Good Morning! Today’s edition is 866 words, a 4-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• Infections causing cancer

• Federal student loan autopay deadline

• Scratch and sniff history

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Big Stories

Infections behind 12% of Cancers

• About 12% of cancer cases worldwide in 2024 were attributable to infections, according to a new WHO-led study published in The Lancet Oncology.

• Researchers linked roughly 2.3 million new cancer cases to infectious pathogens, with five infections accounting for most of them. H. pylori and HPV each caused about 4% of global cancers, followed by hepatitis B, Epstein-Barr virus, and hepatitis C. Together, these pathogens can contribute to more than 20 types of cancer, including stomach, liver, cervical, and blood cancers.

• Many of these cancers are potentially preventable through vaccination, infection treatment, and screening. About 75% of infection-related cancer cases occurred in low- and middle-income countries where access to measures such as HPV and hepatitis B vaccines and treatment for H. pylori and hepatitis C can be more limited.

Massive U.S. Steel Plant

• President Donald Trump announced plans for a $15 billion steel plant in Iowa that the White House says would become the largest in the United States.

• The facility is expected to begin production in 2030 and eventually produce 10 million tons of steel annually. Mesabi Metallics will source iron ore from its new $2.5 billion mine in Minnesota, allowing the steel to be produced from start to finish in the United States. The project is expected to create at least 1,750 permanent jobs and up to 6,000 construction jobs.

• Trump credited his 50% tariffs on imported steel with encouraging companies to build production in the U.S. The announcement also comes five weeks before the midterm elections in Iowa, where Republicans face competitive races and Trump said he plans to campaign in the state.

Government Gets an AI Front Door

• The Trump administration launched America.gov on Tuesday as a new AI-powered portal designed to serve as a single entry point for accessing federal government information and services.

• Instead of navigating individual agency websites, users can ask questions by text or voice and receive answers from official government sources. The free service requires no account and can provide step-by-step guidance or explain specific forms and letters in English, Spanish, and French.

• The administration plans to expand America.gov beyond answering questions by allowing users to complete application forms and renewals directly through the site. Future capabilities could include enrolling in Medicare, applying for a passport, and finding federal jobs.

Quick Stories

U.S. News

• The Supreme Court cleared the Trump administration to continue deporting some immigrants to third countries while it reviews the policy in December. (More)

• Former special counsel Jack Smith defended his investigations of President Trump during a contentious Senate hearing Tuesday as Republicans challenged his methods and accused him of political bias. (More)

• The Trump administration extended the deadline for federal student loan borrowers to enroll in autopay and receive a temporary 1 percentage point interest-rate reduction from Wednesday to Dec. 31. (More)

World

• Doctors in the Netherlands euthanized a severely disabled 1-year-old, the first case under new rules covering seriously ill children ages 1 to 12. (More)

• A nearly 12-foot shark trapped in a Busan, South Korea, canal has become a tourist attraction drawing more than 600,000 visitors. Rescue efforts have repeatedly failed to guide it back to sea. (More)

• French high school students are protesting class sizes, teacher shortages, and long school days, with demonstrations spreading to 300 schools. More than 200 people have been arrested since Monday. (More)

Business & Economy

• U.S. stock markets closed lower on Tuesday (S&P -0.16%, Nasdaq -0.09%, Dow -0.26%) as Treasury yields rose again. (More)

• El Pollo Loco will make its New York City debut in Queens next year as part of a broader national expansion. The chain plans 15 New York-area restaurants over five years. (More)

• President Trump said a diesel export ban remains under consideration as U.S. prices hover near record highs. (More)

Sports & Entertainment

• Austin Riley’s three-run homer in the eighth powered Atlanta to a 5-3 comeback win over Philadelphia in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series. (More)

• The Senate passed a sweeping college sports bill 77-22 that would give the NCAA greater power to enforce athlete pay and transfer limits. It now heads to the House, where its future is uncertain. (More)

• Charlie and Martin Sheen are reuniting onscreen as father and son for the first time in more than a decade in AMC’s new comedy Happy Jack. (More)

Science, Health, & Tech

• Astronomers made the first direct detection of radio emissions from an exoplanet. The signals from β Pictoris b were traced to auroras generated by a magnetic field far stronger than Jupiter’s. (More)

• Earth’s day length changes by milliseconds over decades as shifts in the inner core create gravitational forces that slightly speed up or slow down the mantle’s rotation. (More)

• The oldest known Homo sapiens fossils now have a face after researchers digitally reconstructed the 315,000-year-old remains. (More)

Extra Credit

Mapping gas prices by state.

11-year-old girl becomes the youngest chess grand master.

Liverpool, New York, is 2026’s Nicest Place in America.

The smelly history of scratch and sniff.