Good morning. It's Friday, Oct. 9, and we're covering a plot to kidnap Michigan's governor, uncertainty over the presidential debates, and the Nobel Peace Prize. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Whitmer Kidnapping Plot

At least 13 people have been charged by federal and state officials in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), the FBI revealed yesterday. According to documents, a number of suspects met on social media, commiserating over what they perceived as "tyrannical" actions by state governments during the early months of the pandemic. Special focus was placed on Whitmer, who has received both praise and criticism for her hands-on approach with restrictions.

The group eventually linked up with a preexisting anti-government militia in Michigan, ultimately developing plans that included storming the state capitol building (or alternatively, Whitmer's vacation home), kidnapping the governor, and trying her for treason in an undisclosed location. It is unclear how far the plans proceeded, but the group is alleged to have purchased weapons and equipment, surveilled Whitmer's home twice, and carried out numerous training exercises. 

Read the formal FBI complaint here (PDF).

Debates Up in the Air

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced yesterday the second debate between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden would be held virtually, citing COVID-19 concerns. The decision to virtualize the debate, originally scheduled as an Oct. 15 town hall in Miami, had a domino effect. President Trump immediately said he wouldn't participate unless in person, while the Biden campaign said it would schedule its own town hall event. 

The Biden campaign suggested the event be delayed to Oct. 22—the date of the third, non-town-hall-style debate—to which the Trump campaign agreed, but countered the third debate should be pushed to Oct. 29. The Biden camp rejected the proposal, leaving the fate of both the second and third debates up in the air. By last night, the Trump campaign called on the debate commission to reinstate the original schedule after the president's doctor cleared him for public events.

There are 25 days until the Nov. 3 election. Polls show the president significantly behind nationally (see averages), but closer in battleground states and the Electoral College. See a map with toss-ups here.

Nobel Peace Prize

Capping a week of selections, the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations' World Food Program. In making the award to an organization—the world's effort focused on international hunger—the committee said it intended to highlight the global growth of food insecurity during the pandemic.

Yesterday, American poet Louise Glück won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Known for an autobiographical focus on trauma and conflict, Glück adds the award to a long series of accolades that include a Pulitzer (1993, "The Wild Iris") and a National Book Award (2014, "Faithful and Virtuous Night"). Read some of her work here.

Earlier in the week, the Academy recognized the discovery of Hepatitis C (Nobel Prize in Medicine), efforts to understand black holes and the discovery of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way (Physics), and the development of the breakthrough gene-editing tool, CRISPR (Chemistry). 

The Nobel Prize in Economics will be announced Monday.

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, and Los Angeles Dodgers all advance to MLB League Championship Series (More) | LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers look to win title tonight in Game 5 of the NBA Finals (9pm ET, ABC) (More)

> Tommy Rall—veteran stage, film actor, and dancer—dies at 90 (More) | Jim Dwyer, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York City journalist and author, dies at 63 (More)

> Justice Department sues Yale University over alleged admissions discrimination against white and Asian undergraduate applicants (More)

Science & Technology

> CRISPR-based test allows detection of the coronavirus in five minutes, with results analyzed using a mobile-phone; preprint has not been peer-reviewed yet (More) | See paper, coauthored by Dr. Jennifer Doudna, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this week (More)

> New technique pinpoints cracks in metals at the microscopic scale under cycle loads; may enable detection of fatigue-driven defects in components, like airplane parts, long before they lead to catastrophic failure (More)

> Prince William announces almost $65M in awards for breakthrough environmental science over 10 years; the Earthshot prize billed as the most prestigious environmental award in history (More)

Business & Markets

> Initial unemployment claims stay high at 840,000 filed during the previous week, slightly higher than economist projections of 825,000 (More)

> JPMorgan pledges $30B to combat racial wealth gap; capital to be provided for affordable housing, business lending, and philanthropy, among other efforts (More)

> IBM to split into two publicly traded companies by end of 2021, separating services and cloud businesses (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> Hurricane Delta projected to make landfall today as a Category 2 or 3 storm along the Louisiana coast; will be the 10th named storm to make landfall this year, the most on record (More) | See updated trajectory here (More)

> House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, CA-12) says she won't support a standalone bill supporting the airline industry without a broader coronavirus stimulus package in place (More) | See US averages of new daily cases (More) | ... and deaths (More)

> North Korea to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Kim family dynasty (More) | US officials lay heavy sanctions on Iran, blacklisting nearly all the country's financial sector (More)

IN-DEPTH

The End of the American Internet

Ben-evans.com | Benedict Evans. What happens when the majority of your population relies on programs made in countries which don't share (or care about) your cultural norms? (Read)

America's Next Housing Crisis

NYT | Fernanda Santos. The number of elderly and homeless Americans is set to triple over the next decade, and that estimate was before the pandemic. (Read, $$)

The Farm of the Future

LAist | Stefan Slater. The next generation of agriculture may be unfolding in a warehouse in Compton, California. And it's filled with robots. (Read)

The Wonderfully Weird Grapefruit

Atlas Obscura | Dan Nosowitz. From its unknown origins to drug interactions, there is a lot going on underneath the skin of the common citrus. (Read)

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ETCETERA

The US has its first driverless taxi service.

Even more of the year's best up-close photography.

The grandson of President John Tyler (1841-45) dies at age 95.

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Cronutt the sea lion gets brain surgery to reverse epilepsy. ($$, NYT)

Sesame Street takes on racism in TV special.

Brad Pitt's charity houses are falling apart. 

Watch a surfer narrowly dodge a curious shark. 

A reassembled colossal Atlas is set to rise.

Clickbait: When you butt dial a $4,000 Tesla upgrade.

Historybook: John Lennon born (1940); Landslide in Italy kills more than 2,000 (1963); Cuban Revolution figure Che Guevara is executed (1967); Oskar Schindler dies (1974); Female education activist Malala Yousafzai survives assassination attempt (2012). 

"We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced."

- Malala Yousafzai

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