The Washington Post - 11.10.2026 — 2026-10-11

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Democracy Dies in Darkness

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Hurricane Isaias batters Gulf region

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2026 · \$6

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In an aerial view, an apartment complex in Milton, Florida, is seen after the roof was blown off when Hurricane Isaias passed through the Florida Panhandle on Saturday. Isaias made landfall as the season's first Atlantic hurricane, with Category 2 winds. Four people were killed and nearly 900,000 customers were without power. Story, A6.

Pro-Trump rulings helped fuel Alito's ascent from the shadows

BY JUSTIN JOUVENAL

President Donald Trump has had no shortage of sharp words for the Supreme Court, including his own three picks. But he's offered effusive praise for a justice he had no role in elevating: Samuel A. Alito Jr.

Trump recently fumed that the justices he nominated were "a shell of their original selves" after Brett M. Kavanaugh, Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett appeared to side with the majority in blocking the administration's sweeping restrictions on mail ballots for November's midterm elections.

In the same message, he called Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas “legends” for dissenting. Weeks earlier, Trump gushed that Alito was “one of the Greatest of All Time.”

Alito, 76, has achieved new prominence on the court in the Trump era, after spending years

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Retirement talk swirls around conservative Supreme Court justice

in the shadow of conservative colleagues with more star power like Thomas and Antonin Scalia.

As the president's agenda has come to dominate the court's docket, Alito has boosted his profile as its most unwavering supporter. His unabashed conservative voice on race, transgender rights and other culture war issues resonates with Trump and his base.

The growing spotlight was underscored by the intense speculation that has swirled around whether he will retire and a series of media appearances with the recent release of his first book, "So Ordered: An Originalist's View of the Constitution, the

Court, and Our Country."

If Alito decided to retire soon, it would open a window for what would be Trump's best chance to pick a conservative successor. But the justice has said that, at least for now, he intends to stay.

"I've been bemused by the retirement speculation; it's not too pleasant to look up and see the vultures circling," Alito said in an interview with "Fox News Sunday."

SEE ALITO ON A11

Trump targets voters' wallets

SHOWERS CHECKS, TAX RELIEF AS SALVE

Races to ease anger over costs before midterms

BY RILEY BEGGIN

With less than one month until the midterm elections, President Donald Trump keeps trying to find ways to directly benefit voters to ease affordability concerns at the heart of the midterm elections.

Last week, Trump began sending \$500 checks to nearly 1 million Americans in 30 states as a refund for Affordable Care Act fees he said were overcharged under President Joe Biden, along with a letter touting his record.

Two days later, he announced plans to send \$90 payments to more than 20 million seniors. The checks were intended to offset October Medicare premiums, Trump wrote in an email accompanying the payments that listed the administration's other health care policies.

But the proposals haven't been limited to checks. On Monday, Trump signed an executive order onstage at a rally in Nebraska that expanded the availability of tax-free dyed diesel, which is typically limited to off-road use on farms and construction sites. The average cost of diesel in the United States is now \$6.27 per gallon, according to AAA, nearly twice the cost of a year ago, driven up by fuel disruptions due to the Iran war.

“Pete and Jim, this should absolutely ensure your election, I guarantee you that,” Trump said after signing the order, referring to Sen. Pete Ricketts (Nebraska) and Gov. Jim Pillen, both Repub-

SEE MIDTERMS ON A12

The Color of Money: Debt is growing faster than income. B8

ELECTION 2026

Montana Democrat who won't drop out may spoil party's Senate hopes

Candidate Alani Bankhead denies claims she is a GOP plant running to take votes from a popular independent

BY ANNIE GOWEN

KALISPELL, MONT. — Her candidacy was boosted with mysterious dark money. Some of her own party have suggested she is a “Republican plant” running a fake campaign. Still, Democrat Alani Bankhead continues to crisscross Montana in a gray Subaru in her long-shot bid to be the state’s next U.S. senator.

In the weeks since she refused to step aside to make way for an independent opponent who is more popular with many Democrats, Bankhead said she has been personally threatened and vilified for standing in the way of potential historic change in the Senate. She even woke up one morning to find the streets of her neighborhood papered with signs that said “Bow Out Bankhead.”

Bankhead's detractors have accused her of being a Democrat in name only, noting she attended a right-leaning church, voted for John McCain and self-published a career book for a conservative publisher. Even her own husband couldn't say for sure in an interview if she's always been a Democrat. "She's always had more liberal-leaning perspectives on things ... so I guess!" Lyle Bankhead said.

Bankhead, 44, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, is a relative newcomer to the state, having only moved here in 2022, an anathema to many Montanans, who fear their rugged paradise is being overrun by outsiders.

“I wish the Democrat who is really a Republican would get out,” said former senator Jon Tester (D-Montana), who held the office for 18 years and supports independent candidate Seth Bodnar. “She doesn’t understand the magnitude of this race.”

In their battle to wrest back control of the Senate in November's midterms, Democrats have turned to supporting independents in deep-red states, and candidates in Senate races in Nebraska, Idaho and South Dakota have stepped aside in favor of independents.

But when Bankhead unexpectedly won her state's primary in June, she declined to pass the ba-

SEE MONTANA ON A10

Spain wins soccer showdown in D.C.

PATRICK SMITH/GETTY IMAGES

Trinity Rodman, right, is challenged by Ona Batlle of Spain during Saturday's friendly at Audi Field. Top-ranked Spain scored two early goals and defeated the second-ranked United States, 2-0. Story, B1

Graham's stance on China has familial twist

BY LIZ GOODWIN,

CATE CADELL

AND AARON SCHAFFER

Sen. Darline Graham, the Republican Senate candidate in South Carolina, has pledged to crack down on China, following in her late brother's footsteps.

"We need to manufacture more here, produce our own energy, secure our supply chains, and stop depending on Communist China for things America can make ourselves," she said in an August interview with the Washington Reporter.

But her husband, Larry Nordone, has management roles in two companies that rely on Chinese manufacturing, company filings and shipping data show.

Graham is battling for election to the seat to which she was appointed after her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, died in July. Lindsey Graham's hard line on China was central to his reputation as a leading foreign policy SEE GRAHAM ON A7

President fumes after missing out on Nobel Prize

BY VICTORIA CRAW

President Donald Trump has reacted angrily to missing out on the Nobel Peace Prize, disparaging the winner and describing the decision as an “indelible stain” on Norway.

Speaking at a rally in Syracuse, New York, Friday evening, Trump described this year's winner of the prestigious prize, leading jurist and former U.N. human rights chief Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, as a "mystery person" he had never heard of, and said: "We will not forget, Norway, that you didn't give this prize." He followed up with social media posts on Friday and Saturday that criticized the award committee's decision.

Jørgen Watne Frydnes, who chairs the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said in an interview Saturday that the committee was independent of the Norwegian government and its only mandate is to honor the criteria set out in the will of Alfred Nobel.

He declined to directly comment on Trump's speech, but said: "The point of this prize is it goes to a person who with courage and integrity has led the way

THE NATION

A record-breaking El Niño could supercharge winter storms in California. A3

SPORTS

Jayden Daniels's return does not solove all the Commanders' issues. B1

© ARTS & STYLE

Why is Ringo Starr still performing at age 86? Because he can.

BUSINESS

AI's ripple effects bring new prosperity but also create vulnerabilities. B8

TRAVEL

Secret bars in airport terminals promise an escape, if you find them.

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THE REGION

Georgetown's first new president in 25 years is listening. B14

COMICS....INSERT

OBITUARIES....B18

OPINION PAGES....A17

WORLD NEWS....A14

CONTENT © 2026

The Washington Post / Year 149, No. 54731

Note: CDC MMWR seasons start with week 40 which reflects the first week of October

Source: CDC FluView

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CORRECTIONS

\- An Oct. 9 Page One article about a Christopher Columbus statue being reinstalled at the White House incorrectly said that former Maryland delegate Nino Mangione represented Baltimore's Little Italy neighborhood. Mangione has close ties to the neighborhood but did not represent it.

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Immunization recommendations for the 2026-2027 respiratory virus season | INFLUENZA (FLU) | RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS (RSV) | COVID-19 | Children and adolescents(0-18 years) | Annual flu vaccine for all children 6 months+ | All infants <8 months, if no protection from RSV vaccine during pregnancy and children 8-19 months in certain risk groups | All young children ages 6-23 months and children 2-18 years in certain risk groups or if desired | Pregnancy | Annual flu vaccine (avoid nasal spray vaccine) | One-time RSV vaccine in first eligible pregnancy if 32-36 weeks pregnant, given between Sept. 1 and March 1 | Annual updated covid-19 vaccine | Adults(19-64 years) | Annual flu vaccine | One-time RSV vaccine for adults ages 50-74 at increased risk of severe RSV | Annual updated covid-19 vaccine | Older adults(65+ years) | Annual flu vaccine, if possible high dose for 65+ | One-time RSV vaccine recommended for adults ages 50-74 at increased risk and all adults age 75+ | Annual updated covid-19 vaccine for adults 65+, followed by a second dose 6 months later to boost protection | Immunocompromised | Annual flu vaccine for age ≥6 months (avoid nasal spray vaccine) | Single dose of RSV vaccine for those age ≥18 years | Annual updated covid-19 vaccine for those age ≥6 months | Health care personnel | Annual flu vaccine | Follow age- and risk-based RSV vaccine recommendations | Annual updated covid-19 vaccine | Source: AMA, AAFP, AAP, ACOG and IDSA

NAEMA AHMED / THE WASHINGTON POST

Note: CDC MMWR seasons start with week 40 which reflects the first week of October

Source: CDC FluView

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Flu is surging unusually early in some parts of the western U.S.

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BY LENA H. SUN

Flu is hitting unusually early in parts of the West, catching doctors by surprise as some hospitals see levels of illness more typical of early winter, when the respiratory virus season normally gets underway.

Across Seattle Children's hospital system, about 150 children have tested positive for influenza in the past two weeks, a level the system typically does not see until early December. By comparison, for the same time period last fall, the health system had about 10 flu cases, said Danielle Zerr, who heads the pediatric infectious diseases division. The percentage of flu tests coming back positive has also risen sharply, signaling that the virus is spreading more widely in the community.

The flu season generally is considered to begin around Oct. 1 and clinicians typically advise people to get their vaccines by the end of October. Even though it is too early to know whether the September activity foreshadows a severe flu season or is an unusual surge that could subside, epidemiologists and clinicians are encouraging patients to get their shots sooner instead of waiting.

“We're about two months early. So this is really concerning because people haven't been working hard to get their vaccines quite yet,” Zerr said. “The way flu is circulating now, you wanted that vaccine in you two weeks ago, if not even a little before that.”

Seattle Children's is also seeing an increase in covid-19 cases, Zerr said. But that rise is less unusual: covid-19 is less seasonally predictable than flu, with transmission surging at different points of the year.

Other signs of unusually early flu activity are emerging across the West. Southern Nevada health officials recently reported their first flu-related death of the season, a man in his 50s with underlying health conditions. In addition to Washington state, Alaska, California and Hawaii are also reporting sharp increases in the percentage of laboratory tests coming back positive for influenza.

NAEMA AHMED / THE WASHINGTON POST

“Consider encouraging patients to get vaccinated as soon as possible, rather than waiting until later in the season, particularly in the Western region,” wrote Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist who tracks outbreak-prone pathogens in a weekly newsletter, FOI Clinical, for clinicians and public health practitioners.

Spread of covid-19 cases remains uneven across U.S.

Scientists do not know what is driving the early rise. Flu activity remains low nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health officials caution against drawing broad conclusions from what is happening in a handful of places. They are watching increased influenza activity in parts of Asia, including Japan, as well as changes in the strains circulating this year. International travel could also help viruses move quickly between countries.

The CDC assesses the severity of each flu season based on three indicators: visits to doctors' offices and clinics for influenza-like illnesses, flu-related hospitalizations and flu deaths. The agency expects this flu season to be of moderate severity overall, although it cautions that there is considerable uncertainty this early. Last season was considered moderate across all ages but was classified as high severity for children.

As of Sept. 30, the CDC's Center for Forecasting and Outbreak

Analytics estimates that influenza infections are growing or likely growing in 48 states, declining or likely declining in one state, and not changing in one state.

Flu seasons can vary widely in their timing and severity, depending in part on which strains are circulating and how much immunity people have from previous infections and how well the vaccine is matched to circulating viruses.

Seasons dominated by H3N2 viruses have historically tended to be more severe, particularly for older adults. Early surveillance in Washington this fall shows H1N1 predominating.

Helen Chu, an infectious-diseases professor at the University of Washington, said the shift could help explain why flu is taking off so early. H3N2 dominated last season, meaning people may have less recent immunity against H1N1, she said. Whether that is actually driving the early spread — and what it might mean for the months ahead remains unclear.

Flu seasons are notoriously difficult to predict from year to year, said Robert Hopkins, medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and an infectious diseases physician in Little Rock.

Hopkins said there have been a few more influenza cases this fall than usual, but not a dramatic increase. And so far, there have been more covid-19 cases than flu in his region, he said.

Nationally, the summer covid wave appears to be leveling off or declining, and hospitalizations remain low. Unlike flu, which generally follows a fall-and-winter pattern, covid circulates year-round and has repeatedly produced waves in both summer and winter.

Transmission remains uneven. As of Sept. 30, the CDC estimated that infections were rising in 19 states, falling in eight and holding steady in 23. Wastewater data show elevated levels in parts of the West and increases in parts of the Northeast, including New York City and surrounding counties.

RSV remains very low nationally, although Florida — where RSV activity often begins earlier — is reporting increases in RSV-related emergency-room visits and hospital admissions among children younger than 5.

ed might just not have had the opportunity yet or just hadn't taken the opportunity to do it," said Seattle Children's Zerr. In addition, she said there are some who are hesitant or reluctant to get the shots.

For clinicians at Seattle Children's, however, the timing is unmistakably unusual. September simply does not normally look like this.

"The flu came so early this year that all the people who would normally get vaccinat-"

Flu vaccines for the 2026-27 season are already widely available. Influenza vaccines are less effective in preventing infections than other vaccines such as the one for measles, mumps and rubella, which the CDC says prevents measles in about 97 percent of cases when patients have received two doses. But multiple studies have shown the flu vaccine reduces the disease's severity and averts hospitalizations and deaths.

The 2024-25 flu season was especially harsh, and the CDC estimates there were 51 million influenza-related illnesses and 45,000 deaths, including 298 pediatric deaths.

In 2023, the CDC launched a flu vaccine campaign called Wild to Mild to advertise how getting a flu vaccine reduces flu risk. But Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the CDC to halt promotions for that ad campaign early last year.

Unlike in previous years, the CDC has not launched a broad public campaign this fall urging Americans to get their flu shots, even as unusually early activity is emerging in parts of the West. The vaccine takes about two weeks to build protection.

Kennedy has disparaged the flu shot or linked it to his voice condition at least two dozen times over the last six years. Early this year, the federal government reversed course and revised vaccination guidelines to no longer recommend routine flu shots for children and adolescents as part of an overhaul of the pediatric immunization schedule.

But that action, along with other vaccine policy changes under Kennedy, was put on hold by a federal judge in March. The CDC's influenza website currently recommends annual vaccinations for nearly everyone 6 months and older, generally advising people to get vaccinated in September or October.

The website, updated Sept. 1, has a note at the top saying: "Because of legal uncertainties and inquiries, the CDC states the recommendations for seasonal influenza vaccination from the July 2025 immunization schedule remain in effect for the 2026-2027 influenza season."

Asked if the CDC plans a public campaign urging flu vaccination, Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement that the CDC is “developing a communications strategy to provide clear, accessible information about influenza vaccination and other critical steps people can take to protect themselves during respiratory virus season.” She said this includes information “about the benefits and risks of vaccination to support informed decision-making.”

Fuming president disparages winner after missing out on Nobel Peace Prize

President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on Friday in Syracuse, New York. Trump described Nobel Peace price winner Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, as a “mystery person.”

NOBEL FROM A1

ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES towards a more comprehensive global legal order, and that is the direction our societies and the world should go into if we want a more peaceful society."

In his Friday night tirade against the Nobel Peace Prize result, which lasted about 10 minutes, Trump said he “should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn’t. … This is an indelible stain on the country of Norway and those people that made such an disgraceful and embarrassing decision.”

Trump has long sought the award, regularly stating that he deserves the prize. He has also previously pushed Norwegian leaders for it, calling the country's finance minister and texting the prime minister about it.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is independent from the Norwegian government, although its members are appointed by the parliament and reflect the composition of the legislature.

Several countries and individuals have sought Trump's favor by nominating him for the peace prize, or publicly stating he should win the award. Last year's Nobel peace laureate, Venezuelan opposition politician María Corina Machado gave Trump her medal in January, weeks after he toppled her country's longtime leader, Nicolás Maduro.

At the time, the Nobel Committee said it would not comment on what laureates do after they win, but the award “cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others."

In posts on Truth Social late Friday and early Saturday, Trump, who is waging war against Iran, also said he “should have won 8 Nobel Peace Prizes” because he “settled 8 Wars” and was “about to settle, or win, two more, Iran and, Russia/Ukraine.”

In reality, some of the eight conflicts Trump claims to have settled have continued. Others were ended largely by others.

Trump also disparaged Pillay in one of his posts, saying: "I don't know what the woman has

done."

The Norwegian Nobel committee said it had awarded the prize of Pillay “for her efforts to promote peace and international law,” and her “courage, vision and determination” in holding states and world leaders accountable.

Pillay's work has included heading an international tribunal investigating the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, defending anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, serving as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and leading a U.N.

commission last year that determined Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, something Israel rejects.

She is currently a judge at the International Court of Justice in a case where the military-run government of Myanmar stands accused of genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority population.

On hearing news of her win on Friday, Pillay responded to applause with the quip, “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump.”

Pillay dedicated her award to war crimes survivors and said she was surprised the committee had praised her courage, because “why would you need courage to speak the truth?”

She also criticized threats to the ICC as “attempts to weaken international criminal justice.”

Hours after she was awarded the prize, the Trump administration imposed aggressive sanctions on the International Criminal Court, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the move was aimed at ending the threat the “rogue court” posed to U.S. sovereignty.

Haakon Gjerlow, acting director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, an independent research institution, said the U.S. sanctions against the ICC announced on the same day Pillay was awarded the prize “underscores exactly why this award matters.”

"The Nobel Committee has sent a clear message that international law and the institutions that defend it remain essential pillars of a peaceful world" he said. "It is a brave decision by the Committee, and a worryingly bullying reaction."

THE NATION

MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES

A Pacific Ocean wave crashes into a seawall protecting beachfront homes in Long Beach, California, in September.

Record El Niño could supercharge California's winter weather

Storms, high tides and potentially unparalleled sea levels could raise the chances of coastal and inland flooding and chip away at beaches

JAKE LEE GREEN/SIPA/AP

Above, large portions of Tamarack State Beach in Carlsbad, California, have deteriorated from waves. Below, a person travels around town by boat in a Northern California town in 1998.

BY BEN NOLL

AND HANNAH KNOWLES

Few states are more sensitive to what's happening in the Pacific Ocean than California — and what's happening in the Pacific this year has no modern precedent.

Because of that, California is expected to face a much higher risk than normal for powerful, moisture-laden storms late this fall and winter, especially from December onward, driven in part by a record-breaking El Niño that resulted in a statewide emergency declaration last month.

Storms, high tides and potentially unparalleled sea levels could raise the chances of coastal and inland flooding and chip away at the beach. The fallout could be a stark reminder of the longer-term challenges facing communities on an eroding shore.

“We have built right to the edge. The most valuable property is on the sand,” said Gary Griggs, a coastal scientist and professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz. “This winter in particular, I think it’s going to show what these communities are up against.”

California is no stranger to weather extremes. Over the last 130 years, two California water years stand above the rest: 1982-83 and 1997-98. Both coincided with super El Niño events, similar to the one unfolding now.

El Niño is a natural warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that occurs every two to seven years.

This year's strong event is anything but typical — and it could have serious consequences across the United States, spanning places like beach towns and the Sierra Nevada mountains.

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El Niño could amplify coastal flooding

Communities along the shore are preparing for an El Niño-fueled “coastally trapped wave” — a bulge in the ocean surface that is expected to raise California’s sea levels by up to a foot in October.

The trapped wave, on its own, is not destructive, experts said. It won't come crashing onto the beach like a tsunami.

But the higher sea levels it brings could become damaging when combined with high tides and storms.

This week, Hurricane Rachel, despite tracking almost 1,000 miles away from Southern California, could cause minor coastal flooding, beach erosion and dangerous rip currents. Tides of up to seven feet are predicted in coastal parts of Orange and San Diego Counties, where an alert is in effect.

The combination of elevated sea levels and high tides could become especially important this winter. If an extra-high “king tide” coincides with a coastal storm, the effects could compound and be severe.

Here's when these highest tides are expected:

• Nov. 24-26, 2026
• Dec. 22-25, 2026
• Jan. 20-23, 2027

"We're already seeing the high tides, the tall surf, to the point where the surfers are elated along our coast," said Warren Ontiveros, deputy director for the department of beaches and harbors at Los Angeles County. "They're having field days."

But “those waves also cause damage,” he emphasized. “They cause erosion.”

Early in September, Hurricane Marie brought big waves that overwhelmed seawalls, destroyed beachfront homes and ate away at the coastline.

In Santa Monica, a music festival was canceled because of beach erosion. In Malibu, a sinkhole at the house of actor Nicolas Cage led dozens of households to evacuate.

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The stage is set for destructive storms

El Niño could also contribute to more intense storms that bring inland flooding.

One weather phenomenon that could “make or break the water year” in California is atmospheric rivers, according to

Marty Ralph, director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the University of California at San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Their severity can be predicted and is ranked on a scale with five tiers.

An atmospheric river is like a river in the sky. These long, narrow plumes of water vapor can transport more water than the world's mightiest rivers. When that moisture gets squeezed out of the sky by a storm or front, heavy rain can fall.

They can bring beneficial increases in snowpack, but they can also produce destructive flooding.

The most hazardous ones tend to occur from January to March. They can form as early as October — though none are expected in the weeks ahead.

If a big atmospheric river were to occur this winter, the conditions leading up to it could make a difference. A stormier El Niño pattern, for instance, could leave the soil wet and “primed” for flooding, said Ralph.

Much warmer Pacific waters could also provide extra energy to storms approaching California.

During the powerful 1997-98 El Niño, Ralph said, research flights found that coastal waters about 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than normal increased the energy of thunderstorms that struck the Santa Barbara area by roughly 25 percent. That contributed to 3-inch-per-hour rainfall and river flooding.

"I think we do need to keep our eyes open for an exceptionally big event this winter because all that heat in the ocean does help energize the storms," said Ralph.

SCOTT MANCHESTER/SYGMA/GETTY IMAGES

If California does get hit by several powerful atmospheric rivers this winter, then upper mountain areas could get buried by snow, according to Colin McCarthy of the weather forecasting company Atmo AI, who has documented the state's winter storms for several years.

Because of the expected abundance of moisture, McCarthy anticipates mountain areas above 7,000 or 8,000 feet will get pummeled by snow this winter. However, because of warmer temperatures, resort base areas around 6,000 feet could instead see more rain and less snow.

If a warm atmospheric river drops heavy rain onto saturated soils and a deep snowpack, then melting snow could also add to potential flooding.

What happens in California could reverberate around the

U.S. Storms that move from the Pacific into California sometimes begin a cross-country journey. Their energy can even help fuel storms along the East Coast.

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How are people preparing?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency over El Niño last month, directing officials to prepare before it reaches peak intensity later in the year.

Authorities say they are staging equipment such as sandbags and pumps around the state ahead of time.

The specific effects depend on when and where stormy weather develops, officials said. Coastal communities should be especially on guard for king tides expected in November and December, they said, even if no storms materialize.

“Essentially you're tilting the statistics toward more storms” and more rain, said David Neelin, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UCLA.

Officials have declared emergencies in coastal cities including Laguna Beach. Waves there damaged the seawalls that protect oceanfront homes and washed away sand underneath a sidewalk and parking lot at a popular beach.

“Most of us have never seen this much sand leave our beaches at once,” city manager Dave Kiff said at the time.

The threat to beachfront homes has resurfaced long-running tensions over how to protect the private properties most vulnerable to big waves. Some homeowners want to build rock walls and other fortifications to help keep the water at bay, but California tightly restricts those projects over concerns that they can increase erosion and hurt public beaches in the long run.

In Dana Point — where storms destroyed beachfront homes last month — residents got emergency permits to build a wall and are fighting to make it permanent. The California Coastal Commission, which issued the permits, has offered to extend them through the El Niño season, spokesman Joshua Smith said.

In the longer term, many officials and residents are pushing for more projects to replace lost sand.

Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill said his city's shoreline used to benefit from sand replenishment on nearby beaches. But many of those programs have stopped, he said, and “we are now feeling the results of it.”

GOP is at risk of significant state legislative losses, Post analysis finds

BY ERIC LAU

AND BEN BINDAY

Where either party could gain full party control

Where Democrats could gain full party control

Where Democrats could lose full party control

Most national attention in this year's midterm elections is focused on congressional and governors' races.

But Democrats are also making a strong push to win power in state legislatures across the country, forcing Republicans to play defense in a terrain they have dominated in recent years.

Democrats are on offense. They could break up full Republican control in as many as six states and win unified control in as many as seven of their own, a Washington Post analysis found. | STATE | GOVERNOR | SENATE | Minnesota | Democratic | 34D – 33R | Solid | Democratic | Nevada | Republican | 13D – | Toss-up | Pennsylvania | Democratic | 23D – 27R | Solid | Democratic | 3 to fl | Republicans are on their heels, with the chance to disrupt full Democratic control in only two states and pick up full control in as many as five states.

Where Republicans could lose full party control

The results in these state races could be more significant to many voters than the outcomes in federal contests, given legislatures' ability to set policy affecting large aspects of life and business. Because Congress is often gridlocked and politics are increasingly polarized, states have become more aggressive in filling the resulting power vacuum. | STATE | GOVERNOR | SENATE | GeorgiaVery vulnerable | RepublicanToss-up | 23D – 33 | IowaVery vulnerable | RepublicanCompetitive,leansDemocratic | 17D – 32I | OhioVery vulnerable | RepublicanToss-up | 9D – 23R | FloridaSomewhat vulnerable | RepublicanCompetitive,leansRepublican | 12D – 26– 1I | NewHampshireSomewhat vulnerable | RepublicanLikelyRepublican | 8D – 16R■■■■511 | TexasSomewhat vulnerable | RepublicanCompetitive,leansRepublican | 12D – 18I | State legislatures determine policies on such issues as redistricting, abortion, voting, education and taxes. A party having unified control of state government by controlling the governorship, the state House and the state Senate, often called a "trifecta," is critical for passing legislative priorities without the opposition party's veto.

Republicans have consistently held more state legislative seats than Democrats since the 2010 election, when the GOP netted nearly 700 seats and seized control of 20 legislative chambers.

“2026 is proving to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Democrats to shift the balance of power away from Republicans,” Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the party’s state legislative campaign arm, said in a statement.

Republicans' counterpart, the Republican State Leadership Committee, referred to this year's elections in an April memo as a “political environment that is likely to be one of the most challenging for state Republicans in recent years,” adding that their strategy involved a “defensive-first posture.”

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Potential trifectas

Democrats are aiming to win unified control of Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Nevada's state governments in November.

They are likely to emerge successful in Minnesota, where Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) is heavily favored to win the governor's race and Democrats hold the state Senate. The state House is tied 67-67.

Democrats face a steeper climb in Pennsylvania, where they are hoping to defend a slim majority in the state House and take the Senate, now controlled by Republicans. Only half of the chamber's seats are up for election, aiding Republican efforts to defend their 27-23 majority. Democrats haven't held a trifecta in the state in decades, making

November a rare opportunity.

Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), who is on track to easily win reelection, has campaigned with and contributed funds to Democratic candidates as he makes the case for a potential presidential bid.

Republicans' state legislative campaign arm predicted that Democrats may seek to redraw Minnesota and Pennsylvania's congressional districts if they win unified control. Minnesota's districts are split 4-4 and Pennsylvania's are split 10-7 in favor of Republicans. Some Democrats in both states have touted the possibility, though neither Shapiro nor Klobuchar have committed to doing so.

Democrats may also seize a trifecta in Nevada if Attorney General Aaron Ford defeats incumbent Gov. Joe Lombardo (R).

Republicans' strongest opportunity to gain a trifecta is in Kansas, where Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is term-limited. State Senate President Ty Masterson (R) is favored to win the race to replace Kelly, which would give Republicans unified control in the state.

In four states — Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Alas-

THE WASHINGTON POST

ka — both parties are hoping to gain unified control of state government.

Democrats have the clearest path to a trifecta in Michigan, which it held from 2022 to 2024. The party is favored to win the governor's race and holds a narrow majority in the state Senate, while Republicans narrowly control the state House.

Both chambers and the governorship are up for grabs in Wisconsin and Arizona, which have Democratic governors and Republican legislatures. Wisconsin Democrats, aided by new statewide maps replacing those that benefited Republicans, are targeting their first trifecta in the state since 2010. The GOP is hopeful that Rep. Tom Tiffany (R) can win the state's governor's race, a toss-up, and restore unified Republican control.

The DLCC is also investing in races for both chambers of the Arizona legislature, hoping to flip them and win unified Democratic control in the state for the first time since the 1960s. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is favored to win reelection in a competitive race.

Either party may also gain unified control of Alaska's government. The state uses ranked-choice voting for the closely contested gubernatorial race between one Democrat and three Republican candidates. Both chambers of Alaska's legislature have been governed by a bipartisan coalition in recent years and may have different compositions after the midterms.

---

Trifectas at risk

Six Republican trifectas and two Democratic ones may be broken in November, potentially preventing the passage of some of the parties' legislative priorities.

Republicans safely control both legislative chambers in Texas, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Florida. But the five states are expected to have competitive governor's races.

Incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is likely to win re-election in Texas against Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, and Republican Rep. Byron Donalds is favored against former congressman David Jolly in Florida's gubernatorial race. No Republican incumbent is running in the other three states, which all appear more vulnerable for Republicans.

Democrats are also targeting both legislative chambers in New Hampshire, which is under unified Republican control. Though Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte is likely to win reelection, Democrats have a “better than 50/50” chance of flipping the House, according to Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire’s survey center.

Republicans are hoping to defeat Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek in Oregon, where the legislature is safely in Democratic hands.

fecta in Maine, where Democrats have a two-seat majority

Some Republicans are also hoping to break Democrats' tri-

crats have a two-seat majority in the state House. It's possible but "hard to imagine" that Republicans will flip the chamber in 2026, said Mark Brewer, chair of the University of Maine's political science department.

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Supermajorities

The parties are also hoping to gain legislative supermajorities in chambers across the country. With a supermajority, usually comprising two-thirds or three-fifths of members, legislatures can override governors' vetoes and pass their desired legislation.

Democrats' targets include breaking GOP supermajorities in both chambers of Florida's legislature, as well as Kansas's state House and Ohio's state House, all of which could have a Democratic governor after the midterms. In Iowa, the party is hoping to break the Republican supermajority in the state House and prevent Republicans from gaining a supermajority in the state Senate. Democrats are also hoping to break the Republican supermajority in North Carolina's state House and prevent a Republican supermajority in the state Senate under Democratic Gov. Josh Stein.

---

Trifectas over time

The number of legislative trifectas has steadily and dramatically increased this century, with 38 states having one-party government. Less than 20 states were governed entirely by one party in the late 1990s.

The numbers in the past five years mark a record high since the 1950s, reflecting increased polarization and decreased voter interest in “ticket-splitting,” when a voter casts a ballot for candidates of opposing political parties for different offices in the same election.

The importance of trifectas

Much more legislation is enacted when a state government is under one-party control, according to a Washington Post analysis, including bills on politically divisive topics.

Nearly all new legislation that redistricted states' congressional districts was in states with unified party control of government. The same is true for policies on issues such as abortion and gun rights, on which Democrats and Republicans often struggle to reach bipartisan compromises.

---

Methodology

Data for trifectas is from Carl Klarner's State Partisan Balance Data, 1937-2011 dataset, Ballotpedia and Multistate. We checked discrepancies between sources against state government websites. A state is labeled with potential to gain or lose a trifecta if the gubernatorial seat or either of the legislative chambers are vulnerable. A gubernatorial seat is considered vulnerable if the Cook Political Report rating for the race is competitive (leans Republican, toss-up or leans Democratic). As a baseline, a legislative chamber is considered vulnerable if the opposing party would gain control of the chamber by flipping five total seats or less than 10 percent of the number of seats up for election. We manually evaluated the vulnerability of the chambers in the baseline. Nebraska, which has a unicameral and nonpartisan state legislature, is not included in the analysis. Data for legislative bills is from LegiScan.

Eight killed, including two children, in Erie, Pa. shooting, authorities say

JEFF SWENSEN/GETTY IMAGES

Police stand outside the scene of the shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania. The victims included two children — a 1-year-old and a 5-year-old.

Those killed included

a woman who was

pregnant, officials say

BY MAEGAN VAZQUEZ

Eight people, including two children, were shot in a mass killing in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday evening, according to local law enforcement. The shooter is also dead.

Authorities have not named the victims or the shooter or described the motive behind the incident, which took place at a home in east Erie.

Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said during a news conference Saturday that seven of the victims were family members and related to the shooter. Another victim was a family friend.

The victims included two children — a 1-year-old and a 5-year-old — and six adults ranging in age from 19 to 51. One adult victim was eight months pregnant.

The shooter, a 45-year-old man, appeared to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Lorah said that police arrived on the scene in response to an acoustic gunshot detection alert to find two deceased women outside the residence.

Ring camera footage from a neighbor, Lorah said, showed those two women “arriving at the residence appearing distressed.”

“They were trying to get neighbors’ attention. They were pounding on the door. We hear what we believe to be, what we assume to be, muffled gunshots in that audio very faintly, a scream and then two shots fired, and that's where we believe those two outside victims were killed," Lorah said.

scene, they did not see any motion or hear noise from inside the home. SWAT officers breached doors of the property and deployed a robot to assess the scene. When victims were identified, officers entered the home. After entering, they found the two children on the first floor of the home, and the shooter, as well as four adults, on the second floor.

name. Lorah declined to name a motive for the killing, but said, "I think that mental health is at play here."

Erie Mayor Daria Devlin, addressing surviving family members at Saturday's news conference, said, "I am so deeply sorry. What happened to you was horrific and there is nothing that any of us can say today that will make any of this any easier."

Speaking to reporters near the crime scene overnight, Lorah had called it “one of the worst situations, if not the worst situation, that I have ever experienced in my 28-plus years as a police officer.”

Investigators determined that all of the deaths occurred before law enforcement officers arrived and that the deaths were not the result of a standoff or delay in police action, according to a joint statement released earlier Saturday from the city of Erie and its police department.

No additional gunshots were fired after police arrived, but flash bangs were deployed, they said.

"I've spoken with Mayor Devlin and offered my Administration's full support following the tragic mass shooting in Erie last night — killing nine of our fellow Pennsylvanians," Shapiro (D) wrote on X. "My heart breaks for this family."

