📌 Endorsement, Drought Areas Grow, More

USA Today is the latest newspaper to announce it will not make a presidential endorsement before next week's general election.

Gannett, which owns USA Today and over 200 publications in the country's largest newspaper chain, joined The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday when it announced it will not endorse candidates “in presidential or national races.”

USA Today spokesperson Lark-Marie Antón said: “While USA Today will not endorse for president, local editors at publications across the USA Today Network have the discretion to endorse at a state or local level.

Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, defended the decision to end his newspaper's long-standing tradition of endorsing a presidential candidate. More than 200,000 digital subscriptions have been canceled since last week's announcement.

Last week, the editorials editor of the Los Angeles Times resigned over their newspaper's decision not to endorse a presidential nominee. Owner Patrick Soon-Shiong said he preferred a factual analysis of the nominees' policies instead of an endorsement.

A report on climate change's effects has revealed that the area of land surface affected by drought has trebled since the 1980s.

48% of the Earth’s land surface had at least one month of extreme drought last year, up from an average of 15% during the 1980s, an analysis by the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change finds.

In 2023, almost a third of the world experienced extreme drought for three months or longer. In the 1980s, the average was 5%. The threshold for extreme drought is reached after six months of very low rainfall or very high levels of evaporation from plants and soil— or both.

The increase in drought has been severe in South America, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. In South America's Amazon, drought is threatening to change weather patterns.

For the first time since 1938, children in Des Moines, Iowa, will go trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Going door-to-door for candy on All Hallows' Eve has long been commonplace nationwide but not in Des Moines, where Iowa's capital city took a different approach more than seven decades ago in hopes of reducing hooliganism.

Instead, Des Moines children don their costumes on Beggars' Night, typically the day before Halloween. And besides screaming, "Trick-or-Treat," children are expected to tell a joke before receiving a treat.

This year, Beggars' Night was set for Wednesday, but because of expected heavy rain and thunderstorms, officials delayed trick-or-treating until Thursday, which to the rest of the country is the normal Halloween.

The city began its unusual custom at the suggestion of a city parks director to reduce vandalism and promote more wholesome fun for kids. Children were encouraged to sing a song, recite poetry and offer other entertainment, but a joke became the most common over time.

Beggar's Night also has limited hours, typically running from 6 to 8 p.m. Many of Des Moines' suburbs also adopted the Beggars' Night tradition and shifted the celebration to Halloween this year.

Scientists at Spain’s National Cancer Research Center are researching whether jet lag makes us more vulnerable to diseases.

Since 2021, over 100 flight attendants have donated blood, saliva, nails, feces and urine twice a year for a study on the health effects of jet lag, which is caused by the imbalance between the social, solar and internal clocks.

López del Alcázar, formerly a cabin crew member, said her colleagues believe they suffer higher illness rates but don’t have the data to back it up. She contacted the center and proposed providing it with biological samples so that it could scientifically study the health impact of jet lag. One of the containers where the samples from the collection are kept is pictured above.

Alba de Juan, a biologist at the center, commented: “We think that in people with a changed schedule, the number and function of their leukocytes are no longer optimal. We believe that their immune system is altered. Now we have to prove it.”

The researchers are comparing how cells evolve in three groups of people: individuals who go on long-distance trips, individuals who go on medium-distance trips, and a control group made of people who hardly travel at all. They say it will take another 18 months to analyze the data fully.

A graduate student analyzing drone data in Mexico on the internet stumbled across an ancient Mayan city beneath dense jungle.

For centuries, the city lay hidden amid jungle in the state of Campeche, on the Gulf of Mexico. Research revealed sites that cover about 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C.

The data, gathered by a research group studying land-use patterns, came to light using drone mapping technology known as LiDAR — light detection and ranging equipment.

The student analyzed the maps using archaeological methods, which led to a research team’s discovery of the ancient city they named Valeriana (pictured).

The researchers say Valeriana, which may have been home to 30,000–50,000 people at its peak, probably collapsed between 800 A.D. and 1,000 A.D. for complex reasons, including climate change.

A sacred river covered with white toxic foam from city pollutants poses a severe health threat to residents of New Delhi, India.

The 855-mile Yamuna River provides over half of the Indian capital's water. It is one of the holiest rivers for Hindus and among the most polluted in the world. Sewage, farm pesticides and industrial effluents flow into the waterway despite laws against polluting.

Still, Hindu devotees have not given up their religious practices at the Yamuna. On Tuesday morning, a young couple was among a group that visited the river bank, had a dip, and then left. Jasraj, a 70-year-old retired government clerk, said he has visited the river for a bathing ritual since 1980.

Air quality is also an issue. On Tuesday, the air-quality index deteriorated to “a very poor” reading of 273, 18 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended levels. The tiny PM 2.5 particulate matter can enter deep into the lungs and cause diseases.

Authorities each year shut down construction sites, restrict diesel-run vehicles and deploy water sprinklers and anti-smog guns to control the haze and smog enveloping the skyline of the capital region.

An English couple returned to the spot they first met — taking wedding photos in the snack aisle of their local supermarket.

Jessica met Jaxom Weston-Brown in 2017 at a supermarket. She had just started as a store assistant and was asked to train Jaxom to put bags of chips on the shelf. Love blossomed, and seven years later, the lovebirds returned to the supermarket to take photos.

“It just became a bit of a joke that we were going to do it on our wedding day — and then, as the day approached, we were like, ‘let’s actually do it.’”

After the photos, the newlyweds suddenly realized they should buy a bag. They chose black peppercorn Kettle chips, saying, “It had to be something classy. We haven’t eaten them yet. We’re saving them for our first anniversary,” said the 27-year-old bride.