Ukraine says it will need $120bn in defence funding in 2026 to stave off Russia’s more than three-year war.

Germany has pledged more than $2bn in military aid for Ukraine, as the government in Kyiv signalled that it would need $120bn in 2026 to stave off Russia’s nearly four-year all-out war.

Speaking on Wednesday at a Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in Brussels, German Foreign Minister Boris Pistorius said that Western allies must maintain their resolve and provide more weapons to Ukraine.

“You can count on Germany. We will continue and expand our support for Ukraine. With new contracts, Germany will provide additional support amounting to over 2 billion euros [$2.3bn],” Pistorius told the meeting in Brussels, which was also attended by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal.

“The package addresses a number of urgent requirements of Ukraine. It provides air defence systems, Patriot interceptors, radar systems and precision guided artillery, rockets and ammunition,” Pistorius said, adding that Germany will also deliver two additional IRIS-T air defence systems to Ukraine, including a large number of guided missiles and shoulder-fired air defence missiles.

In recent months, the transatlantic alliance started to coordinate regular deliveries of large weapons packages to Ukraine to help fend off Russia’s war.

Spare weapons stocks in European arsenals have all but dried up, and only the United States has a sufficient store of ready weapons that Ukraine most needs.

Under the financial arrangement – known as the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) – European allies and Canada are buying US weapons to help Kyiv keep Russian forces at bay. About $2bn worth had previously been allocated since August.

Germany’s pledge came as Ukraine’s Western backers gathered to drum up more military support for their beleaguered partner.

Shmyhal put his country’s defence needs next year at $120bn. “Ukraine will cover half, $60bn, from our national resources. We are asking partners to join us in covering the other half,” he said.

Air defence systems are most in need. Shmyhal said that last month alone, Russia “launched over 5,600 strike drones and more than 180 missiles targeting our civilian infrastructure and people”.

The new pledges of support came a day after new data showed that foreign military aid to Ukraine had declined sharply recently. Despite the PURL programme, support plunged by 43 percent in July and August compared to the first half of the year, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute, which tracks such deliveries and funding.

Hegseth said that “all countries need to translate goals into guns, commitments into capabilities and pledges into power. That’s all that matters. Hard power. It’s the only thing belligerents actually respect.”

The administration of US President Donald Trump hasn’t donated military equipment to Ukraine. It has been weighing whether to send Tomahawk long-range missiles if Russia doesn’t wind down its war soon, but it remains unclear who will pay for those weapons, should they be approved.

Stellantis announced a $13bn investment in the US, which will see production of the Jeep Compass move to the US from Canada.

Canada has threatened legal action against carmaker Stellantis NV over what Ottawa says is the company’s unacceptable plan to shift production of one model to a United States plant.

On Wednesday, Minister of Industry Melanie Joly sent a letter to Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa noting that the company had agreed to maintain its Canadian presence in exchange for substantial financial support.

“Anything short of fulfilling that commitment will be considered a default under our agreement,” she said. If Stellantis did not live up to its commitment, Canada would “exercise all options, including legal”, she said.

Stellantis announced a $13bn investment in the US on Tuesday, a move that it said would bring five new models to the market. As part of the plan, production of the Jeep Compass will move to the US state of Illinois from a facility in Brampton in the Canadian province of Ontario.

A copy of the letter was made available to the Reuters news agency. The existence of the letter was first reported by Bloomberg.

Stellantis had paused retooling of the Brampton plant in February, shortly after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs against Canadian goods, upending the highly integrated North American auto industry.

In a statement on Tuesday night, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa had made clear it expected Stellantis to fulfil the undertakings it had made to the workers at the plant.

“We are working with the company to develop the right measures to protect Stellantis employees,” he said.

Ontario is Canada’s industrial heartland and accounts for about 40 percent of its national gross domestic product (GDP).

“I have spoken with Stellantis to stress my disappointment with their decision,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on social media on Wednesday.

Stellantis spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin said the company was investing in Canada and noted plans to add a third shift to a plant in Windsor, Ontario.

“Canada is very important to us. We have plans for Brampton and will share them upon further discussions with the Canadian government,” she said in an emailed statement.

Jonathan Ross’s position as a Traitor is looking precarious as the the other two form an plan to ditch him if necessary

As three more Faithfula were removed from the The Celebrity Traitors’ castle tonight, the Traitors were revelling in their own success.

But it might not be long before one of them gets their comeuppance, with Alan Carr and Cat Burns seeming to form an alliance against fellow Traitor Jonathan Ross because his name is being mentioned by other players. The pair were seen by viewers plotting to “throw him under the bus” if his streak of having heat on him continues.

As he became the second player to be murdered, Olympic diver Tom Daley admitted he was “so sad” to go. Speaking afterwards, he said he would have fared better as a Traitor because when he and his family play at home he never gets detected in the baddie role, but always gets wrongly accused when he’s a Faithful.

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He realised too late that he was being overly forthright with his accusations, with were largely directed at Kate Garraway. “Every time I’ve played as a Faithful, people thought I was a Traitor because I was always trying to figure out who the Traitors were,” he said. “I can perhaps be a little too vocal with my ideas in pursuit of them, which is exactly what has happened here.”

Dad of two Tom, 31, said he felt both “confused” and “disappointed” to go out so early – but questioned the Traitors’ tactics in getting rid of him when there was already heat directed his way.

“It was so sad when I saw the letter on the chair and I instantly knew I’d been murdered,” he explained. “I was very confused about what The Traitors are doing because I clearly would be someone that would get banished at the Round Table. If any of the Traitors just planted that seed, I’m sure I would be banished.

“They could have murdered someone that they know would never have gotten banished at the Round Table. Maybe they thought of me as a threat. Maybe I was getting too close to the right answers.

“I just thought, if I notice something I’m going to say it. However, I must have said a few too many things in front of the wrong people!”

YouTuber and prankster Niko Omilana looked gutted as he became the second Faithful to be selected for banishment at the Round Table, in a plot carefully constructed by the Traitors. He summed up his short time in the castle with the three words: ”Betrayal. Set-up. And loser.”

But he said one positive he was taking away was that he’d overcome his long-held fear of public speaking. “At the table, I was quite nervous when I first started talking, but then as it went on, I felt more confident,” he said. “I’m quite chuffed with that, because I really don’t like public speaking.

