5 things to know for Oct. 16: Early voting, Gaza aid, Lufthansa fined, IVF treatments, Energy bills

By Alexandra Banner, CNN

(CNN) — Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

1. Early voting

A record number of early votes were cast in Georgia on Tuesday as residents headed to the polls in the critical battleground state. “We have had over 328,000 total votes cast so far,” Gabe Sterling of the Georgia secretary of state’s office said on X. The previous first-day record was 136,000 in 2020, Sterling said. The swing state is one of the most closely watched in this election, with former President Donald Trump trying to reclaim it after losing there to President Joe Biden by a small margin four years ago. At the same time, several new rules passed by a Trump-backed Republican majority on the State Election Board are creating uncertainty around the post-election process. This has led Democrats and others to mount legal challenges, many of which have yet to be resolved even as Election Day nears.

2. Gaza aid

Israel is reviewing a letter sent by the US that demands it act to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within the next 30 days or risk violating US laws governing foreign military assistance, suggesting US military aid could be in jeopardy. The Biden administration and other world leaders have long pressured Israel to help ease the dire conditions in the enclave — while thousands of Palestinians face sustained Israeli airstrikes. Despite the stern warning, however, the US has continued to provide military assistance to Israel. The World Food Programme said in a recent report that the aid entering the strip has plummeted to its lowest level in months. No food has entered northern Gaza since the start of October, putting 1 million people at risk of starvation, the World Food Programme told CNN last week.

3. Lufthansa fined

Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest airline, has been fined a record $4 million for denying boarding to 128 Jewish passengers who didn’t know each other. The fine stems from a May 2022 incident in which the airline denied boarding to the travelers as a group and were unable to connect in Frankfurt to Budapest from a New York flight because of the “alleged misbehavior of a few.” The airline issued an apology, saying the incident “resulted from an unfortunate series of inaccurate communications, misinterpretations, and misjudgments throughout the decision-making process.” The US Department of Transportation said Tuesday’s penalty is the largest ever issued by the federal agency for civil rights violations.

4. IVF treatments

Donald Trump on Tuesday declared himself the “father of IVF,” a fertility treatment that has come under threat following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. It’s unclear what Trump meant when he made the comment during a Fox News town hall that was billed as focusing on women’s issues and had an all-female audience. But he has repeatedly returned to the issue — talking up his support for IVF — on the campaign trail. Trump has claimed he would enact a federal policy making IVF free of charge and touted his response following the Alabama Supreme Court’s controversial ruling earlier this year that frozen embryos are children. Democrats, meanwhile, have sought to use threats to IVF to paint Republicans, including Trump, as seeking to restrict access to reproductive health care.

5. Energy bills

For consumers still scarred by jumps in their energy bills in recent years, the International Energy Agency has good news: Oil and natural gas prices will probably be lower over the next five years. Energy prices soared in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which followed a rise in global demand as economies reopened after Covid lockdowns put lives on hold. According to the IEA, oil and natural gas supplies will increase in the second half of this decade as long as the conflict in the Middle East and Russia’s war in Ukraine don’t derail current trends. In a wide-ranging report, the agency also said that investing in clean energy isn’t just necessary to prevent a climate catastrophe — it also makes financial sense because it will “remove inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.”

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Trump dances for 30 minutes at campaign event
Donald Trump spent at least 30 minutes dancing and playing music following a town hall in Pennsylvania. Some called Trump’s performance odd when he could have quickly Walz-ed off stage.

Plans announced for a second Sphere entertainment venue
Las Vegas won’t be the only city with a giant glowing Sphere.

Tom Brady becomes part owner of an NFL team
Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, has joined the ranks of NFL team owners.

Olivia Rodrigo falls during concert mishap
The singer quickly got up, telling the audience she was “okay,” after she fell during a concert in Melbourne, Australia on Monday.

Whoopi Goldberg shares her grief story
Watch this short video to learn how Whoopi Goldberg found peace amid the grief of losing the “center” of her life.

TODAY’S NUMBER

2028
That’s the year the city of Atlanta will host Super Bowl LXII (62), the NFL announced Tuesday. Preparations are now in full swing for Super Bowl LIX (59), which will take place in New Orleans on February 9, 2025.

TODAY’S QUOTE

“Inflation is still a big deal; even though it’s come down, I feel that’s still the dominant theme in the economy.”

— Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst for Bankrate, telling CNN that many people are anxious about the US economy despite data that shows it’s running quite strong. In September, America’s inflation reached a fresh three-and-a-half-year low, coming in at a pace that’s similar to what was seen in 2017 and 2018, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

TODAY’S WEATHER

Check your local forecast here>>>

AND FINALLY …

Rare weather event left lakes in one of the driest places on earth
CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam breaks down how and why one of the driest places on earth is facing flooding.

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