Erie, which has about 90,000 residents, is some 117 miles north of Pittsburgh.

First battle facing ‘Super Intelligence Force:’ AI fears

Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management, is seen last month in Washington. He is one of the group's four leaders.

Trump's new task force wants safety without slowing innovation

BY CAT ZAKRZEWSKI

After spending much of his second term pushing to accelerate artificial intelligence, President Donald Trump is turning to a new “Super Intelligence Force” to confront a growing obstacle: Americans’ fears about the technology.

The goal of the new task force is to find ways to address concerns about the safety of AI technology without compromising the rapid innovation that has been central to Trump's economic and national security agenda, said Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management and one of the group's four leaders.

“Can we do enough to make sure that the American people believe that we're addressing their concerns appropriately without obviously compromising our ability to win?” Kupor said in an interview with The Washington Post.

That work began last week as the task force's chairman, Jay Clayton, traveled to the Bay Area for meetings with leaders of the top AI labs and related companies, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and SpaceXAI founder Elon Musk, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private meetings.

Reversing public concern over AI is no easy task. The Trump administration hopes to reap what officials see as the economic opportunities of AI while fending off growing worries that the technology could unleash cyberattacks, eliminate jobs and raise energy prices to pay for power-hungry data centers. There are competing interests within the administration and different ideas about how to accomplish that objective.

The group is expected to prepare a report studying the risks of AI, focusing on potential threats to civil liberties and cybersecurity. The task force will also review mechanisms for companies to alert the government about new risks they are seeing in their labs.

That focus is a shift from the administration's AI Action Plan, developed in 2025 to support rapid industry development of new systems.

“I would view this as an overlay on top of that,” Kupor said. The administration has had more than a year of new information, he said, and it’s time to ensure “security, safety and economic sovereignty” are also part of the playbook.

The leaders of the task force represent different camps within the administration following turf wars over how the government should craft its response to AI.

Clayton, the director of national intelligence, understands the interests of the government's national security agencies, while Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson represents the government's de facto tech regulator. The FTC has launched a broad investigation into Anthropic and OpenAI, two of the leading AI firms. Kupor, previously a managing partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and Emil Michael, a Pentagon official with Silicon Valley experience, have strong ties to industry leaders who have argued that the United States cannot restrain AI development if it wants to win the race with China.

By having Clayton lead the task force, Trump has signaled that the administration is prioritizing the concerns of the national security and intelligence communities in its response. Kupor said the decision to name him, Michael and Ferguson also reflected the president's interest in a well-rounded group.

Kupor acknowledged that different opinions exist within the administration about how to respond to AI, calling it “a really complex issue.”

MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/AP

"My hope is that people give us an opportunity to do as much information-gathering as we can, that they respect the fact that we are all open-minded, and we all ultimately want the same thing for the country — to make sure that the country is prosperous and safe, and that people feel secure in the technology work that's happening," he said. "But, look, it's not easy. If it were easy, maybe we wouldn't need this task force."

Kupor said he viewed action from Congress as a potential threat to the work of the task force, as political opposition to AI grows.

"My general going-in concern about Congress regulating at this stage of development is that the industry is just changing so fast, and things are changing so fast," he said. "I want to make sure that the preconditions for success for the U.S. that have long existed continue to prevail."

He added, however, that he was not ruling out the possibility that lawmakers may need to step in.

His position reflects the general approach that the president has taken toward the AI industry, which Trump refers to as "SI," for super intelligence: encouraging companies to police themselves. Last month, the administration unveiled an agreement in which top tech companies agreed to develop internal controls to address AI risks and audit their systems. Trump said the document was "morally binding," but lawmakers from both parties said Congress needed to step in to mandate that the companies manage the risks of their products.

Kupor said leaders of the AI task force were meeting on Thursday, ahead of a broader meeting this week with other administration officials serving on the task force. He planned to propose that the group could accomplish its goals by defining the government's expectations for the AI labs, and by facilitating more communication between the companies and the government, critical infrastructure firms and the host of financial institutions and other companies that are concerned about the cybersecurity threats posed by rapidly advancing AI systems. Last week, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said that AI models are believed to have been used in recent hacking incidents against commercial banks there.

"I don't know exactly what the policy prescription will look like, but there certainly will be compromises that we will have to consider across all the domains here," Kupor said. "And my hope is that we come up with something that ultimately, number one, is acceptable to the president, because certainly we owe him a readout on that, and then two, as we convey that to the American people, this shows that we took this seriously, deliberately, and that we were putting the best interests of the American people first and foremost."

D.C. judge bars DOJ from gathering states' voter lists to find noncitizens

BY PATRICK MARLEY

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Justice Department's policy of gathering voter registration lists from states, running names through a federal database and telling states to remove suspected noncitizens.

U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan in Washington found that the arrangement violated federal privacy and procedural laws and went beyond the Justice Department's authority.

The Justice Department last year took the unusual step of asking states to turn over voter lists, which include names, addresses, dates of birth, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

Most states resisted and have fought off lawsuits seeking to hand over their rolls. But 18 states agreed to turn over their full lists and entered agreements saying they would remove voters who the federal government determined could be noncitizens.

Voters and voting rights groups sued, noting that federal databases include inaccuracies that have misidentified citizens as noncitizens, who are ineligible to vote in federal elections. Friday's decision cited a 2006 internal audit of Social Security data that found over 3 million people who had obtained U.S. citizenship were inaccurately listed as noncitizens.

Sooknanan ruled in favor of Common Cause and other voting rights groups on Friday, finding that the Justice Department's program violates the Privacy Act and other laws.

“DOJ cannot run roughshod over longstanding laws that were carefully crafted to protect the rights of the American people,” wrote Sooknanan, who was appointed to the bench by President Joe Biden.

The ruling is a setback for President Donald Trump amid a multifront fight over voter rolls and the use of federal data, which is sometimes inaccurate. Trump has claimed for years that noncitizen voting is rampant, even though independent reviews have found it rarely happens.

Last month, the administration won a ruling from the Supreme Court that said it could check voter rolls using the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements data system. The ruling meant that states could access the database if they wanted.

That case centered on a different law, and Sooknanan determined the Supreme Court ruling had no bearing on the one she decided Friday. With her decision, she said, she was blocking the Justice Department's underlying policy of gathering voter rolls and sharing data with other agencies.

Most immediately, the ruling could affect the 18 Republican-led states that have been working with the Justice Department, according to court records.

"Today's decision does not prevent the federal government from taking lawful steps to support states' efforts to maintain accurate voter rolls. Neither does it prevent states from maintaining their own voter rolls," Sooknanan wrote. "And to state the obvious, the Court's decision does not pave the way for ineligible voters to vote in our elections."

The Justice Department did not immediately comment on the ruling or say whether it planned to appeal.

Among those who sued was Anthony Nel, who was born in South Africa and became a U.S. citizen as a teenager. He was misidentified as a noncitizen and removed from the rolls in Texas. He was later reinstated.

“No other voter should have to go through what I did, and this ruling protects every eligible voter from having their registration mistakenly revoked for no reason,” Nel said in a statement.

Other states have declined to turn over their full voter rolls, and the Justice Department has sued 30 of them and Washington. So far, the department has lost all 26 of the cases that have been decided.

The disputes over the voter rolls are significant but may have little effect on next month's midterm elections because a separate federal law bars removing large numbers of voters from the rolls in the 90 days before Election Day. But the litigation will determine what rules are in place for voter registration heading into the 2028 presidential election.

Christa Pike released from hospital

BY MAEGAN VAZQUEZ

Christa Pike, who survived an execution attempt in Tennessee 10 days ago, has been discharged from the hospital and moved to a rehabilitation center, according to her attorneys and the Tennessee Department of Correction.

“Christa Pike was discharged from a local hospital and is now at Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center where she has been housed for more than 30 years,” a statement from Pike’s attorneys said. “She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances. She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery."

The Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed the move and said no further information was available. Officials attempted to execute Pike on Sept. 30.

Representatives of the media who were in the death chamber in a Nashville prison said Pike continued to talk, breathe and snore after she was given two doses of lethal injection drugs. The execution was halted by the state, and Pike received emergency care and was transported to a hospital.

Pike's attorneys said she was on a ventilator and unconscious the day after the execution attempt, and that she arrived at the hospital with swelling, burns and blisters on her arms. On Tuesday, her attorneys had said she was conscious and speaking.

The historic failure by state officials led to the resignation of the state's prison chief.

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Four dead, hundreds of thousands without power as Isaias sweeps inland

People retrieve belongings from a collapsed boathouse in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaias in Destin, Florida, on Saturday. The storm packed wind gusts over 100 mph and a storm surge of up to six feet.

GERALD HERBERT/AP

The storm made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane in Florida late Friday

BY MATTHEW CAPPUCCI,

ALEX DELUCA

AND IAN DUNCAN

Four people were killed and nearly 900,000 customers were without power after Isaias roared ashore near Destin, Florida, late Friday night as a Category 2 hurricane, packing wind gusts over 100 mph and a storm surge of up to six feet.

A wind gust to 117 mph was recorded in Pensacola Beach, Florida, while nearby Santa Rosa Beach gusted to 116 mph. The town of Milton gusted to 115 mph in the Florida Panhandle, and several other gusts to 105 mph were clocked nearby — ferocious winds driving power outages across Florida, Alabama and Georgia as of early Saturday, according to poweroutage.us.

Florida officials were surveying damage across the area Saturday, as daylight revealed the extent of the destruction.

A woman was killed in Escambia County, near the Alabama border, after a large tree fell on her home and pinned her underneath it, according to a spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff's Office. Fire rescue personnel found the woman unresponsive at 8:48 p.m., close to the time Isaias made landfall.

On Saturday, a man died after using a generator in a garage without proper ventilation, Sheriff Chip W. Simmons said at a news conference.

Another person was killed in Birmingham when a tree fell on a building early Saturday, city fire chief Cory D. Moon said. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) said in a statement that a second person in the state had been killed but did not provide details.

Soon after it crashed ashore, Isaias had weakened to a post-tropical, or nontropical, storm. The National Hurricane Center had discontinued all tropical alerts. The storm was forecast to continue making its way north through Alabama on Saturday before reaching Tennessee on Sunday and turning toward Kentucky.

While winds are expected to weaken, forecasters said they could still pose a risk across a broad swath of the south, along with heavy rain affecting an area from northeast Georgia into the western parts of the Carolinas. There is the possibility of flash flooding across much of the Southeast, as well as tornadoes.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said crews worked overnight to clear debris from key bridges and roads, including Interstate 10, and that all state-owned coastal bridges and major roadways have since reopened.

In an interview with “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Saturday morning, he said there had not yet been any requests for search and rescue, calling that “cautiously a good sign.”

“I think that may be a sign that people heeded the warnings, took proper precautions,” the governor said.

Still, most roads in Santa Rosa County, just east of Escambia County, were “impassable due to down trees and/or power lines,” county emergency management officials said in a Saturday morning release.

Officials urged residents not to travel “unless absolutely necessary.”

In Milton, a city in the county, several buildings had their roofs torn off and a gas station awning was ripped apart, according to images from the scene.

More than two dozen Florida

Department of Transportation teams were assessing damage and flooding across the Panhandle, and thousands of workers were trying to restore power to communities across the state, DeSantis said.

Near Fort Walton Beach, officials had to wait until floodwaters began to recede late Friday night before beginning cleanup operations. Some 8.04 inches of rain were reported, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a dire flash flood emergency for “life-threatening flooding.” Doppler radar suggested some locations had received nearly a foot of rain.

The weather service also issued a rare extreme wind warning, which is issued when sustained winds or frequent gusts of

115 mph are expected in a land-falling major hurricane's eyewall. It covered Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Escambia counties.

“TAKE COVER NOW!,” wrote the weather service office in Mobile, Alabama. “Treat these imminent extreme winds as if a tornado was approaching and move immediately to the safe room in your shelter.”

The weather service encouraged residents to move to a “reinforced interior room away from windows.”

Even as the storm weakened, the center of Isaias's remnant circulation was located near Montgomery, Alabama, during the predawn hours Saturday. East of the center, moisture being swirled northward was still posing a flood risk. A couple of tornadoes could accompany Isaias's remnants, too.

As the remnants sweep through the region, locally significant flooding is possible in northeast Georgia or the Appalachians and foothills in western parts of the Carolinas. That's where low-level southeasterly flow will be pushed uphill by the terrain. Moisture will be squeezed out of air pockets as they rise, leading to torrential downpours. A few rain totals of 6 to 8 inches are likely.

A couple of tornadoes, meanwhile, are a concern in eastern Georgia and southern South Carolina. Some afternoon thunderstorms will blossom in the warm, humid air mass dragged north by Isaias.

And Isaias's broader wind field, characterized by ample shear — changing winds with height — will encourage those thunderstorms to rotate.

On Sunday, scattered down-pours will lift into the Mid-Atlantic, with a lingering tornado threat in eastern North Carolina and adjacent southeast Virginia.

Residents spent Friday making last-minute preparations in coastal communities ahead of impact. In Pensacola and Destin, people boarded up homes and stacked sandbags; businesses closed their doors.

Others packed up cars and hit the road, heeding evacuation orders that were issued for coastal counties. Several counties across southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle issued evacuation advisories — only some of them mandatory.

The airport serving Pensacola, a city of about 50,000, shut down Friday morning. At least 20 locations of Waffle House — the 24-hour Southern chain with a legendary reputation for trying to stay open around natural disasters — have been temporarily closed across Florida and Alabama, according to public map data.

Before impact, DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 27 Florida counties stretching from Citrus County on the west-central coast to Escambia County near the Alabama border.

Utilities announced planned water and sewer shutdowns on Okaloosa Island and Pensacola Beach. Okaloosa officials said storm surge could cause the water and sewer system to fail completely unless it was shut down in advance.

On Pensacola Beach, the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority said it would shutter water and sewer services once emergency personnel had evacuated the island.

After the storm's impacts sweep through the southeast, heavy rain will spread across the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and New England into Sunday. Rainfall amounts of a possible inch or two were forecast in the Mid-Atlantic, including D.C., with the highest amounts toward Norfolk.

These soaking conditions should depart by Monday.

There are no additional hurricanes or tropical storms forecast to develop in the Atlantic over the coming week, although a tropical storm watch has been issued for San Diego, near where Rachel was forecast to come ashore early Sunday.

And off the coast of Mexico, the Category 4 Hurricane Simon had sustained winds of 150 mph, forecasters said. The storm was expected to reach west-central Mexico either late Saturday or early Sunday. The storm was expected to bring between 10 and 20 inches of rain, and a dangerous storm surge.

Ben Noll, Miriam Waldvogel and Victoria Craw contributed to this report.

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ELECTION 2026

Graham opposes Chinese manufacturing. Her husband's job depends on it.

Sen. Darlene Graham (R-South Carolina) at a Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 29. She has pledged to crack down on China.

ALLISON ROBBERT/AP

GRAHAM FROM A1

hawk. Darline Graham faces her Democratic opponent, Annie Andrews, on Sunday in the race's only scheduled general election debate.

Nordone, 59, is director of customer service at Cosmox North America and at Birchwood Trading, according to Graham spokeswoman Taylor Reidy. Cosmox North America is a licensed federal firearms importer that sells lethal and nonlethal weapons, and Birchwood Trading sells John Deere-related gift products and other items.

Nordone was described as chief operating officer at both companies in a New Yorker magazine article in August that cited the Graham campaign. Reidy now says it is more accurate to refer to Nordone as director of customer service, adding that Cosmox North America and Birchwood Trading are small businesses where employees perform multiple roles. (The New Yorker declined to comment.)

More than 97 percent of shipping containers that Birchwood Trading has imported since 2013 appear to be of Chinese origin, said William George, research director at ImportGenius, a U.S.-based trade data aggregator and research firm. (It is unclear how much of Birchwood's overall business is based on maritime imports.)

Cosmox North America imports its gel blaster line of toy guns from a Chinese manufacturer that, until recently, claimed on its website that it had historical ties and past sales relationships with some of China's biggest state-owned weapons companies. When asked about those relationships earlier this month, the Chinese manufacturer wiped mentions of them from its website, saying that the information was out of date and that it no longer does business with those companies.

Graham's personal financial disclosure form, which she filed in August, lists only Birchwood

Trading as a source of her husband's income. A financial disclosure form filed with South Carolina in 2024, when she served on a state board, also did not mention Cosmox North America. Instead, the forms list her husband's income as coming from Birchwood Trading.

Reidy said Graham's Senate financial disclosure form is accurate because Nordone is paid by Birchwood Trading for his work as an employee, but she declined to specify whether he was paid for his roles at both companies through Birchwood. She said Nordone does not have “an ownership or equity stake” in either Birchwood Trading or Cosmox North America.

Reidy directed questions about Nordone's work, and whether he was paid for both jobs through Birchwood Trading, to the CEO of that company, Louie Harrison. Harrison also was listed in South Carolina filings as the manager of Cosmox North America. Harrison did not respond to requests for comment seeking answers to detailed questions. The companies, which share a Columbia, South Carolina, headquarters address on federal filings, do not publicly list their employees.

Graham's spokeswoman did not respond directly to questions about whether the senator saw any potential conflict between her stated goal of cracking down on China and her husband's role in companies that rely on Chinese manufacturing.

“Senator Graham believes South Carolina manufacturers are the best in the world. She supports holding China accountable on multiple fronts, including for unfair trade practices,” Reidy said in a statement. “Senator Graham will continue to work with President Trump to make China play by the rules.”

Little was known about Graham, 62, when she was thrust into the political arena after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed her to replace her late brother. She had spent much of her career working with disabled people, joining the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department in 2007, an agency that helps disabled people find work, according to her LinkedIn profile. In 2019, she became head of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, which coordinates state services for blind people.

She married Nordone in 2006. The manufacturer from which Nordone's company imports its toy blaster guns is headquartered in China's Henan province and is listed as Cosmox North America's top trading partner by ImportGenius. More than half of Cosmox North America's shipment records between Feb. 8, 2025, and Sept. 25, 2026 — 16 of 28 — show that manufacturer, Zhongzhou Machinery Works (ZZM), as its supplier.

A spokeswoman for Cosmox North America's parent company said Cosmox Outdoors shareholders "obtained effective control of ZZM through a private commercial transaction" in 2021. ZZM's marketing materials and website described the company as a manufacturer of civilian firearms and gel blaster toy guns that also had "military-grade" production standards. Its website also listed "service pistols, modular grenade launchers [and] 7.62mm infantry weapons" among its core expertise and described the company as a "certified defense contractor" with "wartime-ready capacities."

On the “partners and clients” section of ZZM’s website, it formerly listed Norinco, a major state-owned Chinese military weapons supplier, and Poly Technologies, an arms trader founded by the People’s Liberation Army.

After The Post reached out with questions about ZZM's website touting its ties to the Chinese defense industry, a spokesperson for ZZM distanced the manufacturer from the defense companies, saying ZZM no longer does business with them.

ZZM and Cosmox Outdoors' websites were then taken down and replaced with a notice to users that the sites are undergoing maintenance.

ZZM's site reappeared days later with the mention of its own “military-grade” production capabilities removed, as well as mentions of Norinco and Poly Technologies. Cosmox Outdoors's site removed a tile from its homepage about ZZM but still linked to ZZM's site from Cosmox Outdoors’ “Firearms” tab.

"Cosmox Outdoors has had no commercial dealings with CSGC [China South Industries Group Corporation], NORINCO, or Poly Technologies," wrote Rachel Chen, a market strategy director at Cosmox Outdoors who answered questions on behalf of both ZZM and Cosmox Outdoors. Chen said that ZZM "increasingly shifted its business focus toward airguns and gel blasters" after 2021 and that ZZM does not supply any lethal weapons to Cosmox.

"ZZM does not currently have small-caliber sporting rifles or sporting shotguns in commercial production," Chen said.

She said the websites were updated because the information on them was outdated.

Graham's late brother, Lindsey Graham, was a frequent critic of China who urged the United States to take a tougher posture against the nation. His sister's posture is less tested. She has called for a harsher stance against China in interviews but also attracted notice during the Republican Senate debate in August when she stumbled over an open-ended question about whether she believed Taiwan presented a national security issue for the U.S.

"I'm not that informed on national security," she said.

Beijing claims Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy, as its own territory. Lindsey Graham had urged a larger U.S. presence in the region to deter China from taking over militarily.

THE EXCEPTIONAL DAYS OCTOBER 9 - 25

rochebobois PARIS

See how extreme wildfires are transforming forests

The U.S. is grappling with one of the most extensive wildfire seasons on record and what it could mean for the future

BY SARAH KAPLAN

When Jonathan Coop was a child growing up in northern New Mexico, the Jemez Mountains were a playground of towering volcanic cliffs and expansive conifer forests. Hiking trails were carpeted with sweet-smelling needles. Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir kept the mountainsides shady and cool.

But in 2011, the Las Conchas Fire ripped through the landscape, breaking what was then the record for largest blaze in state history. The fire was so extreme it killed nearly every conifer across thousands of acres of land. In the aftermath — made hotter and drier by human-caused warming — many species were unable to re-germinate. New plants began to colonize the empty space, including stunted oaks and invasive weeds.

"Now it looks like a few little black matchsticks in landscape of shrubs and grass," said Coop, now an ecologist at Western Colorado University. "The forest was basically just erased off the map."

As the U.S. grapples with one of the most extensive wildfire seasons on record, the transformation of Las Conchas is a harbinger of how climate change-fueled blazes can trigger the demise of forests as we once knew them, Coop said.

Coop worked with other experts on two recently published studies to show how rising global temperatures are allowing fires to burn bigger, faster and more intensely, making it difficult for vegetation to recover. These blazes are fundamentally unlike those that ecosystems evolved to handle, the research suggests, and the places they strike will likely never be the same.

"When we think about big picture climate change and how much we're really in for, it's hard to see a future for forests in places we have forests now," Coop said. "And fire is oftentimes the thing that erases them often the quickest."

So far this year, wildfires have ripped through more than 8.5 million acres across the U.S., according to the National Interagency Fire Center — more area than has been burned between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 in any year over the last decade.

Fast-moving infernos fueled by prolonged drought and record summer heat have torched a high-elevation Utah forest beloved by skiers and wooded Colorado canyons that were dotted with hundreds of homes. In Washington State, a multimonth blaze has reduced heavily wooded mountainsides to bare earth. These fires carry the tell-tale characteristics of events that can lead to profound ecosystem change, Coop said.

In his first study, published in August in the journal Science Advances, he and his colleagues analyzed nearly 3,500 fires that occurred in conifer forests across the U.S. and Canada. They discovered that the fastest growing fires tended to burn bigger areas and create larger “high severity” patches, where the vast majority of trees are killed and soils are scorched. They also result in greater distances between areas of bare earth and the surviving trees that could be potential seed sources.

What emerges in the aftermath is often quite different from the forest that existed before, Coop said. Grasses and other herbaceous plants, whose seeds can be carried long distances by the wind, rapidly take advantage of any empty space. Ponderosa pines are replaced by trees like aspen, which can regrow from underground root systems.

“It’s still an ecosystem, but it’s not the ecosystem that has dominated this landscape for the last 9,000 years,” said Craig Allen, an ecologist at the University of New Mexico who was not involved with the Science Advances study.

Two human-made factors have conspired to give rise to these ecosystem-converting infernos, Allen said.

The first culprit is the U.S. government's longtime policy of fire suppression, which sought to extinguish blazes even in landscapes that evolved to periodically burn. More than a century of controlling even low-severity fires has left many U.S. forests littered with flammable

A fire burns in the hollow of an old-growth redwood tree in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California, in 2020.

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/AP

A grove of ponderosa pines charred by the Las Conchas fire near Cochiti Mesa, New Mexico. The U.S. Forest Service has been working with states and other partners to treat more acres every year in hopes of reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfire.

SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN/AP

"Not only are we losing forests, but we're also losing records of history."

Jonathan Coop, an ecologist at Western Colorado University

debris. Dense, overgrown tree stands scattered with fallen logs and deep piles of dead vegetation provide fuel to turn a spark into an conflagration.

Meanwhile, planet-warming pollution — mostly from burning from fossil fuels — has made Western summers longer and hotter. The warmer atmosphere sucks moisture from vegetation, turning trees into tinder.

Long after a fire is extinguished, the environment remains hostile to species that evolved to grow in a cooler and wetter climate. Even when scientists try to replant burned areas, Allen said, the seedlings frequently don't survive.

In a second separate study published this month in the journal PNAS, Coop and Allen took a deep look at the changing Jemez Mountains to understand how unusual these fires are — and how much more common they may become as the world continues to warm.

First they analyzed hundreds of samples from trees that had lived in the Jemez within the last 500 years. By counting the annual rings within the samples, the scientists could tell how old the trees were. Dark scars within the rings were evidence that a fire had scorched the trunk that year, but the tree survived.

Vast numbers of these scars were visible in rings before 1900

— an indication that the Jemez saw large fires roughly every three years before the U.S. began suppressing them, but the blazes were mild enough that they didn't kill many trees.

Since 1995, however, about 25 percent of the Jemez forest has burned to the ground.

"These are locations where we know trees survived fires for centuries, and now there are no trees there," Coop said.

Statistical analysis showed that a blaze like the Las Conchas, which obliterated about two thirds of the tree ring sites within its perimeter, could not have happened in the period before humans began altering the region's ecology and climate.

In other words, fires supercharged by suppression and climate change are unprecedented over at least the last 500 years.

The easiest way to curb such landscape-altering disasters, Allen said, is to allow more low-severity fires to burn. Prescribed fires and naturally occurring blazes that happen under the right conditions — cool temperatures, low winds — can reduce the buildup of vegetation that gives rise to the worst infernos.

Yet these measures can only achieve so much amid the intensifying conditions created by greenhouse gas pollution, Allen said. Fires will continue to burn bigger and hotter as global temperatures rise. Young trees will have an even harder time germinating in a climate that becomes increasingly less like the one in which they evolved.

When Coop, Allen and their colleagues simulated what would happen if high-severity fires continue at their current rate, they found that half the Jemez forest will likely be gone by the middle of the century.

"These are existential threats to the persistence of our historic conifer forest," Allen said.

The consequences for both people and wildlife could be profound, the researchers warn. Forests play an important role in filtering water, storing carbon and providing habitat for animals — ecosystem services that will be lost if trees give way to shrubs and grasses. Mountain-sides denuded by fire are also more prone to mudslides and floods.

Severe fires are also destroying the old trees — and the centuries-long tree ring records within their trunks — that researchers depend on to study the past.

"Not only are we losing forests, but we're also losing records of history," Coop said.

Research sheds new light on the settlement of ancient Hawaii

Tourists visit Kualoa Ranch in Kaneohe, Hawaii. A study offers new insight into the settlement of the Pacific.

KENT NISHIMURA/GETTY IMAGES

ALEXIS ROSENFELD/GETTY IMAGES

Mangareva, a small island in French Polynesia. Research indicates that the settlement of Hawaii and Rapa Nui emerged from a chain that began there.

Evidence points to tiny groups of voyagers arriving in 11th century

BY MAKANA EYRE

More than a millennium ago, with the stars, currents and birds as their guides, ancient Polynesian voyagers set sail on the vast Pacific Ocean.

Without compasses, clocks or navigational instruments — and centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus, James Cook and Ferdinand Magellan — they eventually settled islands hundreds, even thousands of miles away.

Exactly how this settlement unfolded — and how what is now Hawaii was populated — has fascinated researchers for the better part of a century and a half.

A major study published Thursday in the journal Science sheds new light on this question. Based on sequencing 1,000 whole Polynesian genomes, the study, authored by a team of researchers from the United States, French Polynesia, Europe and Latin America, deepens our understanding of this expansion and reveals how its genetic afterlife shapes the health of Polynesians today.

The study suggests that the settlement of the Pacific occurred in a step-by-step migration process with what the authors call a series of nested genetic bottlenecks — in essence, a small subset of one population settled a new island, then a subset of that population moved on to another island, and so on in a repeating pattern.

The research indicates that the settlement of Hawaii and Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island) emerged from a chain that begins at Mangareva, a small island in French Polynesia, not the Marquesas, challenging the prevailing account of how Hawaii was settled.

Patrick Kirch, a leading archaeologist who has spent decades studying the settlement of the Pacific who was not a researcher on the study, said that the paper makes several important contributions to the field.

Above all, it offers striking genetic evidence that tiny groups of voyagers — even as few as 1,000 people — settled eastern Polynesia at the end of the 11th century. According to Kirch, these findings line up strikingly well with linguistic and archaeological models that already link Hawaii, Rapa Nui, Mangareva and the Marquesas.

“It gives us much greater confidence that we are accurately interpreting past events,” Kirch wrote in an email.

This research — and some of the whole genomes — grew out of an earlier gout study published in the Lancet in 2024. That study created a partial dataset that, combined with newly sequenced genomes, enabled the researchers to carry out their analysis.

From the start, Keolu Fox, a human geneticist at the University of California at San Diego and one of two senior authors of the study, believed that with next generation genome

sequence data, he and his colleagues could illuminate Polynesian migratory history and also understand how it impacted health. The results, he said, were even more compelling than they expected.

Fox compared the genetic bottlenecks that occurred during Polynesian exploration to a set of Russian dolls written into the genome.

While the study offers new insight into the settlement of the Pacific, Fox sees particular significance in what it means for public health among Polynesians.

Each successive bottleneck, which are some of the strongest observed in humans, concentrated genetic variants, reducing diversity and increasing the frequency of mutations that can cause illnesses today.

In French Polynesia, for instance, the researchers detected mutations linked to rod-cone retinal dystrophy — which leads to vision loss — as well as an ultrarare variant causing a disease that can result in renal failure. Crucially, these mutations are

"It gives us much greater confidence that we are accurately interpreting past events."

Patrick Kirch, a leading archaeologist

missing from standard medical reference databases.

The results in French Polynesia point to a high likelihood of genetic mutations in populations elsewhere in the Pacific, such as Hawaii. They favor ancestry-based screening for Polynesians, something already routinely done for some people with Amish, Finnish or Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.

For Cosimo Posth, a population geneticist who researches ancient and modern humans through DNA analysis, the study's conclusions about public health are convincing. He said that the study makes a strong case that the genetic bottlenecks among Polynesians sharply increase the odds of inheritable disease.

“Even compared to Ashkenazi Jews, Polynesians have much stronger bottlenecks, the strongest ever reported. This has real implications for their health,” Posth said.

That the extraordinary achievement of settling the world's largest ocean left a detectable genetic imprint — and that scientists can observe it — is notable.

Ultimately, though, the researchers seem to be suggesting that clinical medicine and evolutionary history should be seen as two parts of the same story.

Understanding the history should not just be the realm of archaeologists and anthropologists but of physicians and public health officials. As this study demonstrates, it has direct consequences for the health of Polynesian communities to this day.

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The Montana Democrat who may spoil the party's hopes to change the Senate

MONTANA FROM A1

PHOTOS BY HOLLY PICKETT/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST ton to well-funded Bodnar, a former Green Beret and president of the University of Montana. Her decision — which she reiterated in a Washington Post op-ed on Friday — fractured the state's Democratic Party and set up a general election scenario where she and Bodnar split the liberal vote and create a huge advantage for Republican Kurt Alme, the former state budget director.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has the race listed as “a solid R.” Dark money that fueled Bankhead’s rise has dried up, and most of the state’s big-name Democrats have endorsed Bodnar.

On the stump, Bankhead describes her military career as an Air Force counterintelligence officer with cloak-and-dagger intrigue, taking “suitcases full of money” to meetings with confidential sources. Her critics have charged that she exaggerated accounts of coming under fire in Iraq, and questioned the claim that she’s arrested close to a “thousand pedophiles” while working with law enforcement on child-trafficking efforts in Hawaii and elsewhere.

In the back room of Charro's Coffee House one recent morning, Bankhead greeted volunteers warmly before they headed out to knock on doors. But the vitriol was top of mind.

"The attacks are just gross," she told one supporter. "People are really mad about it. I hope all of this backfires spectacularly in their faces."

One woman asked Bankhead what she would say to the Democrats who are supporting Bodnar, who has raised more than \$4 million for his campaign to her \$180,000.

“Over my dead body is he going to win,” Bankhead said. “All we can do is say, ‘You can vote with your values, or you can vote with your fear.’”

WHEN BANKHEAD ANNOUNCED her Senate candidacy in January in an Instagram post, she was a virtual unknown in a field of candidates expecting to oppose the powerful incumbent, Republican Sen. Steve Daines.

Bankhead said she was spurred to run by the Capitol Hill dysfunction she'd witnessed while posted at the Pentagon, as well as a more poignant recent moment when a neighbor asked her for a can of beans, then burst into tears saying she was having trouble making ends meet.

"Just seeing our neighbors not being able to put food on the table, that was really offensive to me," Bankhead said.

On March 4 — the filing deadline — two things happened that set the race asunder: First, very late in the day, Daines announced he would not be running for a third term, throwing his support to Alme.

Second, Bodnar announced he was running — not as a Democrat, as state party leaders hoped, but as an independent.

Bodnar, 47, said in an interview that he wants to fix a broken two-party system that has "left Montanans behind" and hasn't strictly adhered to either party line, opposing the war in Iran while supporting both gun and abortion rights.

He said he would not caucus with either party and frequently tells audiences, “Montana deserves a senator who doesn’t work for [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer, and who's not afraid of Donald Trump."

Former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer (D), is supporting Bankhead, saying her international experience will serve the state well. But he said Bodnar was “foolish” to run as an independent in a year when Montana voters are angry over gas prices, affordability and the Iran war.

“All he had to do was run as a Democrat and he’d be leading this race now 55 [percent] to 45,” Schweitzer said. “He was getting advice from people who don’t use calculators, I guess.”

In the spring, Bankhead's primary campaign was buoyed by dark money. The pop-up political action committee Progressive Vet spent \$3.2 million to raise her profile in ads, phone banking and text messaging, then abandoned her candidacy. Its treasurer, Moffie Funk, a former Democratic legislator, declined to comment.

Rob Saldin, a professor of political science at the University of Montana, said that dark money, where the identity of donors often remains secret, streamed to Bankhead because Bodnar's supporters believed she could be more easily pressured to quit than more established candidates.

Candidate Alani Bankhead greets volunteers on Oct. 2. Democratic party leaders have called for her to drop out of a race that looms crucial for control of the Senate.

If that was indeed the gambit, they were wrong. Bankhead held a news conference shortly after her primary victory vowing that she would “never” drop out. She says now she would not want to disenfranchise the 48,000 Montanans who voted for her.

Bankhead said she had nothing to do with the Progressive Vet.

"People are like 'Are you in cahoots? Did someone ask you to drop out? Why is somebody funneling all this money?" she recounted. "We would be like, 'We don't know, we've never talked to anybody.'"

Whatever the intention, the result is, in Saldin's words, "a total mess."

"If you want somebody in that seat who is not a Republican, it's an absolute fiasco," he said.

