USA Today - 07.10.2026 — 2026-10-07

Alex Ovechkin's 22nd season will be his last

The Washington Capitals superstar will leave as the all-time NHL goal scorer. In Sports

Alito speaks out about

race, his faith and the law

EXCLUSIVE: The Supreme Court justice shares his views with USA TODAY. In News

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We pick the top 100 animated movies

We asked filmmakers, actors and studio executives to name their favorites. See the top 40 in print and the complete list online. In Life

Young voters swing away from Trump

Polls show decline with key part of 2024 coalition

Emily R. Condon

USA TODAY

A key group of voters who swung toward President Donald Trump in 2024 are now swinging just as sharply away from him ahead of the 2026 midterm elections: young people.

Nationwide polls of likely and registered voters from Economist/YouGov, Marquette Law School, Reuters/Ipsos, Emerson College and Echelon Insights showed that young voters have moved away from Trump more than other age groups have. The September polling showed Trump's approval among young voters ranged from $19.5\%$ in Emerson's poll to $31\%$ in polling by Echelon Insights, while his approval from the overall population ranged from $32\%$ in the Reuters/ Ipsos poll to $39\%$ in Emerson's poll.

That comes only two years after Trump made gains among young voters, who are usually defined by pollsters as those under 30. Former Vice President Kamala Harris carried the group 54% to 43%, according to exit polls, but Trump improved his youth vote performance compared with previous elections, especially among young men. In 2020, he won only 36% of the youth vote, so 2024 represented a 7 percentage-point improvement.

"There's sort of this reputation about Gen Z that they might not be engaged or care, and we've learned through listening they are a little bit jaded around our political process," said Kalisha Dessources of the nonpartisan voter turnout organization When We All Vote.

When asked by pollsters whether they approve of Trump's performance and which party they would prefer in a congressional race, young people are more likely than voters 30 years old and

See YOUNG VOTERS, Page 6A

President Donald Trump applauds during a rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Oct. 5. NATHAN HOWARD/REUTERS

Climate change transforms mountains, experts say

Rising temperatures

disrupt ecosystems

Dinah Voyles Pulver

USA TODAY

When a collapse of ice, water and rock hurtled 60 miles down a mountain river in Nepal in late August, it shocked the world with its deadly force and devastation.

But scientists who study remote alpine peaks and valleys say the event underscores the dramatic changes happening across the world's mountain ranges. Alpine environments are being transformed as global temperatures rise, disrupting glaciers, ecosystems, water resources and people.

In the Himalayas, Alps, Andes and Rockies, studies show snowpack and glaciers are declining in volume and plants and wildlife are shifting in response.

“Plant ranges are shifting up the mountain, which means the highest elevation plants may not have anywhere to go because there’s no more mountain at the top,” said Robbie Hart, an ethnobotanist and vice president for plants and people at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Mountain meadows that for centuries supported grazing for llamas, yaks or cows and plants for food and medicine are changing, Hart said, raising concerns about the preservation of cultures, sacred landscapes and local economies.

Warming is “destabilizing these highly unstable environments called mountains,” Alton Byers, faculty research scientist at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado Boulder, told USA TODAY.

Scientists haven't yet definitively concluded whether climate change is directly responsible for the glacier collapse in the Himalayas. That investigation continues, but many scientists expect it to conclude that climate change played at least an indirect role after a summer that was among the warmest on record.

Mountain ranges worldwide are facing “the same sorts of pressures,” whether they are in Europe, North or South America or Asia, Hart said.

In many cases, these mountain

See MOUNTAINS, Page 4A

IOWA'S RURAL CANCER CRISIS

Iowa's cancer crisis is unfolding across one of the most intensively farmed landscapes in the world. About $84\%$ of the state is farmland.

Across the state, illness has become a way of life, loss

Nick El Hajj Des Moines Register | USA TODAY NETWORK

ATLANTIC, IA

Three times, Lavonne Schroeder was sent home to die. Twenty-three years after cancer first upended her life, she was settled into one of the recliners at Cass County's only cancer center, a blue cap covering her head as another round of chemotherapy flowed into her veins. "I never imagined I'd be 72," she said.

Victoria Means is prepared to receive her radiation therapy on Aug. 24 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She has been diagnosed with stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer.

PHOTOS BY TRAVIS LACOSS/USA TODAY NETWORK

Schroeder has a stage 4 granulosa cell tumor, a rare ovarian cancer that has forced her through surgery after surgery, chemotherapy, sepsis and cardiac arrest. Three years ago, while still fighting her own cancer, she cared for her husband at their farmhouse until he died from spinal cord cancer.

Now she is tired.

“I’m not doing very well. This is one of my lower points,” Schroeder said, her voice faltering. “I never expected to live this long anyway, so whatever they tell me, I’m at peace. Whatever is going to happen in the next year, I’m at peace.”

Tears welled in every corner of the room as Schroeder spoke. The steep toll cancer has taken on her life and family would be staggering almost anywhere. But in Cass County, and across Iowa, stories like hers are becoming unnervingly familiar.

“Living here, it has always felt like it

See CANCER, Page 5A

Wave of campus activism spreading at Cornell

Members of Sexual Assault Prevention and Safety, a student organization at Cornell University, hand out purple ribbons Oct. 5 before a rally.

SETH HARRISON/USA TODAY NETWORK

Students protest

after rape allegations

Karissa Waddick

USA TODAY

ITHACA, NY – Cornell University students who are critical of their school's handling of sexual assault cases are holding protests and calling on the university to make changes, including by providing trauma-informed training for campus police.

As the sun set on Oct. 5, students, professors and others filled an outdoor plaza on campus. Others lined nearby walkways and stood atop a hill overlooking where protesters spoke, shading their eyes to see through the glare. Some wore purple ribbons.

They carried signs declaring, “We want sentences, not essays,” or asking, “How many more?”

They yelled “shame” at mentions of the university’s handling of sexual assault cases. And they chanted “No justice, no peace.”

"We are known as a rape school, but we don't have to be," Saya Taylor, an organizer with Students for a Democratic Cornell, told the crowd. "We can be the students that lead a nationwide reform movement."

Frustration boiled over early on Oct. 5, when someone broke a glass door at a university building and spray-painted its walls, declaring “Smash the Patriarchy,” according to the student newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun.

By the afternoon, the spray paint had been washed away, and the broken door had been boarded up.

The vandalism followed the filing of a Sept. 16 lawsuit by a young woman known anonymously as Jane Doe. It alleges she was gang-raped on Oct. 19, 2024, by members of Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity while being too intoxicated to consent and after being pressured into taking ketamine.

The lawsuit names seven then-fraternity members, Cornell University, the Chi Phi fraternity and others. All seven fraternity members denied the allegations during the university's investigation.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced in September his office would reopen the case. Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor who will investigate the allegations.

More than 1,200 incidents of sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, and stalking were reported to Cornell's Title IX office from 2018 through 2024, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data the school reported to New York state.

In a video statement published Oct. 3, Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff called the assault allegations “deeply disturbing” and “a defining moment” in Cornell’s history.

He said Cornell's Board of Trustees will soon announce an independent review by an outside law firm into the university's handling of the 2024 case.

He also said the university planned to evaluate the role of Greek organizations on campus.

Meanwhile, thousands of Cornell students participated in the Oct. 5 campus rally, organized by more than 20 student organizations.

Some demonstrators who showed up wore name tags identifying themselves as “Jane Doe.”

“It’s really clear in all of the responses that the administrators have made is that they are not treating this as an endemic issue,” said Jack Huber, a sophomore and a member of Students for a Democratic Cornell, which helped organize the protest.

More related events have been planned for the coming days.

On Oct. 7, the Cornell NAACP chapter plans to organize an economic boycott and a seven-hour sit-in at one of the campus dining halls.

"We did not come here just to be angry for an afternoon and return to business as usual tomorrow," Athena Holloway, a member of the school's NAACP chapter, said at the Oct. 5 protest. "Today is not the end of this movement."

JIM BAKKER 1940-2026

Televangelist's empire collapsed amid scandal, conviction for fraud

Thao Nguyen

USA TODAY

Jim Bakker, the televangelist who built a multimillion-dollar evangelical broadcasting empire before a sex scandal and fraud conviction led to his public downfall, died on Oct. 5. He was 86.

His wife, Lori Bakker, announced his death on his official Instagram account. She did not elaborate on where he died or disclose a cause of death.

Jim Bakker rose to national prominence as a pioneer of Christian television and, alongside his then-wife Tammy Faye, built a vast ministry that attracted millions of viewers and supporters.

After meeting at North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, the couple married in 1961. They gained national exposure in 1965 when they developed a puppet show for evangelist Pat Robertson's television program, Reuters previously reported.

Jim Bakker founded the PTL organization, also known as “Praise The Lord” or “People That Love,” in 1974. Through PTL and its television programs, the couple became household names and among the most recognizable figures in evangelical media.

While leading his religious empire, Jim Bakker pursued an opulent lifestyle. But his career unraveled.

In 1987, allegations became public that the televangelist had raped his former New York church secretary, Jessica Hahn. He said the encounter was consensual.

Not long afterward, Bakker was dismissed from the Assemblies of God denomination for what church officials described as “conduct unbecoming to a minister,” according to previous reporting from the Springfield News-Leader, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Two years later, he was convicted on 24 federal counts of fraud and conspiracy related to his ministry's fundraising practices.

The scandal triggered the collapse of Praise the Lord Ministries and its “PTL” television show; his South Carolina-based Christian theme park, Heritage

Jim Bakker, former televangelist and host of the “The PTL Club,” seen in 2011 in Los Angeles, was convicted on 24 federal counts of fraud and conspiracy and served five years in prison. FRED PROUSER/REUTERS

USA, also closed.

Bakker's original 45-year sentence was vacated in 1991, and he ultimately served nearly five years in prison. In 2003, he began broadcasting again.

While he was in prison, Tammy Faye divorced him. She later married his former friend, Roe Messner. She died in 2007 at the age of 65.

In announcing her husband's death, Lori Bakker highlighted his decades of religious work and his role in the growth of Christian television.

“For 66 years, Jim gave his life to preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” she wrote. “He was a pioneer of Christian television, but to me, he was my husband, my best friend, and the man I was honored to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry.”

She said her husband remained committed to his ministry until the end of his life.

“Even in his final days, his heart was still for the work of God and for the Gospel to continue reaching the world,” she wrote.

Lori Bakker said the family was grieving and asked for prayers and privacy.

“Jim finished his race with faith,” she wrote. “His voice, his vision, and his legacy will never be forgotten.”

Contributing: Gregory J. Holman, Springfield News-Leader; Reuters

Trump to pay for TV ads after pushback over taxpayer-funded spots

brate a “golden age of America.”

REUTERS

President Donald Trump said on Oct. 5 that he would pay for television advertisements himself or with money raised from the MAGA political committee after pushback over the use of taxpayer-funded television ads featuring him shortly before the November congressional elections.

Ethics experts and lawmakers from both parties have criticized the three nationally broadcast ads, which cele-

Lawmakers have questioned whether public funds are being used to promote Trump politically, while other critics say the spots may violate longstanding restrictions on government propaganda and political activity.

One ad features Trump declaring that “America will never be a communist country” while a chorus repeats the words “love me.” Another combines images of Mount Rushmore with footage of Trump praising a “golden age of America.”

Karoline

Leavitt

became the

nation's

youngest

White House

press

secretary

when

President

Donald Trump

returned to

office in

January 2025.

RONALDO

SCHEMIDT/AFP VIA

GETTY IMAGES FILE

Leavitt joins Fox News as on-air contributor

Kalia Richardson

USA TODAY

Two months after leaving her role as White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt is making her next move. She will be joining Fox News on Nov. 1 as an on-air contributor, the network announced Oct. 5.

“Karoline’s firsthand experience in the White House and on the presidential campaign trail gives her a distinct understanding of today’s political landscape,” Suzanne Scott, Fox News CEO, said in the announcement.

Leavitt, 29, was press secretary from January 2025 to August, the youngest person in American history to hold the position.

She also served as Trump's national press secretary during the 2024 presidential campaign. Previously, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire's 1st District in 2022 and served as communications director for then-House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York.

When announcing her departure in August, Trump said Leavitt would be “one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party.”

Leavitt will be joining another former Trump press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, at the network. McEnany, who served in Trump's first term, now co-hosts Fox News show "Outnumbered," and hosts a Saturday program.

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Alito on religion, racism, big moments

lation" of the court's 2023 rejection of the use of race in college admissions.

Asked what role his own faith plays in his approach to the law, Justice Samuel Alito – who is Catholic – said his faith “commands me to be true to the oath that I took when I was appointed.” PROVIDED BY SIMONE RISOLUTI/VATICAN MEDIA VIA REUTERS

Retirement rumors

‘amused’ justice

Maureen Groppe

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The blockbuster scoop jolted the nation's capital in June, just after the Supreme Court had handed down its final decisions for the term: Justice Samuel Alito was retiring.

Except he wasn't.

In the privacy of his chambers, how did Alito react to the inaccurate story, quickly retracted by NPR?

“I was amused and puzzled,” Alito told USA TODAY in answers to written questions. “I wondered what had led to the erroneous report. And when the error was corrected, I wondered how many people were crest-fallen.”

Weeks later, Alito – who at 76 is the court's second-oldest justice – publicly denied rumors that he will step aside anytime soon to give President Donald Trump the chance to further reshape the court with a fourth nominee.

Now Alito has written “So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country,” published Oct. 6 by Basic Liberty. The book is an adaptation of past speeches that explain his approach to the law along with thoughts about “distinctly American” values and experiences – including what baseball can teach people about the law and life.

The lifelong baseball enthusiast and Phillies fan has previously said that growing up cheering for a largely losing baseball team affected his thinking. While some of his childhood friends outside Trenton, New Jersey, rooted for the Yankees, which dominated baseball in the 1950s, Alito and his best friend followed the Phillies.

“Why we made that choice I can’t say,” Alito said.

The team never came close to winning the National League pennant after 1950, the year he was born.

"The theory is that people who root for a team that consistently loses learn that life is not a bed of roses," Alito explained to USA TODAY. "A certain amount of disappointment is to be expected, and that is a valuable life lesson."

Alito answered written questions from USA TODAY about his views and some of his decisions. In recent years, he has authored major – and controversial – opinions on such hot-button issues as abortion, religious freedom and voting rights.

---

Curbing the Voting Rights Act

In April, Alito wrote the court's 6-3 ruling that curtailed a key provision of a landmark civil rights law enacted six decades ago to prevent racial discrimination in voting. The conservative majority sided with non-Black voters who challenged Louisiana's congressional map as relying too heavily on race to sort voters.

In his new book, Alito wrote that the court has finally corrected course on past decisions that “taught that discrimination based on race or ethnicity is proper if it serves supposedly beneficent purposes.”

Critics say the court's decisions that scaled back the Voting Rights Act and, in 2023, ended the use of race-conscious admissions at universities, ignore, as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in the admissions case, “gulfsized race-based gaps with respect to the health, wealth, and well-being of American citizens."

Asked how much discrimination against racial minorities still exists, Ali-to called that an “empirical question that I am in no position to answer.”

“Federal law broadly prohibits racial discrimination, and it is the responsibility of the Supreme Court and other federal courts to enforce those laws in the cases that come before them regardless of whether those cases are representative of widespread practice or involve relatively isolated instances of illegal behavior,” he said. “In either situation, our duty is the same: enforce the law.”

---

Freedom of religion

Several chapters of Alito's book focus on the freedom of religion, including his concern that support for religious liberty has cratered. Does that mean that the court's frequent rulings in favor of religious rights are out of step with the public?

In response, Alito suggested decisions like the 2025 decision he authored in favor of parents who want to avoid LGBTQ+ storybooks in public schools are not contrarian.

"Do the American people believe that very young elementary school students should be forced, contrary to the wishes and religious beliefs of their parents, to be read books that favor medical procedures that alter a child's gender?" he asked.

After Alito authored the court's 2014 opinion that companies cannot be forced to offer insurance coverage for certain birth control methods they equate with abortion, Harvard Law professor Noah Feldman wrote that religious exemptions from generally applicable, neutral laws have long been a “pet issue,” for Alito.

In his new book, Alito says he took that as a compliment.

"I have welcomed the opportunity to author many opinions on religious liberty and to speak on the subject because religious liberty is critically important for our society," he wrote.

Asked by USA TODAY what role his own faith plays in his approach to the law, Alito – who is Catholic – said his faith “commands me to be true to the oath that I took when I was appointed, and in that oath I promised to ‘well and faithfully discharge the duties’ assigned under the Constitution.”

“That means both that I may not shirk from performing those duties and also that I may not arrogate authority that the Constitution does not confer,” he said. “I could not have taken that oath if I did not believe from the bottom of my heart that our country has a good Constitution that does not require me to do anything that is morally wrong.”

---

Jackson's criticism of the court

Of the major Trump cases the Supreme Court decided in 2026, Alito and Clarence Thomas were the only justices to never rule against the president. Justice Jackson, one of the court's liberals, has warned about the 6-3 conservative court looking too partisan and having different standards for evaluating appeals brought by the Trump administration.

“It is so important for the public to perceive us as neutral, nonpartisan,” Jackson said during remarks at a May legal conference that did not single out any of her colleagues. “We know that public confidence is really all the judiciary has.”

In a dissent last year, Jackson was even more pointed, writing that the court appears to have a rule that “this Administration always wins.”

Alito said he applies “the same legal standards regardless of which administration is affected.”

“I have never accused a colleague of basing his or her vote on partisanship, and I do not anticipate ever doing that,” Alito told USA TODAY when asked about Jackson’s comments. “I trust that Justice Jackson likewise did not mean to level such a charge.”

---

Against 'eschewing controversy'

Despite the lessons learned from being a Phillies fan, Alito has at times felt let down. In a biography published earlier this year – “Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution” – conservative author Molly Hemingway said Alito “has been disappointed by the lack of a sense of urgency in some of his colleagues about censorship and other threats to our constitutional order.”

Asked by USA TODAY for examples, Alito cited the court's recent decisions not to hear challenges to admission practices at competitive high schools that he said appear to be a "blatant vio-

Alito also named the court's dismissing for procedural reasons cases about whether the Biden administration had leaned on social media platforms to unconstitutionally squelch conservative points of view and whether state abortion bans violate federal health law.

"Our job is easier and more pleasant when we deal with technical legal issues that do not involve us in heated public controversy," Alito told USA TODAY, "but eschewing controversy is not a good reason to duck questions that richly merit our prompt review."

---

Overturning Roe v. Wade

Alito's critics would say the court has tackled plenty of controversial issues. Exhibit A is the landmark decision he authored in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to abortion.

Alito said he was “honored to have the opportunity to write the opinion,” which “corrected an egregiously incorrect interpretation of the Constitution.”

Although Alito said he had anticipated an “intense reaction,” he never dreamed that the opinion would leak or that the justices who signed onto it would become targets for assassination. He also told CBS News that he lost friends over that ruling.

Especially in recent years, Alito told USA TODAY, serving on the court has meant “serious threats, harassment, vilification by political figures and the media, and subjection to spurious charges of ethical violations.”

Alito defended himself in 2023 for having flown to Alaska for a fishing trip on a private jet in 2008 that belonged to a hedge fund manager who repeatedly brought cases before the high court. In 2024, he rejected calls that he recuse himself from cases involving the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol because of flags flown over his homes, which experts said were connected with false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

"I fear that my younger colleagues and new appointees may have to deal with this new situation for years to come and potential appointees will have to consider what the situation would mean for their families," he told USA TODAY.

---

A culture war warrior?

At his age, Alito told CBS News in a recent interview, he must think every year about whether it's time to retire. Alito said he decided against it this year because he thought he could still make a valuable contribution.

In 2016, before Trump's three appointments gave the court its conservative supermajority, Duke Law School professor Neil Siegel wrote that Alito had become “the primary judicial voice of the many millions of Americans who appear to be losing the culture wars, including in battles over gay rights, women’s access to reproductive healthcare, affirmative action, and religious exemptions.”

Alito said he “would not put it that way.”

“When our cases have concerned the issues he mentioned, my votes have been based on my understanding of the relevant law,” he told USA TODAY. “It is the duty of a Supreme Court justice to be a ‘voice’ for the Constitution and the laws, not for any constituency.”

DOJ to strip citizenship in large ‘denaturalization effort’

40 targeted accused

of multitude of crimes

Michael Loria

USA TODAY

The Department of Homeland Security is moving to strip U.S. citizenship from 40 people accused of crimes, rapidly expanding the department's use of little-known denaturalization mechanisms.

“Today’s announcement marks the largest denaturalization effort in modern history,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement announcing the denaturalization crackdown. “From an individual convicted of espionage to others convicted of sexual offenses against minors, these defendants concealed critical facts from the U.S. government and represent serious criminal offenders.”

Among the crimes that people were convicted of – and for which they face denaturalization – were aggravated sodomy, transportation of child pornography and sexual abuse of a minor.

However, not all were convicted of or pleaded guilty to violent crimes. At least 19 faced denaturalization proceedings for reasons related to accusations of lying on visa forms.

The 40 people come from around the globe, with the greatest number from Mexico, 11, according to a list shared by DHS. They range in age from 26 to 76. The denaturalization cases cover a period from Aug. 21 to Oct. 2, the department said.

DHS referred questions about the status of the denaturalization cases to the Department of Justice, saying DOJ “is the lead agency for denaturalization cases.” USA TODAY reached out to DOJ for more information.

The move to strip citizenship from 40 people over the course of six weeks marks the greatest number of attempted denaturalizations seen in recent years and amounts to more than the past several years combined, according to data compiled by researchers at the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse data project, or TRAC.

Officers secure the entrance to the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 29. The move to strip citizenship from 40 people marks the greatest number of attempted denaturalizations seen in recent years. SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS

“Denaturalization, once a rare occurrence in federal courts, is now becoming increasingly common,” TRAC researchers said in a June report on the issue. “This increase is expected to continue.”

According to reporting by The New York Times, there were 11 denaturalization cases on average annually between

1990 and 2017.

The youngest person on the DOJ's list of pending denaturalizations is 26-year-old Jinchao Wei of China, who was convicted of selling military secrets to China. The oldest is 76-year-old Raul Cisneros of Mexico, who in California pleaded guilty to “lewd and lascivious acts on a minor.” The DOJ said Cisneros lied in becoming a citizen by saying he never committed a crime.

Several of the people the DOJ is attempting to strip citizenship from were not convicted of violent offenses but were accused of lying on naturalization forms.

Among them is Walid Osman, a 62-year-old native of Egypt.

"The DOJ's filing is riddled with errors and speculation. Mr. Osman has no criminal record to speak of, and will vigorously defend this case in court," Osman's attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told USA TODAY.

When asked whether Osman was in ICE custody, Sandoval-Moshenberg said, "No, he's a U.S. citizen, and we're going to fight to keep it that way."

Families of Oct. 7 victims join election

Tali Kizhner looks at a mural painted on the bomb shelter where her son, Segev Israel Kizhner, sought refuge before he was killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, killing and kidnapping spree by Hamas militants. AMIR COHEN/REUTERS FILE

Candidates say they wish to heal Israel's wounds

Maayan Lubell and Emily Rose

REUTERS

TEL AVIV – One was inspired by her son's last stand trying to fight off attackers rampaging through a kibbutz, an Israeli community. Another by her son's final words as militants tossed grenades into a bomb shelter packed with fleeing revelers from a music festival. A third by the brothers he campaigned to bring home from captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Three years since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, at least nine Israelis from families directly caught up in the deadliest day in the country's history are running for parliament in an election later in October. They represent parties running the gamut of political views, but all say they aim to heal Israel's wounds.

The militants who burst into southern Israel in 2023 killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages to the Gaza Strip. Michal Hirsch Negri's son, Roee, died fighting Hamas attackers in Kibbutz Be'eri, where 1 in 10 residents were killed.

Soon after the surprise attack began, Roee, newly married and on a career path in high-tech, scrambled comrades in his reserve counterterrorism military unit, who later recounted their last moments with him.

"He told them: ‘We are not looking at the bodies. We are here to save people. We are here to save our country.’ And this is a sentence that is engraved in my heart," said his mother.

Hirsch Negri, 60, is running in Together, led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and part of an alliance of left, right and center parties aiming to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition.

"Everyone knows what's bad. Everyone knows what is broken. Talking about how bad it is or how bad the government is won't get us anywhere. My Roee, he always looked at the situation, analyzed it and said, OK, now what can we do to fix it?"

One of her running mates is Noam Tibon, 64, a former general whose son was trapped with his young family in their home on Nahal Oz, another kibbutz attacked by Hamas. Tibon and his wife set out from Tel Aviv to rescue their son, battling en route with Hamas militants and evacuating wounded to hospital.

“October 7 was the biggest failure in our history and I saw it with my own eyes,” he said. Netanyahu has rejected blame for the security breach and resisted calls for an independent investigation.

Sharon Sharabi, 51, running in the right-wing Israel Our Home party, says he witnessed Israel's leadership failings when he campaigned for a deal to free Gaza hostages, including his brothers Yossi and Eli, both seized by Hamas from Be'eri.

Yossi did not survive captivity. Eli, whose wife and two teenage daughters were slain in the kibbutz, was released in early 2025 after almost 500 days.

"I understood that even after the hostages come back, that I can't stand aside and let mediocre people keep running the country," Sharabi said. "I understood that I have to leave my life behind, to go on a mission to remedy, to return "I understood that I have to leave my life behind, to go on a mission to remedy, to return the state of Israel to its true values."

Sharon Sharabi

51, running in the right-wing Israel Our Home party

the state of Israel to its true values."

Not all see removing the coalition as the path forward. Talik Gvili, whose police officer son Ran was the last Israeli hostage whose remains were recovered from Gaza, was personally chosen by Netanyahu as a candidate on his party's slate.

"I am continuing the mission Rani was on. He went to defend Israel," she said in a party campaign video. "I want a strong leader, someone I can count on," she said of Netanyahu. "He promised to bring Rani home and he did. He promised to make a change in the Middle East and he did."

But most of the candidates from Oct. 7 families support parties aligned against Netanyahu, driven by what they see as failings on that day and since.

Shira Shapiro, 51, is running as a candidate for Yashar, a new opposition centrist party led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot whose own soldier son was killed in the Gaza Strip.

Shapiro said she and other parents of Oct. 7 victims “are trying to take this pain and give it meaning, to grow from it. This is also what we need to do on a national level.”

Her eldest son Aner, a 22-year-old off-duty soldier and musician, had attended the Nova music festival attacked on Oct. 7, 2023, and took cover with 26 others in a roadside bomb shelter.

As the Hamas men lobbed grenades into the packed shelter, Aner tossed them out. His last moments were caught in dashcam footage, an audio recording made by one of the victims before she was killed and a photo taken by a survivor. Aner told the others that if he is hurt, they must continue.

“I hear his voice say ‘continue after me’, he meant continue throwing the grenades but I hear his voice saying ‘continue after me,’” said Shapiro. “And I have to continue after him. And that’s why I’m here.”

Mountains

Continued from Page 1A

landscapes are vital to farmers and others who depend on them for their livelihoods, he said, using them for pastures and collecting plants for food, medicine and cultural reasons.

“What we see is disruption to these unique, very special alpine environments,” he said. “These mountaintops are warming.”

Summer heat is helping to reshape the Swiss Alps, the Swiss Academy of Sciences said in late September, announcing the country's glaciers lost more than $5\%$ of their volume over the past year and nearly $20\%$ over five years.

“We’ve seen the disappearance of several small glaciers, and extreme losses at other ones,” Matthias Huss, a glaciologist with ETH Zurich and head of the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network, told USA TODAY. Heat and drought across Europe this summer showed “how critical the situation has become,” Huss said.

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Glacier loss in the U.S.

In western North America and Alaska, rates of glacier mass loss are among the highest on Earth, the U.S. Geological Survey has reported. A study published in Nature's "Scientific Reports" in March reported that nine North American glaciers where baseline measurements have been taken since 1957 have shrunk an average of $33\%$ and collectively lost a cumulative total of 1.5 billion tons of fresh water.

The West Gulkana glacier in Alaska's Delta Mountains lost the most volume, decreasing by roughly 87%. Only a third of the nine glaciers are forecast to remain in 2100, according to the study, which the authors wrote painted “a grim picture for the future generations observing glaciers in North America.”

In Oregon, glaciers in the Three Sisters mountains in the Cascades provide water during the driest times of the year, reported the Salem Statesman Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. Yet glacier cover has been reduced by more than 50% in the Three Sisters, according to the Oregon Glaciers Institute. Glaciers vanished from Oregon's southern Cascades and Wallowa Mountains, and half of the state's named glaciers are expected to be gone before 2050.

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Water resources threatened

“Glaciers are just one small piece of

Experts: U.S. not likely to see pneumonic plague

[the] puzzle," but their changes are easy for the public to understand, Huss said. As the glaciers get smaller, they lose the potential to contribute water in future drought periods, he said. Many regions of the world rely on snowpack and glaciers for water resources.

A study in the Andes, published in April 2025, reported melting glaciers and reduced water availability had led to widespread cascading impacts.

Hart is one of many scientists who collaborate in an international network tracking biodiversity across six continents, with a database of nearly 9,000 species of plants, including wildflowers, lichen and mosses. The Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments, or GLORIA, began in 2001 and includes 130 sites around the world, with 25 in the United States and five of those in the Rocky Mountains.

The international scientific collaborators in GLORIA “have this shared love of mountain environments,” he said. “It gives me hope.”

Glacial retreat is fundamentally changing landscapes, exposing new ground in some cases, or making glacial lakes larger, Huss said, adding that it's “impressive how quickly the vegetation can resettle in moonscape-like environments.”

Amid the plants moving higher on the mountains, Hart said it's becoming more likely that other cold-adapted alpine plants will be lost.

International scientists with GLO-RIA published in Science in September, concluding extinction rates in the resident plants on high mountaintops are rising with the magnitude of warming. Areas of plants above the tree line, the scientists said, face an accelerating loss of their most characteristic species.

Hart pointed to Glacier National Park, where previous studies found several species growing at the southern limits of their geographic ranges are declining.

But it's not just plants that are being lost, as Hart was reminded on a research expedition near the region where the Nepal flood began. Returning to a plot in the Himalayas he had previously surveyed, the plot had "slipped off the side of the mountain."

"We were not able to resurvey it because it was not physically there anymore," he said. "We thought of this as a permanent plot, but it actually was impermanent."

Contributing: Zach Urness, Salem Statesman Journal

Sara Moniuszko

USA TODAY

After a laboratory worker at a plague research institute in southeastern Russia fell ill and died, prompting authorities to quarantine dozens of people, concerns around public health and another pandemic are growing on social media.

“Damn it, COVID-19 round two here we come,” one person wrote on X.

“We are still recovering from the trauma and lack of trust from COVID. Can we like, not?” another said.

“Another lockdown loading?” one user wondered.

“Oh boy, here comes the masks again,” another wrote.

But experts say Americans likely don't need to worry about an outbreak hitting the United States.

"The risk right now is negligibly low, and the chances of it to spread to our homeland is less likely," Dr. Rutul Dalal, an infectious disease physician at Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center, told USA TODAY.

He added that he understands the concern, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, but pointed out there are differences here – namely, a way to treat it.

“We have antibiotics for treatment and for prophylaxis, and if given within the first 24 hours of symptoms, has an excellent track record of having great results,” Dalal said. That contrasts greatly with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when we didn’t have a vaccine or medication yet to combat it.

