Mississippi Senate race sparks ballot fight; Judge blocks Trump's triumphal arch

Mississippi's Senate race remains too close to call as both parties prepare for a ballot fight, while a tech stock rout wipes out $2.5 trillion in market value.

Plus, a federal judge blocks construction of President Donald Trump's 250-foot triumphal arch just hours after planners approve it.

And California Gov. Gavin Newsom moves to spare all 548 death row inmates, though hundreds of commutations still require state Supreme Court approval.

These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Nov. 6, 2026.

Democrats expand House majority as two Senate races remain undecided

Democrats continue to add to their midterm wins, but two Senate races remain so close that we could be waiting weeks for the final results. Meanwhile, Tuesday's election is already affecting more than just Washington.

Democrats have now flipped at least 40 Republican-held House seats , giving them a commanding majority when the new Congress takes office in January.

In the Senate, they're guaranteed at least 54 seats, but that number could grow to 56.

In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola is leading Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by just 637 votes, with about three-quarters of the expected vote counted.

Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, so because neither candidate has a majority, voters' second and subsequent choices could ultimately decide this race. That count isn't scheduled to begin until Nov. 18.

In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom is leading Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by roughly 1,800 votes out of nearly a million cast.

With thousands of ballots still to be reviewed, both parties are lawyering up. Attorneys and election observers are descending on the state to monitor the count and prepare for potential legal challenges.

Republicans want certain provisional ballots kept separate. Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing back, arguing that this could violate voters' rights. Voters who need to resolve identification issues have until Nov. 10.

Given the results so far, Wall Street is already reacting. Stocks fell Thursday , with investors worried that new Democratic majorities could bring tougher restrictions on artificial intelligence and the data centers powering it.

The tech-heavy NASDAQ plunged 5.5%, wiping out roughly $2.5 trillion in market value. That puts the index in correction territory, down more than 10% from its recent high. The DOW lost more than 1,800 points, and the S&P 500 fell nearly 4.5% . It was the worst day for all three indexes since the market turmoil following Trump's tariff announcement in April of last year. The sell-off spread overseas, with Asian markets also plunging.

Trump blamed Democrats for the losses, warning Americans about the hit to their 401(k)s. Then, in another post, he told voters, "You only have yourselves to blame."

Back in Washington, Democrats are already spelling out how they plan to use their new power.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told The Associated Press that his party won't allow Trump to put another conservative justice on the Supreme Court.

Judge halts Trump's triumphal arch despite federal panel's approval

Trump's plans for a massive triumphal arch in Washington just hit a major roadblock. A federal judge blocked construction less than two hours after the project won final approval .

Thursday night, Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered a 14-day construction halt , siding with D.C. and Virginia officials who argue the project lacks proper authorization and would cause major traffic disruptions. The ruling came shortly after a federal planning commission approved the arch in an 8-to-4 vote, despite hours of opposition from veterans and other critics.

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The 250-foot structure would stand between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, sitting higher than Paris's Arc de Triomphe.

Despite the ruling, the legal fight is far from over. Three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian have also sued to stop the project.

Meanwhile, Trump signed a proclamation Thursday designating the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as a national monument. He said the move will protect the historic spaces from future presidents who might alter or destroy them.

"It won't be able to be taken down, destroyed, touched, or anything else. It'll be, it's called, actually, a national monument. It's a federal landmark. And when completed, and when we get the documentation fully done and legally binding, it'll make it impossible for anybody ever to destroy this incredible space."

But the proclamation doesn't go that far. Future presidents can still redecorate the rooms and could reverse the designation entirely. In fact, Trump himself has reversed national monument designations made by his predecessors.

Newsom commutes sentences of 548 death row inmates

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is leaving office in January, but before he goes, he's made one of the most significant decisions of his political career. He commuted the sentences of all 548 inmates on the state's death row.

Newsom announced Thursday that he's commuting their sentences to life in prison without parole. It's the largest mass commutation of death sentences in modern American history. California has more inmates on death row than any other state.

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The California governor explained his decision in an open letter to Californians.

"State-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us," Newsom wrote. "I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency."