BANKHEAD GREW UP on Army bases as the daughter of a military policeman and a homemaker. At West Point, she watched the cadets march in full gear to complete their basic training, known as "the Beast." "I was like, sign me up," she said.

She joined the Air Force after attending Penn State on an ROTC scholarship, and by 2010, she was stationed in Japan and making frequent deployments to Iraq, where she was an undercover counterintelligence officer who moved around the country incognito wearing a burqa.

A performance review praised her as a “phenomenal operator,” whose sourcing skills led to the killings or capture of more than 10 “high-value targets.”

Yet her critics have quietly questioned whether she may have exaggerated aspects of her record.

In a March interview on the “Beer, Buds, and the Big Sky” podcast, Bankhead said, “I did not make the sacrifices of deploying and getting shot at and bombed to have my neighbors suffer the way that they are now to put food on the table and put a roof over their head. And so as far as my track record, I’ve arrested hundreds, maybe even over a thousand pedophiles and sex traffickers at this point.”

When asked in an interview to describe the times she personally came under fire, Bankhead said only: "It happened all the time." She has a long list of service awards but not an Air Force Combat Action Medal, which is given to airmen who come under fire or who engaged with the enemy in direct fire.

Bankhead moved to the reserves in 2016, working with an international antitrafficking initiative and later as a civilian special agent investigating internet crimes against children for the attorney general's office in Hawaii.

The state task force gleaned

23 arrests, according to the state. The antitrafficking effort she oversaw with the Department of Defense resulted in 120 arrests, according to a meritorious citation on her website.

Bankhead said that the over 1,000 total that she now campaigns with was an estimate from her years working in the field since 2009.

In 2022, she and her husband moved to Montana and settled in Helena, the state capital, with their 18-year-old daughter and a retired service dog named Lulu.

“It was the first time I got to choose where I was going to live,” she said.

Once there, she expanded her consulting business, where she trains law enforcement and does career coaching. In 2023, she self-published a book on impostor syndrome with Genesis Publishing, which specializes in faith-based and conservative titles — further raising the hackles of Democrats.

ON A COOL NIGHT in the Flathead Valley town of Whitefish, as Oktoberfest crowds rollicked in the streets, the debate at the performing arts center — between Bankhead, Bodnar and libertarian candidate Kyle Austin — was just as raucous.

Alme skipped the debate, as he has most joint events of the campaign. ("While his opponents are fighting for second

Over nearly two hours, the candidates answered questions about health care, data centers, government spending and housing before the spirited crowd that cheered, catcalled and waved campaign placards.

place," Alme's campaign said in a statement, "Kurt will keep talking with Montanans where they live and work about what matters to them: lower prices, more jobs, safer communities, and protecting our way of life.")

Afterward, Joan Vetter Ehrenberg, a Whitefish Democrat who supports Bodnar, said she had switched because she does not trust Bankhead.

“I don’t think she is who she says she is,” Ehrenberg said. “She was late to the party and doesn’t have experience, so I feel she’s a plant.”

Deb Bond, 66, and her husband Charlie Webster, 68 — both retired U.S. Forest Service employees — said they had hoped that hearing the candidates in person would help them decide between Bodnar and Bankhead.

“I’m still trying to figure out why one of them won’t drop out,” Webster said.

“It’s devastating, and unbelievably horrible we’re in this predicament,” Bond said. “I’m mad at both of them.”

Independent Senate candidate Seth Bodnar, center, in Whitefish, Montana, on Oct. 1.

Bankhead has been accused of being a GOP plant in the race, positioned to pull votes from Bodnar.

As pro-Trump rulings boost Alito's stature, retirement speculation is swirling

ALITO FROM A1

Associate Justice Samuel Alito stands in his chambers at the Supreme Court on Sept. 29. Justice Alito, who has served on the high court since 2006, has authored a new book: "So Ordered: An Originalist's View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country." "I've been bemused by the retirement speculation," Alito, 76, told "Fox News Sunday."

J.SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP

CRAIG HUDSON/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Abortion advocates march to Alito's home in Alexandria in June 2022. Alito later that month wrote the majority opinion in the seismic case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned the federal right to an abortion.

And after more than two decades on the bench, Alito's seniority has given him the opportunity to write some of the court's most consequential — and controversial — opinions. The court's rightward shift has also given him more influence.

Peter Canellos, who has written a book about Alito called "Revenge for the Sixties," said "this is his moment."

"He is at the peak of his powers," Canellos said. "Many of the battles on the court are among conservatives between a more traditionalist approach with Chief Justice Roberts, and Alito's approach, which is to move the law in a more conservative direction. Alito feels like he can win a lot of those battles."

Last spring, Alito wrote a major opinion that sharply weakened a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act, a ruling that limits the consideration of race in drawing voting maps.

In 2022, he wrote for the majority in the seismic Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which ended nearly 50 years of federally protected access to abortion for women and returned the question of how to regulate the procedure to the states.

Alito was nominated by George W. Bush in 2005 and had served in the Reagan administration. As Trump's three appointees joined the court, he became part of a new and powerful conservative supermajority.

Alito has backed the Trump administration in every major case it has brought before the high court during the president's second term. That included breaking with the majority when the court blocked Trump's sweeping tariffs and his proposed ban on birthright citizenship.

That staunch support also was on particular display in Alito's dissent in the recent mail-in ballot case.

The Trump administration in September asked the high court to temporarily allow an executive order requiring states to send mail ballots in envelopes with barcodes to prevent fraud and to submit lists of eligible mail voters to the federal government. The policy would have gone forward while litigation over it played out in the courts.

The executive order barred the U.S. Postal Service from delivering ballots in states that didn't hand over lists.

A number of Democratic and Republican election administrators said it would be challenging — even impossible — to implement the rules so close to the election without major disruptions. A federal whistleblower warned that large numbers of Americans could be disenfranchised. Those assertions went largely unchallenged by the Trump administration.

In weighing whether to uphold a stay on the order, the court considers who is most likely to win the case, as well as which side would face greater harm by allowing the order to go forward while litigation continues.

Alito, joined by Thomas, found it would be the Trump administration that would suffer the greater harm from having its policy blocked rather than states and voting groups. He quickly dispatched the issues raised by administrators and the whistleblower.

“I take that problem very seriously, but it is not enough to convince me to deny the application,” Alito wrote.

For liberal critics, the dissent demonstrated Alito's willingness to embrace Trump's policies at virtually any cost. Jay Willis, the editor of the legal publication Balls and Strikes, said Alito has become a “mouthpiece for Trump.”

“Alito is emblematic of this tranche of Republicans that whatever being a Republican once meant to them, it now means doing what Donald Trump wants,” Willis said.

But Leonard Leo, the conservative legal leader who helped push Alito's nomination, said it's simplistic to view the justice as blindly backing Trump. Leo said Alito is making decisions in keeping with his legal philosophy and has long been a supporter of a strong executive, a theme of many of Trump's actions in his second term that have come before the court.

“He’s someone that seeks the right answers to legal questions,” Leo said. “Sometimes it’s going to align with the goals of a presidential administration, sometimes it will not.”

Alito, who declined to comment, made a similar point in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“I vote in every case the way I think the case should be decided,” Alito said. “If that means a high correlation with what Trump wants, fine. If it means zero correlation with what Trump wants, fine as well."

In his new book, Alito describes himself as a “working judicial originalist,” which he describes as a “judge who tries to achieve originalist aims while working within the framework of our judicial system.”

Originalism is the method of judicial interpretation that holds the Constitution and laws should be understood by their meaning at the time they were adopted.

Some originalists advocate for judicial restraint, and Alito's mentor, Scalia, who pioneered originalism, said the theory should sometimes lead to results that cut against a judge's personal beliefs.

Alito calls for a different type of originalism that “sometimes calls for bold action” in his book. He also counsels that originalist judges shed “this insecure mind set” about arriving at preferred policy outcomes.

In the book, which is a collection of speeches over the course of his career as a justice, Alito also offers his views on the emergency docket, Gettysburg Address, baseball and the Catholic intellectual tradition. Alito is a Catholic. He mentions Trump only in passing.

Richard Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard University, said Alito has evolved in a way that has brought him more in concert with the Trump wing of the Republican Party, adding “he is a very different Alito than he was a few decades ago.”

Lazarus said Alito had a reputation as unassuming and not overly ideological during his years as U.S. attorney for New Jersey and then as a judge on U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit before his nomination to the high court.

Alito was always reliably conservative, but in a Reagan mold, Lazarus said.

“Alito has, in my view, moved far to the right and with a very different personality,” Lazarus said. “His voice, his opinions and his votes are now loud, they’re mocking and they’re contentious.”

In one example from 2020 that drew condemnation from gay rights advocates, Alito took aim at same-sex marriage, which the Supreme Court sanctioned in a 2015 decision called Obergefell v. Hodges.

"You can't say that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Until recently, that's what the vast majority of Americans thought. Now, it's considered bigotry," Alito said in a speech to the Federalist Society. "That this would happen after our decision in Obergefell should not have come as a surprise."

Alito returned to the theme in the book in a reprint of a 2018 speech at Catholic University that was not open to the public. He called the gay marriage decision the “decisive point in our nation’s turn against religious liberty.” He also suggested he was right to predict it would “drive believers out of public life.”

In a Wall Street Journal podcast, Alito said he is wrongly caricatured as ill-tempered in the media. “I think that’s very unfair. ... Nothing similar is written about some of my colleagues who have issued blistering dissents,” he said.

Legal experts said Alito's sentiments, which are sometimes couched in grievance, share a similar style with Trump. As does the sense that an older America is slipping away. In his book, Ali to portrays traditional values as under siege.

“Many of the central ideas of what was regarded as the counterculture in the 1960s and 1970s are now mainstream — for example, the change in sexual mores, use of at least some type of drugs, and the repudiation of much of our country’s past and what used to be called Western civilization,” Alito writes.

Alito's rising stature is also due to the length of time he has spent on the court, since justices typically get to write more important opinions as they gain seniority, legal experts said.

Trump's reordering of the court with three conservative appointees is also a factor, they said. Trump's picks gave conservatives a 6-3 majority, shifting the court's center of gravity rightward toward the flank occupied by Alito and Thomas. It has also given him more originalist compatriots.

J. Joel Alicea, a Catholic University law professor and former Alito clerk, said Alito has become adept at writing opinions that are extremely conservative while still bringing along other justices.

"[Alito] doesn't produce opinions that get five votes that kind of feel like a political compromise," Alicea said. "He writes opinions that get five votes, and each justice feels their own originalist and conservative principles are respected."

If the Democrats take the Senate in November, it could put fresh pressure on Alito to resign. The lame-duck period between November and January would be Trump's last chance to get a nominee through a Republican-controlled Senate.

Alito said in a CBS News interview that he thinks about retiring every term given his age but still has more to contribute to the court. He also recently told Bloomberg he doesn't plan to retire during the lame-duck period.

“I intend to stick around through this term,” Alito told Bloomberg before the Supreme Court’s new term began Monday. “I made that decision many months ago.”

President George W. Bush, left, who nominated Alito, stands with him after his swearing-in ceremony as a justice in 2006.

H. DARR BEISER/USA TODAY NETWORK/REUTERS

Alito attends Donald Trump's inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025.

CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

Facing voter anger over prices, Trump turns to checks, other pocketbook relief

MIDTERMS FROM A1

President Donald Trump speaks at the Republican convention on Sept. 9 in Dallas. Trump is rushing to deliver economic relief to voters.

JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON/AP

lican incumbents running for reelection.

Trump also floated the idea of banning diesel exports as another way to bring down prices, but backed off of the idea after pushback from Energy Secretary Chris Wright and an announcement from the Group of Seven countries that they would release 100 million barrels of diesel reserves. On Friday, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to release 300,000 tons of diesel fuel this month and another 500,000 tons next month, with more to follow.

The economy has consistently ranked as the top issue for voters in the midterm elections as Democratic motivation to vote remains relatively high and Trump's popularity remains low, according to recent polling from the Pew Research Center.

"The president wants to win, and he's trying to, step by step, fix the problems that have caused Republicans problems," said former House speaker Newt Gingrich.

The moves appealing to voters seem like an attempt to distract from Trump's dismissal of cost concerns and to “try to buy votes,” said Tim Burga, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO. “It reeks of desperation.”

Now Republicans are asking for voters to give them two more years of control of Congress. "It doesn't work when you've broken the trust of the American people and you have completely discounted the fact that the affordability crisis is even a thing," Burga said.

Trump has a long track record of backing efforts to send direct payments to voters, from first-term covid-19 pandemic stimulus checks to proposed DOGE and tariff dividends and a \$1,776 “warrior dividend” bonus for service members. In September, Trump floated the idea of cutting \$5,000 checks to every adult if they vote in Republicans, but few lawmakers have mentioned the idea on the campaign trail.

"When you talk about generic tax cuts, voters don't always know how it's going to impact them," said Alex Conant, a national Republican political strategist. “When you make concrete promises about checks in the mail, it’s easier to imagine how it could help your situation.”

Trump's recent efforts create something for his base “to grab on to,” Conant added, as Trump embarks on a tour of Republican strongholds to turn out conservative voters.

But it's unclear whether it will be enough to ease frustrations with price pressures that haven't abated under Trump, said Barrett Marson, a GOP strategist in Arizona.

"MAGA people are disenchanted, independents are furious, and middle Republicans are wondering when the tariffs and the war will be over so that we can have interest rates below 6 percent and gas at \$3 and the price of everyday items coming down," Marson said, adding that voters in Arizona are feeling like "Trump pulled a bit of a bait and switch."

Trump's policies have improved the economy and will continue to do so over the next two years, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a

statement.

"The President has delivered tangible wins for American families: he signed the largest working-class tax cuts in history, cut the cost of prescription drugs, distributed \$90 Medicare checks and \$500 Obamacare refund checks, added more than one million private-sector jobs, locked in nearly 20 trade deals that put American workers first, and sent 401(k)s to record highs," Rogers said, adding that Democrats support socialist candidates who would drive up costs and deficits.

The president's economic advisers have also suggested he should suspend the federal gas tax writ large, which would strip off 18 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24 cents per gallon for diesel fuel and would typically require an act of Congress.

"It would be a good way of providing some relief at the pump, said Stephen Moore, a conservative economist who has advised Trump.

Moore said he's urged the president to suspend the gas tax until prices return to less than \$3.75 per gallon. He added that he believes it could be possible without help from Congress — which is out of Washington campaigning throughout October — by asserting a temporary emergency.

Another option, Moore added, would be to suspend refinery requirements to incorporate certain levels of biofuel like ethanol into gasoline, which refiners argue increases gas prices by driving up operating costs. He noted that it would take a few weeks for consumers to feel the effects — perhaps too tight of a turnaround with only 24 days until the midterms.

Last month, Trump also pledged \$5,000 checks to American adults if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate. Even some of the president's allies have acknowledged that is unlikely, given pushback from Republicans in Congress concerned about the deficit.

On Wednesday, Trump was asked to respond to people who are suggesting he is “throwing money at people” ahead of the election to entice Republican voters.

“What we're doing is we have tremendous growth,” Trump responded while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, arguing that tariffs have spurred economic growth, though experts say tariffs will have a negative impact on long-run gross domestic product. “We're able to do things that the Democrats can't.”

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A replica Oval Office gets gold-heavy Trump makeover

An Oval Office replica is updated to the current decor by workers at “The People’s House: A White House Experience” on Friday.

PHOTOS BY J.SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP

A team of specialized designers made over the exhibit, visiting President Donald Trump's Oval Office while he was away.

BY WILL WESSERT

Associated Press

It's glitzier. And there's way more gold.

The People's House museum exhibit has overhauled its replica Oval Office for visitors to experience President Donald Trump's second-term design choices.

Gleaming vases, golden-hued swirling onlays, two dozen portraits in heavy gilded frames and knickknacks crowding nearly every available surface: the same rococo flourishes that Trump has installed in the world's most famous workspace have been recreated down to each wall appliqué in a museum just up Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

"As political as the Oval Office is, it really is also the office of the American people," said Luke Boorady, managing director of the People's House: A White House Experience. "And we want visitors who come here to feel more connected to this space."

Public tours of the White House do not include the West Wing. So the White House Historical Association set about recreating the Oval Office, opening the exhibit in September 2024. It is the same size as the real one, and visitors often marvel at how small it feels.

A team of specialized designers has been making over the exhibit, visiting Trump's Oval Office while the Republican president was away. Experts in North Carolina worked to recreate Trump's many wall appliqués, while one from Indianapolis handled 3D scanning and printing of other specialized objects. California frame-makers did carving by hand for the gold frames of Trump's chosen 24 portraits, and teams from Canada and Virginia worked on replicas of vases and other tabletop pieces, Boorady said.

There are also two mirrors and a copy of the Declaration of Independence, just like in Trump's actual office.

Trump has molded the White House in his own image

A real estate developer before he became a politician, Trump has revamped the White House to his extravagant tastes as part of his push to leave his mark on the nation's capital while he is still in office.

When asked by Time magazine last week what he would miss most about the White House after he leaves, Trump said, “This beautiful room that nobody should be allowed to rip down. The Oval Office.” He said he had asked his chief of staff to make his altered office “a federal landmark.”

In addition to filling the Oval Office with bling, Trump paved over the lawn near the Rose Garden to build a patio space reminiscent of the one at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He installed a row of presidential portraits along the colonnade between the White House residence and the West Wing.

He erected towering flagpoles on the North and South lawns, renovated the Palm Room and the bathroom that is part of the famous Lincoln Bedroom and ordered restoration work of the North Portico's front columns.

But Trump seems proudest of the \$400 million ballroom that he is building after ordering that the East Wing be demolished. "It relaxes me, actually," the president said about the ballroom project during an unrelated event last week.

Trump's sense of ownership of the White House is now such that while recently defending his attempt to ban CNN, MS Now and Politico from its grounds, the president had a momentary slip of the tongue. “I don’t have to let them into my — into the people’s house,” he said.

---

Replica of Trump's first term Oval Office gets makeover

When the White House Historical Association first opened its Oval Office duplicate, it mirrored Democratic President Joe Biden's design. After the 2024 election, the association updated the exhibit to match Trump's first-term style.

Last week, a crew of 25 people worked from early Monday through late Friday to get the second-term transformation ready, making the finishing touches on Saturday.

Boorady said Biden was the first president to hang double layers of portraits over the Oval Office fireplace. Trump has expanded that all around the room, stacking the walls with portraits including those of George Washington, Andrew Jackson and Benjamin Franklin.

In the real Oval Office, the colors are made more brilliant by using gilded gold leaf. In the replica, crews used a paint solution. Boorady said they did not use gold leaf to protect against chipping or other wear-and-tear from visitors moving through the area.

Trump was once spotted using superglue to try to affix gold ornaments to the Oval Office fireplace, according to Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan in their book “Regime Change.”

But no superglue was needed in the replica office. Crews used laser levels and temporary adhesive to fix items to the walls, checking their work for accuracy against renderings of the actual office before nailing many adornments to the walls.

It's not all new flair with Trump

There are many things in Trump's Oval Office that have stood the test of time: a beige-patterned rug from the Ronald Reagan era, gold draperies from Bill Clinton's tenure, and couches and chairs from the George W. Bush White House.

Of course there is a copy of the Resolute Desk. Visitors to the People's House are allowed to sit in the chairs and behind the replicated desk, which Trump and most presidents have used since it was gifted to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880.

The White House Historical Association declined to say how much remaking the replica Oval Office cost. The organization, created in 1961 by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, receives no government funding, and raises money through private donations and sales of retail merchandise.

Trump briefly stopped by its gift shop during an unannounced visit to the People's House in August 2025. Asked whether Trump would come for a personal peek at his newly replicated workspace, Boorady replied, “I don’t know” before adding that he is “always welcome.”

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Flames burn at a facility belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco south of Riyadh on Oct. 3. Houthi spokesman Nasruddin Amer told The Washington Post that Saudi Arabia had “brought this escalation upon itself.”

Houthis strike Saudi Arabian airport, killing 12

Amid wider Iran war, Yemen's Houthis are striking Saudi oil infrastructure, as compounding Middle East conflicts threaten to expand

---

BY RACHEL CHASON, SUZAN HAIDAMOUS AND MOHAMAD EL CHAMAA

At least 12 people were killed – including one American – and more than 300 injured in an attack Saturday at Saudi Arabia's international airport in Riyadh, aviation authorities there said, as the Persian Gulf nation faced some of the biggest attacks it has seen in years by Iranian-backed Houthi militants.

While the rebel group did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack, it came during a week where smoke could be seen billowing above the airport and explosions sounded in Saudi Arabia's capital in a wave of intensifying Houthi strikes.

As Saturday's attack forced aviation authorities to suspend operations at the airport, President Donald Trump did not rule out joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis in response to a question from reporters. "We may. We're going to look at it," he said.

Saudi's civil aviation authorities said in a statement the 309 injured "included critical cases who are currently receiving necessary medical care at various hospitals.

The attack also caused property damage, the extent of which is currently being assessed." The attack also prompted the U.S. Embassy to issue a warning to citizens asking them to "avoid this airport and surrounding areas."

While the U.S. push for a deal to end its war with Iran remains stalled, the escalating conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia is further rattling energy markets and threatening to draw in still more countries, in a region already beset by overlapping wars.

Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November, the expansion of the violence represents a challenge to the Trump administration, which “already has enough putting pressure on oil prices,” said April Longley Alley, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, a think tank. “The Trump administration wanted to limit the conflict as much as possible, and to keep the lid on it,” she said. “But the lid is popping off already.”

The Houthis, who receive training and support from Iran, and Yemen's government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, were embroiled for years in an active civil war that left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead. Saudi Arabia, focused on improving its international perception, agreed to a 2022 truce that left the Houthis in control of much of Yemen's north and the Saudi-backed government in control of the south.

But the Houthis have grown frustrated in recent years by what they say is a Saudi blockade on their territory.

Last month, the Houthis launched a stunning ground offensive to take control of Yemen's western Red Sea coast along the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital waterway for global shipping, including as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthi offensive prompted a change in Saudi policy, Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former Saudi intelligence chief, said in an interview with Arab News two weeks ago.

“Restraint has always been a hallmark of Saudi policy and action, historically, from the days of King Abdulaziz,” he said. “That restraint is no longer operable.”

Days later, the Saudi Arabian-backed Yemeni forces went on the counteroffensive, announcing on Sunday an operation to oust the Houthis from Yemen, which began with barrages of airstrikes. The Houthis have in return struck airports and energy infrastructure in

Saudi Arabia, including refineries.

As Iran steps up attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, reducing the amount of oil getting out, Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure and continued efforts to blockade Saudi ports — some of which had been used as alternatives to Hormuz — are increasingly important, Alley said.

"The Houthis can and are striking deeply into Saudi and hitting critical energy infrastructure," said Brett Erickson, a risk advisory consultant who closely monitors oil and gas markets. "And the Houthis have less valuable infrastructure ... so they are going to continue to wreak havoc on the market."

The Houthis have claimed strikes, he said, on refineries in Rabigh, Riyadh and Yanbu — vital in producing diesel, gasoline and jet fuel, which are still seeing severely elevated prices.

Houthi spokesman Nasruddin Amer told The Washington Post that Saudi Arabia had “brought this escalation upon itself” by refusing to respond to Houthi demands — including lifting what the Houthis describe as the Saudi-led blockade on Yemen.

Saudi Arabia is receiving help in terms of intelligence from the United States, analysts and U.S. officials say. But the Trump administration has stopped short of providing the level of support that officials in Saudi and its allies in Yemen's internationally recognized government have sought.

Saudi Arabia is relying on other partners — including Pakistan and Turkey, with which it formed a defense pact in August — for help. But Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said that the alliance is “defensive in nature” and that his country will not conduct military operations in Yemen.

Pakistan will stand “shoulder to shoulder” in defending Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement Friday. Pakistan has said that its military support is defensive, but it has not specified the full extent of its assistance.

Ali Shihabi, a Saudi author and commentator familiar with Saudi government thinking, said that Saudi Arabia is appreciative of the help the U.S. is providing — especially live targeting information for strikes on the Houthis — but wishes there was more the U.S. would do.

“An armed, non-state actor controls a major international waterway,” he said, referring to Bab al-Mandab. “It is inconceivable that the U.S. would have allowed this to happen in the past.”

But Shihabi also said that Saudi Arabia is not waiting for help from the U.S. and is looking to work more closely with members of the Mecca alliance.

“We understand that each country has to carry its own water,” he said.

The Saudi-backed coalition made initial progress last week in retaking newly Houthi-captured territory along Yemen's western coast. But in recent days, the balance of power appears to have shifted again — with the Houthis threatening to take the strategic town of Taiz in Yemen and repeatedly striking the airport in Riyadh, leading to four deaths, according to Saudi officials.

For Saudi Arabia, watching the Houthi momentum in September, it became clear that the moment became “do or die,” said Adam Baron, a fellow at New America, a Washington-based think tank. “They felt like they had to accept a Houthi takeover of Yemen or go forward with an offensive. So they went forward.”

Now, he said, both sides are “on the escalation ladder.”

While the Trump administration is focused on Iran, the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis is spiraling — “and poses an existential threat to Saudi Arabia and also beyond,” said Tim Lenderking, who was a U.S. envoy to Yemen under President Joe Biden.

"The Houthis are unpredictable and very well equipped and heavily armed," he said. "They are messianic in that they believe this is a divine mission to assert their authority in Yemen and beyond, including in Saudi Arabia."

The recent attacks are likely to affect the kingdom's tourism sector, a key part of its diversification strategy.

“Saudi Arabia has opened up so much, and so many more people went there in the last few years that if the attacks persist it will be a big problem,” said Toby Matthiesen, a professor and Gulf expert at the University of Bristol.

Part of that plan aims to turn the kingdom into a global travel destination beyond pilgrimages to Islam's holiest sites.

But so far, Middle East wars have led to the postponement of Saudi Arabia's star-studded Red Sea International Film Festival and Formula 1 race.

One American living in Riyadh, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of strict Saudi rules about sharing sensitive information, said that he had woken up at some point for each of the past five nights because of the sounds of explosions or interceptions.

Information about the strikes is not announced to the public, and Saudi laws prohibit taking photos of impact sites.

“Then you go to work and pretend like nothing happened,” he said. “It’s almost worse because no one has any idea what is going on.”

Dan Lamothe and Shaiq Hussain contributed to this report.

Ukrainian town weeps for 3 families killed in strikes

Mourners gather around the coffins of Oleksandr and Yuliia Ivanchenko, and the couple's children, 13-year-old Iryna and 8-year-old Maksym, before their funerals Friday in Pryluky, Ukraine. The attack killed 22 people, including five children, and left 54 injured.

PHOTOS BY HEIDI LEVINE/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Among the mourners are classmates of the children who were killed

BY FRANCESCA EBEL,

KOSTIANTYN KHUDOV

AND HEIDI LEVINE

PRYLUKY, UKRAINE — The four coffins were laid out for all to see in the central square of the historic Ukrainian town of Pryluky. Inside the first was Oleksandr Ivanchenko, a local train driver; in the last, his wife Yuliia. Between them lay their two children, Iryna, 13, and Maksym, 8.

The entire family was killed as they were sleeping by a Russian cruise missile on Vladimir Putin's birthday.

"The war took this family from us. Russian aggression took four innocent lives," said Oleksandr's colleague Yulia Holoma in a eulogy, her voice breaking. "It took two children who never had the chance to know life."

The Ivanchenkos were among three families wiped out in a single, massive strike on a residential building in Pryluky on Wednesday. The attack killed 22 people, including five children, and left 54 injured — the deadliest attack, and first of this scale, to hit this rural town since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Hundreds of mourners gathered around the coffins, among them the children's classmates, who were memorizing their friends' faces for the last time. Men knelt to stroke Maksym's little head. Mothers held their children while sobbing uncontrollably, mascara running down their cheeks. One relative fainted.

The attack has stunned this small town in Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region, a two-hour drive from Kyiv.

With slow progress on the front, and an impasse in negotiations, Russia has been ramping up attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an interview with Greek media this week, said the war was in “a strategic stalemate” and that negotiations were proving “elusive.”

The serenity of the bright, autumnal morning barely concealed the depth of grief that has shaken this community. Half a mile from the square, survivors from Wednesday's strike trawled through their cratered homes, salvaging whatever belongings and mementos they could from the wreckage. A slaughter like this would have been unthinkable five years ago. Now, it's another chapter in a litany of tragedies.

The funeral procession wound its way an hour north to the village of Burimka, through fields of willow trees, marigolds and blackened sunflowers — their heads bowed low. With no cellphone service, this remote village feels entirely removed from the carnage of the war. Pensioners in headscarves rode bicycles to the church gates to pay their respects. Entering the church, its eggshell blue walls adorned with Orthodox icons and Ukrainian embroidery, the sound of the mourners' wailing consumed the room — a cacophony of incomprehensible loss.

A family photograph, including one of Kateryna Antypenko's grandmother, is covered in the rubble of the Antypenko family's apartment in Pryluky.

Iryna loved to dance. She was popular and creative. She had dreams of becoming a lawyer or a K-9 trainer. Her best friend, Anhelina Lukashevych, 13, was too shy and upset to read a eulogy but showed The Washington Post what she had written on her phone. "I could trust her with all my secrets. She always kept them," it read. After school they would walk through Pryluky together, drink smoothies and gossip about boys they liked.

Oleksandr hailed from a family of railway workers. He began his career in 2007 as an assistant driver on a diesel train, working between Pryluky and a nearby depot.

“He was part of our great railway family. Every day, he drove trains along his routes, carrying hundreds of people, responsible for their safety. Then he would return home, where the people dearest to him were waiting,” said Holoma, the colleague.

“We’ve lost a very good guy,” said Vladyslav Myroshnychenko, 49, who shared a driving shift with Oleksandr.

Across town, the Maksiuta family was also laid to rest, their 1-year-old son Kyrylo dressed in a baby-size suit jacket and Vyshyvanka, Ukraine's national dress.

The bright sky had since darkened and this crowd, gathered around the family's courtyard under rustling birch trees, now wept silently.

Mourners covered Kyrylo's coffin with flowers and toys he will never play with.

His grandmother's voice pierced the silence as a priest read the last rites.

"My baby, I had waited for you for so long," she cried, kissing Kyrylo's forehead and clasping the cold hand of her 23-year-old daughter Daria.

Serhiy Morgunov contributed to this report.

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The new idea reshaping how we think about ADHD

Researchers believe exercise can help those whose circadian rhythm is out of sync with their jobs or other commitments.

Being a night owl is linked to some neuropsychiatric conditions, scientists say

BY ARIANA EUNJUNG CHA

Brandon Luu began thinking about the body's circadian machinery as a teenager, when he was routinely unable to fall asleep until late, sometimes well past 2 a.m. The schedule made mornings miserable and school harder.

But it also left him with a question: What happens when the body's sense of time falls out of sync with the world around it?

Fifteen years later, Luu is exploring that question through one of psychiatry's most common disorders: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Sleep problems have long been seen as a consequence of the condition. But now researchers are looking at the possibility that the relationship might run in reverse: that disruptions to circadian rhythms — the biological machinery governing when we sleep and wake — might be a cause.

"Our society is not good at supporting good circadian health," said Luu, now a physician and fellow at Queen's University in Canada.

Luu and his co-author, Nicholas Fabiano, a psychiatry resident and researcher at the University of Ottawa, recently laid out this theory in a perspective paper in Frontiers of Psychiatry, arguing that “convergent lines of evidence” point to strong associations between people whose bodies’ internal clocks shifted later than usual and ADHD. They called on clinicians to start routine screening for sleep/circadian disturbances and recommend sleep tracking for people with ADHD as a potentially low-effort, low-risk, low-cost measure to help people with the condition.

To understand their case, it helps to separate sleep from the circadian system that tells us when to sleep in the first place.

Scientists once thought largely in terms of a master clock in the brain, synchronized to the 24-hour cycle of light and darkness. The reality is stranger: Nearly every organ, and virtually every cell, keeps time. Together, these clocks regulate not just sleep but also metabolism, hormones, body temperature, cognition, mood and many other processes.

Sleep is simply the part we notice, especially these days, as it has become somewhat of a cultural obsession, tracked and scored by Apple Watches, Fitbits and Oura rings. Yet even as we try to perfect our nights, modern life — with its glowing screens, jet lag, shift work and erratic schedules — has become a vast, uncontrolled experiment in disrupting the clocks beneath them.

Meanwhile, the study of circadian biology is reaching beyond whether we feel well-rested. Cancer researchers are studying whether disrupted clocks can trigger tumors to grow. Longevity researchers are asking whether keeping the body's clocks aligned might affect how we age.

Some of the most provocative questions, however, are now being asked in psychiatry.

For at least some patients, disrupted sleep and daily rhythms may not simply follow from mental illness. Researchers studying depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD and more are asking whether something may be going wrong with the body's timing system itself.

---

Owls and ADHD

Internal clocks do not run identically in everyone. In some people, the circadian system runs relatively early: They become sleepy earlier in the evening and naturally wake earlier in the morning. In others, the entire cycle runs later.

Research points to these night owls as those associated more with ADHD.

Studies have long suggested that sleep and circadian disruptions are very common in ADHD. One recent review estimates that 73 to 78 percent of children and adults with ADHD have delayed sleep-wake timing. Studies also indicate that melatonin onset tends to occur later in people with ADHD, by about 45 minutes in children and 90 minutes in adults. Insomnia and other sleep disturbances have also been reported in up to 80 percent of adults with ADHD and at similarly high rates in children.

There are other signs the body's internal clocks may be altered in people with ADHD. Studies show the daily cycle of cortisol, a hormone involved in alertness, energy use and the stress response, can be delayed and blunted compared with people without ADHD. An MRI imaging study found that the pineal gland, which makes melatonin, is smaller in volume. And research into cells collected from adults and children show that certain so-called “clock genes” throughout the body show less distinct daily rhythms.

These differences in the timing of our internal clocks are known as chronotype, and they are partly influenced by genetics. Chronotype describes where a person naturally falls along the spectrum from earlier to later sleep and wake timing.

There are at least 10 known genes associated with sleep conditions such as short sleep, advanced sleep phase and delayed sleep phase. But it also changes over a lifetime. Children's chronotypes tend to be relatively early. The clock shifts later during adolescence, reaching its latest point around the end of the teenage years, before gradually moving earlier again with age.

inventive ways to prove it existed.

The familiar distinction between larks and owls can make this sound like a division into two kinds of people. It isn't. Chronotype looks more like a continuum, with most people clustered somewhere around the middle.

A large U.S. study published in PLOS One in 2017 gives some sense of that distribution. Among 53,689 people, about 40 percent qualified as early chronotypes, defined as having the midpoint of their sleep before 3 a.m. Another 44 percent fell in the middle, with a sleep midpoint between 3 and 5 a.m. Sixteen percent were late chronotypes, with a midpoint after 5 a.m. And the distribution shifted dramatically with age.

Some of the earliest evidence for an internal clock came from people who disappeared underground. In 1938, sleep researcher Nathaniel Kleitman and his graduate student Bruce Richardson spent 32 days in Kentucky's Mammoth Cave, cut off from the ordinary signals of day and night, while attempting to live on a 28-hour schedule. Richardson, who was younger, partly adapted; Kleitman's body remained stubbornly close to a 24-hour rhythm.

