King Letsie III of the Kingdom of Lesotho Begins His Working Visit to Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, November 3, 2026 (ENA)— His Majesty King Letsie III of the Kingdom of Lesotho has begun his working visit to Ethiopia. 

State Minister of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Ambassador Berhanu Tsegaye received King Letsie III upon his arrival at Bole International Airport.

''We extended a warm fraternal welcome to His Majesty upon his arrival at Bole International Airport,'' Berhanu said.

This visit marks another step forward in strengthening the historical ties and bilateral cooperation between our two nations, he added.

WHO Emergency Medical Teams Global Meeting Kicks Off in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa, November 3, 2026 (ENA)— Ethiopia is hosting the 7th World Health Organization Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) Global Meeting, marking the first time the global gathering has taken place in the WHO African Region.

Speaking at the opening ceremony today, Deputy Director General of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Dr. Melkamu Abte, said Ethiopia has progressively strengthened its emergency medical team through sustained investment in national capacities, institutional systems and human resources.

He said Ethiopian medical teams have supported responses to major disease outbreaks, incidents and landslides, including the Marburg virus response.

Dr. Melkamu said Ethiopia’s efforts are focused on consolidating the progress achieved, strengthening operational readiness and ensuring the long-term sustainability of its national emergency medical team.

He also expressed Ethiopia’s ambition to further develop its institutional capacity and work towards becoming a WHO Collaborating Centre.

WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi commended Ethiopia’s progress, noting that Senegal was the first African country to receive WHO classification, followed by Ethiopia.

He said the African Region faces more than 100 significant public health events annually, underlining the importance of strengthening national emergency response capacities.

“Africa will not wait for help. Africa is the help,” Dr. Janabi said, calling on African governments to translate their commitments into funded national plans and strengthen regional cooperation.

He also highlighted the African Region Framework 2026–2030, which aims to ensure that every member state has a functional national emergency medical team by 2030.

In a video message, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the meeting provides an important opportunity to strengthen national capacities and accelerate progress in emergency preparedness and response.

He noted that 77 emergency medical teams from 42 countries have received international classification, including Ethiopia’s national team, the first civilian team in the WHO African Region to achieve the classification.

Dr. Tedros emphasized that investment in emergency medical teams goes beyond responding to crises and requires building a skilled, trained and well-prepared health workforce before emergencies occur.

“Investing in emergency medical teams is not only about responding when crisis strikes,” he said, emphasizing the importance of strengthening health systems and building more resilient communities.

The global meeting, taking place from November 3–5 in Addis Ababa, brings together health officials, emergency medical team representatives and international partners to exchange experiences, strengthen collaboration and advance global emergency medical response capacities.

Ethiopia Attacks Kill Civilians as Health System Nears Collapse, WHO Chief Says

By KHALED KAZZIHA

8:05 AM EST, November 2, 2026

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Attacks in northern Ethiopia that reportedly killed children, including a newborn, are pushing the region’s fragile health system closer to collapse, the World Health Organization’s chief said Monday.

Renewed fighting has effectively shattered a November 2022 peace agreement between the federal government and rebel forces in the Tigray region, stoking fears of a wider conflict.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a statement posted on X, said children were among those reportedly killed at the Jaari 2 displacement camp in Amhara. In Rama, in neighboring Tigray, several people were reportedly killed while trying to get food.

Tedros gave no casualty totals or dates for either attack and did not identify the perpetrators. He referred more broadly to drone attacks and civilian casualties becoming frequent across Ethiopia.

No government response or public statement addressing the reported attacks was immediately available.

Hospitals in the north lack health workers, medicines and equipment, while ambulance services are severely limited and insecurity is obstructing medical deliveries, Tedros said. WHO and other United Nations agencies were working to deliver additional supplies.

“Civilians must be protected. Health workers and humanitarian supplies must be allowed to reach those in need,” he said.

Renewed fighting deepens humanitarian concerns

Tedros, an ethnic Tigrayan, served as Ethiopia’s foreign minister and health minister when the Tigray People’s Liberation Front dominated the country’s ruling coalition.

His criticism has drawn accusations of political bias from Ethiopian authorities. In January 2022, the government accused him of using his office to advance political interests. Tedros acknowledged his ties to the region but said he was speaking without bias.

The government also faces armed opposition in the regions of Amhara and Oromia. Fano, a loose network of ethnic Amhara militias, has battled federal forces in Amhara since 2023.