“It’s one of my big fears. Seeing everyone staring at me, having to defend myself and really making sure I didn’t go down without a fight. I think I did that. That was something I learned about myself, which I’m happy about.”

And at the end of the show, EastEnders star Tameka Empson suffered the same fate, much to the agony of the remaining Faithfuls in the room. The actress, 48, admitted to finding it all quite tough after the accusations against her were led by actor Mark Bonnar. “I was very emotional,” she confessed once she had left the castle.

“In my mind, I thought, ‘I’m not going out’. I was sad to leave the game, because in this industry you get to know people to a certain point but in this environment, it was really lovely to spend this length of time and really get to know everyone.”

And despite him being a Traitor, she laughed: “Jonathan is a big teddy bear.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 9.36%) jumped on Wednesday, finishing the day up 9.4%. The spike came as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively.

The chipmaker’s stock is continuing to surge after Oracle announced it intends to deploy 50,000 AMD chips by the end of 2026.

Oracle will use AMD

Oracle, an increasingly central player in AI cloud computing, will purchase 50,000 of AMD’s next-generation MI450 chips to power its servers. The chips are designed to compete head-to-head with those of Nvidia.

This is the latest in a string of announcements that make clear that AMD has a much more substantial role to play in AI than it has up to this point. Just this month, OpenAI and AMD announced a major deal that could see the ChatGPT creator owning roughly 10% of the company in exchange for purchasing a large number of AMD chips.

Image source: Getty Images.

Speaking to AMD’s growing role, Karan Batta, senior vice president of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, said she expects customers “to take up AMD very, very well — especially in the inferencing space.”

AMD looks to be capitalizing on the AI opportunity, and if AI demand holds, it could do very well. While the stock is anything but cheap, it’s a good pick given its growth prospects.

Several airports in California have refused to play a video featuring U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for delays due to the federal government shutdown.

The video, playing for travelers waiting in Transportation Security Administration security lines at airports across the country, comes as the government entered a third week of a shutdown after Congress failed to reach an agreement on funding legislation.

“It is TSA’s top priority to make sure you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience as possible while we keep you safe,” Noem says in the video. “However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government and because of this many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.”

Officials at multiple airports in California say they are not playing the video at their locations. They include: John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Hollywood Burbank Airport, San Diego International Airport, San José Mineta International Airport, Sacramento International Airport, Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport and San Francisco International Airport.

Officials from Los Angeles International Airport did respond to questions on whether the video was being played there.

Some airport officials have refused to play the video, calling it inappropriate. On Tuesday, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation called for Noem to be investigated for possibly breaking the Hatch Act by asking airports to play the video.

“Recent reports indicate DHS is using taxpayer dollars and federal assets to produce and air a video message featuring Secretary Noem, in her official capacity, making political attacks against Democratic Members of Congress,” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) wrote in a letter addressed to the Office of Special Counsel and reviewed by The Times. “This message is not just false; it appears to violate the prohibitions contained in the Hatch Act.”

The act, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, is to “ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion,” as well as protect federal employees from political coercion at work.

Noem’s video was received by airports on Thursday and was followed up by a verbal request from DHS officials to play it at security checkpoints, multiple airport officials told The Times.

The reasons the video is not being shown for California fliers varies.

In Orange County, airport spokesperson AnnaSophia Servin said that Homeland Security requested, to the airport’s director, that the video be played, but a final decision has not yet been made. In Burbank, political messaging is prohibited, officials said. In San José, an airport spokesperson said there have been no shutdown impacts and therefore no reason to play the video.

At San Francisco International Airport, officials determined that the video wasn’t helpful.

“SFO limits messaging at our security checkpoints to information intended to help passengers be prepared to go through the security screening process,” a spokesperson said in an email. “Any content, whether in video or print form, which does not meet this standard, will not be shown.”

When The Times asked Homeland Security officials to respond to airports not playing Noem’s video, spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin responded with Noem’s video statement blaming Democrats.

But California airports aren’t the only locations choosing not to play Noem’s message.

Airports in Oregon, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Phoenix, Seattle have also opted not to play it.

“We did not consent to playing the video in its current form, as we believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political purposes and messaging,” said Molly Prescott, a spokesperson for the Port of Portland, which manages Portland International Airport, said in a statement.

Oregon law also prohibits public employees from politicking on the job.

“We believe consenting to playing this video on Port assets would violate Oregon law,” she said.

Officials in New York also pushed back against airing the video.

“It is inappropriate, unacceptable, and inconsistent with the values we expect from our nation’s top public officials,” New York’s Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said in a statement. “The [Public Service Announcement] politicizes the impacts of a federal government shutdown on TSA Operations, and the County finds the tone to be unnecessarily alarmist.”

According to the Homeland Security website, more than 61,000 TSA employees continue to work despite a lapse in appropriations, and a lack of a paycheck to employees.

Manchester City and Chelsea to vie for Elliot Anderson, Tottenham prepare shock bid for Harry Kane, Manchester United want Mateo Retegui, Roma lead the race for Joshua Zirkzee.

Manchester City are plotting a £75m bid for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson next summer but are likely to face stiff competition from Chelsea for the 22-year-old England international. (Express, external)

Tottenham are preparing a blockbuster move to bring Harry Kane back to north London from Bayern Munich next summer and are ready to meet the 32-year-old England captain’s release clause and wage demands. (Teamtalk, external)

Crystal Palace are relaxed about the future of Adam Wharton amid increasing speculation of interest from Premier League rivals Manchester United for the 21-year-old England midfielder. (Sky Sports, external)

Manchester United are interested in signing a striker in the summer and are targeting Mateo Retegui, with Ruben Amorim prepared to spend up to £52m to sign the 26-year-old Italy forward from Saudi Pro League club Al-Qadsiah. (Fichajes – in Spanish, external)

Turkey forward Kenan Yildiz continues to push for an improved contract at Juventus but with talks yet to bear fruit, clubs including Chelsea, Arsenal and Barcelona are keeping a close eye on the 20-year-old. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian, external)

Paris St-Germain are holding contract negotiations with Bradley Barcola, 23, after the France forward attracted interest from several clubs including Liverpool and Bayern Munich in the summer. (L’Equipe – in French, external)

Barcelona and Real Madrid are set to battle each other to sign Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano, 26, on a free transfer next summer but Manchester United are also interested in the France international. (Footmercato – in French, external)

AS Roma are in pole position to sign Manchester United forward Joshua Zirkzee but Como also have the finances to bring the 24-year-old Netherlands striker back to Serie A. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian, external)

Juventus have rebuffed multiple enquiries for France defensive midfielder Khephren Thuram, 24, from Premier League clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool during the past six months. (TBR Football, external)

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has doubts about his long-term future at Stamford Bridge amid Juventus considering the 45-year-old Italian as a serious candidate to take charge of the Serie A club. (Teamtalk, external)

Oct. 15 (UPI) — The Japanese Diet is scheduled to vote on the nation’s next prime minister on Tuesday, which has political parties angling to gain support for their preferred candidates.

