President Trump rallied for Republican Senate candidate Darline Graham in Pendleton today with just 13 days left before the November 3 midterms, while Democrats push into traditionally red turf — Senate Majority PAC dropped $1.2 million in Mississippi and Kamala Harris is touring Nevada, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Georgia. Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. has now spent $25 million on TV in Michigan backing Republican Mike Rogers. A New York Times/Siena poll out this week showed likely voters preferring Democratic House candidates 52 to 41.
The Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division, USDA and the USDA Inspector General announced results today from the first National USDA Benefits and Program Fraud Enforcement Surge, with actions against more than 40 defendants across 13 U.S. Attorneys' Offices and nearly $42 million in SNAP losses. Cases include an alleged $29.7 million Chicago retail EBT scheme and a Georgia rapper tied to more than 500 EBT cards and $4.4 million in stolen benefits. Officials noted the $42 million could have fed roughly 220,000 Americans for the month of October.
The administration is escalating efforts to identify and prosecute suspected noncitizen voters ahead of the November 3 midterms, with federal agents visiting homes in several states to ask residents about immigration status and voting history. DHS says the operation is about protecting election integrity; critics call the timing intimidating. It lands two weeks before polls close in a cycle already defined by razor-thin Senate math.
Annual inflation climbed to 3.7 percent in September, above the 3.6 percent consensus, with core running 2.6 percent — now more than 60 straight months above the Fed's 2 percent target. Traders are pricing in a December rate increase, and the New York Fed's consumer survey put one-year inflation expectations at 3.9 percent, the highest since May 2023. The 30-year fixed mortgage has hit 7.53 percent, its highest since 2023, as the nine-month Iran war keeps energy prices elevated.
French authorities imposed a fresh evening curfew in parts of Paris and banned demonstrations in Lyon, Toulon, Rouen and Le Havre as anti-terror police investigate arson — masked rioters in Limoges torched the 143-year-old town hall, collapsing its roof and bell tower. Courts began processing 2,513 people arrested over the weekend, and police picked up 30 more looting suspects from surveillance footage. The CGT union has called nationwide strikes for November 5, Athens saw thousands march over housing and education, and Trump told a North Carolina crowd American rioters would be treated "very rough."
Iran's Supreme National Security Council flatly rejected transferring enriched uranium to a third country, and the Revolutionary Guard threatened to sever undersea cables in the Strait of Hormuz. The International Maritime Organization warned of sea mines in the strait after Tehran claimed two tankers caught fire striking explosives, while Israeli fighters flew a show-of-force sortie near Iran's border. Trump said today the U.S. has "decimated" Iran and credited Russia and China for largely staying out.
The State Department directed non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as Houthi strikes hit civilian airports and infrastructure across the kingdom. The drawdown raises the stakes as Trump weighs direct military action against the Iran-backed group. It's the clearest signal yet that the Iran conflict is widening across the Arabian Peninsula.
Japan sent its H3 rocket up from the Tanegashima Space Center yesterday carrying the Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft, or MMX. The plan is to land on one of Mars's two moons, grab a sample, and fly it back to Earth — something no one has ever done. Scientists think the material could settle whether Phobos and Deimos are captured asteroids or debris blasted off Mars itself.
Canadian researchers found a correlation between heavy ultra-processed food consumption and higher stroke risk plus future memory problems in otherwise healthy adults. A separate large study found that just an extra three-and-a-half ounces a day was associated with a 14 percent higher risk of cardiovascular events and small but measurable bumps in cancer and all-cause mortality risk. Researchers stress these are associations, not proof of causation — but the signal keeps showing up.
Modern Times Café in Minneapolis, which did away with set prices and offered free meals in protest of ICE raids, announced it will shut down by the end of the year. Owner Dylan Alverson said he had "exhausted every option without compromising the core fundamentals." The pay-what-you-can experiment ran into the oldest arithmetic in the business.
