President Trump heads to South Carolina today as Sen. Darline Graham faces a surprisingly close challenge from Democrat Annie Andrews in a state Republicans had written off as safe. Obama rallied with Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia, predicting voters would deliver a "rebuke" to the president, while a federal judge rejected the Justice Department's bid to halt California's processing of ballots tied to roughly 20,000 voters DOJ flagged as possible noncitizens.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered a state investigation after reporting that Democrat Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign and DSCC-linked operatives recruited a second man named Dan Sullivan onto the ballot to siphon votes from the incumbent Republican. Federal prosecutors are running what's described as an aggressive criminal inquiry and preparing grand jury subpoenas over possible voting-rights violations. Peltola's campaign denies any involvement with either Sullivan campaign.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted 10 to 2 on Wednesday to keep the benchmark rate at 3.75 to 4 percent, saying economic activity is "expanding at a strong pace" while inflation "remains elevated." Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack both dissented — notably, they wanted a quarter-point hike, not a cut. Separately, New York Fed research found tariffs added roughly 2.9 percentage points to consumer goods inflation and pushed up prices even on American-made products.
The Department of Homeland Security is investigating a massive data leak that reportedly exposed personal information on roughly 40,000 employees, including thousands of ICE and Border Patrol personnel. Officials say the exposure includes several undercover agents, raising immediate operational-security alarms.
Trump told reporters Wednesday that military action against Iran remains fully on the table after the November 3 midterms, while touting American control of the Strait of Hormuz and the naval blockade choking Iranian oil exports. The Pentagon is repositioning an additional carrier strike group and a Marine expeditionary unit, and moving a Patriot battery from Texas into Israel. Vice President JD Vance has reportedly written to Iranian hardliner Mohsen Rezaei in a bid to restart talks.
A RENFE high-speed train carrying 397 passengers on the Madrid-to-Seville line slammed into a stopped IRYO train near Toledo, killing at least 68 people. Investigators say a computer malfunction knocked out the signaling and safety system covering about 39 miles of track roughly an hour before the 8:30 a.m. collision. It is Spain's deadliest rail accident in over a decade.
With about 70 percent of ballots counted, Netanyahu's right-religious bloc sits at 54 of the Knesset's 120 seats against 47 for Gadi Eisenkot's opposition — leaving Arab parties, at a record 19 seats, holding the balance of power. Turnout hit 77.7 percent, the highest since 1999, driven heavily by Arab voters. Netanyahu has alleged fraud by the Arab parties; Trump says the prime minister is in "pretty good shape" and floated eventually helping broker a unity government.
A survey of 7,200 pilots across 32 European countries, conducted by aviation consultancy Baines Simmons for the European Cockpit Association, found more than three in four reported at least one involuntary microsleep episode at the controls in recent weeks. Nearly 39 percent said they usually or always fail to get enough rest to keep fatigue from accumulating. Most troubling: about a quarter said they don't report fatigue at all and fly anyway.
Two phase 3 trials published in the New England Journal of Medicine found Eli Lilly's experimental GLP-1 drug retatrutide sharply reduced breathing interruptions and improved the apnea-hypopnea index in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. The drug also cut blood pressure, cholesterol and inflammation markers. Sleep apnea affects more than 50 million Americans, roughly 80 percent of whom are undiagnosed.
Milwaukee closed out the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 on Wednesday night to claim the franchise's first championship since joining the league in 1969. Two of baseball's longest title droughts met in this Fall Classic, and the small-ball Brewers took it four games to one. Manager Pat Murphy credited the team's mental toughness and a bullpen that refused to break.
