JQJO — Your world, one story at a time · Page 1199

Stocks slid Thursday as Meta plunged about 12% and Microsoft fell more than 3% despite solid results and higher spending plans. Jim Cramer called Meta’s drop a buy and the CNBC Investing Club lifted both Meta and Microsoft to its top 1 rating. He applauded the Federal Reserve’s quarter-point cut and Powell’s restraint on December guidance, noting housing stocks were doing better, citing Home Depot. Starbucks ticked higher after reporting positive same‑store sales last month and momentum into October; CEO Brian Niccol said the turnaround is ahead of schedule. Amazon and Apple report after the close.

Ohio’s bipartisan redistricting commission is poised to unveil a congressional map that modestly favors Republicans, shifting two Democratic districts right and one left while keeping 10 GOP-leaning seats and two Democratic strongholds. The unexpected deal averts a likely stalemate that could have sent mapping to the Republican-run Legislature and triggered a hard-to-mount referendum. Democrats Greg Landsman and Marcy Kaptur would see tougher races; Emilia Sykes’ district would tilt slightly more Democratic. The proposal lands amid an unusually aggressive mid-decade remap push, with several states redrawing lines to boost partisan edges.

Canva is relaunching Affinity as a single, all in one creative app for photo editing, vector illustration, and page layouts, promising it will be free forever with no subscription. Available now on Windows and Mac and coming to iPad, the app uses one universal file type and links directly to Canva accounts; Premium subscribers can access AI tools inside Affinity. Older Affinity apps will keep working, though support is unclear after V2 editions were pulled, and some creatives may resist the AI integrations.

A famed Montana find known as the Dueling Dinosaurs, first uncovered on a summer day, has upended decades of T. rex dogma. In Nature, paleontologists Lindsay Zanno and James Napoli report that the carnivore entangled with a triceratops isn’t a teenage Tyrannosaurus rex but a grown Nanotyrannus lancensis, based on robust arms, dental and tail differences, and growth-ring analysis showing maturity around age 20. While modeling other fossils, they identify a second species, Nanotyrannus lethaeus. The work at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences suggests multiple tyrannosaurs shared Cretaceous ecosystems, a view welcomed by an outside expert.

Fox News host Mark Levin slammed Steve Bannon for promoting a supposed plan for Donald Trump to seek a third term, calling him a liar and “self-serving demagogue.” Bannon fired back on Gettr and told The Economist there are “many different alternatives,” urging Americans to “get accommodated” to the idea. The 22nd Amendment bars serving more than twice. GOP operative Roger Stone also condemned Bannon. After flirting with the notion, Trump on Wednesday said the Constitution makes it “pretty clear” he can’t serve beyond two terms and shot down 2028 talk.

The Senate passed a 51–47 resolution to end President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, with Republicans Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and former GOP leader Mitch McConnell joining Democrats. It was the third such vote this week, after measures targeting tariffs on Canada and Brazil. The resolutions would unwind the tariffs by ending the president’s emergency declarations. Co-sponsor Rand Paul backed the effort, while McConnell said tariffs make building and buying costlier. Sponsor Tim Kaine argued Congress must exercise oversight. Still, the effort is symbolic, with the House unlikely to act, though Kaine says GOP defections can sway Trump.

After a bruising two years, Dutch voters delivered a seismic yet inconclusive verdict. Preliminary forecasts put centrist liberal D66 on top with 26 seats, vaulting Rob Jetten, cheered by a boisterous crowd in Leiden, into pole position to try forming a coalition that many parties refuse to share with PVV leader Geert Wilders. VVD limited losses to two seats, while Christian Democrats rebounded on a promise of decent politics. On the left, Frans Timmermans’ GreenLeft-Labor fell short and he quit, as SP shrank. Wilders lost 11 seats but vowed to keep fighting.

A randomized trial of 850 adults with mild to moderate depression found that as-needed text or email psychotherapy led to similar 12 week improvements as weekly video sessions, according to JAMA Network Open. Though not an equivalence study, researchers saw no outcome differences and no adverse events. Participants were more likely to drop out of video therapy, yet reported a slightly stronger bond with video clinicians. The findings fuel debate over insurer reimbursement for text therapy; experts call the evidence encouraging but incomplete, noting the exclusion of higher risk patients and gaps in tracking response speed or volume.

Paramount is moving ahead with a live-action Call of Duty movie, tapping Taylor Sheridan and Peter Berg to co-write and produce, with Berg directing. The filmmakers, longtime collaborators on projects like Hell or High Water and Wind River, will join Paramount and Activision to build a feature aimed at the franchise’s huge global audience. The project promises the series’ military-driven intensity while courting new viewers. Call of Duty has been the top-selling U.S. video game series for 16 straight years, with over 500 million copies sold worldwide.

At the Anzalduas International Bridge on Oct. 22, federal agents inspecting a silver Toyota bound for Mexico uncovered 163 concealed species — more than a dozen types of pythons, over 30 other snakes including a ghost Aztec jungle boa, plus tarantulas, salamanders, frogs and bearded dragons. Officers seized the truck, arrested the driver, and turned the reptiles and spiders over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a criminal probe began. Port officials said exotic pet smuggling is rising, noting recent spider monkey cases, with nearly 90 baby spider monkeys confiscated at the Texas-Mexico border in the past 18 months.