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, CEO of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, added that people should “remain calm” but still “be vigilant.”

Because of the location and many details left unconfirmed, the situation is raising questions.

“We don’t really have a window onto what was going on at this research institute. Why were they studying plague?” Marrazzo said. “Whoever works with these agents in a laboratory should have many layers of safety incorporated. You would have expected if this happened that the worker would have immediately got prophylactic antibiotics ... We have no information about so many important things about this, I think it's something we just have to keep paying attention to and to be aware of."

Questions remain after a doctor at the Medical Assistance and Rescue Centre in Shelekhov, Russia, died from pneumonic plague. REUTERS

U.S. and European officials are tracking the situation, with a spokesperson for the State Department saying it was “aware of reports of a fatal case of suspected pneumonic plague” in Russia and monitoring developments alongside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We’re watching and monitoring it closely. I don’t think it’s cause for alarm,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Oct. 5 before leaving for a trip to Europe.

People who came in contact with the lab worker who died were quarantined and have not shown any signs of infection as of Oct. 5, according to Maxim Modin, mayor of the nearby town of Shelekhov. He said that the town's medical facilities have reopened for normal operations and are accepting patients.

"All individuals who came into contact with the woman have been identified, examined, and are under medical observation with daily laboratory tests," he said in a social media post.

Pneumonic plague, an infection of the lungs, prompts the patient to cough out infectious airborne droplets. If identified quickly, it can be treated with antibiotics. But if left untreated, it can be fatal in one to six days.

Pneumonic plague is the most dangerous form of the illness, since it can be transmitted person-to-person and cause severe epidemics.

Contributing: Miles J. Herszenhorn, USA TODAY; Reuters

Cancer

Continued from Page 1A

was not a matter of if you were going to get cancer. It was a matter of when and where that cancer was going to be," said Sarah Strohman, director of public health for Palo Alto County.

Cass County only recently overtook Palo Alto County for the highest cancer incidence rate in Iowa, according to data from the National Cancer Institute. The two heavily agricultural counties, though, are hardly outliers: Nearly half of Iowa's 99 counties now have cancer rates higher than Louisiana's "Cancer Alley," a heavily industrialized stretch long infamous for its extraordinary cancer risk.

Iowa ranks second among states for cancer incidence and is one of only three states where rates are still rising. Some 21,700 will be diagnosed this year, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry. About 6,400 Iowans with cancer will die.

“Iowa ranks second behind Kentucky in cancer incidence, but Kentucky is getting better, and Iowa is getting worse,” said Brett Altman, CEO of Cass Health. “There is little doubt that we will overtake them and infamously become the No. 1 cancer state per capita.”

Iowa's cancer crisis is unfolding across one of the most intensively farmed landscapes in the world. About $84\%$ of the state is farmland. In 2025, more than 13.5 million acres of corn and nearly 10 million acres of soybeans were planted across more than 86,000 farms in Iowa, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Laid end to end, Iowa's 2025 corn crop could stretch to the moon and back – roughly 99 times.

To grow all that, nearly 11 billion pounds of commercial fertilizer were sprayed on Iowa fields. And that's dwarfed by the 215 billion pounds of manure coming out of Iowa's livestock facilities annually, much of it also spread on fields. It would take more than 2 billion people an entire year to produce that much waste.

For generations, rural Iowans have taken pride in the mantra that they “feed the world.” Now, they are questioning what that has cost them at home.

“In Iowa, it’s not just the air we breathe,” said Maureen Reeves Horsley, a longtime Palo Alto County nurse practitioner who lost her sister to breast cancer.

"In this Cancer Alley that we all live in, it's the soil that we grow out of. It's the water that we drink. It's the hog confinements, the big factory farms, the fertilizer, pesticides and everything else that poisons us every single day."

"This is really the awakening of the sleeping giant," Reeves Horsley said. "People are really starting to say, 'Oh my. The giant has been poked.'"

Now, she said, Iowa is facing a reckoning.

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What is in the water?

On the vast Lost Island Lake in Palo Alto County, gentle ripples shimmer across the sunlit water. People here move a little slower, on what they like to call “lake time.”

Ben Huntley, though, is not afforded that luxury.

The county environmental health technician spends his weeks bouncing between Palo Alto and Emmet counties, inspecting wells and, increasingly, answering the question: “What is in my water?”

“We’re at the center of the cancer rates. Was I expecting that? Never,” he told the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network, in late July, as he drew a sample from the private well at Reeves Horsley’s lake cottage. “Because of the cancer rates. It has gotten a lot more people wanting samples and being curious.”

About 282,000 Iowans rely on private wells, many in rural communities. Unlike municipal systems, the quality of the water in those wells is not regulated under federal law.

But there is plenty of reason for concern.

Beneath Iowa's fields lies an intricate system of more than 2 million miles of drainage tile – underground pipes that turn what was once marshy ground into some of the most productive farmland in the world.

The pipes move water quickly into streams, often picking up excess nitrate from fertilizer and manure as it leaches through the ground. Those streams are then effectively turned into drainage ditches, feeding larger rivers like the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, which flow through some of the state's major cities. Research commissioned by Polk County says the rivers are among the worst nationally for nitrate pollution.

"You have all of our nitrates from the north coming down into Des Moines, while up here we have our heads in the sand," said Reeves Horsley, who grew up on a Palo Alto County farm along the West Fork of the Des Moines River.

Bob Swan, a third-generation farmer and former Pioneer seed dealer, is one of about 175,000 cancer survivors living in Iowa today.

TRAVIS LACOSS/USA TODAY NETWORK

Downstream, Des Moines' water utility said it spent about \$2.2 million in 2025 removing nitrate from drinking water. It must keep the levels under 10 milligrams per liter, per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's limit for drinking water.

That limit was set more than 35 years ago to prevent a deadly infant blood disorder known as “blue baby syndrome,” not cancer.

Research since has established long-term exposure to nitrate levels as low as 3 milligrams per liter can increase cancer risk. From 2021 through 2023, about 1.2 million Iowans were served by public water systems that recorded a nitrate test at or above that level.

Water from the tap in Reeves Horsley's kitchen tested at more than twice that nitrate level, at 6.9 milligrams per liter.

A landmark 2026 report by the Iowa Environmental Council and Harkin Institute explicitly identified agriculture as a contributor to Iowa's high and rising cancer rates, pointing to its role as the “dominant source” of nitrate pollution in Iowa watersheds and to a “cocktail” of pesticides and forever chemicals.

In 2015, Des Moines Water Works tried to send its bill upstream, suing drainage districts in three northern counties near Palo Alto and accusing them of not doing enough to prevent the funneling of nitrate into the city. It lost, first at the Iowa Supreme Court, and again in federal court, where a judge in 2017 punted the issue back to where it had long been stalled: the state Legislature.

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National cancer rates fall, Iowa's has spiked

In recent years, Iowa's cancer curve has been bending in the wrong direction.

Iowa's cancer incidence had been declining and roughly tracking the national rate. Around 2013, that changed: Iowa suddenly spiked upward while the national rate kept falling.

That came roughly three decades after the 1980s Farm Crisis ushered in a new era of Iowa agriculture: fewer, bigger farms, more livestock and heavier chemical use. Many cancers can take decades to surface after a harmful exposure.

"The reality is that today's cancer was not caused by something we did yesterday," said Strohman. "It is from something that happened 30 or 40 years ago, and it is going to take a couple of generations to clear some of these things up."

Al Puterbaugh, a third-generation farmer, lived through those decades from the tractor seat. He worked the land near Ruthven in Palo Alto County.

In 2015, he lost his 19-year-old grandson, who was battling after a battle with brain cancer.

Eight years later, Puterbaugh's son died at 54 after years of health problems, including several cancerous tumors.

The next year, Puterbaugh lost Jean, his wife of 61 years, after her own battle with colon cancer.

Then cancer came for him.

The former teacher and seed dealer was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

“You get a different perspective as to what this is going to mean for your family, the goals you had set and the things you wanted to do,” he said, holding back tears.

Now, after undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, the 86-year-old is cancer-free.

"I wouldn't wish it on anybody," he said. "I was 185 pounds when I went in for surgery, and I got down to 145 pounds. I'm still frail. It's tough to keep my weight at 147 to 150 pounds."

Puterbaugh said time has made him reckon with the forces driving the can-

cer around him.

“You have to blame the herbicide companies and chemical companies somewhat, and the farmers,” he said.

A growing group of farmers is beginning to say the same.

James Hepp, Matt Bormann and Zack Smith call themselves the Lobe Rangers, after the Des Moines Lobe area in which they farm. They once served on county boards of the Iowa Farm Bureau, part of the state's powerful agricultural establishment, and were held up as examples of farmers doing their part to protect the environment. Eventually, they said, they began to feel used.

“They put somebody like us up and say, ‘Look, here’s a farmer doing conservation. This represents all of Iowa agriculture,’ when in fact it represents probably less than 5% to 10% at best,” Smith said.

Iowa launched its Nutrient Reduction Strategy in 2013, the same year cancer incidence began spiking. The strategy has relied on voluntary action, asking farmers to adopt conservation practices such as planting cover crops to slow runoff and reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution flowing into waterways.

One scenario in the strategy envisioned cover crops on about $60\%$ of corn and soybean acres to help reach the state's pollution-reduction goals. More than a decade later, in 2024, they covered less than $17\%$ .

“I don’t want to be part of a system that’s potentially making people sick as a result of our actions,” said Hepp, who lost his sister to cancer. “We, farmers, need to look in the mirror and say we are potentially part of the problem.”

Smith worries farmers, who make up around $2\%$ of Iowa's population, will lose the public's patience if they do not.

Smith said he believes the current system is fundamentally flawed.

“We’re all scared not to produce enough or keep up with our neighbor, and we create this hamster-wheel effect that we can never get off,” he said. “We’re getting sicker because of it, and we’re subsidizing the whole damn thing. It doesn’t make sense when you start adding it all up.”

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The next patient is already waiting

Cass Health expanded its cancer center in 2022, quadrupling its size. Four years later, it is once again struggling to keep up with the needs. Patients who once could see a specialist within a week of a referral may now wait months.

Here, Emmy Benton administers chemotherapy and immunotherapy to patients.

“There is a lot of stuff you take home with you at night,” Benton told The Register in late July, her voice breaking. “They become like your family. Any loss is hard. But you have to remember that the next day you are going back to work to help somebody else.”

She said she is seeing younger and younger Iowans coming through the doors. Among them: Victoria Means, 34.

Means was only a few years into her own career in public health, where part of her job was helping uninsured and underinsured women obtain breast and cervical cancer screenings, when she found a lump in her breast.

She was diagnosed with stage 3 tri-ple-negative breast cancer.

Means was on medical leave and receiving immunotherapy on the day she spoke with The Register. Each bag of the infusion costs about \$36,000 before insurance. Her husband took their three young boys to Adventureland theme park for the day – part of the family's effort to keep cancer from consuming too much of their summer.

Chemotherapy, she said, leaves her exhausted and nauseated. Then, as soon as she begins feeling better, another treatment is due.

"The drugs are awful. They suck. I hate them, but they're there so I can see my boys graduate high school," Means said.

Benton said it helps to keep her mind on the other side: the bell some patients get to ring when they make it through treatment.

“Seeing any of them ring the bell is like a weight coming off your shoulders. It is like, ‘They did it. It’s done,’” Benton said. “The emotion that comes with it is incredible, and you are just so proud.”

Cass County, home to roughly 13,000 people, is writing the playbook for its response as it goes. At the center is Cass Health, which has homed in on five cancers with particularly concerning rates. It is pushing colorectal, breast and lung screening and trying to catch prostate and cervical cancers earlier.

There is no single explanation for who will get cancer and who will not. Genetics and random mutations can play a role, as can tobacco and alcohol use, diet, inactivity and sun exposure. So can environmental risks, including exposure to chemicals and radiation.

Often, several of those factors overlap throughout a lifetime.

The goal is not necessarily fewer diagnoses tomorrow, said Ann McCurdy, chair of the hospital's Cancer Action Plan Team. It is finding more cancers at stage 1 or 2 instead of stage 3 or 4. The challenge, she acknowledged, is that more screening may make the numbers look worse before they improve.

“We have to reach those younger populations now to hopefully prevent it,” she said, noting that up to 40% of cancers are preventable. “This is the long game.”

But the cards are increasingly stacked against rural hospitals across Iowa.

Altman, Cass Health's CEO, said recent federal Medicaid cuts are expected to ultimately drive the hospital's reimbursements down by about half, with the first round of reductions beginning in 2028. If the hospital does not continue growing, it will have to make cuts, starting with its biggest loss leader: maternity and childbirth care, known as obstetrics.

For a county trying to screen its way out of Iowa's highest cancer rate, losing even part of that already limited capacity could be costly.

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'Is that what caused my cancer?'

In the garden at his home 2 miles across the Palo Alto County line, Bob Swan, a third-generation farmer and former Pioneer seed dealer, tends everything from tomatoes and peppers to kohlrabi and Savoy cabbage. He wages war with a stubborn groundhog burrowing under the electric fence.

"I'll be out, and I'll just forget all about cancer," said Swan, who last year underwent treatment for duodenal cancer. He is one of about 175,000 cancer survivors living in Iowa today.

He wasn't always sure he would make it, he said. In 2025, after three infusions shrank his tumor from about 5 centimeters to 2 centimeters, Swan underwent a six-hour Whipple procedure, removing parts of several digestive organs before surgeons reconstructed what remained.

Cancer is hardly foreign to him. His sister died of ovarian cancer. He can count roughly a dozen more people around him fighting cancer now.

“It was a betrayal,” he said of routinely handling and spraying chemicals whose risks farmers, he said, were not told much about. “Is that what caused my cancer? I have no idea.”

But for all the abundance surrounding Swan, buying fresh, healthy groceries nearby is almost impossible.

"There's no place to buy fresh food. It's only a dollar store," he said. "It's a food desert right here in the middle of some of the richest ground in the world."

Iowa farmers sold about \$18 billion in crops in 2024, but the vast majority of that harvest was never destined for people to eat, instead becoming ethanol or livestock feed.

Farmers spend heavily on what keeps that system running. In 2022, they spent about \$7.3 billion on fertilizer, agricultural chemicals and seed, making Iowa a massive market for agribusiness giants including Koch, Syngenta, Pioneer and its parent company Corteva, and Bayer, which owns Monsanto.

The state has largely resisted forcing changes on farmers.

In May, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, whose husband has battled cancer, and Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig, who farms in Palo Alto County and once lobbied Iowa lawmakers on behalf of Monsanto, doubled down on voluntary conservation, announcing more than \$300 million in conservation and water infrastructure funding.

Reeves Horsley said Iowa cannot keep relying on the same approach and expect a different result.

Her older sister, Kathy, was in her 20s, married and raising young children when she developed breast cancer. Reeves Horsley was in seventh grade. By the summer before her sophomore year of high school, Kathy's cancer had spread to her liver. She died that July at 27.

Another sister, Marcie, later developed uterine cancer but survived.

"There's real despair here," Reeves Horsley said. "You work your whole life, and you're supposed to enjoy retirement, and then you find out that you have cancer. It's a dart hitting the balloon, and things just begin to collapse."

For years, cancer was something people here learned to live around. The numbers have now made it impossible to look away.

"The giant's been poked, and I think that the awakening has been gathering more attention," Reeves Horsley said.

Now, she said, attention is not enough. Something, somewhere has to change.

Funding from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism helped to support this story.

Young people are more likely than voters 30 years old and up to tell pollsters that they disapprove of the president and will vote a Democrat to Congress in the midterms. REBECCA NOBLE/REUTERS

🔗 [系统已自动跨页缝合转版续文：《Young voters》]

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up to say that they disapprove of the president and will vote a Democrat to Congress in the midterms.

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Struggling with cost of living

Young voters are less likely to affiliate themselves with a political party, according to experts, and they are expressing financial frustration at an even higher rate than the electorate as a whole.

“We’re in this, like, new political era where younger people are judging their politicians and their politics and kind of how they think, voting through a different lens than previous cohorts,” said John Della Volpe, who leads a youth voter polling initiative at Harvard University.

Dissatisfaction with high inflation during the Biden era contributed to Trump's 2024 success, particularly among young voters, who earn less and have less savings than older Americans. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, inflation sat at $2.7\%$ in November 2024. As of August 2026, inflation has risen to $3.4\%$ .

Della Volpe has studied young voters since 2000 and called it a “stability and experience era” in which young voters are looking to politicians to help them lead a more stable day-to-day life, often in terms of financial security.

He runs focus groups around the country with young voters and shared the story of one young woman in Michigan telling him in the spring of 2024 that the election was going to be about the economy. She said she was leaning toward Trump because she could “worry about abortion and guns and other important issues” after her own economic situation was settled.

A spokesperson for The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University, which tracks engagement and voter trends among young people, said the current young voter population is composed of “issues-based voters.” That group of voters is more independent and are not judging every candidate in the Republican Party by their assessment of the Trump administration.

"The fact that they may be frustrated or disillusioned with the current administration doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to go ahead and vote in the other direction," CIRCLE's Alberto Medina said.

Dessources said in When We All Vote's interactions with voters at summer events such as Lollapalooza and the World Cup, the organization also found the group to be more issues-based than partisan – 43% of Gen Z Americans surveyed at these events said they identify as independents, and many expressed frustration with the cost of living.

In the Economist/YouGov September poll, 29% of Americans rated inflation as the most important problem. Among voters 18-29, 38% ranked inflation as the most important issue. In contrast, voters 65 and older were more likely to rank presidential leadership (17%) as their top issue, with only 6% of young voters who identified it as their top issue in the Economist/YouGov poll.

Just as young voters were more likely to disapprove of Trump, they're more likely to disapprove of his war with Iran. In the same poll, 63% of the electorate overall disapproved of the war and 31% approved. When it came to young voters, 69% disapproved and only 25% approved.

Young men told Della Volpe in his focus groups that “they were promised by Donald Trump ... a lower cost of living and fewer wars.”

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Less likely to vote

One caveat that may soften the blow for Republicans: Young people are relatively unlikely to vote.

The data review by USA TODAY revealed that more than half of young voters reported being likely or enthusiastic to vote, but their response on those questions fell from 5 to 17 points below the full electorate's percentage.

According to Marquette Law School in September, only 56% of young voters were “absolutely certain” or “very likely” to vote, compared with 73% of the whole electorate. Emerson’s poll found that 66.4% of young voters were “very excited to vote,” but that also fell below the whole population, where 71% of voters said they were very excited.

Young voter turnout is historically lower than older populations. Della Volpe said that as Gen Zers – who were born between 1997 and 2012 – reached voting age in the 2018 and 2022 midterms, strides in participation were made, with the rate of young people voting reaching a record-high 36% in the 2018 midterms, as opposed to a historically typical rate of just 15% to 20%. However, Della Volpe said there is “still a gap” compared with all eligible voters participating at rates between 52% and 54% in 2018 and 2022.

"It would be a lot to expect that young people are going to catch up to older voters in one election cycle," Medina said. He said when CIRCLE surveyed young voters in February, $55\%$ said they would vote in November. But since survey respondents tend to overestimate their odds of voting, "that doesn't necessarily mean that youth turnout is going to be $55\%$ , which would be beyond historic for a midterm."

Trump aims to reduce cost of diesel fuel but impact could be limited

Bart Jansen

USA TODAY

President Donald Trump temporarily ordered broader access to tax-free diesel fuel, which is crucial for trucking and agriculture, but experts said the move would have limited results in reducing the high fuel costs.

Trump signed an executive order Oct. 5 during a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, to defer collection of excise tax on so-called red dye diesel fuel through the end of the year. The fuel is dyed because it is typically used for off-road purposes such as agriculture and is exempt from federal highway taxes.

The president said the order will save truckers an average of \$100 each time they fill up and will save farmers millions of dollars. He signed the order after White House aide Natalie Harp carried it on stage, then tossed the Sharpie into the cheering audience.

“This order will also drive down the cost of all goods, including groceries very substantially,” Trump said, based on the ripple effect from lower-cost trucking. “It’s an honor to do it,” he added, hoping it wouldn’t be needed for long.

Trump's order was the latest reaction to fuel prices spiking in response to the U.S.-Israel war on Iran and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries. He has argued that gas and diesel prices will drop after the wars are resolved and that higher costs are “a small price to pay” to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

But higher prices have contributed to the president's low approval rating ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. Diesel fuel averaged \$6.32 per gallon on Oct. 5 after rising above \$6 for the first time on Sept. 11, according to AAA.

The federal excise tax on diesel fuel is 24.3 cents per gallon and state taxes average 35.5 cents per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The federal taxes go to the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for road construction and investment in mass transit.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for the price-tracking website GasBuddy, said action on dyed diesel could help reduce prices for truckers but would do little to help farmers who already have access to it.

“Taxes aren’t the problem, supply is,” De Haan said Sept. 28 on X.

European countries agreed Oct. 2 to release 100 million barrels of diesel fuel and crude oil from their reserves to ease global pricing.

Trump said in September he supported a temporary ban on U.S. diesel exports. But he reversed that position Oct. 2, telling reporters at the White House that the option was never really on the table.

“Europe has a lot of diesel, and they’re going to be making a major world contribution, and so are we,” Trump said. “And we’re not going to be doing the export ban.”

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State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), 1 Iron St, Boston, MA 02210-1641

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The Vanguard Group, Inc., 100 Vanguard Blvd, V26, Malvern, PA 19355

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Many Oct. 7 questions remain

What USA TODAY contributors say about 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and its aftermath

Three years later, we finally have a place to mourn our son

Ruby Chen

For two years, Oct. 7 had no address for my family.

Our son, Itay, was kidnapped into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Months later, we learned he had been killed that morning, yet for more than 760 days there was no place my wife and I could go to be with him. We marked the day in sus-

pended grief, waiting for word that he was finally coming home.

This year is different. Finally, we have a place to mourn. On the third anniversary, we will stand at Itay's grave. For the first time on this day, we can sit beside our son, touch the stone that carries his name, and grieve the way parents should be allowed to grieve.

I owe this to President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who refused to close the file until Itay, the last American hostage, came home to be laid to rest. They understood that America does not leave its citizens behind. My family will never forget it.

But gratitude has not quieted the questions.

Close to 50 American citizens were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, one of the deadliest assaults on Americans since 9/11. Yet most Americans have never heard that number. They do not know the names Adrienne Neta, Aryeh Ziering or Cindy Flash.

These were not foreign casualties of someone else's war. They were Americans.

Three years on, no one has answered our families how this happened. No accounting of how a border collapsed and our loved ones were murdered and kidnapped. We are deeply disappointed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to initiate a state commission of inquiry, leaving all our families without the truth.

Grief without answers is a wound that cannot close.

Nevertheless, Washington is listening. Sens. Rick Scott, R-Florida, and Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, on Sept. 30 led a unanimous bipartisan Senate resolution honoring the American victims by name and committing to pursue justice for their families and a call to provide the families with holistic support.

Justice must also mean consequences for those who paid for the killing. As Washington weighs the fate of frozen Iranian assets, it faces a moral test. Hamas did not arm itself; I and many others believe Iran paid for it. Before a single dollar is released to Tehran, a portion of those assets should be directed to the families of the victims of Sept. 11, Oct. 7 and other terrorist attacks. Let the regime understand that the United States holds it responsible for the proxies it bankrolls and for those U.S. hostages still held in captivity.

As a father, I must also ask: How do we spare the next family the road we have walked?

The answer lies in building and expanding on President Trump's Abraham Accords. The Abraham Accords should be more than his legacy. The accords should also honor the Americans killed by those determined to stop normalization in the Middle East.

The accords can be a living memorial to our loved ones: building where extremists sought only death and despair.

Real economic integration, with shared supply chains and trade corridors linking Israel and Arab countries, gives young people a future worth protecting instead of a cause worth dying for. Every new partnership raises the price of the next war.

On Oct. 7, our family and friends will gather at Itay's grave. I hope that one day we can tell him his country remembered, demanded answers, made his killers' patrons pay, and that his sacrifice was not in vain but helped build a Middle East where no parent waits more than two years to bury a child.

Ruby Chen is the father of Itay Chen, a 19-year-old Israeli American soldier killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. Itay was held in Gaza until November 2025, the last American hostage to be returned.

---

We need atonement – and accountability

On the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, we are coming to a time of collective mourning for all those innocent people murdered by Hamas terrorists on that cataclysmic day.

ability for that suffering requires.

During this Jewish High Holiday season, I have been thinking about what our tradition teaches about atonement. Judaism teaches that while sins against God can be atoned for through prayer, transgressions committed against our fellow humans cannot be absolved until one seeks reconciliation directly with those whom they have harmed.

As any Jewish child can tell you, the meaning here is simple: Atonement is only made real after a sincere apology and a genuine attempt to repair the damage done by our actions.

I am also thinking of the three years that have followed, of the Israelis, Palestinians and Jews around the world who have suffered, and what account-

I thought about atonement as I recently rewatched "The Bibi Files," a 2024 documentary featuring leaked footage of Israeli police interrogating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he faced allegations of bribery and fraud. The film reminds us of the depth of one man's accused transgressions – a desire for power at any cost, an appetite for jewelry and cigars, and a fear of going to prison. Netanyahu has thrown up every imaginable roadblock to thwart a case that has continued to inch forward since 2019. Israel's first sitting prime minister to be indicted denies the bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges.

Ruby Chen, left, and Hagit Chen, parents of U.S. citizen Itay Chen – a 19-year-old Israel Defense Forces staff sergeant killed on Oct. 7, 2023 – salute during their son's funeral in Tel Aviv on Nov. 9, after Hamas returned his remains. RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS

Rachel

Timoner

To make true atonement, he would first need to make amends with everyone that his actions and inactions have harmed. The list is a long one – a nearly impossible accounting of chaos, war, pain and violence, all unleashed by a man charged with corruption and whose opponents say his best bet to stay out of prison is to cling to power.

The prime minister is far from the only transgressor in our midst. There are Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran; there are the successive American governments, Jewish leaders and Israelis who have aided and abetted Netanyahu, or at least turned a blind eye to his actions; there are the daily outrages perpetrated by President Donald Trump; and there are antisemites on the left and right who are only too eager to make use of Jew-hatred for their own ends.

But if we were to gather all those harmed since Oct. 7, 2023, we would find many people who do not otherwise think they have much in common.

They would include the mothers and fathers of Gaza who have held their children's lifeless bodies, whose children have been shot, killed by air strikes, starved, buried under collapsed buildings, or who are missing limbs or missing siblings.

They would include, also, the parents of Israeli soldiers who died in Gaza or who came back a shell of themselves, suicidal and traumatized from what they saw and what they did.

They would include the parents of the hostages taken by Hamas, those dead, and those living who will never be the same.

They would include the parents of the more than 1,000 West Bank Palestinian children who have fled their homes from settler terrorism just since January.

To be perfectly clear: It is utterly unacceptable to take out one's anger at the Israeli government on diaspora Jewish communities in any way.

But it is also undeniable that Netanyahu's victims also include Jews everywhere who are afraid of what might happen to us or our children because of antisemitic violence in response to his actions.

The Israeli prime minister would therefore need to seek forgiveness from Jews around the world – from Bondi Beach, Australia, to West Bloomfield, Michigan, and countless others – who have nightmares about the attacks on their communities and what could happen the next time.

He would need to make amends with synagogues, day schools and community institutions like my own, that must now devote an ever-growing portion of our annual budget to scanners and cameras and armed guards and security trainings.

He would have to go to anyone who, like me, believes that there should be a haven for the Jewish people that represents Jewish values in our ancestral homeland, a vision that is now a tattered shred, a mockery, a wisp of a dream we're still reaching for.

He would have to go to anyone who cares about Judaism itself, who has watched our beautiful, sacred tradition twisted into a festival of hate and dehumanization. And he would have to face the millions of Americans fighting to save their democracy, unable to move forward because they are paralyzed by the arguments over his accused war crimes and the scale of suffering that he has unleashed.

During the final holiday marking the Jewish High Holiday season, Sukkot, which just concluded, our tradition teaches us about the sacrifices people brought to observe the holy days on our calendar. The idea was that by giving what you had, you bring harmony to the world.

The ordeal Benjamin Netanyahu has put us all through is just the opposite. Instead of giving of himself, he's sacrificing us – the people of Gaza and the West Bank, the people of Israel, the Jews of the world – to avoid actual atonement.

Even the angels are trembling.

Rabbi Rachel Timoner is the senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Israel is stronger since 2023, but its strategy still must evolve

Three years ago, Israel suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history. Hamas stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and dragging 251 into Gaza as hostages.

Ilan Berman

The assault also exposed the bankruptcy of the assumptions that had

guided Israeli policy for years.

What followed was far more than war in Gaza. Israel found itself fighting on as many as seven fronts and fundamentally rethinking how it confronts the threats arrayed against it. The results have been striking.

To its north, Israel has severely degraded the capabilities of Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, killing much of its senior leadership, including longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah, and sharply reducing the threat the group poses. In the process, it has loosened Hezbollah's long-time stranglehold on Lebanese politics. In March, Beirut took the unprecedented step of banning the group's military activities, a sign that real change there may finally be possible.

Against Iran, Israel has shown an unprecedented ability to penetrate the regime's defenses. During the 12-day war in June 2025, Israel – with U.S. help – inflicted damage on Iran's nuclear program and ballistic missile arsenal. And while the ongoing war with Iran has settled into something of a U.S.-Iranian stalemate, Israel has at least helped puncture the aura of Iranian invulnerability that once paralyzed the region.

Farther south, Israel's need to neutralize the threat from Yemen's Houthi rebels led it to become the first country to recognize Somaliland, laying the groundwork for a forward-operating presence against one of Iran's most potent proxies.

In Syria, meanwhile, the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024 cut the land corridor Iran had used to resupply its proxies. Since then, Israel's relationship with Syria's new Sunni-dominated order has proved generally stable, if not friendly. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa says his government is avoiding confrontation with Israel and working toward a security agreement with it.

Hamas hasn't been eliminated, but it is a mere shadow of the organization that carried out its Oct. 7 campaign of terror, with Israel having killed many of its top leaders. And through the Trump-led Board of Peace, which in July announced Hamas' agreement to disarm and give up any role in governing Gaza, the group's room for political maneuver in the Gaza Strip is narrowing further.

These gains have left Israel in a far stronger strategic position than it held on Oct. 6, 2023. But three years of continuous conflict have also exposed how unsustainable “total war” footing has become on more than one front.

The first is internal. Israel's military was never designed to sustain war as a permanent condition. That's why the extraordinary call-up of 300,000 reservists for this multifront campaigns has come at such a heavy price.

It has sapped the national economy, which the International Monetary Fund estimates is running about 9% below its pre-Oct. 7 trajectory.

It has also strained the country's social cohesion, deepening resentment of the ultra-Orthodox, who still enjoy broad exemptions from military service despite a 2024 Supreme Court ruling that they be drafted.

The second constraint is international. The Israel-Hamas war has exacted a steep reputational price, compounded by foreign propaganda and influence campaigns that have helped erode the country's international legitimacy.

Even in the United States, long a bastion of pro-Israel sentiment, attitudes have soured markedly. Six in 10 Americans now view Israel unfavorably, according to Pew, and this year Gallup found that, for the first time in its tracking, more Americans sympathize with Palestinians than with Israelis.

To his credit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw this ominous trend line more than a year ago. In September 2025, he warned publicly that Israel faced growing diplomatic and economic isolation and needed to become a “super-Sparta” – self-sufficient and technologically advanced.

