Daily Brief

US

Florida flooding forces state of emergency, polling place moves

Florida election officials relocated 21 polling sites covering 30 precincts in eight counties on Election Day after heavy rain flooded buildings and roads, according to the state Division of Elections. Some areas received 15 to 20 inches of rain over 36 hours. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in seven counties, including Brevard, Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie, and his order allowed local supervisors to designate new sites. Brevard and St. Lucie were most affected, and Brevard canceled school Monday and Tuesday.

Florida Division of Elections · News Service of Florida

• Two Washington deputies critically wounded in shooting that left three dead. Two Spokane County sheriff's deputies were critically wounded Tuesday when a suspect opened fire as SWAT tried to enter a home in Spangle, Washington, Sheriff John Nowels said. Deputies had responded after a woman said her brother shot her. Three people died, including the suspect, and state police are reviewing the deputies' use of force. Spokesman-Review · KING 5

Politics & Elections

Democrats win control of both the House and Senate

Democrats won majorities in both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterms, according to race calls by The Associated Press; CBS News and Decision Desk HQ also projected a Democratic House. AP and NPR said Democrats flipped at least seven Republican-held Senate seats: North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Kansas, Iowa and Maine, while holding Georgia. Final House seat totals were not yet set as of about 2 a.m. ET, with several competitive races still being counted. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said voters "made clear they've had enough of the extremism, enough of the corruption."

NPR · AP · CBS News

Senate flips include Collins defeat in Maine, Talarico win in Texas

AP called Maine's Senate race for Democrat Troy Jackson over Republican Sen. Susan Collins just after 1 a.m. ET Wednesday; Collins conceded before the call, saying she called Jackson to congratulate him and promised "a smooth transition." In Texas, AP called the race for Democrat James Talarico over Republican Ken Paxton; AP said it is the first time in decades Texas has elected a Democratic senator. In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown defeated Republican Sen. Jon Husted, and NPR reported Democrat Adam Hamilton won in Kansas.

Maine Public · AP · NPR · AP

Democrats flip governorships in Texas, Georgia, Ohio and Iowa

Democrats took governorships held by Republicans in four states, according to projections by AP, NBC News and Decision Desk HQ. In Texas, Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and will be the state's first Latina governor. In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms will be the first Black woman elected governor of any state. Amy Acton beat Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio, and Rob Sand won in Iowa, per NBC. In California, AP called the race for Democrat Xavier Becerra over Republican Steve Hilton. Nevada's race remained uncalled.

AP · NBC News · The Guardian

• Trump says he accepts results; White House cites candidate quality. President Trump wrote on Truth Social that Republicans would have won "IN A LANDSLIDE" had he been on the ballot, and told The New York Times he is "absolutely willing to accept" the results and work with Democrats. A White House official blamed Republican "candidate quality." RTÉ · Scripps News
• Missouri voters reject amendment to reinstate abortion ban. Missouri voters rejected Amendment 3, which would have repealed the 2024 abortion-rights amendment and constitutionally banned gender-transition care for minors, according to AP and NBC News calls. NPR · NBC News

Business

Stock futures and dollar fall as Democrats win control of Congress

U.S. stock futures fell overnight as Democrats were projected to win majorities in both the House and Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections. S&P 500 futures fell as much as 1.3% and Nasdaq-100 futures as much as 2.2% before paring losses, as investors sold AI-linked shares on concerns about tighter regulation and data-center spending. Treasury yields and the dollar fell, and Japan's Nikkei dropped about 3%.

Fox Business · The National · Reuters

Job openings rose to 7.5 million in September

U.S. job openings rose by 333,000 to 7.52 million at the end of September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday, well above the Dow Jones consensus of 7.15 million, CNBC reported. Hiring and quits both increased while layoffs fell, according to the report. The data, from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, came ahead of the government's October payrolls report.

