World, in brief

Americans vote on Tuesday for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats. [6]

The House and Senate together make up the US Congress. [5] A bill must pass both before it reaches the US president. [5]

Republicans hold both houses now. [6] Democrats need 3 more House seats and 4 more Senate seats to take control. [7]

On Monday the US Supreme Court turned down a last-minute request from the Trump administration about California's votes. [1]

If Democrats win the House, they can open investigations into the Trump administration. [5]

If they win the US Senate, they can reject the judges Trump names, who serve for life. [5]

Political scientists call this pattern the midterm penalty. [5] The sitting president's party tends to lose seats simply because it holds power. [5]

Trump's name is not on the ballot, so voters use the midterm to judge him through his party. [5]

When fans cannot sack an unpopular coach, they boo the players he picks.

California officials say the method used to pick out the 20,000 voters was inaccurate. [1] The US Supreme Court gave no reason for its one-line order. [3]

Polls close in waves from 23:00 GMT, starting in Indiana and Kentucky. [6] Alaska closes last, at 06:00 GMT on Wednesday. [6]

Americans are choosing a Congress that can block or back Donald Trump for his last two years.

On the eve of the vote his government asked the US Supreme Court to keep 20,000 California ballots out of the count, and the court said no, as two lower courts had. [1]

A list of 20,000 'likely' non-citizens sounds like evidence, though California officials say the list is highly unreliable and research finds such voting extremely rare. [1][2]

Voters hurt by high fuel and food prices are judging the sitting president's party, so seats once safe are now in play. [4]

Their ballots were targeted for setting aside, though officials say many of them are likely citizens. [2]

Which party will control the US House and Senate.

Polls close in waves from 23:00 GMT, and Alaska, the last state, closes at 06:00 GMT on Wednesday. [6]

How many of the 20,000 voters on the Trump administration's list are in fact citizens.

California says the list is riddled with errors, and nobody has published a checked count. [1]

How unpopular Trump really is going into the vote.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll puts his approval at 32%. [9] Other final polls cited by the BBC put it around 38%. [4]

US planes struck Iran's Qeshm Island late on Monday, US officials told CBS News. [14]

Qeshm sits at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. [16] It has been used to launch attacks on ships. [16]

Officials said Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps had fired on a US aircraft. [14] The US hit the missile launcher in response. [17]

Iran's Guards said they destroyed a US MQ-9 drone east of the strait that same day. [15]

The Wall Street Journal reported a series of small US strikes in recent weeks, kept secret on purpose. [16]

Hours earlier, Vice President JD Vance said: "We've certainly made some progress" toward a deal. [16]

Brent crude, a main world oil price, rose 0.5% to $105.25 a barrel after the reports. [17]

Officials called the strikes defensive, aimed at the missiles used against US aircraft. [15] A US official said the jet acted in self-defence. [17]

One official said the campaign was kept quiet to avoid signalling a return to major combat. [15]

When a younger brother pokes you, you push his hand away without starting a full fight that wakes your parents.

The account comes from unnamed US officials. [14] US Central Command did not comment. [16]

Why a US president's party nearly always loses seats in a midterm

A midterm comes halfway through a president's four-year term

His name is not on the ballot, but his party's candidates are

Voters unhappy with him, often about prices or a war, vote against his party

Some voters also want a check on whoever holds the US presidency

So the US president's party usually loses seats, often its majority

The US president is not on the ballot, yet the vote is mostly about him.

In 20 midterms since 1946, the sitting president's party lost House seats 18 times and gained them twice.

Republicans redrew Houston's districts to win at least five seats, adding seats through the map before voters can take seats away at the polls.

Officials kept the small strikes quiet so they would not look like a return to the war that voters blame for high fuel prices.

Elon Musk spent almost half a billion dollars backing Republicans, mostly in Texas: money spent defending ground the party would normally hold.

It is a tendency, not a law. The US president's party gained House seats in 1998 and 2002, and a party can lose seats and still keep control.

Each voter casts one ballot about one local race.

Whether the strike on Qeshm Island is the start of a wider US campaign.

A US official told Fox News it was not, but the Wall Street Journal says several small strikes have been kept secret for weeks. [15][16]

Russian bombs killed at least 26 people at an aid centre in Komyshuvakha, a Ukrainian village, on Monday. [18]

At least nine 3,000kg bombs hit the village, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, its regional head said. [18]

The first bombs hit a school used to hand out aid. [19] A second strike hit the shelter nearby. [19]

Two rescuers and four police officers were among the dead. [19]

Russian drones then attacked the area again, slowing the rescue, a Ukrainian official said. [19]

A local truce in Ukraine's Kherson region, the longest of the war, had ended on Sunday. [20]

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack showed Russia "does not want any de-escalation". [18]

Zelensky said villagers came for aid there every week, so Russia must have known. [18] Russia's military has not commented. [18]

US-led talks between Russia and Ukraine are due in Abu Dhabi next week. [27]

How many people are still missing in Komyshuvakha.

