Daily Brief

US

Update: Brooklyn row-house fire kills six in Sunset Park

A fire that broke out just before 1:40 a.m. Thursday in a two-story row house on 58th Street in Brooklyn's Sunset Park killed six people and injured nine others, including three firefighters and two police officers, the FDNY said. Firefighters found flames on every floor and rescued four people, two of them trapped behind window bars. The fire also damaged a neighboring home and displaced eight residents. Fire marshals are investigating; lithium-ion batteries were found at the scene, but no cause has been determined.

Sources: AP · NBC News · ABC7 New York

Lakewood, Colorado, officer killed; three wounded in bus-area shootout

A Lakewood Police Department officer was killed and three others were wounded Thursday evening when a man opened fire near West Colfax Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard as officers responded to a suspicious-person call at about 6:30 p.m., police said. Spokesperson John Romero said the man, who was trying to board an RTD bus, began shooting within seconds of officers' arrival; police shot and killed him. A bystander was also hurt. Romero said the suspect may have been involved in a hit-and-run earlier that day.

Sources: Colorado Sun · ABC News

• Postal worker charged after Des Moines post office shooting. Jennifer Christine Pledger, 39, a postal employee, shot two female co-workers at the main Des Moines post office Thursday morning and was charged with attempted murder and other felonies, police said. A third employee was hurt falling while fleeing; none of the injuries were believed life-threatening, and officers detained Pledger less than half a mile away. [CBS News · KCCI]
• DOJ Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon resigns. Harmeet Dhillon resigned Thursday as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Attorney General Todd Blanche said. In her resignation letter, Dhillon, who led the division for about 18 months, wrote that she told the White House in early October she would leave after the midterms. [NPR · NBC News]

Politics & Elections

Trump designates Oval Office and Cabinet Room a national monument

Using the Antiquities Act, President Trump on Thursday proclaimed the Oval Office, the Outer Oval Office and the Cabinet Room the Oval Office National Monument. The proclamation directs the Interior Secretary, through the National Park Service, to require a review of alternatives before any action that would substantially alter or demolish the rooms, while leaving presidents free to redecorate and make ordinary operational and security changes. Trump said he would send it to Congress to be ratified.

Sources: White House · NBC News · ABC News

• Democrats flip four more North Carolina House seats. The Associated Press on Thursday called four North Carolina House races for Democrats in Republican-held districts, including the 9th District seat of NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson, who lost to Richard Ojeda. Democrats have now won nine of the state's 14 seats, with five races uncalled; the delegation had 10 Republicans and four Democrats going into Election Day. [NPR · The Washington Post]
• Update: Mississippi and Alaska Senate counts could take weeks. Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson estimated that 12,000 to 20,000 affidavit ballots remain uncounted in the state's Senate race, which counties must certify by Nov. 13. In Alaska, where no candidate has a majority, ranked-choice results will not be published until Nov. 18, according to the state's Division of Elections. [WLBT · Al Jazeera]

Business

S&P 500 falls 4.4% as AI stocks sell off after midterms

U.S. stocks fell sharply Thursday, erasing Wednesday's postelection rally as investors weighed whether Democratic control of Congress could slow AI data-center buildouts, CNBC and the BBC reported. The S&P 500 fell 4.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 3.4% and the Nasdaq Composite 5.5%, leaving the Nasdaq more than 10% below its recent high, a level known as a correction. Chipmakers led the decline, with Nvidia down more than 9%.

Sources: CNBC · BBC

• Bank of England raises key rate to 4%. The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter point to 4% on Thursday, its first increase in more than three years, on an 8-1 vote. Policymakers said they expect UK inflation to rise to around 5% by the middle of next year as higher energy prices tied to the Middle East conflict feed through. [Bank of England · BBC]
• Wendy's rejects $1.4 billion Trian-led takeover offer. Wendy's independent directors unanimously rejected an unsolicited $7.35-per-share cash proposal from a Trian Partners-led investor group, saying it substantially undervalues the company and its Dave's Way turnaround plan. The board also adopted a one-year shareholder rights plan after the group declined a standstill agreement. [Wendy's · CNBC]
• South Korea's Kospi triggers circuit breaker as chip stocks tumble. South Korea's exchange halted Kospi trading for 20 minutes on Friday after the index fell more than 8%, Yonhap reported, as Thursday's U.S. tech selloff spread to Asia. Shares of SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and Taiwan's TSMC also fell during Friday trading, CNBC reported. [Yonhap · CNBC]

AI

OpenAI launches GPT-6 Cyber with Critical cybersecurity rating

OpenAI on Thursday released GPT-6 Cyber, a cybersecurity-focused model it rated Critical in cybersecurity under its Preparedness Framework, up from High for GPT-5.6 Cyber. OpenAI said the model scored 48.5% on the ExploitGym exploitation benchmark, versus 32.1% for its predecessor, found 81 previously unknown high-severity Firefox vulnerabilities and developed working exploits for 948 Linux kernel vulnerabilities. Access is initially limited to a select group of approved Daybreak Red customers through the API and Codex.