BLS · CNBC

• Pfizer raises 2026 forecast and names permanent CFO. Pfizer raised its 2026 revenue forecast to $62 billion-$64 billion from $60.5 billion-$62.5 billion after third-quarter adjusted earnings of 87 cents a share. It also named interim CFO Cecile Guegan as chief financial officer, effective Nov. 1. Pfizer · CNBC
• Cyclospora outbreak cut Taco Bell U.S. sales 4%. Yum Brands reported adjusted third-quarter earnings of $1.56 a share, above the $1.49 forecast, on revenue of $2.05 billion. Taco Bell's U.S. same-store sales fell 4% after a July cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce, the chain's first quarterly decline since 2020. Executives said sales have risen about 1% so far in the fourth quarter. CNBC · Nation's Restaurant News

AI

Google to switch off AI tools for K-12 student accounts by default, with Search tied to AI

Google said Tuesday that Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators turn them on, starting early next year. Because Search includes AI features such as AI Overviews, schools that refuse all AI lose Search access; after criticism, Google said schools can enable Search alone without other Gemini products. Settings can vary by grade. Google also made its Guided Learning tutoring mode available globally in Classroom and will pilot it in Search for select U.S. schools this month.

Google · NBC News · Education Week

Tech

Update: Binance says fake job interviews and an internal AI tool enabled $6.3 billion theft

Binance published an incident report Nov. 3 saying the Oct. 29 theft of about $6.34 billion followed a months-long, multi-stage intrusion. In September, attackers posing as recruiters ran fake interviews with another engineer and had him download a malware-laced coding assignment. By Oct. 20 they used that computer and an internal AI tool to reach wallet-team credentials, then accessed the wallet signing service. Binance said 98% of affected token assets have been replenished and about $2.85 billion frozen or intercepted. North Korea, which the FBI blames, denied involvement.

BleepingComputer · CNBC · The Register · BBC

Google dismantles botnet on 1.3 million Android TV boxes, bans manufacturer

Google and partners including Trend Micro, Synthient and Japan's National Police Agency disrupted the XCPE botnet, which Google said ran on more than 1.3 million Android TV set-top boxes. Google's threat intelligence group said Shenzhen-based maker Videostrong Technology, whose boxes were mostly sold under the MECOOL brand, deliberately preloaded the backdoor and sold access for ad fraud and residential-proxy schemes. Google took legal action against control servers, which it said cuts access to at least 10 million more devices, and banned Videostrong from certified Android devices. Infected boxes still carry the malware and need clean firmware or replacement.

Google Cloud Blog · Ars Technica · Krebs on Security

• AMD posts record quarter as data center chip sales nearly double. AMD reported record third-quarter revenue of $13.4 billion on Nov. 3, up 45% from a year earlier. Data center revenue rose 97% to $8.5 billion on EPYC server processors and the launch of Instinct MI450 GPUs. The company forecast about $17 billion in fourth-quarter revenue. AMD · The Verge

Law & Courts

Supreme Court appears to favor Catholic preschools in Colorado funding case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard about two hours of argument in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, and a majority appeared inclined to side with Catholic preschools excluded from Colorado's universal preschool program, according to SCOTUSblog. The program, launched in 2023, offers up to 15 free hours a week but requires schools to accept all families, including LGBTQ families. The Archdiocese of Denver argued the refusal of a religious exemption triggers strict scrutiny under Carson v. Makin; Colorado said religious schools may join if they follow the same rules as more than 2,000 participating preschools.

SCOTUSblog · Chalkbeat

• Oklahoma man charged over hundreds of white-powder letters to election officials. Federal prosecutors charged Robin Patrick Martin, 67, of Oklahoma City, with mailing threatening communications and conveying hoaxes, alleging he sent hundreds of letters, many with white powder, to election boards, members of Congress, pollsters and media before the 2024 and 2026 elections. Powders tested so far were yeast or flour, the FBI said. Justice Department · AP
• Lockheed Martin to pay $29.5 million over alleged race-based pay decisions. Lockheed Martin agreed to pay $22 million to settle Justice Department False Claims Act allegations and about $7.5 million to more than 1,000 employees under an EEOC deal. Officials alleged the company's "Comp Adder" bonus program adjusted selections by race, disadvantaging white workers; the settlement resolves allegations without a court finding. Justice Department · Law360
• Justice Department sends election monitors to all 50 states. The Justice Department said it deployed more than 1,000 monitors to 126 jurisdictions in all 50 states for Tuesday's midterms, a first. Courthouse News reported about two-thirds of the jurisdictions voted for Kamala Harris in 2024; the Civil Rights Division is leading the effort. Justice Department · Courthouse News

