With two weeks until Election Day, well over 17 million people -- roughly a tenth of all registered voters -- have already cast their ballots. Many states have set daily records for early voting, offering the clearest sign yet that voting habits were forever changed by the pandemic. Democrats dominated the early and mail votes in the last presidential election, but this year, the Republican Party has embarked on a multimillion effort to change voters' minds and appears to be closing the gap. Israel's military announced today that it had killed Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor to Hezbollah's recently assassinated leader. The International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.) said today that global inflation is poised to continue its downward trajectory and widespread fears of a post-pandemic recession appear to have been averted. The U.S. agreed to give Ukraine $800 million in military aid that will go toward manufacturing long-range drones to use against Russian troops.