A city official said 27 people were missing, and rescue work was slowed by more Russian drone attacks. [19]

Belgium's prime minister, Bart De Wever, offered to resign on Monday after budget talks collapsed overnight. [22]

His five-party government could not agree how to find €10 billion in cuts and tax rises. [22]

De Wever's Flemish nationalists and the liberals wanted deeper spending cuts, including to healthcare. [22] Their partners wanted higher taxes on the wealthiest. [22]

Belgium's deficit was 5.2% of its economy in 2025 and is expected to rise, Politico reported. [23]

King Philippe, who oversees forming governments in Belgium, has not yet decided whether to accept. [21]

The king will consult party leaders from Tuesday and see De Wever again on Friday. [21]

The European Commission forecasts Belgium's debt at 110% of its economy's yearly output this year. [21]

Economists measure debt against GDP: the value of everything a country produces in a year. [21]

The interest on that debt is a major challenge while Belgium's government wants to spend more on defence. [21]

A family paying interest on a big loan has less left over for anything new.

Whether Belgium's king accepts De Wever's resignation.

King Philippe is holding back his decision and will see De Wever again on Friday. [21]

Naftali Bennett, a former Israeli prime minister, said his party will back Gadi Eisenkot to form a government. [24]

Eisenkot leads the Yashar party. [24] Israel voted on 27 October, and neither main bloc won a majority of the 120 seats. [24]

Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party is weighing a vote against certifying the results on Wednesday, Haaretz reported. [25]

Such a move would be unprecedented in Israel. [25] Courts would likely overturn it quickly, because the committee's role is technical. [25]

Itamar Ben-Gvir's far-right party has already said it will vote against certifying. [25]

Eisenkot called Likud's campaign against the results "a direct assault on Israeli democracy". [25]

President Isaac Herzog receives the official results on 4 November. [24] He will then meet the parties, smallest first. [25]

In Israel, each party recommends a leader to Israel's president, who then asks one to form a government. [24]

Likud says suspected foreign funding may have swayed the vote. [25] The election chief, Judge Noam Sohlberg, says it would not change the result. [25]

Nearly 3,000 troops from 12 European countries will rehearse sending a force to Ukraine, this month in Poland. [26]

Britain and France lead the plan, which is meant for after a peace deal. [26]

Officials say the force would not fight, keep the peace or watch a ceasefire. [26] It would reassure Ukraine and help rebuild its army. [26]

The US joined the discussions but is not sending troops. [26]

Russia opposes foreign troops in Ukraine. [26] Putin said last year they would be "legitimate targets". [26]

UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said: "This is not a hypothetical plan, it's a real force." [26]

US envoy Steve Witkoff said Russia and Ukraine will hold talks in Abu Dhabi next week. [27]

Officials call it a reassurance force: its job is to be there and help, not to fight. [26]

Officials will not say what the troops would do if attacked, only that they could defend themselves. [26]

The US will cut South Africa and Rwanda from a duty-free trade scheme on 1 January 2027. [28]

The scheme, AGOA, has let African countries sell thousands of goods to the US without import taxes since 2000. [29]

South Africa sold about $1.7 billion of goods to the US under it in 2025, the most of any country. [28]

Jamieson Greer, the US trade chief, said both countries' practices do not meet the scheme's rules. [28]

South Africa says the US has raised new issues that were never part of their talks. [30]

AGOA sales are only about 10% of South Africa's exports to the US, its trade department says. [28]

AGOA is a trade preference scheme: lower import taxes for poorer countries, on conditions. [29]

The US reviews every country's eligibility each year, so the benefit can be taken away. [28]

A loyalty discount that the shop can cancel any time keeps you careful about what you do.

The US statement gave no examples of the trade barriers or security threats it named. [29]

From January 2027 their goods face US import taxes they did not pay before. [28]

What South Africa and Rwanda did that broke the trade scheme's rules.

The US statement named trade barriers and security threats but gave no examples. [29]

Uganda has begun pulling its troops out of Somalia, after nearly 20 years there. [31]

About 4,500 Ugandan troops serve in an African Union force there, and about 2,000 more under a direct deal. [32]

The first 109 soldiers left Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, on Friday. [31] All are to leave by the end of 2027. [31]

Uganda was the first country to send troops, in 2007, to help Somalia's government fight al-Shabab. [32] Al-Shabab is part of al-Qaeda. [31]

Somalia has fought an insurgency led by al-Shabab for more than 20 years. [31]

Somalia's president reportedly asked Uganda to stay longer, at a meeting in Kampala last week. [31] The pull-out began days later. [31]

Uganda says Somalia's own army will take full responsibility for its security. [32]

The UN plans to hold talks with Sudan's Rapid Support Forces before Christmas, its envoy Pekka Haavisto said. [33]

The RSF is a paramilitary force that has fought Sudan's army in a civil war since April 2023. [34]

The talks would be about moving Sudan to civilian rule. [33]

The war has driven more than 14 million people from their homes. [33] Nearly 20 million face hunger. [33]

The army's chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has repeatedly rejected ceasefire plans. [33]

The RSF has not made clear commitments to the peace plans on the table. [33]

Whether the RSF will take part in the UN's talks on civilian rule in Sudan.