Netanyahu's political opponents share that diagnosis but differ sharply on the remedy.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a longtime fixture of Israel's right, and centrist former Prime Minister Yair Lapid are now running on a joint ticket to unseat him. In August, Lapid laid out a six-point plan to reverse Israel's isolation, including a new security memorandum of understanding with the United States and stronger outreach to foreign publics. Bennett, who would lead their government, has vowed to declare a “diplomatic emergency” and argued that the fix lies in a far more capable public diplomacy apparatus and stepped-up regional partnerships.

All this matters now.

On Oct. 27, Israelis will vote in their first national elections since the Oct. 7 attack. It will be a consequential moment, not just a political reckoning for that terrible day, but a referendum on the most sustainable strategic path for the years ahead.

Ilan Berman is senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC.

USA TODAY

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Teal brake calipers adorn this 2026 Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC.

Find more articles on trends, recalls and news, plus how-to videos and new model galleries.

We survey and compile the top news stories from all 50 states plus Washington, DC. Page 3B

REVIEW

Prices for the 2026 Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC start at \$103,490. PHOTOS BY MARK PHELAN/USA TODAY NETWORK

\$156K Mustang stands out well beyond the price

🔗 [系统已自动跨页缝合转版续文：《Mustang》]

B

Prime Blue seat belts, which are also pretty snazzy.

This is the point where I usually compare cost and value to the competition, but the DHSC really has none. If you want to pay this much for a Mustang, there's no substitute, and if you don't want a Mustang, the Porsche 911 and Chevy Corvette offer fine alternatives.

The DHSC keeps every promise its spec sheet makes.

If you're not in the market for an apex predator Mustang, you got off the elevator at the wrong floor.

The DHSC comes with a super-charged 5.2L version of Ford's beloved Coyote V-8. It produces 795 hp and 660 pound-feet of torque. A seven-speed Tremec dual-clutch automatic transmission, Torsen rear differential and carbon fiber drive shaft are standard.

Ford also upgraded the rear half shafts to handle the engine's prodigious torque – and the hard running most DHSCs will probably see on track days.

MagneRide adaptive shocks and magnesium strut towers are standard. Engineers also reworked the stabilizer bars, springs, control arms, steering gear and rack.

Chief Engineer Arie Groeneveld said the team tested the SC alongside the Mustang GT4 race car at tracks including Sebring (in Florida) and Virginia International Raceway.

Pirelli P Zero tires, aluminum wheels and Brembo brakes are standard.

The track and carbon fiber packages add carbon-ceramic brakes – still Brembo, of course – carbon fiber wheels and Michelin Sport Cup tires.

The track pack replaces the rear seat with a parcel shelf, reducing weight and saves your friends the embarrassment of entering and exiting the back seat of a Mustang. They'll thank you.

Aerodynamic goodies include a carbon fiber rear wing and complementary

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Dark Horse SC available with racing features

Mark Phelan

Detroit Free Press

USA TODAY NETWORK

SONOMA, CA – Ford Racing reached deep into its toolkit to create the 2026 Mustang Dark Horse SC, a 795-horse-power coupe that combines features from the hand-built \$300K+ Mustang GTD with production at Ford's assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, home to the Mustang's \$31K base model.

Ford recently tapped its racing group – which actually predates the automaker itself: Henry Ford went racing before the current FoMoCo existed as a corporate entity – to add brio to a lineup management deemed snooze-inducing.

Let's not dwell on who green-lit those automobiles. A corner office means never having to say you're sorry.

Regardless, the Mustang Dark Horse SC (SC stands for “supercharged”) is a bold six-figure start. In dealerships now and accompanied by race-proven features, accent colored seat belts and a six-figure price, the DHSC is not to be ignored.

Prices for the 2026 Mustang Dark Horse SC start at \$103,490. That price, and all others in this review, includes a \$2,600 federal gas guzzler tax but excludes a \$1,995 destination fee.

I recently spent a day driving a pair of

Dark Horse SCs from the lush wine country around Yountville, California, to the parched hills above Sonoma Raceway.

I drove two DHSCs. One, lavishly equipped, sticker priced at \$156,355 and came with \$52,000 worth of options, including a carbon fiber and track packages and teal-accent seat belts, all of which I enjoyed.

The second was as close to a base model as the DHSC gets. It cost \$107,725. Its tab for options was a mere \$4,235, barely worth mentioning in the present company. Most of that was the \$2,600 gas-guzzler tax; \$495 went to

See MUSTANG, Page 2B

Rollback sued as gas prices stay high

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Lawsuit targets lowering of average fuel economy

Keith Laing

USA TODAY

President Donald Trump's administration is being sued over his plan to slash federal fuel economy standards for U.S. cars.

Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund and Center for Biological Diversity said in an Oct. 2 news release that they have filed a lawsuit that asks a U.S. court to intervene to stop the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from lowering the required fleetwide average fuel economy for cars.

The Trump administration's proposal would take the current requirement of more than 50 miles-per-gallon by 2031 down to just under 35 miles-per-gallon.

The groups said NHTSA ignored its own analysis showing the weaker fuel rules will result in drivers paying more at the pump.

"We're taking the Trump administration to court for this reckless rollback that prioritizes Big Oil and automaker profits over American families," Katherine Garcia, Sierra Club's Clean Transportation for All Director, said in a statement.

Trump administration officials said lowering the fuel economy requirements for carmakers would make cars cheaper in the long run by an average of about \$1,300.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we have finally ended the illegal mandate that forced automakers to produce more expensive electric vehicles that American families didn’t want,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.

The fight over fuel economy rules comes as the average price of gas in the

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See LAWSUIT, Page 2B

A digital billboard, paid for by Home of the Brave USA, about President Donald Trump is displayed in Times Square in New York City on May 18.

ADAM GRAY/REUTERS

Tailoring car safety to different driver body types

Jackie Charniga

Detroit Free Press

USA TODAY NETWORK

One day, vehicle safety systems could be tailored to your body like clothing.

Drivers with different body types face different risks in car accidents, and vehicle safety researchers and engineers believe the next frontier of safety focuses on catering the front seat safety system to the human behind the wheel.

At the urging of regulators in Europe and North America, automakers and their supplier partners plan to move into occupant classification – using vehicle sensors to identify the approximate height and weight of drivers so the safety systems protect them more effectively.

A 5-star safety rating, the official metric the National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration employs in the United States, has always been a standardized measure, not a personalized one, said Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive.

That rating only tells consumers how a vehicle performs against a defined test, not how it performs for every individual.

“We’ve accepted that thus far. So, is it perfectly fair across every body type? Probably not,” she told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. “But that’s less about intent and more about the limits of how we’ve historically measured safety.”

The auto industry is starting to move beyond those constraints, Keating said. Instead of trying to build a perfect set of dummies for every scenario, the plan is adaptive safety, where vehicle systems “sense” who is driving adjust protection accordingly.

That's how you start to close the gap,

---

Collecting accurate passenger data and adjusting vehicle protective systems accordingly is safety's next frontier.

she said, between a standardized rating and a more individualized outcome.

Vehicle restraint systems continually evolve, starting with simple seat belts that engineers augmented with energy management load limiters, according to Lisa Furton, a vehicle performance owner for occupant protection at General Motors. Airbags, too, can be configured in multistage deployments to try to adjust the energy absorption needs based on crash severity or occupant position.

Collecting accurate passenger data and adjusting vehicle protective systems accordingly is safety's next frontier, Furton said.

“Once those technologies allow us to reliably classify the occupant who is sitting in the seat, we can then tailor the restraint system more precisely,” she said. Human body modeling has gotten more sophisticated, but the possibility of personalized protection systems in vehicles is still years, if not decades away, according to Dr. Steward Wang, professor emeritus of surgery at the Trauma Burn Center at the University of Michigan.

“We’re still a number of decades away from getting a good human body model that can be predictive of all injuries. It’s pretty good now, but they don’t get everybody in the population,” Wang said. “You need more detailed

The 2026 Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC on the track at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California. MARK PHELAN/USA TODAY NETWORK

---

At a glance

2026 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Sport coupe

Rear-wheel drive

Seats 2 or 4

Base price: \$103,490 (All prices include federal gas guzzler tax and exclude \$1,995 destination charge)

Model tested: Mustang Dark Horse with Track Pack, carbon fiber and teal accent packages

Price as tested: \$156,3356

Power: Supercharged 5.2L V8

Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic

Output: 795 hp @ 7,200 rpm; 660 pound-feet of torque @ 4,600

0-60 mph: NA

Top speed: NA

EPA estimated fuel economy: 12 mpg city/17 highway/14 combined. Premium gasoline. Subject to \$2,600 federal gas guzzler tax

ducktail on the trunk that generate 620 pounds of downforce at 180 mph.

I didn't experience that. My doctor advised me a while ago I'd reached my lifetime allowance of concussions - none of which occurred when I was at the wheel.

When you pay smart people for advice, take it.

The Dark Horse SC's steering is responsive and neutral, well-suited highway, country roads and track. The adaptive suspension keeps the car stable and planted in enthusiastic driving and absorbs the impact of rough surfaces.

The transmission is quick, smooth.

The interior is surprisingly quiet, thanks to noise cancellation and additional structural adhesives.

The Dark Horse SC has sport seats,

Wheelbase: 107 inches

Length: 190.6 inches

Width: 76.5 inches (without mirrors)

Height: 53.7 inches (with Track Pack)

Passenger space: 82.8 cubic feet

Cargo space: 13.3 cubic feet

Curb weight: 4,263 pounds, base; 4,110 with Track Pack

Assembled in Flat Rock, Michigan

---

Trim levels, prices

EcoBoost: \$32,995

EcoBoost convertible: \$40,440

EcoBoost Premium: \$36,345

EcoBoost Premium convertible: \$41,845

GT: \$46,800

GT Premium: \$51,080

GT Premium convertible \$56,580

Dark Horse \$63,080

Dark Horse SC \$103,490

Source: Edmunds

aluminum pedals and 12-speaker B&O audio. A single-pane display rising above the steering column and center stack includes a 12.4-inch instrument cluster and 13.2-inch touch screen. Electronic extras include selectable levels of traction control, launch control and displays of performance data.

The adjustable exhaust note ranges from quiet enough not to wake the neighbors to a track setting that announces an oncoming DHSC before it comes into sight on a road course.

The supercharged Dark Horse is an exceptionally well-rounded sports car. Easy to drive and reasonably comfortable on the street, it also has the hardware and software to compete on track with the other global legends of performance and style.

Continued from Page 1B

information about what the end results are, the specific injuries that occur. The cars need to make it out there into the real world and unfortunately live people are the real crash dummies."

Wang spent 14 years as a principal investigator for the multidisciplinary Crash Injury Research Engineering Network, a government-industry-academia research consortium that examines the vehicles and interiors after a crash and compares that against the medical records and outcomes of the passengers.

Despite technological advancements in crash data collection, there is still a large difference in the pattern and severity of injuries between men and women of different sizes in the same crash conditions, Wang said. There is “no clear solution” to protect everyone equally.

"The thought is, if it is safer for some, it should be safer for most. As a physician, I treat a patient, I don't treat a population," Wang said. "The [weight and build] of the drivers and occupants are critical to determining how they fare, and there's a substantial portion of the population that's overweight or obese."

Still, Wang agrees that getting more body types involved in the crash test scenarios that automakers have to pass could improve safety.

If the driver isn't secure because their body type does not allow them to sit behind the wheel the same way a dummy does, the vehicle “doesn't know,” Wang said. And without advanced sensor technology and some degree of artificial intelligence, a vehicle, “can't know.”

"There are technologies, but they're not completely reliable, especially if they're trained on a limited number of test subjects," he said.

Without real world experience of the injuries caused in accidents, engineers won't know if a safety feature works the same across different populations.

“Engineers are just given a number that they have to get on a test to pass. They don’t understand what the number, or test, is supposed to represent from an injury prevention perspective,” Wang said. “To them, an injury is just another injury, but among medical professionals, there’s a huge difference in the morbidity and mortality of each one.”

While there is always room for improvement, it is worth noting how far vehicle safety systems have come to address most body type behind the wheel, said Jessica Jermakian, senior vice president for vehicle research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an auto insurance-funded safety organization.

"It kinda makes me nervous and a little bit frustrated when I see in media reports that women aren't protected in crashes. They are protected. What we're ultimately looking for is not an individual restraint system tailored to each individual person – though the Holy Grail would be one that is somewhat adaptable – but one that is generally robust, that even when it doesn't perform perfectly like the crash test, it's still doing a good job."

Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Reach her at jcharniga@freepress.com.

Lawsuit

Continued from Page 1B

United States was \$4.30 on Oct. 2, according to AAA.

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Trump administration touts 'flexibility'

The U.S. Transportation Department noted the plan to weaken fuel economy requirements for carmakers will “give automakers the flexibility to manufacturer cars the public wants to buy,” in addition to the projected sticker price savings.

Last month, the average price of a new vehicle in the United States soared to record levels, near \$50,000.

The agency also said that making cars cheaper would result in Americans buying new models that have more safety features.

NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison, whose agency penned the analysis that cited increased costs for the average driver, also released a statement supporting the reduced mileage, which echoed many of the Trump administration's talking points.

“By reducing vehicle prices, more American families will be able to afford newer vehicles, and sensible standards allow automakers more freedom to design and produce vehicles consumers actually want," Morrison said.

Automakers have supported the attempt to cut their required fuel economy rules. The Alliance for Automotive In novation, which lobbies in Washington for most major carmakers, said it believes “NHTSA made the right call to better align fuel economy standards with the law and current market conditions.”

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Critics warn of higher gas prices

The environmental groups who sued the Trump administration over the MPG rules rollback said the president and his team are ignoring the pain that drivers are feeling at the pump with prices remaining above \$4 per gallon for most of the year.

"With gas prices at historic highs, Trump picked the worst possible time to roll back federal mileage standards," David Pettit, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute, said in a statement.

Critics of Trump's MPG move point to NHTSA's internal analysis that showed drivers would spend an extra \$1,624 on gas over the life of a car purchased under its proposed fuel rules. Under the current MPG rules, the agency said drivers would spend \$15,333 on gas for a car purchased under the requirements for the 2011 model year. That number jumps to \$16,957 under the proposed lower mpg rules.

The agency said that a jump in gas spending is to be expected when fuel efficiency standards are being lowered, according to an analysis published when the proposed rules were finalized.

“Because NHTSA is decreasing the stringency of standards, many of these benefits ... are lower than they are in the baseline, and their incremental differences are presented as negative relative to the baseline,” NHTSA analysis said.

The Trump administration and environmental groups have been clashing over fuel rules since the start of the first Trump administration in 2017. Trump moved then over the objection of environmentalists to roll back rules that would have required automakers to achieve fleetwide averages of nearly 55 mpg by 2025 that were enacted under former President Barack Obama. The Obama-era rules were restored by the Biden administration before later being slashed again by Trump. Each administration's MPG rule proposal was ultimately finalized.

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What fight means for car buyers

If the Trump administration is successful in its attempt to weaken the federal MPG standards, car buyers will have much less fuel-efficient options to choose from in the next several years.

Trump's proposal to cut the fleetwide fuel-efficiency target from more than 50 mpg by 2031 to just under 35 mpg means for a car that has an average-sized gas tank that holds around 15 gallons, you'd get about 125 miles less on a fill up at 35 mpg than you would at 50 mpg.

But it's important to note that car-makers only averaged about 27 mpg last year, which translates to about 375 miles on a single tank, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates air pollution and tailpipe emissions by law while NHTSA sets mileage rates.

But the environmental groups that sued the Trump administration said car shoppers need fuel-efficient models to choose from more than ever with gas prices remaining elevated.

“Consumers need more fuel-efficient choices when considering new cars, and they deserve vehicles that get more miles per gallon and miles per dollar,” said Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen.

50★States

ALABAMA Montgomery: A major Interstate 85 widening project began Oct. 5 that will include several years of construction. The project includes replacing four I-85 bridges.

ALASKA Juneau: Alaska LNG's developer, Glenfarne, said the project's access to stranded natural gas and shorter shipping routes to Asia will make it competitive with U.S. Gulf Coast rivals, despite questions from some analysts about the project's massive infrastructure costs.

ARIZONA Phoenix: Schools in the state will need to reach a higher standard to receive an “A” letter grade after the Arizona State Board of Education approved a new scoring system that will be reflected in grades that come out in October 2027.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: Arkansas farmers and timber operators can temporarily use dyed diesel fuel in certain highway vehicles without facing state penalties under an executive order issued by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in response to rising fuel costs.

CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: Two people are dead after shots rang out at a banquet hall on Oct. 2, police said. Police first responded to a call at about 11 p.m. local time that there was a loud party with a large crowd inside a banquet hall in Northridge, a neighborhood near the campus of California State University, Northridge, according to Los Angeles Police Department Officer Norma Eisenman.

Lila Roussel and Lisa Tike held a grand re-opening for Lilah's Bakery to celebrate being open all year. HENRIETTA WILDSMITH/USA TODAY NETWORK

COLORADO Denver: With historic level of bear activity in urban areas, you might want to hold off on putting that pumpkin on the porch. There have already been incidents of bears in front yards eating pumpkins and bears eating gourds displayed outside at grocery stores, according to a Colorado Parks and Wildlife news release.

CONNECTICUT Uncasville: The inaugural New England Halloween Fest spanning more than 145,000 square feet at Mohegan Sun Earth Expo & Convention Center will be held Oct. 17-18, offering a weekend of celebrity appearances, interactive attractions and seasonal activities.

Shreveport: Lisa Tike thought she'd hit it big when her Lilah's Bakery sold 70 king cakes in 2008. Today the iconic bakery sells more than 22,000 of the Mardi Gras treats every year. But the king cake business is seasonal, so the bakery, and more importantly, the staff, is idle for months. That's why Tike decided to expand into a year-round business, and she and daughter Lila Roussel celebrated during a grand re-opening Oct. 1 that will allow them to grow the business and keep their workforce intact. The expanded options include signature treats like cookies and dessert bars, while Tike said customers can also order king cakes.

DELAWARE New Castle County: A New Castle County man previously convicted of secretly recording women in a bathroom has again admitted to violating a woman's privacy, this time after prosecutors say he filmed her as she stepped out of a shower inside a St. Georges-area home. Desi D. Turner, 66, pleaded guilty Sept. 28 to a single count of violation of privacy, according to court records.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: This year's Kennedy Center Honors will be held at Washington's Capital One Arena on Dec. 7, a center spokesperson said on Oct. 2. It will be the first time the honors are not held at the center's Opera House since the awards' inception in 1978.

FLORIDA Tampa: More than 250 cases of locally acquired dengue have been reported so far this year in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Health's Weekly Arbovirus Surveillance Report. Hillsborough County, home of Tampa, saw 223 of the 252 reported cases. Other cases have been reported in Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties.

HIGHLIGHT: LOUISIANA

GEORGIA Atlanta: According to a report by SmartAsset, an estimated 11.6% of Georgia households had zero or negative net worth in 2024. SmartAsset defines zero or negative net worth as having debts that equal or exceed a household's assets.

HAWAII Honolulu: The State Energy Office said a government energy-efficiency program is projected to save taxpayers about \$1.19 billion in energy and operating costs, KHON2 reported.

IDAHO Lemhi County: Idaho Fish and Game Salmon Region said a bear was killed after two residents were attacked on Oct. 2, KTVB reported.

ILLINOIS Springfield: The City of Springfield and City Water, Light and Power marked the completion of a federally funded electric vehicle charging project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, adding the final two charging ports to a network that now includes 40 new Level 2 charging ports across the city.

INDIANA Indianapolis: The Hoosier Dome, an all-ages music venue that's operated in the Fountain Square neighborhood for more than 15 years, announced in a social media post it will close at the end of the year.

IOWA West Des Moines: Collins Aerospace says it will expand one of its two West Des Moines aviation parts manufacturing facilities by 14,000 square feet and add an unspecified number of jobs.

KANSAS Pratt: Antora Energy on Oct. 1 announced 5.8-gigawatt-hour, multiday thermal energy storage project in Pratt. Upon completion, it will be one of the largest battery storage systems in the world.

KENTUCKY Louisville: Down One Bourbon Bar and Restaurant has permanently closed, it announced on social media Oct. 3. In the post, the bar said it would be “transforming this space into an exciting new experience coming in 2027.”

MAINE York: York's fire chiefs say it would be no small feat for their departments to take over ambulance calls as the town considers replacing the current nonprofit that has provided the service since the 1970s. Purchasing ambulance vehicles alone would cost the town at least \$1 million, York Village Fire Chief David Apgar told the Budget Committee at a recent meeting.

MARYLAND Salisbury: Salisbury University will return its commencement ceremonies to the Wicomico Civic Center after a two-ceremony absence, giving graduates and their guests access to a renovated venue with accessibility upgrades. The ceremonies are scheduled for May 19-20, 2027.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The Coast Guard halted its search for six people who were on a medical transport aircraft that crashed off the coast of Nantucket Island. Officials said four Canadians and two citizens of Bermuda were on the plane, which was headed for Boston's Logan International Airport.

MICHIGAN Lansing: A Grand Rapids-area developer with Lansing roots is buying property in the city's downtown with plans to invest as much as \$400 million in redevelopment efforts that include adding retail, restaurants and apartments.

MINNESOTA Minneapolis: The City of Lakes Art Fair, featuring more than 200 artists, returns for its second year Oct. 10-11 along the shore of Bde Maka Ska, KARE11 reported.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The relationship between the United States, in particular Mississippi, and Japan remains important. That was the message as more than 100 business leaders, educators, economic developers, students and community members gathered at Millsaps College for a roundtable discussion examining the future of U.S.-Japan relations and the role those ties continue to play in Mississippi's economy.

MISSOURI Springfield: Republic School District has opened a new activities center at Republic High School, adding 122,000 square feet of academic, extracurricular and athletic space designed to support growing student participation.

MONTANA Stevensville: Officials are investigating what caused an airplane to lose control and collide with a fence while trying to take off from Stevensville's airport on Oct. 4, KPAX reported.

NEBRASKA Valley: Casey's is continuing its 2026 expansion, including two new locations in Nebraska. The Valley and Papillion stores are set to open this month.

NEVADA Reno: Six months after a one-week notice federal call-up, Nevada Air National Guardsmen home Oct. 4 from deployment to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in support of Operation Epic Fury.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Portsmouth: City Council is once again pushing the idea of allowing Prescott Park Arts Festival to raise money to build a permanent roof-covered stage for its popular annual summer performance season.

NEW JERSEY Trenton: Scammers impersonating federal law enforcement agents to steal money in New Jersey have put an “insidious new twist” on an old fraud scheme, the FBI Newark field office is warning. The FBI warned in a statement that fraudsters have been “spoofing” the phone numbers of federal law enforcement agency field offices.

NEW MEXICO Las Cruces: The city is seeking public input to help inform planning priorities for the next two to five years with an updated strategic plan. The Las Cruces City Council discussed the strategic plan priorities during a Sept. 28 work session and the draft priorities are currently available for public review and comment online through Oct. 10.

NEW YORK New York City: New York City has instituted a click-to-cancel subscription policy, intended to make unsubscribing from a service as easy as signing up. The Click-to-Cancel Rule went into effect on Oct. 1.

NORTH CAROLINA Pender County: If time is money, then residents of one Wilmington-area county are spending more of it than nearly all the other counties in the state. A new analysis of unpaid commute time across more than 2,000 U.S. counties found that North Carolinians spend over 200 hours commuting each year on average. Within the state, Pender County residents had one of the longest average commute times, representing over 240 hours spent getting to work each year.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Seven coffins containing human remains were recently removed from a construction site near the governor's residence, North Dakota Monitor reported. The area was part of Bismarck's first cemetery from 1873 to 1877, according to the outlet.

OHIO Columbus: Another massive development, this one with more than 1,400 residential units is planned for the Big Darby Creek area. Columbus City Council recently approved a fringe annexation of 279.5 acres in Brown and Norwich townships for a 1,408-unit, mixed-use project by Columbus-based Harmony Development Group.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Downtown will have its first new public high school in nearly 50 years when John Rex Polytechnic High School opens in 2027. The school will be located in an existing building called The Athenian.

OREGON Salem: Oregon should prioritize transportation maintenance and preservation, according to thousands of respondents to a Department of Transportation survey.

PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The state's health department reported 977 measles cases as of Oct. 2 as it continues to battle a fast-growing outbreak of the disease. The new figures follow the state's report of a fifth measles-associated death.

RHODE ISLAND Narragansett: Two Rhode Island public school districts may soon share a single superintendent due to declining enrollments. Talks between the Narragansett and Jamestown school committees are underway to pursue the concept.

SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: The massive downtown redevelopment of Greenville County Square had entered a long-awaited new phase: vertical construction. The project will transform about 40 acres south of downtown into a mixed-use development featuring residential and commercial space.

SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Sioux Falls-based biofuels producer POET has supplied plant-based fuel for what is being called the first U.S. operation to fuel a ship with 100% bioethanol, according to a news release. The fueling operation took place in Houston in partnership with A.P. Moller-Maersk.

TENNESSEE Nashville: The city's newly adopted regulations for large-scale data centers are among the strongest in the Southeast, but there is room to improve, according to preliminary findings of a city report on data center development in Nashville. Mayor Freddie O'Connell's office released the report to Metro Nashville Council members Oct. 5. It found that the city could improve community engagement practices, vibration-noise regulations and other aspects of its oversight of data centers.

TEXAS El Paso: In one of the deadliest weekends on El Paso's streets in recent memory, at least five people died in three separate traffic collisions Oct. 2-3, El Paso police said. Police were also investigating a fourth collision with serious injuries.

UTAH Weber County: The Department of Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration has awarded \$16.5 million for two Utah projects, KSL reported. One will help establish the Northern Utah Veterans Cemetery in Washington Terrace while the other will expand the Utah Veterans Cemetery and Memorial Park in Bluffdale, according to the outlet.

VERMONT Burlington: Airport officials were supposed to hook people up with home upgrades to dull the roar of F-35s this summer. But now those residents will likely have to deal with the decibels until at least next spring. Construction set for July on dozens of homes near Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport never happened because federal funding was still being worked out, said airport director Nicolas Longo.

VIRGINIA Prince George: An emu is now the guest of the Prince George Animal Control Office after leading officers on a merry chase on Oct. 1. Officers were finally able to wrangle the flightless fugitive without any injury to it or them.

WASHINGTON Poulsbo: A new apartment complex is taking shape along Highway 305, marking the latest housing project adding density near the downtown corridor. Aktiv Apartments, Chinook Contractors' latest development project, is planned to be a four-story building that will house 44 market-rate apartments.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The West Virginia Division of Highways has announced funds for 17 construction projects, including a \$14.5 million to repair pavement and resurface about 5 miles of Interstate 77 in Jackson County, WV News reported.

WISCONSIN Madison: Tens of thousands fewer Wisconsin residents have health coverage through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, than last year, a drop in enrollment that health economists expect will only continue.

WYOMING Casper: In fiscal year 2026, Visit Casper invested more than \$800,000 in Natrona County through grants, sponsorships and other community investments, Wyoming News Now reported.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

What you get when V-10 added to a Lincoln

The interior of a modified 2017 Lincoln Continental with a V-10 engine is seen in Lincoln Park, Michigan, on Sept. 23. JUSTIN WAN/USA TODAY NETWORK

YouTubing pair considers modified car as priceless

Keenan Thompson

Detroit Free Press

USA TODAY NETWORK

If you buy a car, you can do whatever modifications your heart desires if you have the right shop you can trust, or you can build it yourself.

Diego Ugaz and Jack Parnoutsoukian, both of Lincoln Park, Michigan, are two Ford engineers who also are YouTubers on the side who build project cars in their own home garages. Their most exciting build is their Lincoln Continental that features a V-10 engine, manual transmission and rear-wheel drive.

🔗 [系统已自动跨页缝合转版续文：《Why is he retiring?》]

He cited his two sons as a reason for retiring.

Jobs

C

to draw significant head coaching interest.

The same goes for LSU's Blake Baker and Charlie Weis Jr., Ole Miss offensive coordinator John David Baker and Texas Tech defensive coordinator Shiel Wood.

Don't overlook Navy offensive coordinator Drew Cronic, either. Despite injuries derailing much of the Midshipmen's season, Cronic remains widely viewed as a future Group of Six head coach.

In a coaching cycle that may lack marquee openings, some of the sport's hottest coordinator candidates could decide the best move is no move at all.

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How did they start?

Parnoutsoukian and Ugaz met in college at University of California at Davis where they both majored in mechanical engineering. They also worked together on the university's Formula SAE team where UC Davis students along with students around the country built small racecars resembling Formula 1 vehicles. After graduating, they both came to the Motor City to work for Ford and have been in Michigan ever since.

"We are both from California and graduated from UC Davis and came to Michigan to work for Ford. I work with battery systems and Diego works with brake systems," said Parnoutsoukian.

Outside of work, they modified their own cars and other project vehicles they purchased. Then they decided to create a YouTube channel in 2022 called “Build It Yourself,” which currently has over 100,000 subscribers. They’ve done other builds, such as putting a V-8 into a Honda SX200 or K-swapped a Mustang where the Ford got the Honda engine.

But beyond grabbing the manual transmission from a Mustang, fitting a Triton V-10 that was originally made for a Ford F-350 into a Lincoln Continental was their toughest challenge yet.

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Making the first V-10 Continental

Lincoln is well known for being one of the most luxurious American automakers. If you happen to see one of their modern cars or classic vehicles on the road, they aren't overly flashy and have an elegant look to them.

Parnoutsoukian said, "We weren't always Lincoln fans but we always liked how the Continental looked. We thought it didn't get the love it deserved so we decided to make it into something more unique." This led to them coming to the crazy conclusion that the car needed a V-10 engine swap along with a rear-wheel drivetrain and a manual transmission. The car originally came with a V-6 engine, front-wheel drive and a six-speed automatic transmission.

Making changes this drastic takes a tremendous amount of time, effort and money. They said it took them a total of 2,000 hours over three years of work. Because the roaring V-10 is the highlight of the car, they had to rebuild the engine three times as it kept breaking down. They said they believe the current setup should last.

To put a manual gear shifter into the car to control the new manual instead of automatic transmission, they had to sacrifice their cup holders located in the center stack or under the dashboard as there was nowhere else to put it. They actually had to build some parts for the engine themselves and change the dimensions of the vehicle slightly, in the cabin and under the hood, so everything would fit.

"It started with an engine from a F-350, which is a Triton 6.8-liter V-10. All that's left from that is the block and the crank. Everything else we custom-made," said Ugaz.

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All the trouble was worth it

Once the car starts up and the rumbling V-10 gets going, they are reminded by the sound of what they've created. Most Lincolns are calm and quiet and don't make much noise.

But Ugaz and Parnoutsoukian's remodel keeps something from the original. Even though the car now has 495 horsepower and shakes while idling, it has an air suspension and still glides on the road in typical Lincoln fashion.

When asked how much they would sell it for, they said they never even thought about parting ways with it and called it “priceless.”

Said Ügaz: “Putting a price on it is something we haven’t even considered. But the amount of work it took to build this is what makes it special and wouldn’t be valued by a secondhand buyer. So we’d rather hold on to it and keep driving it ourselves.”

Are they buying from you?

Reach consumers from early inspo through peak buying moments this Holiday season.

Let's talk

Bryant Haines is in his third season as the Indiana defensive coordinator/linebackers coach.

RICH JANZARUK/THE HERALD-TIMES – USA TODAY NETWORK VIA REUTERS

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin warms up before a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 3. Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, announced this week that this will be his final season. NATHAN RAY SEEBECK/IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS

Last go-round

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Capitals star Ovechkin announces this is his final season

Mike Brehm USA TODAY

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer, announced that his 22nd season in the league will be his last.