Opponents of the death penalty have already launched a national ad campaign praising Newsom's decision.

Some of the individuals on California's death row include Richard Allen Davis, who kidnapped and murdered 12-year-old Polly Klaas, and Charles Ng, who was convicted of killing 11 people in the 1980s.

Victims' families are divided. Some support Newsom's decision, while others are furious.

Meanwhile, the decision isn't necessarily settled. More than half of the commutations require approval from California's Supreme Court. A victims' rights group also plans to sue.

Newsom's successor, Xavier Becerra, has pledged to keep the state's moratorium on executions.

Nithya Raman unseats Bass in first Los Angeles mayoral upset in more than 20 years

She didn't enter the race for Los Angeles mayor until the very last minute. Now, Nithya Raman is about to run the city.

The city council member defeated incumbent Mayor Karen Bass , becoming the first challenger to unseat a sitting Los Angeles mayor in more than 20 years. And get this: Raman had endorsed Bass for reelection before entering the race, just before the February filing deadline.

Raman declared victory Thursday, thanking the people who helped pull off the upset.

"Thank you to the thousands of people who knocked on doors, sent texts, made phone calls, convinced their neighbors to believe in the promise of this big, beautiful, joyful city that we get to call home."

Bass conceded Thursday after Raman built a lead of nearly 35,000 votes. The two had been neck-and-neck in the final polls, but Raman drew strong support from younger, more progressive voters.

Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt also ran in this race, but he finished third in the June primary, leaving Bass and Raman to face off in November.

Raman, a democratic socialist, takes office Dec. 8. She's promising to make city government more responsive to everyday problems, such as broken sidewalks and potholes.

Wisconsin reports first measles death since 1990 as US toll rises

The measles outbreak in the U.S. is becoming deadlier. The country reported three deaths this week, and it is now seeing its highest measles death toll in 35 years.

Health officials in Wisconsin said an infant died from the virus Wednesday , marking the state's first measles death since 1990.

The announcement came the day after Pennsylvania's Department of Health confirmed its sixth measles death this year. On Monday, New York reported the death of a child , marking the state's first measles death in more than three decades. That brings the national death toll to eight this year, the highest since 1991.

Infections are also rising. The CDC has confirmed more than 5,800 cases so far this year, more than double last year's total and the highest number in 35 years. Health experts cite declining vaccination rates as a major driver of the outbreak.

Scientists find cannabis in 2,800-year-old tomb

Turns out people have been getting high much longer than we thought, about 2,800 years longer, to be exact.

Archaeologists in Siberia have uncovered more than 1,000 cannabis seeds in an ancient tomb, along with strands of human hair. They also drug-tested the hair.

The results? Traces of a chemical formed when THC - the compound in marijuana that gets you high - breaks down.

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But before you picture an ancient smoke session, researchers say it was likely part of a burial ritual .

"So, what we probably cannot assume is a sort of recreational use, like after work, like I smoke a joint type of stuff. Clearly, in a burial context, there's some aspect of ritual behind this. There might be some sinister aspects as well because we have a lot of horse sacrifices and also potentially human sacrifices.

The discovery may be the oldest evidence yet of people using cannabis to get high. Scientists are now studying the seeds' DNA to learn how the plant spread. Apparently, some habits have been around for a very long time.

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More from Straight Arrow:

What's behind the move away from all those 'farmhouse-white' houses

Farmhouse style, it was nice knowing ya.

"I haven't had a call for a traditional white house, the whole house white, for at least two years," said Frank Bomhack, who manages house painting jobs for the Austin, Texas area for Ace Hardware and coaches clients through the process of choosing an exterior color scheme. "White-white is almost gone now."

As the economy drives homeowners to stick it out in their current houses for the foreseeable future, they are largely done with decorating for the next, ephemeral owner. Currently, the typical homeowner has lived in their house for 16 years , according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census. That's up from a tenure of 10 years in 2020.

These days, curb appeal is about how owners feel pulling up to the house that's now their forever house, whether they originally envisioned that or not, Anna Miller, director of trend and design for retailer Home Depot, told Straight Arrow.

Read the full story now>

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