1. “Joaquin upgraded to Category 3 hurricane”

2. It's October. A powerful hurricane is brewing
It's October. A powerful hurricane is brewing. The whole system is threatening to head straight north to the U.S. You can't blame the people along the East Coast if they're having a Sandy flashback when it comes to Hurricane Joaquin. In eastern Pennsylvania, folks were taking the threat very seriously. "What we're expecting here is to be on alert for flash floods as well as power outages, and so we're trying to get the word out to the community to think ahead, to have a plan," said Michele Baehr with the Red Cross. The powerful tropical system became a major hurricane last night. And throughout Thursday, the Category 3 storm will only get stronger. The good news: If current projections hold, Joaquin won't be another Sandy. The not-so-good news: Hurricane projections are notoriously unpredictable. Right now predictions say that Hurricane Joaquin is likely to approach near the U.S. East Coast by the weekend. "We've got Air Force reconnaissance planes continuously giving us data from inside the hurricane, and we're going to be throwing a lot more aircraft resources at this problem over the next few days because it still is not certain whether or not Joaquin will directly impact the U.S. East Coast or stay out to sea," said Rick Knabb,.

3. In Other News
Vice President Joe Biden has extended his window for deciding whether to jump into the 2016 presidential campaign, several Democrats say, allowing the contest to play out even longer before he answers one of the biggest questions hanging over the race for the White House. He is not preparing for the first Democratic debate on October 13 in Las Vegas and is not expected to participate, people close to him say, because he feels no pressure to reach a decision by then. He is likely to reveal his plans in the second half of October.
Tired of trying to sleep while stuffed into your tiny coach seat on a long-haul flight? Coach passengers flying long distances may eventually get to rest in "sleeping boxes" proposed last week by Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer. The sleeping boxes would be stacked in the rear of the aircraft, according to a patent application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, first reported by the Daily Mail. Passengers would still receive meals and would still have to buckle up during takeoff and landing.