Week in review: Dick Cheney died Nov. 3 at 84; he reshaped the vice presidency and was central to post‑9/11 U.S. policy. Astronomers observed the most powerful and most distant burst ever recorded from a supermassive black hole, likely from a star torn apart some 10 billion light‑years away. Housing affordability worsened: just 21% of buyers were first‑timers and all‑cash purchases rose to a record 26%, while the average first‑time buyer age reached 40. In lighter notes, Kim Kardashian queried NASA about interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, and the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the World Series as Clayton Kershaw retired with three rings.
Week in Review — Dick Cheney Dies at 84; Record Cosmic Blast, Housing Crunch, and Dodgers’ Dramatic World Series Win
Week in review: Dick Cheney died Nov. 3 at 84; he reshaped the vice presidency and was central to post‑9/11 U.S. policy. Astronomers observed the most powerful and most distant burst ever recorded from a supermassive black hole, likely from a star torn apart some 10 billion light‑years away. Housing affordability worsened: just 21% of buyers were first‑timers and all‑cash purchases rose to a record 26%, while the average first‑time buyer age reached 40. In lighter notes, Kim Kardashian queried NASA about interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, and the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the World Series as Clayton Kershaw retired with three rings.
12:11, 08.11.2025Politics
Week in Review
Dick Cheney dies at 84. Dick Cheney, the unapologetic Wyoming Republican who transformed the office of the vice president while serving under President George W. Bush (2001–2009), died on Nov. 3 at age 84. He will be remembered as a chief architect of the post‑9/11 war on terror and a leading voice behind the decision to invade Iraq, a conflict that became emblematic of the risks of nation‑building. Over time, members of both parties regarded Cheney as the most powerful vice president in modern U.S. history. As Joel Goldstein, author of The Modern American Vice Presidency, observed: “Only under Cheney was there ever the question whether or not the vice president might really have been running things.”
How science prolonged his life
The former vice president lived to 84 despite suffering multiple serious heart events, including five heart attacks. Medical advances in cardiovascular care and proactive management of his conditions helped extend his life.
Record cosmic blast
Astronomers reported tracking the most powerful and most distant burst of energy ever recorded from a supermassive black hole. The event originated roughly 10 billion light‑years away and likely involved a black hole of about 500 million solar masses producing a flash roughly 10 trillion times brighter than the sun. Scientists say the outburst probably followed a giant star straying too close and being torn apart — “spaghettified” by extreme tidal forces — creating a massive, observable shock of radiation that revealed the violent encounter.
Housing squeeze for first‑time buyers
First‑time buyers are increasingly sidelined in today’s market. From June 2024 to June 2025, only about 21% of purchasers were first‑time buyers, about half the long‑run average in records extending back to 1981, the National Association of Realtors reported on Nov. 4. Buyers with existing equity are making more all‑cash offers — a share that climbed to a record 26% — and the average age of first‑time buyers rose to 40.
Pop culture meets outer space
Kim Kardashian drew attention to the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS — only the third confirmed visitor from outside our solar system — after previously questioning the 1969 moon landing on her show. NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy responded on social media with facts about the object and a reassurance: “No aliens. No threat to life here on Earth.”
Sports: Dodgers clinch dramatic Game 7
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series in a dramatic Game 7 that ended in the 11th inning. Veteran Clayton Kershaw, who was warming in the bullpen, missed the final double play and had to be told by the bullpen coach that the game was over — to which he replied, “Are you sure?” He retires at 37 with three World Series rings and reflected: “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.’ You can’t script it.”
Compiled and written by Robert Abitbol. Originally appeared on USA TODAY.