More lethal strain of COVID created in Boston University lab, researchers say  —  Researchers at Boston University say they have developed a new COVID strain that has an 80% kill rate following a series of similar experiments first thought to have started the global pandemic that began in China.

Fiona Hill: ‘Elon Musk Is Transmitting a Message for Putin’  —  It's been nearly eight months since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops and tanks over the border into Ukraine, and a lot has changed in that time.  Ukraine has shown itself to be a far more robust military force than pretty much anyone predicted.

Saudi Arabia sentences U.S. citizen to 16 years in prison for tweets  —  The Saudi government has sentenced a 72-year-old U.S. citizen to 16 years in prison for tweets he posted while inside the United States, some of which were critical of the Saudi regime.

Ex-UK pilots lured to help Chinese military, MoD says  —  Former British military pilots are being lured to China with large sums of money to pass on their expertise to the Chinese military, it is claimed.  —  Up to 30 former UK military pilots are thought to have gone to train members of China's People's Liberation Army.

Trump Hotels Charged Secret Service Exorbitant Rates, House Inquiry Finds  —  Records obtained by the House Oversight Committee show the former president's properties charged more than $1.4 million to agents protecting him and his family.  —  WASHINGTON — The Trump Organization charged …

Trump and Kanye West speak amid rapper's antisemitic rants, acquisition of Parler  —  Former President Donald Trump spoke with Kanye West over the phone following the rapper's decision to buy his own social media platform, a person familiar with the call told POLITICO.

Trump Says He Wants Marjorie Taylor Greene in His Next Administration  —  “Wouldn't she be great?” former president tells confidants of a person who mocked a school shooting survivor and blamed wildfires on a secret space laser … As he lays the groundwork for a 2024 presidential run …

Exclusive: Gisele Fetterman calls for NBC to apologise following ‘shocking’ interview with husband John Fetterman  —  John Fetterman's wife speaks to Eric Garcia about closed captioning and the controversy after Senate candidate's interview with NBC News  —  Pennsylvania Democratic Senate …

Blinken Says China Wants to Seize Taiwan on ‘Much Faster Timeline’  —  China has made a decision to seize Taiwan on a “much faster timeline” than previously thought, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday, shortly after China's leader reiterated his intent to take the island by force if necessary.

Lee Chatfield suspected of engaging in criminal enterprise  —  Lansing — Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield is under investigation in connection with an alleged “criminal enterprise,” potentially involving embezzlement, bribery, campaign finance violations and controlled substances …

Why Wakanda might be a model for our future cities  —  Wakanda is a marvel.  The fictional country of the Marvel Universe is the most advanced civilization in the world, years beyond the rest of the world in technological learning.  —  But it's a little-noticed part of Wakanda that may predict …

10/18/22 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM … THE NATION'S STATUTORY BORROWING CAP WILL NEED TO BE LIFTED AT SOME POINT IN 2023, PROBABLY DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR.  —  MCCARTHY SIGNALED THAT REPUBLICANS WOULD AGAIN HOLD THE DEBT LIMIT UP FOR POLICY CHANGES.

Exclusive: Republican JD Vance has slight lead on Democrat Tim Ryan in Senate race in Ohio  —  Republican J.D. Vance has opened a narrow edge over Democrat Tim Ryan in the Senate race in Ohio, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, as President Joe Biden's unpopularity complicates …

In Kari Lake and Tudor Dixon, the GOP offers a cynical alternative to Trump  —  Arizona Republican nominee for governor Kari Lake declared in a Sunday interview on CNN that she will accept the results of her state election in November — if she wins.  —  In that declaration …

Ukraine war: US says Iranian drones breach sanctions  —  The US says it agrees with Western allies that Iran's supply of explosive drones to Russia violates UN sanctions.  —  Kyiv was struck by so-called “kamikaze” drones on Monday, unleashed by Russia but believed to be Iranian-made.

Fox News Execs Hunt Down the Tucker-Kanye Video Leaker … This reporting appears as one of several scooplets featured in this week's edition of Confider, the newsletter pulling back the curtain on the media.  Subscribe here and send your questions, tips, and complaints here.

U.N. Security Council considers sending multinational force to Haiti  —  United Nations — The U.N. Security Council met in an urgent session on Monday to deal with the gang violence that has enveloped Haiti.  The Caribbean nation has been dealing with what the U.N. called “catastrophic” …

Voters See Democracy in Peril, but Saving It Isn't a Priority  —  A New York Times/Siena College poll found that other problems have seized voters' focus — even as many do not trust this year's election results and are open to anti-democratic candidates.  —  Voters overwhelmingly believe …

Congress braces for new members who were at Capitol on Jan. 6  —  Three people who were on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 stand a serious chance of returning to the site of the deadly riot next January — this time as duly elected Republican members of Congress.

Menstrual cycle lengths vary between people of different ethnicities  —  Cycles may be 1.6 days longer in people who self-identify as Asian compared with their white non-Hispanic counterparts  —  A person's ethnicity may influence the length of their menstrual cycle.

No Laughing Matter  —  John Oliver badly botches the “gender-affirming care” debate.  —  The Social Order  —  Health Care  —  Yesterday, John Oliver devoted an episode of Last Week Tonight to transgender rights, specifically the controversy over “gender-affirming care” for minors.

Ted Cruz reimbursed himself $555,000 after successfully challenging a political spending law at the Supreme Court  — Ted Cruz's campaign paid him $555,000 to cover old personal loans to his Senate committee.  — It comes after Cruz successfully challenged a law that capped the amount candidates could repay themselves.

Scalise acknowledges GOP plan to change Social Security, Medicare  —  As the midterms elections near, voters don't appear focused on Republican plans for Social Security and Medicare.  That's probably a mistake.  —  The latest New York Times/Siena College poll asked respondents about the major issues facing the country.

New law asks Texas schools to distribute kits to students to keep DNA samples in case of emergencies like Uvalde  —  Texas public school systems are set to distribute DNA and fingerprint identification kits for K-8 students to parents who wish to store their child's DNA is case of emergency.

Ted Budd Aided Donors Trying To Bypass Predatory Lending Laws  —  North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Ted Budd used his congressional office to press federal regulators to let financial institutions evade his own state's prohibitions against predatory lending, despite warnings …

New Select Subcommittee Report Details Trump Administration's Assault on CDC and Politicization of Public Health During the Coronavirus Crisis  —  Report is the third installment detailing findings from investigation into Trump Administration's political interference with federal coronavirus response

New York Apple Growers Fume Over Overtime Rules  —  New regulations, called overdue by worker groups, upset farmers in a state with a long history of apple orchards, who say some fruit might go unpicked  —  KINDERHOOK, N.Y.—Golden Harvest Farms has grown from a small apple-growing operation …

Jury gets Danchenko case in what may be Durham's swan song  —  A federal jury in Virginia began deliberating Monday in the criminal case expected to be the final courtroom test for Special Counsel John Durham's investigation into the FBI's inquiry of ties between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.