Stevens defects to back El-Sayed’s Michigan opponent as Trump delivers anti-Muslim tirade | First Thing

Good morning. Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who lost the Michigan Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, has endorsed his Republican rival in an extraordinary rebuke of her party’s nominee on the eve of the midterm elections. Tensions between El-Sayed and Stevens had already led to him asking her to stay away from his campaign events, and her endorsement of Mike Rogers comes as the US president unleashed a racist tirade against El-Sayed in Iowa.

• What did Stevens do? Her endorsement came in a video posted to X after she attended an event with Rogers at the predominantly Black Perfecting church in Detroit on Sunday. Stevens’s endorsement was the culmination of an escalating feud between the former primary rivals – primarily over support for Israel – that has roiled one of the most fiercely contested Senate contests of the cycle.

• What did Trump say? The president bashed El-Sayed, a practicing Muslim, in brazenly racist terms, saying that Congress would have to “get a special metal detector for Abdul” if he were elected. “If you vote for this jihadist lunatic that wants to destroy you, you’re crazy. Mike Rodgers is apple pie. And you know what this country needs? A little apple pie. We don’t need the communists or jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood. We need apple pie.”

Judge dismisses Trump attempt to block Alaska Senate race results if Republican loses

A judge has dismissed the Donald Trump-backed lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s US Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses. The justice department argued in its lawsuit, filed less than two weeks before election day, that there could be “voter confusion” over the presence of two candidates named Dan Sullivan on the November ballot. The justice department said it planned to appeal Sunday’s ruling.

According to a recent New York Times investigation, aides from Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign recruited another man who shared Sullivan’s name to join the race in a ploy to peel away votes from the Republican incumbent. Peltola has continued to deny any knowledge of such a scheme.

Investors pull billions in funds from Binance after record $۶.۳bn hack

Investors have pulled $۳.۶bn in funds from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance as it recovers from a record hack in which billions were stolen from customer accounts.

The platform was hit by a $۶.۳bn theft on Thursday, which has since been described as the biggest heist in history. Experts identified North Korea as the probable culprit. Binance initially froze withdrawals as it investigated the breach but on Sunday announced it had begun a phased reopening.

Israel has ‘historic’ opportunity to change direction, says leader of Arab coalition

The leader of Israel’s main Palestinian coalition, which holds the balance of power after Tuesday’s elections, has said the country is facing a historic opportunity to change direction. Yousef Jabareen said he was ready to join forces with the Change bloc to oust Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition, and to wrest control of the Knesset.

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, is due to summon political leaders as early as Wednesday to canvass their recommendations on who should be given the first chance to form the next government. Netanyahu’s coalition lost its majority. The Change bloc of Zionist parties led by the retired general Gadi Eisenkot has ruled out forming a unity government with Netanyahu, but also put conditions on any potential coalition with Arab parties.

• What are the latest diplomatic efforts over the US-Iran war? Officials from the Gulf states are “braced for the worst” as they wait for Washington’s response to an Iranian proposal that could reopen the strait of Hormuz before the US midterm elections on Tuesday. Indirect talks in Doha ran into a third day on Sunday. The United Arab Emirates envoy Anwar Gargash said another round of escalation was not in the interests of Iran or any of its neighbours.

In other news …

• Italian Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest ever F۱ world champion after securing third place in the Mexican GP. Giles Richards explains here how he did it.

• Connecticut senator Chris Murphy has been hospitalized after a stroke. Murphy, ۵۳, started feeling numbness in his arm while attending his son’s hockey game.

• All nine people onboard a business jet that crashed in Florida have died. The aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom international airport and was headed to the Bahamas when it crashed.

• The parents of a woman who died of a seizure after ChatGPT misguidance are suing OpenAI. The chatbot had allegedly provided her with a tapering schedule to reduce her anti-seizure medication dosage.

• Juan Atkins, pioneer of the Detroit techno sound, has died aged ۶۴. The US artist known as Model ۵۰۰ and as one half of the duo Cybotron had a huge influence on dance music worldwide.

Stat of the day: Nine big oil firms on track to share more than $۹۵bn profit two quarters in a row

The world’s biggest oil companies are on track for profits of more than $۹۵bn (£۷۱bn) in the third quarter as the war in the Middle East drives up the price of fossil fuels. The windfall war profits have sparked calls for oil corporations to pay for environmental damage and help the world transition towards renewable energy.

Building Power: US attorneys are freeing children from Trump’s ‘deportation machine’ with a new strategy

In this exclusive report, Alexandra Villarreal in New York finds that immigration advocates are securing early release of minors by filing habeas corpus petitions amid a harsh crackdown.

Don’t miss this: How a small Wisconsin city scuttled a secretive $۱.۶bn datacenter project

Residents of Menomonie mounted a successful protest against a huge campus in the city as national resistance to the AI boom grows.

… or this: ‘Traitors in every family’ – Hungary to unmask communist-era informants and confront past

From ۱۹۴۵ to ۱۹۸۹ security police relied on tens of thousands of spies to suppress dissent in the eastern European Soviet satellite state. To rebuild trust, their files will finally be made public.

Climate check: Cryosphere faces permanent damage when world overshoots ۱.۵C, scientists warn

The planet has heated by ۱.۳C since preindustrial times and failures to curb greenhouse gas emissions and protect nature have led scientists to conclude that some level of overshoot is inevitable as they fight to keep end-of-century warming to ۱.۵C. The UN report also found that Earth’s icy regions face such dangerous melting that global heating should be brought back below ۱C after an inevitable period of overshooting global temperature targets.

Last Thing: Australian man catches fish worth $۷۰۰,۰۰۰

Matthew Maurice landed a ۸۰cm (۲ft ۷in) barramundi as part of a competition in Australia’s Northern Territory, and found it was tagged with the top prize of $۱m Australian dollars, the equivalent of $۷۰۰,۰۰۰. “I’m just happy to catch fish. I can’t believe I caught a million dollars’ worth of fish,” Maurice said during a press conference.

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