In separate attacks in Oromia, Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church said at least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed. U.S. Ambassador Ervin J. Massinga on Saturday condemned reported targeted killings in the region’s Arsi zone and called for an investigation.

“Such horrific attacks against any group must stop,” he said in a statement posted by the U.S. Embassy on social media.

Government trains leaders as opposition groups coordinate

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, meanwhile, said on social media that government leaders were undergoing military training at Hurso in the east of the country. He said the training strengthened discipline, leadership and readiness.

Photos posted on social media showed Abiy with participants in khaki outfits. Other images showed group exercises and pushups.

The Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, a coalition of seven opposition groups, said in a video statement that it had approved plans to strengthen cooperation among its members, coordinate domestic and diaspora campaigns, and expand diplomatic engagement.

It accused the ruling Prosperity Party of fueling conflict, displacement and poverty, and called for an inclusive political transition.

The alliance formed in September with the stated aim of removing Abiy’s government. Its seven members are the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the Amhara Fano National Movement, the Oromo Liberation Army, the Ogaden National Liberation Front, the Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front, the Benishangul Peoples’ Liberation Movement and the Gumuz Peoples’ Democratic Movement.

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Amir Aman Kiyaro contributed to this report from Hamburg, Germany.

Peacekeepers Plan to Take Over Bases Near Somalia’s Capital as Ugandan Troops Withdraw

By OMAR FARUK

4:12 AM EST, November 3, 2026

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Peacekeepers plan to replace departing Ugandan troops at four bases near Somalia’s capital to prevent al-Shabab militants from exploiting a security vacuum, according to a letter from the African Union mission to the U.N. support office in Somalia obtained by The Associated Press.

Uganda says all its troops will leave Somalia by the end of 2027, ending a 20-year deployment. Those leaving now were deployed under a bilateral agreement with Somalia’s government. Uganda also contributes troops to the African Union peacekeeping mission.

Funding shortages have accelerated the withdrawal, said Farhan Isak Yusuf, deputy executive director of Somali Public Agenda, a Mogadishu-based public policy research organization. Uganda’s military statement did not say why the bilateral troops were being withdrawn immediately.

The peacekeepers will move from Barawe, a port town about 220 kilometers (135 miles) southwest of Mogadishu. It is unclear who will take over the bases they leave behind.

Two stages of withdrawal

Uganda announced Monday that the withdrawal had begun, with the first soldiers already home. Military spokesman Col. Chris Magezi said troops deployed under the bilateral agreement would finish leaving within days. Uganda’s remaining forces, including its AU peacekeepers, would gradually withdraw by the end of 2027.

The Oct. 31 letter says Uganda deployed the bilateral force after an April 2025 summit where African leaders called for more peacekeepers to fight al-Shabab. Those Ugandan troops helped recapture and hold territory over the next 17 months.

The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia plans to take over four of the positions — Sabid-Anole, Bariire, Awdheegle and Bulonagad — during troop rotations scheduled for November. The letter describes the locations as critical to protecting Mogadishu.

Somali army commander Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamud visited troops in Barawe on Monday, receiving briefings on local security, according to an army statement.

He instructed troops to remain on high alert and intensify operations against al-Shabab. The statement did not say whether Somali soldiers would take over the AU bases.

Somali and African Union troops captured Barawe from al-Shabab in 2014. The militants had used its port to bring in fighters and weapons and export charcoal to finance their operations.

Yusuf said the Somali army lacks resources and faces a difficult security environment. Lower Shabelle, where the Ugandan troops now withdrawing were stationed, is critical to protecting Mogadishu, he said.

Uganda’s withdrawal plans come just after the United Nations’ political mission in Somalia closed, ending more than three decades of successive missions that helped rebuild the country and mediate political disputes.

United Nations aid agencies remain in Somalia. A separate support office continues providing supplies and transport to African Union peacekeepers and some Somali security forces.

Somali authorities have portrayed the political mission’s closure as a milestone toward managing their own affairs. But it comes amid a dispute over the president’s right to remain in office and continuing militant attacks.

Last week, an officer who survived an ambush said at least 20 Somali soldiers were killed in the Bay region. The government acknowledged damage to military vehicles but disclosed no troop casualties.