In the lab, scientists ask patients to track their sleep, use questionnaires or run simple tests to find someone's chronotype, involving having someone in dim light provide a saliva sample to assess their melatonin levels every 30 minutes. There's no easy way a primary care doctor can order that, although researchers are working on it.

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Cave experiments

Long before scientists could measure the body clock through hormones, they had to find more

Two decades later, French geologist Michel Siffre took the experiment further, spending roughly two months in a cave without sunlight or a clock. He ate and slept when his body told him to, while a team aboveground secretly kept track of the time. Even without knowing whether it was day or night, Siffre's new schedule continued to produce something resembling days, though his cycle ran more like 24 hours 30 minutes.

Experiments like these helped establish a fundamental principle of circadian biology: The body generates a rhythm of its own, while signals from the outside world — most powerfully light — continually reset it.

ing.

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Out of sync

Shift work makes the consequences of that mismatch particularly clear. Emens compares it to a car with wheels that are out of alignment: Each part may work, but when they point in different directions, the whole system suffers.

"Our positive moods peak during the daytime and our negative moods are the worst in the middle of the night," Emens said. "And so you could imagine, if there's a mismatch when we are awake and our body clock is giving us our worst moods, that could cause problems."

Our internal clocks do not always align with the schedules we are expected to keep in today's society.

A person whose body does not want to fall asleep until 3 a.m. may struggle desperately to wake at 7. But allow that same person to sleep from 3 a.m. until 11 a.m., and they may sleep perfectly well. Their body can do what it is supposed to do. It is simply doing it several hours later than the world expects.

When that mismatch becomes severe enough, it can receive a diagnosis. The DSM groups these conditions under circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, which include delayed and advanced sleep phase types.

Being out of sync affects more than sleep.

“Cognitive ability across multiple different domains has a very dynamic pattern across the day,” said Adriane Soehner, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine's Center for Sleep and Circadian Science. “And when circadian rhythm is disrupted it has a sweeping impact on most aspects of how our brain is functioning.”

Soehner is studying this question in teenagers ages 13 to 15 by putting them on ultrashort cycles of 80 minutes awake and 40 minutes asleep, allowing researchers to tease apart the effects of time awake from those of the circadian clock.

The results aren't out yet, but another study that looked at cognition in 2019 of late chronotypes showed that shifting their wake time by about two hours was associated with better mental health and there was also some cognitive (reaction time) and performance improvement (grip strength).

Mood appears to have a rhythm, too.

Jonathan Emens, a professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University, has found that both positive and negative moods vary with circadian tim-

That raises a larger question: When does biological variation become pathology? And how much of the impairment attributed to a late-running clock comes from the environment in which that clock has to function? There are questions that echoes debates around conditions such as autism and ADHD, where researchers and advocates have similarly asked how much disability arises from underlying biology and how much from a mismatch with the surrounding world.

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Light and other interventions

Philip Gehrman, a professor of clinical psychology in psychiatry at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, directs the school's Sleep, Neurobiology and Psychopathology Lab and researches sleep/circadian dysregulation in mental health disorders. He said while there has historically not been a lot of interaction between people who study circadian rhythm and those who study psychiatry, that's changing, and he predicts it will influence patient care.

"There are people getting health treatments, whereas a sleep or circadian treatment may be more appropriate," he said.

For now that means existing treatments and recommendations such as light therapy, melatonin supplements and avoiding screens before bedtime could be augmented with looking at ways to “phase shift” the body clock to be closer to what society expects.

Luu recounts how his own circadian delay caused his grades to slip and the appearance of what he calls ADHD-like symptoms. But he really wanted to go to medical school, so he decided to apply the science he was learning to himself.

He now forces himself to wake up at the same time each day, even when he doesn't want to.

Another key has been bright light first thing in the morning; ideally, sunlight is the best, but if not he has a winter depression lamp about 12 to 14 inches from him for the first 20 to 30 minutes. He also makes sure to exercise at that time.

Luu said exercise may be one way to shift circadian rhythms, with some research suggesting if you're an owl you have more flexibility to choose an exercise time, but if you are a lark you should prioritize exercise earlier in the day.

At night, he dims the lights, avoids blue light whenever possible and avoids other stimulating activities.

When he travels, he tries not to shift too aggressively at one time, opting instead for 15 minutes every few days.

“That really helped me turn my life around,” Luu said.

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Reading the signs of a post-literate age

ILLUSTRATION BY DIEGO MALLO/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

BY JAMES MARRIOTT

Once upon a time, the idea that the world was growing stupid-er was mostly confined to the realm of dyspeptic reactionary polemic. But nowadays, the idea is increasingly mainstream. The belief that smartphones are “rotting our brains” is a widely repeated cliché. Data seems to corroborate this feeling, too: Studies have shown declines in IQ over the past two decades, with the sharpest drops among age brackets that use their phones the most. Students themselves have reported since the 2010s that they have difficulty concentrating and remembering. One study found that even having a phone turned off on a table nearby may be enough to impair a student’s academic performance.

But perhaps another reason that people feel this way is that cultural output — not just short-form videos or Instagram posts but films, television, music and books — is becoming simplified, too. The smartphone's constant distraction and hostility to complex thought is reshaping almost every aspect of culture. Entertainment and the arts are undergoing what might be termed a Great Simplification.

Take the Netflix film “Irish Wish,” which ranked No. 1 on the streaming platform following its release in 2024. The film stars Lindsay Lohan as an American book editor named Maddie, who travels to Ireland dreaming of marriage to a hunky best-selling author (a genre of person more common in films than in life). As writer Will Tavlin observed, as you watch, you may notice that the characters are explaining what is going on, as if you are too slow to understand. In one scene, Maddie says to her lover, “We spent a day together. I admit it was a beautiful day, filled with dramatic vistas and romantic rain, but that doesn’t give you the right to question my life choices. Tomorrow I’m marrying Paul Kennedy.” He replies, “Fine. That will be the last you see of me because after this job is over, I’m off to Bolivia to photograph an endangered tree lizard.”

In a world of constant distraction, scriptwriters can no longer rely on audiences to pay attention. Executives at Netflix have reportedly demanded simpler scripts in which characters repeatedly announce what they are doing, so that scrolling viewers can keep track of

what is going on.

According to actor Matt Damon, filmmakers are told: "It wouldn't be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue, because people are on their phones while they're watching." The result is the inverse of the traditional creative writing advice "show, don't tell." It is hard to sustain interiority or nuance in a film in which every action must be clearly signposted. Not every Netflix film needs to be a masterpiece of insinuation and subtext, and good, challenging films are still being made — but nonetheless, complexity seems to be rapidly draining out of culture.

The same relentless pressures toward simplification are at work in almost every creative industry. A 2024 statistical analysis of more than 350,000 songs between 1970 and 2020 found that lyrics are becoming simpler, more repetitive and less rich in their vocabulary. Another study suggests that melodies are becoming less complex, too.

Modern pop musicians are competing in a distracted, fast-paced online world in which, to have a hope of catching on, music has to appeal to consumers through 15-second videos. TikTok is a vital route to new audiences, so the listener must understand and like the song instantly. If they feel the song is taking a while to get going, a single motion of the thumb will plunge them once again into the glittering chaos of content. A war zone flies up to fill the screen, or an animal, or a political debate.

Equally striking is what is happening in the publishing industry. Books are getting simpler and easier to read. An Economist analysis of New York Times best-selling books from the 1930s to the 2020s found that “sentences in popular books have contracted by almost a third since the 1930s.” Long sentences are not easy to grapple with in an age when, according to one estimate, the average American checks his or her smartphone 186 times per day. The audiences for serious nonfiction and literary fiction have declined steeply in recent decades. Sales of books about economics, current affairs and politics have fallen particularly sharply.

By contrast, best-selling books of the

1960s included Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," Saul Bellow's "Herzog" and Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's "The Leopard." In 1950, the critic Lionel Trilling's collection of essays, "The Liberal Imagination," was a bestseller in the United States, with more than 100,000 copies sold.

It is not easy to imagine such books commanding mainstream audiences today. What tends to work in publishing is self-help, romance, thriller and fantasy. These books often follow clear formulas (boy meets girl meets rival; murderer meets victim meets detective) or offer simple instructions (tidy your room; smile more at work; ask for that pay raise). Lists are popular: "Twelve Rules," "Five Lessons," "Six Easy Hacks."

In a world of fractured attention, people are drawn not only to the simple but also to the recognizable. Getting to grips with a new book, film or song requires a special and sometimes painful effort of concentration.

I think this attention may partly explain why studios opt for remakes, franchises and “extended universes.” Before the turn of the millennium, only about 25 percent of top-grossing films were spin-offs or sequels; by the 2020s the figure had risen to 75 percent. There are now 13 Star Wars films, plus many TV and video game spin-offs. J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth has bloated to multiple books, films, television shows and games. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books became a successful film franchise and spawned spin-offs; now, the story is being refilmed as a television show. Back catalogue songs now make up more than 70 percent of the music market, driven by young consumers who increasingly listen to the familiar music of their parents and grandparents. (Perhaps this is also an indication that some audiences crave more than what recent releases offer.)

Instantly recognizable characters, plots and melodies are an easier sell to audiences who are only half paying attention. Almost everyone knows what Hogwarts is and understands roughly what goes on there. You can watch the next Harry Potter remake out of the corner of your eye without losing track of what is happening.

Of course, great books and movies are still being made. This year, with debut films by younger directors, such as "Backrooms," breaking into the box office ranks of films such as "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," maybe appetites for originality are reinvigorating.

Still, trends toward simplification are worth worrying about. If culture loses its capacity to sustain complexity, readers, moviegoers and music enthusiasts may find themselves with increasingly inadequate understandings of the world. Self-help books and derivative films are fine in themselves, but there are aspects of human experience that cannot be described by lists, formulaic plots or declarative sentences. Not everything can be said simply, and understanding requires sustained concentration from readers, viewers or listeners. If they are distracted and unfocused, culture risks being transformed into a smartphone wasteland. Audiences may find themselves fated to endless repetition and pastiche, song after song, remake after remake.

James Marriott is the author of “The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society,” from which this article is adapted.

A new twist in the dogs vs. cats popularity contest

BY ROBERT GRANADER

The rivalry between dog people and cat people has existed for as long as animals have been domesticated. If aliens had visited any city in the United States over the past few decades, they would've had little doubt which side won. The Martians would have seen sidewalks, parks and beaches filled with humans walking, carrying and chasing dogs.

But the ground is shifting beneath those puppies' paws. According to statistics from my research firm, Packaged Facts, for the first time since the data began being tracked, more U.S. households own kittens than puppies. In 2014, there were 1.8 households with a dog under 1 year old for every one household with a cat the same age. That ratio reached parity in 2025, and this year, it declined to 0.94 to 1. Fewer puppies today means fewer dogs in the future.

This isn't a story of cat ownership booming, however. It's one of dog ownership declining. The number of American households with dogs has dropped 5 percent since 2019, while cat ownership has held relatively steady. Dogs still dominate

America — roughly 71 million households have dogs compared with 53 million that own cats — but that is changing quickly.

The market hasn't yet adapted to this development. Cat owners say businesses still treat their feline friends as second-class pets. According to a 2026 pet owner survey from Packaged Facts, roughly half of cat owners feel as though pet product marketers and retailers aren't catering to cats.

Meanwhile, in most pet stores, dog owners are greeted with a wide assortment of food and treat options, toys, enrichment products, travel accessories, apparel, training equipment and seasonal merchandise. Grooming, boarding, training and other pet services remain overwhelmingly dog-centric. There are dog parks, dog beaches, dog-friendly hotels, dog-friendly restaurants, dog bakeries and even dog airlines. Cats are largely left out. They get leftover boxes from Amazon deliveries.

Pet companies treat cats like the Ken to dogs' Barbie. So, what's behind Americans' move away from dogs?

Mostly, practicality. Cats are quieter, easier to leave by themselves and better at living in smaller spaces. A dog can turn your Saturday into a logistical exercise. A cat barely notices you've left the house.

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE KONDRICH/THE WASHINGTON POST

But the trend reflects the state of the economy, too. Home buying, a traditional trigger for adding a dog to the family, has been stifled by a combination of elevated real estate prices, sluggish real wage growth and higher mortgage rates. The homeownership decline has taken some of the steam out of the dog market, as homeowners are almost twice as likely as renters to own a dog, according to our data.

Demographic shifts are also putting downward pressure on overall pet ownership. Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies projects that household growth will be concentrated among older adults and minorities — groups that historically have lower pet ownership rates.

The decline in dog ownership is also a product of the way people live and work post-pandemic. Americans have smaller households, are more likely to own apartments, travel more and incur higher costs. With the U.S. facing tighter economic conditions, dogs can be prohibitive. Packaged Facts estimates that owners spend an average of \$1,300 annually on dogs, compared with roughly \$750 on cats.

That disparity could reduce the pet industry's revenue going forward. Dogs make up two-thirds of pet industry sales, according to our data. For years, steady price increases and more expensive product options have kept the industry humming, but consumers are increasingly trading down to lower-priced options (or dropping out of pet ownership altogether).

This isn't a story about cats replacing dogs. It's about Americans becoming more like cats: living in smaller spaces, valuing independence and preferring to be left alone.

If the aliens returned to America in a few years, they might find spotless and empty sidewalks, parks and beaches — and millions of cats sitting smugly in front of window shades.

Robert Granader is the founder of Market-Research.com and the chief executive of the market research firm Packaged Facts.

Britain is scrapping the last vestiges of its anti-Catholic past

BY DAN HITCHENS

For British Catholics like me, it should be a moment of rejoicing. One of the last restrictions on our faith, a holdover from the centu-

ries of prejudice and persecution, is being lifted. And the reform is being carried out by the United Kingdom's first lifelong Catholic prime minister. So why does it not exactly feel like a new dawn?

Since becoming prime minister, Andy Burnham has made some big promises: to abolish homelessness, to end “40 years of neoliberalism,” to sort out Britain’s crisis-ridden care system, to introduce a new electoral model and perhaps to seek a closer relationship with the European Union. Yet his government’s first piece of legislation is on a seemingly minor technical point. The Church Appointments (Repeal of Discriminatory Provision) Bill would allow Burnham, a Catholic and therefore not a member of the Church of England, to advise the king on the appointment of Church of England bishops.

bishops of the national church; it's an independent commission. But to Burnham, the current law — which forbids Catholics as well as Jews from having even a rubber-stamping role — is simply outdated. So, though it is still the case that no Catholic can become king or queen, there will soon be one fewer law against us.

Burnham's somewhat vague Catholicism (he rarely goes to Mass) underpins his somewhat vague politics. He credits his devout mother, Eileen, with instilling his ethic of "care." He comes from Liverpool in the northwest — the most Irish-Catholic city in the most culturally Catholic part of England — and inherited its politics. "What I used to have to read in the catechism," Burnham once said, "the enfranchisement of it on Earth was the Labour Party." The commonalities, he has argued, are "the underdog, a sense of solidarity and values."

Solidarity is the one that stands out. At the party conference last week, Burnham came onstage to the 1990 hit "All Together Now" — a song about the Christmas Truce of 1914 during World War I — and in his speech spoke repeatedly of the need for national unity. "Today we draw a line on a decade of division," Burnham declared.

Yet this technical change to the legislation on Catholic prime ministers reminds us of one reason that unity has proved so elusive. British identity was forged in the century after the union between England and Scotland in 1707. And it was founded, above all, on the rejection of Catholicism. The kingdom, according to the popular national story, had been narrowly saved again and again from Catholic invasion, Catholic tyrants, Catholic plots. Britain's prosperity and freedom were the blessings of Protestantism, visibly contrasting with the poverty and absolutism supposedly found in Catholic Europe. Even the British national character — law-abiding, sober-minded, understated — was thought superior to Latin hotheadedness.

This national mythology justified some ferocious anti-Catholic laws. In the century and a half following Henry VIII's break from Rome in 1534, hundreds of Catholics were put to death for their religion. Until 1791, Catholic churches and schools were banned; until 1829, no Catholic could sit in parliament. The ban on the monarch marrying a Catholic was lifted only in 2013. Of course bigotry is part of this long story, but so is the British belief that Catholicism threatened a precious national achievement.

Since Britain went into debt in World War II, lost its empire and suffered a series of recent political crises, its sense of pride has imploded. Even the minimal patriotism amid which I grew up is no longer being transmitted. Only 41 percent of younger Britons say they are proud to be British — about half the number 20 years ago. The number who believe the country is “united” has fallen even more dramatically; half would not fight for Britain “under any circumstances.” It may seem a stretch to connect these glum statistics with the Church Appointments (Repeal of Discriminatory Provision) Bill, but there is a link. Britain once at least knew what it was. Today the national identity, though debated endlessly and anxiously, is an enigma.

Meanwhile, Britain's leaders cycle through a narrow selection of policies. Burnham, just like his unpopular predecessor, Keir Starmer, wants to revitalize the public realm without abandoning the fiscal constraints imposed by the official regulator. Like Starmer, he wants to limit immigration without doing anything that would strike the liberal conscience as cruel. And he wants to be an idealist about foreign policy and climate change without alienating the United States or looking like a softheaded eco-warrior. It's just that whereas Starmer carried out these sad triangulations gloomily — lamenting, for instance, that Britain had become an “island of strangers” — Burnham delivers them with a reassuring chuckle.

When he came onstage at the party conference, Burnham carefully managed the backing track. We heard the intro to “All Together Now,” but not the lyrics. “Same old story again,” it goes. “All together now in no man’s land.”

Dan Hitchens is a senior editor at First Things.

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EDITORIAL

The Looming 2030s

What are the best ways to lower the U.S. deficit? Test and find out.

You, and every U.S. reader, have inherited a debt of \$40 trillion, or more than 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The debt is projected to continue rising inexorably unless dramatic steps are taken to rein it in. How would you accomplish that?

The deficit this year is over 6 percent of GDP, higher than in any year of the Great Depression. A bipartisan target for deficit reduction is to cut it to 3 percent. Rapid adoption of artificial intelligence could deliver a powerful boost to productivity, economic growth and federal revenue. But betting on AI alone to solve the debt problem would be risky. Other ways to make the debt more manageable include increasing domestic energy production, cutting government red tape, encouraging entrepreneurship and increasing competition.

Growth alone cannot substitute for making tough trade-offs involving spending and revenue. Productivity booms can delay a fiscal crisis, but they cannot outrun compound interest or structural deficits forever.

The best time to get the debt under control was in the past, but there's still plenty that can be done to budget more responsibly. In the 2030s, America will be forced either to allow retirement programs and interest payments to eat up the entire budget or to rebalance the government's priorities. The choices will be difficult, but the payoff of passing down to future generations a country that's able to sustain itself will be worth it.

Federal surplus or deficit, as a percentage of GDP

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FIGURES IN GREEN SHOW HOW MUCH MONEY WOULD BE SAVED ON THE PROJECTED 2036 DEFICIT

How a 3% deficit target compares with historical federal deficits

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DEFENSE

☐ Limit defense spending growth to 1 percent SAVE \$137B

☐ Cut international aid by half SAVE \$38B

☐ Reduce the head count of troops by 10 percent SAVE \$133B

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HEALTH CARE

☐ Allow private plans to compete with Medicare SAVE \$88B

☐ Lower payments to health care providers SAVE \$57B

☐ Cut payments to private Medicare plans by 10 percent SAVE \$120B

☐ Increase Medicare premiums SAVE \$152B

☐ Ban Medicaid “provider taxes” used to draw federal matching funds SAVE \$76B

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SOCIAL SECURITY

☐ Raise the retirement age to 70 SAVE \$66B

☐ Raise the payroll tax rate by 1 percent SAVE \$216B

☐ Raise the payroll tax cap to \$305,000 SAVE \$117B

☐ Cap benefits for all new retirees SAVE \$124B

☐ Cut benefits for couples earning over \$120,000 a year SAVE \$69B

☐ Change inflation measure for cost-of-living adjustment SAVE \$80B ☐ Increase the gas tax by 15 cents

SAVE \$33B

☐ Repeal Trump’s tax cuts for people who earn above \$400,000 a year SAVE \$323B

□ Eliminate the mortgage interest deduction SAVE \$59B

☐ Reform employer-sponsored insurance tax exclusions SAVE \$146B

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Doctors love journaling.

Here's why.

Journaling is actually quite a good, widely welcomed, evidence-based form of medicine, which is why I was a bit troubled by Katie Roiphe's Oct. 2 oped, "Wellness gurus love journaling. My marriage didn't." She mentioned that one survey found that almost half of all Americans record their feelings in a journal. But instead of acknowledging the real benefits of this practice, she dwelled on intruders who read, or might read, journals. I can testify that I've happily and beneficially kept a journal for almost 70 years, and never experienced such an intrusion.

In 1986, University of Texas researcher James Pennebaker and his colleagues published the first expressive writing study, which showed the therapeutic benefits of journaling. The practice is not a panacea, but studies have repeatedly shown emotional and physical benefits for people with anxiety, depression, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic pain and other conditions.

I'm a psychiatrist, and over the past 30 years, I've seen journaling enhance feelings of self-worth and self-efficacy, and provide emotional relief for seriously traumatized people, including combatants and civilians in war zones and American adults and children with life-threatening illnesses. It's a no-cost practice that can help us get to know ourselves much better while it gives us perspective on, and lowers, the stress that is part of all of our lives.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

James S. Gordon, Washington

The writer is the author of "Transforming Trauma: The Path to Hope and Healing," and was chair of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

I read Katie Roiphe's article about her unfortunate experience with journaling unfortunate experience with journaling — or rather, her unfortunate experience with her first husband. What struck me most was her conclusion: Because keeping a journal led to disastrous results for her, she recommends that others abandon the practice, too.

My late husband and I kept a joint journal for many years. It wasn't a place to write deep thoughts, just a he-said, she-said account of our very mundane lives. "I grilled chicken for dinner" appeared a surprising number of times. There was some marital drama. Tom usually wrote first, so I often got the last word. I was right, of course. I stopped writing for a while after he died, but I've started again. I find it's helpful to write a little bit every day, just to keep going. Even if no one ever reads it.

Nora Raum, Alexandria

I'm one of those people who like to write my journal entries in a coffee shop, someone whom Katie Roiphe's Oct. 2 op-ed ridiculed as "obviously caught up in romantic notions about themselves." Since I was a child, I've had a strong interest in history, which drove me to document my own. I began keeping a journal in 1974, when I was 23, and I have written in it continuously since. Recently, I've begun reading the notebooks from the beginning and am up to 2022. They're full of my life experiences: accomplishments, relationships, travels, nature, cultural outings, books, and hundreds of people whom I've encountered along the way, along with comments on how all of it affected me. They also describe how I've dealt with disappointments, chronic illness and sadness. Through it all/,/ I see myself developing a philosophy of life to help me get through it. It is deeply personal and full of feeling.

Roiphe disparaged journaling as “melodrama,” “performative moments,” “scribbling” something onto paper that is “cranky and self-involved and trivial,” and she insisted that the entries don’t, or shouldn’t, qualify as a true memory of one’s self.

On reading my journals, I also found they contained very little that would make me feel ashamed or embarrassed if someone else read them. Instead, I found myself reliving moments, relationships, events — both happy and unhappy — and came away feeling that I've led a full life to the best of my ability.

Walter Albano, Washington

Slow

HOW QUICKLY WILL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BOOST PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH?

Moderate

Fast

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Have you tamed the debt?

Add up all of your savings, and divide it by \$46,712B (projected 2036 GDP). If you get:

Greater than or equal to 3.7% → SUCCESS

Less than 3.7% → FAIL

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If every policy is selected...

Each bar below shows how one policy would affect the projected 2036 deficit. Policies appear in the same order as in the quiz.

0.8%

1.3%

THE CBO PROJECTS A GDP GROWTH RATE OF 1.8 PERCENT. WHAT AVERAGE RATE DO YOU PROJECT THROUGH 2036?

1.8%

How will AI-driven productivity growth affect national debt?

Projected debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP, by 2035

Each scenario accounts for labor productivity growth and changes in labor force participation.

2.3%

2.8%

How will GDP growth affect national debt?

National debt as a percentage of GDP, at different GDP growth rates

0.8% 1.3% 1.8% 2.3% 2.8%

CBO projects real GDP growth of 1.8% and nominal GDP growth of 3.8%. Debt-to-GDP ratios under alternative growth scenarios were calculated by The Washington Post.

I have kept a journal for more than 40 years, and I recently started a YouTube channel about journaling, creativity and memory. A recent video about becoming the caretaker of my grandmother's and mother's journals has been viewed more than 1 million times. The video received comments from thousands of people describing how journaling has helped them process their emotions, track their days, preserve memories, explore their creativity, find gratitude and connect across generations. It is difficult, then, to see a practice that has given so much meaning to so many people be dismissed because of one person's painful experience.

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METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES

Many people have told me that they intend — or have already chosen — to burn their journals in a cathartic bonfire one day. To that I say: Go for it. There can be something genuinely liberating about letting the past go, particularly after a difficult period of life. But that is very different from telling everyone else to do the same.

Projected deficit impact for each policy option is sourced from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Additional data sources: Yale Budget Lab; Congressional Budget Office; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; U.S. Office of Management and Budget via FRED. Illustration by Kyle Ellingson for The Washington Post.

In fact, journaling has a crucial value at a time when so much of our thinking is shaped by what we encounter online. Today, so many people parrot what they watch on TikTok, retweet what goes viral on X or, worst of all, fully outsource their thinking to artificial intelligence. I worry that without journaling, we could start to lose our ability to truly think for ourselves.

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When I finally learned to listen

Amanda Close, New York

I was tempted to play “Do You Want to Know a Secret” by the Beatles while I read the Oct. 2 online Optimist article, “There’s a simple way to become a better listener. Most of us don’t do it,” which included a simple but not always easy to implement “reflective listening” prescription.

It has taken me a long time to realize that the same kinds of persistent and efficient issue-spotting and problem-solving skills that helped me be a successful attorney and community advocate interfered with my marriage and parenting. It wasn't that I was too busy or preoccupied with work. In some ways it was just the opposite. As soon as my family or friends came to me with a problem, I was "on it." I was ready to problem-solve, advocate, research and intercede. And, yes, I was sometimes helpful. But I didn't "get it." I didn't take the time to fully listen.

I was blessed and surprised to meet my strong, direct and independent partner in 2007. Jill lets me know when she just wants me to listen. She can laugh at me and with me, and set me straight. She's said to me, "When I want or need your advice, I'll ask for it. Otherwise, back off." And I grin from ear to ear and take three steps backward.

Michael B. Goldenkranz, Seattle

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Publisher and Chief Executive Officer | MATT MURRAY | Executive Editor | JASON ANDERS | Managing Editor | BRYAN FLAHERTY | Managing Editor | PETER SPIEGEL | Managing Editor | KIMI YOSHINO | Managing Editor | SOO-JEONG KANG......Visuals

KAREN PENSIERO......Standards

CARLA BROYLES......Deputy Managing Editor

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OPINION

Tucker Carlson would have you forget the truth about Hitler. Don't.

BY BOGDAN KLICH

istory cannot be molded at will. It can be observed, analyzed and evaluated from a multitude of perspectives. But the

events themselves cannot be changed, nor the lessons discarded, simply because they have become politically inconvenient.

After World War II, the international community confronted the catastrophic consequences of allowing aggressive nationalism and claims of national superiority to go unchecked. Out of that experience emerged not only determination to prevent another world war, but a fundamental principle of the postwar international order: Borders cannot legitimately be changed through force simply because a more powerful state claims that history, ethnicity, language or a perceived transgression justifies its actions.

Today, these lessons are becoming more relevant, not less. Yet some of the arguments that made the early 20th century so destructive are again entering the mainstream. Now is precisely the time to remember why they are dangerous.

In his recent conversation with former British lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg, Tucker Carlson justified Nazi Germany's 1939 invasion of Poland, which began World War II in Europe, by arguing that Adolf Hitler was reclaiming territory that had previously belonged to Germany and had been wrongfully transferred to Poland in the post-World War I Treaty of Versailles.

Such an argument not only omits the essential historical context, such as previous partitions of Poland and over a century of Prussian occupation of Polish territories. It also whitewashes Hitler's well-documented objective of destroying the Polish state and exterminating its population.

Hitler's demands to annex the free city of Gdańsk and build a German-controlled transit strip across the Polish Corridor, which separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany, cannot be severed from his broader plans for aggression. It is well-established that Hitler was already preparing to attack Poland, while the August 1939 nonaggression treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union secretly laid the groundwork for its partition.

The Sept. 1, 1939, invasion was not an improvised response to failed negotiations, but a planned war of conquest that led to occupation, persecution, displacement and mass murder.

It is inconceivable that the memory of Holocaust and World War II victims — including hundreds of thousands of American soldiers — would be deprecated and the actions of the initiator of the deadliest war in human history openly defended.

There are striking parallels between arguments historically employed to legitimize territorial expansion and those Vladimir Putin has used to justify Russia's war against Ukraine. Carlson's legitimization of Hitler's attack on Poland under the pretext that western Poland was once "German territory with Germans" in it not only misinterprets the history but revives logic that condones war and aggression in the name of territorial and national reunification. Such rhetoric can then be used to encourage new waves of violence.

In today's multilateral reality, ideas of reunification can endanger national, ethnic and religious minorities. The clearest example is the persecution of Europe's Jewish population by Hitler's Third Reich. The effects of Hitler's antisemitic ideology stand as unequivocal evidence of how dangerous ideas of national reintegration can become.

A world in which antisemitism and discrimination against minority groups are warranted through the misinterpretation of history should be unacceptable.

The propagation of reunification can also threaten alliances that have preserved peace for decades. Western societies increasingly encounter another seductive argument: Why should they risk their own prosperity and security for people portrayed simply as distant foreigners? But alliances are not merely acts of charity toward strangers. They exist because countries learned that hostility becomes more likely when aggressors believe their victims will stand alone. Collective security rests on the understanding that defending an ally today can prevent a far larger and more costly conflict tomorrow.

Democratic societies must therefore be especially vigilant when dangerous historical narratives arise from within. The threat is not merely that authoritarian governments will produce propaganda. It is that democratic societies may gradually adopt the assumptions on which that propaganda depends.

World War II may seem like a closed chapter, but it is imperative that its lessons are not forgotten. The philosopher George Santayana warned: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” History must be remembered for what it was, not distorted to spread propaganda. No matter how hard anyone may try, history cannot be changed.

Bogdan Klich is Poland's chargé d'affairs to the United States.

KATHLEEN PARKER

Darline Graham is no Lindsey. Voters are noticing.

Sen. Darline Graham (R-South Carolina) during a news conference in Columbia on Aug. 24.

MEG KINNARD/AP

CAMDEN, S.C.

If one were to wander out on a limb and predict that Sen. Darline Graham (R) will not be elected the junior senator from South Carolina on Nov. 3, one would not necessarily plummet to the ground. For the first time in more than 20 years of Republican dominance, it seems that the Senate seat vacated by the death of Lindsey Graham is a toss-up between his sister and Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician and former congressional candidate.

Andrews likely would not have defeated Lindsey Graham, who, though increasingly unpopular, benefited from South Carolina's reflexive loyalty to the Republican status quo. Sen. Strom Thurmond, whom Lindsey Graham replaced in 2003, retired from office after serving more than 47 years in the Senate. Most people reckoned Graham would continue serving into his dotage before his unexpected death in July of an aortic dissection. At just 71, he was practically a whippersnapper by state standards.

When Gov. Henry McMaster (R) tapped Graham's younger sister, Dar-line, to fill out her brother's term, which ends in January, her appointment was widely understood to be temporary, pending the midterm election.

But President Donald Trump had other plans for “our wonderful Darline,” as he recently called her. After a brief, high-octane courtship with the president, Darline Graham realized with sudden clarity that she was the rightful heir to the throne and would run for the full six-year term.

The question now is whether Trump still holds sufficient sway to guarantee a Graham victory. Not necessarily. Not only has the president jacked up tariffs that are causing pain on Main Street and started a war with Iran that has spiked gas prices, he has divided his party and picked a terrible candidate to replace his wingman.

Polls have shown Trump's disapproval rating in South Carolina hovering around 50 percent. Even the fellow whose house I regularly drive past in Camden has replaced his usual fence poster — “Crude and Rude, Still My Dude, Trump for President” — with a message of charity. I take this as a sign.

Most importantly, the candidates tell the story. Darline Graham is a Trump pick for reasons that did not include her political agility or her mastery of the country's top issues. In her first campaign ad, she checked the GOP litmus-test boxes, noting that she's anti-abortion and opposes transgender athletes participating in women's or girls' sports. On the geopolitical front that her brother was instrumental in shaping, she pleaded ignorance during a primary debate.

These aren't character flaws, but they represent a serious deficit for a senator whose only apparent qualification for the job is that her brother once held it. Andrews, by contrast, has a clear agenda and political experience (she ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Nancy Mace in 2022), and has spent several years studying health care, Medicare, Medicaid and other affordability issues.

Darline is no Lindsey, which, admittedly, some voters might consider an advantage. A longtime Republican Senate staffer recently described to me the late senator's political prowess: He could bring people together from both sides of the aisle. He could change Trump's mind to the opposite of what he had been thinking 10 minutes before. His compelling talent was humor. He'd walk into a room and crack a joke, and everybody would be laughing before the meeting got started.

There's no evidence that his sister shares his generally sunny disposition, sense of humor or strategic deployment of both. One needn't be a comedian to succeed in D.C., but a sense of humor is a sign of intelligence and its use is indicative of advanced people skills, all of which can win the day, as Lindsey Graham repeatedly proved.

A recent poll by InsiderAdvantage has Darline Graham up by just one point over Andrews. That survey was conducted around when Graham attacked former special counsel Jack Smith during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. She accused Smith of bullying her brother and weaponizing the legal system. Smith replied that

Lindsey Graham, whom he called a “patriotic public servant,” was not a focus of the investigation but likely would have been a witness. Darline Graham cut him off and kept hammering: “You caused my brother and a lot of other senators a lot of stress,” she said, “and that makes me sick. You should be ashamed.”

And somebody should be embarrassed.

Staff coaching can only go so far. The senator's adherence to an obvious script suggests that thinking on her feet isn't a strong suit. She came across as testy and mean.

Forecasters still favor Graham, but data tells only part of the story. If Graham fails in her bid, she can be forgiven for acting out of loyalty and love for her brother. If she prevails, South Carolina will get what it deserves — a scripted marionette for an unpopular, lame-duck president who, unlike Graham, will be gone in two years.

GEORGE F. WILL

A French debt solution: Anything but address it

E uphemisms have their uses. They can facilitate the transition of an idea from something unthinkable to something discussable, en

D'able to something discussable, en route to becoming part of normal political discourse. Historians might someday conclude that an example of this began in 2026, when a French presidential candidate made a hitherto fringe idea central to his campaign.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, 75, from the far left of the left, favors “freezing” a portion of France’s national debt, the size of which is 119 percent of the nation’s GDP. Sometimes he calls for “canceling” the portion. Or vows that as president he would “take” it. He avoids a straightforward noun that denotes the policy of borrowing money and then breaking the promise to repay it: “theft.”

