Russia's Lavrov Visits Tehran for Talks; Iran Says Its Seven-Day Hormuz Offer, Rejected by Trump in September, Still Stands
Lavrov, on his first trip to Iran since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in February, says he wants to stop a return to large-scale war; Iran's offer still asks the U.S. to act first: end its naval blockade, ease oil sanctions and release frozen funds.
U.S.
Omar's Lawyers Say Agents Broke a Judge's Search Rules and Ask for Her Property Back; Justice Department Says It Obeyed All Court Orders
The fight is over the Oct. 12 search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home in an immigration-fraud investigation. Omar has not been charged and is on the ballot in November.
Nor'easter Stalls Off North Carolina; Weather Service Warns of 2 to 4 Feet of Flooding on Hatteras and Ocracoke as Dare County Orders Visitors Out
Fox Weather forecasters say the slow-moving storm could push water ashore through several high tides, with flooding reaching the Chesapeake Bay and Ocean City and impacts easing by Thursday.
Meta Suspended No Kings Instagram Account for About 90 Minutes During Oct. 17 Early-Vote Events; Meta Says Traffic From a Claude AI Tool Set Off Its Bot Filter
Meta calls the takedown a mistake and has apologized, giving more detail on Sunday than Saturday. Organizers and several Democratic senators say they still want answers.
Katie Zacharia Out as White House Press Secretary After Five Days and One Briefing
A senior official said Friday she had stepped down, hours after President Trump said he told her 'if I were you, I'd reconsider'; she posted that evening that 'it was an honor to work for him.'
Teen Gunman Kills Three Children and a Teacher at Bend, Oregon, Elementary School Before Armed Parent Fatally Shoots Him
Police say the 16-year-old shooter is a former Silver Rail Elementary student who used a shotgun his mother bought in August. Two people wounded in the attack, a 7-year-old girl and a 54-year-old teacher, are expected to survive, according to police and family.
Justice Department Warns Los Angeles Election Workers They Risk Prosecution if They 'Knowingly' Count Ballots From 20,000 People It Calls Likely Noncitizens
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter sent the warning on Oct. 16, one day after the department sued California and 18 days before the Nov. 3 midterms; state and county officials say the department has not shown its evidence or how it built the list.
N.C.
North Carolina Accepts More Than 500,000 Ballots in First Three Days of Early Voting, 38.2% Above the Same Point in 2022
Ballots from registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters rose sharply compared with the 2022 midterm, while in-person ballots from registered Republicans fell slightly. Vance and Trump are holding events in the state this week.
Vance Holds Hendersonville Rally Monday, Trump Set for Greenville Tuesday as GOP Backs Whatley, Balkcom and Buckhout
The two stops come about two weeks before the Nov. 3 election, with Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley behind Democrat Roy Cooper by 7 to 14 points in three October polls and two GOP-held or GOP-targeted House seats rated toss-ups.
17 N.C. Counties Offer Sunday Early Voting, Down From 40 in 2022; Guilford Board Left N.C. A&T and UNC-Greensboro Without Campus Sites
Most of the choices by Republican-majority election boards were made in July and August, and CNN detailed them on Oct. 16 after early voting began; board members cite cost, staffing and nearby sites, while Gov. Josh Stein and other critics say the changes make voting harder for Black and young voters.
WRAL/WSOC Poll: 74% of N.C. Adults Back Medical Marijuana, 63% Recreational; Data Center Views Split 43% to 42%
A SurveyUSA poll of 900 North Carolina adults, taken Oct. 7–11, found that 6% favor encouraging data centers with few limits. That poll lands in a year when the legislature has scaled back one data center tax break and the House has never voted on a marijuana bill.
AG Jackson Calls Duke Energy's Data Center Tariff Deal a 'Massive Step Forward'; He and Gov. Stein Both Ask for Changes Before Regulators Rule
Duke's proposed settlement with state consumer staff and large customers such as Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and the Defense Department sets a 75% minimum bill for big new power users, and the N.C. Utilities Commission must still approve it.
Two New Polls Show Cooper Ahead of Whatley by 7 and 14 Points as N.C. Early Voting Opens
An ECU poll found Cooper ahead 50%-43% and a WRAL/WSOC poll found him ahead 54%-40%. Both were released after a top GOP super PAC moved money out of the state, and Whatley's campaign has paused its own TV ads, which it says is temporary.
Finance
U.S. Stock Futures Rise as AI Shares Rebound From Biggest Weekly Drop Since Late June; Brent Falls to About $107 and 10-Year Yield to 5.085%
On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called September's 3.7% inflation an 'energy shock' tied to the Iran war. Fed-funds futures show a hold at the Oct. 27-28 meeting as most likely, with an estimated 78% to 84% chance depending on the reading. They also show close to a 90% chance of a rate hike by December.