"My family and I decided this summer that this will be my final year in the NHL," Ovechkin, 41, said Oct. 5 in a statement released by the Capitals. "I love this game so much, but I know in my heart it's the right decision. It was important for me to make his announcement before our first home game, so I have the chance to thank all the people around the game, everyone who has been important to me and my family and helped me through good times and tough losses. I wouldn't have been able to achieve everything I have in my life without them."

The announcement was made on the 21st anniversary of his NHL debut, when he scored twice.

Ovechkin, who was drafted No. 1 overall in 2004 out of Russia, holds the NHL record with 929 goals. He had passed Wayne Gretzky's 894-goal mark in the 2024-25 season and hit 900 goals in 2025-26.

After the Capitals missed the playoffs, he headed into the offseason saying he'd talk with his family about whether to return. Washington was busy, adding Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou, Boone Jenner and Vincent Desharnais.

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See OVECHKIN, Page 2C

Ovechkin signed a one-year deal July 2. He will earn \$1 million in salary, a \$4.75M games-played bonus (10 games) and a \$3.25M signing bonus.

\- 20-goal seasons: He’s at 21 seasons, one behind Gordie Howe

\- Combined

regular-season/playoff

goals: He's at 1,006, 10 behind

Wayne Gretzky.

\- Even-strength goals: He’s at 593, 24 behind Gretzky.

Ovechkin also needs four more assists to break Nicklas Backstrom's team career record of 762 assists.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Next head coaches ready but jobs are not

John Brice

USA TODAY

Each week during the college football season, USA TODAY Sports' insiders will talk with coaches, athletic administrators, agents and more to bring you the behind-the-scenes news. They are granted anonymity to speak candidly. Here's what we're hearing this week:

It just might be the Year of the Coordinator in college football.

Hello, Buster Faulkner.

Dominate Alabama with another suffocating defensive performance Oct. 10, and Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann might become the next Dan Lanning or Kirby Smart.

Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman could follow a path similar to Oregon's 2025 duo of Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi, who parlayed coordinator success into head coaching jobs at Kentucky and Cal, respectively.

Yet it might not matter all that much.

At least not this year.

Why?

Because, according to more than a half-dozen industry sources who spoke with USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity, the 2026 coaching carousel may lack the kind of attractive Power Four openings that typically drive coordinator movement.

"I think it's a bad move-up year from (Group of Six) to (Power Four)," said an individual with direct knowledge of inner-workings at college football's highest levels.

Several lower-tier Big Ten jobs appear to be inching toward uncertainty. Maryland and Rutgers stand out. There also could be movement at the middle tier of the ACC and Big 12.

The SEC, meanwhile, could enjoy the rarest of developments: a coaching cycle with little or no turnover.

Then again, South Carolina's Shane Beamer entered the season on relatively stable footing. Like his Gamecocks, however, he hasn't been able to protect a lead.

"It's just not shaping up that great for guys, especially when you have studs like (New Mexico's) Jason Eck and (Memphis') Charles Huff," an agent who reps neither coach told USA TODAY Sports. "Those two programs are well-funded; stay and be the man or jump a year too soon?"

Industry sources connected to Southern Cal are unconvinced Lincoln Riley's future is settled. Because USC has changed athletic department leadership since Riley's arrival, his contract contains provisions that could allow him to leave on his own terms.

If Riley leaves Hollywood, a coaching carousel domino effect would be unavoidable.

If he stays, however, the consensus among coaches, administrators and agents is that the available Power Four jobs will largely fall into the middle tier. That could create a vastly different outcome: elite coordinators deciding not to leave.

The beneficiaries?

Programs such as Georgia, Miami and Indiana, where both Bryant Haines and Mike Shanahan continue

See JOBS, Page 2C

Who can break Ovechkin's career goals record?

Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews reacts after scoring a goal against the Flyers in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Nov. 1, 2025.

KYLE ROSS/IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS

Mike Brehm

USA TODAY

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin announced on Oct. 5 that he will retire from the NHL after the 2026-27 season.

He's the top goal scorer in NHL history with 929 and the only player to surpass 900 goals.

Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky's 894 career goals were once considered an unbreakable record. And then Ovechkin broke it late in the 2024-25 season during a game against the New York Islanders. He added another 32 goals last season at age 40.

Ovechkin, 41, will add to that total in his 22nd and final season, during which he's expected to break another Gretzky record: 1,016 combined regular-season and playoff goals. He needs 11 to do that.

Will anyone be able to break Ovechkin's final record? It will be difficult, but here are some potential candidates:

🔗 [系统已自动跨页缝合转版续文：《Young player TBA》]

Don't forget that Ovechkin was 13 when Gretzky retired. One thing to watch is domination at the world junior championships. Ovechkin had 18 goals in 18 games over three tournaments.

Ovechkin

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Alexander Ovechkin is seen on a screen in celebration of his 895th NHL goal, which he scored during a game against the Islanders to break the all-time record of Wayne Gretzky, in Moscow on April 7, 2025. EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/REUTERS

His contract will carry an average annual value of \$4.25 million.

“I am excited about this season with my teammates, and we will do everything we can to make this year special,” he said. “I am going to enjoy every moment with my family, my boys, our fans and everyone who has been part of my hockey career. See you Wednesday, babes!”

The Oct. 7 game will be against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby, who entered the league at the same time as Ovechkin and are considered the greatest players of their generation.

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Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

He's the most obvious candidate because he already has two 60-goal seasons to Ovechkin's one. He's a pure scorer with four goals in his NHL debut and 429 goals in 692 games. Ovechkin needed 634 to reach 400 goals. Matthews is averaging 0.62 goals a game in his career to Ovechkin's 0.59.

Matthews is 29 and potentially has many years left in his career. However, he missed a total of 34 games over his second and third NHL seasons. He was out on two occasions in 2024-25 with a nagging injury, costing him 15 games. He dropped from 69 goals to 33. In 2025-26, he missed 22 games and dropped to 27 goals.

One of Ovechkin's strengths was his durability. Matthews needs to stay healthy.

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Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers

He has developed into a regular 50-goal scorer and has signed an eight-year extension that made him the NHL's highest-paid player at the time. Draisaitl has 437 goals and, like Ovechkin, he's hard to stop on a one-timer from the faceoff circle (the right one, in his case).

The issue is Draisaitl, 30, didn't become a 50-goal scorer until his fifth season. He has played 858 games, taking more time to hit 400 than Ovechkin and Matthews. And teammate Connor McDavid has only two years left in his contract. Does Draisaitl score as much if McDavid leaves the team?

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David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins

Pastrnak, 30, has a 61-goal season and four 40-goal seasons. Pastrnak has 420 goals in 836 games, but he fell to 29 goals last season.

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Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks

The 2024 No. 1 overall pick jumped to 115 points in his second season. That includes 45 goals, a 20-goal increase from his rookie season. His 70 goals over his first two seasons are 28 fewer than Ovechkin's total, but Celebrini did it at 19 and Ovechkin was 21 during his second season.

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Ovechkin makes announcement to his teammates first

Ovechkin has been the Capitals' captain since January 2010 and helped lead the team to its lone Stanley Cup championship in 2018.

He made sure to announce the decision to his teammates on Monday morning before it went public.

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San Diego State's mumps outbreak

On the heels of sharing the Mountain West's best record and finishing just shy of 10 wins, San Diego State entered 2026 with lofty expectations. With former Michigan quarterback Jayden Denegal back under center, the Aztecs harbored aspirations of a Pac-12 championship and a College Football Playoff bid as a Group of Six representative.

Instead, they arrived at their Oct. 3 home matchup against Texas State riding a three-game losing streak.

Worse, a mumps outbreak had ravaged the program throughout the week leading up to the conference opener, the first official Pac-12 game in school history for both teams.

Approximately 30 players - half of

"I have to heal my body," he told reporters. "I'm not 20 years old. I want to play with my kids when they're growing up, play hockey, play soccer, play basketball.

"I want to be healthy to do that kind of stuff."

He realizes that the announcement will set up a farewell tour for him. He

whom were considered “significant contributors” – were quarantined at various points in recent weeks as the program worked to prevent further spread of the illness. As late as Friday, less than 24 hours before kickoff, two individuals told USA TODAY Sports that another projected San Diego State starter had developed mumps-like symptoms.

The disruptions forced the Aztecs to deploy their fourth starting offensive line combination in five games.

Texas State appeared poised to capitalize, building a 17-3 halftime lead.

Somehow, San Diego State rallied. The Aztecs exploded for 29 second-half points, including 21 in the third quarter, to storm back for a pivotal victory.

Just as important, the health situation appears to be stabilizing. According to those same individuals, the illness has become less disruptive among players expected to be available moving forward.

Suddenly, San Diego State sits at 1-0 in conference play, with its season showing signs of life after a month that threatened to derail it altogether.

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Shooting near Notre Dame prompts security meetings

During the Sept. 19 Michigan State at Notre Dame game, a shooting near the Notre Dame campus – Eddy Street Commons, which houses hundreds of Notre Dame employees Monday through Friday and also is a designated parking area for Irish workers on game days – was the scene of a shooting that injured a South Bend Police Officer and 17-year-old woman, per the South Bend Tribune.

says he won't let that be a distraction.

"I'm going to focus on my game. I'm going to focus on helping my team to win. Obviously, if some different teams want to do something, yeah, why not?"

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Backlash over political video

As training camp opened this season,

Since that time, a number of questions about tailgating safety and game-day environment have been raised with Notre Dame leaders, multiple individuals with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

No. 3-ranked Notre Dame (5-0) is scheduled to host similarly unbeaten Miami on Nov. 7 inside Notre Dame Stadium in the latest installment of the “Catholics vs. Convicts” rivalry.

On Sept. 28, Notre Dame held a meeting to discuss plans in the campus' DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

Individuals at the meeting who spoke to USA TODAY Sports said Notre Dame reaffirmed its commitment to having horse-mounted police present on home game days, no less than two bomb-sniffing K-9s and additional security measures.

There have been multiple shootings in the Eddy Street Commons area coincident with Notre Dame home football games in recent years, to also include last year's prime time, nationally televised showdown between the Irish and eventual College Football Playoff participant Texas A&M.

---

Charles Huff: No detail too small

First-year Memphis coach Charles Huff didn't embarrass his player. He didn't light him up on the sideline or turn a teachable moment into a public spectacle.

Instead, Huff walked over to wide receiver Jemyri Davis, a Kansas State transfer, and calmly demanded accountability.

This came after a touchdown.

Davis had just caught a quick slant for a score in Memphis' 59-8 demolition

---

Alex Ovechkin's upcoming milestones in the NHL

● 12 points shy of 1,700 career points

● 25 games from 1,600 career games

\- 36 points from passing Mario Lemieux for the ninth-most points in NHL history

● 33 games shy of passing Patrick Marleau (1,607) for the second-most games played with one franchise

Ovechkin answered questions about his appearance in a political video for the United Russia Party, which supports President Vladimir Putin.

“They asked me to do this, and I said yes,” Ovechkin said, adding, “I’m Russian and I support my country.”

Ovechkin and his family spend the offseason in Russia and will go there after he retires.

Ovechkin had started a social movement supporting Putin ahead of the 2017 Russian presidential election, and a picture of the two of them is the profile picture of the winger's Instagram account.

Those ties drew attention after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"I'm for peace and love and I hope everything is going to be OK," he said at camp.

of Charlotte, the American Conference opener for both teams. After crossing the goal line, he emphatically spiked the football and briefly celebrated with teammates, according to video shared on social media.

Moments later, Huff met Davis near the sideline inside the 5-yard line. The exchange lasted only a few seconds. Davis then turned around and walked directly to the field judge to offer a handshake.

It was a quiet acknowledgment Davis had crossed a line.

More importantly, it was a revealing glimpse into the culture Huff is trying to build at Memphis.

The message was simple: Celebrate the touchdown. Don't forget the standard.

“What you saw when you were here,” the individual who noted USA TODAY Sports’ visit to Memphis during spring football said. “The Standard is the Standard.

“South Carolina had a chance to show the same thing last week (Sept. 26 weekend, when star Gamecocks defender Dylan Stewart threw a punch and ended up suspended). These moments are taught long before game days. Having real relationships with players matters.”

---

CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

A story in the Oct. 6 edition misidentified the Milwaukee Brewers catcher. He is William Contreras.

MLB

Rays, White Sox push ALDS foes to brink

were the only repeats.

Grant Taylor, left, recorded a four-inning save in Game 1 of the ALDS, and then a four-out save in Game 2 for the White Sox. KEN BLAZE/IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS

Gabe Lacques

Columnist

USA TODAY

This year's American League division series have been significantly entertaining. And more than a little jarring.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox are a combined 4-0, both one win away from advancing to the AL championship series and both answering questions about their viability in a most voracious fashion.

And they're doing it their way, the White Sox with an unprecedented pitching plan and the Rays suffocating the New York Yankees in every facet of the game.

As the teams charter their way to New York and Chicago, here are five takeaways from Oct. 5 that saw the Cleveland Guardians and Yankees pushed to the brink:

---

Rays are scarier than we imagined

It's a fall tradition, trying to discern which teams' regular-season success will translate best to playoff baseball. The Rays have made two World Series runs in 18 years, the watchword in that time being their consistency.

This year, they rolled up 98 wins and the AL East title, yet every team must answer the same question once October arrives: Are they really that good?

Through two games, the answer seems to be, even better.

Tampa Bay's combo of speed and contact, and more than a little power, made them a tough out all season. And in two games against the Yankees, it's clear both of their offensive personalities are showing up.

Game 1: Jonathan Aranda's solo homer provides the game's lone run.

Game 2: The Yankees commit three first-inning errors and four overall, the last coming in a four-run fifth inning that turned a tie game into a solid Rays advantage and an eventual 5-2 victory.

You could say this was a Yankees problem, that they need to clean a lot of things up. And they do.

Yet the mere presence of Chandler Simpson, who plays faster than any human in the big leagues, was palpable in that fifth, when he hit a gentle two-hopper to Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr., who had a generally impossible task: Throw out Junior Caminero running from third on a contact play or try to get Simpson streaking to first.

The answer: Neither. Lombard biffed the play, most likely properly ruled a fielder's choice, and Simpson was already clapping his hands 5 feet before he crossed first base.

This was the Rays at their essence.

That's not likely to stop so long as the White Sox are alive.

“Constant pressure, constant long at-bats, getting pitches to hit. It’s our

MO all season long," manager Kevin Cash said in his postgame news conference. "We're a contact-oriented team with guys that can knock the ball out of the ballpark, as well."

And the Rays struck out just twice against Yankees ace Cam Schlittler, equaling a career low for the presumed Cy Young Award winner. Not an accident: No team struck out fewer times than Tampa Bay in the regular season.

The Rays are looking like a nightmare.

---

Yankees' bats almost out of time

Talk about an unproductive business trip: The Yankees went 5-for-58 (.086) against the Rays in Games 1 and 2. Ben Rice hit a pair of homers in Game 2.

The rest of their offense? There was none.

While there's no point to the rest vs. rust argument for teams earning a first-round bye, the Rays certainly took advantage of their time off to develop a pitching plan against the Yankees. And it is being executed to perfection.

Never mind the 4 $^{2/3}$ serviceable innings Freddy Peralta worked. Lefty Ian Seymour – who toggled back and forth between the bullpen and rotation this season – was practically untouchable in three relief innings, retiring nine of 10 batters, striking out four and yielding only a homer to the redoubtable Rice.

Funny thing about this wild-card era: Just finish a little above .500 and you can get in. Yet the gulfs between clubs can be massive. And while the Rays and Boston Red Sox shared a division, the similarities end there. New York scored 18 runs against Boston in the wild-card series, scarcely missing Aaron Judge.

It has scored two against the Rays.

And the Yankees absolutely miss the big fella – and he ain't coming back for Game 3.

---

Will Venable is a maestro

The White Sox have already made history: They're the first team in major league history to win their first four playoff games with their starting pitchers throwing four or fewer innings.

Yet in this era of openers and bulk guys and matchup capturing, it hasn't felt gimmicky. Nor has it been panicky. Just feels like the White Sox manager and their personnel know exactly what they're doing.

Oh, Game 2 was plenty hairy: Lefty starter Anthony Kay got just one out, was removed for fellow lefty Sean Newcomb, who tossed a ball way wide of first and buried Chicago in a 2-0 hole as Cleveland's Progressive Field roared in the late-day sun.

Yet Venable's button-pushing and, essentially, his knowledge of his guys and the situation seems preternatural – and the dude's only managed four postseason games.

Think about it: In ALDS Game 1, right-hander Grant Taylor got a four-inning save. In ALDS Game 2, he got a four-out save.

Yeah, somehow Taylor for 42 pitches and 12 outs was the right call in a 3-0 Game 1 win.

And then, after just a day of rest, extending him for a four-out save – surviving a very hairy Jo Adell drive to the wall with a man on in the eighth – was also spot-on.

Taylor has worked in three of the White Sox's four games, absorbing eight innings. They used five pitchers each in Games 1 and 2, though Kay and Taylor

“I know we’re pushing these guys, Grant especially,” Venable said in his postgame press conference. “It is really a lot to ask, but he’s in shape for this.”

"He's ready for this and he wants the ball."

---

Guardians hitters remain offensively challenged

With Steven Kwan's second-half resurgence, rookie punch from Chase De-Lauter and Travis Bazzana, and Jose Ramírez back from a hamate injury, this was supposed to be the year the Guardians were not an all-pitch, no-hit team.

Yeah, about that.

The Guardians have scored three runs in three games, mustering seven hits against that cavalcade of White Sox arms.

Perhaps the multiple looks will catch up to Chicago: Both Kay and Taylor looked more vulnerable their second time in front of the Guardians' bats.

Or maybe Cleveland is simply destined to run out of offensive juice.

They have made three playoff runs under manager Stephen Vogt and have played 15 postseason games. They have been shut out three times and held to three or fewer runs in five other games.

Now, they'll need to turn it around and sustain three solid offensive games.

“Two games. Unfortunately, it is two games that are in the postseason,” says Vogt. “A little bit of try to do too much, a little bit of maybe not ready to hit your pitch at times.

“Again, we have had two games stretches like this all year and we come right back. I got a lot of faith in this offense. I have a lot of faith in this team. Like I said, this team plays its best with its back against the wall. I am looking forward to getting out on the field on Wednesday.”

---

Chicago is about to go crazy

Vogt might not understand what his club is getting into. White Sox fans have existed in a state somewhere between disbelief and delirium. And now, postseason papal power will find its way to the South Side.

The White Sox narrowly lost the Central title to Cleveland, forcing them on the road for four consecutive playoff games.

Now that they've survived it and return home undefeated, what might Rate Field sound like in Wednesday's potential clinching Game 3?

"It's all we are talking about. We are about to go back to a zoo," pitcher Davis Martin told reporters in Cleveland. "It's going to be wild. It's going to be crazy.

"If Mune (Murakami) hits a ball 900 feet, it's going to be loud as heck. We are all excited to hear it and be a part of it."

NFL

Falcons crash ‘Domecoming’ as Saints stumble

Nate Davis

USA TODAY

Twenty years ago, the Atlanta Falcons were the perfect party guests – accommodating the reopening of the New Orleans' Superdome in 2006, a year after it was savaged by Hurricane Katrina, by getting doused 23-3 by the hometown Saints in what was arguably the most important night in that franchise's history.

But the night of Oct. 5, the Dirty Birds crashed the anniversary reunion.

While the Saints celebrated their “Domecoming” and “Rebirth” from two decades earlier – with many of their old heroes on hand to revel – the Falcons were unwilling to play the part of homecoming fall guys this time.

Behind an unrelenting ground game and stifling defense, the Atlanta Falcons snuffed their archrivals 45-24 on “Monday Night Football” to win the final game on the NFL’s Week 4 calendar.

A great night and bad game produced its share of winners and losers:

---

WINNERS New Orleans

The pregame atmosphere was unsurprisingly electric as the Crescent City exulted in happier times than the adverse ones the city was still coping with in 2006 – though that was also the year new Saints coach Sean Payton and QB Drew Brees arrived.

The city's arc has generally mirrored the team's since then, and it was nice to see Brees, Steve Gleason, Devery Henderson, Lance Moore, Scott Fujita, Curtis Deloatch and so many other Saints alums on hand to participate in the festivities.

Bijan Robinson runs the ball 59 yards for a Falcons' touchdown in the first quarter Oct. 5 against the Saints.

MORGAN SIMMONS/GETTY IMAGES

And here's hoping for several more decades of Saints stability in the Big Easy, which is as closely tied to its NFL team as any other community in the league.

---

Bijan Robinson

He entered the night averaging 145.4 yards from scrimmage in primetime games, the most by any player since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. All Robinson did was go untouched for a 59-yard touchdown run down the left sideline on his first touch of the game – Atlanta's third snap – and the Falcons basically never looked back in a game in which they never trailed. Robinson finished with 147 total yards and two touchdowns.

---

Brian Robinson Jr.

Bijan's backup – no relation – rushed for three TDs himself as the Falcons tied a franchise record with five rushing touchdowns.

---

Falcons' playoff hopes

Look who's suddenly tied atop the NFC South after winning both games since Michael Penix Jr.'s Week 3 return. And while the quarterback's personal numbers Monday night were unremarkable (15 of 20 passing for 223 yards and a touchdown), his presence has certainly helped to unlock this offense from a macro perspective and Robinson specifically. And the Falcons could catch another break on Sunday night, when they'll host the Baltimore Ravens in prime time ... but maybe not injured two-time league MVP Lamar Jackson.

---

ESPN's pregame coverage

From excellent features reflecting back on New Orleans' post-Katrina challenges, to interviews with Mike Tirico, who called the 2006 Domecoming, and Trombone Shorty, to a fantastic piece that reunited Gleason and former Atlanta punter Michael Koenen – the key figures in the blocked punt that spawned a “Rebirth” statue outside the Superdome – the Worldwide Leader did a nice job setting up the night. If only it had been able to showcase a better game.

---

LOSERS

---

Jake Matthews

Atlanta's Ironman left tackle made his 199th consecutive regular-season start Monday, the longest active streak in the league, but suffered a groin injury that cut his night short. Matthews raced from Charlotte to Atlanta and back in 2022 to experience the birth of his first child while getting back to North Carolina in time for a night game against the Panthers to keep his streak intact. Whether he'll be able to go against Baltimore on "SNF" remains to be seen.

---

Saints defense

A banged-up unit got run over by the Robinsons and is emerging as the weak spot of a team that had hoped to emerge as a playoff dark horse this season. The Saints are now winless in two home games this season and have been marched all over – surrendering at least 30 points in three of their four games so far.

Schauffele returns to Japan with his family to defend title

Adam Schupak

Golfweek |

USA TODAY Network

When Xander Schauffele first arrived in Japan last year for the Baycurrent Classic, he came alone to a country he's long felt an attachment to.

“I can’t wait to bring my son here when he’s old enough to sort of understand and appreciate the culture here in Japan,” he said at the time. “Yeah, the ties run deep for the Schauffele family here in Japan.”

His wife, Maya, had given birth to their first child, Victor, less than two months earlier, and while Schauffele had left his young family behind, he carried something with him that would soon become even more meaningful – a sense of connection to a country he has long considered a second home. By the end of the week, he would leave Japan carrying something else: a trophy.

“It’s nice to know I’ve still got it,” he said after securing a one-stroke victory over Max Greyserman.

Schauffele fired a final-round 7-under 64 at Yokohama Country Club in Yokohama, a city about 20 miles south of Tokyo, to capture the 10th PGA Tour title of his career in his 200th start. It was a milestone victory, but the setting made it particularly special.

“Really cool moment for me in my career to perform at a really high level at a place that I hold dear,” Schauffele said on Oct. 6 ahead of his title defense. “It sort of feels like in some way a home away from home.”

For Schauffele, there's good reason why that feeling runs deep.

His mother grew up in Japan, and Schauffele has been visiting the country since he was about 10 years old, spending time where his maternal grandparents live. Japan has become woven into his family history, his childhood and his golf career. It was also the place where he won Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021. Now, he is back again – but this time, he isn't alone.

Schauffele has brought Maya and Victor with him, turning this year's return to

Xander Schauffele poses with the winner's trophy following the final round of the Baycurrent Classic on Oct. 12, 2025, in Yokohama, Japan.

KENTA HARADA/GETTY IMAGES

Japan into something far more personal than another stop on the PGA Tour schedule. On Tuesday, ahead of the tournament, Schauffele spoke about introducing his son to grandparents from both sides of the family.

“Actually going to see my grandparents tonight, introduce my son to them,” he said. “So, that will be a really cool moment, a lot of generations of family will be there. Yeah, it’s kind of what it’s all about.”

After the tournament, the family plans to travel to Miyakojima, an island in the Okinawa prefecture where Maya's grandfather lives. For Schauffele, the trip represents more than sightseeing. It is another opportunity to connect generations of his family in a place that has always felt familiar and have it become part of his son's story, too.

And somewhere amid those family gatherings, Schauffele will get down to business. He is attempting to make history at the Baycurrent Classic. A victory would make him the tournament's first multiple champion and the first player to successfully defend the title. It would also give Schauffele a trophy in a season in which he has yet to win.

The 32-year-old enters the week ranked No. 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, one of only two players in the field inside the top 10, alongside No. 5 Wyndham Clark. It has been a long season for Schauffele. The Baycurrent Classic is his 21st start, and his first since the Tour Championship in August. Two weeks ago, he was part of the United States team at the Presidents Cup, helping Team USA rally to a 17–13 victory at Medinah Country Club.

The week took its toll. Schauffele admittedly didn't have his best stuff and lost his first two matches before teaming with Patrick Cantlay to win an important Saturday afternoon four-somes match. In Sunday singles, Schauffele downed British Open champion Ryan Fox, 2 and 1, in the anchor match.

“Chicago was very stressful,” Schauffele said. “We played really well on Sunday, but our backs were against the wall and probably came off the course pretty tired after what was a pretty big battle.”

The victory was satisfying, but exhausting.

“I think we’re all elated and very happy to win,” he said, “but it definitely took a lot more out of me than I thought.”

Now Japan offers a different kind of challenge – and perhaps a different kind of energy. Schauffele knows the course. He knows the country. More importantly, he knows what it feels like to win here.

But this time, there is another reason to make the week memorable. Victor is here.

Schauffele's pursuit of another trophy may be the headline. But for him, the story is bigger than golf. It is about coming back to a place that has always felt like home, and being able to share it with the next generation.

PGA Tour: Baycurrent Classic

Course: Yokohama Country Club (par 71; 7,322 yards).

Purse: \$8 million (winner's share: \$1.44M).

TV: Oct. 7-10, 11 p.m.-3 a.m. (Golf Channel)

---

Inside the Numbers

1 Every year since 1993, the PGA Tour has had at least one Japanese player in its membership, including six with fully exempt status for the 2026 season: Kensei Hirata, Ryo Hisatsune, Rikuya Hoshino, Takumi Kanaya, Hideki Matsuyama, Keita Nakajima.

---

Keep an eye on

\- Hideki Matsuyama. The Ehime, Japan, native will have the biggest galleries at a tournament where he has a win in 2021 and a runner-up in 2019 in seven previous starts at the Baycurrent Classic.

\- Jordan Spieth. The Texan is making his third start at the Baycurrent Classic and first back in Japan since 2019. He is seeking his first top-10 on tour since the 2025 Memorial Tournament and enters the week No. 55 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings.

\- Adam Scott. The Aussie is a 14-time PGA Tour winner and is searching for his first win since the 2020 Genesis Invitational. Scott has recorded three top-10s in 19 starts this season and finished T-2 last month at the DP World Tour's BMW PGA Championship.

---

Featured pairings

The first round airs on Oct. 7 on Golf Channel (11-3 a.m. ET) and will highlight the following groupings: Wyndham Clark, Adam Scott and Justin Thomas (9:24 p.m. ET tee time); and Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler (9:35 p.m. ET).

Second-round coverage airs Oct. 8 on Golf Channel (11 p.m.-3 a.m. ET) with the following featured groupings: Sungjae Im, Min Woo Lee and Jordan Spieth (9:24 p.m. ET); Jacob Bridgeman, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele (9:35 p.m. ET).

Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire, right, talks with ex-owner Peter O'Malley at a 2021 ceremony at Dodger Stadium. JAYNE KAMIN-ONCEA/IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS

Gibson-signing Dodgers GM Claire dead at age 91

Gabe Lacques

USA TODAY

Fred Claire, the former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager whose signing of Kirk Gibson led to one of the most iconic moments in baseball history, died Oct. 5, the Dodgers announced. He was 91.

Claire took over the Dodgers franchise at a most tumultuous time – after longtime general manager and vice president Al Campanis was fired for racist remarks made on ABC's "Nightline." His April 9, 1987, dismissal ended an era of front office stability while the Dodgers embarked on a fourth consecutive year missing the playoffs.

Claire, a former sportswriter and Dodgers PR man, was tabbed to run the front office. A pair of transactions in the year that followed shaped the Dodgers' eventual 1988 championship core: A three-way winter meetings trade with the Athletics and New York Mets that netted the Dodgers relievers Jesse Orosco and Jay Howell and shortstop Alfredo Griffin.

And six weeks later, he signed Gibson.

Those Dodgers won 94 games, stunned the Mets in the National League championship series and pulled an even bigger shocker in the 1988 World Series, beating the A's in five games despite a battered club that came to rely on ace Orel Hershiser and an itinerant band of ballplayers known as the "Stuntmen."

And they only had Gibson for one at-bat – but he made the most of it. Gibson's two-out, two-run, ninth-inning homer off peerless closer Dennis Eckersley delivered the Dodgers a Game 1 win and the 104-win A's never recovered.

Claire held his position for a decade, ushered out unceremoniously after Fox bought the club and dickered over the re-signing of Mike Piazza. Piazza's trade to the Marlins was brokered above Claire's head. He was fired weeks later.

Claire remained a well-regarded baseball mind, and later in life he documented his journey through cancer treatments, eventually penning an autobiography, “Extra Innings,” that detailed his life in baseball and his battle against the disease.

He is survived by his wife, Cheryl, and children Jeff, Jennifer and Kim.

"The Dodgers are grieving the passing of Fred Claire, a longtime key fixture of our organization," said Stan Kasten, president and CEO of the Dodgers, in a statement released by the club. "Fred brought many victories and Dodger legends to our franchise, as well as a 1988 World Series title, and we are forever grateful for his leadership during such a memorable era.

"Our hearts go out to his wife Sheryl and his family."

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“Forever Rowdy” tells his unforgettable story in 128 pages of photography and reporting from USA TODAY Sports. A hardcover tribute to the career, the championships, the rivalries and the driver who held nothing back. Book ships in November for holiday gift-giving. Reserve your copies today!

Preorder today at Rowdy.USATbook.com

WNBA

Defense, Ballhalla formed the Valkyries

Valkyries fans cheer with thunder sticks during the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the first round Oct. 2. DARREN YAMASHITA/IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS

Marcus D. Smith

USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO – One of the most cliche phrases tossed around in sports is “defense wins championships.” However, when it comes to the Golden State Valkyries, it’s where their entire identity lies.

That identity was carried with them as they entered the WNBA semifinals against the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces. The Valkyries took Game 1 with a 71-60 statement win on their home floor at Chase Center on Oct. 4.