Sanae Takaichi is the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and is its choice to become Japan’s next prime minister, but opposition parties might block her path, according to NHK World.

The LDP has asked the opposition Japan Innovation Party to join its political coalition and support Takaichi’s candidacy to replace outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

The JIP would replace the Komeito party, which last week announced its withdrawal from the ruling coalition.

LDP members hold 196 of 465 seats in Japan’s House of Representatives and 100 of 248 seats in the House of Councillors [sic], which is the most of any political party.

While it holds more seats in the Japanese Diet than any other political party, it does not control of majority and seeks additional support to solidify Takaichi’s candidacy.

The opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan also seeks support from the JIP and the Democratic Party for the People to promote a viable candidate capable of winning the Diet’s vote over Takaichi.

Despite the opposition to her candidacy to become prime minister, Takaichi told supporters she “will never give up” in her quest to win the election, which typically goes to the leader of the ruling party, China Daily reported.

The leaders of Japan’s various political parties have several meetings scheduled on Wednesday to potentially build support coalitions that could result in Takaichi or other candidates to replace Ishiba as Japan’s prime minister.

DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki is among those who might derail Takaichi’s effort to become prime minister.

If Takaichi should become Japan’s next prime minister, she would be the nation’s first woman to hold the position, according to CNBC.

Despite a handful of popular Día de los Muertos events facing cancellation due to community fears surrounding ICE operations, many annual celebrations throughout Southern California will continue to honor the dearly departed as planned.

Organizers for the Oct. 18 El Sereno Día de los Muertos Festival are working with Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado and her team to ensure the safety of its attendees during a precarious time for immigrant communities. Others, like the Museum of Latin American Art’s Day of the Dead Family Festival on Oct. 26, are placing an added emphasis on resilience.

This year, De Los is hosting a free community celebration to commemorate the holiday on Oct. 25 from 2 to 10 p.m. at the Las Fotos Project. Attendees can enjoy a community altar, a skull decorating workshop, face painting and more.

De Los will also be accepting submissions for our annual digital altar from Oct. 15 to Nov. 2. Community members can submit a photograph or memento to honor the memory of their dearly departed — pets included.

Here is a list of other Día de los Muertos observations and events taking place across Southern California.

Karen Garcia contributed to this reporting.

THEY say an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree – and in the case of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter it could hardly be more appropriate.

Yesterday we revealed Apple Martin’s first photoshoot, posing with a python in an ad campaign for fashion brand Self-Portrait.

And last week saw her collaboration with her mum for a high-profile Gap shoot.

But the 21-year-old model, singer and socialite insists we should all forget the nepo baby label — because it’s all thanks to her parents “instilling a work mentality in her”.

“I should not be entitled to anything, I have to work,” she said in a recent interview.

But what Apple means by “work” is raising a few eyebrows in the world of showbiz.

Read more on Apple Martin

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These lookalike daughters are following in their mums’ famous footsteps

Singing on records by her dad’s band Coldplay, cameos in her mum’s Netflix documentaries, and even a movie role — despite having zero acting experience — are only fuelling accusations that she could well be this year’s ultimate nepo baby, or the child whose success is seen as resulting from their parents’ connections.

A showbiz insider said: “Apple has all the qualities to be the new It girl.

“She’s got girl-next-door looks and has a sweet and innocent demeanour, but deep down she has a wild side.

“She’s sure to ruffle a few feathers as she makes her way in the modeling world.

“And whether she likes it or not, she’s definitely one of the nepos to watch.”

But showing she is not afraid to hit back at the naysayers, the fiery model said: “I constantly remind myself how grateful I am to have these opportunities. I know this is not a normal way to grow up, by any means.

“But my parents did a really good job of instilling in me that I shouldn’t be entitled to anything.”

Apple claims she always wanted to be a model, recalling how she “did run runway walks” in her bedroom while dressed for school, practising her version of Ben Stiller’s Blue Steel pose from the film Zoolander.

She said: “I’ve always been obsessed with fashion. I remember when my mum would do fittings for photoshoots when I was younger, I’d love to just hang out while she was getting her make-up done on set.”

My parents did a really good job of instilling in me that I shouldn’t be entitled to anything

Apple Martin

Given that dad Chris is the super-clean frontman of the world’s most inoffensive band, Apple’s personality — as well as her looks — is perhaps more aligned with her Hollywood-star mum, who knows all too well about divisive images.

Gwyneth — herself the nepo baby of film director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner — was a self-confessed party girl in the Nineties and famously bragged about loving the buzz of “doing cocaine and not getting caught” during her twenties in New York.

It’s yet to be seen how Apple gets her kicks on a night out, but her parties have certainly gained quite a reputation after police were forced to shut down one particularly raucous bash in 2022 with 50 of her pals at Gwyneth’s estate in the Hamptons — the affluent seaside resort on New York’s Long Island.

Mum was out of town at the time but according to neighbours, the revellers were “partying like rock stars” and made so much noise, angry locals had no choice but to call the cops.

Apple reportedly ended up receiving a fine for hosting a gathering without a permit. Her parents have a combined worth of £320million, so it’s unlikely she would have struggled to pay it.

Apple, who was born in London, was educated in California, attending the £30,000-a-year Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, where she graduated in 2022.

She is now studying English and history at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Her taste for fashion has been evident since she got a job in a clothes shop aged 15.

I don’t think we need another celebrity child in the world

Apple Martin

She attended her first runway show in 2023, sitting front row at the Chanel Haute Couture show in Paris, and said afterwards she was developing her own style, a mix of “classic ’90s and cool grandpa”.

Apart from brief appearances in her mum’s Netflix shows and Instagram pictures, as well as singing on Coldplay songs — including 2021 single Higher Power — Apple has only entered the limelight in the last few years, when signs of her personality have begun to shine through.

