National News at a Glance

Nuclear Bunker, 200 Feet of Tunnels and a Fire Lead to a Murder Charge in Maryland

A man in Maryland has been charged with murder after his secretive project to build an underground nuclear bunker ended with the death of a worker hired to dig the network of tunnels. Daniel L. Beckwitt, 27, “was concerned about the increase in international tensions, and in particular North Korea’s acquisition of long-range ballistic missiles, and he was in the process of building a secure location for himself,” his lawyer said. Beckwitt was indicted Thursday on charges of involuntary manslaughter. The man who was found dead, Askia Khafra, 21, had been working to dig the tunnels, and was found after a fire broke out Sept. 10.

Anonymous Bidder Pays $3.3 Million for Lunch With Warren Buffett

An anonymous bidder offered to pay more than $3.3 million for the chance to dine with Warren Buffett, the billionaire chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway. The winning bid in the annual “Power Lunch With Warren Buffett” charity auction came in at $3,300,100 on Friday night. Now in its 19th year, the event has raised more than $25 million for Glide, a San Francisco charity. The nonprofit provides food, shelter and child care for people who are poor, homeless or battling substance abuse. The winner, along with up to seven friends, will share a lunch with Buffett at Smith & Wollensky, a steakhouse in Manhattan.

De Blasio Proposes Changes to New York’s Elite High Schools

In the face of growing pressure to tackle New York City’s widespread school segregation, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Saturday a proposal that would change how students are admitted to eight of the city’s specialized high schools, a group of highly sought-after institutions where students gain entry based on a single test. Black and Hispanic students, who make up 67 percent of the public school population, are grossly underrepresented at the specialized high schools. The city will reserve 20 percent of seats at specialized schools for certain poor students and ask the state to eliminate the admissions test.

Listen Carefully, Book Lovers: Top Authors Are Skipping Print

A growing group of A-list authors are bypassing print and releasing audiobook originals, hoping to take advantage of the exploding audiobook market. But the rise of stand-alone audio has also made some traditional publishers nervous, as Audible strikes deals directly with writers. Audible, which is owned by Amazon, is the biggest player with more than 425,000 titles in its online store. Hachette will release about 700 titles this year. Penguin Random House will put out roughly 1,200 audio titles, and Macmillan Audio will release 470 audiobooks this year, a 46 percent increase over 2017. Two of the company’s biggest recent hits are the audiobooks for James Comey’s “A Higher Loyalty” and Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury.”

Cancer Patients Risk Increased Drug Costs Under Trump Proposal

Experts analyzing President Donald Trump's plan to lower prescription drug prices by bolstering negotiating powers under Medicare warn of a possible side effect: It could significantly increase out-of-pocket costs for some. The proposal would move some expensive drugs from Part B, the medical benefit created in the original 1965 Medicare law, to Part D, the outpatient drug benefit added by Congress in 2003. But Medicare beneficiaries typically pay a larger share of the costs for Part D drugs. Many beneficiaries have supplemental insurance, such as a Medigap policy, to help pay their share of the bill for drugs covered under Part B. Medigap policies are not allowed to cover Part D expenses.

Trump’s Lawyers, in Confidential Memo, Argue to Head Off a Historic Subpoena

President Donald Trump’s lawyers have for months quietly waged a campaign to keep the special counsel from trying to force him to answer questions in the investigation into whether he obstructed justice, arguing in a confidential letter that he could not possibly have committed obstruction because he has unfettered authority over all federal investigations. The 20-page letter contends that the president cannot illegally obstruct any aspect of the investigation into Russia’s election meddling because the Constitution empowers him to, “if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon.” Trump’s broad interpretation of executive authority is novel and is likely to be tested if a court battle ensues over whether he could be ordered to answer questions.

Antibiotics Weren’t Used to Cure These Patients. Fecal Bacteria Were.

The bacteria can take over a person’s intestines and be difficult to eradicate, causing fever, vomiting, cramps and diarrhea so severe that it kills 14,000 people a year in the United States alone. The first line of treatment for the attacking microbes, called Clostridium difficile, is antibiotics. But a group of Norwegian researchers asked if an enema containing a stew of bacteria from feces of healthy people might work just as well. The answer, according to a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine, is yes. The study, conducted in Norway, was small — just 20 patients randomly assigned to get the fecal bacteria or antibiotics.