Former Vice President Dick Cheney dies

Dick Cheney, the unapologetic Wyoming Republican who supercharged the office of vice president when he served under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, died Nov. 3. He was 84 and will be remembered for his role as architect of the war on terrorism after 9/11 and the decision to invade Iraq, a war that came to symbolize the perils of nation-building. Over the years, Republicans and Democrats alike regarded him as the most powerful vice president in American history. Said Joel Goldstein, author of “The Modern American Vice Presidency”: “Only under Cheney was there ever the question whether or not the vice president might really have been running things.”

A hungry, hungry black hole far, far away

The numbers are startling: an object 10 billion light-years away, 500 million times the mass of the sun, setting off a flash 10 trillion times brighter than the sun. Astronomers announced they are tracking the most powerful and most distant burst of energy ever recorded from a supermassive black hole, probably the result of a giant star wandering too close to the cosmic chasm and being ripped apart − “spaghettified” by the sheer force of gravity. Black holes can’t be seen because their pull is so strong that even light can‘t escape, but scientists can spot the massive shock of radiation the doomed star leaves behind.

Odds are stacked against new homebuyers

First-time homebuyers are finding it harder than ever to own their slice of the American dream. Only about 1 in 5, or 21%, of purchasers from June 2024 to June 2025 were first-timers, the National Association of Realtors reported Nov. 4. That‘s about half the average in housing records dating back to 1981. The new wannabe homeowners are being edged out by buyers who already have housing equity and can make all-cash bids, the association said; correspondingly, the share of those all-cash purchases rose to its highest ever at 26%. Also rising is the average age of first-time homebuyers, which hit 40.

That Kim Kardashian is really out there

Kim Kardashian may have gotten a little space-happy. First, she said on “The Kardashians” that the 1969 moon landing “didn’t happen,” so NASA’s acting administrator, Sean Duffy, went to social media to set her straight. Now the mysterious comet 3I/ATLAS, only the third confirmed visitor ever from outside our solar system, has captured her attention, and she took to social media again to ask Duffy the “tea” – the details – on the cosmic visitor. He responded with some factoids and added: “No aliens. No threat to life here on Earth.”

If you haven't heard − the Dodgers win it all

The LA Dodgers are World Series champs again, but at least one guy right there on the field missed the whole thing. Dodgers veteran Clayton Kershaw, warming up in the bullpen in the bottom of the 11th inning with Game 7 on the line, never saw the double play that ended it. It fell to the bullpen coach to give the news to Kershaw, who responded, “Are you sure?” (He was.) Kershaw, 37, now retires with three World Series rings. “I will, forever, for the rest of my life, get to say, ‘We won Game 7 of the World Series the last game I played,’” he said. “You can’t script it.” − Compiled and written by Robert Abitbol

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dick Cheney dies, space wonders revealed, Dodgers win World Series: Week in review

Reporting by Robert Abitbol, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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