In April this year she gave a bolshy take on growing up in the public eye for high-end fashion mag Interview — where she worked as an intern — in which she admitted she used to be “anxious about making mistakes”.

She added that she had been put off showbiz because “I don’t think we need another celebrity child in the world.”

She continued: “I just try to do what feels right and block out anything regarding me in the news to the best of my ability.

“And I’m getting a lot better at being like, ‘F*** it’. I’m not going to be scared. I just want to do what seems fun and figure my life out.”

But Apple’s steely approach was put to the test last year when she made her debut at the high-society Le Bal des Débutantes — a modern version of the old debutante ball — in Paris.

The bash at the $1,000-a-night Hotel Shangri-La was supposed to signal her arrival, in a stunning Valentino gown, as a new Hollywood power player.

But instead Apple suffered an online backlash after she was accused of deliberately photobombing a fellow guest and forcing her out of the frame, then pouting and posing for several photos.

After the footage went viral, social media users branded her “obnoxious”, “entitled” and “giving Regina George” — a reference to the notorious queen bee in the 2004 movie Mean Girls.

But rather than give a mature response, Apple instead poked fun at the situation, posting a video on TikTok with a pal jokingly stating that they are both “a delight” and “very funny” — which only served to earn her the nickname “Rotten Apple”.

Gwyneth was also at the ball with ex-husband Chris and Apple’s 19-year-old brother Moses, who is the lead singer in up-and-coming band Dancer.

She has previously admitted that despite Apple’s recent claims that her parents don’t want her to be “entitled”, there is little doubt that she is — but Gwyneth sees it as positive.

Talking about Apple and her pals, she said: “They have, and I mean this word in the best possible way, a sense of entitlement that’s beautiful.

“It’s not spoiled . . .  I find it very uplifting and heartening that we all seem to be going in this direction together.”

Even so, Gwyneth knows Apple’s spiky side too, having received a ticking off from her for posting a snap of her on Instagram when she was 14.

Apple commented under Gwyneth’s post, ranting: “Mom we have discussed this. You may not post anything without my consent.”

Sassy response

She later deleted the remark after her mum replied: “You can’t even see your face.”

Apple also gave a sassy response when her mum posted a picture of herself making breakfast while topless, writing: “Did I steal your shirt by accident”.

And she also ripped into Gwyneth’s morning routine while trolling the TikTok account of her lifestyle brand Goop, saying: “She eats nothing except for dates and almond butter,” adding that Gwyneth had been on a cleanse “since the day I was born, apparently”.

But when asked how she stays grounded, Apple said: “Hanging out with my friends and trying to have a normal college experience makes me feel more normal.

“That’s how I like to unwind. We’ll sit down and do little guitar playing sessions, one person will play and the others will sing.

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“I also love watching reality TV with my friends. There was one day we spent five hours on the couch and just watched old episodes of America’s Next Top Model.”

Normal? Or nepo? You decide.

What happened

Chesapeake Asset Management LLC disclosed a new position in Ryder System (R -0.12%), according to a quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 15, 2025 (SEC filing). The fund purchased 19,350 shares during the period, bringing the position’s value to approximately $3.08 million as of June 30, 2025. This trade represents an estimated 2.78% of the fund’s $110.74 million in U.S. equity holdings.

What else to know

This is a new position for the fund, representing 2.78% of 13F reportable assets under management following the trade.

Chesapeake’s top five fund holdings after the filing are:

• NASDAQ:MSFT: $11.41 million (10.0% of AUM) as of 2025-06-30
• NYSE:LLY: $6.94 million (6.2% of AUM) as of 2025-06-30
• NYSE:SPOT: $6.27 million (5.6% of AUM) as of 2025-06-30
• NASDAQ:AAPL: $5.99 million (5.4% of AUM) as of 2025-06-30
• NYSE:JPM: $5.52 million (5.0% of AUM) as of 2025-06-30

As of October 14, 2025, Ryder System shares were priced at $182.01, up 20.07% over the past year, outperforming the S&P 500 by 6.68 percentage points over the same period

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

Ryder System, Inc. is a leading provider of logistics and transportation solutions, operating globally with a diversified service portfolio. The company leverages its scale and expertise to deliver integrated fleet management and supply chain services to enterprise customers.

The company generates revenue through leasing and maintenance contracts, rental fees, logistics services, and the sale of used vehicles, offering integrated solutions to optimize clients’ transportation and supply chain operations.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

Ryder System provides fleet management, supply chain solutions, and dedicated transportation services, including full-service leasing, commercial vehicle rental, and logistics management.

It serves businesses across industries with large-scale transportation and logistics needs, targeting corporate clients seeking efficiency, reliability, and scalability in fleet and supply chain management.

Foolish take

Chesapeake Asset Management starting a new position in transportation giant Ryder System is noteworthy. The investment isn’t small; Ryder stock sits just outside the financial management company’s top five holdings at the number six position.

Ryder had a rough 2023 with sales down 2% year over year, but it undertook changes to its business, bouncing back strong in 2024 with 7% year-over-year revenue growth to $12.6 billion. However, sales results in 2025 have been mixed. Through the first half of this year, revenue of $6.3 billion was flat compared to 2024.

But that’s not the whole story. Ryder expects its free cash flow (FCF) for the year to reach between $900 million and $1 billion. This sum far outpaces the $133 million in FCF produced last year, and will allow it to continue paying its robust dividend.

Moreover, the company adopted cost-saving initiatives that helped it increase diluted earnings per share (EPS) by 11% year over year to $3.15 in the second quarter. That’s the third consecutive quarter of double-digit EPS growth.

Ryder’s transformation from its difficult 2023 is delivering benefits to shareholders through higher EPS and FCF even though topline sales have not been impressive in 2025. These factors probably contributed to Chesapeake’s decision to begin investing in Ryder, which looks like a solid stock to buy for income investors.