Sources: OpenAI · The Verge

OpenAI pledges no NDAs with officials and full power costs at its data centers

Two days after voters rejected most local data-center ballot measures, OpenAI on Thursday published a National Community Compact and a Compute Campus Policy Blueprint for campuses it owns and operates. The company said it will not use nondisclosure agreements with public officials beyond narrow protections for security information and trade secrets, will pay the full cost of the electricity and grid infrastructure it uses, and will publish site-level water and power use and noise studies. It urged lawmakers to set similar rules for the industry.

Sources: OpenAI · CNBC · The Verge

• Claude Personal Finance links bank accounts via Plaid. Anthropic began rolling out Personal Finance in Claude this week for Pro, Max, and Ultra plans in the US. Through Plaid, users get read-only access to balances, credit limits, and up to two years of transactions; Claude cannot move, manage, or invest money, and hub chats are not used to train models, Anthropic said. [Anthropic · The Verge]
• METR says Anthropic model progress roughly doubled. AI-safety nonprofit METR reported Thursday that Anthropic's measured model capabilities have improved about 1.9 times faster since October 2025 than before, likely mostly because of Anthropic's own use of AI in research. METR said Anthropic redacted much of the evidence, and that AI is not yet making highly significant, fully autonomous contributions to the most important parts of model training. [METR · Channel News Asia]

Tech

Blue Origin unveils Northstar engine and New Glenn third stage

Blue Origin on Thursday announced Northstar, a liquefied-natural-gas booster engine for New Glenn that it says produces 715,000 pounds of thrust, up from 640,000 for the BE-4, with 30% less mass and half the parts. CEO Dave Limp said the company aims to build each engine for about a quarter of a BE-4's cost; testing has begun. Blue Origin also introduced GS3, a hydrogen-fueled third stage powered by its BE-7 engine for direct flights to geostationary orbit and the Moon, already under contract for a 2028 government cislunar mission.

Sources: Blue Origin · Ars Technica · Spaceflight Now

Microsoft tightens neocloud oversight as IREN delays AI capacity for Microsoft

Bloomberg reported Nov. 5 that Microsoft has tightened oversight of data-center projects with neocloud providers Nebius, IREN and Nscale, is stepping away from projects it deems risky and is debating new third-party deals while prioritizing its own sites. Separately, IREN said its more than $4 billion annualized-revenue target slipped from year-end 2026 to January 2027, and may run into February, after Microsoft asked it to reconfigure network gear for about 200 megawatts of capacity for newer AI models.

Sources: CNA · CNBC · IREN

• OpenSSH patch closes *sshole login bypass on musl Linux. OpenSSH 10.6p2, released Thursday, and Alpine Linux updates fix a flaw dubbed *sshole that lets an attacker log into accounts whose password field is "*" on musl-based systems with PAM disabled by sending an overlong password. Glibc distributions such as Debian and Ubuntu are not affected; admins can upgrade or set PasswordAuthentication to no. [Alpine Linux · BleepingComputer · Ars Technica]
• Axon invests $1.2 billion more in Skydio drones. Axon said Thursday it will invest about $1.2 billion in cash and stock in drone maker Skydio at a $5.2 billion pre-money valuation and become Skydio's exclusive public-safety distributor in the U.S. and Canada. The transactions are expected to close between the fourth quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027. [CNA · Axon]
• Dropbox to buy Tigris Data for about $350 million. Dropbox said Nov. 5 it plans to acquire cloud storage startup Tigris Data for about $350 million in cash, its largest deal to date, to support a new DBX Agent Cloud object-storage offering for AI workloads. The company told TechCrunch and Crunchbase the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. [TechCrunch · Crunchbase News]

Law & Courts

Russell Brand found guilty of rape and sexual assault

A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London on Thursday convicted entertainer Russell Brand, 51, of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, and acquitted him of two other rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. The charges involved six women and incidents from 1999 to 2009. Judge Joel Bennathan refused bail, saying a significant prison term was inevitable, and set sentencing for Monday, Nov. 9. Metropolitan Police said Brand is also under investigation over two further rape allegations.

