Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

US midterm campaign enters final weekend as Alaska, California ballot fights heat up

President Donald Trump's administration pressed a criminal investigation into Alaska’s pivotal US Senate race and said on Saturday it would likely take its fight over thousands of California mail-in ballots to the Supreme Court, as the midterm campaign for control of Congress entered its final weekend. In Alaska, federal prosecutors are investigating whether aides to Democratic ​challenger Mary Peltola helped to recruit a retired schoolteacher, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., to run because his name is similar to the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan S. Sullivan. The closely contested race is seen as crucial to Democrats’ hopes of taking the Senate in Tuesday’s vote.

Isolated clashes in France ​after peaceful marches, as police brace for Halloween night violence

Scuffles broke out in Paris and other French cities on Saturday evening at the end of nationwide demonstrations driven by anger over living costs and ‌strained public services, while authorities ​warned of possible further violence overnight with Halloween celebrations under way. The protests, which were largely peaceful through the afternoon, continued for a third weekend after riots and looting on October 17 that caught security forces off guard, leaving a trail of damage to shops, public buildings and businesses across the country.

US, Canada see growing interest in limited ceasefire in Black Sea

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday said there was growing interest by the international community in facilitating a limited ceasefire in the Black Sea to ensure unfettered energy and grain shipments by Russia and Ukraine. Rubio told a news conference that the US is reviewing proposals by Turkey and India to get grain shipments moving, even as the US continues to press for a broader, negotiated settlement of the war, which is now in its fifth year.

When buses stopped running on Brazil election day, 'Lula's Army' grabbed their car keys

When buses in the northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador inexplicably stopped running last Sunday, history teacher Martins Mafra grabbed ‌his car keys and set off to pick up stranded voters across town. Mafra's efforts in Salvador, the capital of Bahia state, were part of a massive get-out-the-vote drive across Brazil that helped power leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to an unprecedented fourth term.

Abuse survivors to press Church on accountability during pope's trip to South America

As Pope Leo prepares to return to South America, Peruvian abuse survivor Pedro Salinas sees reason for both hope and unease in the pope’s record confronting clerical abuse. For a decade, Salinas watched as the Catholic Church investigated Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, the Peru-founded Catholic community he helped expose. Then, in the final days of Pope Francis' papacy last year, the Vatican dissolved the group and its branches.

Trump White House maps path to govern without Congress if Democrats win

President Donald Trump's White House has spent months preparing for a possible Democratic takeover of Congress, developing plans to keep advancing major parts of his agenda through executive power while bracing for investigations of his administration, according to a White House official and two people familiar with the plans. Senior officials, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and budget director Russell Vought, have been working with the White House Counsel's Office since April to identify executive actions on immigration, tariffs, housing costs and federal spending that Trump could pursue without congressional approval, said the three people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Explainer-How US news organizations ‌will make midterm race calls

On Tuesday night, newsrooms across the US will call winners in one of the country's most closely contested midterm election cycles in recent years, long before all the votes are counted. Most television networks and digital outlets rely on two providers for vote counts: the Associated Press or election-data firm Decision Desk HQ.

Rioters loot stores in Frankfurt as Gen Z-led protests in Germany turn violent

Hooded rioters looted stores in Frankfurt late on Saturday after tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Germany's biggest cities to demand better education and lower living costs. The protests followed a wave of Gen Z-led demonstrations across ‌Europe this year. In Serbia, student-led activism helped unseat the country's longtime leader at the ballot box, while protests in France have descended into rioting and looting.

Trump heads to Iowa, Kansas for rallies before midterms

President Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail on Sunday with rallies in Iowa and Kansas, Republican-leaning Farm Belt states where his party is fighting to hold US Senate seats, two days before midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. Trump, who spent Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after weeks of campaigning across multiple states, won Iowa by double digits in 2024. But polls show Democrats tied with or leading Republicans in many of the state’s races, and Trump’s approval among rural Americans fell to a new low of 45% in October, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. Kansas, which last elected a Democratic senator in 1932, is also facing an unexpectedly close race.

Democratic wins would shift Congress' trade debate but fall short of US tariff rollbacks

President Donald Trump's trade agenda will face a new source of friction if Democrats win control of Congress on Tuesday, with a cascade of oversight hearings and symbolic tariff rollback votes likely next year, but Trump will remain undeterred in his zeal for more tariff actions, trade experts and congressional aides say. Democrats are eager to pass legislation to negate many of Trump's tariffs and the more archaic statutes backing them, but any gains by the party will run into the reality of Trump's veto power.

Germany's Dobrindt calls for tough penalties after Frankfurt unrest, Bild says

Germany's interior minister threatened tough penalties for looters and rioters who rampaged through Frankfurt overnight but praised the heavy police presence for preventing larger scale violence. Hooded rioters looted ⁠stores in the city late on Saturday ​after tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of dozens of German cities during the day to demand better education and lower living costs in protests led by ⁠the campaign group "Gen Z regelt" — "Gen Z takes charge".

Police clear new Lisbon housing protest camp after thousands rally

Police moved into Lisbon's Rossio Square on Sunday to clear a tent camp erected after thousands marched demanding Portugal's minority centre-right government withdraw a rental bill they say would worsen the country's housing crisis. Portugal is grappling with one of Europe's worst housing crises, with young people among those hardest hit. House prices have more than doubled since 2017 and rents for new leases have nearly doubled.

