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1. FBI to further investigate emails related to Clinton's private server
The FBI on Friday announced that it will conduct further investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. FBI Director James Comey wrote in a letter to Congress that "the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation," and said the FBI would be taking "appropriate investigative steps" to review the new emails. The emails in question were not sent by Clinton herself, nor were they withheld by her team during the FBI's initial investigation. The messages were discovered on a separate device during the FBI's investigation into former New York congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. In July, the FBI recommended no criminal charges for Clinton.
2. Trump plays up FBI investigation, while Clinton demands the facts
Following the FBI's announcement that it would be further reviewing emails potentially related to the investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server, Donald Trump declared that this "changes everything." "I think it's the biggest story since Watergate," Trump said, later adding that the FBI would not have reopened the investigation "unless it were a most egregious criminal offense." Clinton, meanwhile, said it was "imperative" the FBI explain the investigation as soon as possible, stressing that we are days out from "perhaps the most important national election of our lifetimes." "So the American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately," she said.
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Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
3. U.S. economy surges to strongest GDP growth in 2 years
The U.S. economy surged in the third quarter, with gross domestic product growing at an annualized rate of 2.9 percent, the Commerce Department reported Friday. By comparison, GDP growth in the previous three quarters was 1.4 percent, 0.6 percent, and 0.9 percent. The growth in this latest quarter was the best since the third quarter of 2014, when GDP grew by 5 percent. The boost in the third quarter "largely reflected increased exports and a buildup of inventories, while consumer spending increased at a slower rate," The Wall Street Journal reports.
4. Russia loses seat on United Nations Human Rights Council
Russia has lost its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, one it had held since the UNHRC's creation in 2006. Membership to the 47-member council is appropriated geographically, and Russia was competing with Hungary and Croatia for two available seats allotted to Eastern Europe; in elections Friday, Russia received only 112 votes to keep its place, while Hungary and Croatia received 144 votes and 114, respectively. Russia has been widely criticized for human rights violations, particularly with its treatment of LGBT individuals and its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Also Friday, Saudi Arabia — another nation with a spotty human rights record — won one of the seats available for Asia, while Egypt, Iraq, China, and the United States were also elected to the council.
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5. Supreme Court to hear high schooler's transgender bathroom case
The Supreme Court on Friday announced that it will hear a high schooler's challenge that he be allowed to use the bathroom at school that corresponds to his gender identity, not his biological sex. Gavin Grimm, a transgender male student at a Virginia high school, initially sued the Gloucester County school district over its policy "limiting restroom use to students' biological sex," BuzzFeed News reports, but lost at the district court level before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found in his favor. Grimm's case centers on whether the school district's policy violates Title IX protection, which has been the Obama administration's position as the issue has gained prominence this year. Grimm's case will be the Supreme Court's first consideration of transgender bathroom rules.
6. 20 hospitalized after plane catches fire at O'Hare International Airport
As many as 20 people were reportedly hospitalized for minor injuries Friday, after an American Airlines jet caught on fire on the runway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. The plane was preparing for takeoff to Miami when the right-side engine failed, causing debris and dark clouds of smoke to spout from the plane. There were 170 passengers and crew members aboard the plane, and passengers were evacuated through an emergency slide. All reported injuries occurred during the evacuation. The New York Times reported that, as of Friday evening, one runway remained closed, but otherwise normal operations had resumed.
7. Iraqi Shiite militia launches offensive west of Mosul
(Image credit: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
On Saturday, Iraqi Shiite forces launched an attack on the Islamic State in villages west of Mosul, as the fight to retake Iraq's second-largest city from ISIS continues. The group said it hopes to push ISIS "from the town of Tal Afar, cutting jihadist supply routes to Mosul from Syria," BBC reported. The United Nations also reported Friday that ISIS has executed 232 people near Mosul and taken "tens of thousands" of others as "human shields" as Iraqi forces continue to advance. The mission, launched nearly two weeks ago, is seen as one of the biggest pushes to oust the jihadist group from Iraq.
8. Obama squashes speculation FLOTUS will pursue political career
President Obama made clear on Friday that First Lady Michelle Obama has no plans for a political career of her own. "She will never run for office," he said in an interview on Sway in the Morning, addressing rumors that have sparked after Michelle's numerous successful appearances on the 2016 campaign trail. "She is as talented and brilliant a person as there is, and I could not be prouder of her, but Michelle does not have the patience or the inclination to actually be a candidate herself." Instead, the two will continue to be "active in issues" they "care about" in a "different way."
9. Bob Dylan finally speaks out on Nobel Prize win
Bob Dylan confirmed Friday that he will "of course" accept the Nobel Prize for Literature. "The news about the Nobel Prize left me speechless," Dylan said, per a press release on the Swedish Academy's website. The remark broke his 15 days of silence on the subject since he was announced the winner on Oct. 13. Dylan is the first musician to win the award for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." In an interview with The Telegraph published Friday, Dylan said he "absolutely" wants to attend the Dec. 10 prize ceremony in Stockholm "if it's at all possible."
10. Indians beat Cubs 1-0, pull ahead 2-1 in World Series
The Cleveland Indians defeated the Chicago Cubs 1-0 in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night. The game marked the first time in 71 years a World Series game has been held at Chicago's Wrigley Field. The Indians now lead the series 2-1. Prior to Friday's game, the series was tied, after the Indians won the first game, 6-0, and the Cubs won the second game, 5-1. The teams face off again Saturday night, in the second of three games at Wrigley Field. The first pitch of Game 4 is slated for 8:08 p.m., with the Indians' Corey Kluber and the Cubs' John Lackey starting.