Sources: BBC · CBS News · The Guardian

Washington judge orders Albertsons to pay $900 million over opioids

King County Superior Court Judge Janet Helson on Thursday ordered Albertsons Companies and Safeway to pay Washington state $900 million after a nine-week bench trial found the pharmacies contributed to the state's opioid crisis by failing to stop diversion. The award includes $800 million to abate the public nuisance and $100 million in Consumer Protection Act penalties. The state said Albertsons pharmacies filled red-flagged opioid prescriptions more than 6.5 million times from 2006 to 2022 without documenting due diligence. Albertsons said it disagrees and is considering an appeal.

Sources: Courthouse News · Washington Attorney General · Seattle Times

Judge blocks Trump's Washington arch after panel approval

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan barred the government from any construction-related activity for 14 days on President Trump's planned 250-foot arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. The order followed a late-Thursday National Capital Planning Commission vote of 8-4 approving the project after almost nine hours of public comment. The District of Columbia and Virginia had sued to stop the work; the administration had said construction could begin this week.

Sources: CBS News · BBC

Newsom moves to commute all 548 California death sentences

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he will commute all 548 death sentences in the state to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The action does not release anyone from prison or make anyone parole-eligible; it changes only the sentence. For inmates convicted of more than one felony, the California Supreme Court must recommend approval before those commutations take effect. California has not executed anyone since 2006; Newsom imposed a moratorium in 2019.

Sources: BBC · California Governor · California Governor fact sheet

• Mexican judge charged in U.S. over alleged $2 million bribe in Wedding case. The Justice Department said Thursday that Mexican federal judge Luis Benítez Alcántara, 49, was arrested in Colombia and charged with nine counts of being an accessory after the fact, accused of taking a $2 million bribe to free Andrew Clark, whom prosecutors describe as accused drug trafficker Ryan Wedding's second-in-command. The United States will seek his extradition. [Justice Department · CBC News]
• Three charged in $129 million AI CEO-impersonation fraud scheme. Manhattan federal prosecutors on Thursday unsealed an indictment charging Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan and Guy Sheetrit with using AI to mimic CEOs and attorneys to trick employees into wiring more than $129 million between 2024 and 2026. The three were arrested in Spain and the United Kingdom; extradition requests are pending. [Courthouse News · ABC News]
• Federal judge bars DOJ from demanding Washington set aside ballots. U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle on Thursday issued a 14-day temporary restraining order barring the Justice Department from demanding that Washington election officials set aside ballots from about 400 voters on a federal list, or threatening officials who count them. Whitehead said the government may ask for cooperation but may not compel it. [Courthouse News · Politico]

Global

Paraguay's Peña resigns and is impeached after Ueno Bank collapse

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña announced his resignation Thursday after the central bank seized digital lender Ueno Bank, leaving its roughly 3 million customers, in a country of 6.5 million, unable to access their accounts. Minutes later the lower house voted 78-0 to impeach him over alleged conflicts of interest tied to his past stake in the bank's parent group. The Senate, which must also ratify the resignation, scheduled impeachment proceedings for Friday, which could delay Vice President Pedro Alliana's swearing-in. Eight Ueno executives have been detained.

Sources: NPR · BBC · NBC News

Update: Trump says he met Russian envoy to discuss Ukraine war

President Donald Trump said Thursday he held a private White House meeting with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and predicted a "big agreement" on the Russia-Ukraine war that would "involve more than Ukraine," without giving details. Dmitriev had attended an event hosted by first lady Melania Trump marking a six-day humanitarian truce in Oleshky; Trump said he did not meet the Ukrainian officials who also attended. U.S.-mediated talks involving Russia and Ukraine are set for next week in Abu Dhabi.