Glossary

13F reportable assets: Assets that investment managers must disclose quarterly to the SEC if they exceed $100 million in U.S. equity holdings.
Assets under management (AUM): The total market value of investments managed on behalf of clients by a fund or firm.
Position: The amount of a particular security or investment held by an investor or fund.
Stake: The ownership interest or share an investor holds in a company or asset.
Top five holdings: The five largest investments in a fund’s portfolio, usually by market value.
Outperforming: Achieving a higher return than a specific benchmark or index over a given period.
Dividend yield: A financial ratio showing how much a company pays in dividends each year relative to its share price.
Fleet management: Services that oversee and coordinate commercial vehicles for businesses, including maintenance, leasing, and logistics.
Supply chain solutions: Services that help businesses manage the flow of goods, information, and resources from suppliers to customers.
Full-service leasing: A leasing arrangement where the provider handles maintenance, repairs, and other services for the leased asset.
Logistics management: The planning and coordination of moving goods and resources efficiently through a supply chain.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

WASHINGTON — Democrats are ramping up the pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who won a special election last month to succeed her late father.

The delay has attracted mounting attention this week, with Johnson challenged by lawmakers, reporters and even C-SPAN viewers about why Grijalva hasn’t been given the oath of office. Johnson has said repeatedly that she will be sworn in when the House returns to session. He blames the government shutdown for the delay.

Here’s a look at where the situation stands:

Who is Adelita Grijalva?

She is the daughter of Rep. Raul Grijalva, a staunch progressive who died in March. He served more than two decades in the House, rising to chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, where he helped shape the nation’s environmental policies.

Adelita Grijalva has been active in local politics, first serving at the school board level and subsequently on the Pima County Board of Supervisors, becoming just the second woman to serve as chair.

She easily won a special election Sept. 23 to serve out the remainder of her father’s term. She will represent a mostly Hispanic district in which Democrats enjoy a nearly 2-1 ratio voter registration advantage over Republicans.

How Grijalva views the delay

Grijalva was gracious to her soon-to-be Democratic colleagues as they welcomed her to the U.S. Capitol last month, even as she and her future staff were officially considered visitors to the building.

“I think it’s great to be able to be in a room with those who will be my colleagues, but then you very quickly realize that you are not part of the club yet,” Grijalva said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. “If I had big money to bet, I would bet that if I were a Republican representative waiting in the wings, I would have already been sworn in by now.”

She said she’s worried about the precedent that is being set by her delayed swearing-in.

“The bedrock of our democracy is free, fair, unobstructed elections,” she said. “And if Speaker Johnson believes this is, as I do, then he will quit toying with our democratic process and swear me in.”

Why the House is empty during the shutdown

Members of the House have been mostly back in their home districts since Sept. 19. That’s when Republicans passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through Nov. 21. Johnson’s decision to send lawmakers home was intended to pressure the Senate into passing that funding measure — a tactic that so far hasn’t worked.

Johnson has yet to schedule any floor votes since then, though the House has occasionally met in pro forma sessions, which are generally short affairs lasting just a few minutes during which no votes are taken.

“We will swear her in when everybody gets back,” Johnson told reporters this week.

Lawmakers who win special elections generally take the oath of office on days in which legislative business is conducted, and they are welcomed with warm applause from members on both sides of the aisle. They give a short speech as family and friends watch from the galleries.

Yet there is precedent for doing it differently. On April 2, Johnson swore in Republican Reps. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine, both of Florida, less than 24 hours after they won their special elections, during a pro forma session.

Johnson says the circumstances were unique because the House had unexpectedly gone out of session that day. Patronis and Fine had already arranged for their families, friends and supporters to be in Washington.

“As a courtesy to them and their families, we went ahead and administered the oath to an empty chamber. It was no fun. They didn’t get the same pomp and circumstance everybody else gets,” Johnson said Thursday on C-SPAN when asked by a caller about Grijalva. “We’re going to administer the oath as soon as she gets back.”

How are Democrats responding?

Democrats have little leverage to force Johnson to seat Grijalva so long as the House is in recess. But they are keeping up the pressure.

In an unusual scene Wednesday, Arizona’s two Democratic senators — Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego — confronted Johnson outside his office about Grijalva’s situation.

“You just keep coming up with excuses,” Gallego said to Johnson. The speaker called it a publicity stunt.

Democrats have also taken to the floor during pro forma sessions to try to have Grijalva sworn in. The presiding officer has ignored them every time.

“Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva should be sworn in now. It should have happened this week, should have happened last week. It needs to happen next week,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Thursday.

What does her swearing-in have to do with the Epstein files?

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, defying GOP leadership, has been gathering signatures on a petition to trigger a vote on legislation that would force the release of federal files on Jeffrey Epstein. And he’s just one name away from succeeding.

Grijalva has said she’ll sign the petition once she takes office, providing Massie the 218 signatures needed to trigger a vote.

Democrats say Johnson is stalling on Grijalva’s swearing-in, as well as on bringing the House back to Washington, because he wants to push off any Epstein vote.

Johnson rejected that accusation during his appearance on C-SPAN. “This has zero to do with Epstein.”

Grijalva said she tries to not be a “conspiracy theorist” and initially disagreed with supporters and allies who warned her that she wouldn’t be seated in Congress because of the Epstein bill.

“I thought, no way, he’s gonna swear me in. It’ll be fine,” she said. “Here we are two weeks later.”

Brown and Freking write for the Associated Press.

MILWAUKEE — First things first: The fans in an outdoor stadium in Philadelphia are louder than the fans in an indoor stadium in Milwaukee. No contest.

They are respectful and truly nice here. They booed Shohei Ohtani, but half-heartedly, almost out of obligation. In Philadelphia, they booed Ohtani relentlessly, and with hostility.

Here’s the thing, though: It didn’t matter, because the Dodgers have silenced the enemy crowd wherever they go this October. The Dodgers are undefeated on the road in this postseason: 2-0 in Philadelphia, and now 2-0 in Milwaukee.

The Dodgers have deployed four silencers. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani.

“It’s amazing,” Tyler Glasnow said. “It’s like a show every time you’re out there.”

The Dodgers won the World Series last year with home runs and bullpen games and New York Yankees foibles, but not with starting pitching. In 16 games last October, the Dodgers had more bullpen games (four) than quality starts (two), and the starters posted a 5.25 earned-run average.

In eight games this October, the Dodgers have seven quality starts, and not coincidentally they are 7-1. The starters have posted a 1.54 ERA, the lowest of any team in National League history to play at least eight postseason games.

“Our starting pitching this entire postseason has been incredible,” said Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations. “We knew it would be a strength, but this is beyond what we could have reasonably expected.

“There are a lot of different ways to win in the postseason, but this is certainly a better-quality-of-life way to do it.”

The elders of the sport say that momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher. In a sport in which most teams struggle to identify even one ace, the Dodgers boast four.

