World
A 28-year-old laboratory worker at Russia's Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute died of pneumonia of an undetermined cause, prompting officials to quarantine dozens of contacts and test them for plague. Russia's health watchdog says plague has not been found among those tested so far, and the WHO says Moscow reported no plague cases in Irkutsk. US officials are monitoring the case and pressing for more information, while Russian authorities say the situation is under control.
Reuters
Politics
The White House said families will be automatically enrolled in the child savings program known as Trump Accounts, an expansion of a plan created by the 2025 tax law. President Donald Trump announced the change in the Oval Office, saying the accounts help young Americans build wealth. The rollout comes about a month before the November 3 midterm elections. Democrats have criticized the program's design and cost, and Trump used the event to attack the opposition.
AP News
Business
US employers added just 29,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate held at 4.2 percent, a fresh sign that the labor market is cooling as 2026 enters its final quarter. Healthcare, construction and manufacturing added workers, while government, temporary help and financial activities shed jobs. Wage growth slowed to 3.0 percent a year, the weakest in more than five years and below forecasts. The report lands about a month before the November 3 midterm elections.
Fox Business
Technology
The head of chip materials maker AT&S says advanced semiconductor substrates have become a hidden bottleneck in the race to build AI systems, calling the technology the 'new gold' of the industry. As processors get faster, the packages that carry signals and power between a chip and its board matter more to performance. The warning adds to a run of supply constraints across the AI hardware chain, including tight memory capacity and rising DRAM prices.
CNBC
Science
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis. Their work explains how reactions can be steered toward one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule, a problem that matters for making medicines, flavours and scents. The two share 12 million Swedish crowns, about $1.2 million. The prize is the third of this year's Nobel awards.
Reuters
Sports
The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians in Game 2 of their American League Division Series and lead the best-of-five matchup 2-0. Chicago reached the playoffs after three straight seasons of at least 100 losses, a turnaround few predicted. Pitcher Sean Burke struck out six over 5 1/3 innings in the win. The series now moves to Cleveland, where the White Sox need one more victory to advance.
MLB.com
Health
Florida has reported 252 locally acquired dengue cases in 2026, making this the largest outbreak in the continental United States in decades, state health officials said. Most cases are in Hillsborough County, home to Tampa. The state has also logged 245 travel-related cases this year. Dengue spreads through infected mosquitoes, and most people who catch it have no symptoms. Florida reported one death this year, an older woman in Tampa.
AP News
Environment
Antarctic sea ice reached 16.73 million square kilometres on October 1, the lowest extent for that date in the satellite record, and the area on October 5 was 1.77 million square kilometres below the 1981 to 2010 average. Antarctic ice usually peaks in late September or early October, and NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center will confirm the 2026 maximum. In the Arctic, sea ice reached its annual minimum last month.
NASA / NSIDC