JQJO — General news · Page 12

Cannabis shares are stirring after years of drift, buoyed by hopes for federal rules on hemp products and hints that President Donald Trump could soften policy on marijuana. Verano posted $203 million in revenue and a $44 million loss, while Curaleaf and Trulieve report next week. Tilray’s stock has already jumped on strong results, and a Trump-shared video touting Medicare coverage for CBD sparked broad gains. Washington is weighing hemp regulations and possible marijuana rescheduling, even as some Republicans push curbs, leaving investors betting on clarity to unlock growth.

Chicago’s improbable surge rolled on with a 135-125 win over the Knicks, their first in NBA Cup play, pushing the Bulls to 5-0 for the first time since 1996-97. Josh Giddey starred with a career-high 32 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, with Nikola Vucevic adding 26 and four threes, and Ayo Dosunmu 22 and nine. Up 19 at halftime, Chicago steadied after a late Mikal Bridges three cut the lead to four, closing with an 8-0 burst. The Improbabulls sit atop the Eastern Conference as its lone unbeaten.

University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno has mapped the look of the duck-billed Edmontosaurus annectens in rare detail, publishing findings in Science after tracking down a century-old mummy site in eastern Wyoming. Archival sleuthing and a tip from a rancher whose great-grandmother was the Warren, Wyoming postmaster led his team to the mummy zone, where river sand preserved skin as fragile clay masks. The specimens, an adult Ed Sr. and late juvenile Ed Jr. (the only juvenile dinosaur mummy, the university says), reveal hooves, a crest, and tail spikes. Experts praised the feet and called the study a baseline.

An intensifying government shutdown is approaching five weeks, with food stamp benefits at risk, airports slowed by staffing shortages, and hundreds of thousands of federal workers unpaid. President Trump left Washington for Florida events and touted a renovated White House bathroom, while blaming Democrats and calling to eliminate the filibuster, a step Senate Republicans reject. The stalemate centers on a short term funding bill: Republicans back current levels; Democrats seek health care money and limits on funding freezes. A judge ordered SNAP payments to continue, but timing is unclear, as polls show more voters fault Republicans and Trump.

Heidi Klum reigned over Halloween night with a lurid Medusa look, her headpiece alive with writhing snakes and crafted by Mike Marino and a team of more than 35. Husband Tom Kaulitz played her petrified victim. Stars piled into her annual bash: Ice-T and Coco Austin leaned into slasher vibes, James Charles went headless horseman, Darren Criss turned Shrek, and Ilona Maher channeled vintage Barbie. Online, responses ranged from buzz to backlash over Julia Fox’s blood-soaked Jackie Kennedy. Beyond Heidiween, costumes surfaced outside Hollywood, with President Trump hosting and JD Vance channeling his own meme.

The US plans to announce that Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV, which has facilities in China, will resume shipping chips, according to a person familiar with the matter. The step follows a trade pact reached by Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at their summit this week. The Trump administration is preparing a fact sheet on the US-China deal that will outline the move. The agreement involving Nexperia was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Donald Trump’s early departure from the Apec summit in Gyeongju left space for Xi Jinping to cast himself as a champion of open trade, as leaders wrestled with a fractured forum that produced only a vague declaration without mentioning the WTO. Canada’s Mark Carney and Xi signaled a thaw, with an invitation to visit China and talk of a turning point, days after the White House cancelled trade negotiations and raised tariffs on Canada. Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, made a low-key but steady debut, balancing careful ties with Seoul and guarded engagement with Beijing.

South Park’s Oct. 31 Halloween episode went gleefully meta. Stan railed that the show "sucks now" for politics, then launched a South Park Sucks crypto, sending cousin Kyle Schwartz to seek Trump's protection. Trump held a seance led by Attorney General Pam Bondi to expel a behatted haunt, revealed as Melania, while FCC chair Brendan Carr appeared as a mummy after "losing his freedom of speech," according to Stephen Miller. The Friday special, The Woman in the Hat, arrived two days late amid 2025 delays; new episodes are slated for Nov. 12, Nov. 26 and Dec. 10.

After a longer wait than expected, North Carolina coach Bill Belichick notched his first conference win Friday at Syracuse. Trailing 10-3 late in the first half, the Tar Heels stormed back for a 27-10 victory, holding the Orange to 147 total yards while piling up 425. The result moves UNC to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the ACC, with four games left; Syracuse falls to 3-6. Next up for North Carolina is Stanford, a matchup tinged by Frank Reich’s Super Bowl LII history against Belichick.

Leaning into Halloween, Vice President JD Vance donned a wig and parodied the “babyface Vance” meme in a TikTok, saying, “Happy Halloween… say thank you,” over The Twilight Zone theme. Online reactions followed: the Democrats’ X account mocked him, he rejected a costume prompt from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna with another meme, and Gov. Gavin Newsom and editor Ron Filipkowski responded critically. The meme, popular since last October, trailed him on a U.K. trip, figured in a Norwegian tourist’s alleged U.S. entry denial, and evolved after a March meeting where Vance pressed Volodymyr Zelensky to say “thank you.”