The RSF has made no clear commitment to the peace plans on the table. [33]

Sudan has complained to the UN Security Council and the African Union about drone attacks it blames on Ethiopia. [34]

It says the RSF launched them from Ethiopian land, hitting civilian sites and power stations. [34]

Sudan's army-led council counted 70 attacks with 187 drones between 15 February and 27 October. [34]

Ethiopia accuses Sudan's army of backing rebels from Tigray, an Ethiopian region. [34] Sudan denies it. [34]

Sudan's foreign ministry said the attacks put Ethiopia "before international law". [34]

The count of 70 attacks comes from Sudan's own army-led council, one side in the war. [34]

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Venezuela's new foreign minister, Oliver Blanco, on Monday. [35]

Rubio pressed for the release of more political prisoners held under Nicolas Maduro. [35]

US forces removed Maduro, Venezuela's president, in January. [35] His former deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, now leads as interim president. [36]

The US backs a three-step plan: stability, then recovery and reconciliation, then democracy. [35]

The rights group Foro Penal counted 344 political prisoners in September. [35]

Venezuela's government and opposition say elections will be held, but have given no date. [35]

Maria Corina Machado leads Venezuela's opposition. [36] She said the US oil deal "does not reflect the levels of transparency that Venezuelan society wants". [36]

Wilson Joseph, leader of the 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti, said he wrote to the UN chief asking for talks. [37]

He wants the UN to send a team to Haiti to mediate. [37] It was his first interview with a major international media company. [37]

Fighting has grown since a UN-backed force began attacking gangs near Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. [37]

The force works with Haitian police and Vectus Global, a private security firm founded by Erik Prince. [37]

Joseph said 4 Salvadoran aviation technicians attacked on 18 October are dead. [37] He gave no evidence. [37]

He wrote amid fears that Salvadoran troops, sent after the technicians vanished, could make the violence worse. [37]

Haiti's government says the four were abducted. [37] El Salvador believes they are alive. [37]

Britain will make most foreign workers wait 10 years, not 5, before they can settle for good. [38]

Settling, called indefinite leave to remain, gives the right to work, study and use the free health service. [38]

People earning over £50,000 a year can still apply after 5 years. [38] Those earning over £125,000 can apply after 3. [38]

Refugees who arrive on small boats may wait up to 30 years. [38]

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood exempted care workers after a backlash in her Labour Party. [39]

Hundreds of thousands of care workers will be exempt from the longer wait. [38]

The new rules tie the right to stay to how much a person earns. [38]

The rules take effect next year. [38]

The new rules tie the right to settle to income, so they keep a 5-year route while most others wait 10. [38]

They may now wait up to 30 years before they can settle for good. [38]

Britain's prime minister, Andy Burnham, will ask countries hurt by Britain's role in slavery to help shape an apology. [40]

He will start the talks at the Commonwealth summit in Antigua and Barbuda, which opens on Tuesday. [40]

Burnham has ruled out financial reparations: money paid to make up for the harm. [41]

He is expected to offer plans to restructure debts for countries facing higher debt costs. [40]

Ghana's President John Mahama said the dialogue must go beyond an apology to wider reparatory justice. [41]

Mahama listed investment in education, health and climate, and the return of stolen cultural treasures. [41]

Hundreds of garment factories in Bangladesh have closed after days of protests over pay. [42]

Workers want a monthly minimum wage of 30,000 taka ($242). [42] Most now take home about 13,000 taka ($105). [42]

On Sunday protesters in Dhaka, the capital, set vehicles on fire. [42] Police fired tear gas and arrested dozens. [42]

Workers say their rent and living costs keep rising. [42]

The industry employs about 4 million people and earns nearly $40 billion a year. [42] That is about 10% of the economy. [42]

It makes clothes for H&M, Primark and Uniqlo, and only China exports more garments. [42]

They take home about 13,000 taka a month while their rent and living costs rise. [42]

At least 150 Afghans were due to be flown from the US to Pakistan from Tuesday. [44]

Some are relatives of Afghans who helped US forces before they left in 2021. [43]

A group of 66 US lawmakers wrote to the Trump administration on Monday asking it to stop. [44]

Afghanistan's Taliban government voiced "serious concern" about the plan. [43]

The US has no diplomatic ties with Afghanistan, which the Taliban have ruled since 2021. [44]

The lawmakers wrote that sending them back is "a death sentence". [44]

The Taliban promised an amnesty to Afghans who worked with Western forces. [43] The UN has recorded killings and detentions. [43]

US lawmakers say those sent back are likely to be targeted for their families' past work with US forces. [44]

South Africans vote in local elections on Wednesday 4 November. [45]

Special voting began on Monday for people who cannot vote on the day. [46] Rain slowed it in Soweto, a large township. [46]