The Valkyries defense held the Aces to a season-low 60 points. The Valkyries have a 30-3 record this season when they hold an opponent to 80 points or less, including the postseason.

"We were really connected tonight," Valkyries forward Gabby Williams told reporters. "I felt like we were communicating. I felt we were showing them bodies and then it came down to rebounding. KT (Kayla Thornton) and Kiah (Stokes) really won this game for us. (They) limited them to one possession and then gave us extra possessions."

The Valkyries outrebounded the Aces 52-25, which included 17 offensive rebounds for Golden State, creating 20 second-chance points.

It was the kind of performance Golden State needed to prove that they're not just a second-year franchise happy to be contending.

The Valkyries won their first playoff series in franchise history, eliminating the Dallas Wings in a 77-73 victory in the first round of the 2026 WNBA playoffs.

“We knew that it was the last 10 minutes of the game, backs against the wall,” Tiffany Hayes told USA TODAY Sports following their series win against the Wings. “We gonna scratch and claw and do whatever we need to do, and really lock into our schemes. And I think that’s really what we did.”

---

Gabby Williams gets it done

Offense isn't what the Valkyries hang their hats on, but they needed it from their go-to player Gabby Williams. She dropped a double-double in Game 1 against the Aces with 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

When Williams is aggressive, looking for her shot and hitting, the Valkyries are a tough team to beat.

In Game 3 against the Wings, she was cold to start, scoring two points in the first half and Golden State trailed at halftime 44-37. However, a 17-point second half, including coming up big in the clutch, helped Williams pace the team and lead the comeback. She finished with 19 points and added two steals.

“Big shot Gabby. She’s our dog. She’s our leader,” Hayes said. “She’s the one we go to, and she showed you exactly why she is who she is. So we’ll do it again and again, over and over. We believe in her, and Gabby (expletive) Williams. What you talking about?”

Williams doesn't shy away from the big moments. Instead, she welcomes it and rises to the occasion.

“I love these situations. I love, I love high-pressure situations,” Williams said after their Game 3 against Dallas. “I think I’m best when like when I don’t have a choice, but to be my best. So I like being put into that position.”

---

Defense, home court make the difference

The Valkyries defense has been the fuel this season. Nakase has had a clear message – the best offense is their defense, which ranked No. 1 in the league during the regular season.

They held opponents to a league-low 74.8 points per game, including 31.0 points in the paint. The Valkyries allowed 11.8 points off turnovers, which was a league best. Golden State held opponents to 70 points or less in 16 games, a WNBA record.

“We were absolutely on a string. We were absolutely communicating with each other. We were on the floor. We were helping each other,” Hayes said. “And I just think a switch flipped, honestly, because I know it did for me in my head. Like this is it. It’s literally win or go home. So we gotta do something.”

Ballhalla is known for its boisterous fan base. There was a sea of violet that filled Chase Center as a sold-out crowd of 18,064 were loud, raucous, passionate and energetic from pregame to postgame and every second in between.

The environment makes it one of the best home-court advantages in the WNBA as it was hard to for players and coaches to communicate on the floor but it turned out to be a major advantage for Golden State.

"I loved it because it forced us to like talk louder and communicate more,"

Williams said about the noise level in the arena following their win against Dallas.

“And then, like when you’re screaming more, then your energy’s up and you’re into it.

“So, yeah, we definitely owe Ballhalla a big thank-you for tonight.”

It's known around the league as one of the hardest yet most fun places to compete due to its amped atmosphere and the support the Bay Area has for its Valkyries.

It's been their advantage all season long having gone 17-5 in Ballhalla, and now 3-0 during the postseason. That advantage has been awarded to them for the rest of the postseason, earning home court as the best remaining seed after the Minnesota Lynx were eliminated in the first round by the New York Liberty in a 2-0 sweep.

The Lynx were the last team to defeat the Valkyries at Ballhalla in their 77-66 win on Aug. 19. Lynx star forward Napheesa Collier recognized how tough yet special it is to play at Ballhalla.

“This is my favorite road team to play,” Collier told USA TODAY after their Aug. 19 matchup. “The crowd is so fun. The environment has been like that every single time. You can’t tell if you’re up by 20 or down by 20. The crowd stays so engaged and so it’s really fun to play in.”

In 2025, their inaugural season, they advanced to the postseason as the No. 8 seed but were eliminated in the first round after being swept by the top-seeded Lynx.

The Valkyries' dream would be to bring a title home in the second season since being established as an expansion team in the WNBA.

“Being able to actually see the work that’s being put in by not just us, but the staff as well,” Hayes said. “Like they’re working day in, day out, just like we are to get better, not only as individuals but as a team.

“Commend everybody down the line, top to bottom, bottom to top, on just our work ethic and wanting to work and wanting to win and wanting to get better as a team.”

The Aces-Valkyries series continues with Game 2 on Oct. 7 (9:30 p.m. ET, NBC) at Chase Center in San Francisco.

NBA

KAT, Knicks face contract stalemate

USA TODAY

Lorenzo Reyes

It seems, in the case of Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks, that someone's going to have to blink first.

What's abundantly clear, however, is that there's a lot of work to do for the franchise to keep its star locked up in the long term, and the prospect that he may be playing his final months as a Knick are suddenly a real possibility.

Towns, the 30-year-old All-Star center who helped propel the Knicks to their first championship in 53 years, is eligible for a four-year extension. He had hoped to sign it before the start of the season. Yet Towns expressed unfiltered pessimism Oct. 5 to reporters in Philadelphia, indicating just how far apart the two sides are.

"It don't look good," Towns said when asked if he thought both sides could agree to a deal before the regular-season opener Oct. 20.

He was even more candid later when asked if he thought he deserved a new deal. "No (expletive), Sherlock," he said. "I just won a championship. You'd think it would be pretty easy, unless you guys think I have something else to prove."

Towns was instrumental in New York's historic postseason run. Aside from NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, Towns was easily the second-most important player on the Knicks, and it all started after New York lost two consecutive games in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, to fall into a 1-2 series hole.

Coach Mike Brown then tweaked the offense to run through Towns, instead of Brunson; Towns took on increased ball-handling and play-making duties, allowing Brunson to play off-ball and tactically choose his spots. The move unlocked a new dimension for New York's offense, whose plus-283 point differential smashed an all-time record.

But, to illustrate that point further, the Knicks were particularly dominant when Towns was on the floor. In his 578 postseason minutes, New York outscored opponents by 258 points, giving Towns the best individual plus-minus in a single postseason in the play-by-play era.

But owner James Dolan has stressed multiple times that the Knicks will avoid triggering the punitive second apron, which limits financial flexibility. It also gives Knicks President Leon Rose a hard line on how much they can offer their stars. In a parallel situation, this also complicates the negotiations with forward Josh Hart. According to ESPN, the most recent Knicks offer to Towns was worth \$200 million, which is well short – more than \$75 million short – of what he is eligible to earn.

Now, none of this precludes the Knicks and Towns from eventually getting a deal done. In the NBA, like in all major sports leagues constrained by a salary cap, things get said in public that can sway perception. This is how high-profile negotiations sometimes work.

Towns and his representatives are trying to extract as much value as they can. Dolan and the Knicks are trying to get their stars to play on team-friendly deals. At some point, for this partnership to continue, compromise is mandatory.

“Simply put: I want to do something that can keep this team together and work with the Knicks and also values me,” he said. “None of those things have come close to happening.”

This isn't exactly what a team looking to defend its title wants to be dealing with.

The immediate concern for the Knicks, at least in the short term, is whether this will affect the team's play.

Towns has plenty of experience handling adversity; while the Knicks were slogging through their schedule in the first half of last season, his name frequently popped up in trade rumors. Towns eventually responded with that postseason run.

Whispers of trade talks are one thing, but if a player feels undervalued, it's an entirely different issue to navigate. And the interesting thing is that those trade talks could get even louder.

Karl-Anthony Towns celebrates with Knicks teammates after winning the NBA Finals on June 13.

RONALD CORTES/GETTY IMAGES

Towns has a \$61 million player option next season. While that is a lot of money, he may feel that he could earn even more on the open market.

The Knicks, understandably, would not want to let a player like Towns, the premier stretch five in the NBA, hit the open market without getting anything in return.

And a player like Towns – as we saw with the blockbuster that sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat – would net a ton of assets.

So where does all of that leave us?

Right now, it's a game of chicken. And while Knicks fans shouldn't necessarily be concerned as of right now, these next few weeks and months will be pretty telling. Because the Feb. 11, 2027 trading deadline isn't all that far away.

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EMPLOYMENT

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CAREERS

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BUSINESS & SERVICES

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FOR THE RECORD

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All times ET

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ODDS

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NFL

SEATTLE

HONOLULU

ATLANTA | THURSDAY | FAVORITE | LINE | O/U | UNDERDOG | DALLAS | 8 | 47.5 | Tampa Bay | Sunday | FAVORITE | LINE | O/U | UNDERDOG | JACKSONVILLE | 7 | 42.5 | Philadelphia | Cincinnati | 7 | 42.5 | MIAMI | NEW ENGLAND | 3.5 | 45 | Las Vegas | Minnesota | 1.5 | 42 | NEW ORLEANS | NY JETS | 2 | 39.5 | Cleveland | PITTSBURGH | 2.5 | 44.5 | Indianapolis | Houston | 7 | 38.5 | TENNESSEE | WASHINGTON | 3.5 | 43.5 | NY Giants | Chicago Bears | 3 | 45.5 | GREEN BAY | Denver | 3.5 | 42.5 | LA CHARGERS | Detroit | 4.5 | 54.5 | ARIZONA | SEATTLE | 3 | 47 | San Francisco | ATLANTA | 3 | 44 | Baltimore | Monday | FAVORITE | LINE | O/U | UNDERDOG | LA RAMS | 3 | 54.5 | Buffalo | Wednesday | Wednesday | FAVORITE | LINE | O/U | UNDERDOG | Jacksonville St | 3 | 50 | KENNESAW ST | FIU | 6.5 | 46.5 | New Mexico St | FAVORITE | LINE | O/U | UNDERDOG | W. KENTUCKY | 2.5 | 56.5 | Missouri State | LIBERTY | 13.5 | 52.5 | Sam Houston | UTSA | 7 | 50 | South Florida | ARKANSAS ST | 1.5 | 58.5 | South Alabama | Friday | FAVORITE | LINE | O/U | UNDERDOG | LOUISVILLE | 3.5 | 59.5 | Florida State | UTAH STATE | 5.5 | 43.5 | Wash State | WASHINGTON | 3 | 41.5 | Iowa | SAN JOSE STATE | 6.5 | 43.5 | Wyoming | BYU | 10.5 | 47 | Iowa State | FAVORITE | LINE | O/U | UNDERDOG | ARMY | 3 | 48 | Tulane | MISSOURI | 3.5 | 48.5 | Texas A&M | Arizona | 3 | 61.5 | WEST VIRGINIA | OKLA STATE | 8.5 | 52.5 | ucf | PITTSBURGH | 4 | 47 | North Carolina | Wake Forest | 4 | 59.5 | NC STATE | Indiana | 7 | 51.5 | NEBRASKA | BOWLING GREEN | 7.5 | 44.5 | Sac State | NORTHWESTERN | 36.5 | 52.5 | Ball State | FLORIDA | 12.5 | 62.5 | South Carolina | APP STATE | 9.5 | 50 | Old Dominion | Miami (OH) | 2.5 | 46.5 | UMASS | NORTH TEXAS | 28.5 | 57.5 | Charlotte | NAVY | 2.5 | 48.5 | Tulsa | Texas | 8.5 | 39.5 | OKLAHOMA | Ole Miss | 9.5 | 59.5 | VANDERBILT | KANSAS STATE | 2.5 | 55.5 | Houston | Virginia Tech | 9.5 | 53.5 | CALIFORNIA | Duke | 7 | 49 | GEORGIA TECH | NOTRE DAME | 37.5 | 54.5 | Stanford | Illinois | 2.5 | 48 | MICHIGAN STATE | OREGON | 11.5 | 58 | ucla | Eastern Michigan | 7 | 51.5 | AKRON | TOLEDO | 20.5 | 54.5 | Buffalo | OHIO | 3 | 46.5 | Central Michigan | W. MICHIGAN | 13.5 | 43.5 | Kent State | TEMPLE | 3.5 | 54.5 | Connecticut | EAST CAROLINA | 10 | 47.5 | Rice | Tennessee | 13.5 | 51.5 | ARKANSAS | OHIO STATE | 34.5 | 56.5 | Maryland | OREGON STATE | 14.5 | 53.5 | San Diego State | MEMPHIS | 14 | 57.5 | uab | Isu | 8.5 | 52.5 | KENTUCKY | North Dakota St | 3.5 | 48 | UNLV | Nevada | 9.5 | 49.5 | UTEP | MARSHALL | 3 | 58.5 | Coastal Carolina | ALABAMA | 1.5 | 54.5 | Georgia | VIRGINIA | 9 | 49.5 | Syracuse | PENN STATE | 1.5 | 54.5 | usc | Air Force | 7.5 | 47 | N. ILLINOIS | James Madison | 7.5 | 53.5 | GA SOUTHERN | LOUISIANA TECH | 3 | 48 | Louisiana | Minnesota | 2.5 | 50.5 | PURDUE | UTAH | 15.5 | 51.5 | Kansas | ARIZONA STATE | 20.5 | 50.5 | Hawaii | Boise State | 6.5 | 48.5 | FRESNO STATE | ---

MLB

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Postseason

Divisional Round

(Best-of-5 series; x- if necessary)

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Chicago White Sox 2, Cleveland Guardians 0

Game 1: Chicago 3, Cleveland 0

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Monday: Chicago 4, Cleveland 3

Monday: Chicago 4, Cleveland 3

Wednesday: Cleveland vs. Chicago, 4 p.m.

x-Thursday: Cleveland vs. Chicago, 5 p.m.

x-Saturday: Chicago vs. Cleveland, 5 p.m.

Tampa Bay Rays 2, New York Yankees 0

Game 1: Tampa Bay 1, New York 0

Game 2: Tampa Bay 2, New York 2

Wednesday: Tampa Bay vs. New York, 8 p.m.

x-Thursday: Tampa Bay vs. New York, 8 p.m.

x-Saturday: New York vs. Tampa Bay, 8 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Los Angeles Dodgers 1, Atlanta Braves 1

Game 1: Los Angeles 5, Atlanta 3

Game 2: Atlanta 3, Los Angeles 2

Tuesday: Los Angeles vs. Atlanta

Wednesday: Los Angeles vs. Atlanta, 6 p.m.

x-Friday: Atlanta vs. Los Angeles, 8 p.m.

Milwaukee Brewers 2, San Diego Padres 0

Game 1: Milwaukee 3, San Diego 2

Game 2: Milwaukee 4, San Diego 3

Tuesday: Milwaukee vs. San Diego

x-Wed: Milwaukee vs. San Diego, 10 p.m.

x-Friday: San Diego vs. Milwaukee, 4:30 p.m.

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WNBA

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Postseason

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Semifinals

No. 4 Atlanta Dream 1, No. 8 N.Y. Liberty 2

Game 1: Atlanta 92, New York 82

Wed: New York vs. Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Friday: Atlanta vs. New York, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

x-Sun, Oct. 11: Atlanta vs. New York, TBD (ABC)

x-Wed, Oct. 14: N.Y. vs. Atlanta, TBD (ESPN)

No. 2 Golden State Valkyries 1,

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No. 3 Las Vegas Aces 0

All games on Peacock/NBCSN

Game 1: Golden State 71, Las Vegas 60

Wed: Las Vegas vs. Golden State, 9:30 p.m.

Friday: Golden State vs. Las Vegas, 9:30 p.m.

x-Sunday, Oct. 11: Golden State vs. Vegas, TBD

x-Wed, Oct. 14: Vegas vs. Golden State, TBD

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NFL

American Conference | East | W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | Buffalo | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 127 | 107 | New England | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 65 | 77 | N.Y. Jets | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 76 | 84 | Miami | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 46 | 101 | W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | Cleveland | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 81 | 95 | Baltimore | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 116 | 96 | Pittsburgh | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 77 | 87 | Cincinnati | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 97 | 85 | South | W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | Jacksonville | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 104 | 53 | Indianapolis | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 102 | 104 | Tennessee | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 55 | 83 | Houston | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 84 | 109 | W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | Kansas City | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 118 | 77 | Las Vegas | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 115 | 84 | Denver | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 74 | 94 | L.A. Chargers | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 67 | 106 | National Conference | East | W | L | T | Pct | PF | N.Y. Giants | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 82 | Philadelphia | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 75 | Dallas | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 122 | Washington | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 88 | W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | Minnesota | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 86 | 51 | Chicago | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 112 | 65 | Detroit | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 119 | 127 | Green Bay | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 73 | 105 | South | W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | Carolina | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 121 | 109 | New Orleans | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 | 81 | 83 | Atlanta | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 | 51 | 68 | Tampa Bay | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 76 | 96 | W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | San Francisco | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 122 | 64 | Seattle | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 105 | 73 | L.A. Rams | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 85 | 83 | Arizona | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 87 | 117 | Sam Houston at Liberty, 7 p.m.

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Sunday's Scores

Indianapolis 30, Washington 13

New England 29, Buffalo 26

Jacksonville 22, Cincinnati 17

Green Bay 17, Tampa Bay 14

Baltimore 24, Tennessee 18

L.A. Rams 24, Philadelphia 20

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N.Y. Giants 36, Arizona 24

N.Y. Giants 36, Arizona 24

Chicago 23, N.Y. Jets 12

Dallas 34, Houston 30

Minnesota 15, Miami 10

San Francisco 24, Denver 14

Kansas City 30, Las Vegas 27

Seattle 30, L.A. Chargers 23

Carolina 32, Detroit 26

Monday's Score

Atlanta 45, New Orleans 24

Thursday's Game

Tampa Bay at Dallas, 8:15 p.m.

Oct. 11 Games

Philadelphia vs Jacksonville at London, 9:30 a.m.

Cincinnati at Miami, 1 p.m.

Las Vegas at New England, 1 p.m.

Minnesota at New Orleans, 1 p.m.

Cleveland at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m.

Indianapolis at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.

Houston at Tennessee, 1 p.m.

N.Y. Giants at Washington, 1 p.m.

Chicago at Green Bay, 1 p.m.

Denver at L.A. Chargers, 4:05 p.m.

Detroit at Arizona, 4:25 p.m.

San Francisco at Seattle, 4:25 p.m.

Baltimore at Atlanta, 8:20 p.m.

Oct. 12 Game

Buffalo at L.A. Rams, 8:15 p.m.

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CFL

EAST DIVISION | W | L | Pct | PF | PA | x-Montreal | 12 | 3 | .786 | 535 | 4220 | x-Toronto | 9 | 7 | .600 | 462 | 455 | Hamilton | 5 | 11 | .267 | 396 | 474 | Ottawa | 0 | 15 | .000 | 355 | 558 | WEST DIVISION | W | L | Pct | PF | PA | x-Edmonton | 11 | 4 | .733 | 470 | 382 | BC | 9 | 6 | .571 | 452 | 398 | Saskatchewan | 8 | 7 | .571 | 430 | 408 | Calgary | 8 | 8 | .467 | 572 | 541 | Winnipeg | 7 | 8 | .500 | 383 | 419 | Friday's Games

Edmonton vs. Hamilton, 7 p.m.

Ottawa vs. BC, 10 p.m.

Saturday's Game

Calgary vs. Winnipeg, 7 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 12

Saskatchewan vs. Montreal, 1 p.m.

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL

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Wednesday's games

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Southeast

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East

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Southeast

Missouri State at Western Kentucky, 7 p.m.

South Alabama at Arkansas State, 7:30 p.m.

West

South Florida at UTSA, 7:30 p.m.

HBCU Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll administered by BOXTOROW | Rank | Team (1sts) | W-L Pts | LW | 1 | Jackson State (10) | 5-0 163 | T-2 | 2 | South Carolina State (7) | 5-1 160 | 1 | 3 | Morgan State | 4-1 125 | 7 | 4 | Alabama State | 3-2 99 | T-2 | 5 | Alabama A&M | 4-2 81 | 6 | 6 | Delaware State | 3-3 75 | 4 | 7 | Grambling State | 3-2 69 | 10 | 8 | Bethune-Cookman | 3-2 65 | NR | 9 | Prairie View A&M | 2-4 37 | 5 | T-10 | Alcorn State | 3-3 22 | 8 | T-10 | Norfolk State | 3-3 22 | 9 | Others receiving votes: Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-2) 10, North Carolina Central (2-4) 5, Howard (2-3) 1, Mississippi Valley State (0-5) 1.

AFCA Division III Coaches' Poll, presented by GoRout Gridiron. | Rank | School (1sts) | Rec. Pts. | LW | 1 | North Central (53) | 4-0 1325 | 1 | 2 | Wheaton | 5-0 1233 | 3 | 3 | St. John's (Minnesota) | 4-0 1184 | 5 | 4 | UW-Platteville | 4-0 1172 | 4 | 5 | UW-Whitewater | 4-0 1166 | 7 | Jacksonville State at Kennesaw State, 7 p.m.

New Mexico State at FIU, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday's games East | 6 | Trinity (Texas) | 4-0 | 1029 | 9 | 7t. | Hardin-Simmons | 3-0 | 937 | 10 | 7t. | UW-River Falls | 3-1 | 937 | 2 | 9 | Salisbury | 4-0 | 846 | 12 | 10 | Christopher Newport | 4-0 | 822 | 13 | 11 | WashU | 5-0 | 774 | 17 | 12 | Hope | 5-0 | 729 | 14 | 13 | Endicott | 5-0 | 670 | 15 | 14 | Cortland | 5-0 | 630 | 16 | 15 | John Carroll | 4-1 | 545 | 6 | 16 | Wartburg | 2-2 | 417 | 18 | 17 | Bethel (Minnesota) | 2-2 | 399 | 8 | 18 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | 3-1 | 353 | 20 | 19 | Berry | 3-1 | 347 | 11 | 20 | UW-La Crosse | 2-2 | 321 | 19 | 21 | Franklin & Marshall | 4-0 | 228 | 25 | 22 | Susquehanna | 3-1 | 227 | 22 | 23 | DePauw | 4-1 | 192 | 23 | 24 | Baldwin Wallace | 4-0 | 173 | NR | 25 | Randolph-Macon | 3-1 | 75 | NR | Dropped out: Utica (21), Heidelberg (24)

Others receiving votes: Calvin, 65; Utica, 56; Lake Forest, 43; Mount Union, 43; Springfield, 41; Dickinson, 40; Ursinus, 27; Hampden-Sydney, 26; Chapman, 24; Concordia-Moorhead, 18; Washington & Jefferson, 18; Heidelberg, 17; Illinois Wesleyan, 16; Linfield, 9; Wabash, 9; Trinity (Connecticut), 8; UW-Eau Claire, 6; Howard Payne, 5; U.S. Merchant Marine, 5; Brevard, 3; Hanover, 3; UW-Oshkosh, 3; La-Grange, 2; Roanoke, 2; Wesleyan, 2; Concordia (Wisconsin), 1; Mount St. Joseph, 1; Rowan, 1.

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SOCCER

MLS Standings

Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | W | L | T | Pts | GF | Nashville | 18 | 3 | 6 | 60 | 55 | New England | 14 | 9 | 4 | 46 | 45 | Inter Miami CF | 12 | 5 | 10 | 46 | 64 | Charlotte FC | 12 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 47 | Chicago | 12 | 8 | 6 | 42 | 46 | Philadelphia | 11 | 10 | 6 | 39 | 54 | Orlando City | 10 | 13 | 4 | 34 | 48 | NY Red Bulls | 9 | 12 | 6 | 33 | 34 | NY City FC | 8 | 10 | 9 | 33 | 41 | Cincinnati | 8 | 9 | 9 | 33 | 55 | D.C. United | 6 | 8 | 12 | 30 | 34 | Columbus | 8 | 14 | 5 | 29 | 39 | Toronto FC | 6 | 10 | 11 | 29 | 39 | Atlanta | 7 | 14 | 6 | 27 | 32 | CF Montreal | 6 | 15 | 6 | 24 | 34 | Western Conference | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | Vancouver | 15 | 6 | 5 | 50 | 59 | 26 | Saint Louis | 13 | 6 | 8 | 47 | 48 | 36 | FC Dallas | 13 | 6 | 8 | 47 | 50 | 42 | San Jose | 13 | 8 | 6 | 45 | 49 | 39 | Houston | 13 | 9 | 5 | 44 | 34 | 32 | Los Angeles FC | 11 | 9 | 8 | 41 | 43 | 30 | Seattle | 10 | 9 | 8 | 38 | 35 | 35 | Colorado | 11 | 13 | 3 | 36 | 38 | 38 | LA Galaxy | 9 | 10 | 9 | 36 | 37 | 44 | Portland | 9 | 13 | 5 | 32 | 48 | 51 | Real Salt Lake | 9 | 13 | 5 | 32 | 40 | 44 | San Diego FC | 8 | 11 | 8 | 32 | 47 | 47 | Austin FC | 7 | 10 | 10 | 31 | 35 | 47 | Minnesota | 7 | 12 | 8 | 29 | 40 | 49 | Sporting KC | 6 | 18 | 3 | 21 | 32 | 65 | ---

Tuesday's Game

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vancouver at Chicago Saturday's Game

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Saturday's Games

CFL Montreal at Toronto FC, 1 p.m.

NY City FC at Chicago, 2:30 p.m.

FC Dallas at Charlotte FC, 7:30 p.m.

Cincinnati at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.

Seattle at New England, 7:30 p.m.

D.C. United at Inter Miami CF, 7:30 p.m.

Real Salt Lake at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

Columbus at Orlando City, 7:30 p.m.

San Diego FC at NY Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.

Portland at Sporting KC, 8:30 p.m.

Houston at Minnesota, 8:30 p.m.

Nashville at Austin FC, 8:30 p.m.

San Jose at Colorado, 9:30 p.m.

Vancouver at Los Angeles FC, 10:30 p.m.

NWSL Standings | W | L | D | Pts | GF | GA | Gotham 16 | 4 | 7 | 55 | 35 | 21 | San Diego 16 | 8 | 3 | 51 | 40 | 28 | Washington 15 | 8 | 4 | 49 | 39 | 26 | Utah 14 | 9 | 4 | 46 | 44 | 35 | Kansas City 13 | 9 | 5 | 44 | 48 | 38 | Angel City 12 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 45 | 29 | Portland 12 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 45 | 39 | North Carolina 13 | 11 | 3 | 42 | 50 | 39 | Seattle 12 | 11 | 4 | 40 | 33 | 32 | Denver Summit 10 | 9 | 8 | 38 | 45 | 37 | Orlando 10 | 14 | 3 | 33 | 36 | 43 | Houston 8 | 13 | 6 | 30 | 34 | 39 | ---

Sports Weekly

grabbing firm control of the Heisman race and Week 6 games to watch. In the NFL, we have two takes on what Week 4 revealed; in MLB, why the Brewers might find the eighth time the charm; and in the NBA, what does oatmeal have to do with the 76ers. We also have NFL sizzlers/fizzlers and fantasy value meter, Week 5 game previews, team-by-team stats, league leaders and box scores; NHL stat leaders and game box scores; and MLB playoff box scores. You can order the edition at onlinestore.usatoday.com and subscribe to the magazine by going to mysportsweekly.com or by calling 1-800-872-1415. | Boston Legacy | 8 | 14 | 5 | 29 | 36 | 46 | Bay | 7 | 15 | 5 | 26 | 28 | 42 | Louisville | 7 | 17 | 3 | 24 | 36 | 52 | Chicago | 5 | 20 | 2 | 17 | 15 | 63 | Sunday's Scores

Gotham 1, Angel City 1

Denver Summit 3, Chicago 0

Washington 3, Houston 2

English Premier League | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Manchester City | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 15 | Arsenal | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 12 | Brighton | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 10 | Brentford | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 9 | Leeds United | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 9 | Liverpool | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 9 | Everton | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 9 | Hull City | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 8 | Newcastle | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 8 | Chelsea | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 7 | Ipswich Town | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 6 | Man United | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 5 | Nott'm Forest | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | Sunderland | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 4 | Crystal Palace | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 4 | Aston Villa | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 4 | Bournemouth | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 3 | Coventry City | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 3 | Fulham | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | Tottenham | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 2 | Metropolitan Division

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Saturday's Games

Arsenal vs. Leeds United, 7:30 a.m.

Aston Villa vs. Brentford, 10 a.m.

Chelsea vs. AFC Bournemouth, 10 a.m.

Ipswich Town vs. Fulham, 10 a.m.

Sunderland vs. Brighton, 10 a.m.

Manchester United vs. Tottenham, 12:30 p.m.

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NHL

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division | Permian District | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | Ottawa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 3 | Tampa Bay | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 7 | Florida | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | Boston | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 11 | Montreal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | Buffalo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 | Toronto | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | Detroit | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ---

On newsstands: As

they like to say in the SEC: We're better than you because we beat each other. This week its top game is Georgia vs. Alabama, which leads off our latest Play-off Predictor, plus Jeremiah Smith | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | N.Y. Rangers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 6 | Pittsburgh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 8 | Carolina | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | N.Y. Islanders | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 | Washington | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | Columbus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 | New Jersey | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | Philadelphia | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 17 | Western Conference Central Division | Central Division | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | Winnipeg | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 8 | Colorado | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 5 | Minnesota | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 2 | Utah | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 5 | St. Louis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | Nashville | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Dallas | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | Chicago | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 15 | Pacific Division | Pacific Division | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | Edmonton | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 14 | Anaheim | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 5 | Seattle | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 5 | Vegas | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 8 | San Jose | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 12 | Vancouver | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 18 | L.A. Kings | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 13 | Calgary | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | NOTE: Two points for a win, one f

Monday's Scores

Tampa Bay 4, Philadelphia 1

Ottawa 4, Boston 1

Winnipeg 3, Pittsburgh 2

Dallas 5, San Jose 0

Tuesday's Games

Carolina at Montreal

Utah at New Jersey

Minnesota at Buffalo

Ottawa at Detroit

Nashville at Toronto

N.Y. Islanders at N.Y. Rangers

St. Louis at Chicago

Vegas at Seattle

Florida at L.A. Kings

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Florida at L.A. Kings

Wednesday's Games

Pittsburgh at Washington, 7:30 p.m.

Colorado at Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m.

Edmonton at Anaheim, 10 p.m.

WEATHER WEATHER ONLINE USATODAY.COM

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TODAY'S FORECAST

From coastal Texas through Florida, showers and thunderstorms are expected to bring downpours today. Ponding is possible on streets and highways, especially across far southern Texas and throughout Florida. Much of the rest of the Southeast is expected to remain dry, as will much of the central United States.

In the Northeast, a few spotty showers are expected to develop, but otherwise, conditions will be rather quiet. It may be windy at times along the coast. In the Rockies, a few thundershowers may develop during the afternoon.

West of the Rockies, temperatures are expected to be high, especially across the Southwest away from the coast and across the interior. A significant heat wave is expected to continue.

The weather changes. Stay up-to-date, 24/7.

TODAY'S HIGH TEMPERATURES

TOP TRAVEL CITIES Air quality index (AQI)

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather Inc. ©2026

Below 10 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100s 110+

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PRECIPITATION FORECAST

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EXTREMES

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Note: For contiguous 48 states through Monday

HOTTEST: 109°

Death Valley, Calif.

COLDEST: 26°

International Falls,

Minn.

