Good morning. We’re covering the U.S. campaign two weeks from Election Day and the latest on the conflict in Lebanon.
Plus, Aleksei Navalny’s memoir.
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Erin Schaff for The New York Times, Nicole Craine for The New York Times |
The U.S. presidential race is essentially tied
With two weeks to go before the Nov. 5 vote, polls show Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are running neck and neck, Nate Cohn, The Times’s chief political analyst, writes.
Harris and Trump are essentially tied in The Times’s polling average of five critical battleground states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin and North Carolina. Neither candidate is ahead by a single point, and in several of these states neither candidate is ahead by more than two-tenths of a percentage point.
Elections, however, aren’t decided by the polls; they’re decided by the voters. A lead or a deficit of 0.2 points in a polling average is not the difference between winning or losing, even though it may feel like it. Read the rest of Nate’s analysis here.
The last-ditch hunt for undecided voters: Both campaigns are desperately hunting for the few voters still up for grabs. Both camps think many of them are younger, Black or Latino. The Harris team is also eyeing white, college-educated women.
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Smoke billowed from buildings after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, on Saturday. Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times |
The Lebanon conflict is ‘out of control,’ a U.S. official said
President Biden’s envoy to Lebanon said yesterday that the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah had “escalated out of control.”
On a visit to Beirut, the envoy, Amos Hochstein, called for the revival of a U.N. resolution that would require Israeli forces to withdraw from Lebanon, and for Hezbollah to be disarmed along the countries’ border.
Later, the Israeli military launched new waves of airstrikes near Beirut. At least four people were killed, including a child, and more than 20 injured in an attack near a government hospital, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Here’s the latest.
Other developments in the Middle East:
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This year’s BRICS summit will be held in Kazan, Russia. Maxim Shipenkov/EPA, via Shutterstock |
Russia hosts nations in hopes of eclipsing the West
The BRICS summit — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — begins today in Kazan, a city in southwest Russia. President Vladimir Putin hopes the meeting will show the West that, despite Russia’s global isolation, he still has important economic allies.
What’s at stake: Russia hopes to bring countries into a coalition to form a new world order not dominated by the West. While Putin will be the host, China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, will arrive at the summit in a commanding position. Analysts said they would be watching how Xi interacts with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, who has drawn closer to the U.S. in recent years. Here’s what else to watch.
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President Maia Sandu of Moldova prepared to cast her vote on Sunday. Vadim Ghirda/Associated Press |
Sports
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The Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc after winning the U.S. Grand Prix. Nick Didlick/Associated Press |
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The Sani family at home in Kano, Nigeria. Yagazie Emezi for The New York Times |
A comedy-drama television show called “Gidan Badamasi” has struck a chord with families across northern Nigeria for asking the question: how many children is too many?
Attitudes about family size are shifting across Africa. A protracted baby boom has produced the world’s youngest, fastest-growing population, opening up potential benefits for global influence and economic growth. But it also creates a challenge to educate and employ all of these young people.
Lives lived: Fethullah Gulen, who was accused of plotting a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey in 2016, has died at 83.
- A pop-star whisperer: Daniel Nigro has helped craft huge albums with Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo. What’s the key to his success? Belief.
- Studying the dirt of ancient Rome: By learning the secrets of 2,000-year-old cement, researchers are trying to devise greener options.
- Money, sex and activism: Mia Khalifa talked to us about her choice to leverage her past as an adult-film actress.
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