Global

Spain's transport minister resigns after high-speed train crash that killed 69

Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente announced his resignation Tuesday, six days after an Oct. 28 collision near Urda, south of Madrid, killed 69 people. A Renfe train carrying 397 passengers hit a stationary Iryo train after a signalling failure on the Madrid-Seville line; Puente said controllers had authorized the Renfe train to proceed. He told lawmakers a minister "cannot remain in office after two accidents of this seriousness in less than a year," after a January crash on the same line killed 46. He also withdrew from the Nov. 29 general election.

BBC · EFE · The Guardian

Greenland's parliament ratifies security agreement with US and Denmark

Greenland's parliament voted 16-0, with seven abstentions, on Tuesday to ratify a trilateral security agreement with the United States and Denmark signed in September. The deal allows two new US military bases and the US "Golden Dome" missile-defense system on the island, while reaffirming Danish sovereignty and Greenlanders' right to self-determination. The pro-independence opposition party Naleraq said the deal brought no economic benefit. Denmark's parliament is scheduled to vote Nov. 19; the deal is an executive agreement and does not need US Senate approval.

DW · CNA · DR

• Czech public broadcasters strike over funding overhaul. Staff at Czech Television and Czech Radio held a one-day strike Tuesday, and thousands rallied in Prague and other cities, against a government bill replacing license fees with lower state-budget funding. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's government says the change fulfills an election promise and denies seeking editorial control. Radio Prague International · EUobserver
• Melania Trump to host Russian and Ukrainian representatives at White House. The White House said Tuesday that first lady Melania Trump will host Russian and Ukrainian representatives Thursday, Nov. 5, and speak on a localized ceasefire around Russian-held Oleshky, which her office says allowed nearly 800 people to evacuate. Neither government has confirmed that figure. The White House · Kyiv Independent · RFE/RL
• Draft UK-EU summit statement backs youth mobility scheme. A draft statement for the Nov. 20 UK-EU summit in Brussels welcomes a "youth experience scheme" letting young people live in each other's territory for up to three years, according to AFP and Rapporteur, which both saw it. The draft sets a six-month target to agree on student tuition fees. The text could still change. AFP via The News · Rapporteur

Security & Intelligence

Update: Trump confirms Qeshm strike as tanker is hit in Strait of Hormuz

President Trump on Tuesday confirmed the US strike on Iran's Qeshm Island, telling Fox News it was a "minor attack" on a newly built anti-aircraft facility and "wasn't war." The UK Maritime Trade Operations center said two unidentified projectiles hit a tanker's engine room about 14 nautical miles northeast of Limah, Oman, at 1900 GMT; no casualties were reported. Iran's Revolutionary Guard separately claimed four tankers hit mines and caught fire on unauthorized routes and that it seized two vessels; those claims have not been independently verified.

Al Jazeera · UKMTO · Anadolu Agency

Russia launches large missile and drone attack on Ukraine's power grid

Russia launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles overnight into Tuesday, mainly at power plants and substations, Ukrainian officials said. Energy facilities in 10 regions were hit, emergency blackouts were imposed in Kyiv and several regions, and DTEK said three of its thermal plants stopped generating. A strike on a Kharkiv medical facility injured 62 people. Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said three drones targeted a substation serving the Khmelnytskyi nuclear plant. Separately, the death toll at the Komyshuvakha aid site rose to 31.