Meta, Tesla, SpaceX and Netflix Report Earnings This Week as the Fed Goes Quiet Before Its Oct. 27-28 Meeting
Rate-hike odds for October fell after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said he does not prejudge meetings, while a week of AI-stock selling and Brent crude touching $110 sets the backdrop for big tech results.
Nasdaq Falls 2.1% Friday and 4.5% for the Week, Its Worst Week Since June; Chip Index Ends Week Down 11.4%
On Friday the S&P 500 fell 1.1% to 7,659.44 and CoreWeave dropped nearly 12%. News outlets pointed to worries about AI-related debt, a Chinese memory-chip rival, high oil prices and interest rates. The Dow finished the week up 0.7%.
Fed Chair Warsh Declines to Signal October Rate Move as Brent Oil Touches $110, First Time Since May
Speaking in Bangkok a month after the Fed's first rate hike since 2023, Warsh said he does not prejudge meetings, while futures traders priced roughly an 82% to 85% chance the Fed holds rates steady on Oct. 27-28.
U.S. Producer Prices Rose 1.3% in September and 6.3% From a Year Earlier; Retail Sales Rose 0.8%
Wholesale inflation came in at more than twice the forecast, led by a 20.3% jump in gasoline prices, yet Treasury yields fell and stocks closed higher on Oct. 15. October Fed rate-hike odds were reported between 27% and 34%, depending on the time of day and the source.
Treasury and OCC Fine Bank of America $1.21 Billion Over Money-Laundering and Sanctions Failures; Shares Fall About 5% After Third-Quarter Revenue Misses Estimates
FinCEN set a $1.2 billion penalty, the OCC set a record $750 million penalty that counts toward it, and OFAC settled for $11.6 million on Oct. 13. A day later the bank reported quarterly revenue below Wall Street forecasts.
World
French Authorities Report More Than 2,000 Arrests as Weekend Cost-of-Living Protests Turn to Looting and Arson
Hundreds of thousands marched on Saturday, and violence broke out in several cities. Masked groups looted shops and set fires, including one that largely destroyed the 1883 city hall in Limoges. President Macron turned down his interior minister's offer to resign.
Ukraine Says Russia Hit More Than 15 Energy Sites With 332 Drones and Missiles; Zelensky Criticizes U.S. Sanctions Waiver
Ukraine's air force says it downed 289 of the drones, and regional officials report at least seven dead; the strikes came days after President Trump announced an 'energy ceasefire' that Moscow says was never defined, and as he waived a new U.S. sanctions law on Russia.
Container Ship GFS Pride Sinks Near Hormuz and Cape Dao Sinks Weeks After Being Hit; Brent Touches $110 Before Closing at $109.86
Iran says it is stepping up attacks because of the U.S. blockade of its ports and tougher sanctions, while U.S. Central Command says Washington and its partners still control the strait.
Trump Denies Ordering 100-mph Cap on Ukraine's Military Starlink Service; Reuters Sources Say Order Came From Inside the White House
Elon Musk says the U.S. government controls the Starshield system Ukraine uses, a British newspaper reports Musk proposed the curbs, and Kyiv says the cap disrupted drone missions before service was partly restored.
EU Leaders End Brussels Summit Without a Budget Deal, Ask Commission for Options on Ukraine's €70 Billion 2027 Gap; Tougher Migration Wording Left Out
Denmark, Italy and Poland sought language aimed at Spain's mass legalization of migrants, and Zelensky asked for air defense missiles, as Ukraine's ties with the Trump administration grow strained.
Houthi Attack on Yemen's Presidential Palace in Aden Kills Five, Yemeni Government Says
The Houthis said they hit a Saudi-run military headquarters inside the al-Maashiq palace complex. Yemen's government said the dead were guards and civilian staff and that the prime minister was not hurt.
Analysis
Unbiased, evergreen deep-dives on the bigger questions — not breaking news.
What Fauci's Released Diary Documents About the U.S. COVID-19 Response — and What It Leaves Unresolved
A 1,141-page personal diary released by Sen. Rand Paul's committee is roughly one-third routine administrative logging; a minority of entries bear directly on contested questions, and a few conflict with contemporaneous public statements.
Eight Months of Mamdani: What New York's Record Actually Shows, and What It Cannot Yet Show
A claim-by-claim audit of what Zohran Mamdani has delivered, how New Yorkers judge it, and what the evidence does and does not license anyone to conclude about the rest of the country.