Precision is not Mélenchon's strong suit, but he is reasonably clear that he has in mind the 15 percent of French bonds held by the Bank of France. He might, or might not, have only those in mind when he talks about throwing bonds "into the fire" or putting them "in the fridge." He says "no one will ever notice that they've disappeared," and a poll shows a French plurality thinks coping with the national debt by repudiating some of it is a neat idea.

In the short - very short - term this might avoid unpleasant measures (increased taxes, decreased social benefits). A French plurality might dislike the consequences of France, the European Union's second-largest economy, paying future interest rates appropriate for a rogue borrower and thief.

But many nations, including the United States, often have a plurality who regard many problems as Scarlett O'Hara did in “Gone With the Wind”: “I can’t think about that right now. ... I’ll think about that tomorrow.” The comforting assumption is that “Annie” of the Broadway musical was right: Tomorrow is always a day away.

A few days ago, the U.S. 2026 fiscal year ended (Sept. 30). According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, with economic growth strong and unemployment low, the federal government nevertheless spent 22.9 percent of gross domestic product (\$7.4 trillion) while raising revenue of just 16.7 percent of GDP (\$5.4 trillion). This \$2 trillion deficit is a (redundant) reminder:

The sound and fury of this autumn's politics signifies nothing but the bipartisan determination to talk about anything (data centers are the distraction-du-jour) other than the most important thing: the ruinous consensus beneath today's performative rancor.

Both parties are committed, behaviorally if not ideologically, to running huge deficits at every point in the business cycle. As a result, interest costs, which were \$241 billion in fiscal 2016, have more than tripled in 10 years, to \$1.1 trillion.

As the cost of servicing the national debt will drive future annual budget deficits up from \$2 trillion, something else will increase commensurately: the temptation of repudiation. Inflation is slow-motion repudiation of debt. It means only nominally repaying borrowed dollars, using ones of substantially diminished value.

Yes, the Federal Reserve says 2 percent inflation is its “target.” But that target has not been hit for 66 months. When does a target become something less — less than an expectation or even an aspiration, just a hope? How long before, say, 3 percent, or even 4 percent, becomes the de facto target because it is regularly achieved?

In the making of economic policies, reality — a.k.a. the bond market — gets a vote. And what it says loudly can have long echoes.

Recently, mortgage rates have risen to 7.5 percent, which exacerbates the problem of the rising cost of new houses. This is partly because of tariffs on imported construction materials, and partly because of labor shortages caused by deportations of many construction workers.

Housing is the largest purchase most Americans make, and becomes the most substantial portion of their net worth. For most young adults, homeownership is the most important component of economic security. So, high interest rates worsen the inequality and frustration that today deepen the sourness of politics.

It is tempting for Americans to criticize French social values and economic policies that produce strange politics. But remember the rule that people in glass houses should not throw stones.

French polls indicate that Mélenchon, who supports the current rioters, might qualify for the second and final round of next year's French presidential election. He might then be running against Marine Le Pen, from the far right. The phrase “President Mélenchon” seems far-fetched today. But is it more so than “President Trump” seemed in 2015?

France's identity is partly defined by a 15th-century woman, Joan of Arc. Today, the United States takes its inspiration from a 19th-century woman named Scarlett.

Bipartisan effort aims at heading off a possible crisis over the next Congress

Effort is to block any attempt to delay the peaceful transfer of power

BY JARRELL DILLARD AND MARIANA ALFARO

Some lawmakers are mobilizing to sidestep a constitutional crisis if President Donald Trump pressures House Republicans to block the seating of congressional Democrats, if they win the chamber.

Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) and Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) are circulating a letter that asks members to pledge to recognize election winners certified by each state and oppose "any attempt to refuse or delay the seating of any Member-elect." The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the letter.

It is unclear how many members have signed onto the letter. The offices of Reps. Mike Lawler (R-New York) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania) confirmed to The Washington Post that they have signed on.

Anxiety among lawmakers about the peaceful transfer of power has lingered following the attack on the Capitol on Jan 6. 2021, and Trump's pressure on politicians to contest the results of the 2020 election. Recent attempts by the Trump administration to make changes and exert more control over elections has exacerbated those worries.

Some Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns that Trump could pull similar tactics to deny the Nov. 3 election results if his party loses control of one or both chambers of Congress. A spokesman for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) dismissed concerns about any plan to delay seating members, saying in an interview with CNN on Wednesday that “there may always be pressure” on Johnson, but he believes Johnson would “do the right thing.”

When asked last Sunday whether he's concerned that new House members won't be sworn-in on time, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) — who would likely become speaker of the House if Democrats win the majority — told reporters “everyone who’s elected by the American people on November 3rd is going to be seated on January 3rd.”

"If we have the opportunity to govern in the majority, we will take the gavels in the new Congress," Jeffries said. "We're confident, but we're not taking anything for granted, and we're doing everything necessary to ensure that the results of the November 3rd election are brought to life when the new Congress is sworn in on January 3rd."

Many congressional law experts have said any attempt to refuse to seat members in the House would be unlikely, and almost certainly unsuccessful due to existing laws and Supreme Court precedent. When the House reconvenes on Jan. 3, 2027, for the start of the 120th Congress, there will be no members and no speaker of the House, so Johnson would have no authority over seating members, said Derek Muller, a professor at Notre Dame Law School.

Members-elect must first elect a speaker by a simple majority vote. The speaker will then swear in the present members-elect.

“Presuming that Democrats take the House, let’s assume that, that will all move very smoothly,” Muller said. Even if Republicans in the minority objected to a Democratic speaker seating members, Democrats could overrule them, he added.

Josh Chafetz, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, echoed that sentiment, saying that challenges to members-elect in contested elections would likely be unsuccessful.

"I'm not particularly worried about this," Chafetz said. "Of all the things to worry about, I just don't think a minority refusing to seat a majority is at all high on the list."

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California), who has been involved in legislative efforts to protect election integrity, said he supported the Gottheimer-Bacon effort.

“I welcome bipartisan efforts to reaffirm the rule of law, especially when it comes to our elections, yet it’s a sad indicator that we even have to have this conversation,” Padilla said in a statement.

The midterms are close. Why is Trump in New York?

President Donald Trump speaks at the Oncenter on Friday in Syracuse, New York, to stump for Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman. Some in the MAGA base aren't confident about the odds, even with the president's appearance.

NATHAN HOWARD/REUTERS

He hopes to turn out conservative Republicans in the gubernatorial race

BY LAURA BEVERIDGE

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — President Donald Trump took a break from his midterm blitz of campaign rallies in Republican-leaning states to visit Upstate New York to stump for the GOP nominee for governor, Bruce Blakeman, and deliver a speech in which he said Americans were experiencing a “golden age” under his tenure.

Blakeman, the Nassau county executive and an old friend from the president's days as a real estate developer, faces an uphill battle to unseat Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and become the first Republican elected as New York's governor since 2004.

According to a recent Marist Poll, the incumbent holds an 11-point lead among registered voters.

However, onstage at the On-center in central Syracuse, the president waved away the poll numbers, telling supporters to vote as if he were on the ballot.

“Here in New York, the Democrat communist politicians are a warning to the entire nation,” Trump said, criticizing Hochul over the state’s income tax and praising Blakeman’s record on crime as Nassau county executive.

Trump also criticized Norway for not awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize, calling it an “indelible stain” on the Nordic nation. He played for the crowd footage of CNN covering his favorability among Republicans.

“We're in a golden age of our country,” Trump said. “But you have to get out to keep it and vote Republican.”

Some Republicans have said they worry that Trump's visit could harm, rather than help, Blakeman's campaign and question why, in an election year in which so many red-state Republicans are facing competitive races, Trump has decided to visit the Democratic stronghold.

"The simple truth is that if this race is about Trump, Blake-man not only loses, he gets his ass kicked," Bob Lonsberry, a conservative radio host and New Yorker, wrote on X ahead of Trump's visit.

The online post, which begged Trump to “stay away,” suggested that “presidential ego” was the reason for the visit.

In Syracuse, Trump was met outside the venue by more than a thousand protesters, cordoned by law enforcement armed with riot shields and batons.

Inside, Trump spoke for 90 minutes to an enthusiastic, standing-room-only crowd, which was dotted with people dressed in MAGA merchandise and T-shirts with illustrations of Hochul over the phrase “Ditch the Witch.”

“Wow, what an evening,” Trump said. “I think I’m going to stay here tonight. Maybe for the weekend.

“Anybody have a nice house I could stay with?”

Early in Trump's speech, a protester was removed. He dismissed her and the protesters outside as “paid political actors.”

MATT BURKHARTT/AP

People line up to hear Trump speak in Syracuse.

Matt Gordon, a 42-year-old independent and anti-Trump protester, described the event as little more than an “ego boost.”

“This is a way to keep his name in everybody’s face,” Gordon said of the president.

Trump supporter Jordan Shae, 28, on the other hand, said he hoped the president's visit would galvanize turnout in Upstate New York.

"It just shows what type of person Trump is: No matter how far behind someone is in the polls, he wants to give them a chance," said Shae, who wore a pair of official Trump-branded golden sneakers that cost him \$200.

But Shae said he worried that New York was too liberal for Blakeman to prevail.

"I wish they would make New York City its own thing. Make it a district, like Washington, D.C.," Shae said.

The unpopularity of the war with Iran, the surge in gasoline prices and the trade war with Canada have hurt Trump's standing in Upstate New York.

Hochul has sought to use this to her advantage, tying Blakeman to Trump's economic policies and labeling him "Trump's puppet."

Kyle Woods, a Blakeman supporter and recent college graduate, said he was concerned that Trump's presence could drive away moderate voters.

"As much as I like the president, you need to be viewed as a moderate to win New York," said Woods, 22.

"If I had to guess, Blakeman probably doesn't want the president here to campaign for him," Woods said.

Still, even as some Republican candidates seek to distance themselves from Trump, Blakeman has welcomed his support.

“People are happier under Donald Trump, except one state,” said Blakeman, who blamed Hochul for the affordability crisis in New York.

He also blamed the governor's approach to immigration and crime for the recent shooting of 28-year-old Oscar Belgal by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, and attacked her endorsement of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom he called a communist.

Trump supporter Mary Martin, 27, brought her sister, a Democrat, to the rally, saying they were united by their dislike of Hochul.

Martin said she was unsure whether the president's campaigning in New York would help Blakeman but added, "If Trump thinks it's important to be in New York, then I trust his judgment."

Luke Tausch, 21, who wore a white and pink shirt that read "Daddy's Home" over an image of Trump and the White House, felt optimistic that the president's visit would have its intended effect.

Tausch dismissed the suggestion that Trump's time on the campaign trail might have been better spent galvanizing the base in a red state.

"If you think anywhere is unsavable, then the Democrats will take over everywhere," he said.

Former Republican governors back a Democrat for Senate in a red state

ARIN YOON/BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES

Adam Hamilton, Democratic Senate candidate for Kansas, during a campaign event in Lenexa, Kansas, on Oct. 4.

BY PRAVEENA

SOMASUNDARAM

Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton, who has unexpectedly turned deep red Kansas into a toss-up, has drawn high-profile Republican supporters as he tries to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the midterms.

Two former GOP governors in Kansas, Mike Hayden and Bill Graves, endorsed Hamilton, writing op-eds, giving interviews and appearing in campaign videos in which they say his opponent, incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, is no longer the right fit for the state.

"I've just been terribly disappointed and alarmed at the congressional level in the Republicans' willingness to yield so easily, so readily, to this executive branch and yielding to actions that a lot of Americans don't think make a lot of sense," Graves said in an interview on Friday.

Hayden, who served a single term ending in 1991 and supported Marshall's first Senate bid, said he couldn't do so again after the senator backed the Iran war and the Trump administration's tariffs "despite the consequences for Kansans."

“It’s time for a change,” Hayden said in a video released by the Hamilton campaign Thursday. “Kansas needs a senator willing to stand up and say ‘This isn’t working.’”

Hamilton is running as a centrist rather than a hyper-partisan in a state that hasn't elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century. He needs Republican voters to win in a state that Donald Trump carried by 16 percentage points in the 2024 presidential race. Marshall won his first term in 2020 by 11 points.

Hamilton has made support from the opposing party a key part of his campaign, and even got the endorsement of Marshall's Republican primary challenger, Arch Naramore. Last week, the Democrat's campaign launched a “Republicans for Hamilton” group and touted the endorsements of more than 100 Kansas Republicans as evidence that he knows how to work across the aisle. He has traversed the state on a tour titled “Leading from the Middle” to convey that same message.

GOP voters have shown up, sometimes in large numbers, to those tour stops, said Glynnis Harvey, a spokesperson for Hamilton. She said their attendance is a sign that Kansans, including longtime conservatives, are looking for a fresh face.

Marshall's campaign did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

for Hamilton, national Republicans have pivoted their attention to it. Vice President JD Vance campaigned for Marshall there last month, and the top GOP-aligned super PAC for Senate began spending on the race Friday.

Kansas is now among seven Senate seats that are toss-ups, according to the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election prognosticator. Cook downgraded the race from “Lean Republican” on Tuesday. The Democratic Party needs to net four seats to take the chamber back from the Republicans, including at least two in states that Trump won in 2024 by double digits.

Democrats have become more bullish on the Kansas race. On Friday, Senate Majority PAC, Democrats' spending arm for the chamber, announced a \$5 million ad campaign in Kansas that started Saturday. The group said it decided to invest after realizing the race was growing more competitive.

Hamilton's background as a prominent pastor has appealed to some Kansas conservatives. He was a founding pastor of the Church of the Resurrection, the largest United Methodist congregation in the country. On the trail, he has noted that his flock has a roughly even split of Republicans, Democrats and independent worshipers.

Graves, who was Kansas's governor from 1995 to 2003, said he began considering endorsing Hamilton at the suggestion of conservative friends who belong to the candidate's church.

Graves later talked to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, one of a handful of other Democrats he has endorsed in his political career, about Hamilton's candidacy. Kelly has endorsed Hamilton alongside other former Democratic governors of the state. Her two immediate Republican predecessors — Jeff Colyer and Sam Brownback — have not endorsed in the Senate race.

Graves, also a practicing Methodist, said his conversations, coupled with his “concerns about the direction” of the Republican Party, sealed his support for Hamilton. The former governor said Hamilton was “doing the legwork” by meeting with voters across Kansas, while Marshall has kept his trail appearances more limited.

The Washington Post

SPORTS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2026

$_{1}$ Texas

Oklahoma

24 | $_{2}$ Georgia

27 | $_{6}$ Alabama

late

Stanford 7 $_{3}$ Notre Dame 58

Maryland $_{5}$ Ohio State

16 | $_{7}$ Indiana

45 Nebraska $_{9}$ Mississippi Vanderbilt $_{10}$ LSU

Kentucky

Syracuse Virginia

Virginia Tech California

ALASTAIR GRANT/AP

"It's my nonthrowing arm," Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels said of playing with a brace. "As long as I got the right one intact, I think I'll be all right."

A fighting chance

The NFC East is winnable, but to play catch-up, the 1-3 Commanders need more than an available Daniels

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BY TASHAN REED

On the surface, the return of Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels just three weeks after he dislocated his left elbow again appears brash. And to be clear, there's no way around the fact that putting him back out there comes with the risk of a more serious, long-term injury.

Daniels and Washington's brass are comfortable with that.

“I’m straight, honestly. I’m good,” Daniels said. “Last year was a different thing for me. This time, I kind of just knew what was at stake. I went to all the different specialists, and I heard their opinions and based my decision off of [that]. I prayed about it, and I made sure I’m making the best decision. I was at

peace with it."

Getting to that point, however, took a lot of deliberation. As Daniels met with those specialists, owner Josh Harris, General Manager Adam Peters and Coach Dan Quinn discussed their priorities. While the team had gotten off to an 0-2 start, the consensus was that Daniels needed to do what he felt was best for his health.

"We needed to make sure that he's getting the right medical care," Harris said. "We just want to make sure he's okay."

Season-ending surgery was on the table — and a procedure may be necessary in the offseason — but the specialist sessions left Daniels confident about forging ahead. He already knew he could play through this injury. After all, he did it last year. The question was whether he could do so while still playing at a high level. If he couldn't be himself, he wouldn't be doing Washington much good.

Although Daniels will wear a bulky, restrictive brace on his left arm, he doesn't believe it will affect his play.

“It’s my nonthrowing arm,” Daniels said. “As long as I got the right one intact, I think I’ll be all right.”

As Daniels rejoins the Commanders (1-3, 0-2 in the NFC East) ahead of their clash with the New York Giants (3-1, 1-0) on Sunday at Northwest Stadium, that's exactly what they need. They're playing catch-up in their division and have several starters sidelined on both sides of the ball. Their only real hope of salvaging this season rests with Daniels.

On the plus side, the NFC East is far from a jugger-SEE COMMANDERS ON B6

Week 5: Giants at Commanders 1 p.m., Fox | Cardinals' Harrison will be inactive Wideout sits out amid trade rumors, B6

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PERSPECTIVE

Finals-bound Valkyries are a precocious power

Like Jacob's Warriors, new Golden State squad has defied expectations

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BY DIETER KURTENBACH Bay Area News Group

Back in 2016, when Joe Lacob infamously declared his Golden State empire was “light-years ahead” of everyone else, the basketball world chuckled, rolled its eyes, and waited patiently to turn that quote into a meme whenever a Warriors draft pick busted and the dynasty eventually faded.

Nobody is laughing now.

— haven't played 100 games in franchise history. Yet they're four wins away from a WNBA title in just their second year of existence.

This isn't supposed to happen. It defies logic, history, and our understanding of how things are supposed to work in the W.

The top women's basketball league in the world has never been deeper, more vicious, or more loaded with transcendent talent in its 30 years of existence.

There's simply too much competence across the board for an expansion team to barge into the party and drink all the top-shelf champagne.

SEE GOLDEN STATE ON B6

Gabby Williams, left, has been a driving force in the second-year Valkyries' path to the WNBA Finals.

EZ SU

TONY AVELAR/AP

James Madison | Old Dominion 10

Ga. Southern late | App State 3

U.S. falls in clash of world's top teams

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SPAIN 2, UNITED STATES 0

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BY THOMAS FLOYD

Two years after the U.S. women's soccer team claimed gold at the Paris Olympics, the next global test is at last on the horizon. The World Cup looms next summer in Brazil. The Americans can punch their ticket to that showcase next month. At long last, the lengthy gap between major tournaments — and the corresponding barrage of friendlies — will give way to games that matter.

But if Saturday's 2-0 loss to Spain at Audi Field was any indication, the Americans still have a ways to go before contending for their fifth World Cup title.

“I’m frustrated,” U.S. Coach Emma Hayes said. “I’m disappointed. But I’m not deterred.”

In a clash of the top two teams in FIFA's rankings, played before a sellout crowd of 19,220, the visitors left the home side shell-shocked with two spectacular strikes. After Patri Guijarro opened the scoring with a third-minute laser, Eva Navarro doubled the advantage via a half-volley in the 14th.

"We did a great job at limiting their chances," forward Trinity Rodman said after the U.S.

Friendly: Spain at U.S.

Tuesday, 7 p.m., TNT

Red River redress: Sooners shock No. 1

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OKLAHOMA 27, TEXAS 24

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BY STEPHEN HAWKINS Associated Press

DALLAS — Oklahoma and Coach Brent Venables really needed this win. Getting it against top-ranked Texas in their Red River rivalry game and donning the Golden Hat trophy just made it that much better.

While the Sooners still a have a long way to go on offense, Tate Sandell kicked a 47-yard field goal on the game's final play for a 27-24 win after they scored touchdowns on special teams and defense Saturday.

“I want these guys to experience victory, certainly in this game, [it] was incredibly important,” Venables said.

The Sooners (3-2, 1-1 SEC) beat a No. 1 team for the first time since a 38-17 win over Missouri in 2007. They had been 0-4-1 when facing a top-ranked Texas team.

Dakoda Fields recovered a blocked punt in the end zone and Peyton Bowen returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown for Oklahoma, a playoff team last season that in its previous game two weeks ago lost, 41-13, at No. 2 Georgia.

"People questioning the commitment and the coaches can't coach and the players stink, it comes with the arena," Venables said. "But at the same time, sometimes that fuels you."

John Mateer, who threw three interceptions against the Long-horns last year and has struggled this season, had two big throws

SPOTLIGHT: MLS

A pair of braces sends United to a shutout loss

---

INTER MIAMI 4, D.C. UNITED

---

REUTERS

Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi each recorded a brace to help host Inter Miami emphatically snap a five-match winless streak with a 4-0 shutout of D.C. United on Saturday night in Miami.

Suarez also had an assist on one of Messi's goals as Inter Miami (13-5-10, 49 points) moved up to second place in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference and one point ahead of the Chicago Fire.

German Berterame also recorded two assists, while Sergio Reguilón and Rodrigo De Paul each had one.

D.C. (6-9-12, 30 points) fell further out of the playoff picture and is now six points behind FC Cincinnati for the conference's final postseason play-in berth.

Suarez scored his 14th and 15th goals before he was substituted off in the 61st minute. Inter Miami brought its MLS-leading goals total to 68 and recorded its fifth clean sheet overall and first in 10 matches.

Former Maryland star Dayne St. Clair picked up his third shut-out of the season.

D.C. mustered 14 shots overall, but only two were on target, including a close shot by Matti Peltola that sailed just high and over the crossbar in the second half.

Suarez found the mark in the third minute when he left-footed a long cross from Berterame past United goalkeeper Sean Johnson. Reguilón recorded the second assist as he fired the ball ahead to Berterame, allowing him to send a high-arching ball that appeared to be redirected right to Suarez.

Suarez scored his second in the 39th minute after Berterame controlled a rebound and headed it to him right in front of the goal. The goal followed a great chance by Messi, who fired a close-range shot that Johnson blocked high into the air, allowing Berterame to track it down.

Messi found his way onto the scoresheet in the 47th minute for his MLS-leading 22nd goal to give Inter Miami a 3-0 edge.

The Argentine first fired a shot at the top of the box that was deflected. Suarez controlled the deflection and lobbed a cross to Messi, who tapped it past Johnson.

Messi recorded his second in the 60th minute when he controlled a back heel from Rodrigo De Paul, juked past United's Lucas Bartlett, and fired the ball just inside the far post.

Johnson made five saves for D.C.

NICK WASS/AP

Lionel Messi, right, scored his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season for Inter Miami, which improved to second in the Eastern Conference.

---

TELEVISION AND RADIO | NFL | 9:30 a.m. | Philadelphia vs. Jacksonville » NFL Network | 1 p.m. | New York Giants at Washington » WTTG (Ch. 5), WBFF (Ch. 45), WBIG (100.3 FM) | 1 p.m. | Indianapolis at Pittsburgh » WJZ (Ch. 13) | 4:05 p.m. | Denver at Los Angeles Chargers » WUSA (Ch. 9) | 4:25 p.m. | San Francisco at Seattle » WTTG (Ch. 5), WBFF (Ch. 45) | 8:20 p.m. | Baltimore at Atlanta » WRC (Ch. 4), WBAL (Ch. 11), WIYY (97.9 FM), WSBN (630 AM) | MLB PLAYOFFS — CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES | 8 p.m. | National League, Game 1: Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee » WTTG (Ch. 5), WBFF (Ch. 45) | NHL | 5 p.m. | Seattle at Washington » Monumental Sports Network, WJFK (106.7 FM) | 7 p.m. | Carolina at Philadelphia » NHL Network | NBA PRESEASON | 6 a.m. | NBA China Game: Dallas vs. Houston » NBA TV | 6:30 p.m. | Orlando at Cleveland » ESPN | 9 p.m. | Chicago at Denver » ESPN | MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL | 4:30 p.m. | Exhibition: Georgia Tech vs. Maryland » Big Ten+ | AUTO RACING | 8 a.m. | Formula One: Singapore Grand Prix » Apple TV | 3 p.m. | NASCAR Cup Series: Bank of America 400 » USA Network | 8 p.m. | NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series: Blue Cross NC 300 » WDCW (Ch. 50), WNUV (Ch. 54) | GOLF | 7 a.m. | DP World Tour: Open de España, final round » Golf Channel | 1 p.m. | Korn Ferry Tour: Tour Championship, final round » Golf Channel | 4 p.m. | PGA Tour Champions: Furyk and Friends, final round » Golf Channel | SOCCER | 6:30 a.m. | Italian Serie A: Roma at Como » CBS Sports Network | 9 a.m. | English Premier League: Nottingham Forest at Crystal Palace » USA Network | 9 a.m. | Italian Serie A: Bologna at Lecce » CBS Sports Network | 9 a.m. | French Ligue 1: Strasbourg at Nice » BeIN Sports | 11:15 a.m. | French Ligue 1: Auxerre at Rennes » BeIN Sports | 11:30 a.m. | English Premier League: Manchester City at Liverpool » WRC (Ch. 4), WBAL (Ch. 11) | 2:45 p.m. | French Ligue 1: Marseille at Troyes » BeIN Sports | 7 p.m. | Canadian Premier League: Ottawa at Pacific FC » Fox Sports 2 | TENNIS | 11 p.m. | ATP: Shanghai Masters, early rounds; WTA: Wuhan Open, early rounds » Tennis Channel | WOMEN'S COLLEGE SOCCER | 2 p.m. | Texas Tech at TCU » ESPN2 | WOMEN'S COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL | Noon | Washington at Penn State » Big Ten Network | 1 p.m. | North Carolina at Virginia » ACC Network | 1 p.m. | Stanford at Louisville » ESPN | 1 p.m. | Texas A&M at Arkansas » SEC Network | 2 p.m. | USC at Indiana » Big Ten Network | 3 p.m. | Pittsburgh at SMU » WJLA (Ch. 7), WMAR (Ch. 2) | 3 p.m. | South Carolina at Mississippi State » SEC Network | 4 p.m. | Minnesota at Ohio State » Big Ten Network | 5 p.m. | TCU at Arizona State » ESPN2 | 6 p.m. | Illinois at Purdue » Big Ten Network | Shesterkin did not put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice by teammates after an awkward fall into his own net. ...

THE DAY IN SPORTS

Twenty and up

Decathlon CMA CGM cyclist Paul Seixas, 20, won the Tour of Lombardy in Italy on Saturday, the youngest champion in race history.

MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

HOCKEY

---

Gould, Caps forward in 1980s, dies at 69

Bobby Gould, who played most of his 11-year NHL career with the Washington Capitals, died at 69, the team said Saturday.

"The Washington Capitals organization is deeply saddened by the passing of alumnus Bobby Gould," the team posted. "Gould spent eight seasons with the Capitals from 1981 to 1989, appearing in 600 games. A consistent scoring threat, he reached the 20-goal mark four times and recorded a career-high 50 points during the 1986-87 season."

Gould started his career with the Atlanta/Calgary Flames and played his last season with the Boston Bruins. The Petrolia, Ontario, native scored 145 goals and had 159 assists in his career.

Gould twice finished third in voting for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for top defensive forward. ...

New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin is out for the season after injuring his right knee Friday night against Washington, the team said.

Fraser Minten had a goal and two assists, Pavel Zacha scored his first goal of the season, and the host Bruins beat the struggling Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1.

Dan Vladar made 27 saves for Philadelphia, the Eastern Conference's only winless team. ...

Nico Hischier scored twice on the power play, including his 200th career goal, and the New Jersey Devils rallied to beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1, in Newark. ...

Kirill Kaprizov had three goals and an assist, Matt Boldy scored his first goal of the season in the game's first minute, and the Minnesota Wild spoiled the Florida Panthers' home opener with a 4-1 win in Sunrise.

SOCCER

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Portugal bans Ronaldo following his walkout

The Portuguese soccer federation suspended Cristiano Ronaldo and initiated disciplinary proceedings against the player for walking out on the team.

The federation said in a statement that the case was referred to its disciplinary investigation committee and that its findings will remain confidential until its findings are determined.

The 41-year-old Ronaldo left the Portugal team camp during the international window in a dispute with new coach Jorge Jesus over a lack of playing time. ...

Cole Palmer signed a contract extension at Chelsea, tying him to the English Premier League club until 2034. ...

Bruno Guimarães came off the bench to score in his home debut as defending champion Arsenal recovered to beat Leeds, 2-1, in the Premier League.

Elsewhere in England, Tottenham snatched a 1-1 draw at

Manchester United despite playing with 10 men, although it is still without a win in six matches.

Jordan Henderson became Chelsea's oldest English goal scorer as the 36-year-old netted a brace in a 5-1 win over Bournemouth in London. ...

In Spain, Rayo Vallecano fans forced a suspension of their team's home match against Athletic Bilbao by repeatedly throwing paper airplanes and other objects onto the field in protest of owner Raúl Martín Presa.

Also, it was business as usual for Barcelona even without injured top scorer Raphinha. The club equaled its best La Liga start with an eighth win in as many rounds, a 3-0 home triumph over Getafe.

Atlético Madrid snatched a 2-1 win at Alavés in Vitoria-Gasteiz, while Real Madrid's 1-0 home win over Villarreal was marred by forward Vinícius Júnior's direct red card. ...

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer gave away the German league's fastest ever goal, with host Augsburg's Robin Fellhauer scoring eight seconds in after a botched clearance en route to a 2-2 draw. ...

Marcus Thuram was one of three Inter Milan players to score in the first half as the Italian league leader rolled to a 3-0 win over visiting Parma. ...

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia came off the bench to lead host Paris Saint-Germain's 3-1 win over promoted Le Mans, while Ousmane Dembélé and Nuno Mendes rested for Tuesday's Champions League game.

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AUTO RACING Metrics have Larson on pole in Charlotte

Rain washed out practice and qualifying for the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which means defending Cup champion Kyle Larson will start on the pole based on the metrics used by racing's governing body.

Chase Briscoe will start alongside Larson, followed by Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney on the second row in Concord, North Carolina. The metrics were not kind to Christopher Bell, who will start 17th despite being third in the playoff hunt.

Bell was outspoken about the situation, saying that while he doesn't have any issues with the metrics, he does feel NASCAR should do everything it can to have qualifying — even it if means doing so Sunday morning before the race. ...

Max Verstappen is the driver to beat in Formula One once again, but Kimi Antonelli continues to march toward the title.

Verstappen won the sprint race and followed up with his 50th career pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix — all at a circuit where he had never won or been on pole in the past.

Besides Verstappen, the day's other big winner was Antonelli, who widened his lead over George Russell when his Mercedes teammate crashed out from the lead in the sprint. The Italian qualified fourth, setting him up for another solid score tomorrow, when Russell must serve a grid penalty.

---

TENNIS

---

Home favorite Zheng reaches Beijing final

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva will face home favorite Zheng Qinwen in the final of the China Open after both players won their respective semifinal matches.

Zheng defeated Elise Mertens, 7-5, 6-2, and delighted the Beijing crowd by becoming the first Chinese finalist in the tournament, which dates to 2004.

The 24-year-old Zheng won eight of the last 10 games against Mertens to reach her second career WTA 1000 final.

Earlier, Andreeva, the French Open champion, earned her 50th match win of the season by beating Nikola Bartunkova, 6-2, 6-2. ...

Daniil Medvedev won his first match since being disqualified at the China Open for hitting a spectator in the eye with a ball he hit into the stands.

Medvedev beat Jan-Lennard Struff, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a second-round match at the Shanghai Masters, an ATP 1000 tennis event.

Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, who won last week's Japan Open, recorded an opening 6-3, 6-3 win over Juan Manuel Cerundolo in a night match in Shanghai. It extended his winning streak to seven matches.

In other second-round matches, fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5. ...

The United Nations' human rights office condemned the racist abuse of American star Coco Gauff and called for solidarity to help push back against racism and sexism.

The office, led by High Commissioner Volker Türk, issued a social media post saying the racist messages sent online targeting Gauff were “appalling and illustrate that Black female athletes are specifically targeted for vitriol and racial abuse.”

---

COLLEGES Ex-Cav Burge Horton dies of brain cancer

Former Virginia women's basketball standout Heidi Burge Horton died Oct. 5 after battling brain cancer. She was 54.

The 6-foot-5 Burge Horton played alongside her identical twin sister, Heather Burge, for four seasons and helped to establish the Cavaliers as a national powerhouse along with all-America teammate Dawn Staley.

Burge Horton averaged 8.9 points and 6.4 rebounds in 134 games with the Cavaliers from 1989-93 before playing overseas in France, Hungary, Italy and Greece.

The California native later played two seasons in the WNBA with the Los Angeles Sparks in the league's inaugural season in 1997 and with the expansion Washington Mystics in 1998, averaging 5.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 52 games. ...

The College Football Playoff said discussions will continue with broadcast partner ESPN after the end of an exclusive negotiating window over media rights for a potential doubling of the field from 12 to 24 teams.

GOLF

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In Madrid, Dean looks to earn PGA Tour card

Joe Dean made eight birdies in 15 holes, then recovered from a rough two-hole stretch by closing with a 30-foot birdie putt for a 6-under-par 65 and a share of the lead in the Open de España.

Scotland's Grant Forrest had a 67 to join Dean at 13-under 200, one shot ahead of Victor Perez, Joel Girrbach and Jacob Skov Olesen going into the final round.

Dean won his first DP World Tour title just six weeks ago in the British Masters. A victory in Madrid would move him well into the top 10 in the Race to Dubai and practically assure the 32-year-old Englishman a PGA Tour card for 2027. ...

Adam Scott and Justin Thomas moved into contention at the PGA Tour's Baycurrent Classic, one stroke off the lead after three rounds at the Yokohama (Japan) Country Club.

Scott, looking for his first PGA Tour win in six years, had two eagles en route to a 6-under 65, while Thomas fired a 67. They were tied for fourth.

First-round leader Jacob Bridgeman (69) was tied for the third-round lead with Michael Brennan (65) and PGA Tour rookie Zach Bauchou (67) at 13-under 200.

---

PRO BASKETBALL Warriors' Podziemski gets a five-year deal

The Golden State Warriors agreed to a five-year, \$110 million extension with guard Brandin Podziemski, with a mutual option for 2031-32, agent Bill Duffy confirmed to ESPN.

Podziemski, 23, averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists while playing all 82 games (43 starts) last season. He shot 37.1 percent from beyond the arc. ...

Memphis Grizzlies center Isaiah Stewart will miss the regular season opener with a moderate left ankle sprain and will be reevaluated in two weeks, the team said.

CYCLING

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After protests, Seixas takes Lombardy title

France's rising cycling talent Paul Seixas made history at the Tour de Lombardy when he became its youngest winner ever after riders protested safety concerns.

The 20-year-old Seixas broke away with around 20 kilometers left to win the one-day race in northern Italy that had been dominated by the currently injured Tadej Pogacar for the previous five years.

Spanish Vuelta winner Enric Mas was second at 48 seconds behind, followed by Italian Giulio Ciccone.

