Axios

The Supreme Court denied on Monday a bid by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind behind the 9/11 terror attacks, to reinstate plea agreements that would have spared him and two co-defendants the death penalty.

Why it matters: The denial keeps the death penalty on the table for the accused 9/11 plotters as they move closer to their June 2028 military trial date, when the government hopes to finally secure convictions more than 25 years after one of America's deadliest terrorist attacks.

President Trump's moves to avoid new penalties on Russian energy sent shockwaves through Washington, sparking diplomatic tensions and political turmoil.

Why it matters: Trump's push to lower energy prices ahead of the midterms could provide Russia an economic lifeline and is exposing divisions within his own party.

Bob Woodward — in an eye-opening excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, "Secrets," that's previewed in the new issue of The New Yorker — reveals that one of his best friends, the late Richard Darman, was also one of his best sources during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.

• "Darman was willing, even eager at times, to talk about the most sensitive intelligence matters, including N.S.A. intercepts and covert C.I.A. operations," Woodward writes in his book, out Nov. 15. "He was always careful not to talk about matters that would harm national security, I believed, but he would go right up to the edge — a reporter's dream source."