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Al Jazeera: At least 14 killed in Russian attack on Dnipro train station
Russian drone hits Dnipro station as Moscow weathers 600-drone raid
Strikes come as Kyiv and Moscow prepare to resume U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi
KYIV — A jet-powered Russian drone struck a platform at Dnipro's main railway station on Thursday, where a train was preparing to leave for Zaporizhzhia. At least 14 people were killed there, and officials counted at least 19 dead in Russian attacks nationwide, including in Chernihiv and Kremenchuk. The same night Russian officials said air defenses downed most of 613 drones aimed at Moscow, which was hosting more than 22 African leaders; the Kremlin called the timing 'very strange.' Moscow also claimed to have destroyed 1,214 Ukrainian drones across regions overnight. Diplomacy continues in parallel: a localized humanitarian ceasefire in Oleshky, brokered through Melania Trump, is holding. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the battlefield situation will decide when Abu Dhabi talks begin and ruled out European participation. Finland's and Norway's leaders also spoke with Putin by phone.
Why it mattersEscalating strikes on civilian transport and the Russian capital are landing just as the first U.S.-mediated talks in weeks are being arranged, and Moscow is setting its own conditions for them.
UPDATEIsrael's final count leaves Netanyahu bloc at 53 seats, short of majority
Arab parties surge to 19 seats as President Herzog urges leaders to avoid a repeat vote
JERUSALEM — With about 97 percent of ballots tallied and only soldiers' and other double-envelope votes outstanding, the Central Elections Committee's partial results show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc, which includes Likud, the Haredi parties, Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism, at 53 of 120 Knesset seats. That is well under the 61 needed to govern. The bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot stands near 48, and Arab parties have reached 19 after record turnout among Arab voters. Likud is projected at 27 seats, which would keep it the largest party. Netanyahu has told Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich that his allies will stay together. President Isaac Herzog said Israel must do everything possible to avoid another round of elections. Opposition figure Yair Golan has urged the opposition bloc to form a government with Ra'am and the Joint List. Officials say about 480,000 double-envelope ballots were cast, fewer than the roughly 600,000 first reported.
Why it mattersWith neither camp near 61 seats, coalition bargaining, and possibly a fresh election, will shape Israeli policy on Gaza, Lebanon and Iran at a volatile moment.
Lula wins fourth term in Brazil, upsetting poll leader Flávio Bolsonaro
First candidate to win a runoff after finishing second in round one
BRASÍLIA — Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was re-elected president of Brazil in Sunday's runoff, with official results giving him about 51.8 percent to 48.2 percent for Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Lula, who turns 81 this week, won 64.3 million votes to Bolsonaro's 59.8 million. Bolsonaro had led the first round on October 4 with about 47 percent to Lula's 45 percent, and polls had shown him ahead in the runoff. NPR reported that no candidate who trailed in round one had won a Brazilian runoff since democracy returned in 1989. Lula's approval rose after he stood up to President Trump, although slow growth and public-security concerns had weighed on him. His win cuts against a rightward trend across Latin America and secures a fourth, nonconsecutive term.
Why it mattersLatin America's largest economy stays under a left-wing president who has publicly resisted Washington, with consequences for U.S.-Brazil trade and regional alignments.
U.N. condemns U.S. embargo on Cuba, but backing falls to 30-year low
130 states vote in favor after intense Washington lobbying; Germany and Italy abstain
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday adopted its annual resolution calling for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba, 130 to 17, with 25 abstentions. It was the 34th such resolution, and support was the lowest since 1995; last year's tally was 165 to seven. U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz led a lobbying drive amid an expanding American pressure campaign on Havana that includes an oil blockade and wider sanctions. Cuba accused Washington of threatening tariffs and visa restrictions. Germany and Italy, which had backed the measure before, abstained. According to Responsible Statecraft, Lithuania, Slovenia and the UAE moved to opposition, and several Latin American states opposed or abstained. Waltz called the shift encouraging. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said Washington was isolated. The two men also had a shouting match on the Assembly floor the day before the vote. The resolution is non-binding.
Why it mattersThe erosion of support, even among U.S. allies abstaining rather than joining, shows how far Washington's pressure campaign can move votes, while the embargo itself and Cuba's economic crisis remain unchanged.
The National: Sudanese people 'trapped between drones and incarceration' in Al Obeid
A year after El Fasher fell, Sudan's war grinds on with no ceasefire
UN investigators and Amnesty report torture and killings on both sides; arms embargo push stalls
KHARTOUM — One year after the Rapid Support Forces captured El Fasher in North Darfur, civilians there still face detention, torture and unlawful killings, Amnesty International said, citing recent escapees. They described schools turned into detention centers and tightly controlled movement. A BBC investigation, cited by Arab News, documented at least 43 attacks on hospitals and health sites during the siege. U.N. investigators this week accused the Sudanese army of torturing detainees in Al Obeid and the RSF of war crimes. They said civilians are trapped between drones and incarceration. One investigator, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, urged widening the U.N. arms embargo, now limited to Darfur, to all of Sudan. Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has vowed to fight until the RSF is defeated and has rejected U.S.-backed ceasefire proposals. Amnesty says the UAE continues to back the RSF; the UAE has previously denied this.
Why it mattersWith both sides pressing for military gains and external backers supplying arms, Sudan's war, one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, shows no sign of a negotiated end.