WED Mostly sunny 81/60

THU Partly sunny 84/64

FRI Some sun 82/65

AQI Moderate

WED Sunny, nice 73/52

THU Sunny, warm 81/50

FRI Sunny 75/49

MIAMI | WED | T-storms88/77 | WED | Breezy74/48 | THU | T-storms88/78 | THU | Partly sunny67/50 | FRI | Stray t-storm91/78 | FRI | Some sun71/58 | U.S. CITIES TODAY THU

c Cloudy f Fog i Ice r Rain sf Snowflurries sn Snow w Windy dr Drizzle h Haze | SLOT. CTIES | TUESDAY | THUR | Akron, Ohio | 72/50s | 70/45pc | Albany, N.Y. | 66/52s | 69/48pc | Albuquerque | 83/56pc | 80/56s | Allentown, Pa. | 69/49s | 74/45s | Amarillo, Texas | 83/55pc | 81/54pc | Anaheim, Calif. | 97/69s | 95/68s | Anchorage, Alaska | 49/37c | 50/38pc | Aspen, Colo. | 72/41pc | 72/39c | Atlantic City, N.J. | 67/59s | 76/56s | Augusta, Ga. | 85/51pc | 82/54s | Austin, Texas | 90/62s | 89/63t | Bakersfield, Calif. | 99/71s | 98/70s | Baton Rouge, La. | 91/68pc | 90/66pc | Billings, Mont. | 72/45s | 81/51pc | Birmingham, Ala. | 86/56s | 89/61pc | Bismarck, N.D. | 70/38pc | 70/42pc | Boise, Idaho | 86/55s | 85/56s | Buffalo, N.Y. | 67/53w | 65/47s | Burlington, Vt. | 62/52sh | 66/48sh | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 76/46s | 69/47pc | Charleston, S.C. | 81/61c | 81/63pc | Charleston, W.Va. | 77/56s | 76/46s | Cheyenne, Wyo. | 79/47s | 80/49s | WED Stray t-storm 86/74

THU Partly sunny 86/74

FRI Breezy 83/73

WED Mostly sunny 67/56

THU Mostly sunny 74/53

FRI Mostly sunny 69/50

WED Mostly sunny 79/55

THU Sunny, warm 84/60

FRI Partly sunny 81/59

WED Breezy 67/57

THU Sunny, nice 75/57

FRI Mostly sunny 70/56 | TODAY | THU | Cincinnati | 81/55s | 79/48s | Cleveland | 74/52s | 67/47s | Colorado Springs | 81/50s | 79/52s | Columbia, S.C. | 82/52pc | 84/58s | Columbus, Ohio | 78/52s | 74/45s | Corpus Christi, Texas | 93/71t | 91/70t | Dayton, Ohio | 78/52s | 74/44s | Daytona Beach, Fla. | 81/74t | 80/75t | Des Moines, Iowa | 78/51s | 70/55pc | Duluth, Minn. | 66/41s | 60/42s | Durham, N.C. | 76/53s | 84/58s | El Paso, Texas | 86/66s | 85/61pc | Fairbanks, Alaska | 39/27c | 40/24pc | Flagstaff, Ariz. | 73/40s | 72/40s | Fargo, N.D. | 72/41s | 68/44pc | Fort Myers, Fla. | 86/75t | 87/74t | Fort Smith, Ark. | 89/58pc | 90/63s | Fort Wayne, Ind. | 77/49s | 71/40pc | Fresno, Calif. | 99/68s | 99/66s | Grand Rapids, Mich. | 72/50s | 65/44s | Green Bay, Wis. | 74/44h | 65/40s | Greensboro, N.C. | 76/54s | 83/57s | Greenville, S.C. | 78/54s | 83/59s | Harrisburg, Pa. | 72/52s | 78/49s | WED 🙏️ High clouds 77/54

THU 🚫 Partly sunny 68/50

FRI 📋 Clouds, sun 70/56

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DALLAS/FT. WORTH

WED T-storms 80/73

THU T-storms 82/73

FRI T-storms 85/74

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PHILADELPHIA

WED - Sunny, nice 71/56

THU - Mostly sunny 80/56

FRI - Sunny 74/54

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DENVER

WED Mostly sunny 83/54 THU Plenty of sun 84/55 FRI Sunny 85/58

AQI Moderate | TODAY | THU | Hartford, Conn. | 67/52s | 74/46s | Indianapolis | 80/54s | 76/48s | Islip, N.Y. | 66/58s | 73/53s | Jackson, Miss. | 89/63s | 89/61pc | Jacksonville, Fla. | 79/71t | 81/69t | Jefferson City, Mo. | 87/54s | 80/51s | Kansas City | 84/56s | 75/56s | Key West, Fla. | 88/80t | 87/81t | Knoxville, Tenn. | 81/56s | 83/55s | Laredo, Texas | 95/71s | 89/69t | Lexington, Ky. | 82/54s | 82/50s | Lincoln, Neb. | 84/48s | 73/55t | Little Rock, Ark. | 89/59s | 90/62s | Long Beach, Calif. | 92/70s | 89/69s | Louisville, Ky. | 84/59s | 83/53s | Lubbock, Texas | 86/56pc | 83/55pc | Madison, Wis. | 74/47h | 65/43pc | Manchester, N.H. | 66/51s | 74/47pc | Memphis, Tenn. | 88/62s | 90/63s | Milwaukee | 74/52h | 67/48pc | Mobile, Ala. | 85/66c | 84/65pc | Modesto, Calif. | 101/64s | 98/63s | Montgomery, Ala. | 86/58s | 87/58pc | Myrtle Beach, S.C. | 79/62pc | 79/63pc | AQI Moderate

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AQI Moderate

WED - Sunny, hot 103/80

THU - Sunny, hot 102/80

FRI - Hot 104/79

THU Mostly sunny 69/43

FRI Partly sunny 68/47

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SALT LAKE CITY

WED Sunny, warm 84/58

THU Very warm 84/59

FRI Very warm 87/64

AQI Moderate | TODAY | THU | Nags Head, N.C. | 72/61s | 76/64s | Nashville, Tenn. | 87/57s | 88/57s | Newark, N.J. | 70/55s | 88/56s | New Haven, Conn. | 66/57s | 74/51s | Norfolk, Va. | 74/57s | 81/61s | Oakland, Calif. | 81/57s | 78/57pc | Oklahoma City | 89/59s | 88/58s | Omaha, Neb. | 82/49s | 75/55pc | Palm Springs, Calif. | 107/82s | 106/81s | Pensacola, Fla. | 84/69c | 84/68pc | Pierre, S.D. | 76/40s | 69/47pc | Pittsburgh | 73/53s | 71/47pc | Portland, Maine | 61/50s | 70/46sh | Portland, Ore. | 79/52pc | 81/54s | Providence, R.I. | 66/55s | 72/51s | Raleigh, N.C. | 77/54s | 84/61s | Rapid City, S.D. | 80/44s | 79/46pc | Reno, Nev. | 90/52s | 90/53s | Richmond, Va. | 74/55s | 85/55s | Rochester, N.Y. | 70/52pc | 67/45s | Sacramento, Calif. | 101/57s | 99/58s | San Antonio | 90/65s | 87/68t | San Jose, Calif. | 95/62s | 89/60pc | Santa Fe, N.M. | 78/46pc | 75/46s | WED Partly sunny 86/75

THU Showers, humid 84/75

FRI A few showers 86/74

WED Sunny, warm 87/71

THU Humid 83/70

FRI Humid 81/70

AQI Moderate

WED very warm 92/70 THU Very warm 91/70 FRI Mostly sunny 91/67 AOL Moderate

WED Fog 78/56

THU Breezy 75/58

FRI Fog to sun 73/59

AQI Moderate | TODAY | THU | Sarasota, Fla. | 83/75t | 83/74t | Savannah, Ga. | 82/63c | 82/67pc | Scottsdale, Ariz. | 100/77s | 101/77s | Shreveport, La. | 91/65s | 95/65pc | Sioux Falls, S.D. | 77/42s | 68/53pc | South Bend, Ind. | 73/52s | 66/43s | Spokane, Wash. | 75/47pc | 75/49pc | Springfield, Mo. | 90/60s | 87/60s | Springfield, Ill. | 84/51s | 75/45s | St. Louis | 88/59s | 81/56s | St. Petersburg, Fla. | 79/73t | 79/74t | Syracuse, N.Y. | 70/53pc | 68/48pc | Tallahassee, Fla. | 82/68t | 82/68pc | Tampa, Fla. | 80/74t | 81/74t | Toledo, Ohio | 76/50s | 70/42pc | Topeka, Kan. | 87/54s | 80/55s | Tucson, Ariz. | 96/72s | 96/75s | Tupelo, Miss. | 89/59s | 90/60s | Tulsa, Okla. | 89/59s | 86/59s | Virginia Beach, Va. | 71/57s | 77/62s | Wichita, Kan. | 88/59s | 85/57s | Wilmington, Del. | 70/53s | 81/50s | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 76/54s | 83/58s | Worcester, Mass. | 63/51s | 69/49sh | ---

LAS VEGAS

WED - Very hot 98/75

THU - Very hot 98/73

FRI - Very hot 97/74

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LOS ANGELES

WED Partly sunny 67/49

THU Partly sunny 71/52

FRI Mostly cloudy 66/49

AQI Moderate

WED Very hot 99/73

THU Sunny, hot 94/69

FRI Very warm 90/68

AOL Unhealthy s/g

WED - Plenty of sun 73/56

THU - Mostly sunny 83/57

FRI - Sunny, nice 76/56

AQI Good

WORLD CITIES | TODAY | THU | Beijing | 81/47s | 81/50h | Buenos Aires | 66/60sh | 64/55r | Cancun, Mexico | 90/76r | 87/79r | Dubai, UAE | 108/87s | 107/86s | Frankfurt | 73/55s | 60/41r | Hong Kong | 86/77pc | 88/78c | Istanbul | 73/57c | 69/61h | Jerusalem | 77/61s | 80/62s | Johannesburg | 79/53h | 78/57pc | London | 60/45sh | 61/50s | Mexico City | 73/57sh | 72/57r | Montreal | 61/52sh | 62/45sh | Moscow | 59/41s | 58/46pc | Mumbai, India | 96/81sh | 98/83h | Paris | 66/50sh | 61/45r | Rio de Janeiro | 79/71c | 81/73s | Rome | 78/66pc | 76/65sh | Seoul | 75/48s | 77/50s | Singapore | 93/79t | 92/79t | Sydney | 65/56r | 67/52sh | Toronto | 70/51pc | 65/45s | Tokyo | 74/62c | 76/62s | NFL POWER RANKINGS

New unbeaten rises to top at No. 1

Mitch Tinsley on Sunday.

Nate Davis

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray and Kansas City Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III.

ZAC VANCE/USA TODAY; AND GETTY IMAGES

USA TODAY

NFL power rankings entering Week 5 of the 2026 season (previous rank in parentheses):

1. San Francisco 49ers (4): Would have put them in the top spot sooner if not for concern regarding their latest rash of injuries, FB Kyle Juszczyk the latest star to go down. However, the Niners are certainly safeguarding QB Brock Purdy, becoming the first team since Peyton Manning's 2005 Colts to permit zero sacks through four games. Beat Seattle on Oct. 11, and San Francisco will have already taken down three of last season's final four teams. Unbeaten through four games for the third time under Kyle Shanahan, now the longest-tenured coach in franchise history, the 49ers leveraged those other two hot starts into Super Bowl berths.

2. Kansas City Chiefs (2): Will the AFC's final undefeated team have anyone left to play wide receiver on the other side of their Week 5 bye after losing Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton in Vegas on Sunday? Maybe an old friend?

3. Seattle Seahawks (3): Even with RB Jadarian Price joining Zach Charbonnet on the shelf, they're doing a nice job with a patchwork running game that's incorporating KR/WR Rashid Shaheed and, perhaps, veteran Joe Mix-on eventually.

4. Denver Broncos (5): It hasn't been pretty through four weeks, especially offensively. But their only losses are to the undefeated Chiefs and Niners, and the schedule eases a bit for the rest of October. Even better, All-Pro CB Patrick Surtain II (ankle) isn't expected to miss much time.

5. Los Angeles Rams (6): They're still out of sorts offensively, QB Matthew Stafford launching a league-high 162 passes for an offense that's only running $38\%$ of the time. But facing Buffalo's air defense – not exactly the Iron Dome – in Week 5 won't provide much reason to balance things out.

6. Jacksonville Jaguars (8): Bend but don't break? They rank 26th overall in total defense, yet the Jags haven't allowed more than 20 points in their past 10 regular-season games.

7. New England Patriots (15): Will their biggest offensive outburst of the season steady QB Drake Maye and this team at large? The Pats' 29 offensive points Sunday matched their aggregate total entering Week 4.

8. Buffalo Bills (1): They're still scoring at the highest clip in the league. But the early-season success is now contextualized by beating two winless teams, including a Week 3 struggle against the

Chargers, prior to Sunday's wake-up loss to the Patriots – winners of two in a row at Buffalo. Now it's up to the Bills to stabilize away from western New York, given they'll only play at home once over the next six weeks.

9. Minnesota Vikings (7): As great as their swarming defense has been, let's not lose sight of All-Pro K Will Reichard. His league-high 42 points scored are nearly half of the Vikes' total (86). Reichard has provided all of the scoring in two of Minnesota's four wins.

10. Chicago Bears (9): After giving up 37 points in the opener, the defense has surrendered 28 – total – over the past three weeks. Doesn't much matter who the QB1 is with that kind of margin for error.

11. Las Vegas Raiders (11): Where has this franchise been? Andy Reid has the most wins (7) of any coach – including the Raiders’ – at Allegiant Stadium. And while Klint Kubiak’s troops arguably legitimized themselves by nearly knocking off Reid’s Chiefs on Sunday, they’ll be challenged to keep it up – the Patriots, Bills, Rams, 49ers, Seahawks and Broncos are among the Silver and Black’s next seven opponents.

12. Cleveland Browns (18): Kardiac Kids Part Deux? Deshaun Watson is the first Browns quarterback since Brian Sipe, the league MVP in 1980, to engineer a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter of three consecutive games.

13. Carolina Panthers (21): By the conclusion of Sunday night's win over Detroit, they owned the league's No. 1 passing attack. Props to QB Bryce Young for rendering the bust label some had affixed to him premature.

14. Atlanta Falcons (22): It's been an entirely new team since QB Michael Penix Jr.'s Week 3 return ... and maybe one capable of winning its first NFC South crown in a decade.

15. Detroit Lions (10): They're certainly leaning on their stars, RB Jahmyr Gibbs with the most touches (102) in the league and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (46) with the most targets. Gonna be hard to deviate from that formula given how bad the league's most permissive defense has been ... a state of affairs that seems unlikely to change any time soon.

16. New Orleans Saints (12): They're in the same boat as the Lions, likely needing to win a shootout every week. But the Saints will need to get RB Travis Etienne and WR Jordyn Tyson back soon if they're going to recover sufficiently to make their first post-Brees playoff appearance.

17. Baltimore Ravens (13): It's no secret that they can't afford to be without injured QB Lamar Jackson for long. But he's doing more damage with his arm right now than his legs, Jackson's 14.2 yards per completion pacing the league and representing the best figure of his nine-year career.

18. Dallas Cowboys (14): After a strong debut Sunday, CB Joey Porter Jr. might be making the case he's the ex-Steeler this team should re-sign given the significant drop in WR George Pickens' production.

19. Pittsburgh Steelers (16): Time will tell if their hard-line negotiating policies cost them too much following the departure of Porter ... but sure could have used him in Cleveland.

20. Cincinnati Bengals (17): Depending on how long injuries to WRs Ja'Marr Chase (concussion) and Tee Higgins (groin) linger, QB Joe Burrow could be throwing to Dohnte Meyers and

21. New York Giants (23): If the season ended today – it doesn't – they'd be the NFC East champions and a No. 3 playoff seed. Worth noting QBs Jameis Winston and J.J. McCarthy have the same number of career postseason starts: zero.

22. Philadelphia Eagles (19): The last time they were this helpless on offense (172 yards on Sunday) was 2014 ... when Chip Kelly was the coach and Mark Sanchez the quarterback.

23. Indianapolis Colts (24): Maybe they should pack the Mayflower trucks (ships?) for Europe given they've won three in a row in the Old World, which the NFL seems ready to make its new frontier.

24. Washington Commanders (20): Rookie Athan Kaliakmanis became the first NFL quarterback to throw his first career TD pass in an international game. Cool. But this team can't get Jayden Daniels back fast enough.

25. Arizona Cardinals (28): S Budda Baker leads the team with $1 \frac{1}{2}$ sacks ... which is fairly indicative of how things are going for one of the league's worst defenses.

26. Green Bay Packers (26): Still no Josh Jacobs. Still no Micah Parsons. And now standout LB Edgerrin Cooper is out for the season with an Achilles tear. Getting increasingly difficult to view this squad as a playoff entry, especially given the narrow win at Tampa.

27. Houston Texans (25): Even if a 0-4 outfit wanted to wave the white flag, the contracts of players like DE Danielle Hunter and WR Nico Collins are basically untradable due to their salary-cap ramifications.

28. New York Jets (27): After losing three in a row to NFC North teams, the Browns should be a welcome sight for a Jets team that became the first this century to run fewer plays (32) in a game than the number of first downs it surrendered (34).

29. Los Angeles Chargers (29): They don't face a team that currently has a losing record until Houston visits in Week 9 ... by which time the Bolts could be 0-7.

30. Tennessee Titans (30): Little has gone right so far, but it's been nice to see rookie WR Carnell Tate pick up the pace. He has 15 catches for 203 yards over the past two weeks.

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (31): Their point total has decreased with each successive week, proportionate with the optimism that once surrounded these dead-in-the-water Bucs.

32. Miami Dolphins (32): They haven't led for a single minute of any game.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL GROUP OF SIX POWER RANKINGS

Boise State remains firmly in control

Austin Curtright

USA TODAY NETWORK

The top Group of Six contenders for a College Football Playoff berth are starting to break away from the rest of the field.

Boise State, New Mexico, James Madison and Memphis – all favorites to win their respective conferences – won their Week 5 games in dominant fashion, making for what's shaping up to be a competitive race for a CFP spot down the stretch.

The Broncos look like the front-runners right now, but New Mexico's veteran defense, Memphis' stingy pass rush and James Madison's experience could all push them for the CFP bid.

Here's a look at USA TODAY's weekly Group of Six power rankings before Week 6 (previous week's ranking in parantheses):

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1. Boise State (1)

Boise State took down Utah State 37-18 in Week 5 and was in full control of the game from start to finish to open Pac-12 play. Maddux Madsen completed 17 of 21 passes for 244 yards with two touchdowns in the game, while breakout running back Dylan Riley rushed 18 times for 93 yards with two scores.

The Broncos have now won four consecutive games by 14 or more points and completely control their College Football Playoff hopes.

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2. New Mexico (2)

Boise State's biggest competitor for a CFP spot right now is New Mexico, another team destroying every non-Power Four team it faces this season. The

The New Mexico Lobos celebrate a defensive stop against New Mexico State on Sept. 26 in Albuquerque.

UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO ATHLETICS

Lobos defeated Texas-El Paso 61-7 in Week 5 behind quarterback Toa Fa'avae's 249 passing yards with three touchdowns.

Second-year coach Jason Eck is becoming one of the hottest names of the upcoming coaching carousel with what he has accomplished at New Mexico, especially after losing its starting quarterback due to injury before the season. Its veteran defense will be a problem for non-Power Four programs.

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3. James Madison (3)

Three of the 15 Football Bowl Subdivision teams still undefeated this year are either James Madison or are led by former Dukes coaches (Bob Chesney at UCLA and Curt Cignetti at Indiana).

James Madison has won every one of its game this year by double digits under first-year coach Billy Napier, the most recent a 45-17 win over Marshall in Week 5.

4. Memphis (4)

Memphis had no struggles against Charlotte in Week 5, walking away with an easy 59-8 win. Quarterback Marcus Stokes was in full control, completing 20 of 25 passes for 318 yards with five touchdowns in the win.

The Tigers are 1-0 in the American and are the favorites in their conference – just like the three teams ahead of them in the power rankings.

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5. Oregon State (7)

Quarterback Braden Atkinson and true freshman receiver Jesse Legree are becoming one of the best quarterback-receiver duos in college football. Atkinson now leads the Football Bowl Subdivision with 1,848 passing yards this season while ranking tied-for second nationally with 17 passing touchdowns.

Legree, meanwhile, has 28 receptions for 741 yards with nine touchdowns, ranking second in receiving yards and tied for first in receiving touchdowns with Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith.

The Beavers have come out of nowhere this season and have won three consecutive games in dominant fashion after scaring Houston and Texas Tech in Weeks 1 and 2.

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6. North Dakota State (5)

North Dakota State continues to make the jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision look easy. The Bison improved to 5-0 after defeating Wyoming 28-0, led by quarterback Nathan Hayes' 266 total yards and two touchdowns.

It feels like New Mexico and North Dakota State are on a collision course for a matchup in the Mountain West Conference championship game this season. Could it decide a College Football Playoff spot?

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7. North Texas (NR)

North Texas defeated Tulsa in an absolute thriller in Week 5, winning 45-44 on the road in overtime on Oct. 1.

Quarterback Tayven Jackson threw for 332 yards with four touchdowns to two interceptions in the win while running back Jahiem White trashed Tulsa for 219 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Tulsa opted to try a 2-point conversion rather than tying the game with a point-after touchdown attempt, which North Texas stopped by mere inches.

The Mean Green are 3-2 with losses to Indiana and Texas State, but they are among the more competitive teams the Group of Six.

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8. Liberty (NR)

Liberty has gone a bit under-the-radar this season, but the Flames are quietly 4-1 this season with their lone loss coming 20-13 against James Madison in Week 1.

Liberty needed a game-winning scoring drive to beat Gardner-Webb 24-23 in Week 2 but has since defeated Ball State, Coastal Carolina and Delaware in consecutive games by double digits.

Fourth-year coach Jamey Chadwell led Liberty to a 13-1 season in 2023 with a loss to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl and is hoping to put the Flames back in College Football Playoff contention after winning eight games in 2024 and four games in 2025.

Schools that dropped out: UTSA (6) and South Florida (8)

THE BEST RELIVE THE NY KNICKS' CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON OF THE BEST

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“Garden Glory: The New York Knicks and the NBA Championship Five Decades in the Making” is a 160-page hardcover book covering this entire season, from a 53-win regular season through the Finals showdown with San Antonio. The photos, the stories, the moments that made it real.

Order your copy today!

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LIFELINE

JASON KEMPIN/GETTY IMAGES

HOW WAS YOUR DAY?

ELLE KING, DAN TOOKER

Elle King and her longtime partner, Dan Tooker, are married. The "Ex's & Oh's" singer, 37, announced on Oct. 4 that she and the tattoo artist had tied the knot, sharing photos of the woodsy outdoor ceremony on Instagram. King posted pictures of the couple that show her wearing a satin wedding dress with a sweet-heart neckline, veil and dramatic skirt and train, and Tooker donning a dark double-breasted suit. She also shared video of the moment Tooker kissed his bride. "Husband and wife. Best day of my life," she wrote. The couple share two children together.

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IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY WHO'S CELEBRATING TODAY

Mellencamp

Author Thomas Ke-neally turns 91. TV host Joy Behar, 84. Writer Diane Ackerman, 78. Singer John Mellencamp, 75. Actor Dylan Baker, 67. Producer Simon Cowell,

67. Syndicated columnist Dan Savage, 62. Author-filmmaker Sherman Alexie, 60. Singer Toni Braxton, 59. Singer Thom Yorke (Radiohead), 58. Actor Nicole Ari Parker, 56. Actor Allison Munn, 52. Actor-composer Tim Minchin, 51. Actor Omar Benson Miller, 48. Actors Shawn and Aaron Ashmore, 47. Actor Amber Stevens West, 40. Actor Nicole Maines, 29. – USA TODAY Network

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HOROSCOPE | SANCTUARY More: www.sanctuaryworld.co

Aries (March 21-April 19). Feeling fearless? You're inspired to act, to make a daring move, as Mars and Uranus harmonize.

Taurus (April 20-May 20). Beginning the home improvement project...finally? Starting what you've been putting off comes easily.

Gemini (May 21-June 21). Going through the motions? Change tactics. Change direction. Mars's connection to Uranus supports a spur-of-the-moment pivot.

Cancer (June 22-July 22). Cutting a cord? Ripping off the Band-Aid? The speed at which you make this decision may surprise you today.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22). A friend or colleague can't see the potential of an idea, so paint a picture for them. Set the trend!

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). As Mars and Uranus harmonize, a new professional path opens up to you. Milk a business connection!

Libra (Sept.23-Oct. 23). Feeling bold? Believing in yourself and the substance of your dream is key.

Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Not positive? Not a problem! Take a risk that gets your heart racing as Mars and Uranus harmonize.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Is someone making their romantic interest known? They'll notice you before you notice them as Mars and Uranus harmonize.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You're difficult to rattle as Mars and Uranus harmonize. In fact, any uncertainties are a bit of a rush!

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Enemies-to-lovers pipeline? An attraction catches you off guard — in a good way! .

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20). Making constructive changes? The tweaks to routines and habits at work and home come easily.

MOVIES NEWS & VIEWS

Simba (left, voiced by Matthew Broderick) finds friendship with a warthog named Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) and his meerkat companion Timon (Nathan Lane) in “The Lion King.” PROVIDED BY WALT DISNEY PICTURES

These classic movies made indelible memories

Brian Truitt USA TODAY

Everybody has a favorite animated movie, whether it's a timeless classic or a film that arrived at a formative moment. Which is why “Barbie in the Nutcracker” ranks high among H.E.R.'s all-time picks rather than, say, “Toy Story” or “Spirited Away.” • “I chose the films that comfort me when I watch them,” says Gabi Wilson, aka five-time Grammy-winning musician H.E.R., the star of the new animated fantasy adventure “Forgotten Island.”

To celebrate animation's rich cinematic history, USA TODAY surveyed an array of people from across the industry for their faves. Oscar-winning filmmakers including Pixar's Pete Docter and "KPop Demon Hunters" director Maggie Kang sent in their top five, as did A-list voice actors such as Mike Myers from "Shrek" and Idina Menzel of "Frozen." Producers, executives and USA TODAY entertainment writers also submitted their picks.

So we came up with our ranking of the 100 best animated movies ever, which includes beloved Disney and Pixar hits as well as masterpieces from around the world that might be new to many readers. Points were awarded for films from contributors' ranked lists (five points for No. 1 choice, four for No. 2 and so on) and unranked lists (three points each), and then tallied. Short films and TV specials were excluded. (Sorry, Charlie Brown and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. We still love you.)

Filmmakers, executives and actors shared their favorites.

ILLUSTRATION BY ALAN NGUYEN

See the full list

For USA TODAY's full list of the best 100 animated movies, visit usatoday.com/ entertainment

40. 'Fantastic Planet' (1973)

The imaginative sci-fi film, an all-timer in the canon of European animation, is a bizarre and surreal treat that takes place in an extremely weird world where large blue giants treat the (relatively) tiny humans like animals.

See ANIMATED, Page 2D

The Beatles use their catchy tunes to battle the Blue Meanies in the animated movie “Yellow Submarine.” PROVIDED BY MGM HOME ENTERTAINMENT

STREAMING

'War' battle plan wasn't based on real lives

Bryan Alexander

USA TODAY

Is there any truth to "War"?

Sienna Miller stars as A-list actress Carla Duval, whose messy split from her famous husband, Morgan Henderson (Dominic West), unfolds amid a glamorous movie premiere and a raging tabloid storm in HBO's new legal drama (Episode 1 airs Oct. 1, 9 p.m. ET/PT, streaming on Max).

It's all fiction. But there are enough parallels to the British stars' real lives – flashbulb-filled red carpets, bruising experiences with paparazzi and intense public scrutiny of private relationships – that viewers could wonder whether “War” draws from Miller's or West's own experiences.

That misconception didn't deter Miller or West from taking the juicy, dramatic parts in the anticipated series from executive producer George Kay ("Lupin," "Hijack"), which is being promoted as the spiritual successor to "Succession." In fact, it was liberating for the actors to play those experiences through their fictional characters.

Sienna Miller and Dominic West star in HBO's "War." PROVIDED BY JUSTIN DOWNING/SKY/ HBO/NEW PICTURES

“For me personally, I suppose there are circumstances that would be somewhat familiar,” Miller, 44, tells USA TODAY during a joint interview with West. “It was interesting to play those as a different person and react to them in a different way to myself.”

"I don't feel necessarily that I need to spend more time exploring press intrusion and paparazzi," Miller adds. "I think I've had enough for a lifetime of that in my own world. But I did enjoy playing Carla in those circumstances."

West, whose smooth tech-mogul character is a step further removed from his own persona, also relished playing someone subjected to the media grind he lived through in 2020.

“It was fun seeing it all through someone else’s eyes, through a billionaire businessman’s eyes,” West, 56, says, invoking the German word “schadenfreude” – pleasure at someone else’s misfortune – to describe the appeal.

"There's a schadenfreude in watching a billionaire undergoing that sort of scrutiny that actors get," he says. "I was thinking, 'That's a great thing.'"

Miller, whose high-profile relationship with fellow superstar Jude Law was 2000s tabloid fodder, says she didn't think about viewers drawing parallels to her own life.

"I feel so different to [Carla] as a character," Miller says of her actor character, who navigates a career that is slipping from big-budget movie lead roles to prestigious but low-paying London stage plays. "I don't really get concerned with what people think. I should probably spend more time being concerned about how things might appear. But what do we do for a living? We tell stories."

“I should be more of a strategist in my career,” Miller adds dryly. “But I’ve never quite got that memo.”

Kay reiterates that there are no truthful links to the actors and the "War" characters, who are operatically encircled by their own teams of top-level lawyers played by Phoebe Fox and James McArdle (Team Carla) along with Pip Torrens and Nina Sosanya (Team Morgan).

HBO has greenlit an entirely new

See WAR, Page 2D

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Animated

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Continued from Page 1D

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39. 'Cinderella' (1950)

Disney put the fairy tale on the map and made glass slippers chic. The title character weathers rudeness from her stepsisters and meets Prince Charming, thanks to a fairy godmother.

---

38. 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937)

OK, so the little guys are sort of problematic in hindsight. Disney's first animated feature still holds up almost a century later, with an old witch and a poison apple coming between Snow and her main man.

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37. 'Madagascar' (2005)

“Forgotten Island” star Gabi Wilson and her sister watched “all the time. Every night some weeks,” she says. They loved the characters – King Julien is a favorite for Wilson – “and the friendship they have. We could watch it again and again and still laugh like it’s the first time.”

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36. 'Kubo and the Two Strings' (2016)

In an artsy gateway for kids to the kung fu movie, young one-eyed Kubo battles his ghostly aunts and other foes on a quest to find his dad's mythical suit of armor in a gorgeously realized, Asian-inspired coming-of-age adventure.

---

35. 'My Neighbors the Yamadas' (1999)

The Japanese family comedy is one of Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter's picks. The film's vignettes feature the daily lives of a mom, dad, grandma, teen son, young daughter and household dog in delightful anime-style watercolors.

---

34. 'The Secret of NIMH' (1982)

This is a fantasy flick that strikes a chord for '80s kids. A widowed mouse tries to protect her children and move them out before a farmer's plow destroys their home, and gets assistance from a Great Owl and a colony of rats.

---

33. 'Klaus' (2019)

This holiday comedy, which crafts an intriguing origin for Santa Claus as a 19th-century toymaker who befriends a postman, tops the animation list for Auli'i Cravalho, star of Disney's "Moana" movies.