In the past three games — the clincher against the Phillies and the two here against the Brewers — the Dodgers have not even trailed for a full inning.

In the division series clincher, the Phillies scored one run in the top of an inning, but the Dodgers scored in the bottom of the inning.

On Monday, the Brewers never led. On Tuesday, the Brewers had a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first, but the Dodgers scored twice in the top of the second.

On Monday, as Blake Snell spun eight shutout innings, the Brewers went 0 for 1 with men in scoring position — and that at-bat was the last out of the game. On Tuesday, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game, the Brewers did not get a runner into scoring position.

That is momentum. That is also how you shut up an opposing crowd: limit the momentum for their team.

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Brewers in the fifth inning Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I do think, with what we’ve done in Philly and in coming here, it doesn’t seem like there is much momentum,” Glasnow said.

Of the four aces, Glasnow and Ohtani were not available to pitch last fall as they rehabilitated injuries, and Snell was pitching for the San Francisco Giants.

In the 2021 NLCS, the Dodgers started Walker Buehler twice and Julio Urías, Max Scherzer and openers Joe Kelly and Corey Knebel once each. Scherzer could not make his second scheduled start because of injury.

Said infielder-outfielder Kiké Hernández: “We’ve had some really good starting pitchers in the past, but at some point we’ve hit a roadblock through the postseason. To be this consistent for seven, eight games now, it’s been pretty impressive. In a way, it’s made things a little easier on the lineup.”

In the wild-card round, the Dodgers scored 18 runs in two games against the Cincinnati Reds. Since then, they have 20 runs in six games.

“We said before this postseason started, our starting pitching was going to be what carried us,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “And so far, it’s been exactly that.”

The starters started their roll in the final weeks of the regular season — their ERA is 1.49 over the past 30 games — not that Hernández much cared about that now.

“Regular season doesn’t matter,” he said. “We can win 300 games in the regular season.

“If we don’t win the World Series, it doesn’t matter.”

The Dodgers are two wins from a return trip to the World Series. If they can get those two wins within the next three games, they won’t have to return to Milwaukee, the land of the great sausage race, and of the polka dancers atop the dugout.

There may not be another game here this season. They are kind and spirited fans, even if they are not nearly as loud as the Philly Phanatics.

“That,” Glasnow said, “is the loudest place I’ve ever been.”

Elon Musk’s $56bn pay package from Tesla should have been restored by a vote of the company’s shareholders last year, a Tesla attorney has said to the Delaware Supreme Court in the United States.

The Tesla lawyer made his arguments on Wednesday as one of the biggest corporate legal battles entered its final stage after a lower court judge had in January 2024 rescinded the Tesla CEO’s record compensation. The company is also appealing a ruling by the lower court that rejected as legally invalid a vote by shareholders to restore the pay package.

“This was the most informed stockholder vote in Delaware history,” Jeffrey Wall, an attorney for Tesla, told the justices. “Reaffirming that would resolve this case.”

The case’s outcome could have substantial consequences for the state of Delaware, its widely used corporate law, and its Court of Chancery, a once-favoured venue for business disputes that has recently been accused of hostility towards powerful entrepreneurs.

The Court of Chancery ruling striking down Musk’s pay has become a rallying cry for Delaware critics. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick ruled that the Tesla board lacked independence from Musk when it approved the pay package in 2018 and that shareholders lacked key information when they voted overwhelmingly in favour of it. As a result, she applied a demanding legal standard and found the pay unfair to investors.

Musk did not attend the arguments, which were held in a special court to accommodate the 65 people in attendance, mostly lawyers.

The defendants, current and former Tesla directors, denied wrongdoing and said McCormick misinterpreted the facts and the law.

Dexit

Tesla argued in Dover, Delaware that the five justices on Delaware’s high court had three avenues to reverse the lower court ruling.

They could find that Musk, who owned 21.9 percent of Tesla stock in 2018, did not control the board pay negotiations and that shareholders were fully informed when they voted to approve it that year. They could determine that rescinding the pay was an improper remedy because it did not undo the work that Musk had done or the gains that shareholders had received. Or they could determine that last year’s vote demonstrated shareholders wanted to accept the pay deal, despite the legal flaws.

“Shareholders in 2024 knew exactly what they were voting for,” Wall said.

Greg Varallo, an attorney for Richard Tornetta, the small investor who brought the case in 2018, said if the court accepted ratification, it would allow a party to change the outcome after a court case had run its course. “Lawsuits would be interminable”, he told the justices.

Varallo tried to convince the justices the lower court ruling was a result of careful fact-finding and based on settled law. “There is nothing extraordinary about this trial opinion,” he said. “What makes it truly extraordinary is that it addresses the largest pay package in human history, awarded to the richest man on earth, who is also one of the most powerful men on earth.”

After the Musk pay ruling, large companies, including Tesla, Dropbox, and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, switched their legal homes to Texas or Nevada, where courts are friendlier toward directors. Delaware lawmakers responded to the corporate departures, a trend known as “Dexit,” by overhauling its corporate law.

If Musk loses the appeal, he will still reap tens of billions of dollars in stock from the electric vehicle (EV) company, which agreed in August to a replacement deal if his 2018 plan is not restored. Tesla has said the replacement plan will cost $25bn or more in accounting charges.

The company said the replacement award was meant to focus the attention of Musk, who said earlier this year that he was forming a new US political party, on transitioning Tesla to robotics and automated driving. Tesla is now incorporated in Texas, where it is far more difficult for a shareholder to challenge board decisions.

New pay plan

Tesla’s board last month proposed a $1 trillion compensation plan, highlighting confidence in Musk’s ability to steer the company in a new direction, even as Tesla loses ground to Chinese rivals in key markets amid softening EV demand.

The justices are considering the appeal of the pay ruling as well as the $345m legal fee that McCormick ordered Tesla to pay to the attorneys for Tornetta, who held just nine Tesla shares when he sued to block the pay deal. The court typically takes months to rule.

Tesla estimated in 2018 that the stock options plan would be worth $56bn if the company met operational and financial goals, which it did. Because the stock continued to appreciate, the options are currently worth closer to $120bn, by far the largest executive compensation ever. Musk is the world’s richest person with a fortune of around $480bn, according to Forbes.

The defendants have argued that McCormick erred in finding social and business ties to Musk compromised their independence, and said Tesla shareholders were informed of the economic terms of the pay deal before they approved the plan. The directors said she should have reviewed the pay package under the “business judgment” standard, which protects directors from second-guessing by courts.