Promising New HIV-prevention Drug is Hard to Find Where It’s Most Needed, in Places Like Uganda

3:06 AM EST, November 3, 2026

MBARARA, Uganda (AP) — In the red light district in Mbarara, a city in western Uganda known in part for sex tourism, a sex worker named Lisa Mutoni insists on using condoms when men enter her room, to protect her against HIV and other infections. The problem: Some try to remove or tear the condom while having sex.

She takes HIV-prevention medication called PrEP, or preexposure prophylaxis, which can come in the form of daily pills or periodic injections. But there’s a new option for her and millions like her — if they could only get it. It’s a drug called lenacapavir that studies have shown can offer nearly complete protection from HIV with just two shots a year.

Mutoni said access to lenacapavir would benefit sex workers who sometimes shift elsewhere for months at a time.

“If you know that you have that injection for six months, you feel like you are safe,” she said. “And then it is very good, nice because sometimes you can also forget, if it is the pill, you can forget to swallow.”

Promise and frustration with lenacapavir

But Mutoni says every time she tries to get what is commonly referred to as “lena,” it’s not available. “They tell me that it is finished,” she said.

Such is the promise and the frustration with lenacapavir, a drug developed by Gilead Sciences. Other PrEP options, including pills and an every-other-month shot of the drug cabotegravir, are very effective and widely available. But health experts say lenacapavir has the power not just to protect individuals but potentially even turn the tide of the HIV epidemic globally because of its long-lasting effects.

But there are not nearly enough doses, in this East African country or the rest of the world.

“The rate of growth (of lenacapavir rollout) isn’t fast enough. We need to be getting to the millions pretty soon,” said Andrew Hill, an expert in HIV treatment who is a senior visiting research fellow at the University of Liverpool in northwest England.

That may start to change in the coming months. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has just tentatively approved a generic version of lenacapavir that could help speed the production and distribution of the drug to 120 low-income countries at a price of roughly $40 a year, far below the U.S. list price of $28,218. The approval was announced Monday.

The hope, according to the Global Fund, is to get it to 3 million people by the end of 2028.

Some, including Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, say this isn’t nearly enough. The group is calling on Gilead to make cheap doses available to more countries and to sell it directly to MSF so it can help protect more people faster.

“Gilead says it wants to end the HIV epidemic ‘for everyone, everywhere,’ but its actions say otherwise,” said Melissa Barber, MSF USA global health advocacy and policy adviser, in a recent statement.

For now, people in Mbarara, where an estimated 10% of the adult population has HIV — double the rate of Uganda as a whole — have to settle for inferior choices.

Demand is high and doses aren’t enough

Julius Bampe, a polygamous man, was alarmed earlier this year when testing confirmed his younger wife had HIV. She was immediately given drugs to suppress her infection, while Bampe sought lenacapavir.

But when Bampe, an itinerant builder, went to get his injection, he found that there were no doses left.

“When I got here, they said that is what they would have given me, but they said they didn’t have enough doses for everyone,” he said.

The facility that Bampe goes to received 40 lenacapavir doses in April, with instructions to focus only on pregnant mothers at risk of acquiring HIV. The guidelines were later changed to include couples like Bampe and his wife, sex workers and others.

That batch was quickly administered and another 70 doses sent in June were used up within 10 days, said Tarsisio Biryeija, a nursing officer working as a counselor at Mbarara Health Centre IV.

Uganda has slashed its HIV rate over the past three decades, and it’s far below that of some southern African countries. But like in many nations, health authorities in Uganda say infections are driven largely by transactional sexual encounters like those in Mbarara — and the type of transmission that lenacapavir could be so effective at stopping.

Mutoni, the sex worker in Mbarara, gets counseling and other support, including condoms, from Immaculate Nyamwija, founder of a Mbarara-based organization known as Action for Improved Health and Wealth. Nyamwija offers HIV support services to women who would face discrimination elsewhere.

“It is a challenge, because the demand is high and the doses are few,” she said. “Who would not wish to take (lenacapavir) for six months? Who would wish to be on drugs every day?”

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Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, and Laura Ungar in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report.

Approval of a Cheap Version of HIV-prevention Shot Lenacapavir Raises Hopes in Low-income Countries

By LAURA UNGAR

5:41 PM EST, November 2, 2026

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic version of the world’s only twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV — a big step toward making the drug available inexpensively and more quickly in 120 low- and middle-income countries.

The announcement was made on Monday morning by the manufacturer and organizations that helped to speed up development of the medication, called lenacapavir.