---

32. 'Up' (2009)

A tale of an old man, an outcast kid, a talking dog and another old man who's a villain? It's not conventional, but after an opening salvo of complete emotional devastation, this Pixar romp soars.

---

31. 'Sleeping Beauty' (1959)

Aurora is the snoozing princess of the fairy tale waiting for true love's kiss. But this is all about Maleficent, one of Disney's greatest villains. Not even Angelina Jolie's take was as iconic a femme fatale as the OG baddie.

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30. 'Little Amélie or the Character of Rain' (2025)

The fantasy centered on a Belgian girl whose imagination is opened up after having a piece of chocolate “changed how I thought about myself and the people around me.” says director C. Craig Patterson, whose “ChikaBOOM!” recently played Tribeca Festival. “It feels like animation at its most intimate and elastic: a child’s consciousness rendered as myth, memory, comedy and weather.”

---

29. 'Lady and the Tramp' (1955)

“Frozen” icon Idina Menzel’s top choice is this classic. Sure, there are big-hearted musical romantic comedies of the live-action variety, but they don’t have two adorable dogs sharing a spaghetti noodle.

---

28. 'Coco' (2017)

A musical, magical and visually splendid adventure in the Land of the Dead that examines loss and grief. Just be prepared to watch the last 10 minutes through teary eyes after “Remember Me.”

Woody (Tom Hanks) meets cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack) in "Toy Story 2." PROVIDED BY DISNEY/PIXAR

George Clooney voices the crafty title critter of Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox."

PROVIDED BY FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

---

27. '101 Dalmatians' (1961)

Writer/director Chris Butler ("ParaNorman") feels the classic Disney movie starring dozens of pooches and dognapper extraordinaire Cruella de Vil is probably the animated film most responsible for his career path. "At the time, it was the shock of the new for Disney, with a stylized, graphic Xeroxed look," Butler says. "It's basically a war movie with a family of refugees fleeing across a beautifully rendered wintry landscape."

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26. 'Shrek' (2001)

Sure, Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy have played iconic live-action movie characters, yet they arguably made more of an impact on generations of kids as the title ogre and his faithful BFF Donkey in the fairy-tale spoof.

---

25. 'The Incredibles' (2004)

With a middle-aged couple finding each other again and kids figuring out their place in the world, Pixar's comic-book-y masterpiece features a family of superheroes with secret identities in a story about identity.

---

24. 'The Little Mermaid' (1989)

The Disney classic “truly changed our animation industry forever,” says a proud Jodi Benson, the voice of mermaid Ariel. “We are so honored to have ignited the second golden age of animation for our studio. What a dream come true.”

---

23. "Yellow Submarine" (1968)

The groovy animated musical, in which the Beatles used their tunes to battle the Blue Meanies, made a few contributors' lists – and was the top pick for the voice of Shrek, Mike Myers.

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22. 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993)

Leave it to Tim Burton to craft the ultimate Halloween-y Christmas movie. (Or is it a Christmas-y Halloween film?) Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, becomes so obsessed with the merriest of holidays that he takes it over.

---

21. 'The Jungle Book' (1967)

Disney tried to make a live-action version of the effervescent outing with human boy Mowgli and his chill bear BFF Baloo, but it lacked the bare necessities to get the job done. (Pun very much intended.)

---

20. 'Beauty and the Beast' (1991)

One of just three animated films that scored an Oscar best picture nod – and the only one that made the cut when the category was five movies – it still holds up as an endearing romance between a bookish girl and a royal brute.

---

19. 'Inside Out' (2015)

The Joy-ful comedy brought a child's mind alive in the most imaginative ways: a madcap adventure where feelings find common ground, and a heartbreaking tale reminding parents that time is fleeting.

---

18. 'Akira' (1988)

Katsuhiro Otomo adapted his seminal manga series into this cyberpunk action flick, which centers on a biker gang leader saving his best pal from a secretive government project. The movie's "rich and harrowing futurist vision" still astounds nearly 40 years later, says Christopher Murrie-Green, film editor of the upcoming "Wildwood." "A true masterpiece. Untouchable."

---

17. 'Coraline' (2009)

LAIKA's signature stop-motion dark fantasy effortlessly blends family dynamics with a real scary-movie streak. A young girl finds a secret door in her new house that takes her to a parallel universe.

---

16. 'Finding Nemo' (2003)

Pixar's animated fish tale isn't just incredibly entertaining and heart-wrenching for Alyce Tzue, one of the directors of the fairy-tale comedy "Steps" (in theaters Nov. 20), "it has one of the most beautiful story structures of all time," she says. "From the clarity of concept to its arcs and relationships, 'Finding Nemo' is a masterclass on how to tell a tight, character-driven story, and I will never stop referencing it."

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15. 'How to Train Your Dragon' (2010)

Tired: a boy and his dog. Wired: a boy and his dragon. In the spectacular fantasy adventure, a Viking kid and the rare beast he's supposed to hunt wind up becoming besties in epic, flying fashion.

---

14. 'Fantasia' (1940)

A marriage of animation and classical music that changed everything. Sorcerer Mickey gets the hype in the anthology movie— because it's the Mouse House – but the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence is unparalleled.

---

13. 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' (2009)

Wes Anderson's stop-motion film that starred George Clooney as a crafty, thieving fox still holds a special place in Nelson Lowry's heart. That's where, before working on "ParaNorman" and "Kubo and the Two Strings," Lowry got his first crack at production design. "I learned a lot about staying true to your creative vision working with Wes," he says. The "utterly charming" film "turned Roald Dahl's book on its ear(s), by overlaying an adult family theme over a book aimed at the young."

---

12. 'Monsters, Inc.' (2001)

The workplace comedy about two monster dudes employed at a power plant has enormous depth. Sully and Mike work overtime exploring fear, childhood, loss of innocence, and the nature of good and evil.

---

11. 'Princess Mononoke' (1997)

Hayao Miyazaki's epic fantasy centers on the young warrior Ashitaka and feral Princess Mononoke. They meet and he becomes fascinated by this girl raised by wolves fighting people who mean harm to the natural world.

---

10. 'The Iron Giant' (1999)

In Brad Bird's revered fable, Vin Diesel voices a giant alien robot who comes to Earth in 1957 and befriends a boy determined to keep the big guy away from government baddies. Be prepared for a good cry.

---

9. 'Ratatouille' (2007)

"Despicable Me" mastermind Chris Renaud calls Pixar's comedy starring a rodent with big culinary dreams "an absolute masterpiece." Living in Paris, he and his family have an annual "Ratatouille" rewatch, "but it's really at the top of my list because it's a movie that shouldn't work at all. A rat becomes a top chef and wins rave reviews. Completely ridiculous but wonderful!"

---

8. 'Dumbo' (1941)

The beloved musical fantasy is Nathan Greno's favorite animated movie "because it accomplishes more in just 61 minutes than most films do in twice the time," says the "Tangled" director. "It's endlessly charming and every scene feels essential. 'Baby Mine' is the most heartbreaking and emotional sequence ever put on film. And the fact that Dumbo doesn't speak, yet conveys so much emotion, is a testament to the power of visual storytelling."

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7. 'Pinocchio' (1940)

“Frozen” director Chris Buck loves that the treasured puppet tale highlights the genius of Walt Disney’s storytelling and entertainment sense: There’s “gorgeous” animation and backgrounds plus “phenomenal” music, “all wrapped up in a roller coaster of a film with a perfect happy ending,” he says. It’s also a No. 1 choice for director Ron Clements (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin”), who saw Pinocchio at age 9 and “it changed my life,” he adds. “It was after seeing it that I decided I wanted to be an animator and work for Walt Disney.”

---

6. 'My Neighbor Totoro' (1988)

Who wouldn't want to ride in a bus that's also a large cat? In Hayao Miyazaki's Japanese fantasy, two sisters move to the country with their dad and discover a cool world of creatures, including the cute and gigantic forest spirit Totoro.

---

5. 'Shrek 2' (2004)

The follow-up tops “Forgotten Island” star Liza Soberano’s list. “It was the first movie that I ever watched in theaters,” recalls the 28-year-old actress. The sequel also ranks high for “KPop Demon Hunters” director Maggie Kang and “it surpasses the original,” she says. Plus, “it is the greatest example of how animated films can pay tribute to current pop-culture zeitgeist and also serve up timeless character-driven comedy.”

---

4. 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' (2018)

A parade of Spider-People from various dimensions populate this groundbreaking standout with vibrant animation and a clever plot that posits anyone is capable of being a superhero – even a mixed-race teen from Brooklyn.

---

3. 'Spirited Away' (2001)

Several of Hayao Miyazaki's hits are on this list, though none surpasses this beautiful magical tale. A 10-year-old girl wanders into a place packed with spirits, and when a witch turns her parents into pigs, she's forced to figure out an escape plan.

---

2. 'Toy Story' (1995)

One of the most revolutionary animated films of all time, and not only in terms of its animation. A ragdoll cowboy and plastic spaceman fuel a stone-cold classic with emotional storytelling and insights on the human condition.

---

1. 'The Lion King' (1994)

The coming-of-age story of young Simba is simply “a legendary classic,” says Cedric the Entertainer, who voices Maurice in the “Madagascar” franchise. “With that booming voice of the late, great James Earl Jones, you feel the largeness of the film from the outset, and of course the songs by Elton John and Tim Rice are just hit after hit. It checks every box for what a timeless Disney film should be.”

---

Continued from Page 1D

Season 2 of “War,” promising a different legal battle and a fresh set of high-powered clients – with actors Marisa Tomei, Kelly Macdonald, David Harewood and Richard Schiff joining the anthology for a defamation case.

Kay was inspired for “War” after meeting a woman celebrating the end of a bitter four-year divorce battle. He already had written the pilot for Season 1, about the fabulously famous tech split, when both West and Miller signed on. That pilot script featured a movie premiere scene in which divorce papers are delivered dramatically to Carla on the red carpet, as the smiling actress is still publicly on the arm of husband Morgan.

Carla's red-carpet ambush recalls Olivia Wilde being handed custody papers from ex Jason Sudeikis while on-stage at CinemaCon in 2022 (Sudeikis' rep said he had no knowledge of where the papers would be delivered).

"It's a nod to the fact that some people get served in a public environment, like what happened with Olivia Wilde," says Kay. "But it's not based on that."

After West and Miller signed on, Kay said he could hear their voices in his head as he wrote, without drawing on their real-life experiences.

“You start with best actress and actor for this. And if there are real-life parallels you could draw, it doesn’t disturb me in any way,” says Kay. “If you’re going to make a drama about a film star, you need a film star to play the film star. And that’s what Sienna brings. She has the look, the talent and the incredible relationship with the camera that brings Carla to life.”

If anything, Miller brought her own sense of fashion to the role, dressing

Carla in chic, vintage outfits.

“That is something that I am genuinely into in my own life, and that is an aesthetic I wanted to bring to her,” says Miller. “That’s about it in the real similarities.”

West, who starred as Prince Charles in Seasons 5 and 6 of “The Crown,” says his biggest personal contribution to Morgan was making the tech billionaire a little warmer.

“I argued for Morgan to be nicer, because I’m desperate to be liked generally,” says West. “I did love it when he was ruthless. But I probably made him softer than we should have done.” | 1 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 9 | ---

USA TODAY CROSSWORD

EDITED Amie Walker

BY CJ Tan

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COMING UP ROSES

1 Online forum

admins, for short

5 Goals

9 Speck in the sea

13 Bitter-smelling

15 Hurdle for an

aspiring atty.

16 Ready to receive a

pass

17 "Nifty!"

18 "Just doing my

best"

19 Spellcasting tool

20 Occasion for a

tabletop meeting?

22 Spots for some

home gardens

23 Actor de Armas

24 \_\_\_\_ tartare

(alliterative fish

dish)

25 First-class

26 "More info to come

later" (Abbr.)

27 Ballet garment

29 Prof's helpers

32 Scuffles

35 Portmanteau for

a content creator

who might whisper

in videos

37 Midterms or finals

38 Either . in :-)

39 Fear-inducing

40 One may be

lukewarm

42 Approval

43 Educated guess

(Abbr.)

44 Performs like Sexyy

Red

45 "\_\_\_\_ Stuff" (Donna

Summer hit)

46 Engage in an IRL

fantasy battle

48 End of a walkie-

talkie message

50 \_\_\_\_ pen

53 Like fish in need of

scraping

55 "Swear!"

57 In it for the

long ---

58 Prize grabber in an

arcade

Answers: Call 1-800-888-8300

© Andrews McMeel

59 "Leave this instant!"

60 "Thus..."

61 Fine-tune

62 Country where soup joumou is enjoyed

63 Like a fireplace in need of cleaning

64 Apple device whose smallest iteration, ironically, wasn't the Nano

65 Baobabs or banyans

DOWN

1 "One Piece," e.g.

2 Atlantic or Pacific

3 Genre for "The Pitt" or "The Crown"

4 Location

5 Set straight?

6 "I need to know the answer now"

7 Corner store

8 Pigpen

9 Des Moinesian or Davenportter

10 Fifth wheel?

11 Offer temporarily

12 Brings to a close

14 "You have nothing

to apologize for"

21 Birth control

options, for short

22 "I absolutely

agree!"

25 Cash source

26 Short-term

employee

28 Function

30 "C\_\_\_\_

crossword"

31 Editor's "leave

this"

32 \_\_mortals

33 Old flames

34 Vindication for

a comeback

victor

36 Try out

38 Sixth sense, for

short

41 Take an

afternoon rest

42 \*clears throat\*

47 Metallic

mixture

49 Promised

card 1-800-320-4280.

Answers: Call 1-900-988-8300, 99 cents a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-320-4280.

50 Wish granter

51 Be theatrical

52 Fl driver Hamilton

53 \_\_\_\_ butter

54 Pixar movie whose soundtrack includes "Life Is a Highway"

55 "Ice cube dropping into water" sound

56 Skyrocket

58 Ho \_\_\_\_ Minh City

Tuesday's Answer

CROSSWORDS ON YOUR PHONE get our crossword app

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TXTPERT

Across Down

1. 28782467 1. 2688243

5. 6239 2. 7663

8. 4283 3. 2886

10. 653 4. 6683

11. 2326 6. 27666

7. 9273

9. 882

© USA TODAY and Rich Coulter

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Today's theme House and home

Use the phone keypad to decode the clues.

For example: 2 could be A, B or C ... and 5678 could be LOST

Yesterday's solution

More puzzles: PLAY.usatoday.com

Want solutions? answers.usatoday.com

Feedback: feedback@usatoday.com

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SUDOKU

Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 (no repeats). | 6 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 8 | DIFFICULTY RATING ★★★★☆

SUDOKU FUSION ON YOUR PHONE

puzzles.usatoday.com

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KENKEN

© Andrews McMeel

©2026 KenKen Puzzle, LLC www.kenken.com

1. Each row and column must contain the numbers 1 through 4 without repeating.

2. The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners.

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION

Trademark KenKen, LLC Distributed by Andrews McMeel

©2026 KenKen Puzzle, LLC www.kenken.com

3. Freebies: fill in single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner.

Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x2 box contains the numbers 1 through 6 (no repeats). | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | ---

KUBOK 16

By Davide Coppo Difficulty: HARD

Solution to Tuesday's puzzle

©2026 Kubok. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. 10/7/26 All rights reserved.

Enter the missing numbers from 1 to 16 without repetitions so that the sum of the four numbers in each row and column is the same as the corresponding circled number.

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Words

WORD ROUNDUP

By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

Find and Circle:

Seven words with EE in the middle

Six words related to bowling

Three animals starting with D Roman goddess of love and beauty

Use one's brain

Tuesday's answer: APEX FLAX FLEX COAX JINX LYNX / LORRAINE EMMETT GEORGE MARTY BIFF / STORMY CHILLY WINDY / GREECE ITALY / FIELD

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QUICKCROSS

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By John Wilmes

□□□□□□□

□□□□□□

□□□

□

10/7

QUICKCROSS ON YOUR PHONE

puzzles.usatoday.com | BALLGUTTERVH | SEKTEANEEDHN | TFEFZLHWRTIB | RLKELEKGAHSR | IECHEESEPICE | KEUTRYDLSNOE | ECDXFZOPGKRZ | VENUSDINGOEE | ---

UP & DOWN WORDS

By David L. Hoyt and Russell L. Hoyt

10/7

3. A ride up the mountain

4. It grants access at Aspen

5. What admission costs

6. Ballpark cost

7. British luxury SUV

Tuesday

SMALL

TALK

SHOP

WINDOW

SEAT

COVER

LETTER

s Answer

TALK

SHOP

WINDOW

SEAT

COVER

LETTER

OPENER

© Andrews McMeel

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DON'T QUOTE ME® Don't Quote Me

Rearrange the words to complete the quote.

AGAINST DEFENSE HUMOR JUST UNIVERSE

Screenwriter Mel Brooks talks about comedy.

© WIGGLES 3D GAMES

Tuesday's Answer: "A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life to be thankful for a good one." - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

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7 LITTLE WORDS

ACROSS

1 Pointy projection

5 Field cover

9 Aide (Abbr.)

13 Salt lake in Asia

14 Zoo denizen

15 Rend

16 Alliance acronym

17 Living quarters

18 Tex-Mex fare

19 Dog breed

21 — Monkey ice cream

23 Diplomacy

24 Charged particle

25 Skin

27 Clasp

32 Open shoe

34 Wrath

35 — pro nobis

36 Trendy no more

37 Middle ear bone

39 Youth

40 Employ

41 “Now you — it ...”

42 Produces

45 Goes on stubbornly

48 Body joint

49 — Baba

50 Aid and —

52 Outcome

55 Adjacent

Find the 7 words to match the 7 clues. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of letters in each solution. Each letter combination can be used only once, but all letter combinations will be necessary to complete the puzzle.

1 reaching great heights (7)

2 soft and fluffy (7)

3 whittling (7)

4 cozy goat wool (8)

5 giant pine species (9)

6 cure-all (7)

7 sounding like Hook's nemesis (7)

Tuesday's Answers: 1. DUSTERS 2. TOUGHER 3. EASILY 4. PANES 5. GUARDS 6. PASTEUR 7. NATURAL

DOWN

1 Prohibition

2 Graceful horse

3 Appraise

4 Swollen with fluid

5 India neighbor

6 In the past

7 Crimson

8 On the nose

9 Bring into accord

10 Actor — Penn

11 Bag

12 Helen of —

14 Soapstone

20 Fete

22 Fiery

25 Stop for a moment

26 Inscribe

27 Wallet items

28 "Exodus" hero

29 Aristocratic

30 Destroy by degrees

31 Sunbeams

58 Energy cartel

59 Become as one

62 Bridge position

64 Simple

65 Stage setting

66 Toward shelter

67 Look

68 Paradise

69 Make weary

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BONUS CROSSWORD

10-7-26 © 2026 UFS, Dist. by Andrews McMeel for UFS

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PREVIOUS PUZZLE SOLVED

32 Broth

33 Languor

38 After deductions

43 Home

furnishings giant

44 Beg

46 Table setting

piece

47 Badly

50 Actor — Yelchin

51 Lager

52 Play

boisterously

53 Sword

54 Dried out

THE

56 Place near Java

57 River in France

60 Actor — Beatty

61 Frozen dessert

63 Golf peg

BOOKS

Romano shares her lessons of child stardom

Christy Carlson Romano's memoir is out now. PROVIDED BY SIMON ELEMENT

Edward Segarra

USA TODAY

Christy Carlson Romano knows how to play a role, but finding herself has proven to be her greatest performance.

The Emmy-nominated actress and Disney Channel alum looks back on her turbulent upbringing in the spotlight in her debut memoir “Once Upon a

Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star" (out now).

Romano, alongside fellow Disney darlings Shia LaBeouf, Hilary Duff and Raven-Symoné, epitomized teen stardom in the early 2000s, appearing in TV shows and movies such as “Even Stevens,” “Cadet Kelly” and “Kim Possible.”

Despite her success, Romano felt adrift in young Hollywood, intimidated by the upper echelons of prime-time dramas and glossy magazine covers.

"I was really just trying to fit into whatever opportunity was thrown my way, rather than kind of create my own identity so that opportunities would find me in a different light," Romano says. "I didn't have a stylist or a publicist, and I didn't really invest in myself the way that maybe I should have, to get to know exactly who I wanted to be, even if [that] changed over the years."

Romano learned to hone that identity with the help of social media. Beginning in 2019, she launched vlogs and podcasts, which allowed her to both embrace nostalgia and redefine her image.

"I feel like I've managed to come out on top in my own way because I've been able to find multiple platforms, whether it's been in podcasting or creating content," she says. "I've been able to create a whole other path of income for my family and myself, as well as really touch new lives and be able to find old followers. ... But it's on my terms."

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Romano shares her surprising stance on child stars

Romano may have been a showbiz kid, but that doesn't mean she wants the next generation to follow in her footsteps.

The actress, who began her entertainment career at 6, writes candidly about her “opposition to child labor in Hollywood,” arguing that there’s a “fine line between supporting a child’s dreams and setting them up for failure.”

Although Romano enjoyed the performing arts, she shared that her childhood outlook was heavily distorted by the “adult environments” she grew up in, which often featured sexual humor and nudity backstage.

Now 42, Romano stresses the importance of having “strict regulations” for young artists, such as requiring social workers to be present on set and assigning individual workers to represent every child performer.

“Having advocates around you as a child will help you grow up with a more healthy understanding that you had people there in your corner protecting you as a child,” Romano says. “I think that trauma compounds when you get older and you look back and say, ‘No one

was there for me."

---

She won't be a stage mom

Romano's rise to stardom was a family affair, but she wants to do things differently with her kids.

In “Once Upon a Trainwreck,” she reflects on her relationship with mother Sharon, who guided her early career. Romano details her mom’s dedication – shepherding her through the streets of New York City for Broadway auditions and later moving cross-country when she was cast on the Disney Channel – as well as the emotional complications of their professionally driven bond.

Romano, who shares daughters Isabella and Sofia with husband Brendan Rooney, has no plan to raise the next superstar.

"My husband and I would make really great stage parents, but it's also a tremendous amount of responsibility to sacrifice your career for your children's career. And it's not for everyone," she says.

The actress said while she would support her children's involvement in the arts, any of their pursuits would have to "start small, and certainly not at a level that would be like pushing them into a casting office just because I have the resources to do that.

“I do think that stage parents have a certain psychological profile in being so self-sacrificial, and that’s not for me,” Romano says. “Making money from something becomes a very different experience than just enjoying it for the sake of learning about it.”

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Romano gushes over comeback

This holiday season will be extra special for Romano.

The actress stars in the Hallmark Channel film “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True,” her first major role in seven years, alongside Lacey Chabert. The Christmas movie, set at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, marks something of a full circle for the former Disney Channel star.

“It felt like coming home because I have a skill set that I started with very, very young,” Romano says, calling the filming a “really beautiful experience.”

"I play Lacey Chabert's older sister, but I'm in the entire movie with her because we're at Walt Disney World and running around and riding rides and talking about her boy trouble," Romano continues. "Not all sets are the same, but this particular set was really a very joyful place."

Twenty-six years after she made her Disney debut in “Even Stevens,” Romano hopes her now-classic roles can continue to bring “fun and joy” to fans’ lives, even with the vulnerable revelations she shares in her memoir.

“Me talking about my life in the context of a serious tone just gives people maybe more appreciation for the sacrifices that were made to keep them sort of enjoying it,” Romano says. “I don’t wish to scare or hurt anybody by talking about the truth. There’s this cognitive dissonance that I think affects people differently – sometimes they get mad, sometimes they’re terribly sad. But ultimately, I just hope that the work can be appreciated as time goes by.”

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NATION&WORLD EXTRA

WHAT'S NEXT FOR GAZA?

Palestinian children stand on the roof of a building at the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza. Israel's war in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack has left most of Gaza in ruins and killed more than 74,200 people. BASHAR TALEB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Ceasefire plan hasn't progressed in a year

REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lays a wreath during the state memorial ceremony for the third anniversary of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on Oct. 5. Netanyahu vowed during the event that there would be no Hamas rule in Gaza. DEBBIE HILL/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

JERUSALEM — President Donald Trump's plan to end the Gaza war has stalled, with Israel mounting near daily attacks and occupying around two-thirds of the shattered enclave where Palestinians face dire conditions. ● The initial phase resulted in a ceasefire on Oct. 10, 2025, and secured the release of the last remaining hostages seized in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, along with freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel. ● But other goals, including disarming Hamas, securing Israeli withdrawal and rebuilding Gaza, appear far from reach.

The war in Gaza sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel has resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to official Israeli figures. The massive Israeli offensive in response has left most of Gaza in ruins, and a ceasefire deal reached last year has yet to progress toward resolution and rebuilding. BASHAR TALEB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

What did the plan lay out?

The first phase of Trump's 20-point plan included a suspension of all military operations, Israeli withdrawal from part of the enclave, hostage and prisoner releases and a surge in aid.

Later phases foresaw Hamas disarming and new governance by a Palestinian body overseen by the Trump-led Board of Peace. Israel would gradually withdraw, handing territory to a temporary International Stabilization Force.

“Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough,” the plan said.

There has been no return to full-scale military operations, but Israeli strikes have continued during the ceasefire. Gaza's health ministry says at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since the October 2025 agreement.

Israel says its strikes have targeted Hamas, accusing the group of trying to carry out attacks and rearm. Hamas denies this.

Five Israeli soldiers have been killed by Palestinian militants or in combat since the ceasefire, according to the Israeli military.

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How much of Gaza does Israel occupy today?

Most of the enclave remains in Israeli control.

The initial phase of Trump's plan foresaw Israel withdrawing to a socalled “yellow line” that left Israeli troops in control of 53% of Gaza. Since then, the Israeli military has expanded its effective control to around two-thirds of the territory.

The advancing yellow line has uprooted more Palestinians, squeezing the population of 2 million into a shrinking coastal strip where they shelter in tents and damaged buildings.

Israel-backed Palestinian militias opposing Hamas use the Israeli-held zone to launch attacks into Hamas-controlled areas.

See GAZA, Page 4NN

New York declares measles disaster emergency

🔗 [系统已自动跨页缝合转版续文：《Gaza》]

NN

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It's the 1st declaration in U.S. since 2025 surge

REUTERS

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency on Oct. 5 over a measles outbreak, the first such declaration by a state since cases began surging in 2025.

The state also expanded the pool of health professionals allowed to administer measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines as cases rise in rural communities.

“No one should get seriously ill or die from a vaccine-preventable disease,” Hochul said in a statement.

New York has reported 108 measles cases this year through Oct. 3, including 92 since July 15 in under-immunized rural communities across 18 counties, well above typical annual levels, according to the executive order.

Seven of the cases are in New York City and 101 are elsewhere in the state, the governor's office said. Local health departments have administered more than 1,000 MMR doses in rural areas since July 15.

Neighboring Pennsylvania has a fast-spreading outbreak, with 977 cases and five deaths as of Oct. 2, mostly in rural counties that border New York, the order said.

Pennsylvania health officials said the state's total had passed 1,000 cases, making it the largest state outbreak in more than three decades.

The United States is having its worst year for measles since 1991, with nearly 3,900 cases reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The order allows registered nurses to order tests for suspected measles and pharmacists to vaccinate children as young as two. It also requires all MMR vaccinations to be reported to state or New York City immunization registries within 72 hours, while waiving adults' consent for such reporting.

Vaccination itself still requires the consent of the patient or a legal guardian. The emergency runs through Nov. 4.

Voters line up as early voting in Ohio begins

Campaigns heat up for 3 'toss-up' races in state

Richard Cowan

REUTERS

MEDINA, OH — Voters started lining up while it was still dark on Oct. 6 at the Medina County Board of Elections on first day of early voting in Ohio, a state that looms large in the nationwide campaigns battling for control of Congress.

If this biennial midterm election is similar to years past, voter turnout will be lower than in the presidential elections every four years.

But at least in Medina County in northeast Ohio, residents lining up at 7:15 a.m. were taking seriously their right to vote at a time when one U.S. Senate race and two for the U.S. House in the state are seen as “toss-ups,” according to the Cook Political Report.

Registered Republicans, Democrats

See VOTERS, Page 4NN

We make life simpler, safer, and better. Visit AccuWeather.com or get the app.

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NATIONAL SUMMARY

AccuWeather.

[QR Code]

Spotty showers will dot northern portions of the Northeast today. A few thundershowers will develop across portions of the Rockies. In coastal Texas and Florida, showers and thunderstorms are forecast to produce ponding on roadways. A major heat wave will persist in the Southwest. A tropical storm is expected to brew in the Gulf.

