Maggie Hassan and Chris Sununu lead Senate and governor races, N.H. poll finds  —  Less than six weeks ahead of the midterm elections, Democratic US Senator Maggie Hassan leads her Republican challenger, Don Bolduc, by about 8.5 percentage points in a New Hampshire race that could determine control …

Trump pushing back on special master's request for him to declare in court whether DOJ inventory is accurate  —  Former President Donald Trump is pushing back against a plan from the special master overseeing the review of documents seized from Mar-a-Lago that would require Trump to declare …

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Husband Files For Divorce  —  6:21 PM PT — MTG's estranged husband, Perry Greene, tells TMZ ... “Marjorie has been my best friend for the last 29 years and she has been an amazing mom!  Our family is our most important thing we have done.”  —  UPDATE

Supreme Court Trust, Job Approval at Historical Lows  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Forty-seven percent of U.S. adults say they have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the judicial branch of the federal government that is headed by the Supreme Court.  This represents a 20-percentage-point drop …

30 ex-FBI agents stand up to support whistleblower who exposed agency's political bias  —  MORE FROM:  —  Thirty former FBI agents, including a retired deputy assistant director, head of counterterrorism and five SWAT team members, have spoken out publicly in support of suspended FBI whistleblower Stephen Friend.

Russia's Stripped Its Western Borders to Feed the Fight in Ukraine  —  But Finland and the Baltic states are still leery of Moscow's long-term designs.  —  Since Russia first launched its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has been peeling military forces away from its bases in Northern Europe …

Hurricane Ian's climate warning  —  Hurricane forecasters' worst nightmare came true on Wednesday morning, when what had been a Category 3 storm Tuesday night suddenly jumped almost to Category 5. … Now it is not — and studies show this is a dangerous sign of climate change.

Coolio Dead at 59  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  UPDATE  —  2:30 AM PT — Coolio's talent manager, Sheila Finegan, tells TMZ, “We are saddened by the loss of our dear friend and client, Coolio, who passed away Wednesday afternoon.  He touched the world with the gift of his talent and will be missed profoundly.

NATO Pledges ‘Determined Response’ to Nord Stream Pipeline Leaks … Putin will sign agreements to absorb four Ukrainian territories, the Kremlin says.  —  President Vladimir V. Putin will sign agreements on Friday for the Russian Federation to take over four Ukrainian territories …

Statement by the North Atlantic Council on the damage to gas pipelines  —  The NATO Invitees associate themselves with this Statement.  — The damage to the Nordstream 1 and Nordstream 2 pipelines in international waters in the Baltic Sea is of deep concern.

Judge Warns of Justice Department's Gift to Trump That Could Keep on Giving  —  “I think it's a legitimate concern.  What the judge is getting at is the very real possibility of unforeseen consequences,” said Vermont Law School professor Jared Carter.  —  A judge has warned …

Trump's pick for governor in Michigan is left to fend for herself as money dries up  —  LANSING, Mich. — Two months ago, former President Donald Trump and the Republican establishment joined forces to elevate Tudor Dixon in Michigan's messy GOP primary for governor, signaling a united front …

‘Hundreds’ feared dead after Hurricane Ian decimates Florida: sheriff  —  Historic Hurricane Ian has already killed “hundreds” of people in Florida, a sheriff in the hardest-hit region revealed early Thursday — but the death toll is expected to swell as Floridians wake up to assess the true extent of the destruction in daylight.

How the Anti-war Camp Went Intellectually Bankrupt  —  In 1942, answering a pacifist opponent of British involvement in the Second World War, George Orwell replied that “pacifism is objectively pro-fascist.”  There have of course been many times in human history when opposition to war …

Records contradict Majewski's account of military punishment  —  Republican J.R. Majewski has centered his campaign for a competitive Ohio congressional seat around his biography as an Air Force veteran.  But one of the big questions that has surfaced is why Majewski was told he could not reenlist …

Sheriff: “I'm sick of these black bastards.... Every black that I know, you need to fire him...”  —  SBI investigating allegations of Obstruction of Justice at the Columbus County Sheriff's Office  —  COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - On one end of the phone was Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene.

America's Throwaway Spies  —  The spy was minutes from leaving Iran when he was nabbed.  —  Gholamreza Hosseini was at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran in late 2010, preparing for a flight to Bangkok.  There, the Iranian industrial engineer would meet his Central Intelligence Agency handlers.

States spend federal COVID aid on roads, buildings, seawalls  —  Standing 14 stories tall, the Docking State Office Building is one of Kansas' largest and oldest state workplaces.  It's also largely vacant, despite a prime location across from the Capitol.  —  So Kansas officials are planning …

Scandal-Scarred Deputy Mayor Cuts Commissioner Out of Loop to Meet With Police Brass  —  The Eric Adams ally was a top NYPD official when he suddenly resigned in 2014, before a federal investigation yielded bribery convictions of civilian associates.  Now his schedules show he's playing …

In a first, U.S. appoints a diplomat for plants and animals  —  Good morning and welcome to The Climate 202!  Dino Grandoni, a national environment reporter for The Washington Post, wrote the top of today's newsletter.  Below we have the latest on Hurricane Ian's devastating impact in Florida.

'Where's Jackie?'  Biden Asks if Deceased Lawmaker Is at White House Event  —  President Biden apparently forgot that Representative Jackie Walorski, Republican of Indiana, had died in August.  —  WASHINGTON — President Biden looked in the audience on Wednesday for Representative Jackie Walorski …

Scoop: GOP leaders prepare for 2023 debt limit “nightmare”  —  GOP leaders, congressional aides and business groups are preparing for a potential “nightmare scenario” next year if House Republicans take back the majority: a debt limit showdown reminiscent of the near-crisis in 2011.

‘Putin Is a Fool’: Intercepted Calls Reveal Russian Army in Disarray  —  In phone calls to friends and relatives at home, Russian soldiers gave damning insider accounts of battlefield failures and civilian executions, excoriating their leaders just weeks into the campaign to take Kyiv.

MacKenzie Scott, Billionaire Philanthropist, Files for Divorce  —  Less than two years after announcing the marriage and their intent to give money away together, Ms. Scott has parted ways with her second husband, a teacher.  —  Less than two years after announcing their intention to give away …