The drug is expected to cost $40 a year per person in the countries where it will be available, the same price as daily preventive pills available now. But the shots are much more convenient than the pills because they’re needed much less frequently and they nearly eliminated new infections in two groundbreaking studies of people at high risk.

People don’t always take their daily dose of medication, “and if you do not take it, you cannot get protected against HIV,” said Carmen Pérez Casas, HIV lead for the grant-making organization Unitaid, a global health agency. “With lenacapavir, we are much more hopeful.”

AP’s Lisa Dwyer reports on the approval of a generic version of a HIV prevention drug to be sold in low-income countries.

Ultimately, advocates said, the medication should help drive down cases of HIV and AIDS — and deaths. According to the World Health Organization, 41 million people worldwide were living with HIV and 570,000 died from HIV-related causes last year.

With an affordable, high-quality generic medication now available, “we could help to scale this to the 20 million people around the world who need PrEP,” prescription medicine taken by people at risk of HIV before being exposed to the virus, said Carolyn Amole, who leads the HIV program for the Clinton Health Access Initiative, a global health organization.

“And if we scale to those levels,” she added, “we can actually begin to bring an end to the HIV epidemic.”

Generic lenacapavir can’t be sold in the U.S. because a brand-name version, Yeztugo, made by Gilead Sciences and approved last year, is still protected by a patent. The U.S. list price for that version, meaning the cost before insurance, is $28,218 a year. Gilead officials say that’s similar to some other types of PrEP, which stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis.

The new generic was approved by the FDA under a longstanding practice designed to ensure the quality of HIV-related drugs provided to other countries by the U.S. government. Approval of a drug by the U.S. FDA can speed regulatory approval in many other countries. The approval is considered “tentative,” the FDA’s standard designation for generics while the originator remains under patent.

Until now, Gilead has been the sole supplier of lenacapavir. Demand has outstripped supply in low- and middle-income countries, though Gilead has established royalty-free licensing agreements with six generic manufacturers to enable greater production. Those voluntary licenses cover a specific set of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America.

“We share the sense of urgency around expanding access to lenacapavir for HIV prevention,” a Gilead spokesperson said in a statement. “We believe we have enabled the fastest and most sustainable path to expanding access for communities most affected by HIV.”

The generic was developed by India-based Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories under an agreement brokered by Unitaid, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Wits RHI, a health research institute in Africa. The partners sought to accelerate development and make the drug available at an affordable price.

Common side effects with lenacapavir include injection site reactions, headache and nausea. People also must be tested for HIV prior to starting the drug and with each injection; drug-resistant HIV has been identified when used by people with an undiagnosed HIV infection.

“For any kind of PrEP … you need to have HIV testing in advance,” said Saiqa Mullick, director of implementation science with Wits RHI. “For many of the low- and middle-income countries, that is a rapid test.”

Generic lenacapavir should start to become available in some places within weeks, those helping with the effort said, although it could take a bit longer in countries that require the drug to go through their own approval processes before people can start taking it. Generic versions made by the other manufacturers have yet to be approved by FDA.

“The work is not done. Now, we need the funding to actually buy it for everyone who needs it and then we need to do the hard work of getting it to the millions of people who need it and want it,” Amole said. “But this is a great milestone.”

Casas said she’s optimistic that scientific advances — along with political will and funding — can help the world curb HIV.

“Now,” she said, “we have the tools.”

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Associated Press writer Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, contributed to this story.

Election Night Agenda: When Polls Close and When to Expect Results

By ROBERT YOON

7:02 AM EST, November 3, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — With voters deciding thousands of races across the country on Tuesday, keeping track of which races to watch throughout the night — and when to expect results — can get tricky.

Here’s a rundown of the biggest races hour by hour, along with some clues as to how long it will take to count the votes.

All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

6 p.m.

The first polls of the night will close in most of Indiana and Kentucky, but no statewide winners will be declared in either state until the last polls close at 7 p.m. It’s possible to see winners declared in the states’ easternmost congressional districts.

Key contests in this hour include competitive U.S. House races in Indiana’s 5th and Kentucky’s 6th congressional districts.

7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

All polls close at 7 p.m. in six states, including Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia, which tend to complete almost all of their vote counting on election night. In the 2024 general election, the vote count in all three states reached the halfway mark in the 8 p.m. hour. The counts were 90% complete at 10:21 p.m. in Georgia, 11:14 p.m. in South Carolina and 12:07 a.m. in Virginia. In Georgia’s competitive presidential contest, The Associated Press declared Republican Donald Trump the winner at 12:58 a.m.

