| |
| |
Good afternoon. Here's what you should know today, Nov. 5: | |
- A year before the 2024 election, Biden and Trump seem to be on a collision course
- Our podcast digs into the business of snacks
- Old tractors are learning new tricks
| |
| Thanks for reading What's News! Look for the 🔐 to enjoy a free article on us—and share the link with a friend (or forward the whole newsletter!). | |
| |
 | | President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have different long-term aims. PHOTO: EVAN VUCCI/ASSOCIATED PRESS | | |
1. U.S. and Israeli interests in the Middle East conflict are diverging, muddying the path to ending it. | |
| The U.S. has committed to helping Israel defeat Hamas, but the two countries' leaders have different goals for the region's future (🔐read for free). And as the war continues with no clear end, they both face growing political pressures. This weekend, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a fresh push for what he has called a humanitarian pause to the Israeli operation in Gaza. Palestinian and other Arab leaders called for an immediate cease-fire during their meetings with Blinken. Israel has rejected any pause unless more than 200 hostages held by Hamas are freed. | |
| Israel Faces a More Potent Hamas Than in Last Invasion (Read) Israel Steps Up Arrests in the West Bank (Read) Gaza Becomes a Death Trap for Children as Israeli Strikes Intensify (Read) Read the latest updates here. | |
2. An angry Donald Trump has watched his civil-fraud trial. Now he'll star in it. | |
| Trump is expected to take the witness stand Monday in a Manhattan civil-fraud trial that has featured increasingly charged exchanges between the former president's lawyers and a judge who could cripple his business empire. Meanwhile, Republican hopefuls looking to knock Trump off his perch at the top of the GOP will debate Wednesday night in Miami. | |
| How DeSantis Lost Florida to Trump (Read) The 2024 Election Rematch Americans Are Dreading Looks Likely (Read) | |
3. Can Glenn Youngkin pull off another magic trick? | |
| Voters go to the polls across the U.S. Tuesday, with a particular focus on the Republican governor who is putting his political capital on the line in the Virginia statehouse elections. While Youngkin isn't himself on the ballot, his push to restrict abortions in a blueish state represents the latest effort to find a palatable stance on an issue that has flummoxed the GOP. It also could determine the political future of an appealing but untested candidate widely seen as a hot prospect for the national party. | |
| Kentucky Governor's Race Offers Test: Can a Popular Democratic Incumbent Win in Trump Country? (Read) LGBT Issues Galvanize Democrats' Push for School Board Control (Read) Can Voters Fire Their Power Companies? Maine Is About to Find Out (Read) | |
4. Americans are eating healthier and snacking less. That may be a problem for Kellogg's recently split Kellanova business. | |
| Changes to eating habits brought on by obesity drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro could signal struggles ahead for companies that make snacks. Kellogg, the company responsible for cereals like Frosted Flakes and snacks like Pringles, recently split into two companies, one focusing on cereals and the other on snacks. Ahead of their earnings report, this week's episode of WSJ's Take On the Week podcast looks at whether the split will prove to be a good move and what reduced appetites could mean for investors 🎧. It also previews Disney's earnings, which are due this week, and what they might tell us about the cost of having fun. | |
| Breaking Down the Best Earnings Quarter in a Year (Read) | |
5. The NBA's (other) championship gets underway. Will fans buy in? | |
| The inaugural "In-Season Tournament" kicked off on Friday and will unfold over the first quarter of the league's calendar. Borrowed from the way the rest of the world has long done the business of competition, the tournament is meant to enliven an early stretch of the season. If successful, it could demonstrate that the NBA isn't merely a bankable property, but also an evolving one, willing to break with tradition in pursuit of growth. | |
| 📰 Enjoying this newsletter? Get more from WSJ and support our journalism by subscribing today with this special offer. | |
| |
🗨 Sign up for WSJ China, our new weekly newsletter. | |
| Get exclusive insights on the contest between the U.S. and China from the WSJ's top China correspondent. | |
| |
| |