Ukrinform · Kyiv Post · AP

Hoax bomb threats disrupt seven European flights and an Israel-bound cruise ship

At least seven flights across Europe received bomb threats on Tuesday, including LOT, SAS, Wizz Air and Ryanair services bound for Warsaw, Sofia, Rome and Murcia; one LOT flight from London was diverted. Searches found no explosives on any aircraft. In Greece, the coast guard evacuated the Israeli-run cruise ship Crown Iris at Syros, with 940 passengers and 597 crew aboard, after an anonymous claim of a device on its hull; initial checks found nothing. Authorities have not linked the threats or said who sent them, and say they are cooperating to assess whether they were coordinated.

Guardian · BBC · AP

• North Korea fires multiple missiles toward the sea. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired several missiles toward the East Sea from the Sondok area on Wednesday, its fourth weapons launch in a month. Seoul did not immediately give the type or range. Yonhap · AP
• Air Force seeks over 1,000 long-range cruise missiles for Ukraine. The Air Force asked industry for capability statements on the Extended Range Attack Munition, a 500-pound-class cruise missile with at least 250 nautical miles of range, deliverable to Ukraine in more than 1,000 units within 15 months. Responses are due Nov. 19. Air Force Times · SAM Directory
• Trump says US will stop $4 billion in annual aid to Israel. President Trump said Tuesday the US will stop roughly $4 billion a year in aid to Israel after this year under a deal with Prime Minister Netanyahu, while continuing arms sales. A 2016 agreement provides $3.8 billion a year through 2028; Netanyahu's office declined to comment. AP · NBC News
• Indonesia detains three police generals over alleged wiretapping of President Prabowo. Indonesian police detained three senior officers, including former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, now presidential chief of staff, on suspicion of illegally tapping President Prabowo Subianto's phone from 2025 to October 2026. Police said records were deleted; no motive was disclosed. AP · CNA

Construction, Infrastructure & Manufacturing

U.S. factory orders rise 1.8% in September

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose 1.8% in September to $677.2 billion, the third straight monthly gain, the Census Bureau reported Nov. 3. That exceeded the 1.2% increase expected in an Action Economics survey, Haver Analytics said. Transportation equipment orders rose 4.6%, led by a 28.3% jump in nondefense aircraft and parts; orders excluding transportation rose 1.3%. Shipments rose 1.3% and unfilled orders 0.9%. Orders were 10.5% higher than a year earlier, the fastest annual pace since April.

Census Bureau · Haver Analytics

• Lonza to buy five U.S. drug manufacturing sites from Merck KGaA. Swiss contract manufacturer Lonza agreed Nov. 3 to buy Merck KGaA's U.S. contract manufacturing business, five sites in Missouri, Wisconsin, California and Indiana with about 1,100 employees, raising its U.S. site count from four to nine. Lonza valued the deal in the low- to mid-triple-digit millions of Swiss francs. Closing is expected in mid-2027. Lonza · PharmExec · BioSpace

Science & Health

Servier's $1.55 billion Becker muscular dystrophy drug fails pivotal trial

Servier said Tuesday that sevasemten, a pill it acquired from Edgewise Therapeutics for $1.55 billion in July, failed its 18-month, placebo-controlled GRAND CANYON trial in adults with Becker muscular dystrophy. The drug showed no statistically significant benefit on the primary measure, the North Star Ambulatory Assessment of walking and mobility, and missed all secondary endpoints. Safety was favorable, the company said, and the results conflict with the smaller Phase 2 CANYON study. Becker has no approved treatment, according to Servier, which said full results will be presented later.

