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Today’s best stories
More intense fighting in Iran could resume in coming weeks as military reinforcements arrive and some American personnel leave the region. The change comes as a person briefed on U.S. and Israeli war plans told NPR that the countries are preparing plans for a possible attack on Iran after the U.S. midterms. Iran has said it is ready.
Traffic in Tehran passes an installation depicting butterflies forming the Iranian national flag on Wednesday.
Atta Kenaré/AFP via Getty Images
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Atta Kenaré/AFP via Getty Images
- 🎧 There are clear signs of preparation for a possible attacktells NPR’s Greg Myre First. The United States is deploying a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently visited Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Trump will likely consider military action after November 3 to prevent a spike in oil prices before the midterm elections. In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was ready for both diplomacy and war. While the United States and Israel possess the power to inflict heavy damage, Iran shows no signs of significant concession, Myre says. Instead, he demands formal control of the Strait of Hormuz and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region.
Even though Election Day is over a week awayNearly 21 million Americans have already voted, either by mail or early in-person voting, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.
- 🎧 This number of votes so far is a lot and that’s an increase of about 2 million since yesterday, according to NPR’s Saige Miller. In key battleground states, early voting is significantly higher than in the last midterm elections. While early voting data shouldn’t be overinterpreted as an indicator of final results, it does show that Democrats vote at higher rates than Republicans, Miller says. Unaffiliated voters also participate early. Democrats are generally more likely to vote early and Republicans are more likely to turn out to vote on Election Day, Miller says.
- ➡️ A federal judge in California limits the Department of Homeland Security’s pre-election operations. The agency says it wants to identify noncitizens who may have voted illegally in nine states.
- ➡️ The NPR app brings together all of NPR’s election coverage in one place – from the biggest stories across the country to issues that matter close to home. Browse headlines, playlists, podcast episodes, videos and more, all in the Election 2026 tab.
Trump to appear for deposition in his $10 billion defamation case against the BBC, a federal judge ruled. Trump is required to comply with the court’s rules or face sanctions, the judge said yesterday. The case centers on a Panorama broadcast in late October 2024, which allegedly edited the president’s January 6 speech to make it appear that he had incited a violent siege of Congress. Trump called the broadcast false, misleading and defamatory under Florida law.
- 🎧 It’s unclear whether Trump will show up for a deposition after previously canceling for “matters of national importance” and suggested January as an alternative, NPR’s David Folkenflik said. The case initially focused on the economic harm the broadcast caused to Trump’s brand and financial prospects. Although the BBC has apologized for the comparison, it is now seeking to understand Trump’s state of mind during his testimony, as he may have intended to encourage violence. BBC lawyers say more than 200 Jan. 6 defendants say Trump’s speech motivated them. The BBC is actively seeking details of Trump’s profits since returning to the White House, likely to assess the extent of the damage he faces, Folkenflik says.
Deep dive
Trump has promised to lower food prices during his second term. Although some products have become cheaper since his return to power, overall food prices have increased, due to factors such as increased labor costs, tariffs and higher energy prices due to the conflict with Iran. Specific problems facing a single crop, animal species, or geographic region can cause the price of one item to rise well above inflation, while driving down the price of another. NPR analyzed five everyday food items — ground beef, eggs, coffee, butter and chocolate chip cookies — to better understand the math behind grocery store prices.
- 🍔 Prices for ground beef have skyrocketed, reaching $6.79 per pound last month, an 85% increase over the past decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This increase is largely due to weather and financial pressures placed on producers.
- 🥚 Egg prices fell to $2.27 per dozen last month. Epidemics like bird flu can cause significant price fluctuations. In March 2025, the average dozen reached an all-time high of $6.23.
- 🧈 In September, a pound of butter cost an average of $3.96, down 17.3% from last year. U.S. butter production surged as dairy farms expanded their herds and increased milk supplies for popular products like Greek yogurt. This led to an oversupply of butter.
- 🍪 Chocolate chip cookie prices hit a record $5.35 per pound in January, and last month they fell 20 cents. The price surge is partly due to factors affecting the treat’s ingredients, such as rising flour costs driven by the war in Ukraine.
- ☕ The United States imports 99% of the coffee it consumes. Extreme weather and climate change have affected harvests, and the price of coffee is still 44% higher than it was two years earlier, despite Trump removing tariffs on the product.
Learn more about why these prices fluctuated here.
Weekend Picks
Petter Mattei plays the stars in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Lincoln at Bardoadapted from George Saunders’ surreal novel about the president mourning the loss of his son in the middle of the Civil War.
Karen Almond/Metropolitan Opera
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Karen Almond/Metropolitan Opera
Find out what NPR watch, read and listen this weekend:
🍿 Movies: A new film version of Jane Austen Senses and sensitivity focuses on the Dashwood family’s two older sisters, Elinor and Marianne, who face financial insecurity due to laws disadvantaging widows and daughters.
📺 Television: Actress Sharon Horgan plays Alex, a 50-year-old divorcee who finds herself at multiple personal and professional crossroads in the new HBO series Youth.
📚 Books: Barbara Trapido Brother of the most famous Jack follows Katherine Browne, determined to escape her stifling, conventional upbringing and create a life with fewer constraints.
🎵 Music: NPR Friday new music host Stephen Thompson discusses the best albums released today, including Anderson .Paak and Cordae’s The crown is heavy and Fenne Lily’s Win Win. Listen to a playlist of the best songs from the new albums.
🎭 Theater: Missy Mazzoli’s music recalls George Saunders’ Booker Prize-winning novel, Lincoln at Bardobrought to life in a stage adaptation at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Mazzoli is the first female composer to have a world premiere on the Met stage.
3 things to know before you leave
Karl Bushby, pictured here in Türkiye in 2025, began his Goliath expedition 28 years ago.
Karl Bushby
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Karl Bushby
- British adventurer Karl Bushby set out from Chile with the aim of traveling an uninterrupted path to his hometown in England. After 28 years, he has returned to the UK and plans to return to his mother’s home in Hull by November 1.
- At least four Trump merchandise stores have closed their doors this year as the MAGA Mall reports sales are down 30% compared to presidential election years.
- In this week’s edition of Far-Flung Postcards, NPR’s Carrie Kahn remembers feeling the rare power of nature at Iguazú Falls, on the border between Brazil and Argentina. A rainy October brought near-record volumes of water crashing over the cliffs.
This newsletter was published by Suzanne Nuyen.
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