Most Florida polls will also close at 7 p.m., including in every competitive congressional district, but no statewide winners will be declared until polls in the Central Time Zone close at 8 p.m.

Polls in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia close at 7:30 p.m. All three states also count votes relatively quickly, reaching the halfway point at around 9 p.m. in 2024 and about 90% in the 11 p.m. hour. The AP declared a winner in Ohio’s competitive 2024 U.S. Senate race at 11:27 p.m.

Some key contests to watch in this hour are U.S. Senate races in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Ohio; gubernatorial races in Georgia and Ohio; and U.S. House races in Florida, Indiana, South Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.

8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

The 8 p.m. hour is primetime on election night, with polls fully or partially closing in almost half the states, including key states like Florida, Maine, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Florida tends to have one of the faster counts in this time slot, since results in most of the state start releasing in the 7 p.m. hour. In 2024, the Florida vote count was 90% complete by 8:07 p.m.

The 2024 vote counts in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania reached the halfway mark at 10:12 p.m. They reached 90% at 12:48 a.m. in Pennsylvania and 1:42 a.m. in New Hampshire.

Maine didn’t reach the halfway mark in 2024 until 12:54 a.m.

Polls in almost all of Michigan and Texas close at 8 p.m., including in the states’ most competitive congressional districts, but no statewide winners will be declared until the final polls have closed at 9 p.m.

Polls close at 8:30 p.m. in Arkansas.

Some key contests to watch in this hour are U.S. Senate races in Florida, Maine and New Hampshire; gubernatorial races in Florida and Pennsylvania; and U.S. House races in Alabama, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas.

9 p.m.

This is election night’s other big logjam, with all polls closing in 15 states, including the midterm battlegrounds of Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Texas and Wisconsin.

The 2024 general election vote counts in Iowa, Nebraska, New York and Wisconsin all reached the halfway mark roughly in the 10 p.m. hour, while Minnesota reached 50% of all votes counted at 11:29 p.m. Iowa and New York completed 90% of the count just before midnight, while Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin reached 90% early the next day between 2 and 3:30 a.m.

Kansas, Michigan and Texas all begin releasing votes in the 8 p.m. hour, but Michigan trailed the other two in the 2024 vote count. Kansas and Texas reached 90% counted during the midnight hour, while Michigan didn’t reach that threshold until 4:50 a.m.

Although polls close in Arizona at 9 p.m., the state does not begin releasing results until 10 p.m.

Some key contests to watch in this hour are U.S. Senate races in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska and Texas; gubernatorial races in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Texas and Wisconsin; and U.S. House races in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York and Wisconsin.

10 p.m.

Polls close at 10 p.m. in Montana, Nevada and Utah, with some polls closing in the eastern portions of Idaho and Oregon.

Key contests to watch in this hour include U.S. House races in Montana, Nevada and Utah and congressional and gubernatorial races in Arizona, where polls close at 9 p.m. but results are held until 10 p.m.

11 p.m.

All polls close at 11 p.m. in California and Washington, as well as the remaining polls in Idaho and Oregon.

Elections in California and Washington are conducted primarily by mail. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day will be counted if received by Nov. 10 in California and Nov. 23 in Washington.

In the 2024 general election, about 38% of the vote in California and about 33% of the vote in Washington was not counted on election night. The count reached 90% in Washington by Nov. 9, four days after Election Day, and in California by Nov. 14, nine days after Election Day.

Some key contests to watch in this hour are California governor, California’s Proposition 40 and U.S. House races in California and Washington.

Midnight and 1 a.m.

Polls close in Hawaii and almost all of Alaska at midnight. The final polls of the 2026 midterms close at 1 a.m. in the Aleutian Islands, home of Alaska’s westernmost polling location.

In Alaska in 2024, about 25% of the total vote was not counted on election night. The bulk of the state’s mail voting results aren’t expected before Nov. 18, the deadline to receive overseas and military ballots. Mail and early in-person ballots comprised about 35% of the total vote in 2022 and about 45% in 2024.

Key contests to watch include the Senate and House races in Alaska.

Democrats Press to Win a Majority of Governors’ Offices in Midterms After Power Struggles with Trump

By MARC LEVY

12:01 AM EST, November 3, 2026

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats are heading into Tuesday’s midterm elections hoping to take over a majority of governors’ offices for the first time in two decades, as they ride a wave of voter discontent over the economy, inflation, healthcare and the future of democracy.