The directors have long argued the pay package performed as hoped – it focused the attention of Musk, a serial entrepreneur, and he transformed Tesla from a startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies.

Leonardo DRS has revealed a new capability in its range of what it calls Maneuver Air Defense payloads. The new Air Defense Light Variant (ADLV) is based on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) as a lighter-weight member of its counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) and short-range air defense family. It comes hot on the heels of the counter-drone directed-energy Stryker armored vehicle that the company unveiled last year at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual conference in Washington, D.C.

The ADLV revealed this week at AUSA blends a different set of sensors and effectors, with the Leonardo DRS RPS-42 MHR radar for detection and the EOS R400 Slinger remote weapons station equipped with an electro-optical sensors, laser designator and a 30mm cannon. APKWS laser-guided rockets and Stinger missiles in a four-pack launchers make up the type’s longer-reaching effectors that can also engage traditional aircraft and other threats. The AV Titan 4 provides electronic warfare support and a Skyview system offers passive detection of unmanned aircraft. This is all packed into an extremely mobile and supportable platform that the JLTV provides.

Leonardo DRS’ Joseph Ralwes talked us through the company’s approach to the latest U.S. Army C-UAS needs, and how he sees this in-demand role evolving in the coming years.

Check it out in the video below:

Contact the editor: [email protected]

Michael Archer Jr., the son of R&B stars D’Angelo and Angie Stone, has been dealing with grief for months — long before the death of his father on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old musician, whose stage name is Swayvo Twain, penned a heartbreaking Instagram post reflecting on the deaths of his parents and the final moments he shared with his Grammy-winning dad. His mother, Grammy-nominated singer Angie Stone, died in March in a traffic accident in Alabama. She was 63. D’Angelo died Tuesday after a private battle with cancer. He was 51.

“I just sat here watchin my daddy die after feeling like it was the first time he and I were truly building,” Archer wrote in an Instagram story shared Tuesday. “He was there when I needed him most after the passing of my momma.”

Archer added: “Unfortunately, time ran out.”

D’Angelo’s family announced Tuesday that the neo-soul pioneer had “been called home” after a “prolonged and courageous battle with cancer.” Additional details about his cancer fight were not revealed.

D’Angelo was a four-time Grammy winner known for his sensual albums “Brown Sugar” and “Voodoo.” Though he was immeasurably influential on generations of R&B, the singer had a fraught relationship with fame that led to stints of years out of the spotlight. Stone, on the other hand, was a singer who found success in the neo-soul movement in the 1990s after after nearly two decades in the music business. Her work included the solo album “Black Diamond” and the singles “No More Rain (In This Cloud)” and “Wish I Didn’t Miss You.”

Before his parents’ deaths, the rapper-singer spoke about D’Angelo and Stone’s careers and their influence on his music for an episode of MTV’s “Family Legacy.” As he recalled bonding with his father over music and shared a tender — at times awkward — confessional with his mother, he joked that the pair’s best work was himself.

Archer reflected on the “Family Legacy” episode weeks after his mother’s death, writing on Instagram that he wanted to pave his own path and “separate myself from my parents cause it always felt like I was fated to be in their shadows forever.”

“Thankfully, long before, momma left I learned to embrace them and their legacy full on,” he wrote at the time. “I’m blessed and happy to have had this moment with my momma man.”

Joining Archer on social media in mouring D’Angelo’s death were Lauryn Hill, Jaime Foxx, Missy Elliott and Jill Scott. Beyoncé honored the R&B star with a tribute on the homepage of her website.

“We thank you for your beautiful music, your voice, your proficiency on the piano, your artistry,” the memorial reads. “You were the pioneer of neo-soul and that changed and transformed rhythm & blues forever. We will never forget you.”

On October 15, 2025, Davenport & Co LLC disclosed a purchase of 155,551 shares of UnitedHealth Group (UNH) for the period ended Q3 2025, an estimated $47.04 million trade.

What happened

An SEC filing dated October 15, 2025 shows Davenport increased its position in UnitedHealth Group (UNH 0.38%) by 155,551 shares during Q3 2025.

The estimated transaction value, based on the average closing price during the quarter, was approximately $47.04 million.

The post-trade position reached 739,525 shares, with a market value of $255.34 million.

What else to know

Following this buy, UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.36% of Davenport $18.76 billion in 13F reportable assets

The firm’s top holdings after the filing:

1. Brookfield Corp: $583.81 million (3.13% of AUM)
2. Microsoft: $478.54 million (2.56% of AUM) as of 2025-09-30
3. Amazon: $451.10 million (2.42% of AUM) as of 2025-09-30
4. Markel: $391.43 million (2.1% of AUM) as of 2025-09-30
5. Nvidia: $375.98 million (2.01% of AUM) as of 2025-09-30

As of October 14, 2025, shares of UnitedHealth Group were priced at $359.93, down 40.6% over the prior year and underperforming the S&P 500 by 53 percentage points over the same period.

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

UnitedHealth Group:

• Offers health benefit plans, pharmacy care services, healthcare management, and data analytics solutions through segments including UnitedHealthcare and Optum.
• Generates revenue primarily from insurance premiums, healthcare services, and pharmacy benefit management, leveraging scale and integrated platforms.
• Serves national and public sector employers, government programs (Medicare, Medicaid), individuals, and healthcare providers across the United States.

UnitedHealth Group is a leading diversified healthcare company with a broad national footprint and an integrated business model spanning insurance, pharmacy benefits, and healthcare services. The company maintains a competitive edge through its extensive provider networks, data-driven solutions, and ability to serve a wide range of customer segments.

Foolish take

Davenport & Company continued to add to their UnitedHealth position, which now accounts for 1.4% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 9th-largest position.

What makes Davenport’s purchases over the last two quarters noteworthy is that they are essentially doubling down on the company right after its stock sold off heavily.

Hampered by ballooning medical costs, changes in leadership, reduced guidance, and mounting regulatory pressure, UnitedHealth’s stock dropped 39% from its highs in just the last six months.

While UnitedHealth has become a battleground stock of sorts lately, it received a major lift after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed it took a $1.6 billion stake in the stock in the second quarter of 2025.

That is great company for Davenport to join, as it also adds to its stake in UnitedHealth.

