Mike Ditka Passes, Nobel Peace Prize, & "The Thing" Comes Alive

Adam Rogers
October 10, 2026

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Today’s Big Story

Mike Ditka died at 86 on Friday, according to his family. He won championships with the Chicago Bears as both a player and head coach.
Ditka helped Chicago win the 1963 NFL championship four years before the first Super Bowl brought the NFL and rival American Football League champions together. He returned as head coach in 1982 and led the 1985 Bears to a 15–1 regular season and a 46–10 Super Bowl victory over New England. It remains Chicago’s only Super Bowl title.
As a player, Ditka helped transform tight ends from primarily blockers into major receiving threats by combining lineman-like strength with the ability to catch passes downfield. He became the first tight end inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 and later reached another generation of fans as an ESPN analyst.

Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize Friday for her work promoting peace and international law. The South African jurist helped establish that rape and sexual violence can constitute genocide through her work at the tribunal for Rwanda. She later served as U.N. human rights chief and now sits as an ad hoc judge in the genocide case against Myanmar. (More)

Hurricane Isaias approached the Florida Panhandle Friday evening as a Category 3 storm packing 115 mph winds ahead of expected landfall between Mobile Bay and Destin. Forecasters warned it could push water 6–9 feet above ground in the hardest-hit coastal areas before spreading heavy rain and flooding inland across the Southeast through the weekend. (More)

SpaceX agreed to buy nationwide wireless frequencies from Grain Management to expand Starlink Mobile through a network combining satellites and ground equipment. The frequencies would help signals travel farther and reach inside buildings more easily, but the deal still needs federal approval. (More)

The Justice Department stopped enforcing federal registration requirements Friday for silencers and short-barreled rifles and shotguns by extending a Texas court ruling nationwide. The change removes the fingerprinting and advance approval requirements buyers previously faced under those rules. Machine guns and destructive devices still require registration, and other federal and state gun restrictions remain in place. (More)

President Trump announced a deal Friday for Russia to supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately to U.S. and global markets to help lower fuel costs. Larger shipments would follow under a temporary exemption from U.S. sanctions. The White House has not clarified who will pay for the fuel or when buyers will receive it. (More)

Researchers found that playing fish calls and snapping shrimp sounds underwater helped young coral settle on artificial structures off Hawaii by signaling a suitable home. Coral settled most readily near the speaker on structures coated with living bacteria. The findings could help restore damaged reefs but do not yet show whether those corals will survive and grow. (More)

A father surprised his children by walking independently after three years recovering from a car accident that left him with a serious brain injury. (More)

Demining crews removed more than 14,000 explosive remnants from a Libyan farm this year so displaced residents could safely return to their land. (More)

A North Carolina community raised roughly $18,000 to help a woman secure pet-friendly housing and reunite with the dog she surrendered because they could not live together. (More)

Two teenagers created a card game and educational workshops to help children understand cancer treatments and side effects after their own families experienced the disease. (More)

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