World
Federal prosecutors in New York unsealed a superseding indictment on Thursday that charges ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, with conspiracy to commit torture. The filing in Manhattan federal court says the couple directed a campaign of beatings, electric shocks and asphyxiation against political opponents and more than a dozen American citizens held in Venezuelan custody. Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, already face narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking charges and have pleaded not guilty. Both have been held in federal custody since January, and their trial is set for June 2027. FBI Director Kash Patel said the two would now answer for the alleged abuses.
AP / CBS News / Reuters
Politics
Three news organisations barred from White House press areas asked a federal judge on Thursday to keep the administration's ban blocked while their lawsuit proceeds. CNN, MS NOW and Politico argued in Washington that the restrictions punish them for coverage the president dislikes and that they break the First Amendment. Government lawyers defend the rules as a matter of managing access, saying the White House can decide who enters its grounds. The case is one of several legal fights between the administration and major newsrooms, and it is moving forward weeks before the November 3 midterm elections. Both sides have signalled they will appeal any final decision, so the dispute could last well beyond this election.
Reuters / NPR / AP
Business
FedEx has placed a binding order for 2,000 all-electric medium-duty trucks from California manufacturer Harbinger, in a deal worth more than $300 million. Harbinger announced the order on September 30, saying the Class 5 and 6 vehicles will be delivered by the end of 2027 and deployed across FedEx pickup and delivery operations in the United States and Canada. The trucks will replace diesel vehicles one for one. FedEx bought 53 Harbinger trucks less than a year ago and co-led a $160 million funding round. Harbinger estimates the new fleet could avoid 1.7 million tonnes of carbon emissions over a 20-year service life.
Harbinger / Inbound Logistics / ESG News
Technology
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched an experimental satellite on October 1 carrying four of Google's Trillium TPUs, the processors that run its Gemini models, into low-Earth orbit. Google confirmed contact and says the satellite is working as expected. The craft, built with Planet Labs, is about the size of a refrigerator and is designed to run for roughly a year. It runs Gemini in 15-minute bursts, then shuts down so heat can radiate away through pipes and panels. Project Suncatcher aims to test whether near-constant sunlight in the right orbit can power AI computing more cheaply than data centres on the ground.
CNBC / Scientific American
Science
Physicists at the National University of Singapore have built an optical atomic clock from a single lutetium ion and measured its frequency to 19 decimal places. The team reported an uncertainty of 1 x 10^-19, the lowest for any optical clock, in the journal Nature on September 23. Two independently built clocks ran side by side for 200 hours and agreed to within 5.7 x 10^-19, the most precise comparison of its kind. The design is unusually resistant to changes in temperature and magnetic fields. The researchers say such clocks could help redefine the second. Optical clocks are already used in laboratories to test relativity, and national metrology institutes are comparing designs to decide which one should replace caesium.
Nature / Live Science / phys.org
Sports
Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees with a 4-3 win in Game 3, reaching the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2020. Closer Bryan Baker struck out Trent Grisham with the tying run on second to end it. The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 to win their division series 3-1 and reach a third straight NLCS, where they will face the Milwaukee Brewers. Cleveland stayed alive in the other AL series by beating the Chicago White Sox to cut their deficit to 2-1 ahead of Thursday's Game 4. The White Sox can clinch a place in the championship series with a win in Game 4, while Cleveland needs to win twice to advance.
MLB.com / ESPN / theScore
Health
Pennsylvania health officials say the state has recorded more than 1,000 measles cases in 2026, the largest outbreak in any US state in more than three decades. In a Monday update the department reported 1,004 cases, including 198 hospitalisations and five deaths. The outbreak began in April west of Philadelphia and has since spread to 39 counties. Lancaster County has the most cases, followed by Mifflin County. Nationwide, cases are nearing 3,900 this year, the worst total since 1991. Officials say the vaccine is 97 per cent effective after two doses. Only four cases have been reported among people who were vaccinated, state data show, and officials say most patients were unvaccinated or their status was unknown.
POLITICO / Ars Technica / PA Department of Health
Environment
The 2026 El Nino has set a record for ocean warmth in the central equatorial Pacific, and forecasters expect it to strengthen further. On September 21 the daily sea-surface temperature anomaly in the key monitoring region reached about 3.1C above the 1991-2020 average, above the previous record of 3.02C set in November 2015. NOAA gives a greater than 90 per cent chance of a very strong El Nino through the coming winter, and a 75 per cent chance that the October-to-December period exceeds every event in its records going back to 1950. Carbon Brief notes the 2026 event is on track to smash the all-time record, with models showing it still strengthening as the year ends.
NOAA / Carbon Brief / Science News Explores