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Sellers deals as Gamecocks stun No. 16 Gators

LaNorris Sellers accounted for five touchdowns to lead South Carolina to a much-needed SEC victory.

NOAH LANTOR/AP

sigh of relief.

SOUTH CAROLINA 38,

FLORIDA 19

BY MARK LONG

Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, FLA. — This was the kind of performance South Carolina expected from quarterback LaNorris Sellers all season.

Seller accounted for five touchdowns, including four passing in his best performance in nearly two years, and the Gamecocks stunned No. 16 Florida, 38-19, on Saturday to end an eight-game skid in SEC play.

“He was a freaking dude today,” said South Carolina Coach Shane Beamer, who challenged Sellers to play better two weeks ago. “Some of the throws in tight windows, running the ball, just poised, confident.”

Sellers completed 23 of 35 passes for 279 yards, finding Nyck Harbor (Archbishop Carroll High), Mazeo Bennett Jr., Donovan Murph and Lex Cyrus for scores against the SEC's worst passing defense.

Sellers's most impressive play was a three-yard run in the third quarter in which he tossed aside a defender and nearly scored. He plunged in on the next play, essentially sealing a long-awaited victory for the Gamecocks (3-3, 1-3 SEC).

South Carolina's last win in league play came against Kentucky in September 2025. Beamer's team blew four significant leads in its last five SEC games, but the Gamecocks closed this one out without any issues and won in Gainesville for the first time since 2014.

It was Sellers's best outing since throwing five touchdowns against Missouri in November 2024.

"I knew when I signed up to play this position when I was a young kid. I knew you get all the hate and you get all the love when we're playing good," Sellers said. "It's just going to come with it."

The Gators (4-2, 2-2), who were double-digit favorites at home, lost a second consecutive game in lopsided fashion and surely will fall out of the top 25. They were looking to rebound from last week's 45-17 shocker at then-No. 25 Missouri. Instead, they got humiliated in the Swamp.

“We’ve lost two games, man,” Florida linebacker Aaron Chiles said. “I don’t believe it’s the end of the world.”

South Carolina took control with two touchdown drives in the third quarter — ending a string of third-quarter debacles — and did so by picking on Florida's beleaguered secondary following a 45-minute lightning delay that extended halftime.

When it was over, Beamer hugged both of his kids in a clear

"I get it; what comes with the jobs, and we haven't been good enough," he said. "I was a 2-3 football coach coming into this game that had blown leads and lost three SEC games in a row. I get the criticism. I do. But it's hard on your families because they don't sign up for it."

Florida struggled to run the ball again — Jadan Baugh carried 15 times for 59 yards and a garbage-time touchdown — quarterback Aaron Philo turned the ball, over twice and the Gators were gouged on defense while failing to generate enough pressure on Sellers.

More noticeable: Florida Coach Jon Sumrall got booed for the first time since taking over in Gainesville. Fans showed their displeasure with Sumrall's clock management at the end of the first half. The Gators ran out of time and then missed a long field goal.

“Disappointing football,” Sumrall said. “No excuse for it. Not many words that are going to make any of it right. ... I’m frustrated with every part of what we did today.”

Highly touted South Carolina defensive end Dylan Stewart returned from a one-game suspension and forced two fumbles. Stewart was suspended for throwing a punch at an Alabama player two weeks ago and missed last week's overtime loss to Kentucky.

No. 21 Bruins lose Iamaleava but earn rare win at No. 13 Ducks

UCLA running back Wayne Knight (3) ran for a touchdown and caught another in Saturday's victory.

TROY WAYRYNEN/IMAGN IMAGES

UCLA 17,

OREGON 15

BY ANNE M. PETERSON

Associated Press

EUGENE, ORE. — Wayne Knight rushed for a touchdown and caught another score, and No. 21 UCLA overcame an injury to starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava to remain undefeated with a 17-15 victory over No. 13 Oregon on Saturday.

Knight ran for 103 yards on 22 carries and caught three passes for 12 yards, including a fourth-quarter, nine-yard touchdown reception from backup Ty Dieffenbach for the Bruins (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten).

The sloppy game featured 10 turnovers, including seven for the Ducks (3-2, 1-1), who saw their chances for a spot in the College Football Playoff fade with a second loss.

“From the start, we came out, we punched them, and we just kept on going,” Knight said. “We had a couple of mishaps, but we bounced back every single time.”

Oregon came close with Evan Stewart's 44-yard scoring pass from Brock Thomas to make it 17-15 with 2:16 left. UCLA was flagged for a face mask penalty on Oregon's two-point conversion try, giving the Ducks another shot from a half yard away. UCLA's defense smothered rusher Jordon Davison to thwart the Ducks.

The Ducks had one final drive with less than a minute left, but a hook-and-ladder play came up short.

“You've got to protect the ball, right? You can coach it and you can say it, but if it shows up, you're not coaching it well enough. You're not doing a good enough job there,” Oregon Coach Dan Lanning said.

Iamaleava did not return in the second half because of a lower leg injury he sustained late in the opening half. He completed 10 of 17 passes for 162 yards and threw two interceptions. Dieffenbach took over for Iamaleava and threw for 43 yards and a touchdown.

"When someone goes down and someone's got to step up, I say it every single time, is that you're either exposed or you're revealed, right? One of the two is going to happen," UCLA Coach Bob Chesney said. "When your number gets called, for Ty to step up in that moment, when Nico couldn't go, and he put himself in a spot where he was revealed for knowing our run game, knowing what to get us into."

Dylan Raiola started for the Ducks at quarterback in place of Dante Moore, who remains in concussion protocol. Moore was hit in the first quarter of the Ducks' 41-27 victory at USC on Sept. 26 and left the game by ambulance.

Raiola threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns against the Trojans and made his first start for the Ducks against the Bruins. Raiola, the first backup quarterback to start for Oregon since Braxton Burmeister in 2017, transferred in from Nebraska in the offseason.

Raiola completed only 6 of 18 passes for 43 yards and two interceptions for the Ducks before he was replaced in the fourth quarter by Thomas. UCLA has

10 interceptions this season, most in the nation.

"The product we put out there, the product I put out there, I've got to live with that. So I've got to own everything, take it on the chin and move forward," Raiola said.

The Bruins got to the Oregon 2 on their first series of the game but settled for Mateen Bhaghani's 21-yard field goal.

After Iamaleava was sacked and fumbled on the UCLA 1, Oregon recovered and Davison scored with a one-yard run on the team's first play to put the Ducks up 7-3.

Raiola was sacked and fumbled the ball away in the third quarter, and UCLA capitalized with Knight's 35-yard touchdown run to put the Bruins up 10-6. It was Knight's 10th scoring run of the season.

UCLA had a chance to extend the lead but Matayo Uiagalelei blocked a 27-yard field goal attempt by Bhaghani.

Iamaleava was brought down by Bear Alexander and Jerry Mixon on a keeper late in the half, but he returned. However, he did not start the second half.

Raiola was intercepted late in the half, but then Iamaleava was picked off by the Ducks on the ensuing series.

Dieffenbach hit Knight with a nine-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter to make it 17-6 before Oregon's Gage Hurych made a 26-yard field goal to narrow it to 17-9 with 5:16 left in the game.

NATIONAL ROUNDUP

Late rally helps No. 7 Hoosiers survive Cornhuskers in Lincoln

INDIANA 20,

NEBRASKA 17

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Josh Hoover surprised a Nebraska defense stacked to stop the run on a fourth and one, flipping the ball to a wide-open Nick Marsh for a 44-yard touchdown to give No. 7 Indiana its first lead in a 20-17 victory Saturday in Lincoln.

The Hoosiers (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) were pushed to the limit by a Cornhuskers team looking for a program-turning victory under fourth-year coach Matt Rhule. Instead, the defending national champions won their 22nd straight game.

"I'm not sure it's completely sunk it — it's starting to — that we won because it took everything the players and coaches had in that one to find a way to overcome," Indiana Coach Curt Cignetti said moments after the game. "Give Nebraska a lot of credit. We did a nice job of regrouping at halftime. Great win on the road, hard fought. A win like that has a lot of value."

Nebraska (5-1, 2-1) lost its 31st consecutive game against a top-25 opponent, and Rhule lost his 21st in a row over a combined seven seasons at Baylor and Nebraska.

"I'm just disappointed we didn't win that game for everybody," he said. "I think it would have been pretty cool downtown tonight."

Nebraska looked to be on the verge of putting away the Hoo-siers when quarterback Anthony Colandrea broke a 39-yard touchdown run for a 17-6 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Indiana wouldn't quit.

•NOTRE DAME 58, STANFORD 7: Freshman Jonaz Walton scored on a 97-yard run — the third longest offensive play in Notre Dame Stadium history — and finished with 181 yards as the No. 3 Fighting Irish (6-0) routed the Cardinal (2-4) in South Bend, Indiana.

Walton's 181 yards are the most by a Notre Dame running back this season. Walton also scored on a 40-yard run against Stanford.

The only longer offensive plays at Notre Dame Stadium besides Walton's 97-yard run belong to Josh Adams (2015 vs. Wake Forest) and Jeremiyah

Love (2024 vs. Indiana). Each had 98-yard scoring runs.

• MISSISSIPPI 52, VANDERBILT 17: Trinidad Chambliss threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score as the ninth-ranked Rebels (4-1, 2-1 SEC) routed the Commodores (3-3, 0-3) in Nashville.

The Rebels notched their sixth straight win and 10th in 12 over Vanderbilt. Chambliss put them ahead to stay with a 10-yard touchdown run as Ole Miss scored on four straight drives in the first half for a 42-3 halftime lead.

The Rebels scored 24 points off four turnovers. Suntarine Perkins had one of three sacks for Mississippi, and he returned a fumble four yards for a touchdown.

•MISSOURI 27, TEXAS A&M 6: Jamal Roberts had 34 carries for a career-best 222 yards and two touchdowns, and Cayden Lee caught seven passes for 94 yards and a touchdown to help the No. 14 Tigers (5-1, 2-1 SEC) beat the visiting Aggies (3-3, 1-3) in Columbia.

The Tigers, who have won two straight, also got a pair of 50-plus yard field goals from

Blake Craig, while Austin Simmons completed 14 of 28 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown.

Marcel Reed led Texas A&M by completing 19 of 39 passes for 189 yards, but he was intercepted twice and lost 18 yards on seven carries.

Roberts sealed the game with a 54-yard touchdown run with 2:49 remaining after he extended Missouri's lead to 20-3 on a one-yard scoring run at the end of the third quarter that was awarded on video review after he was initially ruled down short of the end zone.

• TENNESSEE 24, AR-KANSAS 17: George MacIntyre threw for 247 yards and a touchdown in his first career start, DeSean Bishop ran for 138 yards, and the No. 15 Volunteers (5-1, 2-1 SEC) rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the host Razorbacks (2-4, 0-3) in Fayetteville.

With the game tied at 17 with 4:07 left and Tennessee pinned inside its own 10 after an Arkansas punt, Bishop ran for 59 yards to help set up the go-ahead score.

•OKLAHOMA STATE 42, CENTRAL FLORIDA 28: Drew Mestemaker threw for

304 yards and two touchdowns, Evan Jackson returned a fumble 28 yards for another score, and the No. 18 Cowboys (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) pulled away from the Knights (3-3, 1-2) in the second half for a home win in Stillwater.

Mestemaker added a rushing touchdown and two-point conversion for Oklahoma State.

•HOUSTON 35, KANSAS STATE 16: Conner Weigman and tight end Patrick Overmyer connected for four touchdowns, and the No. 22 Cougars (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) beat the host Wildcats (3-2, 0-2) in Manhattan.

Weigman was 19 for 30 for 242 yards for Houston.

•NORTH CAROLINA 21, PITTSBURGH 17: Billy Edwards Jr. threw a 75-yard touchdown pass in the second half, and the visiting Tar Heels (3-2, 1-1) knocked off the No. 25 Panthers (5-1, 2-1).

Pitt had just taken a 17-14 lead when North Carolina immediately responded.

Edwards hit Shamar Easter for a 75-yard score down the seam for the go-ahead touchdown, giving Coach Bill Belichick his first win over a ranked team with the Tar Heels.

AREA ROUNDUP Hokies fall just short in another brutal loss

CAL 25,

VIRGINIA TECH 20

FROM NEWS SERVICES AND STAFF REPORTS

Reserve Cal running back Ashten Emory ran for two touchdowns, and his two-yard plunge with 18 seconds left sent Virginia Tech to a 25-20 loss Saturday in Berkeley.

After trailing for nearly the entire game, the Golden Bears (3-3, 2-1 ACC) went on a six-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead.

Following pregame warmups, quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was ruled out with a concussion he sustained during Cal's loss to UNLV last week. Jackson Brousseau replaced him and threw for 321 yards and one touchdown in his first start as a Golden Bear.

For the second week in a row, the Hokies (4-2, 1-2) had a chance to win on the final play. Ethan Grunkemeyer got Virginia Tech to the Cal 7-yard line, but his pass into the end zone was incomplete with no time remaining.

\- OLD DOMINION 10, APPALACHIAN STATE 3: Devin Roche rushed for 101 yards, and Maurki James scored the game's only touchdown as the Monarchs (2-4, 1-2 Sun Belt) upset the Mountaineers (3-2, 0-1) in Boone, North Carolina.

Old Dominion held App State to 158 total yards and forced three turnovers in a game that was scoreless at halftime.

•FORDHAM 20, RICHMOND 14: Gunnar Smith threw for a touchdown, and his late scoring run sent the Spiders (5-2, 3-1 Patriot League) to a surprise loss to the Rams (2-5, 2-2) in the Bronx.

Richmond's Ashten Snelsire threw a six-yard scoring pass to Bryce Allen early in the second quarter to tie it at 7. Then, early in the third, Camden Byrd sacked Smith to force a fumble, which was recovered in the end zone by Jordan Allen for a 14-7 Spiders lead.

On Richmond's last drive, Boogie Owens intercepted Snelsire with 1:11 left. The Rams killed the clock to seal the upset of the Spiders, who came in ranked 19th in the Stats Perform Football Championship Subdivision poll.

•WILLIAM & MARY 17, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 14: The Eagles (2-5) had a 439-223 advantage in yards, but special teams blunders helped the Tribe (3-4) steal a road win in Durham to snap a four-game skid.

After William & Mary forced a three-and-out to start the game, Ryan Vail blocked N.C. Central's punt, and Jack Reuter returned it 10 yards for his second career touchdown. And after Max Lipinski hit a 41-yard field goal to put the Tribe ahead in the fourth quarter, the Eagles' Riley Daniels missed from 32 yards.

•BOWIE STATE 21, WINSTON-SALEM STATE 0: Five players combined for 219 yards and two touchdowns on the ground as the Bulldogs (3-3, 3-1 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) surged late to secure a shutout at the Rams (0-6, 0-4) in North Carolina.

•GEORGETOWN 21,

BUCKNELL 14: Clay Ash ran for 135 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which put the Hoyas (1-4, 1-2 Patriot) ahead to stay in a breakthrough against the Bison (1-5, 0-3) at Cooper Field.

•PENN 24, HOWARD 20: The Bison (2-4) forced two turnovers and took a 10-point lead in the second half, but the Quakers (2-2) scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to send the visitors to a loss in Philadelphia.

•SUSQUEHANNA 45, CATHOLIC 21: Charles Gulbin threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns but also had a pair of interceptions, and the Cardinals (0-6, 0-2 Landmark Conference) gave up 35 first-half points in a loss to the River Hawks (4-1, 1-0) at Cardinal Stadium.

\- DEAN 45, GALLAUDET

21: Marcus Brown-Gabriel ran for 155 yards and three touchdowns, both season highs, but the Bison (0-5) couldn't keep up with the Bulldogs (1-4) in Franklin, Massachusetts, and suffered their 12th straight loss.

No drama, just a road rout for Terps

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OHIO STATE 45, MARYLAND 16

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BY MICHAEL HOWES Baltimore Sun

Well, it ended as many thought it would.

Maryland football walked into Columbus to face No. 5 Ohio State on the Buckeyes' homecoming weekend and lost, 45-16.

The game lacked much of the theatrics of the previous three weeks. No amped-up home crowd for a renewed rivalry with an old coaching foe, no 51-point blowout, and no blown first-half lead that snowballed into another defeat.

Ohio State (5-1, 3-0 Big Ten) simply beat Maryland (2-4, 0-3) for 60 minutes, handing the Terps their fourth straight loss since opening Power Four play against Virginia Tech on Sept. 19 and their 11th straight loss against Big Ten competition.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

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Uninspiring coaching

Where to start with this one?

Where to start with this one? Begin with one of Maryland's first penalties of the game. After Julian Sayin connected with Jeremiah Smith in the first quarter for the wide receiver's first of two touchdowns, Maryland was flagged for one of the rarest infractions: an equipment violation. Two players wore No. 8 on the ensuing kickoff, though the Buckeyes declined the penalty to let the touchback stand.

A year ago, Locksley defended his program's discipline, pointing to his players' knowledge of how to wear their uniforms correctly as an example. At the time, he argued that Maryland's issues were more about focus than dis-

cipline.

Whether it's discipline or focus, the responsibility ultimately falls on him.

Among the other penalties, freshman edge rusher Zion Elee picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a third-quarter tackle for loss — a week after receiving a personal foul and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Nebraska. An immature freshman? Possibly. A coaching staff struggling to rein him in? Perhaps.

Locksley was clearly pulling out all the stops for this game. In the second quarter, a fake punt on fourth and nine from Maryland's own territory. A two-point conversion attempt after cutting the deficit to two touchdowns in the third. An onside kick immediately afterward.

The issue? None of it worked. And it wasn't particularly close.

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Smith scorches Terps

Maryland's defense had plenty of individual highlights.

Linebacker Daniel Wingate returned a 52-yard interception for a touchdown in the third quarter. Elee recorded a strip-sack in the first quarter and finished with two tackles for loss.

Yet plenty of the same ugliness remained.

Three of Ohio State's touch-downs came on 30-plus-yard plays, and another came on a 25-yard carry in the third quarter.

Smith opened the scoring with a 33-yard touchdown reception, breaking a tackle from linebacker Trey Reddick before getting past Wingate and defensive lineman Sidney Stewart near the goal line. He later scored again from 40 yards out after a short pass, with no Terp touching him.

Smith finished with four receptions for 93 yards. Between his two scores, tight end Nate Roberts caught a 68-yard touchdown reception. Bo Jackson's 25-yard touchdown run in the third quarter essentially put the game out of reach for Maryland's anemic offense.

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Offense stuck in neutral

The Terps didn't have to wait until the second half to record their first third-down conversion this week. But the offense still put together another ugly showing.

Maryland finished 3 for 12 on third down, moving to 5 for 41 over the past three weeks. A big part of that has been the offense's inability to move the ball on the first two downs, leaving an average distance of 7.6 yards on third down compared with Ohio State's 4:7.

Then there's quarterback Malik Washington's performance. It hasn't been good.

The sophomore finished 12 for 25 for just 64 yards against the Buckeyes. He avoided turnovers this week and scored on a five-yard touchdown run off a well-designed play call from offensive coordinator Clint Trickett in the second quarter. But there were also plenty of misplaced throws that stalled drives and kept the offense from finding any rhythm.

Washington opened the season strong, completing 71.6 percent of his passes with six passing touchdowns. Over the past three games, however, he has connected on just 49.5 percent of his passes, throwing one touchdown against six interceptions in that span.

Rutgers at Maryland

Saturday, 12:30 p.m., BTN

Gutierrez helps Mids snap their skid

NAVY 34,

TULSA 26

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANNAPOLIS, MD. — Quarterback Jackson Gutierrez ran for a career-high 232 yards and three touchdowns and threw for another score to lead Navy to a 34-26 victory over Tulsa on Saturday.

The Midshipmen trailed 20-7 late in the second quarter, and the deficit was 26-14 early in the third when the Golden Hurricane's Baylor Hayes tossed a three-yard touchdown pass to Oran Singleton Jr.

Navy (2-3, 1-2 American) answered on the next series when Charles Robinson's seven-yard touchdown run ended a 10-play, 75-yard drive with 5:13 remaining in the third quarter. Gutierrez's four-yard touchdown run gave Navy a 27-26 lead with 8:30 to play in the fourth.

Tulsa went three-and-out on the ensuing series. Gutierrez then led the Midshipmen on a 13-play, 82-yard drive capped by his three-yard touchdown run with 1:10 left.

Quarterback Jackson Gutierrez (8) capped a 13-play drive in the fourth quarter with his third touchdown run of the day for Navy.

Gutierrez carried the ball 41 times, including a 56-yard run, and completed 5 of 7 passes for 95 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Michael Barrow added 107 yards rushing on 14 caries, and Truman Brasfield had a 58-yard touchdown catch

TOMMY GILLIGAN/IMAGN IMAGES

for the Midshipmen.

Navy had 386 yards on the ground and finished with 481 yards of offense. Coach Brian Newberry's team also finished 8 for 11 on third-down conversions.

Hayes completed 21 of 38 passes for 268 yards with a touchdown pass for Tulsa (3-3, 0-2 American). Singleton also threw a 10-yard touchdown pass and finished with five receptions for 81 yards.

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SOUTH

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EAST

Alabama A&M 55, Bethune-Cookman 17

Alcorn State 63, Arkansas Baptist 7

Charleston Southern 49, S.C. State 39

Chattanooga 19, Samford 3

Eastern Illinois 21, Gardner-Webb 7

ETSU 34, Citadel 16

East Carolina 28, Rice 12

Georgia Tech 28, Duke 25

Grambling State 45, Jackson State 38

Mercer 17, Western Carolina 14

Mississippi 52, Vanderbilt 17

N.C. A&T 30, New Hampshire 27, (OT)

Norfolk State 62, Lynchburg 0

Old Dominion 10, Appalachian State 3

Presbyterian 34, Davidson 21

South Carolina 38, Florida 19

Tennessee Tech 20, Furman 15

Texas-Martin 42, Tennessee State 28

Wake Forest 38, N.C. State 14

William & Mary 17, N.C. Central 14

Wofford 16, Elon 0

Arizona 52, West Virginia 31

Army 20, Tulane 17

Brown 28, Bryant 13

CCSU 51, American International 14

Delaware State 34, Franklin Pierce 0

Fordham 20, Richmond 14

Georgetown 21, Bucknell 14

Harvard 41, Cornell 29

LIU Brooklyn 17, Duquesne 14

Miami (Ohio) 20, Massachusetts 19

Morgan State 28, Robert Morris 27

Navy 34, Tulsa 26

North Carolina 21, Pittsburgh 17

Penn 24, Howard 20

Princeton 28, Wagner 13

Stonehill 28, Sacred Heart 7

Stony Brook 31, Towson 24

Connecticut 34, Temple 20

Yale 28, Dartmouth 7

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MIDWEST

Bowling Green 38, Sacramento State 10

Buffalo 23, Toledo 8

Butler 41, San Diego 10

Dayton 56, Morehead State 28

Eastern Michigan 25, Akron 23

Houston 35, Kansas City 16

Illinois 38, Michigan State 37

Indiana 20, Nebraska 17

Missouri 27, Texas A&M 6

Northern Iowa 24, North Dakota 17

Northwestern 45, Ball State 14

Notre Dame 58, Stanford 7

Ohio 31, Central Michigan 14

Ohio State 45, Maryland 16

South Dakota 31, Southern Illinois 10

Southeast Mississippine State 38, Lindenwood (Mo.) 27

St. Thomas (Minn.) 64, Stetson 21

Valparaiso 21, Drake 13

Western Michigan 38, Kent State 7

Youngstown State 57, Indiana State 24

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SOUTHWEST

Lamar 38, Incarnate Word 35

MVSU 38, Texas Southern 34

North Texas 50, Charlotte 10

Oklahoma 27, Texas 24

Oklahoma State 42, UCF 28

Southern 28, Prairie View 14

Tennessee 24, Arkansas 17

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WEST

California 25, Virginia Tech 20

Cal Poly 25, Idaho State 24

Northern Arizona 49, Montana 44

Oregon State 66, San Diego State 14

Portland State 30, Utah Tech 14

UCLA 17, Oregon 15

Weber State 38, Idaho 27

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No. 5 Ohio State 45,

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Maryland 16 | MARYLAND | 3 | 7 | 6 | 0 – 16 | OHIO STATE | 14 | 17 | 7 | 7 – 45 | ---

FIRST QUARTER

OSU: Je.Smith 33 pass from Sayin (Hawkins kick), 8:40.

MD: FG O'Haire 39, 3:55.

OSU: Roberts 68 pass from Sayin (Hawkins kick), 3:03.

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SECOND QUARTER

MD: M.Washington 5 run (O'Haire kick), 11:23.

OSU: Je.Smith 40 pass from Sayin (Hawkins kick), 8:32.

OSU: FG Hawkins 40, 5:55.

OSU: M.Williams 1 pass from Sayin (Hawkins kick), :24.

OSU: M.Williams 1 pass from Sayin (Hawkins kick), :24. THIRD QUARTER

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THIRD QUARTER

MD: Wingate 52 interception return (pass failed), 5:12.

OSU: B.Jackson 25 run (Hawkins kick), 2:38.

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FOURTH QUARTER

OSU: B.Jackson 2 run (Hawkins kick), 4:52. | MD | OSU | First downs....10 | 24 | Total Net Yards....146 | 449 | Rushes-yards....28-82 | 48-207 | Passing....64 | 242 | Punt Returns....1-5 | 4-41 | Kickoff Returns....0-0 | 4-62 | Interceptions Ret....1-52 | 0-0 | Comp-Att-Int....12-25-0 | 13-21-1 | Sacked-Yards Lost....0-0 | 2-7 | Punts....7-40.571 | 3-52.0 | Fumbles-Lost....0-0 | 2-1 | Penalties-Yards....7-60 | 8-65 | Time of Possession....25:09 | 34:39 | ---

RUSHING

Maryland: D.Williams 16-48, M.Washington 5-19, Abdul-Rahim Gladding 1-6, I.Howard 4-6, P.Howard 1-2, Willson 1-1. Ohio State: B.Jackson 23-107, J.Jackson 14-76, Bey 4-13, Sayin 7-11.

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PASSING

Maryland: M.Washington 12-25-0-64. Ohio State: Sayin 13-21-1-242.

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RECEIVING

Maryland: Durr 4-15, Webb 2-14, Abdul-Rahim Gladding 2-3, Hall 1-11, D.Williams 1-11, Manning 1-6, Fleming 1-4. Ohio State: Je.Smith 4-93, J.Jackson 2-8, Williams 2-2, Roberts 1-68, Henry 1-46, Parker 1-16, Bell 1-6, B. Jackson 1-3.

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California 25.

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Virginia Tech 20 | VIRGINIA TECH.... | 0 | 14 | 0 | 6 — 20 | CALIFORNIA.... | 0 | 10 | 3 | 12 — 25 | ---

SECOND QUARTER

VT: Greene 30 pass from Grunkemeyer (J.Love kick), 12:26

CAL: Emory 5 run (McGough kick), 5:54.

VT: Hawkins 3 run (J.Love kick), 2:21.

CAL: FG McGough 35, :00.

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THIRD QUARTER

CAL: FG McGough 22, :28.

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FOURTH QUARTER

CAL: Perry-Smith 3 pass from Brousseau (pass failed), 4:06.

Sooners pull off the Red River shocker

Texas had two late chances, but Gianni Spetic was wide right on a 53-yard field goal attempt with 1:55 left. After the Sooners went three and out for the seventh time in the game, Manning's last pass was intercepted by Courtland Guillory with 19 seconds left.

VT: Grunkemeyer 1 run (pass failed), 1:15.

CAL: Emory 2 run (run failed), :18.

Their only offensive touchdown Saturday was Lloyd Avant's two-yard run that tied the score at 17 only 12 seconds into the fourth quarter, after a pass interference penalty.

“I thought about this game for 365 days,” Mateer said. “I think that was the longest fourth quarter I’ve ever been a part of. It was awesome and I’ll never forget it. But I knew 19 seconds left that this was the time.” | VT | CAL | First downs....25 | 24 | Total Net Yards....401 | 403 | Rushes-yards....32-113 | 26-82 | Passing....288 | 321 | Punt Returns....1-6 | 2-24 | Kickoff Returns....2-42 | 1-14 | Interceptions Ret....0-0 | 0-0 | Comp-Att-Int....21-31-0 | 29-43-0 | Sacked-Yards Lost....3-17 | 1-9 | Punts....5-39.4 | 6-40.167 | Fumbles-Lost....0-0 | 1-0 | Penalties-Yards....7-88 | 10-99 | Time of Possession....29:43 | 30:17 | That was the Sooners' first touchdown against Texas since Dillon Gabriel's three-yard pass to Nic Anderson with 15 seconds left in the 2023 game for a 34-30 victory.

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SCOREBOARD

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RUSHING | TULSA | 14 | 6 | 6 | 0 - 26 | NAVY | 7 | 7 | 6 | 14 - 34 | ---

Navy 34, Tulsa 26

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FIRST QUARTER

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SECOND QUARTER

NAVY: Gutierrez 56 run (Bartley kick), 12:42.

TLSA: Morrison 1 run (Carey kick), 7:26.

TLSA: Wells 10 pass from Singleton (Carey kick), 1:39.

TLSA: FG Carey 30, 14:19.

TLSA: FG Carey 24, 1:17.

NAVY: Brasfield 58 pass from Gutierrez (Bartley kick), :17.

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MISSED FIELD GOALS

OKLAHOMA FROM B1 passes for 155 yards. The Soon-ers had only 238 total yards, well below their average of 321 coming into the game, which was last in the SEC.

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THIRD QUARTER

TLSA: Singleton 3 pass from Hayes (pass failed), 10:23.

NAVY: Ch.Robinson 7 run (kick failed), 5:07.

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FOURTH QUARTER

NAVY: Gutierrez 4 run (Bartley kick), 8:30.

NAVY: Gutierrez 3 run (Bartley kick), 1:10.

Danny Okoye had the blocked punt for the Sooners at the start of the second quarter, appearing to get his hands on the ball even before it got to the punter's foot. Fields fell on the ball in the back of the end zone. | TLSA | NAVY | First downs.... | 16 | 24 | Total Net Yards.... | 377 | 486 | Rushes-yards.... | 28-98 | 67-391 | Passing.... | 279 | 95 | Punt Returns.... | 0-0 | 1-0 | Kickoff Returns.... | 1-17 | 2-47 | Interceptions Ret.... | 1-0 | 0-0 | Comp-Att-Int.... | 22-36-0 | 5-7-1 | Sacked-Yards Lost.... | 1-1 | 0-0 | Punts.... | 3-39.667 | 0-0.0 | Fumbles-Lost.... | 0-0 | 3-3 | Penalties-Yards.... | 2-20 | 2-19 | Time of Possession.... | 25:29 | 34:31 | ---

RUSHING

Tulsa: Ross 2-36, Jones 8-24, Alston 11-22, Hayes 4-14, McKinney 1-2, Morrison 1-1, Singleton 1-(minus 1). Navy: Gutierrez 41-232, Mi.Barrow 14-107, Listorti 7-38, Ch.Robinson 3-14, Blouir 1-2, (Team) 1-(minus 2).

Virginia Tech: J.Love 55, J.Love 39.

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PASSING

Tulsa: Hayes 21-35-0-269, Singleton 1-1-0-10. Navy: Gutierrez 5-7-1-95.

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RECEIVING

Texas didn't have a first down on its first four drives, and it wasn't until the first play after a short punt that Coleman made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone for a 41-yard score.

Tulsa: Ross 7-90, Singleton 6-82, Wells 5-74, Alston 2-5, Tevis 1-16, Gee 1-12. Navy: Mi.Barrow 2-16, Brasfield 1-58, Listorti 1-17, Collins 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS

Tulsa: Carey 47.

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No. 3 Notre Dame 58,

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Stanford 7 | STANFORD | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 — 7 | NOTRE DAME | 14 | 23 | 7 | 14 — 58 | ---

FIRST QUARTER

ND: James 2 run (Porath kick), 13:06.

ND: Greathouse 3 pass from Carr (Porath kick), 2:55.

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SECOND QUARTER

after Oklahoma picked off Arch Manning again with 19 seconds left and didn't settle for going to overtime.

ND: Walton 97 run (kick failed), 14:48.

ND: FG Porath 33, 12:27.

ND: James 31 run (Porath kick), 7:05.

ND: A.Williams 70 pass from Carr (Porath kick), 3:26.

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THIRD QUARTER

ND: Burress 30 pass from Carr (Drescher kick), 4:37.

STAN: Blackburn 3 pass from Warren (Kenney kick), 2:43.

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RUSHING

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FOURTH QUARTER

ND: Walton 40 run (Drescher kick), 13:47.

ND: Osborne 3 run (Drescher kick), 3:00.

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PASSING

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RECEIVING | STAN | ND | First downs....9 | 26 | Total Net Yards....202 | 597 | Rushes-yards....21-58 | 47-360 | Passing....144 | 237 | Punt Returns....0-0 | 2-47 | Kickoff Returns....4-81 | 0-0 | Interceptions Ret....0-0 | 2-18 | Comp-Att-Int....12-23-2 | 19-27-0 | Sacked-Yards Lost....1-2 | 0-0 | Punts....8-47.5 | 2-38.0 | Fumbles-Lost....2-1 | 0-0 | Penalties-Yards....6-55 | 4-28 | Time of Possession....22:44 | 36:44 | Stanford: Ford 13-48, Mirer 1-7, Ch.Davis 2-6, Irvin 1-2, Warren 2-2, Hampton 1-0, (Team) 1-(minus 7). Notre Dame: Walton 13-181, James 10-73, Carr 5-41, Osborne 6-31, A.Williams 7-28, K.Young 3-13, (Team) 3-(minus 7).

Stanford: Warren 12-22-1-144, Mirer 0-1-1-0. Notre Dame: Carr 14-20-0-181, Grubbs 5-7-0-56.

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RECEIVING

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Nebraska 17

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No. 7 Indiana 20,

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FIRST QUARTER

Stanford: High 3-64, Blackburn 3-27, N.Brown 2-16, Onovughe 2-15, Hall 1-21, Ford 1-1. Notre Dame: Greathouse 3-30, J.Faison 3-16, Walton 2-28, Larsen 2-21, Graham 2-5, A.Williams 1-70, Burress 1-30, Premer 1-14, Gilbert 1-10, Bettis 1-5, Fitzgerald 1-5, Flanigan 1-3.

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THIRD QUARTER | INDIANA | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 — 20 | NEBRASKA | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 — 17 | NEB: FG Cunanan 28, 8:57.

IND: FG Radicic 42, 6:21.

NEB: Hunter 10 run (Cunanan kick), 1:01.

IND: FG Radicic 35, 10:26.

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FOURTH QUARTER

NEB: Colandrea 39 run (Cunanan kick), 12:01.

IND: Marsh 75 pass from Hoover (Radicic kick), 11:51.

