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North Carolina Republican Congressional candidates, State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom and Laurie Buckhout (R) are embraced by President Trump during an election rally on October 20, 2026 in Greenville, North Carolina. Buckhout is running in North Carolina's 1st District which was redrawn to heavily favor Republicans and is now a toss-up. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption
Republicans had a plan to keep control of the House in the midterms: Redraw congressional district lines to favor the GOP and avoid the historical pattern of heavy midterm losses. President Trump began pressuring Republican-led states to do just that last year, but it isn't working out as expected. Republicans could now be spending millions of dollars on House seats that were supposed to be easy wins, and end up losing anyway . Of the 15 districts drawn specifically to favor Republicans, only five are rated by the Cook Political Report as either likely or solid Republican. Most are toss-ups or lean toward a Democratic win.
In a stunning political comeback, leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won a fourth term in the presidential runoff election in Brazil. Lula defeated Flávio Bolsonaro , son of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, by more than 4 million votes. It's the first time since Brazil restored democracy in 1989 that a candidate who finished second in the first round has gone on to win the presidency.
Large demonstrations against the government continued over the weekend in France, where more than 100,000 people showed up in Paris, and more than 400,000 came out nationwide. What started with students demanding better conditions has grown into a much bigger movement. Unions and public-sector workers have joined, calling for more public spending and protesting growing inequality. Similar protests have erupted across Europe, from Spain to Serbia.
Out-of-pocket maternity expenses are difficult to predict. A federal requirement for insurers to provide personalized cost estimates under the No Surprises Act was supposed to take effect in 2022, but federal regulators haven't made it happen despite pressure from Congress. Until the cost of maternity care gets more transparent, here are some tips to help you budget for the cost of pregnancy:
A satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Isaias approaching the Gulf Coast of Alabama and Florida on Friday, Oct. 9 2026. National Oceanic and Atmospheric/National Oceanic and Atmospheric hide caption
When Hurricane Isaias made landfall in Destin, Fla., as a Category 2 storm, Google DeepMind's AI model outperformed the traditional model, correctly predicting it would hit the Florida Panhandle rather than head west toward Louisiana. Hurricane forecasters say they're increasingly relying on AI technology, and that it's rapidly transforming the field .
This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.
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