Good morning. It's Friday, Oct. 31, and we're covering the UK's royal family ouster, funding for SNAP benefits, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4.5 million insatiably curious readers. Sign up here.
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Prince Andrew Loses Title |
King Charles III has stripped his younger brother, Prince Andrew, of all titles and honors and is evicting him from his royal residence, Buckingham Palace revealed yesterday. Prince Andrew—now referred to as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor—will move from Royal Lodge to the family’s private, 20,000-acre Sandringham Estate in Norfolk (see more, w/photo).
The announcement comes amid renewed scrutiny over Andrew’s relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and resurfaced allegations of abuse. Earlier this month, the estate of Virginia Giuffre published her memoir in which she accused Andrew of having sex with her three times while underage. Emails from 2011 also reemerged, indicating Andrew’s relationship with Epstein continued after he claimed it had ended (see timeline). The palace's statement said the king’s sympathies were with “victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
The last royal to be stripped of a prince or princess title was Ernest Augustus in 1919, after siding with the Germans in World War I. |
A federal judge yesterday suggested she will order the Agriculture Department to tap emergency funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Funding for the program, colloquially referred to as food stamps, is poised to lapse tomorrow for the first time since its creation in 1964 amid the federal government shutdown.
Democratic officials from 25 states and Washington, DC, sued the Agriculture Department Tuesday for refusing to tap into a roughly $5B contingency fund to sustain SNAP. The Trump administration says the fund is intended for specific emergencies, such as natural disasters, and is insufficient to deliver full November benefits. SNAP costs roughly $8B per month, providing about $190 average monthly payments to nearly 42 million people (see more data). During previous government shutdowns, administrations have issued grace periods and special funding transfers to ensure uninterrupted benefits.
Republican and Democratic governors have announced initiatives to support SNAP recipients. See a history of the program here. |
Tricks, Treats, and Trends |
An estimated 41 million children will flood neighborhoods across America tonight in search of tricks or treats. With nearly three-quarters of households participating, spending is expected to reach $13.1B, up 13% from last year, as families spend an average of $114 each on costumes, decorations, and candy, totaling $4.3B, $4.2B, and $3.9B, respectively.
The spooky celebration traces back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of summer and the start of winter. Irish immigrants brought those traditions to America in the 19th century, blending pagan rituals with All Saints’ Day customs to create today’s Halloween.
About 36% of Americans say Halloween is their favorite holiday, with New York City ranking as the best place to celebrate. Top costumes this year include characters from “K-pop Demon Hunters,” the “Minecraft” Chicken Jockey, and Labubu dolls. See last-minute costume ideas here and the most popular costume the year you were born here. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> Toronto Blue Jays lead Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 with chance to win the World Series in Game 6 tonight at 8 pm ET (More) |
> Women's Basketball Hall of Fame announces 2026 class, featuring Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, and Cheryl Reeve (More) | WNBA 101 (1440 Topics) |
> Billboard Hot 100's Top 40 includes no rap songs, a first since 1990 (More) | Universal Music Group settles copyright lawsuit against AI song generation platform Udio, partners with Stability AI to develop music creation tools (More) |
💀 Day of the Dead: Tomorrow's 1440 Society & Culture newsletter explores the celebration honoring past friends and family. Click here to subscribe! |
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> Google DeepMind AI model helped scientists predict Hurricane Melissa's intensity and sharp turn northeast, enabling earlier warnings for Jamaica, Cuba, and eastern Bahamas (More) | What we've learned about hurricanes (1440 Topics) |
> Researchers identify DNA-repairing protein in bowhead whales, providing insight into how the over-176,000-pound mammal can live up to 200 years (More) |
> Paleontologists determine tiny tyrannosaur fossils belong to distinct species, not teenage Tyrannosaurus rex, overturning long-held assumptions about dinosaur growth (More) | Explore the best resources we've found on dinosaurs (1440 Topics) |
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In partnership with Surfshark |
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> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -1.0%, Dow -0.2%, Nasdaq -1.6%) as investors digest latest batch of earnings reports (More) |
> Apple posts record $102.5B in Q4 sales due to iPhone 17 demand (More) | Meta shares drop 11%, in worst one-day drop in three years, on higher AI spending (More) | Amazon shares rise 13% in after-hours trading after earnings top estimates (More) |
> Federal Reserve to cut banking oversight staff by 30% to roughly 350 people by end of 2026 (More) |
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> President Donald Trump ends his Asia tour after agreeing to de-escalate trade tensions with China; Trump agrees to reduce fentanyl-related tariffs, with China delaying rare earth export controls, among other agreements (More) |
> The White House caps refugee admissions for fiscal year 2026 at a record low of 7,500 people, and directs the administration to prioritize admissions of white South Africans known as Afrikaners (More) |
> French prosecutors arrest five more people in connection with the Louvre jewel heist investigation and say three of four suspected robbers are in custody; no gems have been recovered as of this writing (More) |
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> Free the 'iPad Babies'
NY Times | TM Brown. New York City college students march down the street in gnome hats and host a dinner party in a public plaza during a torrential downpour. It's all part of a campaign to pull people away from their screens. (Read) |
> You Stole the French Crown Jewels. Now What?
WSJ | Staff. It took thieves under seven minutes to snatch roughly $102M in jewels from the Louvre. Here's why it would take them much longer to profit. (Watch) |
> Ghosts: Why We See What Isn't There
1440 Explores | Staff. Haunted houses, phantom footsteps, and shadowy figures—discover why our minds are so easily tricked. (Apple | Spotify | YouTube) |
> The Scammer Next Door
The Dial | Snigdha Poonam. When the author receives a call congratulating her for winning the lottery, she doesn't fall for it or hang up—she asks for a job. The result is a rare inside look at India’s scam industry. (Read) |
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Etcetera — Best of October 2025 |
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Clickbait: The number of friends our brains can handle.
Historybook: English poet John Keats born (1795); Magician Harry Houdini dies (1926); Mount Rushmore National Memorial is completed (1941); Actor and comedian John Candy born (1950); First female prime minister of India Indira Gandhi is assassinated (1984).
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"A thing of beauty is a joy forever." |
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