President Trump tapped deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to replace Susie Wiles, who resigned Thursday evening after 21 months — the longest tenure of any Trump chief of staff across both terms. Miller starts Monday, November 9, and Wiles moves over to Trump's political operation. The elevation of Miller, architect of the administration's immigration agenda, signals a tactical shift toward governing without Congress as Democrats prepare to take both chambers in January.
Mississippi and Alaska remain too close to call. Democrat Scott Colom holds a razor-thin lead over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith with roughly 3,300 absentee ballots outstanding and counties not certifying until November 13. In Alaska, Mary Peltola leads Sen. Dan Sullivan by under 700 votes — while a same-named candidate nicknamed "Decoy Dan" pulled about 3,600 votes, more than five times the margin.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that payrolls grew by 165,000 last month against a consensus forecast of just 65,000, while the jobless rate ticked down from 4.2 percent. Gains were broad-based — professional services added 70,000, healthcare 42,000, transportation and warehousing 25,000, and manufacturing 19,000. Nearly all of it came from the private sector, with government payrolls up only 6,000, and prior months were revised higher.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5 percent Thursday, its worst single day in 19 months, as investors dumped anything with data-center exposure after voters approved construction restrictions and Democrats swept statewide races. Nvidia dropped more than 9 percent — shedding over $440 billion in market cap — while AMD slid 17 percent and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost more than 12 percent. The Nasdaq clawed back some ground Friday but stayed deep in correction territory.
Overnight strikes sent 36 ballistic missiles and 172 drones at Kyiv and the Zhytomyr region, targeting energy facilities, a major river crossing, and defense-industrial sites. At least nine people were wounded, including a child, and recovery crews in Komyshuvakha pulled nine more bodies, pushing that site's toll to 55 with dozens still missing. Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine, and the United States are set to meet Tuesday in Abu Dhabi.
Trump said Friday the US military carried out limited strikes on an Iranian "anti-aircraft device" after Iranian state media reported attacks near Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. The quiet, largely unannounced operations are aimed at keeping Iranian forces from threatening commercial shipping without reigniting full-scale war. Trump has said a decision on another round of major strikes is coming soon, even as his administration weighs a diplomatic deal with Tehran.
Paraguay's Senate removed conservative President Santiago Peña from office Friday on misconduct charges — all 44 senators present voted against keeping him — and authorities placed him under house arrest about an hour later. The trigger was the central bank's seizure of Ueno Bank, which locked roughly 2.9 million customers out of their money, about 60 percent of Paraguay's adults, and held as much as $850 million in public funds. Prosecutors cited suspected breach of trust; Congress had earlier rejected Peña's resignation specifically so it could impeach him.
Speaking at NASA's Max Power event at Kennedy Space Center on Friday, Trump highlighted plans to launch a nuclear-propulsion spacecraft toward Mars within two years. The announcement came alongside the Artemis IV timeline, which targets a crewed lunar landing attempt in early 2028. Nuclear thermal propulsion would dramatically cut transit time to Mars compared with chemical rockets.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has identified a trans-Neptunian object designated 2026 ED138 that may be among the largest dwarf planets in the solar system. Researchers estimate it measures somewhere between 370 and 930 miles across, and it currently sits roughly 4.3 billion miles from the sun — well beyond Pluto. If it lands at the upper end of that size range, it would reshape the inventory of the outer solar system.
Archaeologists digging along the perimeter of Alamo Church in San Antonio have recovered solid-shot cannonballs tied to the 1836 siege — the first of their kind ever found at the site. They range from 1.8 inches to 3.26 inches in diameter, and three are bronze, a material favored by the Mexican army. Alamo Trust archaeology director Tiffany Lindley said she knows of no prior solid cannonballs from the battle, leaving open the question of exactly who fired them.
