Good morning. To those celebrating Diwali: May every aspect of your life be as luminous and wonderful as the lights on this beautiful night.

In today's edition:

• 🇨🇳 Xi Jinping and the future of China
• 🎶🕕 T-Swift’s new album is breaking records
• 🐈 The island nation with more cats than people

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.94 minutes to read.

P.S. Our second-annual Pet Playoffs have reached the Final Five round. Make sure to follow us on Instagram to vote and follow along.

“Dwell in the positivity of life's inconveniences.”

–Unknown

More than 2,200 delegates unanimously approved new revisions to China’s constitution over the weekend, effectively designating President Xi Jinping as the country’s most important leader since Chairman Mao Zedong.

🇨🇳 A deeper dive… The constitutional revisions were approved at the twice-per-decade Chinese Communist Party (CCP) congress, which finished yesterday. The changes handed Xi a precedent-breaking third five-year term as leader, proclaiming him to be “the core of the entire party.”

• Chinese delegates also appointed a new seven-member Politburo Committee, aka the CCP’s most powerful legislative body.
• Notably absent were China’s No. 2 and No.4-ranked leaders, who had at times contradicted the president’s views on economic policy and were seen as potential successors to Xi. Which brings us to the next section…

👋 Out with the old (cont.): The weekend’s proceedings were interrupted by a brief commotion on Saturday, when Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao, was forcibly escorted out of the meeting venue despite appearing reluctant to leave – a move one expert called “simply astonishing.”

• Any mention of Hu’s name online has been wiped from China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform, with posts limited only to those from official accounts.
• A verified Twitter account run by the state-owned Xinhua News Agency said Hu “wasn’t feeling well” and left to go rest in another room.

👀 Looking ahead… President Xi laid out his vision for China’s future during the CCP congress, announcing plans to continue the country’s strict zero-Covid policy, oppose independence for Taiwan (by force, if necessary), and build China’s army into a “world-class military.”

📊 Flash poll: Do you think America will have a physical war with China within the next three decades?

Yes

No

Unsure/other

Get ready for a revival of the age-old debate that’s divided friend groups, torn apart families, and sown division throughout the world: green bubble vs. blue bubble. Late last week, Google announced upcoming changes to its Android Messages app.

💬📱 Here’s what’s changing… Over the coming weeks, Android users will be able to watch YouTube videos without leaving the Messages app, star, as well as reply to, individual messages, and react to messages with emojis (which will appear as intended for Android users, but iPhone users will receive a text saying the other person reacted with a description of the emoji used).

• Most of these features require RCS messaging to be turned on… and that’s kind of the point.

📸 The big picture: For time travelers from the past, iMessage is only available to people with an iPhone. Apple reverts any non-iMessage to SMS or MMS, resulting in the green bubbles 47% of smartphone-owning America knows and secretly (or openly) loathes.

But Google is pushing Apple to adopt what’s known as RCS, a next-gen text messaging standard that would allow for several new features when an iPhone user texts an Android user, including higher-resolution photos, the ability to send texts over Wi-Fi, and the ability to display read receipts. RCS messages are also encrypted, while SMS/MMS messages are not.

• Just one problem with this plan, though. Apple isn’t exactly incentivized to cooperate – so it probably won’t “Get the Message.”

A federal appeals court on Friday temporarily stopped the Biden administration from moving forward with its plan to forgive up to $20,000 worth of federal student-loan debt for millions of Americans.

⚖️🎓 What’s going on?... In a one-page order, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals said the halt will remain in place while it considers a lawsuit brought by six Republican AGs to block the program’s implementation.

• The GOP-led suit was previously dismissed last Thursday by a Missouri federal judge, who ruled the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to sue since they didn’t demonstrate the policy directly harms them. The judge’s decision was appealed to a higher court.

🤔 How does this affect borrowers?... The latest court order doesn’t stop eligible Americans from applying for debt relief, nor does it restrict the government from processing those applications. The only action that can’t occur (for now) is the actual forgiving of debt.

• The Biden admin previously said student-loan debt wouldn’t be forgiven prior to October 23 (yesterday). The court order to halt the process was handed down two days before that date, meaning none of the ~22 million applicants have seen their debt wiped so far.

👀 Looking ahead… Arguments from both sides of the ongoing lawsuit are due no later than tomorrow afternoon, with the court’s decision expected shortly afterwards.

+Dive deeper: Background + see the 360° view.

🌵 The most feared bounty hunter in the Wild West, Bass Reeves always got his man. With over 3,000 arrests – a record still standing to this day – he was the first Black Deputy US Marshal posted west of the Mississippi River.

And you can be among the first to read his tale in Bass Reeves: West of Hell, a bada** graphic novel created by Allegiance Arts. Check it out here.

And look, you won’t just be getting an epic, thought-provoking story complete with stunning art – you're spreading the word about an important piece of American history. That is some good karma, friend.👍

Secure your copy of Bass Reeves: West of Hell today.

Midnights – nice to meet you, where have you been. At 12 am ET on Friday, Taylor Swift's 10th studio album dropped to listening parties and closeted Swifties everywhere. A deluxe edition of the album was released three hours later to various streaming services and digital retailers.