IND: Marsh 44 pass from Hoover (Radicic kick), 7:13. | IND | NEB | First downs.... | 13 | 25 | Total Net Yards.... | 328 | 391 | Rushes-yards.... | 22-65 | 39-128 | Passing.... | 263 | 263 | Punt Returns.... | 0-0 | 1-2 | Kickoff Returns.... | 0-0 | 0-0 | Interceptions Ret.... | 1-0 | 0-0 | Comp-Att-Int.... | 12-22-0 | 25-44-1 | Sacked-Yards Lost.... | 2-7 | 5-27 | Punts.... | 6-35.167 | 3-57.333 | Fumbles-Lost.... | 0-0 | 1-0 | Penalties-Yards.... | 3-35 | 7-59 | Time of Possession.... | 20:27 | 39:33 | ---

RUSHING

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PASSING

Indiana: Beebe 9-31, Hoover 5-24, Richard 8-10. Nebraska: Rule 15-53, Colandrea 17-47, M.Nelson 4-18, Hunter 2-10, Mozee 1-0.

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RECEIVING

Manning threw three touchdowns for the Longhorns (4-1, 1-1), but both of his interceptions were costly.

The pick-six by Bowen came after Manning was scrambling away from pressure and throwing toward Cam Coleman, who had an earlier touchdown. But the ball instead went to the Oklahoma safety, whose return with 10:07 left put the Sooners up 24-17.

Indiana: Hoover 12-22-0-263. Nebraska: Colandrea 25-43-1-263, (Team) 0-1-0-0.

Indiana: Marsh 6-187, Becker 3-52, Gibbs 2-21, Chandler 1-3. Nebraska: Barney 9-108, Lindenmeyer 7-45, Hunter 5-43, Gilmer 3-31, M.Nelson 1-36.

---

The Washington Post

---

MISSED FIELD GOALS

Manning, who finished 19-for-31 passing for 260 yards, then had a tying 15-yard touchdown to Jermaine Bishop Jr.

Nebraska: Cunanan 40.

"It's obviously a level of disappointment. There's a level of anger and frustration because we know we have issues that need to be fixed, and we're working on those issues and trying to get them fixed," Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian said.

Oklahoma then ran a play to set up the kick by Sandell, who earlier made a 53-yarder and missed another from the same distance.

After the late pick had the Sooners at their 39, Mateer completed passes of 13 and 20 yards to Isaiah Sategna on opposite sides of the field. Both were upheld on replay review.

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No. 9 Mississippi 52, Vanderbilt 10

MISSISSIPPI....14 28 0 10 - 52

VANDERBILT....3 0 7 0 - 10

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FIRST QUARTER

MISS: Chambliss 10 run (Carneiro kick), 10:37.

MISS: K.Lacy 2 run (Carneiro kick), 3:51.

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SECOND QUARTER

MISS: J.Brown 2 pass from Chambliss (Carneiro kick), 9:09.

MISS: D. Alexander 39 pass from Chambliss (Carneiro kick), 4:41.

MISS: Perkins 5 fumble return (Carneiro kick), :39.

MISS: Mic.Smith 4 pass from Chambliss (Carneiro kick), :23.

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THIRD QUARTER

VAN: J.Thomas 13 pass from Jar.Curtis (B.Taylor kick), 7:27.

Mateer completed 18 of 26

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PASSING

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FOURTH QUARTER

Virginia Tech: Overton 12-73, Hawkins 12-45, Grunkemeyer 8-(minus 5). California: Emory 19-46, Thomas 1-29, Perry-Smith 2-10, Sams 1-(minus 1), Brousseau 3-(minus 2).

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RUSHING

MISS: FG Carneiro 42, 11:46.

MISS: Mills-Knight 35 run (Carneiro kick), 8:20.

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PASSING | MISS | VAN | First downs.... | 21 | 19 | Total Net Yards.... | 409 | 342 | Rushes-yards.... | 35-196 | 37-102 | Passing.... | 213 | 240 | Punt Returns.... | 3-40 | 2-3 | Kickoff Returns.... | 0-0 | 3-36 | Interceptions Ret.... | 2-1 | 1-0 | Comp-Att-Int.... | 20-30-1 | 21-38-2 | Sacked-Yards Lost.... | 1-3 | 3-20 | Punts.... | 4-49,75 | 4-58.25 | Fumbles-Lost.... | 0-0 | 3-2 | Penalties-Yards.... | 11-81 | 11-92 | Time of Possession.... | 26:04 | 33:46 | Mississippi: Frazier 13-73, Mills-Knight 4-42, K.Lacy 7-39, Alexander 1-16, Knight 4-14, Lindsey 2-7, Chambliss 4-5. Vanderbilt: Young 9-37, Berlowitz 4-23, Lassiter 6-19, Hampton 4-16, Alexander 6-13, Jar.Curtis 6-(minus 2), (Team) 2-(minus 4).

Virginia Tech: Grunkemeyer 21-31-0-288. California: Brousseau 29-43-0-321.

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RECEIVING

Mississippi: Chambliss 20-30-1-213. Vanderbilt: Jar.Curtis 19-32-2-222, Berlowitz 2-6-0-18.

Mississippi: Alexander 5-74, Ray 4-43, Odom 4-29, Fields 2-19, Cunningham 1-22, Cook 1-13, Hasz 1-7, Smith 1-4, Brown 1-2. Vanderbilt: Sherrill 5-55, Thomas 3-60, T.Brown 3-15, W.Taylor 2-40, Spence 2-27, Conner 2-20, Barnett 2-(minus 6), Adams 1-22, Alexander 1-7.

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No. 21 UCLA 17,

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No. 13 Oregon 15

Virginia Tech: Q.Brown 7-63, Reynolds 4-58, Overton 4-40, Greene 2-62, Jackson 2-38, D.Brown 1-29, Hawkins 1-(minus 2). California: Hendricks 7-94, Strong 5-97, Emory 4-30, King 3-48, Mini 3-19, Purcell 3-19, Perry-Smith 2-12, Sams 1-4, Grayes 1-(minus 2). | UCLA | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 - 17 | OREGON | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 - 15 | ---

RECEIVING | UCLA | ORE | First downs.... | 16 | 12 | Total Net Yards.... | 345 | 265 | Rushes-yards.... | 47-140 | 27-73 | Passing.... | 205 | 192 | Punt Returns.... | 2-3 | 5-52 | Kickoff Returns.... | 1-15 | 0-0 | Interceptions Ret.... | 2-6 | 2-2 | Comp-Att-Int.... | 13-23-2 | 17-35-2 | Sacked-Yards Lost.... | 2-20 | 1-6 | Punts.... | 8-42.375 | 6-48.167 | Fumbles-Lost.... | 1-1 | 5-5 | Penalties-Yards.... | 9-78 | 5-45 | Time of Possession.... | 39:01 | 19:58 | ---

FIRST QUARTER

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No. 14 Missouri 27,

---

SECOND QUARTER

UCLA: Morgan 5-55, Knight 3-12, Mizell 1-62, Ellis 1-26, Rowe 1-22, L.Smith 1-20, Loftin 1-8. Oregon: Dak.Moore 5-82, Stewart 5-74, Hampton 2-9, Hill 1-15, J.Johnson 1-6, Lott 1-6, Harrison 1-2, Davison 1-(minus 2).

---

RUSHING

UCLA: N.Iamaleava 10-17-2-162, Dieffenbach 3-6-0-43.

Oregon: Broc.Thomas 11-15-0-149, Dy.Raiola 6-19-2-43, (Team) 0-1-0-0.

UCLA: Bhaghani 26.

UCLA: Knight 35 run (Bhaghani kick), 8:08.

UCLA: Knight 22-103, A.Woods 9-39, Thomas 4-8, Morgan 1-4, N.Iamaleava 7-1, Dieffenbach 4-(minus 15). Oregon: Hill 10-44, Davison 13-41, Broc. Thomas 2-(minus 5), Dy.Raiola 2-(minus 7).

---

PASSING

---

FOURTH QUARTER

UCLA: Knight 9 pass from Dieffenbach (Bhaghani kick), 13:31.

OPF: FC Hungary 26, 5:11.

---

Texas A&M 6

---

FIRST QUARTER

ORE: Stewart 44 pass from Broc.Thomas (run failed), 2:16 | TEXAS A&M | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 — 6 | MISSOURI | 0 | 10 | 10 | 7 — 27 | ---

MISSED FIELD GOALS

---

SECOND QUARTER

MIZZ: Lee 32 pass from Simmons (Craig kick), 12:58.

MIZZ: FG Craig 50, 8:40.

---

THIRD QUARTER

FOURTH QUARTER

MIZZ: FG Craig 51, 12:30.

MIZZ: Roberts 2 run (Craig kick), :01.

---

RUSHING

Texas A&M: Edwards 6-20, Morrow 6-14, Owens 4-13, Reed 7-(minus 18). Missouri: Roberts 34-222, Simmons 4-24, Edwards 3-5, Fowlkes 1-3, (Team) 2-(minus 2).

MIZZ: Roberts 54 run (Craig kick), 2:49. A:63,600

---

PASSING

Texas A&M: Reed 19-39-2-187. Missouri: Simmons 14-28-1-147.

---

RECEIVING

Texas A&M: H.Thomas 4-30, Norman 3-55, Bethel-Roman 2-24, Horton 2-22, Owens 2-5, Morrow 1-20, R.Anderson 1-9, Warren 1-7, Craver 1-6, Armstrong 1-5, Edwards 1-4. Missouri: Lee 7-94, Roberts 3-8, Lanier 1-16, Norfleet 1-14, Montgomery 1-9, Fowlkes 1-6.

What's for dinner?

The Washington Post

NFL NOTES

Cardinals' Harrison won't play ahead of potential trade

with a toe injury.

FROM NEWS SERVICES

Marvin Harrison Jr., the No. 4 pick in the draft two years ago, has fallen out of favor in the Cardinals' offense and could be on the move.

ADAM HUNGER/AP

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. will be inactive for Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions, a person with knowledge of the situation said Saturday, as trade rumors swirl around the former No. 4 pick.

The person spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the move hadn't been announced.

Harrison, 24, was widely considered a can't-miss prospect when the Cardinals drafted him in 2024 out of Ohio State, but the 6-foot-3, 220-pounder has mostly underwhelmed during his time in the desert.

His production plummeted through the first four games this season, with just five catches for 85 yards and a touchdown.

First-year Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur and quarterback Jacoby Brissett have been supportive of Harrison despite his sparse usage, saying he's doing everything he can to be productive. But the emergence of Michael Wilson — who had his first 1,000-yard receiving season last year — and the presence of all-pro tight end Trey McBride have made Harrison an afterthought in LaFleur's offense.

•JETS: New York activated wide receiver Tim Patrick from injured reserve ahead of its game against the Cleveland Browns, a person familiar with the move told the AP.

Patrick had been on IR since the start of the season with a groin injury. His 21-day practice window was opened Wednesday, and he was a full participant at practice this week. The Jets, looking to end a three-game skid, made the move to activate him in time to play against the Browns.

New York waived wide receiver Jamaal Pritchett to make room for Patrick on the active roster and elevated linebacker Jaden Keller from the practice squad, the person told the AP.

The 32-year-old Patrick is expected to help a banged-up wide receiver corps that is missing Adonai Mitchell, who was ruled out Friday for a third straight game with a finger injury, and rookie Omar Cooper Jr., who is on IR with an ankle injury.

Keller, an undrafted rookie out of Virginia Tech, was elevated from the practice squad last week and assisted on a special teams tackle in his NFL debut.

·BILLS: Coach Joe Brady ruled out starting defensive tackle Ed Oliver and wide receiver Joshua Palmer for Buffalo's game at the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night.

Brady revealed Palmer hurt his shoulder when getting “twisted up” in practice a day earlier. Oliver, meantime, did not practice this week because of a knee injury sustained in the 29-26 loss to New England last weekend.

Oliver will miss his second game of the season after sitting out Buffalo's 41-31 win over Detroit in Week 2 because of a hip injury. Palmer is listed as Buffalo's fourth wide receiver and has two touchdowns on three catches for 80 yards.

Brady listed starting wide receiver DJ Moore (shoulder), nickel cornerback Dee Alford (ankle) and defensive lineman Landon Jackson (knee) as questionable. He said starting cornerback Christian Benford is set to play after missing one game

•PATRIOTS: New England placed leading wide receiver Mack Hollins on IR with a calf injury.

The 33-year-old wide receiver, who has 15 catches for 209 yards this season, is required to miss at least four games. Hollins was injured during the third quarter of last week's victory over the Bills.

The injury to Hollins comes with A.J. Brown (ankle) already on IR. The Patriots' wide receivers group against the visiting Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday will consist of Romeo Doubs, DeMario Douglas, Efton Chism III and Kyle Williams.

\- COLTS: Indianapolis placed defensive end Arden Key on IR with a hamstring injury.

The 30-year-old Key sustained the injury during the Colts' 30-13 victory over the Washington Commanders last week in London.

Indianapolis also elevated wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine from the practice squad to the active roster. He has appeared in two other games this season.

PACKERS: Green Bay put running back Chris Brooks on IR because of an ankle issue.

Brooks started the Packers' 17-14 victory at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday and rushed for 30 yards on four carries before his injury knocked him out of the game in the second quarter.

Brooks has rushed for 70 yards on 15 attempts this season. Earlier in the week, the Packers signed running back Pierre Strong Jr. to their active roster from their practice squad.

TONY GUTIERREZ/AP

Commanders guard Sam Cosmi missed the past two games with a concussion but is set to play Sunday.

Commanders need more than Daniels

COMMANDERS FROM B1

naut division. The Giants are currently the top team, but there's plenty of reason to doubt their ability to sustain their level of play.

New York will be without quarterback Jaxson Dart and outside linebacker Brian Burns for the rest of the season. The last two teams they have beaten — the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals — are a combined 1-7.

The Philadelphia Eagles (2-2) have lost two in a row. Running back Saquon Barkley suffered a hamstring injury last week, and right tackle Lane Johnson suddenly retired Tuesday.

It's been an up-and-down ride for the Dallas Cowboys, who are 2-3 after Thursday night's loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Their offense is arguably the best in the NFL, but a struggling defense has held them back.

Without a clear division front-runner, there's a pathway for the Commanders to get back in the thick of things — if Daniels is Daniels. If he's able to stay upright. If the other injuries throughout the roster finally stop.

That's a lot of ifs, but that's Washington's reality after a rough start. Of course, any reclamation effort starts with upending the Giants this weekend.

A loss would drop the Commanders to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the NFC East. That could all but end their hopes of securing a playoff berth. It also would churn up discussion about the job security of Peters and Quinn, and whether it would be wise for whoever is making the decisions after this year to sign Daniels to an extension.

Naturally, Daniels can't resolve those concerns on his own. A turnaround will require Washington to do a much better job of supporting him.

It all starts with the offensive line. Of course, injuries can't be overlooked. The Commanders' best offensive lineman, left tackle Laremy Tunsil, has missed every game with a torn triceps. Their second-best lineman, right guard Sam Cosmi, has been out for the past two games with a concussion.

Nonetheless, Washington must get more out of the unit. The Commanders have allowed a sack rate of 3.5 percent (fourth in the NFL), according to the analytics platform TruMedia, but that statistic speaks more to quarterbacks' ability to avoid pressure. Washington has given up a pressure rate of 37.2 percent (20th), according to NFL Pro, which is more reflective of its pass-protection issues.

And while the Commanders are averaging a solid 4.2 yards per carry (14th), that's also skewed by the mobility of Daniels and backup quarterback Marcus Mariota. On carries by running backs, they're averaging just 3.4 yards per attempt (30th).

The struggles on the ground have come despite the fact that Washington has faced stacked boxes (eight or more defenders near the line of scrimmage) on just 5.9 percent of its rushing attempts (the lowest rate in the NFL). Teams have been able to bottle up the Commanders' ground game while keeping more defensive backs on the field, which makes it much more difficult for pass catchers to create separation downfield.

Cosmi (concussion) was a full practice participant Thursday, so he's in line to return Sunday. Offensive lineman Nick Allegretti (hip/Achilles) missed practice

Thursday, which signals Lucas Patrick will start his third game in a row at center. Perhaps that offensive line configuration will get the job done.

Washington's front office and coaching staff has to consider all options — lineup adjustments, schematic changes and roster additions — to get more out of the O-line. The way the unit is operating not only raises the likelihood that Daniels gets injured again but also holds back the offense, even with him on the field.

The next-biggest factor is the availability of Daniels's weapons. Running back Rachaaad White, who missed last Sunday's loss to the Indianapolis Colts in London with a shoulder injury, returned to practice Wednesday. He could give the middling ground game some juice.

Wide receiver Terry McLaurin suffered a hamstring injury in practice Oct. 2 and was held out against the Colts. He also missed practice Wednesday and Thursday and is questionable to face the Giants.

Fellow wide receiver Stefon Diggs was ruled out for Sunday after he sat out Wednesday and Thursday with a hamstring injury. He participated in warm-ups while in full uniform Thursday but spent the rest of practice working on the side with players rehabbing injuries.

Daniels and McLaurin played just three games together last season because of injuries. Washington will need them — and Diggs — out there far more often to get the offense back on track.

There are a lot of factors working against the Commanders, but at least they have the heart of the team back in Daniels. Now, they have to keep it beating.

PERSPECTIVE

These Valkyries are ahead of schedule

GOLDEN STATE FROM B1

Right?

Apparently wrong.

When Lacob announced this franchise, he promised a championship within five years. That felt like standard owner bravado, the kind of hollow promise designed to sell season tickets.

I remember standing on the floor of Chase Center when it happened, popping to attention as the words hit my ears and looking around toward anyone to confirm that he, in fact, just said that.

And I wasn't the only one doing it.

I might have been chuckling — this guy — but he wasn't kidding.

Well, his team is running roughly three years ahead of schedule.

Year 1 of the Valkyries was cute. It was plucky. And it was a wildly impressive accomplishment in its own right.

The Valkyries scraped together an expansion roster of castoffs and spare parts, put together great systems and better team chemistry under Coach Natalie Nakase and played a brand of suffocating defense that crashed the postseason party out of the gate.

Cute doesn't win titles, though.

For that, league history shows you need a true it-all-flows-through-me superstar.

The kind that the Las Vegas Aces, for instance, have in A'ja Wison, the now five-time MVP, and Chelsea Gray.

And yet when these teams, the Valkyries and Aces, met with a trip to the Finals on the line this past week, it was Golden State who was — front-to-back, Game 1 to 3 — the superior team. The championship-level team, even.

Golden State's entire existence on this stage is a giant, unapologetic middle finger to traditional roster construction.

Veronica Burton was once discarded by the Connecticut Sun. Friday night, she was outdueling Gray in crunch time with the poise of a tenured assassin.

It was Tip Hayes — a former Ace — bringing immediate chaos and unrelenting dribble penetration off the bench.

It was Kayla Thornton — a champion with the New York Liberty who was made available in the expansion draft — lifting her game when the moments of the game called for it.

It was Kiah Stokes — another former Ace — walling off the paint, cleaning the glass, and turning easy layups into mathematical impossibilities.

Those aren't role-player highlights. Those are championship contributions delivered by players other front offices deemed expendable.

"It's crazy," Burton told NBC after the final buzzer.

She's right, but, on the other hand, the Valkyries aren't showing us anything we didn't see all summer, when this group ground opponents into fine powder.

Teams coming into the league are supposed to tank. They're supposed to pray for lottery ping-pong balls, draft a generational scoring savior, and spend half a decade learning how to win.

The Valkyries saw that path, chose a different one, and skipped the line.

Their two first-round draft picks? Only one is on the roster, and she doesn't even crack the playoff rotation.

They don't have a renowned, all-WNBA bucket getter for the clutch, though this series against the Aces threw that take into question.

No, this team has built a roster by winning on the margins.

Their one splashy offseason signing was Gabby Williams on a max deal, and she was brought in, mainly, because she's yet another elite defensive player. Williams finished 32nd in scoring last season.

But when the buckets needed to be made Friday in crunch time of a closeout game, it was Williams — not Wilson or Gray — who came through again and again.

Who cares if this was the first time on this kind of stage for this team? They were ready.

The Valkyries team is the old Golden State ethos stripped of its arrogance and rebuilt with pure grit: strength in numbers, but with brass knuckles.

Williams and Burton owned the high-leverage minutes in Game 3, but that title DNA the Valkyries showed all season — the one that every player in violet embodies — showed up in those now-famous margins, this time of the game.

No non-charter expansion team in WNBA history had ever reached the Finals in its second season until Friday.

Lacob promised a revolution, and the Bay Area built a juggernaut out of attitude and toughness.

The Valkyries hacked the league. And now they're on the precipice of running off with the crown.

IAN MAULE/AP

Gabby Williams joined the second-year Valkyries this past offseason. Now they're in the WNBA Finals. | TOTALS | 240:00 | 30-80 | 28-40 | 16-43 | 19 | 22 | 100 | Scoring: None.

U.S. women fall to Spain in a clash of top teams

---

USWNT FROM B1

topped Spain, 10-3, in shots on target. “They did an even better job at capitalizing on their chances.”

The friendly could very well have been a World Cup final preview. The Spaniards are the defending World Cup champions. The Americans are the reigning Olympic gold medalists. On sheer talent, the two squads rise above about the rest.

These powerhouses will meet again Tuesday night in Chester, Pennsylvania. That friendly will serve as the final U.S. tuneup before next month's Concacaf W Championship, a regional tournament that doubles as World Cup qualifying.

“We know we’re better than that, and we know we have to own it,” U.S. captain Lindsey Heaps said. “And we know we have another opportunity come Tuesday.”

Spain ruthlessly punished two early lapses. When the Americans failed to pressure Guijarro some 25 yards out, the Spanish captain ripped a bending effort that nestled in goalkeeper Claudia Dickey's netting.

Thirteen minutes later, a Spanish counter left the American defense scrambling. Salma Paralluelo found space down the left flank, whipped in a cross and picked out Navarro for an emphatic finish.

“You can’t afford to go 2-0 down against the best team in the world, especially the way we conceded those goals,” Hayes said. “That’s the learning.”

The U.S. had no shortage of opportunities to score before halftime. Spain defender Lucía Corrales cleared an Alyssa Thompson effort off the line. Goalkeeper Adriana Nanclares tipped Sophia Wilson's blistering bid off the crossbar. Wilson and Lily Yohannes pushed shots narrowly wide.

Eight minutes into the second half, Wilson appeared to halve the deficit after finishing a counterattack — only for the goal to be ruled offside after a video review. Shortly after, Nanclares denied Rodman's redirection and a Rose Lavelle blast. Although Wilson earned a penalty kick via video review in the 68th, Nanclares stoned Yohannes's attempt from the spot.

The missed opportunities left Hayes bemoaning the Americans' execution in the final third. Responding to a question that posited the U.S. was “unlucky” not to score, Hayes quipped, “Unlucky is being struck by lightning.”

Midway through the half, Hayes brought on two former Washington Spirit standouts for their long-awaited national team returns. Ashley Sanchez, the NWSL's top scorer with the North Carolina Courage, made her first U.S. appearance since October 2024 after falling out of Hayes's rotation. And Mallory Swanson took the field for the first time since she scored the winning goal in the Olympic gold medal game, having given birth to her first child last year.

Despite the return of the revered "Triple Espresso" front line

— Rodman, Wilson and Swanson — that powered the U.S. at the Paris Games, the Americans couldn't crack the Spanish defense. Although Spain went down a player when Athenea del Castillo got a 90th-minute red card for pulling at U.S. substitute Michelle Cooper's hair, it was too late to make an impact.

"At the end of the day," defender Emily Fox said, "we don't want to be losing to anyone, 2-0, let alone the world champs."

---

U.S. celebrates Dunn's career

Crystal Dunn, a starter on the U.S. teams that triumphed at the 2019 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics, was honored at half-time after announcing her retirement earlier this year.

Dunn, 34, starred for the Spirit from 2014 to 2016. The utility player had 25 goals in 160 international appearances.

"When you've dedicated so much time to this sport, you don't really always understand the impact that you make on it," Dunn said before the match. "You're in it, you're trying to win games, you're trying to compete. Then, when you kind of take yourself out of it, you realize that what you've done was not just win games and win championships — you've inspired people."

---

PRO FOOTBALL | EAST | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | N.Y. Giants.... | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 82 | 79 | Philadelphia.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 75 | 93 | Dallas.... | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 | 138 | 136 | Washington.... | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 88 | 122 | SOUTH | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Carolina.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 121 | 109 | Atlanta.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 96 | 92 | New Orleans.... | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 105 | 128 | Tampa Bay.... | 1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | 100 | 112 | NORTH | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Minnesota.... | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 86 | 51 | Chicago.... | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 112 | 65 | Detroit.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 119 | 127 | Green Bay.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 73 | 105 | WEST | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | San Francisco.... | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 122 | 64 | Seattle.... | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 105 | 73 | L.A. Rams.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 85 | 83 | Arizona.... | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 87 | 117 | AFC | EAST | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Buffalo.... | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 127 | 107 | New England.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 65 | 77 | N.Y. Jets.... | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 76 | 84 | Miami.... | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 46 | 101 | SOUTH | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Jacksonville.... | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 104 | 53 | Indianapolis.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 102 | 104 | Tennessee.... | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 55 | 83 | Houston.... | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 84 | 109 | NORTH | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Cleveland.... | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 81 | 95 | Baltimore.... | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 116 | 96 | Pittsburgh.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 77 | 87 | Cincinnati.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 97 | 85 | WEST | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Kansas City.... | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 118 | 77 | Las Vegas.... | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 115 | 84 | Denver.... | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 74 | 94 | L.A. Chargers.... | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 67 | 106 | ---

WEEK 5

THURSDAY'S RESULT

Tampa Bay 24, at Dallas 16

---

SUNDAY'S GAMES

SODAY'S GAMES

N.Y. Giants at Washington, 1

Baltimore at Atlanta, 8:20

Philadelphia vs. Jacksonville, in London, 9:30 a.m.

Chicago at Green Bay, 1

Cincinnati at Miami, 1

Cleveland at N.Y. Jets, 1

Houston at Tennessee, 1

Indianapolis at Pittsburgh, 1

Las Vegas at New England, 1

Minnesota at New Orleans, 1

Denver at L.A. Chargers, 4:05

Detroit at Arizona, 4:25

San Francisco at Seattle, 4:25

Bye: Kansas City, Carolina

---

MONDAY'S GAME

Buffalo at L.A. Rams, 8:15

---

WEEK 6

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THURSDAY'S GAME

---

SUNDAY, OCT. 18

Baltimore at Cleveland, 1

Houston vs. Jacksonville in London, 9:30 a.m.

Carolina at Philadelphia, 1

Chicago at Atlanta, 1

N.Y. Jets at New England, 1

New Orleans at N.Y. Giants, 1

Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, 1

Tennessee at Indianapolis, 1

Arizona at L.A. Rams, 4:05

Buffalo at Las Vegas, 4:25

L.A. Chargers at Kansas City, 4:25

Dallas at Green Bay, 8:20

Bye: Cincinnati, Miami, Detroit, Minnesota

---

MONDAY, OCT. 19

Washington at San Francisco, 8:15

---

HOCKEY

---

NHL | ATLANTIC | GP | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | x-Ottawa | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 9 | Boston | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 13 | x-Tampa Bay | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 9 | x-Florida | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 8 | x-Toronto | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 15 | x-Buffalo | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 15 | x-Montreal | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 19 | x-Detroit | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 14 | METROPOLITAN | GP | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | N.Y. Rangers...... | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 17 | 11 | x-Carolina...... | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 14 | Washington...... | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 9 | x-Pittsburgh...... | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 16 | x-Columbus...... | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 9 | x-N.Y. Islanders...... | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 8 | New Jersey...... | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 13 | Philadelphia...... | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 24 | CENTRAL | GP | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | Winnipeg | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 15 | x-Colorado | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 23 | 11 | x-Utah | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 14 | x-Minnesota | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 8 | x-Nashville | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 11 | x-Dallas | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 6 | x-St. Louis | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 13 | x-Chicago | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 21 | PACIFIC | GP | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | x-Vegas.... | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 21 | 13 | Edmonton.... | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 22 | 16 | x-Anaheim.... | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 11 | San Jose.... | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 14 | Seattle.... | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 21 | 14 | Vancouver.... | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 25 | x-Los Angeles.... | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 15 | x-Calgary.... | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 23 | ---

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

at Washington 3, N.Y. Rangers 1

Seattle 6, at Detroit 3

at Columbus 3, Pittsburgh 2, (SO)

Anaheim 5, at Winnipeg 1

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SATURDAY'S RESULTS

at Boston 5, Philadelphia 1

at New Jersey 4, Vancouver 1

Edmonton 3, at San Jose 1

Minnesota 4, at Florida 1

Carolina 5, at Chicago 2

Utah 4, at Buffalo 1

at St. Louis 5, Columbus 3

at Pittsburgh 2, Dallas 1 (SO)

at Montreal 1, Detroit 0 (SO)

at Ottawa 3, Nashville 2 (SO)

Toronto 6, at Colorado 3

Tampa Bay 5, at N.Y. Islanders 3

Anaheim at Calgary, late

Los Angeles at Vegas, late

---

SUNDAY'S GAMES

Seattle at Washington, 5

Vancouver at N.Y. Rangers, 6

Carolina at Philadelphia, 7

---

MONDAY'S GAMES

Florida at Buffalo, 1

Ottawa at New Jersey, 7

Vegas at Minnesota, 8 | PHILADELPHIA | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | 1 | BOSTON | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | 5 | ---

Bruins 5, Flyers 1

---

FIRST PERIOD

Scoring: 1, Boston, Zacha 1 (Pastrnak), 12:21.

Scoring: 2, Boston, Lohrei 2 (Peterka, Minten), 17:12. THIRD PERIOD

Scoring: 3, Boston, Khusnutdinov 1 (Minten, Borgen), 1:55. 4, Philadelphia, Martone 1 (Barkey, Jiricek), 6:32 (pp). 5, Boston, Mittelstadt 2 (Hagens, E.Lindholm), 9:21. 6, Boston, Minten 2 (Peterka, H.Lindholm), 15:59. | PHILADELPHIA....3 | 5 | 7 — 15 | BOSTON....12 | 10 | 10 — 32 | Power-play opportunities: Philadelphia 1 of 3; Boston 0 of 2. Goalies: Philadelphia, Vladar 0-3-0 (32 shots-27 saves). Boston, Swayman 4-1-0 (15-14). A: 17,850 (17,565). T: 2:23. | ---

SHOTS ON GOAL

Devils 4, Canucks 1 | VANCOUVER....1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | NEW JERSEY....2 | 2 | 0 | — | 4 | Scoring: 1, Vancouver, Karlsson 1 (DeBrusk, Boeser), 5:27 (pp). 2, New Jersey, Hischier 1 (L.Hughes, Gritsyuk), 8:03 (pp). 3, New Jersey, Boqvist 2 (Lombardi), 16:24.

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SECOND PERIOD

Scoring: 4, New Jersey, Bratt 1 (Hischier, J.Hughes), 4:36 (pp). 5, New Jersey, Hischier 2 (J.Hughes, Bratt), 19:50 (pp). | SHOTS ON GOAL | VANCOUVER....8 | 9 | 4 | -21 | NEW JERSEY....10 | 15 | 12 | -37 | Power-play opportunities: Vancouver 1 of 3; New Jersey 3 of 4. Goalies: Vancouver, Meriläinen 1-0-0 (34 shots-31 saves), Vancouver, Lankinen 1-4-0 (3-2). New Jersey, Allen 2-1-0 (21-20). A: 15,929 (16,514). T: 2:29.

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SCOREBOARD

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL

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No. 15 Tennessee 24,

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Arkansas 17 | TENNESSEE | 0 | 7 | 3 | 14 | -24 | ARKANSAS | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | -17 | ---

SECOND QUARTER

TENN: T.Thomas 5 pass from MacIntyre (Ranvier kick), 10:03.

---

THIRD QUARTER

ARK: Russell 9 run (M.Gilbert kick), 11:04.

ARK: Platt 4 pass from K.Jackson (M.Gilbert kick), 4:28.

TENN: FG Ranvier 49, 1:35.

---

FOURTH QUARTER

TENN: Brame 1 run (Ranvier kick), 12:52.

ARK: FG M. Gilbert 55, 7:20.

TENN: Bishop 8 run (Ranvier kick), 1:57. | TENN | ARK | First downs | 20 | 15 | Total Net Yards | 414 | 288 | Rushes-yards | 35-167 | 34-133 | Passing | 247 | 155 | Punt Returns | 2-20 | 0-0 | Kickoff Returns | 0-0 | 0-0 | Interceptions Ret | 0-0 | 2-11 | Comp-Att-Int | 18-29-2 | 15-27-0 | Sacked-Yards Lost | 1-3 | 2-18 | Punts | 4-47.5 | 8-40.25 | Fumbles-Lost | 2-1 | 2-1 | Penalties-Yards | 6-35 | 7-63 | Time of Possession | 27:59 | 32:01 | ---

RUSHING

Tennessee: Bishop 19-138, Morris 8-33, Matthews 2-14, Brame 1-1, MacIntyre 2-(minus 6), (Team) 3-(minus 13). Arkansas: Settles 8-50, S.Smith 11-40, Hawkins 1-22, Russell 4-18, Parker 1-6, K.Jackson 9-(minus 3).

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PASSING

Tennessee: MacIntyre 18-29-2-247. Arkansas: K.Jackson 15-27-0-155.

---

RECEIVING

Tennessee: Staley 7-53, Matthews 4-78, Brame 3-87, Morris 2-21, Thomas 2-8. Arkansas: Marshall 7-56, Lockwood 2-25, M.Harrison 1-29, Brown 1-21, Settles 1-9, Faupel 1-8, Platt 1-4, Russell 1-3.

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MISSED FIELD GOALS

Tennessee: Ranvier 51. Arkansas: M.Gilbert 38.

---

South Carolina 38,

---

No. 16 Florida 19 | SOUTH CAROLINA......7 | 10 | 14 | 7 — 38 | FLORIDA......7 | 3 | 3 | 6 — 19 | ---

FIRST QUARTER

FLA: Stockton 59 pass from Philo (Durkin kick), 11:25.

SCAR: Harbor 15 pass from L.Sellers (Orsan kick), :12.

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SECOND QUARTER

SCAR: Bennett 12 pass from L.Sellers (Orsan kick), 1:47.

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THIRD QUARTER

FLA: 10 Durham 48, 11:17.

SCAR: Murph 26 pass from L.Sellers (Orsan kick), 8:36.

SCAR: L.Sellers 1 run (Orsan kick), 1:07.

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FOURTH QUARTER

SCAR: Cyrus 21 pass from L.Sellers (Orsan kick), 8:07.

FLA: Baugh 2 run (return failed), 1:01.