Servier · Edgewise Therapeutics SEC filing · Muscular Dystrophy Association

• Update: Kenya discharges five Ebola patients, no new cases since Oct. 19. Kenya's health ministry discharged five patients Tuesday after they tested negative for the Bundibugyo virus and released 46 contacts from quarantine. Two patients remain in care; Kenya's total stays at nine cases and two deaths, all in one cluster. Kenya Broadcasting Corporation · Africa CDC
• FDA authorizes Merck's Bravecto for screwworm in dogs. The FDA on Tuesday issued an emergency use authorization for Merck Animal Health's Bravecto (fluralaner) chews to treat New World screwworm infestations in dogs and puppies, by prescription only. Merck said it expects EUA-labeled supply to reach veterinarians by early in the second quarter of 2027. FDA · dvm360

Energy & Climate

Brazil publishes voluntary global roadmaps on moving away from fossil fuels and halting deforestation

Brazil's COP30 presidency released two roadmaps on Nov. 3 that it promised at last year's Belém summit: one on transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, and one on halting deforestation by 2030. Both are voluntary and not subject to negotiation, and they set no binding deadlines. The fossil fuel plan asks countries to assess their own dependence. It proposes a three-phase agenda through 2033: subsidy reform and ending routine gas flaring first, then grid and storage buildout, then cuts to supply. COP31 opens Nov. 9 in Antalya, Turkey.

COP30 Presidency · The Guardian · AFP

• Update: Oil eases as industry data show U.S. crude draw. Brent settled down 1.1% at $103.60 a barrel on Nov. 3. An American Petroleum Institute survey for the week ended Oct. 30 showed U.S. crude stocks fell about 5.3 million barrels. MarketWatch · OilPrice.com

Level Up

Know your walk-away option before any negotiation

Before a negotiation, write down your BATNA, your best alternative to a negotiated agreement: what you will actually do if this deal fails, such as another buyer, another job offer, or litigation. Fisher and Ury introduced the term in "Getting to Yes" (1981) as the standard for judging any proposal, so you accept offers better than your BATNA and decline those that are worse. Spend prep time improving your alternative (for example, getting a competing quote) and estimating the other side's BATNA, since both set the realistic bargaining range. Keep the written BATNA in front of you so pressure in the room does not move your floor.

Harvard Program on Negotiation · Wikipedia

Timebox your day instead of working from a to-do list

Timeboxing means assigning each task a fixed block on your calendar with a set end time, then stopping or re-planning when the block ends. A list says what to do; a timeboxed schedule also forces you to decide when and how long, which exposes overcommitment before the day starts. Cal Newport recommends giving every working hour a job and simply redrawing the plan when interruptions break it, rather than abandoning it. Try it tomorrow: spend ten minutes the night before blocking your top two tasks into the morning and batching small items into one 30-minute slot.

Wikipedia · Cal Newport

Learn

Today's field: Construction & engineering

• Prestressed concrete. Concrete is very strong when squeezed but cracks easily when pulled or bent. Prestressing squeezes the concrete ahead of time by stretching high-strength steel tendons and locking them in place, either before the concrete is poured (pre-tensioning) or after it hardens (post-tensioning). When a load later tries to bend the beam, it first has to cancel that built-in squeeze before the concrete is in tension. This lets beams and slabs span farther with less material, which is why it is common in bridges and parking garages. FHWA Post-Tensioning Manual · Designing Buildings Wiki
• Factor of safety. A factor of safety is how much stronger a structure or part is than it needs to be for the load it is expected to carry. It is usually expressed as a ratio, such as failure load divided by expected load. A rope that breaks at 3,000 pounds used to hold 1,000 pounds has a factor of safety of 3. Engineers use this margin to cover uncertainty in loads, materials, workmanship and wear, and building codes set minimums for many applications. MIT OpenCourseWare · Engineering ToolBox
• Soil liquefaction. Loose, water-saturated sandy soil normally holds weight because its grains press against each other. Strong shaking, such as an earthquake, raises the water pressure between the grains so they lose contact and the soil briefly behaves like a thick liquid. Buildings can sink or tilt, and "sand boils" can erupt at the surface, as seen in Niigata, Japan in 1964. Engineers reduce the risk by compacting or draining the ground, or by using deep foundations that reach firmer layers. National Academies · UC Berkeley Seismology Lab