Good afternoon. Here are the top stories so far today.
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What happened today:
- Let's make a deal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on Thursday Congress has reached a debt ceiling deal to prevent default through early December. A Senate aide familiar with the agreement told Insider it would raise the US borrowing limit another $480 billion, a figure that the Treasury Department projected would allow the US to finance its debt until December.
- A COVID vaccine for kids is almost here. Pfizer asked the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday to authorize a lower dose of its COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11, after data last month showed the shot was safe and effective among this age group. The FDA could greenlight the shot for young kids sometime around Halloween, since the data take weeks to review. Vaccines for even younger children could be close behind.
- 18 ex-NBA players charged with fraud. Authorities have issued a grand jury indictment against 18 former NBA players, alleging that they defrauded the NBA Players' Health and Welfare Benefit Plan. The indictment alleges that the players submitted nearly $4 million in fraudulent claims between 2017 and 2020 for dental and medical treatments that never occurred. In exchange, the players may have received up to $2.5 million.
- Snapchat fights fentanyl deaths. Snapchat is adding new features to cut down on the sale of fentanyl and other illegal drugs on the social media platform, the company announced Thursday. "We have heard devastating stories from families impacted by this crisis, including cases where fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills were purchased from drug dealers on Snapchat," the app's parent company, Snap, said in a blog post.
- Prepare to ugly cry. In her first interview in five years, Adele opened up about her divorce and the toll it's taken on her 8-year-old son, Angelo. The singer told British Vogue that she wrote much of her forthcoming album in an attempt to explain the split to her child. Adele's divorce from Simon Konecki was finalized earlier this year.
That's all for now. See you tomorrow.