A: 90.211 | SCAR | FLA | First downs.... | 22 | 20 | Total Net Yards.... | 393 | 387 | Rushes-yards.... | 37-114 | 38-120 | Passing.... | 279 | 267 | Punt Returns.... | 0-0 | 0-0 | Kickoff Returns.... | 0-0 | 3-59 | Interceptions Ret.... | 2-18 | 0-0 | Comp-Att-Int.... | 23-35-0 | 27-36-2 | Sacked-Yards Lost.... | 3-14 | 3-24 | Punts.... | 4-37.25 | 3-41.333 | Fumbles-Lost.... | 0-0 | 2-1 | Penalties-Yards.... | 6-53 | 5-30 | Time of Possession.... | 30:37 | 29:23 | ---

RUSHING

South Carolina: Fuller 10-52, Coleman 7-39, L.Sellers 14-20, Howell 4-6, (Team) 2-(minus 3). Florida: Baugh 15-59, Philo 13-32, T.Jones 2-17, Singleton 1-7, D.Clark 3-5, Pryor 4-0.

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PASSING

South Carolina: L.Sellers 23-35-0-279. Florida: Philo 21-28-1-227, T.Jones 6-8-1-40.

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RECEIVING

South Carolina: Bennett 7-35, Harbor 4-83, Black 3-42, Murph 2-32, Cyrus 2-30, M.Brown 2-23, Fuller 2-19, Coleman 1-15. Florida: Stockton 8-127, Wilson 8-74, Abrams 2-14, Pryor 2-14, Baugh 2-11, Harpring 2-7, Dippre 1-9, Mays 1-8, Singleton 1-3.

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MISSED FIELD GOALS

South Carolina: Orsan 47. Florida: Durkin 43.

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No. 18 Oklahoma St. 42, UCF 28 | UCF | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 – 28 | OKLAHOMA STATE | 7 | 14 | 3 | 18 – 42 | ---

FIRST QUARTER

UCF: Brousseau 1 pass from Jenkins (Stone kick), 10:08.

OKST: Mestemaker 11 run (Keltner kick), 6:19.

UCF: Derry 12 pass from Jenkins (Stone kick), 2:37.

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SECOND QUARTER

OKST: McPhaul 1 Run (Keltner kick), 13:03.

OKST: Bowick 18 pass from Mestemaker (Keltner kick), 2:03.

UCF: Hornes 3 pass from Jenkins (Stone kick), :13.

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THIRD QUARTER

---

FOURTH QUARTER

OKST: E.Jackson 28 fumble return (Mestemaker run), 10:32. | UCF | OKST | First downs.... | 27 | 22 | Total Net Yards.... | 375 | 414 | Rushes-yards.... | 41-110 | 32-110 | Passing.... | 265 | 304 | Punt Returns.... | 1-11 | 1-21 | Kickoff Returns.... | 1-22 | 1-0 | Interceptions Ret.... | 0-0 | 1-0 | Comp-Att-Int.... | 30-42-1 | 19-28-0 | Sacked-Yards Lost.... | 1-1 | 1-9 | Punts.... | 3-40.333 | 1-40.0 | Fumbles-Lost.... | 2-1 | 1-1 | Penalties-Yards.... | 4-33 | 3-35 | Time of Possession.... | 35:15 | 24:45 | ---

RUSHING

UCF: Watson 21-79, Swint 7-27, Jenkins 10-13, Chambers 2-1, Hornes 1-(minus 10). Oklahoma St.: Hawkins 23-83, Adeyi 4-21, W.Young 1-4, Mestemaker 2-2, McPhaul 1-1, (Team) 1-(minus 1).

---

PASSING

UCF: Jenkins 30-42-1-265. Oklahoma St.: Mestemaker 19-28-0-304.

---

RECEIVING

UCF: Derry 11-84, Piening 7-60, Farmer 4-52, Hornes 3-25, Charles 2-30, Chambers 1-10, Swint 1-3, Brousseau 1-1. Oklahoma St.: Bowick 6-98, W.Young 5-52, Coleman 4-69, Hawkins 2-32, Barnes 1-27, T.Lewis 1-26.

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MISSED FIELD GOALS

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HIGH SCHOOLS

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SATURDAY'S RESULTS FOOTBALL

---

FOOTBALL

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MARYLAND

Northeast 35, Centennial 0

Oxon Hill 48, Parkdale 0

River Hill 14, Wilde Lake 0

Surrattsville 26, Friendly 16

Westlake 42, Thomas Stone 0

Wise 46, Eleanor Roosevelt 21

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PRIVATE

Archbishop Carroll 27, Landon 12

Bishop O'Connell 34, Bishop Ireton 7

Maret 36, Potomac School 33

Riverdale Baptist 57, Long Island Lutheran 7

Woodberry Forest 38, Georgetown Prep 16

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TRANSACTIONS

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NFL

Washington Commanders: Activated DE Deatrich Wise Jr. from the PUP list. Signed LB Austin Keys to their active roster.

Atlanta Falcons: Placed LB Yasir Abdullah on injured reserve. Signed S Jammie Robinson to their active roster. Chicago Bears: Activated LB Noah Sewell from the physically unable to perform list.

New England Patriots: Placed FB Reggie Gililam and WR Mack Hollins on injured reserve. Activated S Brenden Schooler from the non-football injury list.

---

North Carolina 21.

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No. 25 Pittsburgh 17

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FIRST QUARTER | NORTH CAROLINA | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 – 21 | PITTSBURGH | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 – 17 | PITT: Wright 2 run (Chadha kick), 9:49.

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SECOND QUARTER

PIT: FG Chadina 41, 7:46.

UNC: Thurman 7 pass from Edwards (Verhoff kick), 5:32.

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THIRD QUARTER

---

FOURTH QUARTER

PITT: Wright 1 run (Chadha kick), 12:47.

UNC: Easter 75 pass from Edwards (Verhoff kick), 12:36.

A: 51,416. | UNC | PITT | First downs.... | 13 | 23 | Total Net Yards.... | 269 | 369 | Rushes-yards.... | 25-20 | 41-150 | Passing.... | 249 | 219 | Punt Returns.... | 2-6 | 4-33 | Kickoff Returns.... | 0-0 | 2-33 | Interceptions Ret.... | 2-43 | 2-31 | Comp-Att-Int.... | 18-26-2 | 27-44-2 | Sacked-Yards Lost.... | 3-23 | 2-12 | Punts.... | 6-36.833 | 3-34.333 | Fumbles-Lost.... | 1-0 | 0-0 | Penalties-Yards.... | 3-22 | 4-42 | Time of Possession.... | 23:28 | 36:32 | ---

RUSHING

North Carolina: B.Hall 12-25, June 6-15, (Team) 2-(minus 2), McGill 1-(minus 4), Edwards 4-(minus 14). Pittsburgh: D.Ferguson 15-49, Wright 9-45, Turner 5-27, J.Cook 3-15, Kinsler 1-13, C.Lee 1-2, Geriner 7-(minus 1). PASSING

North Carolina: Edwards 18-26-2-249. Pittsburgh: Geriner 27-44-2-219.

---

RECEIVING

North Carolina: Shipp 6-93, Thurman 6-29, Sadler 2-20, Kekahuna 2-16, Easter 1-75, B.Hall 1-16. Pittsburgh: Kent 7-61, Hicks 6-50, D.Ferguson 5-17, Knight 3-62, Wright 3-18, Yates 2-5, C.Lee 1-6.

---

Old Dominion 10,

---

THIRD QUARTER | OLD DOMINION | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 — 10 | APPALACHIAN ST | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 — 3 | APP: FG London 34, 11:41.

ODU: safety. 7:18.

---

FOURTH QUARTER

ODU: M.James 2 run (Rodriguez pass from Henicle), 9:30. | ODU | APP | First downs | .16 | 9 | Total Net Yards | .304 | 158 | Rushes-yards | .61-207 | 28-92 | Passing | .97 | 66 | Punt Returns | 0-0 | 0-0 | Kickoff Returns | 1-31 | 1-23 | Interceptions Ret. | 2-16 | 2-1 | Comp-Att-Int | 10-20-2 | 7-27-2 | Sacked-Yards Lost | 3-14 | 2-8 | Punts | 7-37,143 | 8-44,125 | Fumbles-Lost | 2-1 | 2-1 | Penalties-Yards | 6-35 | 6-50 | Time of Possession | 38:50 | 21:10 | ---

RUSHING

Old Dominion: Roche 23-101, Henicle 26-88, James 5-16, Bedgood 1-6, T.Hall 2-4, Rodriguez 1-1, (Team) 3-(minus 9). Appalachian St.: J.Lewis 10-41, Hasselbeck 5-27, Cross 5-16, Singleton 4-10, Webb 3-4, (Team) 1-(minus 6).

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PASSING

Old Dominion: Henicle 10-20-2-97. Appalachian St.: Singleton 5-23-1-72, Hasselbeck 2-4-1-(minus 6).

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RECEIVING

Old Dominion: K.Harris 3-50, T.Johnson 2-16, Rodriguez 2-13, T.Hall 1-8, Haughton 1-6, Roche 1-4. Appalachian St.: Fugitt 2-20, Howse 1-25, Lofton 1-20, Pickett 1-7, J.Lewis 1-(minus 1), Branch 1-(minus 5).

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MISSED FIELD GOALS

Old Dominion: Eichner 41, Eichner 39.

---

SOCCER

---

MLS | EAST | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | x-Nashville.... | 18 | 3 | 6 | 60 | 55 | 21 | Chicago.... | 14 | 8 | 6 | 48 | 51 | 40 | x-New England.... | 14 | 9 | 4 | 46 | 45 | 36 | x-Inter Miami CF.... | 12 | 5 | 10 | 46 | 64 | 50 | x-Charlotte FC.... | 12 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 47 | 38 | x-Philadelphia.... | 11 | 10 | 6 | 39 | 54 | 44 | x-Orlando City.... | 10 | 3 | 4 | 34 | 48 | 40 | x-New York.... | 9 | 12 | 6 | 33 | 34 | 51 | New York City FC.... | 8 | 11 | 9 | 33 | 42 | 38 | x-Cincinnati.... | 8 | 9 | 9 | 33 | 55 | 64 | Toronto FC.... | 7 | 10 | 11 | 32 | 41 | 52 | x-D.C. United.... | 6 | 8 | 12 | 30 | 34 | 42 | x-Columbus.... | 6 | 4 | 5 | 29 | 39 | 45 | x-Atlanta.... | 6 | 14 | 6 | 27 | 32 | 45 | CF Montréal.... | 6 | 16 | 6 | 24 | 35 | 56 | WEST | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | x-Vancouver.... | 15 | 7 | 5 | 50 | 60 | 29 | St. Louis City SC.... | 13 | 6 | 8 | 47 | 48 | 36 | x-FC Dallas.... | 13 | 6 | 8 | 47 | 50 | 42 | x-San Jose.... | 13 | 8 | 6 | 45 | 49 | 39 | x-Houston.... | 9 | 5 | 4 | 34 | 44 | 34 | x-Los Angeles FC.... | 11 | 9 | 8 | 41 | 43 | 30 | x-Seattle.... | 10 | 9 | 8 | 38 | 35 | 35 | x-Colorado.... | 11 | 13 | 3 | 36 | 38 | 38 | LA Galaxy.... | 9 | 10 | 9 | 36 | 37 | 44 | x-Portland.... | 9 | 13 | 5 | 32 | 48 | 51 | x-Real Salt Lake.... | 9 | 13 | 5 | 32 | 40 | 40 | x-San Diego FC.... | 8 | 11 | 8 | 32 | 47 | 47 | x-Austin FC.... | 7 | 10 | 10 | 31 | 35 | 47 | x-Minnesota United.... | 7 | 12 | 8 | 29 | 40 | 49 | x-Sporting KC.... | 6 | 18 | 3 | 21 | 32 | 65 | ---

SATURDAY'S RESULTS

at Miami 4, D.C. United 0

at Toronto FC 2, CF Montréal 1

at Chicago 2, New York City FC 1

Cincinnati 3, at Atlanta 1

at Charlotte FC 3, FC Dallas 2

Seattle 3, at New England 0

at New York 4, San Diego FC 1

at Orlando City, 3, Columbus 2

at Philadelphia 2, Real Salt Lake 1

Nashville at Austin FC, late

Portland at Sporting KC, late

Houston at Minnesota, late

San Jose at Colorado, late

Vancouver at Los Angeles FC, late

---

Toronto FC 2, Montreal 1 | MONTREAL | 0 | 1 | 1 | TORONTO FC | 0 | 2 | 2 | ---

First Half: None.

Second Half: 1, Montreal, Rios, 6, 52nd minute; 2, Toronto FC, Morgan, 1, 90th+3; 3, Toronto FC, Mihailovic, 3, 90th+5.

Goalies: Montreal, Sebastian Breza, Samsy Keita; Toronto FC, Luka Gavran, William Yarbrough.

Yellow Cards: Vera, Montreal, 55th; Craig, Montreal, 84th; Petrasso, Montreal, 87th; Laryea, Toronto FC, 90th+6.

Referee: Allen Chapman. Assistant Referees: Chris Eliott, Meghan Mullen, Kevin Stott. 4th Official: Michael Venne.

Montreal: Sebastian Breza; Dawid Bugaj, Brandan Craig (Efrain Morales, 86th), Jalen Neal, Luca Petrasso, Brayan Vera; Matty Longstaff, Victor Loturi (Samuel Piette, 72nd); Prince-Osei Owusu, Daniel Rios (Wikelman Carmona, 86th), Alexis Sarguez (Fabian Herbers, 72nd).

Toronto FC: Luka Gavran (William Yarbrough, 23rd); Nick-seon Gomis, Benjamin Kuscevic, Richie Laryea, Matheus Pereira; Alonso Coello (Lewis Morgan, 82nd), Niklas Dorsch, Jonathan Osorio (Djordje Mihailovic, 61st); Theo Corbeanu, Daniel Salloi, Josh Sargent

---

NWSL | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | Gotham FC.... | 16 | 4 | 7 | 55 | 35 | 21 | San Diego.... | 16 | 8 | 3 | 51 | 40 | 28 | Washington.... | 15 | 8 | 4 | 49 | 39 | 26 | Utah.... | 14 | 9 | 4 | 46 | 34 | 25 | Kansas City.... | 13 | 9 | 5 | 44 | 48 | 28 | Angel City.... | 12 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 45 | 29 | Portland.... | 12 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 45 | 39 | North Carolina.... | 13 | 11 | 3 | 42 | 50 | 39 | Seattle.... | 12 | 11 | 4 | 40 | 33 | 32 | Denver.... | 10 | 9 | 8 | 38 | 45 | 37 | Orlando.... | 10 | 14 | 3 | 33 | 36 | 43 | Houston.... | 8 | 13 | 6 | 30 | 34 | 39 | Boston.... | 8 | 14 | 5 | 29 | 36 | 46 | Bay FC.... | 7 | 15 | 5 | 26 | 28 | 42 | Louisville.... | 7 | 17 | 3 | 24 | 36 | 52 | Chicago.... | 5 | 20 | 2 | 17 | 15 | 63 | ---

FRIDAY'S MATCH

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SATURDAY'S MATCHES

Gotham FC at Washington, 12:30

Kansas City at Utah, 6:30

San Diego at North Carolina, 7

Angel City at Denver, 8:45

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BASEBALL

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MLB playoffs

Game 1: at Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 3

Game 2: Philadelphia 4, at Atlanta 3 (10)

Game 3: at Atlanta 6, Philadelphia 2

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WHITE SOX ELIMINATED ASTROS, 2-0

Game 1: Chi. White Sox 6, at Houston 3

Game 2: Chi. White Sox 7, at Houston 3

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YANKEES ELIMINATED RED SOX, 2-0

PADRES ELIMINATED CUBS, 2-0

Game 1: at San Diego 8, Chi. Cubs 0

Game 2: at San Diego 4, Chi. Cubs 1

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DIVISION SERIES

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NATIONAL LEAGUE

BREWERS ELIMINATED PADRES, 3-1

Game 1: at Milwaukee 3, San Diego 2

Game 2: at Milwaukee 4, San Diego 3

Game 3: at San Diego 4, Milwaukee 3

Game 4: Milwaukee 3, at San Diego 1

Game 1: at L.A. Dodgers 5, Atlanta 3

Game 2: Atlanta 3, at L.A. Dodgers 2

Game 3:: L.A. Dodgers 3, at Atlanta 1

Game 4: L.A. Dodgers 4, at Atlanta 1

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

RAYS ELIMINATED YANKEES, 3-0

Game 1: at Tampa Bay 1, N.Y. Yankees 0

Game 2: Tampa Bay 5, N.Y. Yankees 2

Game 3: Tampa Bay 4, at N.Y. Yankees 3

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WHITE SOX LEAD GUARDIANS, 4-1

WHITE SOX LEAD GUARDIANS, 4-1

Game 1: Chi. White Sox 3, at Cleveland 0

Game 2: Chi. White Sox 4, at Cleveland 3

Game 3: Cleveland 9, at Chi. White Sox 3

Game 4: Cleveland 9, at Chi. White Sox 5

Game 5: Chi. at Cleveland 2, White Sox 0

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CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

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NATIONAL LEAGUE BREWERS VS. DODGERS

Sunday's game: L.A. Dodgers at Milwaukee, 8

Monday's game: L.A. Dodgers at Milwaukee, 5

Wednesday's game: Milwaukee at L.A. Dodgers, 8

Thursday's game: Milwaukee at L.A. Dodgers, 9

x-Friday's game: Milwaukee at L.A. Dodgers, 9

x-Sunday. Oct. 18: L.A. Dodgers at Milwaukee, 8

x-Monday, Oct. 19: L.A. Dodgers at Milwaukee, 8

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

---

RAYS VS. GUARDIANS

Monday's game: Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 8

Tuesday's game: Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 8

Thursday's game: Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 6

Friday's game: Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 6

x-Saturday's game: Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 8

x-Monday, Oct. 19: Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 5

x-Tuesday, Oct. 20: Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 8

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WORLD SERIES

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NL WINNER VS. AL WINNER

Best of seven; x-If necessary

Friday, Oct. 23: AL at NL, TBD

Saturday, Oct. 24: AL at NL, TBD

Monday, Oct. 26: NL at AL, TBD

Tuesday, Oct. 27: NL at AL, TBD

x-Wednesday, Oct. 28: NL at AL, TBD

x-Friday, Oct. 30: AL at NL, TBD

x-Saturday, Oct. 31: AL at NL, TBD

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NL game

DODGERS AT BREWERS, 8:00 | W-L | ERA | TEAM | Skubal (L) | 1-0 | 1.50 | 1-0 | Misiorowski (R) | 0-0 | 4.50 | 1-0 | Guardians 2, White Sox 0 | WHITE SOX | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | AVG | Antonacil lf.... | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .231 | Teel c.... | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .133 | Vargas 3b.... | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .308 | Murakami 1b.... | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .211 | Benintendi dh.... | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .000 | Peters rf-cf.... | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .286 | Meidroth 2b.... | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .250 | C.Montgomery ss.... | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .267 | Doyle cf.... | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .100 | Grichuk ph-rf.... | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .100 | TOTALS | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 21 | — | GUARDIANS | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | AVG | Kwan lf.... | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .188 | Ramírez 3b.... | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .267 | DeLauter rf.... | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | Adell dh.... | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .267 | Lowe 1b.... | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | Bazzana 2b.... | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .154 | Genao 2b.... | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | Bailey c.... | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .417 | Halpin cf.... | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | Rocchio ss.... | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .182 | TOTALS | 29 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 7 | — | WHITE SOX......000 | 000 | 000 | — | 0 | 3 | 1 | GUARDIANS......000 | 200 | 00X | — | 2 | 6 | 0 | E: C. Montgomery (0). LOB: White Sox 6, Guardians 5. 2B: Halpin 2 (1). HR: Ramírez (1), off Burke. RBIs: Ramírez 2 (5).

Runners left in scoring position: White Sox 2 (Murakami 2); Guardians 2 (Adell 2). RISP: White Sox 0 for 1; Guardians 0 for 3. | DP: White Sox 1 (C.Montgomery, Meidoroth, Murakami). | WHITE SOX | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Burke...... | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1.69 | Newcomb...... | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | Taylor...... | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.75 | GUARDIANS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Williams...... | $5 \frac{1}{8}$ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 3.00 | Sabrowski...... | $\frac{1}{8}$ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8.10 | Gaddis...... | $1 \frac{1}{8}$ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | C.Smith...... | $1 \frac{1}{8}$ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1.80 | WP: Williams (0-0); LP: Burke (1-0); S: C.Smith (0).

Inherited runners-scored: Taylor 1-0, Sabrowski 3-0, C.Smith 1-0. IBB: off Taylor (Ramírez). HBP: Williams (C.Montgomery). Pitch timer violations: Taylor (pitcher). T: 2:36. A: 36,889 (34,788).

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TENNIS

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WTA

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CHINA OPEN

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SINGLES — SEMIFINALS

Mirra Andreeva (4), Russia, def. Nikola Bartunkova (26), Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-2; Zheng Qinwen, China, def. Elise Mertens (13), Belgium, 7-5, 6-2.

Zhang Shuai, China, and Katerina Siniakova (1), Czech Republic, def. Aldila Sutjiadi, Indonesia, and Erin Rout-

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ATP

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SINGLES RANKINGS

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THROUGH OCT. 6

1. Jannik Sinner, Italy, 11000

2. Alexander Zverev, Germany, 9720

3. Carlos Alcaraz, Spain, 5560

4. Ben Shelton, United States, 4680

5. Felix Auger-Allassime, Canada, 3890

6. Daniil Medvedev, Russia, 3860

7. Flavio Cobolli, Italy, 3680

8. Novak Djokovic, Serbia, 3480

9. Alex de Minaur, Australia, 3430

10. Frances Tiafoe, United States, 3380

11. Arthur Fils, France, 3275

12. Taylor Fritz, United States, 2880

13. Rafael Jodar, Spain, 2659

14. Valentin Vacherot, Monaco, 2450

15. Jakub Mensik, Czech Republic, 2445

16. Jiri Lehecka, Czech Republic, 2440

17. Learner Tien, United States, 2395

18. Tommy Paul, United States, 2375

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WTA

---

SINGLES RANKINGS

---

Through Tuesday

1. Elena Rybakina, Kazakhstan, 9901

2. Aryna Sabalenka, Belarus, 7810

3. Jessica Pegula, United States, 7265

4. Coco Gaufi, United States, 7244

5. Mirra Andreeva, Russia, 5841

6. Linda Noskova, Czech Republic, 5328

7. Elna Swatlanka, United States, 4809

8. Karolina Muchova, Czech Republic, 4683

9. Iga Siatek, Poland, 4119

10. Marta Kostyuk, Ukraine, 4040

11. Amanda Anisimova, United States, 3363

12. Belinda Bencic, Switzerland, 2925

13. Iva Jovic, United States, 2841

14. Diana Shnaider, Russia, 2588

15. Victoria Mboko, Canada, 2521

16. Sorana Cirstea, Romania, 2464

17. Naomi Osaka, United States, 2464

18. Alexandra Eala, Philippines, 2276

19. Elise Mertens, Belgium, 2165

20. Jasmine Paolini, Italy, 2122

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PRO BASKETBALL

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WNBA playoffs

---

FIRST ROUND Best of three

DREAM ELIMINATED MYSTICS, 2-0

Game 1: at Atlanta 92, Washington 77

Game 2: Atlanta 93, at Washington 75

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LIBERTY ELIMINATED LYNX, 2-0

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VALKYRIES ELIMINATED WINGS, 2-1

VALKYRIES ELIMINATED WINGS, 2-1

Game 1: at Golden State 104, Dallas 80

Game 2: at Dallas 108, Golden State 100 (OT)

Game 3: at Golden State 77, Dallas 73

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ACES ELIMINATED FEVER, 2-1

Game 1: at Las Vegas 102, Indiana 85

Game 2: at Indiana 99, Las Vegas 89

Game 3: at Las Vegas 94, Indiana 83

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SEMIFINALS

---

Best of five; x-If necessary

VALKYRIES ELIMINATED ACES, 3-0

Game 1: at Golden State 71, Las Vegas 60

Game 2: at Golden State 83, Las Vegas 81

Game 3: Golden State 87, at Las Vegas 77 (OT)

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DREAM ELIMINATED LIBERTY, 3-0

Game 1: at Atlanta 92, New York 82

Game 2: at Atlanta 101, New York 98 (OT)

Game 3: Atlanta 85, at New York 83

FINALS

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VALKYRIES VS. DREAM

Saturday's game: Atlanta at Golden State, 3:30

Monday, Oct. 19: Atlanta at Golden State, 8

Thursday, Oct. 22: Golden State at Atlanta, 8

Saturday, Oct. 24: Golden State at Atlanta, 3:30

x-Monday, Oct. 26: Atlanta at Golden State, 8

x-Thursday, Oct. 29: Golden State at Atlanta, 8

x-Saturday, Oct. 31: Atlanta at Golden State, 8

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Valkyries 87, Aces 77

---

Late Friday | GOLDEN STATE......16 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 87 | LAS VEGAS......19 | 26 | 7 | 19 | 6 | 77 | GOLDEN STATE: Thornton 5-12 6-7 18, Zandalasini 2-9 2-3 7, Stokes 5-5 0-0 11, Burton 3-9 2-2 8, Williams 6-16 4-4 16, Salaun 1-1 0-0 3, Charles 2-5 2-2 7, Gueye 0-1 0-0 0, Chen 2-2 2-2 6, Hayes 4-14 2-2 11. Totals 30-74 20-22 87.

LAS VEGAS: Wilson 6-19 8-11 21, Young 6-16 4-4 18, Brown 4-8 0-1 8, Gray 6-12 3-3 17, Talbot 0-2 0-0 0, Parker-Tyus 0-0 2-2 2, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 3-8 1-1 8, Loyd 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 26-68 18-22 77.

Three-point Goals: Golden State 7-24 (Thornton 2-6, Salaun 1-1, Stokes 1-1, Charles 1-2, Zandalasini 1-3, Hayes 1-5, Burton 0-2, Williams 0-4), Las Vegas 7-20 (Gray 2-3, Young 2-6, Evans 1-2, Loyd 1-3, Wilson 1-4, Talbot 0-2). Fouled Out: None. Rebounds: Golden State 43 (Stokes 10), Las Vegas 35 (Wilson 10). Assists: Golden State 16 (Burton, Hayes 4), Las Vegas 13 (Gray 5). Total Foul: Golden State 23, Las Vegas 18. A: 10,218 (12,000)

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Dream 85, Liberty 83 | Atlanta....25 | 19 | 22 | 19 | — | 85 | NEW YORK....18 | 21 | 29 | 15 | — | 83 | ATLANTA: Bonner 4-8 5-5 13, Hillmon 0-7 0-0 0, Reese 7-18 6-6 22, Canada 5-8 8-8 19, Howard 7-21 3-5 21, Borlase 5-6 0-0 10, Paopao 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-69 22-24 85.

NEW YORK: Fiebich 2-7 3-3 8, Stewart 6-15 13-13 26, J.Jones 11-17 2-3 26, Astier 0-1 0-0 0, Ionescu 4-12 0-0 12, Xu 0-2 2-2 2, Fauthoux 4-8 0-0 9, Johannes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 20-21 83.

Three-point Goals: Atlanta 7-20 (Howard 4-10, Reese 2-4, Canada 1-1, Bonner 0-1, Borlase 0-1, Hillmon 0-3), New York 9-29 (Ionescu 4-11, J.Jones 2-5, Stewart 1-3, Fauthoux 1-5, Fiebich 1-5). Fouled Out: None. Rebounds: Atlanta 33 (Bonner 13), New York 29 (J.Jones 14). Assists: Atlanta 19 (Canada 11), New York 15 (Stewart 6). Total Fouls: Atlanta 22, New York 20. A: 17,991 (17,732)

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NBA

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EAST | ATLANTIC | W | L | Pct | GB | Brooklyn | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | — | x-Boston | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | $\frac{1}{2}$ | x-Philadelphia | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 | x-Toronto | 0 | 1 | .000 | $1\frac{1}{2}$ | New York | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2 | SOUTHEAST | W | L | Pct | GB | x-Miami | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | — | x-Washington | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | $\frac{1}{2}$ | Orlando | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | $\frac{1}{2}$ | x-Atlanta | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 | Charlotte | 0 | 1 | .000 | $1\frac{1}{2}$ | CENTRAL | W | L | Pct | GB | x-Indiana | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | x-Detroit | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | Chicago | 1 | 1 | .500 | $\frac{1}{2}$ | Milwaukee | 1 | 1 | .500 | $\frac{1}{2}$ | Cleveland | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | SOUTHWEST | W | L | Pct | GB | Houston......1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | Memphis......2 | 1 | .667 | — | New Orleans......1 | 1 | .500 | $\frac{1}{2}$ | Dallas......0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | x-San Antonio......0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | NORTHWEST | W | L | Pct | GB | Portland.... | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | Utah.... | 1 | 1 | .500 | $\frac{1}{2}$ | Denver.... | 1 | 1 | .500 | $\frac{1}{2}$ | x-Minnesota.... | 1 | 1 | .500 | $\frac{1}{2}$ | Oklahoma City.... | 0 | 2 | .000 | $1\frac{1}{2}$ | ---

SATURDAY'S RESULTS

Detroit at Washington, late Toronto vs L.A. Clippers, late Atlanta at Indiana, late Minnesota at Miami, late Philadelphia at Boston, late Sacramento at Golden State, late San Antonio at Phoenix, late

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Grizzlies 104, Bulls 100 | Memphis......302519—104 | Chicago......27233218—100 | MEMPHIS | MIN | FG | FT | O-T | A | PF | PTS | Boozer | 12:22 | 3-5 | 4-4 | 1-4 | 3 | 0 | 10 | Wells | 13:41 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | Cleley | 16:10 | 3-3 | 4-6 | 0-5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | Coward | 12:20 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Jerome | 14:12 | 5-8 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 4 | 1 | 16 | Jackson | 17:12 | 5-9 | 3-4 | 1-4 | 1 | 2 | 14 | Post | 17:09 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | Prosper | 16:17 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | Spencer | 15:52 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | Murray | 15:46 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Clayton Jr. | 14:34 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Small | 14:26 | 3-8 | 2-2 | 1-5 | 3 | 3 | 9 | Perez | 14:23 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | Pippon Jr. | 11:58 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Grant | 11:57 | 1-1 | 7-8 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | Hendricks | 10:47 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | Mashack | 6:59 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Cooper | 3:53 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Percentages: FG .474, FT .846. 3-Point Goals: 10-31, .323 (Jerome 4-6, Wells 2-2, Hendricks 1-1, Murray 1-1, Small 1-2, Jackson 1-3, Boozer 0-1, Lopez 0-1, Pippen Jr. 0-1, Spencer 0-1, Coward 0-2, Mashak 0-2, Clayton Jr. 0-4, Prosper 0-4). Team Rebounds: 12. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 2 (Edey, Jackson). Turnovers: 21 (Prosper 4, Clayton Jr. 3, Edey 3, Small 3, Cooper, Hendricks, Jackson, Lopez, Mashak, Pippen Jr., Spencer, Wells). Steals: 13 (Small 4, Pippen Jr. 3, Edey 2, Mashak, Post, Prosper, Wells). Technical Fouls: None. | CHICAGO | MIN | FG | FT | O-T | A | PF | PTS | Buzelis | 12:29 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | Wilson | 31:37 | 7-17 | 2-6 | 1-4 | 0 | 3 | 21 | Awaka | 24:16 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 4-7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | Giddey | 22:54 | 3-7 | 6-7 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | Powell | 19:07 | 3-6 | 10-12 | 0-3 | 2 | 1 | 17 | Okoro | 23:25 | 1-4 | 3-4 | 2-3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | Shiller | 22:30 | 5-11 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 1 | 2 | 12 | Esongue | 18:53 | 1-6 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | Swain | 17:54 | 2-6 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | Hield | 16:53 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | Williams | 10:23 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Bridges | 8:10 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | Peterson | 7:12 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Boston | 4:17 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Totals | 244:26 | 20-26 | 10-12 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Percentages: FG .375, FT .700. 3-Point Goals: 12-34, .353 (Wilson 5-11, Bridges 1-1, Peterson 1-2, Powell 1-2, Williams 1-2, Giddey 1-3, Miller 1-3, Hield 1-4, Buzelis 0-2, Essengue 0-2, Swain 0-2). Team Rebounds: 12. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 4 (Bridges, Buzelis, Giddey, Peterson). Turnovers: 16 (Wilson 4, Awaka 2, Giddey 2, Miller 2, Swain 2, Buzelis, Hield, Okoro, Peterson). Steals: 9 (Peterson 2, Swain 2, Bridges, Miller, Okoro, Powell, Wilson). Technical Fouls: None.

BUSINESS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2026 · SECTION B

ILLUSTRATION BY MARIA JESUS CONTRERAS/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

AI's unexpected ripple effects

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BY SHIRA OVIDE

Some economic repercussions of the artificial intelligence boom are impossible to miss. There are data centers measured in miles and retirement accounts soaring from the stock market's AI mania.

But like waves pounding a coastline, AI is steadily reshaping parts of the U.S. economy in ways that aren't immediately obvious. Zooming in on those changes reveals how the AI investment boom is creating economic dynamism but also instability.

In San Francisco and New York, AI companies are grabbing office space fast enough to revive commercial real estate — and also drive up rents for everyone else.

Across the United States, the data center construction spree is boosting employment in some sectors and buoying once-fringe ideas for energy generation — but also fueling anxiety about what happens if the AI boom goes bust.

As the U.S. economy increasingly depends on AI, optimism about the technology's potential is tempered by a growing awareness of its economic headaches and the risk that the AI boom could collapse, threatening Americans' prosperity, corporate profits and the country's growth.

A bright spot for U.S. manufacturing jobs

While Americans fear a white-collar job wipeout from AI, the data center construction boom has provided a dose of good news for the U.S. manufacturing sector, which has shrunk by hundreds of thousands of jobs in SEE AI ON B11

Debt is growing faster than income, painfully so

Michelle Singletary

THE COLOR OF MONEY

"I hate payday."

Who dislikes the day they get paid for all their work?

Yet over the years, as I've sat across the table from individuals and couples trying to stretch their income, I've heard variations of that same disheartening line.

"I hate it because all my money is gone as soon as it hits my bank account," one guy told me during a financial meeting in which I was trying to help him and his wife balance their budget.

The feeling he described is the reality for millions of households: Mounting debt payments make it hard to save for emergencies, invest for retirement or achieve other financial goals.

You expect necessities — housing, transportation and food — to take up much of your pay. But non-mortgage debt

Robert Sokol speaks with Mary Greer at Fort Stevens Recreation Center in Washington earlier this month.

HANNAH FOSLIEN/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

It's important to prepare for a fulfilling social life as a retiree

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Learn the challenges and opportunities of a life after employment

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BY ANNA BORGES

When it comes to planning for retirement, your finances likely take center stage. But preparing for the social transition can be just as vital. Staying connected to others isn't just linked to overall health and longevity — the people around you play an integral part in navigating the ups and downs of this new era of life.

“Relationships provide us with all kinds of cognitive, emotional and physical resources,” said Karen Fingerman, a psychologist and director of the Texas Institute on Dementia, Aging and Longevity. They can offer stimulating conversation your brain needs to thrive, excuses to get out of the house, rides to the doctor and countless other tangible benefits, she explained.

Given how retirement can re-