Sources: Al Jazeera · DW · Guardian

• Update: Herzog to name Israeli PM candidate Sunday after Eisenkot wins 67 nods. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Thursday he will announce on Sunday, Nov. 8, whom he will ask to form a government after Gadi Eisenkot won recommendations from 67 of 120 Knesset members and Benjamin Netanyahu from 46. Herzog said mutual vetoes still make the choice unclear and that he will hold further talks with party leaders. [Guardian · The Hill]
• UK's Burnham says Putin will not be invited to 2027 G20 in Manchester. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told The Economist that Vladimir Putin will not be invited to the UK-hosted G20 summit in Manchester in November 2027, citing sanctions on senior Russian figures. The stance contrasts with President Trump's invitation for Putin to attend the U.S. G20 in Miami this December. [BBC · Politico]
• Hundreds of thousands protest across France over cost of living. The French government estimated that at least 600,000 people joined Thursday's nationwide strikes and marches over wages and public-service cuts, while the CGT union put turnout near 1.6 million. Riot police fired tear gas at the end of marches in Bordeaux and Lyon, and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he would meet unions and employers on Monday, Nov. 9. [Guardian · BBC · Al Jazeera]

Security & Intelligence

US agencies warn of cyber threat to industrial refrigeration systems

CISA, the FBI and the departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Transportation said Thursday that malicious cyber actors are targeting internet-accessible temperature and commercial refrigeration controllers used in grocery and cold-storage facilities. Successful attacks could force units into continuous heating or defrost cycles, spoil inventory, create equipment hazards or hide temperature readings, the agencies said. They urged operators to remove controllers from the public internet, isolate operational technology networks and apply updates.

Sources: CISA · CNBC

• Update: Hoax bomb threats hit about 20 more European flights. Hoax bomb threats hit about 20 commercial flights across Europe on Thursday, the third day of such alerts, AFP reported; fighter jets escorted several planes, three were diverted and no explosives were found. Investigators said there was no evidence yet that a hostile state or terror group was behind the threats, The Guardian reported. [The Guardian · AFP]
• Germany names Army Chief Freuding as next chief of defense. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius named Army Chief Christian Freuding as Germany's next highest-ranking soldier, to take office in February 2027, Euronews and Defense News reported. He succeeds Gen. Carsten Breuer, who was chosen to chair NATO's Military Committee. [Euronews · Defense News]
• Poland arrests six in probe over military supplies to Russia. Poland's Internal Security Agency said Thursday it had detained six people, five Poles and a Russian national, over espionage and illegal shipments of ammunition components to Russia. Four were charged with espionage and placed in three-month pretrial detention; Euronews said the group operated from June 2023 to December 2025. [Euronews · DW]
• Sweden reintroduces internal border checks citing Russia-linked hybrid threats. Sweden's government said Thursday it will reintroduce internal Schengen border controls from Nov. 12, 2026, through May 11, 2027, citing Russia's war in Ukraine and hybrid threats to public order and internal security. Police will decide where and how checks are carried out. [Swedish Government · The National]

Construction, Infrastructure & Manufacturing

• Defense office backs $250 million loan for Tennessee battery materials plant. The Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital on Thursday announced a $250 million conditional loan commitment to 6K Inc. to expand Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt cathode production at its PlusCAM facility in Jackson, Tennessee. 6K said the financing is meant to support construction of the plant and would be matched by private capital; closing still depends on diligence, appropriations and other conditions. [Department of War · 6K]

Science & Health

Wisconsin Reports First Measles Death Since 1990

An infant in southwestern Wisconsin died of measles, the state's first measles-associated death since 1990, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said Thursday. A coroner listed measles as the immediate cause of death; officials released no further details, citing family privacy. As of Nov. 3, Wisconsin had 431 measles cases in 13 counties this year, the most in more than 35 years, with nine hospitalizations. NBC News reported it was the third U.S. measles-related death announced this week, after Pennsylvania and New York.

Sources: Wisconsin DHS · NBC News

FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Rybrevant Faspro for Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

The FDA on Thursday granted accelerated approval to Rybrevant Faspro (amivantamab and hyaluronidase-lpuj) for adults with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that progressed after platinum chemotherapy and immunotherapy. In a 102-patient trial, 42% of patients responded, compared with response rates of about 20% or less for currently approved therapies, the agency said. The drug is not indicated for HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer, and confirmatory studies are required.