The number of states in play is surprisingly large, a reflection of President Donald Trump’s poor approval ratings dragging on his party. Competitive races include those in heavily populated states such as Texas and Florida; presidential battleground states such as Michigan and Wisconsin; and reliably red states such as Iowa and Ohio.

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Trump went to heavily Republican areas to headline rallies attended by GOP gubernatorial candidates looking for a boost.

All told, 36 states that are home to about 80% of the nation’s population will elect a governor Tuesday. In 19 states, the office is open. Heading into the elections, Democratic governors represented 60% of the nation’s population, but Republicans held 26 of the nation’s 50 governors’ offices.

“Our goal is not just the majority of the population, but the majority of states,” Meghan Meehan-Draper, the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, told The Associated Press.

Democrats last gained a majority of governorships in 2006, flipping six governors’ offices in the last midterm under a second-term Republican president. Republicans recaptured the majority four years later.

Meanwhile, more states under Democratic leadership could mean more governors fighting — or ignoring — Trump’s agenda.

Trump has tested the power of states, clashing primarily with Democratic-led states over call-ups of National Guard troops, immigration operations, conditions on federal aid and efforts to assert federal control over election requirements, including restricting mail voting.

Democrats’ best opportunities to pick up a governor’s office are in Alaska, Georgia, Iowa and Ohio, where the incumbents are term-limited, and in Nevada, where state Attorney General Aaron Ford is challenging Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.

Georgia and Alaska haven’t elected a Democratic governor since 1998. Iowa and Ohio haven’t elected one since 2006.

Republicans’ best chance to capture an executive suite is in Kansas, a normally deep red state where Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is term-limited.

Next on the GOP’s list is Wisconsin, where Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany is taking on Democrat David Crowley, after the Milwaukee County executive eked out a primary win.

Republicans also have an eye on Michigan’s open governor’s office and on Oregon, where Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek is trying to fend off a second challenge from Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan.

Democrats feel like they have a chance in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

Races in Ohio and Texas are getting attention

Ohio’s race grabbed national headlines when Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign created an ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother criticizing her. Acton’s mother lost custody of her children decades ago after her husband, Acton’s stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton as a child.

The ad drew bipartisan rebukes, including from Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Conversely, Trump praised the ad and Vice President JD Vance, an Ohioan, defended it.

In Texas, where no Democrat has been elected to statewide office since 1994, Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa mounted a competitive challenge to third-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

Hinojosa was seen as a long shot after she emerged from a primary with a fraction of Abbott’s cash total. In September, fellow Latino politicians and politicos wrote to the Democratic Governors Association to request $10 million in campaign aid, saying Hinojosa had made it a close race.

The DGA gave $1 million — far less than it spent in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Notably, Abbott skipped Trump’s rally in Texas, a sign of the president’s unpopularity.

Contests are in big states and swing states, too

California Democrat Xavier Becerra is expected to cruise to victory, as is Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York.

Republicans are trying to hang on to Florida, the nation’s third-most populous state, where Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is vying against Democrat David Jolly, a former Republican congressman.

Control of the executive branch is on the line in the six swing states from the 2024 presidential election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The winners could have substantial influence over election administration during the 2028 presidential election. That could be important, considering Trump’s interest in expanding federal control over elections.

Meanwhile, some Democratic governors seeking reelection are considered possible presidential candidates in 2028.

They include Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.

Demonstrating a big margin of victory, fundraising prowess and the electoral strength to help other Democrats win sends a strong signal to donors and party activists, analysts say.

The 2026 election could produce some firsts

In Texas, Hinojosa is vying to become the first Latina governor, while Deb Haaland of New Mexico hopes to become the first Native American woman to lead a state.

More states are poised to elect Black governors, as well. There are seven Black major party gubernatorial nominees on ballots, in addition to Maryland’s Moore. In the past 250 years, only three elected governors have been Black.

Midterm Elections Coming to a Close as Voters Pass Judgment on Trump’s Second Term

By JILL COLVIN, MARY CLARE JALONICK and WILL WEISSERT

12:03 AM EST, November 3, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters struggling with high prices and angry over an unpopular war with Iran will decide whether to drastically shift power in Washington in midterm elections Tuesday that will serve as a referendum on President Donald Trump ’s second term.

