TODAY’S INTERNATIONAL story

Proposed Trump-Putin talks in Budapest on hold

What happened
The White House yesterday said there were “no plans” for President Donald Trump to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “in the immediate future,” less than a week after Trump said they would meet in Budapest “within two weeks or so” for Ukraine peace talks. Trump told reporters yesterday he didn’t “want to have a wasted meeting” with Putin or “a waste of time, so we’ll see what happens.”

Who said what
This “latest twist in Trump’s stop-and-go effort to resolve the war in Ukraine” followed a phone call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the White House called “productive,” The Associated Press said. Trump on Monday “embraced a ceasefire proposal backed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the current front line,” the BBC said, but Lavrov shot that idea down yesterday, insisting on the “complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops” from Ukraine’s Donbas region.

The “back-and-forth is the latest example of the cycle” in which Trump “teases some kind of diplomatic breakthrough, only to be pulled back” by Putin, The New York Times said. Trump has “by turns courted the Russian leader and threatened him — but has never taken action to punish Russia in a meaningful way,” and Ukraine always “seems to lose any traction” in the process.

What next?
Trump “suggested that decisions about the meeting would be made in the coming days,” the AP said. His “hesitancy in meeting Putin will likely come as a relief to European leaders, who have accused Putin of stalling for time with diplomacy while trying to gain ground on the battlefield.”

TODAY’S BUSINESS Story

Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bids

What happened
Warner Bros. Discovery said yesterday it was fielding “unsolicited interest” from “multiple parties” and had initiated a “review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.” The announcement was the “first acknowledgement of a (metaphorical) ‘For Sale’ sign hanging from the iconic WB water tower,” The Hollywood Reporter said.

Who said what
The media giant, home to iconic brands like HBO and DC Studios, said earlier this year it planned to split into two separate companies, one focused on streaming and studios and the other on cable. But “it’s also been fielding takeout interest from the newly merged Paramount Skydance,” said CNBC. “Netflix and Comcast are among the interested parties,” too, but it is “unclear how serious” that interest might be. Warner Bros. Discovery shares rose 11% following yesterday’s announcement.

A purchase of WBD by the Larry Ellison–backed Paramount Skydance “would place CNN and CBS, two legacy news brands, under the same roof,” The Washington Post said. A merger that big, The Associated Press said, “could attract antitrust scrutiny — but like other recent mega-mergers and proposed transactions, could find success under the Trump administration.” WBD earlier this week rejected a second takeover bid from Paramount, which had been trying to “pre-empt a potential bidding war” for WBD’s studio and streaming unit, The Wall Street Journal said.

What next?
Despite setting off a “media free-for-all,” WBD is “dual-tracking,” preparing for its planned split next year while entertaining its “come-and-get-it pitch” to rivals, Semafor said. CEO David Zaslav “has told associates that he wanted to proceed with the split,” the Journal said.

It’s not all bad

A tiny implant can restore the central vision of people with age-related macular degeneration, a previously untreatable condition, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. In a trial funded by Science Corporation, the photovoltaic retina implant microarray (PRIMA) system was inserted in the eyes of 38 patients and connected to augmented reality glasses equipped with a video camera, enabling signals to be transmitted to the brain. After one year, 80% of participants regained enough vision to read, researchers said.

Under the radar

AI is making housing more expensive

The rise of artificial intelligence has led to higher prices for houses and rentals. The rapid growth of AI companies in San Francisco, for example, has fostered a “heated competition among techies and non-techies to pounce on listings,” said The New York Times. San Francisco’s rents have risen by an average of 6% in the past year, “more than double the 2.5% increase in New York City.”

But it’s not just the Bay Area feeling the bite. AI is also fueling a nationwide “frenzy of data centers that are competing with residential homes for capital, power, water and even sonic space,” said Realtor.com. This has contributed to a “housing market stuck in neutral, with the potential for higher bills on the horizon, and neighborhoods kept awake by the hum of chillers designed to keep machines — not people — cool.”

The prevalence of AI slop all over internet listings also makes homebuying tricky. Some listings feature AI-generated images or use AI tools to “remove power lines, add trees or replace grass with a pool,” Kevin Greene, the general manager of real estate solutions for Cotality, told Slate.

Still, some clients find AI has benefited their homebuying experience. It can offer real estate insights and refine searches “in a way that cuts down on the time and clutter that can very quickly consume a hunt for a new home,” University of Tennessee financial literacy instructor Alex Beene told Newsweek. AI will “narrow the information gap between buyers and markets,” added Realtor.com analyst Hannah Jones.

On this day

October 22, 1962

President John F. Kennedy announced a naval blockade of Cuba, in a major escalation of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet Union sparked the crisis by stationing missiles on Cuban soil, a provocation that triggered fears of a nuclear war. The crisis eventually ended peacefully, though the Cold War continued for another three decades.

TODAY’S newspaperS

‘Cries of overreach’

“GOP tests limits with shutdown politics,” The Boston Globe says on Wednesday’s front page. “This shutdown may cut deep into economy,” The New York Times says. “Trump wants DOJ to pay him $230M,” The Minnesota Star Tribune says. “Cries of overreach as East Wing decimated further,” says The Washington Post. “Japan makes history with first female leader,” The Wall Street Journal says. “ICE agents’ use of force faces scrutiny after L.A. shooting,” the Los Angeles Times says. “Prop 50 bringing angst in California,” where “voters’ feelings mixed on redistricting battle,” says USA Today. North Carolina “GOP advances Trump-backed congressional map,” says The Charlotte Observer.

► See the newspaper front pages

Tall tale

Otter lawlessness

A sea otter tried to steal a surfboard last week in Santa Cruz, California, and local officials are wondering if it’s an old or new culprit. In 2023, a female otter dubbed 841 kept hopping on boards and refusing to budge, but she stopped her antics after giving birth. In the latest incident, an otter tried to commandeer surfer Isabella Orduna’s board, giving her an “exploratory nip” that didn’t break the skin, Orduna told The New York Times.

Morning Report was written and edited by Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Rafi Schwartz, Peter Weber and Kari Wilkin, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.