Daily News Briefing

AI

• OpenAI says operatives in Iran used its models to place articles in outletsOpenAI said on Thursday that operatives in Iran used its models and fake personas to place articles critical of the US war with Iran in US-facing outlets, and that "about a dozen outlets around the world ran roughly 100 articles by seven fake journalists," CNN reported. OpenAI said it banned the ChatGPT accounts involved and could not confirm who was behind the activity or whether they were tied to the Iranian government, according to CNN.
  Sources: CNN via KESQ

Financial

Early Friday, futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.4%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures edged up 0.1% and Nasdaq futures rose 0.7%, AP reported. The 10-year Treasury yield edged up to 5.25% on Friday, the U.S. dollar rose to 158.29 Japanese yen from 157.89 yen, and markets were closed in South Korea and Taiwan, according to AP.

Source: AP via WSLS (early Friday)

Real estate

• Forbes Advisor: average 30-year fixed rate at 7.49%The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 7.49% on Oct. 9, down 0.02 points from 7.51% a week ago, and the 15-year fixed averaged 6.65%, down 0.03 percentage points from the previous week, Forbes Advisor reported, citing the Mortgage Research Center.
  Sources: Forbes Advisor

Los Angeles

• Hollywood Burbank Airport's new terminal set to open Oct. 13The $1.3 billion terminal at Hollywood Burbank Airport is slated to open to the public on Oct. 13, with a new entrance at Winona Avenue and Hollywood Way, LAist reported. The facility is more than 50% larger than the current terminal and keeps the existing number of gates, according to LAist; Burbank Mayor Tamala Takahashi said, "we're going to have the same number of flights, the same number of planes."
  Sources: LAist
• ORIGIN Los Angeles venue holds grand opening Oct. 9 and 10ORIGIN Los Angeles, an indoor/outdoor electronic music venue at 613 Imperial Street in the Arts District, holds its grand opening weekend with MRAK on Friday, Oct. 9, and daytime and nighttime events on Saturday, Oct. 10, CelebrityAccess reported.
  Sources: CelebrityAccess

Santa Clarita

• The Rink Sports Pavilion grand opening FridayThe city of Santa Clarita said in a release published by The Signal that the City Council will lead a ribbon cutting for The Rink Sports Pavilion on Friday at 2 p.m., followed by a skating demonstration and facility tours. Two free opening-day public skating sessions run 5 to 7 p.m. and 8 to 10 p.m., and advance registration is required for both, according to the release; Mayor Laurene Weste called it "a place we know families will enjoy for years to come."
  Sources: The Signal
• Placerita Junior High reports on first dual-language cohort to the Hart district boardPrincipal Kyra Madsen told the William S. Hart Union High School District board on Wednesday that Placerita Junior High, a Title I campus of about 974 students, is expanding academic support and enrichment programs as its first dual-language cohort prepares for high school, KHTS reported. Madsen reported a 35% English learner reclassification rate last year and library circulation up 23% from the same time last year, according to KHTS.
  Sources: KHTS

Pullman-Moscow

• Whitman County mails November ballots a week earlyThe Whitman County Auditor's Office has mailed ballots for the Nov. 3 general election a week early, Pullman Radio reported. Auditor Sandy Jamison urged voters to use drop boxes in Pullman, Colfax, St. John, Oakesdale and Garfield, where ballots must be in by 8:00 on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to Pullman Radio.
  Sources: Pullman Radio
• Free Repair Cafe Sunday at the Palouse Nature Center in MoscowThe Moscow Public Library is holding a free Repair Cafe on Sunday, Oct. 11, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the PCEI Palouse Nature Center, 1040 Rodeo Drive in Moscow, where volunteers will try to fix items including books, clothing, jewelry, small appliances, toys and bikes, Pullman Radio reported.
  Sources: Pullman Radio
• Palouse Beauty Aesthetics grand opening Saturday in downtown MoscowPalouse Beauty Aesthetics holds its grand opening Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 105 E. Second St. in downtown Moscow, with a ribbon-cutting at 9:55 a.m., Pullman Radio reported.
  Sources: Pullman Radio

US politics

• Maduro and Cilia Flores charged with conspiracy to commit tortureThe Justice Department on Thursday unsealed a 30-page indictment in federal court in Manhattan adding a count of conspiracy to commit torture against Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, alleging that from at least 1999 through 2025 they and senior Venezuelan officials inflicted severe physical and mental pain on members of the political opposition, The New York Times reported via The Irish Times. Both have pleaded not guilty to earlier narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation charges and are scheduled for trial in June, according to the report; Fox News reported that Judge Alvin Hellerstein on Thursday denied Flores's request for release to home confinement.
  Sources: NYT via The Irish Times, Fox News via WFMD
• Vance suspends Microsoft from green card program; Trump gives Nadella national medalVice President JD Vance announced at a news conference Thursday that Microsoft was being suspended from a program that lets companies apply for green cards for skilled foreign workers on H-1B visas, saying, "You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants," AP reported. The same day at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, President Trump presented Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation; Microsoft said most of its H-1B applications last fiscal year were "to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees," according to AP.
  Sources: AP via ABC News

Global risks

Catastrophic events

Good news

• Navi Pillay wins the 2026 Nobel Peace PrizeThe Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Friday to South African jurist Navi Pillay, 85, Al Jazeera reported. Al Jazeera said she was honored for her work to promote peace and international law and that she has served on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court and as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
  Sources: Al Jazeera
• More than 14,000 explosive items cleared near Misratah, LibyaImplementing partners cleared 14,066 items of explosive ordnance from Al-Sweihli Farm in Misratah, Libya, between January and September, according to a field report from the Libyan Peace Organization published by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Good News Network reported that the clearance lets displaced residents return to their land.
  Sources: Good News Network, UNSMIL
• Study maps the epigenome of Jonathan, a 194-year-old tortoiseResearchers led by the longevity non-profit Kallel published a study in Science Advances on Jonathan, an Aldabra giant tortoise estimated at 194 years old who lives on St. Helena, finding 287 unique gene variants, Good News Network reported on Oct. 8. It is the first time the epigenome of a giant tortoise has been studied, according to Good News Network.
  Sources: Good News Network