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NADJA LOVADINOV here Welcome back. You may be thinking about what’s for dinner tonight. In the midterm elections, meat is on the menu. More on that below. Also in the news today: A teen shooter kills 4 at an Oregon elementary school; drone attacks on vessels in Black Sea test NATO; and a family of barn owls move into Manhattan. Midterm campaigns are asking, where’s the beef? And how much does it cost?

As Democrats and Republicans argue over high prices and the Iran war, they also are having a food fight over who is the most red-blooded carnivore. What to know: The latest example came this week in Mississippi, where Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom released a video with a snippet of Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican incumbent saying that if consumers are upset over high beef prices, “you know you have so many proteins to choose from.”

The video cuts to a man grilling burgers who says, “Pick another protein? I’d rather pick another senator instead.”

Elsewhere, Republicans have branded Democrats as vegans or otherwise opposed to meat trying to show that they are culturally out of step with voters, hostile to local cattle industries or just not manly enough.

Democrats have spotlighted meat as well, but mainly as one of the staples that cost more under President Donald Trump. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average pound of ground beef cost $6.79 last month, up from $5.55 in January of 2025, when Trump returned to office. Trump wants the midterms to be all about himself.

Judging by the ads, Democrats are happy to oblige Judge tosses ex-CIA head John Brennan’s document preservation lawsuit against the DOJ FBI agents and analysts fired for roles in Trump classified files probe sue to get their jobs back BBC asks judge to force Trump to sit for deposition in his own lawsuit against the channel Trump, after bipartisan backlash, says Pentagon won’t livestream execution of Fort Hood shooter New White House press secretary defends her legal background and short first briefing Teen shooter kills 4 at Oregon elementary school before being shot by a witness A 16-year-old shot his way through locked doors to get into an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, killing a teacher and three children aged 5, 8 and 11. He was then shot by a person at the scene who followed him inside, authorities said.

The shooting was the 28th mass killing in the U.S. this year according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. A look at mass killings in the U.S.

Drone strikes in the Black Sea raise fears of Russian escalation to test NATO’s response A string of drone attacks on at least seven cargo vessels in the Black Sea this month, off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, has some members of the alliance wondering if Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking escalation to test their support for Ukraine.

The attacks in the two countries’ exclusive economic zones threaten a global shipping route and have left two people dead, with at least 25 still missing. They also run the risk of drawing other countries directly into the war for Ukraine.

Article 5 of the NATO charter has a mutual defense guarantee — an attack on one is an attack on all.

But Romanian defense analyst Radu Tudor said it was uncertain as to whether it covers many of the Black Sea drone strikes because they occurred in the alliance members’ exclusive economic zones.

Russia strikes 9 Ukrainian regions as strain grows between Zelenskyy and Trump AP gets exclusive look at ‘StarGate,’ Ukraine’s first aerial drone to evacuate wounded soldiers What to know about Starshield and why its disruption rattled Ukraine’s forces IN OTHER NEWS Canada: Carney says US is trying to break country as Alberta votes on separation path NYC college death: Student died after being drugged and raped in her dorm, prosecutors say Japan’s Prime Minister Says chores and makeup add hours to her workday Brewers reach the World Series for the first time since 1982

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Cheers!: Cask pitching in Czech Republic designed to help make the perfect pint Pumpkin joy ride: Giant inflatable jack-o’-lantern tumbles through a North Carolina farm A rare family of barn owls move into Manhattan’s Upper West Side Nested in a water tower atop a building near Central Park, a family of barn owls have attracted nightly crowds of people eager to get a glimpse of the elusive birds. It’s not the first time New Yorkers have fallen for their feathered friends. From Flaco the Eurasian eagle owl, to the American woodcocks — known for their bobbing strut — that charm locals every spring in Bryant Park. But barn owl sightings in the city’s parks are very rare, according to the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.