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Today's edition brings an unexpected diplomatic development involving the first lady, a national security investigation, and an unusual animal story. We're also tracking new concerns about drinking water safety, major shifts in corporate America, and the latest World Series developments. From international affairs to everyday health and a few surprising discoveries, there's plenty worth knowing.

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The State Department is reducing staff at four US embassies in the Middle East after intelligence that Iran has stepped up efforts to target American personnel, with National Intelligence Director Jay Clayton writing that lethal plotting has reached advanced stages. The embassies are in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Clayton's memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said the plotting also extends to certain other countries. Earlier this week, the department ordered non-emergency staff out of Saudi Arabia, where Houthi attacks on airports have killed at least 21 people since the start of October, according to Saudi authorities.

The White House says first lady Melania Trump secured a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, where residents trapped between the two armies have resorted to eating garden weeds to survive. Both countries confirmed the deal to evacuate residents and deliver aid.

Both sides said their forces would stop firing at 2 a.m. GMT on October 27, while the White House said the truce would begin October 29. Melania Trump said civilian leaders from both countries would visit residents in their homes and that residents who want to leave will get transport to their preferred destination.

Former Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, the face of this year's Minneapolis deportation drive, called the pullback a "surrender," saying deportations are at a "virtual standstill." Bovino was removed after agents fatally shot US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January, killings caught on video that sparked bipartisan backlash and protests.

Good's family has filed two civil lawsuits, one naming Bovino, who said he is "not responding," while the family's lawyers accused him of "spewing propaganda." Campaigning in Detroit for tougher immigration enforcement, Bovino said he regretted "not going harder in Minnesota," while the White House has called the lawsuits "baseless."

Hitler's Eagle's Nest mountain retreat burned overnight, and Bavarian police detained a suspect as about 200 emergency workers battled flames on difficult terrain above Berchtesgaden in southern Germany.

Gunmen killed seven at a church funeral in Jordan's Karak governorate in what the interior minister described as the work of a group of extremists.

Macron says a deadly shooting near Paris was a racist terrorist attack by a gunman who fired from his car and killed one person and injured five others.

A 31-year-old Georgia man was charged Friday with throwing a Molotov cocktail at an ICE building in Atlanta, where it struck a fence Tuesday night and caused flames to spread.

A CIA contractor was arrested Friday and charged with leaking top-secret defense information to a journalist who was his romantic partner and allegedly published classified material on Substack.

Nearly 21 million Americans have already voted in the midterms by Friday morning, though an MIT political scientist says the early surge does not necessarily mean higher turnout overall.

Alphabet, Intel and Amazon report earnings this week, with Google's parent posting results Wednesday and Intel and Amazon following Thursday, as investors weigh whether huge tech spending will pay off.

American Express will cut about 3,500 jobs in its first major layoffs in roughly a decade even as quarterly profit jumped 28% to $3.71 billion.

The Energy Department named helium a critical material, opening more federal financing as Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz curbs Qatar's helium exports.

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^{𝘐𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘋𝘐𝘛 𝘈𝘨𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘊 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦: https://bit.ly/4bzuWCi​}

Nuclear power could more than triple by 2060 as AI data centers and wider electrification drive up demand for power, according to the head of the UN nuclear agency.

AI helped uncover two decade-old flaws in PHP that set off a global scramble to patch websites, though there are no reports of any successful exploits yet.

Macaques that lived through a viral outbreak at a Texas sanctuary turned more germophobic than others in tests offering them grapes perched on sealed feces.

Milwaukee took Game 1 of the World Series 3-2 over Tampa Bay when Trevor Megill struck out Jonny DeLuca after a replay overturned what looked like the final out.

Atlanta routed the Hornets 128-81 in Charlotte on Friday night for the most lopsided win in franchise history, with Jalen Johnson posting 19 points and eight assists.

Jayson Tatum scored 25 of his 36 points after halftime as Boston held off New York 107-103 to drop the defending champion Knicks to 0-2.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 36 points Friday, but Miami fell to 0-2 against Detroit after allowing a franchise-worst 259 points through its first two games, spoiling his best scoring start.

"The Meg" producer Kenneth Atchity has died at 82 after a career producing more than 30 films, writing over 20 books and publishing hundreds of titles through his own imprint.

Rent marks 30 years on Broadway with a starry benefit performance on Monday that brings original cast members back to their old roles at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.

Eleanor Coppola's unfinished documentary is now in select theaters after her daughter Sofia completed it from 80 hours of footage shot on the Marie Antoinette set in 2005.

What it is: A study published Friday estimates the national average of six federally regulated "forever chemicals" in US drinking water could be about twice what current reporting suggests. Led by Texas Christian University hydrologist Gehendra Kharel and published in Cell Reports Sustainability, it reanalyzed existing federal data rather than collecting new water samples.

The detail: The team examined 1.86 million test results covering 25 substances across 9,991 community water systems, and 98% were listed as below the official reporting limit. Counting those below-limit results as zero captured only 44% of the average PFAS concentration, meaning more than half of the estimated total is missing from current reports.

Why it matters: PFAS resist breaking down, show up in cookware, cosmetics and food packaging, and have been linked to higher risks of cancer, cardiovascular problems and reproductive and developmental defects. The EPA enforces national limits on six PFAS, the strictest being 4.0 parts per trillion each for PFOA and PFOS, and the agency did not immediately comment on the study.

What to watch: Kharel cautioned that the study estimates concentrations and does not show how much PFAS reaches homes or people's bodies, and he plans to repeat it with newer EPA data. He is pushing for clearer reporting and more detailed testing, while Arizona State's Bruce Rittmann noted the regulated PFAS are "not the only ones that are out there."

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A free Knicks championship ring for employees turned out to be a phishing test, and Madison Square Garden staff who clicked it faced a mandatory cybersecurity class.

Masa the bear still tries to sit on the lap of the Bosnian man who found her as a 4.4-pound cub, though she now weighs about 330 pounds.

The rubber duck is an American invention whose bathtub career began in 1931 when Elenore Shannahan reworked the heavy rubber toy so it would float.

Western Union completes the first transcontinental telegraph line (1861) · Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the George Washington Bridge (1931) · The United Nations Charter takes effect (1945) · Truman officially declares the US war with Germany over (1951) · The Concorde makes its final commercial passenger flight (2003)

"This will be a highly successful enterprise." — Franklin D. Roosevelt, at the George Washington Bridge dedication, 1931

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—The Five Minute Daily Team