Sources: FDA · OncLive

• NIH Links Two Forever Chemicals to Higher Risk of Aggressive Breast Cancer. An NIH Sister Study analysis found women with higher blood levels of the forever chemicals PFOA and PFOS had higher rates of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer, with no clear link to breast cancer overall, according to the Journal of Clinical Oncology paper. NIH noted the findings describe differences between groups, not an individual woman's risk. [NIH · USC commentary in Journal of Clinical Oncology]
• Repatha Linked to 20% Lower Heart Attack Risk Than Ezetimibe in Real-World Study. Amgen, which makes Repatha (evolocumab), said an observational study of more than 544,000 U.S. adults with heart disease and prior statin use linked the drug to a 20% lower risk of heart attack than ezetimibe over up to four years. The data came from a healthcare database, not a randomized trial, STAT reported. [Amgen · STAT]

Energy & Climate

Turkey unveils $500 billion National Energy 2040 plan

Turkey on Thursday unveiled a National Energy 2040 plan that targets $500 billion in energy investment, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said. The plan would more than double installed power capacity, from 123 GW in 2025 to 281 GW by 2040, raise renewables' share of capacity to 77%, add 10 GW of nuclear power and aim for domestic oil and gas to cover all consumption, Anadolu Agency and OilPrice.com reported.

Sources: Anadolu Agency · OilPrice.com

• Update: Oil rebounds as tanker attacks renew supply concerns. Brent crude rose 3.8% to $98.29 a barrel on Thursday, recovering part of Wednesday's more than 8% drop as new tanker attacks revived supply worries, CNBC reported. Saudi civil defense also issued potential-danger alerts for Yanbu, the Red Sea terminus of the pipeline that lets Saudi oil bypass the Strait of Hormuz, Dawn and The Hindu reported. [CNBC · Dawn · The Hindu]
• Ukrainian drones appear to hit Russia's Ryazan oil refinery. Footage verified by the independent Russian outlet Astra showed a fire at Rosneft's Ryazan oil refinery after Ukrainian drones attacked the region overnight into Thursday, Al Jazeera reported; Governor Pavel Malkov said more than 200 drones were involved and that fires were contained. Channel News Asia said it would be the second major Russian refinery hit this week, after Yaroslavl. [Al Jazeera · Channel News Asia]
• UNHCR: nearly 90 million displaced face severe climate risks. Nearly 90 million forcibly displaced people — about three in four worldwide — live in countries with high to extreme climate-hazard exposure, UNHCR said Friday ahead of COP31 in Antalya. The agency said fragile and conflict-affected countries receive only about 10% of global climate finance and urged including displaced people in national climate plans. [UNHCR · France 24]

Level Up

Sort each task by urgent vs important before you start

Before you open email or Slack, write today's tasks and mark each one urgent (needs action soon, with real consequences if delayed) or important (supports a real goal even if it can wait). Do items that are both first; schedule a concrete time for important-but-not-urgent work; hand off or batch urgent-but-not-important requests; drop the rest. Eisenhower drew the distinction in a 1954 speech, and Harvard Business Review cites research showing people often finish easy urgent tasks at the expense of more valuable ones.

Sources: The American Presidency Project · Harvard Business Review

Keep the same wake-up time every day, including days off

Pick one wake-up time and keep it on workdays and days off alike. CDC and NHLBI both advise going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, and NHLBI notes that sleeping in late on weekends can disrupt the body clock's sleep-wake rhythm. NHLBI also recommends using the hour before bed for quiet time and avoiding bright screens, because the light may signal the brain that it is time to be awake. Treat the wake time as the anchor even when bedtime slips.

Sources: CDC · NHLBI / NIH

Learn

Today's field: Science & technology

• Diffraction. Diffraction is the bending and spreading of waves around obstacles or past openings. It happens with sound, light, and other waves, and it is easiest to notice when the obstacle or gap is about the size of the wavelength. That is why you can hear someone around a corner even when you cannot see them, and why light through a narrow slit fans into a pattern of bright and dark bands. Diffraction is evidence that light behaves as a wave, not only as a straight ray. [OpenStax University Physics Volume 3 · University of Alberta Physics]
• Radioactive half-life. A radioactive half-life is the time it takes for half the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay into another form. After one half-life, half remain; after two, about one quarter remain, and so on. Each radioactive isotope has its own fixed half-life, which can be seconds or billions of years. Knowing the half-life helps doctors and nuclear workers estimate how long a radioactive material stays active. [CDC · U.S. EPA]
• Signal-to-noise ratio. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compares the strength of the useful signal to the background noise that rides with it. Engineers usually write it as a power ratio and often convert it to decibels so large and small values are easier to compare. A higher SNR means the message is easier to pick out; a low SNR means noise can hide or distort it. The same idea shows up in radios, microphones, medical imaging, and sensors: clearer readings need more signal, less noise, or both. [IEEE Technology Navigator · Rice University ECE]