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TUESDAY EXTREMES

NATIONAL (for the 48 contiguous states) | High: | 106 at El Cajon, CA | Low: | 27 at West Yellowstone, MT | Precip: | 4.98" at Jacksonville, FL | INTERNATIONAL (excludes Antarctica)

NATIONAL CITIES WEDNESDAY | High/low/W | Air Quality | Aberdeen, SD | 74/40/s | 48 | Abilene, TX | 90/60/s | 51 | Accomac, VA | 68/54/s | 41 | Adrian, MI | 75/49/s | 25 | Akron, OH | 71/52/s | 75 | Alamogordo, NM | 85/58/s | 42 | Alexandria, VA | 73/51/s | 33 | Alliance, OH | 71/48/s | 75 | Amarillo, TX | 84/57/pc | 25 | Ames, IA | 78/45/s | 75 | Anderson, SC | 81/53/s | 48 | Appleton, WI | 73/45/pc | 25 | Asheville, NC | 78/51/s | 48 | Ashland, OH | 72/48/s | 75 | Athens, GA | 81/54/s | 50 | Augusta, GA | 83/52/pc | 56 | Austin, TX | 90/64/s | 75 | Bartlesville, OK | 90/55/s | 60 | Battle Creek, MI | 72/48/pc | 25 | Bedford, IN | 81/53/s | 64 | Binghamton, NY | 65/52/s | 29 | Bluffton, SC | 80/66/c | 38 | Bremerton, WA | 70/45/s | 39 | Brockton, MA | 65/51/s | 40 | Brownwood, TX | 89/56/s | 58 | Burlington, IA | 80/50/s | 55 | Burlington, NC | 78/51/s | 45 | Burlington, VT | 63/54/sh | 40 | Cambridge, OH | 75/50/s | 45 | Camdenton, MO | 88/57/s | 54 | Canandaigua, NY | 70/52/pc | 29 | Canton, OH | 71/49/s | 75 | Carlsbad, NM | 85/59/s | 56 | Chambersburg, PA | 73/51/s | 28 | Cherry Hill, NJ | 69/53/s | 50 | Cincinnati, OH | 80/55/s | 52 | Clarksville, TN | 86/57/s | 49 | Coldwater, MI | 74/48/pc | 25 | Columbus, OH | 77/53/s | 60 | Corning, NY | 70/48/s | 43 | Corpus Christi, TX | 92/73/t | 25 | ●Daytona Beach, FL | 81/74/t | 25 | Deming, NM | 86/59/t | 46 | DeRidder, LA | 93/65/s | 39 | Des Moines, IA | 78/51/s | 75 | Detroit, MI | 74/50/pc | 25 | Devils Lake, ND | 65/43/s | 31 | Dover, NH | 64/49/s | 25 | El Paso, TX | 86/64/s | 75 | Elmira, NY | 69/47/s | 43 | ●Erie, PA | 71/55/pc | 50 | Eugene, OR | 79/45/s | 25 | High: | 112 at Omidieh, Irna | Low: | -13 at Batagay, Russia | Precip: | 4.98" at Jacksonville, USA | High/low/W | Air Quality | Evansville, IN | 84/56/s | 75 | Fall River, MA | 64/55/s | 40 | Farmington, NM | 79/50/s | 80 | Fayetteville, NC | 78/52/s | 45 | Fond du Lac, WI | 73/46/pc | 25 | Fort Myers, FL | 86/76/t | 25 | Fort Smith, AR | 88/59/pc | 64 | Framingham, MA | 66/51/s | 40 | Freeport, IL | 77/48/pc | 25 | Fremont, OH | 76/51/s | 52 | Fort Collins, CO | 87/54/s | 25 | Gadsden, AL | 84/49/s | 89 | Gainesville, FL | 79/72/t | 25 | Galesburg, IL | 79/48/s | 25 | Gastonia, NC | 78/50/s | 48 | Glen Rose, TX | 89/55/s | 67 | Gonzales, LA | 89/68/pc | 50 | Great Falls, MT | 71/43/pc | 38 | Green Bay, WI | 73/43/pc | 25 | Greenville, SC | 78/52/s | 48 | Hackensack, NJ | 69/53/s | 47 | Hagerstown, MD | 74/54/s | 28 | Hattiesburg, MS | 89/62/s | 29 | Henderson, KY | 83/53/s | 75 | Hendersonville, NC | 75/50/s | 48 | Herkimer, NY | 69/53/pc | 32 | Hillsdale, MI | 74/49/pc | 25 | Holland, MI | 68/52/s | 25 | Hornell, NY | 70/50/pc | 44 | Houma, LA | 85/71/t | 44 | Howell, MI | 74/48/pc | 25 | Hutchinson, KS | 87/55/s | 58 | Hyannis, MA | 63/56/s | 40 | Indianapolis, IN | 81/53/s | 75 | Iowa City, IA | 78/50/s | 47 | Ithaca, NY | 69/50/s | 29 | Jackson, MS | 90/61/s | 47 | Jackson, TN | 87/52/s | 63 | Jacksonville, FL | 81/71/t | 25 | Jacksonville, NC | 79/57/pc | 42 | Kent, OH | 70/48/s | 75 | Kewanee, IL | 79/49/pc | 25 | Keyser, WV | 77/53/s | 22 | Kinston, NC | 79/51/s | 42 | Knoxville, TN | 81/56/s | 51 | Lafayette, IN | 81/49/s | 48 | Lafayette, LA | 90/68/pc | 44 | Lakeland, FL | 80/73/t | 25 | Lansing, MI | 73/47/pc | 25 | Las Cruces, NM | 83/58/s | 71 | Lebanon, PA | 70/50/s | 55 | Leesburg, FL | 80/73/t | 25 | ---

TODAY IN HISTORY

On Oct. 7, 1902, a waterspout was spotted off Cape May, N.J. When the first chilly air masses of fall cross warm bodies of water, waterspouts form. Although related to tornadoes, they are generally weaker. | High/low/W | Air Quality | Levittown, PA | 69/52/s | 50 | Lincoln, IL | 83/50/s | 25 | Louisville, KY | 83/60/s | 75 | Lubbock, TX | 85/58/pc | 25 | Manitowoc, WI | 72/48/pc | 25 | Mansfield, OH | 73/50/s | 53 | Marshall, NC | 76/50/s | 45 | Marshfield, WI | 71/42/pc | 25 | Massillon, OH | 72/48/s | 75 | McLean, VA | 73/50/s | 33 | Melbourne, FL | 83/74/t | 25 | Memphis, TN | 87/62/s | 93 | Middletown, NY | 65/46/s | 30 | Milford, MA | 65/51/s | 40 | Milwaukee, WI | 73/49/pc | 25 | Monroe, MI | 75/50/pc | 25 | Monroe, LA | 94/64/pc | 53 | Montgomery, AL | 87/57/s | 40 | Muncie, IN | 80/49/s | 49 | Murfreesboro, TN | 87/52/s | 51 | Naples, FL | 88/76/t | 25 | Nashville, TN | 86/58/s | 51 | Neptune, NJ | 69/57/s | 45 | New Bedford, MA | 65/55/s | 40 | New Bern, NC | 77/55/s | 42 | New Philadelphia, OH | 73/47/s | 75 | Newark, OH | 75/49/s | 60 | Newton, NJ | 65/46/s | 50 | New York, NY | 67/56/s | 47 | Norwich, CT | 64/52/s | 22 | Ocala, FL | 78/71/t | 25 | Oklahoma City, OK | 90/60/s | 70 | Opelousas, LA | 90/65/pc | 44 | Oshkosh, WI | 72/46/pc | 25 | Palm Beach, FL | 88/79/t | 25 | Palm Springs, CA | 106/83/s | 54 | Panama City, FL | 83/70/t | 25 | Pekin, IL | 81/52/s | 25 | Pensacola, FL | 84/70/c | 25 | Peoria, IL | 81/51/s | 25 | Petersburg, VA | 75/51/s | 28 | Phoenix, AZ | 100/80/s | 97 | Port Huron, MI | 73/45/s | 38 | Portsmouth, NH | 67/54/s | 25 | Poughkeepsie, NY | 69/51/s | 30 | Providence, RI | 66/55/s | 41 | Pueblo, CO | 85/48/s | 25 | Quincy, MA | 66/53/s | 40 | Redding, CA | 100/60/s | 60 | Reno, NV | 88/51/s | 25 | Ravenna, OH | 70/48/s | 75 | Richmond, IN | 79/49/s | 51 | ---

WEATHER TRIVIA™

Q: What machine is sometimes used to disperse fog at airports?

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A: A helicopter

• Denotes possible travel delays | High/low/W | Air Quality | ● Rochester, NY | 69/53/pc | 43 | Rockford, IL | 77/47/pc | 25 | Ruidoso, NM | 74/47/s | 45 | Salem, OR | 79/48/s | 50 | Salina, KS | 86/57/s | 75 | Salinas, CA | 89/58/s | 53 | Salisbury, MD | 72/55/s | 28 | San Angelo, TX | 89/56/s | 47 | ● Sarasota, FL | 84/76/t | 25 | Savannah, GA | 81/64/c | 40 | Sheboygan, WI | 72/49/pc | 25 | Shelby, NC | 76/49/s | 48 | Sherman, TX | 88/58/s | 69 | Shreveport, LA | 91/63/s | 55 | Silver City, NM | 79/55/t | 43 | Sioux Falls, SD | 75/44/s | 75 | Somerset, PA | 69/52/s | 34 | Somerville, NJ | 69/47/s | 50 | South Bend, IN | 74/51/s | 25 | Spartanburg, SC | 78/53/s | 48 | Springfield, IL | 85/50/s | 25 | Springfield, MO | 88/57/s | 67 | ● St. Augustine, FL | 80/74/t | 25 | St. Cloud, MN | 71/40/s | 33 | St. George, UT | 92/64/s | 25 | Staunton, VA | 76/47/s | 44 | Stevens Point, WI | 73/43/pc | 25 | Stockton, CA | 101/60/s | 84 | Stroudsburg, PA | 67/47/s | 50 | ● Stuart, FL | 87/75/t | 25 | Sturgis, MI | 73/50/s | 25 | Tallahassee, FL | 83/69/t | 25 | Thibodaux, LA | 87/69/t | 44 | Topeka, KS | 85/54/s | 70 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 89/57/s | 54 | ● Utica, NY | 68/52/pc | 33 | Ventura, CA | 80/64/s | 84 | Victorville, CA | 97/59/s | 51 | Vineland, NJ | 68/50/s | 45 | Visalia, CA | 100/61/s | 112 | Washington, DC | 73/56/s | 33 | Watertown, SD | 70/42/s | 64 | Wausau, WI | 71/42/pc | 25 | Waynesboro, PA | 73/52/s | 28 | White Plains, NY | 66/54/s | 22 | Wichita Falls, TX | 90/58/s | 55 | Wilmington, DE | 71/54/s | 33 | Wilmington, NC | 79/59/pc | 48 | Wisconsin Rapids, WI | 73/43/pc | 25 | Wooster, OH | 72/48/s | 75 | Worcester, MA | 62/51/s | 40 | York, PA | 72/52/s | 55 | Air Quality Index: 0-50, Good; 51-100, Moderate; 101-150, Unhealthy for sensitive groups; 151-200, Unhealthy; 201-300, Very unhealthy; 301-500, Hazardous

INTERNATIONAL CITIES | WednesdayHigh/low/W | ThursdayHigh/low/W | Acapulco | 87/75/r | 84/75/r | Addis Ababa | 77/52/sh | 77/51/pc | Algiers | 87/67/t | 83/65/sh | Amman | 80/61/s | 85/64/s | Amsterdam | 69/53/c | 60/51/r | Ankara | 72/45/s | 73/45/s | Asuncion | 90/75/t | 86/70/t | Athens | 78/56/s | 77/61/s | Auckland | 65/53/s | 68/52/pc | Baghdad | 94/80/c | 95/80/pc | Bangkok | 91/78/r | 94/79/r | Beijing | 81/47/s | 81/50/pc | Beirut | 82/70/s | 84/73/s | Belgrade | 80/51/pc | 82/62/s | Berlin | 72/49/pc | 65/46/r | Bogota | 67/50/r | 67/52/r | Brussels | 73/53/sh | 58/47/sh | Bucharest | 78/50/pc | 79/51/pc | Budapest | 78/47/pc | 78/54/t | Buenos Aires | 66/61/sh | 66/56/r | Cairo | 85/67/pc | 86/68/pc | - Denotes possible travel delays Wednesday | WednesdayHigh/low/W | ThursdayHigh/low/W | Cape Town | 68/49/s | 67/53/pc | Caracas | 93/79/r | 92/77/r | Casablanca | 80/62/pc | 79/60/sh | Colombo | 90/75/r | 90/76/r | Copenhagen | 60/55/sh | 60/48/r | Damascus | 82/53/s | 87/58/s | Dublin | 55/41/s | 58/52/r | Geneva | 64/56/sh | 58/43/sh | Guatemala City | 79/64/t | 77/63/t | Hanoi | 90/70/s | 92/72/s | Harare | 83/60/pc | 80/59/t | Havana | 89/73/r | 89/73/r | Helsinki | 57/46/r | 57/54/c | Hong Kong | 86/77/pc | 87/78/c | Jakarta | 93/77/sh | 94/77/pc | Jerusalem | 76/61/s | 79/62/s | Johannesburg | 78/53/pc | 78/57/pc | Kabul | 79/57/pc | 79/55/pc | Khartoum | 103/84/pc | 100/85/t | Kyiv | 70/53/s | 74/53/pc | Kingston | 92/80/t | 91/80/c | WednesdayHigh/low/W | ThursdayHigh/low/W | La Paz | 66/32/s | 66/35/s | Lagos | 85/76/t | 86/76/r | Lima | 79/72/pc | 79/72/pc | Lisbon | 75/61/t | 81/61/s | London | 59/45/sh | 60/50/s | Madrid | 72/54/sh | 71/43/s | Manila | 92/79/t | 91/79/t | Mexico City | 73/55/sh | 72/57/r | Milan | 69/61/r | 69/57/r | Mombasa | 86/74/r | 88/74/r | Montevideo | 69/59/sh | 66/57/r | Montreal | 61/53/sh | 62/45/sh | Moscow | 60/41/s | 58/46/pc | Nairobi | 79/63/t | 81/62/t | New Delhi | 97/75/pc | 95/75/s | Panama City | 89/75/t | 89/76/t | Paris | 69/50/sh | 60/44/r | Port-au-Prince | 94/75/pc | 90/73/pc | Rio de Janeiro | 78/72/c | 80/72/s | Riyadh | 105/79/pc | 105/79/pc | Rome | 78/67/pc | 77/64/sh | WednesdayHigh/low/W | ThursdayHigh/low/W | San Jose | 84/69/r | 84/68/r | San Salvador | 84/68/r | 85/69/r | Santiago | 67/48/r | 66/48/r | Sao Paulo | 75/63/sh | 85/68/pc | Sarajevo | 77/53/s | 73/56/pc | Shanghai | 82/57/pc | 80/64/pc | Singapore | 93/79/t | 93/80/t | Stockholm | 56/40/pc | 55/41/r | Sydney | 65/56/r | 66/54/sh | Taipei | 80/71/pc | 84/72/pc | Tegucigalpa | 84/66/t | 84/65/t | Tehran | 86/70/pc | 85/68/pc | Tokyo | 75/63/sh | 76/62/s | Toronto | 69/50/pc | 65/45/s | Tunis | 93/71/pc | 92/70/pc | Vancouver | 60/49/pc | 62/53/pc | Vienna | 77/53/s | 76/53/pc | Warsaw | 70/48/pc | 75/49/pc | Yerevan | 65/50/s | 68/51/s | Zagreb | 75/52/pc | 71/54/pc | Zurich | 75/55/pc | 59/41/sh | Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

People walk outside Nairobi Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, where the nation's first Ebola patient had been admitted before he died Oct. 5. MONICAH MWANGI/REUTERS

Kenya confirms its first case of Ebola

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Man who traveled from Congo dies

REUTERS

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya confirmed its first Ebola case on Oct. 6 after a Kenyan citizen who had traveled from Congo died in Nairobi.

Kenya is the fourth country to record a case linked to the Ebola epidemic in eastern Congo, the second largest on record with more than 8,000 cases.

Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths earlier in the year but was declared Ebola-free in August. A doctor who returned to France in June from Congo tested positive, but there was no further spread of the virus.

The Kenyan patient, who had lived in Congo for seven years, had been ill for about a month before traveling by road from Congo to Uganda's capital, Kampala, and then flying to Nairobi on Oct. 3, Kenya's Health Minister Aden Duale told a news conference.

After arriving at Nairobi's international airport, he passed through health screening and was later taken by a relative to Nairobi Hospital. He was admitted with fever, chills and bleeding beneath the skin and was quickly placed in isolation, Duale said.

He died late on Oct. 5.

Eight of his family members and 21 healthcare workers who attended to him have been quarantined and are being monitored, Kenyan President William Ruto's office said.

The patient was buried under protocols designed to prevent further spread of the virus, Ruto's office said.

Health authorities are trying to trace 23 passengers and four crew members who were on his Jambojet flight, Duale said.

The health minister said Kenya had trained nearly 5,000 health workers across the country on prevention and management and the United Nations' senior Ebola coordinator, Julien Harneis, told Reuters he expected a “solid health response” from Kenya to manage the disease.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement that it was immediately sending a high-level team to Kenya to provide support, adding that the case “underscores the importance of sustained preparedness across the region.”

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the WHO was supporting the Kenyan and Ugandan governments and recommended against any travel restrictions on countries affected by the outbreak.

Nevertheless, the incident raised questions about measures meant to prevent the spread of the virus across borders.

Kenya's health ministry director-general, Patrick Amoth, said the patient may have passed through airport screening because medication had masked his symptoms.

Uganda's health ministry said screening teams observed he had a normal temperature at Entebbe airport.

It was also not clear how he had crossed from Congo into Uganda, given that the border has been closed since May.

The Africa CDC said he spent a night in Uganda before boarding the flight to Kenya.

Asked about this, Ugandan government spokesperson Alan Kasujja said in a text message: "Leave Uganda out of this conversation ... We don't have Ebola here."

After the outbreak was declared in Congo, the United States built a 50-bed Ebola quarantine camp for U.S. citizens on an air force base in central Kenya.

The facility is currently empty and has only housed seven people. Kenyan officials have said it could receive Kenyans and other nationalities, but the U.S. government has not confirmed that.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, whether living or dead. The disease can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhea and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.

The outbreak in Congo was declared in mid-May but may have started months earlier. Caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, it has been blamed for more than 4,000 deaths.

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TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Oct. 7. On this date in:

1765: The Stamp Act Congress convened in New York City with representatives from nine colonies meeting to protest the British Stamp Act, which imposed the first direct tax by the British Crown upon the American colonies.

1916: Georgia Tech's football team recorded the highest score in college football history, with a 222-0 win against Cumberland College. The Heisman Trophy was later named in honor of the team's coach, John Heisman.

1949: The German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany, was officially established during the Cold War. It was dominated by the USSR until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, leading to Germany's reunification in October 1990.

1985: The Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro was hijacked by members of the Palestinian Liberation Front in the Mediterranean. The hijackers surrendered two days later, but not before one passenger, Jewish New Yorker Leon Klinghoffer, was shot dead and thrown overboard in his wheelchair.

1993: Toni Morrison became the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her work includes the critically acclaimed novels "The Bluest Eye," "Song of Solomon" and "Beloved."

1996: The Fox News Channel made its debut.

1998: University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was beaten and tortured, then tied to a prairie fence and left to die, in an anti-gay hate crime that shocked the world. His death led to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009.

2001: The United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan with air strikes against al-Qaida and the Taliban, marking the start of the U.S.-led war on terrorism following the 9/11 attacks.

2003: Famous actor and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California in a special recall election. He served as the state's governor until 2011.

2008: Popular music streaming service Spotify was publicly launched.

2010: A Chilean mining accident that kept the world riveted ended with all 33 trapped miners safely rescued after 69 days underground.

2011: Preorders began for the iPhone 4S, Apple's fifth-generation smartphone, which introduced the now-iconic voice assistant, Siri, to millions of users worldwide.

2023: Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border into Israel in a surprise attack, killing over a thousand people — including families in residential communities and hundreds attending an international music festival — and taking at least 250 hostages. The resulting war between Israel and Hamas devastated the territory of Gaza and left at least tens of thousands of residents dead.

— USA TODAY Network

FINANCIAL MARKETS

S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record closing highs

Stephen Culp and Tharuniyaa Lakshmi

REUTERS

NEW YORK — Stocks ended higher on Oct. 6 as crude prices steadied and U.S. Treasury yields eased, offering some reprieve from concerns that have preoccupied investors in recent weeks, and allowing markets to turn their attention to the approaching third-quarter reporting season.

The broad rally pushed the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to all-time closing highs.

The blue-chip Dow remains just over 5% shy of its record closing level reached on Aug. 5.

When oil prices stabilize or move lower, “that causes yields to move down because there’s less anxiety about energy-driven inflation, which in turn is helping lift stocks higher,” said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors in New York. “This has been the narrative of the market for the last couple of weeks.”

Six of the “Magnificent Seven” group of AI-linked megacap firms advanced, bolstering gains, while small-caps lagged their larger-cap counterparts.

The AI trade is very much alive, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index gaining ground. Expenditures on AI-related infrastructure were reflected in international trade data, which showed imports of capital goods rose by 4.4% in August.

The Commerce Department's report showed the U.S. trade deficit grew by $13.7\%$ as imports rose to a record high. On monthly and annual bases, imports have grown by $4.3\%$ and $28.4\%$ , respectively, reflecting robust domestic demand that could exacerbate inflation pressures, particularly amid war-related supply constraints.

Even so, financial markets are currently pricing in a diminishing probability of 19.4% that the U.S. Federal Reserve will implement its second consecutive rate hike at this month's monetary policy meeting, down from 50.9% a week ago, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

Fed rate hike bets have been responsive to oil prices, which have surged amid the Iran war, threatening to morph into broader price pressures. But supply worries eased after the Group of Seven countries reached an agreement to release emergency diesel and crude stockpiles, helping to stabilize front-month WTI and Brent crude futures.

"We don't expect [the Fed] to do anything at the next meeting," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York. "But I think they're in a gradual hiking cycle."

“High oil prices have hit a broad range of consumers,” Ghriskey added. “That’s one of the reasons for the recent Fed hike.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 253.14 points, or 0.49%, to 51,521.04, the S&P 500 gained 45.00 points, or 0.58%, to 7,818.95 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 122.48 points, or 0.45%, to 27,599.79.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but healthcare gained ground, with utilities leading the way.

Third-quarter earnings season kicks off next week, with a number of financial firms expected to report on Oct. 13.

Analysts currently expect annual S&P 500 earnings growth of 30.6%, in aggregate, for the July-to-September period, led by an expected 114.7% jump in energy earnings, followed by a 66.5% estimated surge in tech results, according to LSEG.

Marvell Technology climbed 5.8% following the chip designer's 2028 revenue forecast hike due to strong demand for its data center chips.

Chipmaker AMD gained 2.8% after CEO Lisa Su said it plans to substantially increase its chip supply in 2027 to meet booming AI demand.

Constellation Energy jumped 12.3% after Alphabet entered into a 3,590-megawatt power deal with the company.

Option Care Health soared 32.7% after drug distributor McKesson and private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice agreed to buy the infusion therapy provider in a deal worth about \$5.8 billion, including debt.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.93-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange. There were 258 new highs and 219 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 2,394 stocks rose and 2,378 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.01-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 23 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 61 new highs and 182 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 16.50 billion shares, compared with the 17.51 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

---

NEWS IN BRIEF

Cornell hires ex-Justice Dept. official to review rape response

Cornell University has hired a top former Justice Department lawyer for an internal investigation of how it handled a student's allegations that she was gang-raped, a case that has brought mounting scrutiny and triggered student protests at the Ivy League school.

Sally Yates, who served as deputy U.S. attorney general from 2015 to 2017, will conduct an independent review of how Cornell prevents and responds to sexual assault claims, university officials said on Oct. 6.

The investigation by Yates, now a partner at law firm King & Spalding, will include a “detailed review” of Cornell’s response to the student’s claims that she was sexually assaulted by multiple men during a fraternity party in October 2024.

The student, referred to as Jane Doe in a lawsuit she filed against Cornell and seven fraternity members, has said the Ithaca, New York university failed to adequately investigate and punish the fraternity members involved.

A newly formed Special Committee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees said Yates will have “full independence” to conduct her review.

A lawyer for Jane Doe, Thomas Giuffra, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff on Oct. 3 called the alleged sexual assault case a “defining moment” and said the university “must do better.”

In her lawsuit, filed in September, Jane Doe said she had reported the alleged assault to police several weeks after the fact, leading to an internal university investigation and a law enforcement probe, but the local prosecutor declined to bring criminal charges.

Cornell, which has defended its response to the original report, shut down the Chi Phi chapter and imposed a range of discipline on the fraternity members involved, including expulsions and other sanctions.

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TN execution survivor conscious and speaking, lawyers say

Christa Pike, who survived a Tennessee attempt to execute her by lethal injection last week, has regained consciousness and is speaking, her lawyers said in a statement on Oct. 6.

Despite severe injuries to her arms, Pike, 50, is “still handcuffed and shackled to the bed,” where she “continues to receive critical medical care,” her team of public defense attorneys wrote.

Pike, sentenced to death for her role in the torture-murder of a schoolmate three decades ago, survived a botched execution attempt on the night of Sept. 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville and has been hospitalized since then.

The episode capped a 30-year saga that began with the murder of a 19-year-old vocational student, Colleen Slemmer, by an emotionally troubled classmate whose punishment, her lawyers say, failed to account for her own childhood trauma as the victim of sexual abuse, neglect and untreated mental illness.

Pike went from being the first woman Tennessee had tried to put to death in more than 200 years to becoming the first person in the United States known to have survived after execution drugs were administered.

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Northeast Democrats urge action as heating oil costs surge

Democratic lawmakers from northeastern states urged Energy Secretary Chris Wright to take action to cut soaring heating oil costs they blamed on President Donald Trump's war with Iran and administration policies, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Oct. 6.

Led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the lawmakers said in a letter dated Oct. 5 that heating oil prices were about 60% higher than before the conflict and that families could pay roughly \$600 more to heat their homes this winter.

Heating oil and diesel are fuels produced from the same refining stream, meaning tight supplies and higher diesel prices can also boost heating oil costs.

About one-third of New England homes use heating oil with the share reaching about half in some states.

“We urge you to support an immediate end to the war and to stop blocking or restricting Department of Energy programs that would help American families lower their energy bills,” the lawmakers wrote.

Reuters

Voters

Continued from Page 1NN

and independents interviewed by Reuters all shared similar frustrations: they are exhausted by political ads they see as deceptive and mean, they hate the U.S. war with Iran and they really hate the inflation that has become chronic.

Nobody said they expected things to improved any time soon.

Third in the line that awaited the 8 a.m. opening of the polling center was Eddie St. John, 83, who retired years ago from a career working “offshore” in Louisiana, and who lives in Wadsworth, Ohio, population around 24,700.

Asked what he most wanted to see fixed as a result of the Nov. 3 election, St. John said, “Mostly it’s our economy. It sucks.”

“You can’t afford nothing anymore. Everything’s so high. Gas is getting worse all the time,” he said, adding, “This guy in office now he promises this. He promises that... [but] nothing’s coming down.”

St. John stressed that he lays blame less on political parties than “the person that’s in office,” President Donald Trump.

The political party out of power usually benefits in midterm elections. With Republicans holding the White House and both chambers of Congress at a time when Trump's approval rating is at a record-low $32\%$ , Democrats are feeling increasingly competitive.

Political analysts will be watching closely what unfolds in Ohio, as Trump has been a dominant force, especially among blue-collar workers who used to align with the Democratic Party.

But with inflation running at around 3.4%, there is deep discontent over rising food, energy and housing costs.

The war with Iran, launched by Trump on Feb. 28 for reasons that critics say he has not clearly presented to the nation, also has voters worried that it will become yet another “forever war.”

Troy Flohr, 59, a retired police officer with the Medina County Sheriff, complained about the campaign ads from all sides that he said were riddled with “half-truths.”

Standing just feet away from a vot-

ing booth, Flohr said he was still un-

decided on whether to vote to reelect

Republican Rep. Max Miller for a third

term, despite the fact that he generally

votes for the Republican ticket.

"I tend to like the rest of them" running as Republicans on this year's ballot, Flohr said.

He said his nephew is serving in the U.S. Army and stationed in the Middle East.

Without mentioning Trump by name, Flohr said, “I’m tired of him saying the war’s going to end in two weeks, the war’s going to end next month...I’m getting fed up with that.”

Yet Flohr said he would “probably” vote for Trump again given the chance. “I don’t like where the Democrat Party has gone. I’m going to leave the rest of that comment alone,” he said when

---

What about aid?

Global hunger watchdog IPC said more than 1.2 million people still face acute hunger in Gaza despite a major scale-up of aid operations after the ceasefire.

In an August report, it cited data showing that an average of 227 trucks a day carried humanitarian and commercial supplies into Gaza from the ceasefire to the end of May – less than half the minimum 600 trucks stipulated in the Gaza plan.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency that controls access to Gaza, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel says around 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid and commercial goods are entering each day, that Gaza is getting enough goods to meet needs, and that it is meeting its obligations.

Aid agencies say Israel is blocking essential items, including metal tent poles, engine oil and spare parts, from entering Gaza, on the grounds that Hamas could use them for military purposes.

---

Is Hamas ready to disarm?

Hamas has indicated it's ready to give up its weapons, but a plan unveiled in July to achieve this has also stalled.

Trump said Hamas and other Gaza

An election official guides voters as early voting begins in Ohio, with Democratic former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican incumbent Sen. Jon Husted engaged in the second-most expensive Senate race in the country.

Voters in Ohio reported frustrations with campaign ads and the economy as they arrived to cast their ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Early voting began in the state Oct. 6.

PHOTOS BY SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS

asked to elaborate.

Trump won Ohio and the state's 17 electoral votes handily in 2016, 2020 and 2024, despite losing the 2020 presidential race to Democrat Joe Biden.

This election could depend on whether disaffected Democrats return to their party and whether many independents turn their backs on Republicans.

Medina County, seen as a swing district, has 132,345 registered voters of which 29,466 are Republicans and 15,872 Democrats. Election officials say there are 86,762 independents, who could determine whether Republicans continue their success there.

Early voting, which so far was off to a vibrant start, plus mail-in ballots are seen as an early indicator of what turnout could be on Election Day, according to officials.

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, is trying to return to the Senate, where he served for 18 years before being defeated two years ago by Re-

militants had accepted a 15-point roadmap drawn up by the Board of Peace to give up their arms. Israeli forces would withdraw as Hamas disarmed. The ISF, working with a new Palestinian security force, would secure Gaza.

Hamas said it had agreed to hand over its weapons to be stored under the control of the U.S.-backed Palestinian technocratic government. Though Hamas rejected the word “disarmament,” this marked a once-unimaginable position for the group.

But Israel, skeptical that Hamas will give up its arms, called the plan unacceptable and said it would not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is fully disarmed.

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Has an international force formed?

Plans have taken shape for the temporary International Stabilization Force, but it has yet to be assembled. There is a commander — U.S. Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers — and Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Albania, Kosovo, and Uganda have committed personnel.

Jeffers has said the long-term plan is for the ISF to use 20,000 troops and train 12,000 Palestinian police.

The technocratic Palestinian governing body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, was appointed in January led by Ali Shaath, who formerly served as a deputy minister in the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority. It has yet to enter Gaza.

---

What about reconstruction?

A year on, Palestinians are still scav-

publican Sen. Bernie Moreno.

This time around, Brown, a populist Democrat who long railed against U.S. trade deals with foreign competitors, is attempting to unseat Republican Jon Husted in a special election with the winner holding the seat through 2028.

Political analysts see the race between Husted and Brown as a toss-up.

With Republicans currently holding a 53-47 majority in the Senate, Democrats are hoping for a net gain of at least four seats, including in Ohio, in order to control the chamber.

Meanwhile, two neck-and-neck House races could help determine next year's majority in that chamber, which Republicans currently hold with a 218-214 margin. One independent is aligned with Republicans and there are two vacancies that will be filled in the midterm elections.

In the 7th congressional district, which includes Medina, just south of Cleveland, incumbent Miller is seen facing a tough challenge from Democrat Brian Poindexter.

Miller has raised far more funds than his Democratic opponent and has Trump's endorsement in a Republican-leaning district. His campaign hit a hurdle over the summer when allegations of domestic violence, which he denies, were made public.

Poindexter is a labor union ironworker and member of a suburban city council.

Meanwhile, in Ohio's 9th Congressional District that covers most of northwest Ohio and hugs the shores of Lake Erie, Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a moderate who was first elected in 1982, is battling in another toss-up race against Republican challenger Derek Merrin, who nearly defeated her in 2024.

Annie Wild, 64, a retired public school teacher, said she will vote for all Democrats on the ballot. She also said since the early days of Trump's second term she has begun to see some of the president's supporters saying they are abandoning him. But that is not coming from the voters she called "MAGA," referring to Trump's Make America Great Again movement.

"I've lost friends that I've had for 50 years," she said.

enging in the rubble of wrecked buildings for materials to prop up tents and other shelters.

The Board of Peace unveiled a \$2.45 billion plan in September to begin rebuilding Gaza.

That is a fraction of what is needed. The Board of Peace cited an European Union and U.N. assessment released in April that estimated recovery and reconstruction needs at \$71.4 billion over the next decade.

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What are Israeli officials saying?

While the Trump plan promises to encourage people to stay in Gaza, Israeli right-wing politicians have stepped up calls for the mass removal of Palestinians through “voluntary emigration.”

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in September that there was “no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration.”

Israel's defense ministry in 2025 established an office tasked with overseeing “voluntary emigration” from Gaza, after comments by Trump suggesting people in Gaza could be permanently displaced.

Trump later backed away from the idea, which faced strong resistance from Arab states and was widely rejected internationally. Israeli officials have said there are no plans to move Gaza's population out by force.

Israel will hold a general election on Oct. 27, the country's first since the 2023 Hamas attack. Some leading opposition figures have spoken in support of Trump's plan. Polls show pro- and anti-Netanyahu parties in a tight race.