Vance writes to Iranian hardliner to revive talks as post-midterm strikes loom
The vice president's letter to Supreme National Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei comes as Trump threatens to restart the war after Nov. 3
WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance has sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in an effort to restart peace negotiations, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials and others familiar with the matter. Rezaei is a hardliner and Iran's longest-serving former commander. The outreach comes while President Trump is threatening to resume the war after next week's midterm elections. The channel is separate from the military track: the Pentagon this week put the war's cost at more than $47 billion, and the Journal reported that Gulf governments have been told to prepare for possible strikes after the vote. No decision to strike has been reported as final. Neither Tehran nor the White House has publicly described the letter's contents. Watch for any Iranian reply before Election Day.
Why it mattersA diplomatic opening and a military deadline are now running at the same time, and the outcome will shape Gulf security and U.S. war costs.
U.S. officials reportedly see Nvidia chief Huang as target of Chinese spy plot
New York Times says intelligence agencies judge a Megaspeed executive close to Jensen Huang to be a Beijing asset; Trump was briefed and took no action
WASHINGTON — U.S. spy agencies have concluded that Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen and executive at the Singapore data-center firm Megaspeed, is an intelligence asset passing information to Beijing, the New York Times reported Thursday. Surveillance of her, begun over suspicions that she was steering advanced Nvidia chips to China, reportedly showed a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who is not related to her. The Times said President Trump was briefed about a year ago and took no action, and that Jensen Huang never received a defensive briefing. Megaspeed's Malaysian affiliate reportedly bought at least $4.8 billion of Nvidia-based equipment in under two years. The report does not say what she passed to Beijing. No criminal charges have been reported, and the account rests on anonymous officials describing classified material.
Why it mattersThe report links chip-export enforcement to counterintelligence and raises questions about how the government protects executives who influence U.S. technology policy toward China.
Hacktivists publish searchable database of 41,000 DHS employees, some undercover
The 'Icepick' leak was released by Distributed Denial of Secrets; Okta denies its systems were compromised
WASHINGTON — A hacktivist group calling itself the Department of Peace gave Distributed Denial of Secrets a database of more than 41,000 Department of Homeland Security employees and contractors. The nonprofit posted it Wednesday as 'Icepick.' Records include names, titles, offices, emails, phone numbers and managers, and the data is searchable. Counts cited in reporting include 21,329 from Customs and Border Protection and roughly 10,000 from ICE and its investigative arm, and some entries are flagged as undercover. The group says it took the data from an Okta single sign-on service used by DHS. Okta says it has no evidence of a compromise. DHS told the Washington Post it was aware of a potential breach. The group tied the leak to the department's stepped-up immigration enforcement. Reuters reportedly confirmed details for several named employees. The dataset may include stale entries.
Why it mattersThe exposure of undercover and counterintelligence-relevant personnel at a major federal agency creates safety and foreign-targeting risks, and the source of the intrusion is still unexplained.
Pentagon probes August freezer failures at U.S. bases as suspected cyberattack
Reuters reports Cyber Command unit involved; investigators compare notes with France over similar supermarket outage
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is treating a spate of freezer malfunctions that spoiled food at U.S. military bases in August as a suspected hack, Reuters reported, citing sources. One official said military investigators have been in contact with French counterparts about a similar attack on commercial freezers that disrupted French supermarkets earlier this month. The Pentagon said a Cyber Command unit is working in close coordination with interagency and law enforcement partners. The reporting does not attribute the activity to any state or group, and the method of intrusion has not been disclosed. The episode would be a rare instance of a suspected cyberattack on routine logistics equipment on U.S. bases rather than on military networks. The Pentagon has not said how many bases were affected or how much food was lost.
Why it mattersA suspected attack on everyday base infrastructure, with a parallel case in France, points to a possible campaign against commercial control systems that military and civilian sites share.
NBC News: House Democrats call on DOJ to name special counsel in Epstein case
Justice Department rules out special counsel for Epstein network
Survivors and Giuffre relatives had asked for an independent prosecutor after a House Democratic report; DOJ declined within days
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department says it will not appoint an independent special counsel to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's network or possible misconduct by public officials, NewsNation reported. Survivors, including relatives of Virginia Giuffre, made the request on Tuesday. They followed a 50-page House Judiciary Democratic staff report that urged a special counsel and made allegations against President Trump, which the White House denies. A DOJ spokesperson said the FBI has met with any victim who chose to speak, and noted that Maureen Comey, who oversaw the Manhattan federal investigation, found no evidence to support more charges. Survivors answered that the department cannot be trusted to investigate itself. The report's authors had already said they expected the administration to refuse. Democrats say they will pursue the matter through oversight powers.
Why it mattersThe refusal leaves state and congressional inquiries as the main routes to examining Epstein's associates, a week before the midterm elections.
Sourcebase: FBI Secretly Investigated Death Threats Against Epstein Victims
FBI records show covert 2019 probe of death threats against Epstein victims
Released files describe an undercover operative in a dark-web chatroom; the case closed in 2020 with no suspect named
NEW YORK — Records in the Justice Department's Epstein release show the FBI's New York office opened a covert investigation in July 2019 into an anonymous online threat. The threat, posted July 25, described the planned execution of two Epstein victims, according to reporting by Marilyn W. Thompson for Sourcebase. An FBI memo cited an immediate risk to life. An online covert employee posted at least two messages in the chatroom to try to identify the poster. The records indicate the case was closed in March 2020 with no outstanding leads, and no suspect was identified. The files say little about whether victims were warned or protected. They do not show that the threatened attacks occurred. The FBI told Sourcebase it does not comment on investigations. Sourcebase is an independent outlet, and the FBI file contents are as it reported them.
Why it mattersThe records show how the FBI handled a specific threat to survivors, as victims sue the bureau over its earlier handling of their complaints.
