October 28, 2026

MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 243.

• International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi told the U.N. Security Council yesterday that the agency has seen no activity by Iran to repair or rebuild nuclear facilities damaged in the U.S. and Israeli strikes of 2025 and 2026. The agency notes, however, that it has been unable to verify the status of Iran's stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium since the U.S. strikes of June 2025. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,705 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• In a rare direct contact between European leaders and the Kremlin, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday to urge him to end the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin's account of the call indicates no softening of Russia's stance on conditions for ending the war, saying a "just and long-term peace is possible only if the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation are fully and unconditionally taken into account." [more]
• U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters early today that a meeting involving Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will "be set up here soon," but gave no timeline or other details. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged today, a month after raising it for the first time in three years amidst ongoing inflation levels significantly above the Fed's 2% target. [more]

U.S. CLIMATE POLICY | Citing what he said would be cost savings for consumers and energy producers, President Donald Trump announced yesterday that his administration is "terminating" a Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency rule aimed at cutting methane emissions from oil and gas operations. [more]

U.S. ELECTIONS | Reuters cites an agency e-mail as indicating that the Federal Election Commission shut down its electronic filing system Monday night after a hacker attempted to breach it, leaving political groups unable to file required spending reports a week before the November 3 mid-term elections. The FEC says the issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented. [FEC status page] [more]

MORE U.S. ELECTIONS | In a social media post this week, President Donald Trump offered $1 million to anyone whose report of voter fraud in past elections or the upcoming mid-terms leads to an arrest and conviction. The White House has not said where the money would come from. [more]

U.S. DRUG WAR | The U.S. military's Southern Command says five people were killed yesterday in its latest strike on a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, bringing to at least 240 the number of people killed in similar anti-drug strikes since September 2025. [more]

U.S. AND BRAZIL | Following Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro's loss in Sunday's presidential runoff election, reports cite a senior U.S. State Department official as saying yesterday that the U.S. will issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family. Reports say Bolsonaro, who is under investigation in Brazil for alleged corruption and money laundering, arrived in Florida last night. [more]

E.U. MIGRATION | The European Commission yesterday proposed making the E.U.'s border agency, Frontex, the bloc's lead agency for deporting irregular migrants, including by allowing it to help non-E.U. countries return migrants to their countries of origin. The plan would also expand Frontex's standing corps to 30,000 officers over the next 15 years. [European Commission announcement] [more]

ISRAEL | With more than 70% of the vote counted, reports say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political bloc holds a narrow lead in yesterday's election in Israel, but that neither it nor the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot is on track to win an outright majority in the country's 120-seat parliament. Arab-led parties, projected to win a record 18 seats, could hold the balance of power, though Netanyahu and Eisenkot have both said they will not form a coalition government with them. [more]

SPAIN | At least 30 people were killed this morning when two high-speed trains collided in Spain's central province of Toledo, with one running into the back of the other while it was stopped on the tracks. Authorities say the death toll is likely to rise and the cause of the incident remains under investigation. [more]

SUDAN | A Sudanese rights group now says more than 100 people were killed, and 113 others were injured, in a drone strike Monday on a market in Nyala, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces' de facto capital, and blames the Sudanese military for the attack. Doctors Without Borders says 36 bodies were brought to its hospital in the city. [more]

INDIA | Authorities in India's southeastern Andhra Pradesh state say at least three people were killed today as Cyclone Arnab made landfall along the state's coast. India's weather agency says the storm continues to weaken as it moves inland. [more]

SOMALIA | The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militant group has claimed responsibility for an ambush Monday in southern Somalia in which a surviving military officer says at least 20 soldiers were killed. Somalia's government has not disclosed any troop casualties related to the incident. [more]

U.K. AND CARIBBEAN | Beginning a nine-day Caribbean tour in the Bahamas yesterday, Britain's King Charles III acknowledged "great suffering and injustices of the past" amidst growing calls from the region for an apology and slavery reparations. The British government has consistently rejected such demands. [more]

EGYPT | A court in Cairo yesterday ordered the closure of Mada Masr, one of Egypt's few remaining independent news outlets, after convicting its editor-in-chief, Lina Attalah, of operating a website without a license. Attorneys for the outlet say it will appeal the closure order. [more]

PORTUGAL | Thousands of people demonstrated outside Portugal's Parliament in Lisbon yesterday over housing and affordability issues, days after police used batons and dogs to break up similar protests in the city. President António José Seguro has called a meeting of the Council of State, an advisory body, next week to discuss the protests. [more]

CANADA AND UAE | Canada and the United Arab Emirates signed a comprehensive trade agreement yesterday that the two governments say will lower barriers between their economies and boost investment. Canada says the deal will eventually reduce or eliminate tariffs on more than 99% of current Canadian exports to the UAE. [more]

PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN | Amidst ongoing border tensions between the two countries, Pakistani officials say mortar fire from Afghan Taliban forces killed one civilian and wounded five others this week in Pakistan's South Waziristan district. Afghanistan's Taliban government has yet to comment on the incident. [more]

TECH INDUSTRY | South Korean regulators today fined Google and Apple a combined 63.7 billion won ($47.6 million), saying the companies abused their dominance of app store markets by forcing local developers onto their own payment systems and by unfairly delaying app reviews. [more]

BASEBALL | The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3, in 12 innings last night to avoid elimination and cut the Brewers' lead in the World Series to 3-1. Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for tonight in St. Petersburg, Florida. [more]

R.I.P. | Actress Susan Saint James, best known for her roles in the television series "McMillan & Wife" and "Kate & Allie," died Monday at the age of 80. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1886, U.S. President Grover Cleveland officially dedicated the Statue of Liberty – a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States – on Bedloe's (later Liberty) Island in Upper New York Bay. [more history]