Fast-forward 24 hours, and Midnights held the all-time single-day streaming records on Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music. Which just begins its list of accolades.

• The album set a new modern-era record for weekly vinyl album sales; 400,000+ people said “you belong with me” in the first 24 hours.
• Midnights sold 800,000+ total copies over the first 24 hours, per Billboard, making it the best-selling album of the year. This also marks the largest sales week of any US album… since Swift’s reputation debuted in 2017.

If you’re counting along with us, that’s three simultaneous streaming records, two weekly sales milestones, and the best-selling album of the year – all in one day. And if you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, you’ll be waiting a while… there’s no anti-hero in this story.

🤔🥚 In the know: Swift is notorious for leaving easter eggs or embedding hidden messages in her lyrics, music videos, CD liners, interviews, or social media posts – and many expect Midnights is no different. Dive deeper.

P.S. We left three T-Swift easter eggs of our own in the above story, in the form of song titles and lyrics. Can you spot them all?

💬 Quoted…​​ "I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time."

• Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who resigned from the position a little over three months ago, officially withdrew from consideration to replace newly-resigned PM Liz Truss. Johnson's move makes former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak the front-runner; he could become the next PM as early as today.

⚾ Stat of the Day: 3,356 = the number of 100-MPH pitches in the Major League Baseball regular season this year, its highest-level ever.

• Meanwhile, the league-wide batting average dropped to its lowest level in 54 years (.243) – despite pitchers no longer having to hit in the National League.

🤯 Did You Know?... There are more cats living on the island nation of Cyprus than humans (1.5 million vs. 1.2 million).

📖 Worth a Read: Our Haunted Apartment in Montreal → (Popula)

📊 Poll Results: On Monday, we asked why y’all thought college and university enrollment is on the decline in America.

• Click here for a dozen-plus of the best responses.

• ☝️ You’re looking at one of the finalists for the annual Comedy Wildlife Photo awards, with winners announced early next month. (Vote here)

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 US stocks rose across the board on Friday after falling earlier in the week. (Dow: +2.5% | S&P: +2.4% | Nasdaq: +2.3%)
• 💸 The IRS is raising contribution limits for 401(k) plans due to inflation.
• 🏘️📉 US home prices could fall as much as 20% in 2023 due to rising mortgage rates, per a new report from Pantheon Macroeconomics.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⚾ The World Series is set: The Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros both advanced to the MLB championship yesterday, clinching 4-1 and 4-0 series victories over the Padres and Yankees, respectively; World Series Game 1 is set for Friday.
• 🍿 DC’s Black Adam took in $67 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend; the Dwayne Johnson-led superhero flick earned $140 million if you include international numbers.
• 📱 ByteDance used TikTok to monitor the physical location of at least two US citizens who had no relationship with the company, per an investigative report by Forbes.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🌌🏜️ NASA recently shared a “breathtaking” new image of a supernova captured by its James Webb Space Telescope. | The agency is also conducting a simulated moon-walking mission later this month that’ll take place in the Arizona desert.
• 🧠 Eating Omega-3 fatty acids during midlife can help your brain stay sharp as you age, per a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurology.
• ⚛️ Human brains may use quantum computing to function, a new peer-reviewed study suggests.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 🇳🇿 New Zealand’s government last week passed the Plain Language Act, a controversial bill requiring officials to use plain, easily understood language when communicating with the public.
• ☢️​​ Iranian hacking group Black Reward said it publicly released confidential information relating to Iranian nuclear activities over the weekend, declaring it an act of support for ongoing anti-government protests.
• ⚖️ Former Trump aide Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison on Friday for defying a subpoena from the House January 6 committee. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🧠 Parenting expert: The No. 1 soft skill that predicts kids’ success more than IQ – and how to teach it.

Monday: The Trump Organization’s tax-fraud trial begins in NY

Tuesday: Britney Griner will formally appeal her 9-year prison sentence in Russia

Wednesday: National Day of the Deployed

Thursday: Commerce Department publishes Q3 GDP figures

Friday: World Series Game 1

You're looking at the annual corn maze at the Richardson Adventure Farm in Spring Grove, Illinois. It's been crowned the largest in the world, with a combined 10 miles of paths across the 28-acre plot of land.

🌽🕵️‍♂️ The name's Bond… The Richardsons always choose a theme for their corn maze, spending weeks mapping out the design and making sure the corn is planted accurately. This year, they're commemorating 60 years of James Bond.😎

• “Several good ideas came to light, but themes also have to have the potential to make a great giant picture,” said farm owner George Richardson. “[Bond] has broad customer appeal, the media will have fun with it, and it will make a spectacular picture.”

+Note: Positive DONUT readers may remember this story from our ‘Pic of the Day’ section a few weeks back.

Can you guess the definitions of these Greek/Latin root words?

1. Andr
2. Cycl
3. Dyn
4. Frig
5. Iso

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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Start referring.👇

1. Andr: masculine (e.g. android, androgen)
2. Cycl: circular (cycle, cyclone)
3. Dyn: power (dynamite, dynasty)
4. Frig: cold (frigid)
5. Iso: equal (isometric, isotropic)