Trump says Flavio Bolsonaro can stay in US 'as long as he wants'

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost his country's presidential election to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, can stay in the United States "as long as he wants." Trump, speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm ⁠Beach, Florida, said he has no plans to meet with Bolsonaro, who fled to the US after his election loss.

Taiwan says China harassing shipping with east coast patrol

China's Coast Guard is harassing shipping with its latest patrol off Taiwan's east coast and trying to exert a fictional jurisdiction, the Taiwanese Coast Guard said, adding it had sent its own ships to keep watch. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up activity off the island's east coast since June with regular coast guard patrols. Officials in Taiwan, which rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, say they believe China is practising for a potential maritime blockade using overlapping military, paramilitary and civilian assets.

Thousands join Indian opposition protest demanding poll chief's resignation

Thousands protested in Delhi on Sunday to demand the resignation ​of India's election chief over a revision of voter lists, the latest in more than a month of opposition demonstrations challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Led by Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the opposition Congress Party, Sunday's protesters say the revision benefits Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

UK PM Burnham says he is 'open' to formal apology for slavery, but rules out reparations

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is open to calls for a formal apology for Britain's historical role in slavery, before attending next week's Commonwealth summit at which he is likely to face demands for financial ⁠reparations. Writing in the Guardian newspaper, Burnham said Britain was "offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade", in which at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery.

Bulgaria votes in presidential runoff after tight first round

Bulgarians went to the polls on Sunday to elect a president after a tight race between the two leading candidates failed to produce an outright winner in last weekend's first round vote for the largely ceremonial role. Incumbent president, Iliana Iotova, 61, led over ex-caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov, 50, but fell short of the 50% threshold in the first round race of 27 candidates that saw a record-low turnout.

China's Communist Party demands loyalty, vows to tighten discipline

China's ruling Communist Party put the demand for loyalty front and centre in an official resolution on toughening internal discipline, and vowed to keep waging its high-pressure anti-corruption campaign ⁠to cleanse ​the party of "impurities and viruses". The resolution, adopted during a key party leadership gathering this week and previewed in a shorter communique on Thursday, stressed the need to intensify efforts to instil loyalty to the party within its ranks, vet and promote officials based on their "party spirit" assessed through their day-to-day work, personal conduct and remarks, social contacts and family values, and carry forward its "self-revolution".

Iranian negotiators in Doha to continue talks to end the US-Iran war, official says

Iranian negotiators were in Doha on Sunday for a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators aimed at pushing for a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, an official briefed on the discussions told Reuters. The talks come amid concerns that the conflict could escalate again after the November 3 US midterm elections. President Donald Trump has said the United States will not launch new attacks on Iran before the vote and that talks with Tehran have been productive, though he has not ruled out further military action thereafter.

Iranian envoys meet Qatari mediators as threat looms of US strikes after midterms

Iranian negotiators held talks in Doha with Qatari mediators on Saturday to discuss paths out of war in the Gulf, a source who was briefed on the negotiations told Reuters, as diplomats try to avert new fighting after the US midterm elections this week. US Secretary of State Marco ⁠Rubio said on Saturday that President Donald Trump has not decided whether to launch new strikes against Iran, but would prefer to resolve the conflict diplomatically.

Russian strikes cut power to thousands in Ukraine as drones damage Russian facility

Russian strikes left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, while Russian authorities reported major damage to an industrial site following Ukrainian drone attacks on Nizhny Novgorod region. Even as a six-day local ceasefire held on its final day around the Russian-controlled Ukrainian town of Oleshky, there was no letup in fighting elsewhere along the front line and both sides kept up long-range air ⁠attacks.

Israeli strikes kill eight people in Gaza - medics say

Israeli strikes killed at least eight Palestinians, including five police officers, in the Gaza Strip in two separate attacks on Sunday, according to medics ⁠and the Hamas-run interior ministry. Medics said three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. The interior ministry said the five police officers were killed in another strike in western Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave.

Pope Leo says he hopes Oleshky truce could spur Ukraine-Russia peace efforts

Pope Leo said on Sunday he hoped cooperation between Russia and Ukraine in implementing a ceasefire in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky would pave the way for broader peace efforts. Ukraine and Russia said on October 23 they had agreed to a ceasefire in Oleshky, brokered by US first lady Melania Trump with the additional involvement of Pope Leo, to allow aid deliveries and evacuations from the frontline town, which has been suffering acute food and medicine shortages.

Five killed in fresh ethnic violence in India's Manipur state

Five people were killed in two separate incidents in India's northeastern state of Manipur, police said on Sunday, as fresh ethnic violence erupted in the conflict-hit region. Three men from the ‌Kuki tribal group were killed in an exchange of gunfire between "unidentified armed miscreants" in the state's Noney district on Saturday, ‌according to a police statement.

Salvadoran families demand fair trials, mourn prison dead on Day of the Dead

Relatives of people detained under El Salvador's controversial state of exception gathered at the San Salvador metropolitan cathedral on Saturday to leave offerings for inmates who have died behind bars, demanding justice. Participants arrived carrying yellow and red flowers, banners and photographs ​of jailed family members. Inside the capital's cathedral, they knelt in prayer around the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, a saint, and placed flowers there.