Regardless of the headwinds facing UnitedHealth, the company remains one of the most dominant health insurers in the United States.

Currently trading at just 16 times earnings and 13 times free cash flow, the risk-reward ratio on UnitedHealth Group is very appealing.

Glossary

13F reportable AUM: Assets under management that must be disclosed in quarterly SEC Form 13F filings by institutional investment managers.
Quarterly average price: The average price of a security over a specific quarter, used for estimating transaction values.
Post-trade holdings: The total number of shares or value held in a security after a trade is completed.
Top holdings: The largest investments in a fund or portfolio, ranked by market value.
Pharmacy benefit management: Services that manage prescription drug programs for health plans, employers, and government programs.
Integrated platforms: Systems that combine multiple services or business functions into a unified offering.
Provider networks: Groups of healthcare professionals and facilities contracted to deliver services to insurance plan members.
Medicare: A U.S. federal health insurance program for people aged 65 and older, and certain younger individuals with disabilities.
Medicaid: A joint federal and state program in the U.S. providing health coverage to eligible low-income individuals.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

A group of Democratic state governors has launched a new alliance aimed at coordinating their public health efforts.

They’re framing it as a way to share data, messages about threats, emergency preparedness and public health policy — and as a rebuke to President Trump’s administration, which they say isn’t doing its job in public health.

“At a time when the federal government is telling the states, ‘you’re on your own,’ governors are banding together,” Maryland Governor Wes Moore said in a statement.

The formation of the group touches off a new chapter in a partisan battle over public health measures that has been heightened by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s advisers declining to recommend COVID-19 vaccinations, instead leaving the choice to the individual.

Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in an email that Democratic governors who imposed school closures and mask mandates, including for toddlers, at the height of the pandemic, are the ones who “destroyed public trust in public health.”

“The Trump Administration and Secretary Kennedy are rebuilding that trust by grounding every policy in rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science – not the failed politics of the pandemic,” Nixon said.

The initial members are all Democrats

The Governors Public Health Alliance bills itself as a “nonpartisan coordinating hub,” but the initial members are all Democrats — the governors of 14 states plus Guam.

Among them are governors of the most populous blue states, California and New York, and several governors who are considered possible 2028 presidential candidates, including California’s Gavin Newsom, Illinois’ JB Pritzker and Maryland’s Moore.

The idea of banding together for public health isn’t new for Democratic governors. They formed regional groups to address the pandemic during Trump’s first term and launched new ones in recent months amid uncertainty on federal vaccine policy. States have also taken steps to preserve access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The new alliance isn’t intended to supplant those efforts, or the coordination already done by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, its organizers say.

A former CDC director is among the advisers

Dr. Mandy Cohen, who was CDC director under former President Biden and before that the head of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, is part of a bipartisan group of advisers to the alliance.

“The CDC did provide an important backstop for expertise and support,” she said. “And I think now with some of that gone, it’s important for states to make sure that they are sharing best practices, and that they are coordinating, because the problems have not gone away. The health threats have not gone away.”

Other efforts have also sprung up to try to fill roles that the CDC performed before the ouster of a director, along with other restructuring and downsizing.

The Governors Public Health Alliance has support from GovAct, a nonprofit, nonpartisan donor-funded initiative that also has projects aimed at protecting democracy and another partisan hot-button issue, reproductive freedom.

Mulvihill and Stobbe write for the Associated Press.

Moses Itauma’s promoter Frank Warren says his heavyweight is happy to fight Kubrat Pulev next after the match-up was ordered by the WBA.

Pulev, the WBA’s ‘Regular’ champion, was ordered to defend his belt against the 20-year-old rising star.

Team Itauma has been considering a fight for the Englishman in December, with Derek Chisora suggesting he would share a card with Itauma on 13 December in Manchester.

“We’ve had several top heavyweights already turn down a fight with Moses but if Pulev fancies the job now that it’s been ordered we will absolutely be pursuing it. It’s a brilliant fight,” Warren told BBC Sport.

Itauma last fought in August when he blew former world title challenger Dillian Whyte away in one round.

The result improved Itauma’s undefeated record to 13 fights and eleven knockouts.

Itauma has since been linked with a slew of potential opponents including Filip Hrgovic, Michael Hunter and domestic rival David Adeleye.

Warren is keen to give Itauma more rounds as the youngster only has 26 rounds under his belt so far.

Pulev is a veteran of the sport at the age of 44, with 35 fights on his record.

The Bulgarian has twice challenged for world titles, losing to Anthony Joshua in 2020 and Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.

Queensberry boss Warren has cooled talk of an imminent fight with the likes of Oleksandr Usyk, but says Itauma “is already one of the best heavyweights in world boxing”.

“Our job is to make the right fights for him at the right time,” Warren said.

“I’ve been in boxing 47 years and at his age, 20 years of age, he is the best young talent at that age that I’ve ever been involved with, and I’ve been involved with 99% of the top British fighters and other fighters from around the world.”

Oct. 15 (UPI) — Mike Johnson, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, called Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., a “faithful colleague” on Wednesday, one day after he was issued a restraining order.

A Florida judge issued the protective order Tuesday against Mills, directing him to have no contact with a former girlfriend who accused him of threatening her.

“I have not heard or looked into any of the details of that. I’ve been a little busy,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol. “We have a House Ethics Committee. If it warrants that, I’m sure they’ll look into that.”

The petitioner was Lindsey Langston, a Republican state committeeperson and Miss United States 2024. She alleged that Mills threatened her on Instagram after blocking him and telling him she didn’t want further contact. “The messages progressively got more threatening over time,” she wrote.

She said he threatened to release nude videos of her.

In his order, the judge said the evidence supported Langston’s allegations that Mills had caused her “substantial emotional distress.” The judge said Mills offered “no credible rebuttal” to her testimony. He found that Langston has a “reasonable cause to believe she is in imminent danger of becoming the victim of another act of dating violence” without the restraining order being put in place, Politico reported.

When pressed about the allegations, Johnson brushed them off.

“You have to ask Rep. Mills about that. He’s been a faithful colleague here. I know his work on the Hill. I don’t know all the details of all the individual allegations, and what he’s doing — things outside life,” Johnson said. “Let’s just talk about the things that are really serious.”

The restraining order directs Mills, 45, to stay at least 500 feet away from Langston and to not contact her until Jan. 1. The order also blocks Mills from mentioning Langston on social media, according to NBC News.