Daily Briefing: Is FEMA in trouble?

Misinformation and conspiracy theories about the Federal Emergency Management Authority have been prevalent, including rumors that the agency does not have enough money to help hurricane victims. The war between Israel and Hamas is still stoking tensions at Columbia University. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Dragging yourself to work? Channel this kid.

Amid misinformation, lawmakers demand more for FEMA

Back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton have stretched some disaster relief thin. President Joe Biden has pressed Congress to “move as rapidly as they can” to pass more emergency aid, especially to help supplement loans forsmall business wrecked by the hurricanes.

But emergency officials and others are calling for more than money. FEMA wants to quell rampant misinformation about its capacity to help Americans, saying they've got enough money in the short term to help survivors.

• But it will take "several billion dollars" to rebuild after both hurricanes, Biden said. The president called on lawmakers from both parties to return to Washington early from a pre-Election Day recess to approve more FEMA dollars.
• No, FEMA isn't out of money. But it is spending resources fast. FEMA deployed around $9 billion of the $20 billion approved by Congress for the rest of the year in only one week — before Milton hit Florida Wednesday night. 
• Did former President Donald Trump's claims about FEMA make you panic? FEMA says misinformation from Trump has perpetuated delusions about resources on the ground. The agency launched a new web page this week to mitigate the damage of widespread falsehoods.

🔎What's true? What's false? Sign up for Paste BN's Checking the Facts newsletter for answers.

Columbia University protesters escalate rhetoric

Some students protesting at Columbia are not softening their stance or language. A group of pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University are scaling up their message against Israel, calling for "liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance." Several Jewish students at Columbia have spoken out online about the fear they now face on campus. Read more

More news to know now

• 12 people were on a tour of a former Colorado gold mine. They had to be rescued.
• Can the Electoral College be abolished? 
• A shelter-in-place order was made for two Texas cities after a chemical release killed one person.
• Social Security COLA saw the smallest increase since 2021.
• Tesla unveiled a Cybercab driverless model.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Bird flu in humans is still spreading

A fourth person contracted bird flu in California amid outbreaks in the state’s dairy industry, state officials said Thursday. As in prior confirmed cases, the person works in the state’s agricultural Central Valley and was in contact with infected dairy cattle, the California Department of Public Health announced in a news release. The case comes as officials have identified 17 people across the U.S. who were infected with bird flu this year. So far, there do not appear to be genetic changes to the virus that could cause a greater ability to infect or spread it between people or reduce the efficacy of antiviral medications used to treat it. Read more

Housing inflation won't quit

Inflation overall is trending lower, but the housing market is a notable exception. Among all the expenses that make up the consumer price index, shelter costs were among the biggest gainers in September, the Labor Department said Thursday: up 4.9% compared to a year earlier. In August, the average mortgage payment for existing homeowners hit a record high of $2,070, data provider ICE reported. That’s up 7.2% from the same time last year. Paste BN asked home buyers how they're coping.

Keep scrolling

• PMDD can be deadly. But many women go undiagnosed.
• Still own a landline phone?
• You can own clothes worn by Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.
• These are the college football games to watch in Week 7.
• Here's how Sebastian Stan transformed into Trump for "The Apprentice."

Nobel Peace Prize goes to anti-nuclear weapons group

A grassroots Japanese organization made up of atomic bomb survivors won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Friday. The organization, Nihon Hidankyo, uses testimony from those who survived the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings to campaign for nuclear disarmament and the abolition of nuclear weapons. Read more

Photo of the day: Bursts of color above

Americans had the opportunity Thursday to witness auroras dancing across the night sky amid a solar storm.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.