34. The S&P 500 fell 0.47% to 7,765.36, its second straight loss after an all-time high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.10% to 51,231.64.

Oil tops $105 on tanker attacks and storm shutdowns

Brent crude climbed back above $105 a barrel on Thursday as Iran stepped up attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow exit from the Persian Gulf, and U.S. Gulf producers shut in output ahead of Hurricane Isaias. British maritime officials have counted at least nine attacks in the strait so far in October.

10-year Treasury yield touches 5.35% before easing 5.23%

Inflation fears tied to high fuel costs drove the 10-year Treasury yield, which guides mortgage and business loan rates, briefly above 5.35% on Thursday. The yield closed near 5.23%, about a week after hitting a 24-year high on Oct. 1.

Chipotle jumps 4.4% on a Starbucks takeover report

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill rose 4.4% on Thursday after reports that Starbucks could bid for the burrito chain. Starbucks shares fell more than 3% on the news, while Best Buy gained 5% and Nike lost more than 2% after a cautious outlook for its 2027 fiscal year.

Gold closes at $4,158 as bitcoin edges up

Gold rose 0.44% to $4,158.90 an ounce at Thursday’s U.S. market close. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, gained about 0.9% to roughly $83,066.

ENTERTAINMENT

Paramount and Warner Bros. are now one studio: Skydance $110B

After a yearlong fight that drew a lawsuit from 12 states and opposition from thousands of Hollywood workers, Paramount closed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, Oct. 6, in a deal valued at about $110 billion. The new company, led by David Ellison, owns CBS, CNN, HBO Max and Paramount+, and its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange as SKYD.

Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ opens to $8 million $8M

Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s dark comedy, starring Tom Cruise as an oil tycoon, earned $8 million in North America last weekend and finished fifth behind ‘Verity.’ That is Cruise’s weakest debut since ‘Lions for Lambs’ in 2007, and industry estimates put Warner Bros.’ possible loss at about $150 million.

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ passes $2.5 billion $2.5B

Sony’s latest Spider-Man film has now earned $954 million in North America and $2.5 billion worldwide, based on last weekend’s box office tallies. Through that weekend, U.S. and Canadian ticket sales for 2026 stood at $7.95 billion, up 19% from the same point last year.

Alex Gibney’s 225-minute ‘Musk’ hits theaters today 225 MIN

After a September premiere at the Venice Film Festival and a warning letter from Elon Musk’s lawyer, distributor Bleecker Street moved the documentary’s release up a week to open today in New York and Los Angeles. The film, which Musk did not take part in, centers on interviews with former partners, including ex-wife Justine Musk.

Aaron Sorkin returns to Facebook in ‘The Social Reckoning’

Sixteen years after ‘The Social Network,’ writer Aaron Sorkin is back with a Sony film on the platform’s role in world politics, including the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The film opens today, the same day as Gibney’s Musk documentary.