GOP Claims Victory in Florida | Search Continues in Calif. Fire

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who spent 18 years in the upper house, finally conceded to Gov. Rick Scott yesterday, ending a tense statewide recount and boosting the GOP’s Senate majority. “Now the campaign truly is behind us,” Scott told reporters. He defeated his 76-year-old opponent by just 0.12 percent of the vote. Nelson’s concession, combined with Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum’s loss to Republican Ron DeSantis in the race to become Florida’s governor, caps a hard-fought but ultimately unsuccessful legal challenge by Democrats that captured the country’s attention.

While the number of missing has dropped to 993, the death toll in Northern California’s Camp Fire increased yesterday to 77. So far, 10 victims remain unidentified. Having destroyed more than 10,300 homes, the blaze — which firefighters expect to extinguish by the end of the month — is now 65 percent contained. As search teams comb through the debris, volunteers have flocked to the region to help the displaced by serving food and handing out fresh clothes. “We’re staying up here as long as we’re needed,” said one food truck owner.

Chanting “Our poor come first!” and “We don’t want them,” hundreds of demonstrators met members of the U.S.-bound Central American migrant caravan in Tijuana yesterday. Tensions have increased as around 3,000 recent arrivals have packed local shelters, churches and a stadium in what an overwhelmed Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum called an “avalanche.” Mexican authorities estimate some 10,000 Central Americans are currently moving through the country in several caravans. Meanwhile, U.S. border inspectors are processing around 100 asylum claims daily at the Tijuana-San Diego crossing.

Johns Hopkins University will be the recipient of the largest contribution in the history of U.S. education, with the funds earmarked exclusively for low- and middle-income students. The former New York City mayor’s gift, which university President Ronald Daniels called “truly transformative,” is expected to boost socioeconomic diversity at the Baltimore institution. Tuition currently reaches up to $53,740 per year and 44 percent of students graduate with debt. Bloomberg, a presumed 2020 presidential candidate, explained, “Denying students entry to a college based on their ability to pay undermines equal opportunity.”

Know This: President Donald Trump appeared to defend Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman yesterday despite the CIA’s conclusion that the prince ordered the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. European leaders have told British Prime Minister Theresa May that renegotiating her draft Brexit agreement isn’t an option. And Nissan has announced it’ll fire Chairman Carlos Ghosn over alleged financial misconduct.

Read This: Despite numerous challenges, China’s leaders have consistently defied Western expectations by building a massive economic powerhouse that’s now reshaping the global order.

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Six years after Pablo Picasso’s Tête d’Arlequin was snatched from Rotterdam’s Kunsthal museum, officials are investigating the strange circumstances that may have led two Dutch citizens — reportedly alerted by an anonymous tip — to find it under a tree in southeastern Romania. The painting, along with six other stolen works, was thought to have been incinerated by the mother of the heist’s ringleader. He and three other Romanians were convicted and ordered to reimburse about $20 million. Officials are determining whether the painting, delivered to the Dutch Embassy in Bucharest, is authentic.

Hotel industry representatives and city officials from around the world will gather in New York City today to discuss how to regulate the “commonality of negative outcomes” they face from companies like Airbnb. The booming home rental business — Airbnb posted $1 billion in revenue last quarter, while Expedia’s HomeAway earned $410 million — has stoked concern among affordable housing advocates, hoteliers and city officials who say the trend exacerbates local housing crunches. But regulation could affect Airbnb’s plans for an IPO, prompting the company to plan protests outside Monday’s conference.

According to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine, tiny doses of peanut flour that were slowly increased over the span of a year allowed two-thirds of children aged 4-17 with severe allergies to eventually tolerate the equivalent of two peanuts. Fourteen percent of participants had systemic allergic reactions during the study, but only one experienced anaphylaxis. It’s unclear how consistently a person would need to be exposed to peanut protein to maintain their tolerance, but scientists hope the finding will be “life-transforming.”

“I miss you so much.” So wrote the hip-hop icon yesterday in a tribute to his former partner and mother of his children. The 47-year-old actress and model was found dead at her home Thursday. “For the last three days I’ve been trying to wake up out of this nightmare,” Diddy wrote in an Instagram post, which also featured video footage from the couple’s 2006 maternity shoot for Essence. The pair officially split in 2007 but continued to co-parent their three children, D’Lila Star, Jessie James and Christian.

Age is only a number. Thanks to flag-happy referees and stronger rules protecting offensive players, NFL quarterbacks are finding more time to hit their mark while facing fewer risks to their bodies. For players like 40-year-old Tom Brady and 34-year-old Aaron Rodgers, that means potentially prolonged careers. Some believe the stricter “roughing the passer” and “unnecessary roughness” rules might even lead to a rebound from last season’s eight-year low for overall scoring — unless defensive players adapt quickly, that is.