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TOP STORY
TOP STORY
Blinken urges halt to Middle East conflict
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed today for a halt to fighting between Israel and militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
But heavy Israeli air strikes on a large historic Lebanese port city demonstrated there was no respite. An online order was made for residents to flee central areas. Vast clouds of thick smoke billowed above residential buildings.
Tens of thousands of people had already fled Tyre in recent weeks as Israel steps up its campaign to destroy Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, both close allies of Iran.
Blinken, who has traveled to the Middle East regularly since the outbreak of the war, is making his first trip since Israel killed the leader of Hamas last week, which Washington hopes can provide a new impetus for peace talks. The trip is the last major US peace push before the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Israel's military said it had killed three Hezbollah commanders and some 70 fighters in the south in the past 48 hours, a day after confirming it had killed Hashem Safieddine, the militant group's heir apparent leader.
US POLITICS
US POLITICS
Trump targets partisans, Harris moderates
As the 2024 presidential contest speeds to its conclusion, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are embracing wildly different strategies.
The ex-president's team has largely abandoned traditional efforts to broaden his message to target moderate voters, focusing instead on energizing his base of fiery partisans and turning out low-propensity voters — especially young men of all races — with tough talk and events aimed at getting attention online.
Vice president Harris is targeting the narrow slice of undecided voters, especially moderates, college-educated suburbanites, and women of all races and education. She is going after Republican women who may have supported rival Nikki Haley in this year’s GOP primary and are dissatisfied with the former president.
“It’s all pieces of a very complex puzzle,” Harris senior campaign adviser David Plouffe said. “This would all be a simpler exercise if you can focus just on one voter cohort. You can’t. And you got to make sure you know you’re doing well enough with all of them so that when you put all that together it adds up to 50%.”
Trump’s team sees it as a much simpler equation. They insist maximizing turnout from Trump’s hardcore base does not mean he’s ignoring swing voters. Trump political director James Blair said: “The economy’s motivating those who overwhelmingly think they’re worse off than they were four years ago.”
Both camps agree on one point: The election will be decided by voters in just seven swing states, a political map that has not shifted significantly or narrowed as Election Day approaches. Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina will determine the next US president.
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HEALTH
HEALTH
Lifestyle changes stop up to 80% of strokes
Up to 80% of strokes can be prevented through a healthy lifestyle, blood pressure management, and other medical interventions.
The American Stroke Association (ASA) published its updated guidelines to prevent strokes, the fifth-leading cause of death in the US, saying the number could be vastly reduced.
Among the changes suggested are lifestyle, such as weight loss, physical activity, healthy eating — like the Mediterranean diet —, treating sleep apnea (which prevents optimal sleep at night) and stopping smoking.
The guidelines emphasize the importance of being physically active and avoiding sedentary behavior during waking hours. For pregnant women, there is guidance for lowering high blood pressure and screening for pregnancy complications.
The ASA said all its recommendations will lead to better stroke prevention and improved brain health. It added that the risks for dementia are essentially the same as the risks for stroke.
Since the last set of guidelines, the ASA pointed out the arrival of new medications that not only treat the target disease — such as diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol — but also reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease.
SCIENCE
SCIENCE
First wheel invented 6,000 years ago
A modeling study suggests the wheel was invented by copper miners in the Carpathian Mountains around 6,000 years ago.
Engineers employed computational mechanics and design science to investigate how people may have turned a set of simple rollers into a wheel-and-axle system.
“The environment where the original wheel developers were operating … encouraged a shift toward roller-based transport,” a researcher said. “A narrow, enclosed path pushed the wheel's developers toward that particular design.”
The researchers noted the wheel did not stop evolving in the Copper Age. For example, the invention of radial ball bearings in 1869 led to significant advancements in the automotive and machine industries in the 20th century.
Although the new model may explain how the wheel was invented in Eastern Europe, potentially spreading, it may not be the last word. A researcher thinks it's possible multiple civilizations independently discovered the wheel on their own.
Computational mechanical design could be applied to other archaeological questions, a researcher said. “There is still much to learn about exactly how the pyramids were constructed. Computational mechanical design could be instrumental in answering some of those questions.”
LAW
LAW
Nevada judge suspended for fraud
Michele Fiore was suspended without pay from her judge's seat after diverting funds for a slain Las Vegas police officer’s statue.
Republican Fiore, 54, is a former state assembly and Las Vegas city council member who was appointed as a judge by Nye County lawmakers in 2022 after losing her campaign for state treasurer. She was elected in June to complete the unexpired term of a judge who died.
A jury found Fiore guilty Oct. 3 in a US District Court in Las Vegas. Jurors were told she diverted for personal use $70,000 that had been donated for a statue of one of two police officers killed on duty in June 2014. Evidence showed that Fiore used some of the money for cosmetic surgery, rent, and her daughter's wedding.
Fiore remains free while awaiting sentencing set for Jan. 6 and could face decades in federal prison. Her former attorney said after the verdict that Fiore intends to appeal her conviction.
Fiore may be best known for supporting gun ownership and backing states’ rights advocate Cliven Bundy during and after armed standoffs against federal officers in Bunkerville, Nevada, in 2014 and at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon in 2016.
EDUCATION
EDUCATION
Few candidates for Californian school boards
Millions of California residents will not be able to vote for representation on school boards on November 5.
Data from 1,510 school board races in 49 California counties shows that 851 races, or 56%, will not appear on a ballot because no one is running for the seat or a single candidate is unopposed, making that person an instant winner.
Troy Flint, chief information officer for the California School Boards Association, said the problem is most prevalent in more remote areas of the state, where the lack of school board members has been an ongoing issue.
In Siskiyou County, 14 school districts still need candidates running for their open board seats, and in San Benito County, there are 20 candidates for 31 open school board seats, leaving 13 seats without candidates.
The California School Boards Association said its members set the district's vision, hire its superintendent, adopt policies and the curriculum, pass a balanced district budget, oversee facilities, provide direction for and accept collective bargaining, monitor student achievement and make program changes as needed.
John Rogers, director of the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at UCLA, said: “People are reluctant to run for office because there’s a lot of hostility out there, and sometimes threatening behavior prompting existing or potential school board members to rethink whether they want to hold office.”
OFFBEAT
OFFBEAT
Side of cocaine served with Pizza No. 40
German police uncovered the secret ingredient of a Dusseldorf restaurant’s best-selling Pizza No. 40 — a side of cocaine.
When a routine food inspection uncovered the drug in the kitchen, narcotics investigators put the business under surveillance and noticed that Pizza No. 40 was a customer favorite.
Chief Inspector Michael Graf von Moltke said, “It was one of the most-sold pizzas.” His investigation revealed the secret was not the topping but an underlying component —a packet of cocaine beneath each base.
When officers arrived to question the 36-year-old shop owner, the Croatian national allegedly threw a bag stuffed with drugs out the window. “It fell into the arms of the officers,” police said.
Further inspection led to the discovery of 3.2 pounds of cocaine, over 14 ounces of cannabis and €268,000 ($289,560) in cash, expensive watches, a handgun, an axe and long-bladed knives.
The owner was released from jail two days later, as he had no previous convictions. He reopened the shop and began selling his blockbuster pizza again. This time, investigators traced his supply chain, rounding up an international gang of suspects. The pizzeria is now closed.
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