Democrats were cautiously optimistic about their prospects as they watched Republicans spend the campaign’s final stretch pumping tens of millions of dollars into states and districts that Trump won handily just two years ago. They are betting that discontent over Trump’s failure to deliver on his promise to tackle rising costs, and perceptions that he has been more focused on gilding the nation’s capital than their pain at the pump, will depress Republican turnout and drive their own voters to the polls.

Republicans held out hope that their overwhelming money advantage would help stem the tide, but they were bracing to lose control of the U.S. House and fighting to hang onto the U.S. Senate — an outcome that seemed unlikely earlier this year, given a map widely seen as favoring the party.

Still, the margins are tight in both chambers and just one or two seats could tip the balance. Democrats need a net gain of four seats in the Senate to win the majority, an uphill climb because many of the most competitive races are in historically red states. In the House, they only need three.

More than 57 million people had already cast ballots as of Monday, with turnout surpassing the early vote four years ago in many closely watched states.

Trump, whose party has struggled when he is not running to turn out the low-propensity voters who have fueled his victories, has told voters to act like he is, even as many Republican candidates have tried to keep their distance.

“I really want you to pretend I’m on the ballot,” he told the crowd in Salina, Kansas, Sunday evening at the final of several dozen rallies in the closing weeks of the campaign.

Trump’s aggressive schedule included stops in the reddest states, including Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas, underscoring his party’s challenges.

The president has also continued to make false claims about voting fraud, such as insisting noncitizens are casting ballots en masse. His administration has already filed lawsuits in Alaska and California, and Democrats fear interference and voter intimidation as his Justice Department threatens to prosecute local election officials.

It’s an election that could reshape the political landscape

The results will shape the final two years of Trump’s second term after the Republican-controlled Congress acted as a rubber stamp to much of his agenda. While Trump has proven adept at steamrolling efforts to rein him in, Democrats taking control of even one chamber of Congress would open the floodgates to investigations as well as possible impeachments. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and tech titan Elon Musk are among the possible targets.

An especially strong showing for Democrats would also provide a boost to the crop of potential presidential candidates waiting in the wings, from California Gov. Gavin Newsom to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. It could also complicate the paths of Vice President JD Vance and other Republicans who may be looking to turn their loyalty to the president into momentum.

Republicans had tried to buck historical precedent — a president’s party almost always loses seats during the midterms — with an aggressive redistricting effort aimed at creating a more favorable congressional map. But the plan may fall short as new districts drawn in Florida and other states to be safely red may not vote that way.

Other Trump choices could prove costly. In Texas, Trump worked to oust longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in favor of scandal-plagued Attorney General Ken Paxton, setting the stage for an extraordinarily expensive race against Democratic nominee James Talarico, who Democrats hope may finally help them realize their dream of flipping the state.

And in North Carolina, Sen. Thom Tillis chose to retire after clashing with Trump. The president’s chosen replacement, former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, has struggled to gain traction against the Democrats’ candidate, former Gov. Roy Cooper.

“Everything depends on turnout. If we turn out our voters we win and that’s what we’ve been planning for,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters, expressing optimism on the eve of the election.

“Although there’s a lot of doom and gloom out there, I think we can defy history. We just need our voters to turn out,” he said. “We still think we can lift the nose up and win.”

The vast majority of Republican television ad spending in the general election — 88.1% — was spent in states and districts that Trump won in 2024, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from AdImpact, a media tracking firm. That included more than $850 million spent on ad reservations in states and districts Trump won by 10 points or more.

The electorate has soured on Trump

Polling shows that only 35% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s performance as president, according to the most recent polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. And most blame him for high prices as they struggle to afford gas and groceries.

What was once his strongest issue is no longer. Only 25% of U.S. adults now say they approve of Trump’s handling of the economy. Overall, about 7 in 10 say the country is heading in the wrong direction.

“The American people are angry. They want change. They want folks who are going to stand up for them,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who said momentum was on her party’s side, despite what seemed like Republicans’ infinite money supply.

The results, she said, “should deliver a very resounding messaging that people have soured on his agenda.”

Republicans currently hold a 53-47 Senate majority.

Democrats have been most confident in their chances of picking up North Carolina and holding Georgia, where Sen. Jon Ossoff is facing Rep. Mike Collins. Other key battlegrounds include Ohio, where Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted, and Alaska, were the administration has filed a lawsuit to block certification of the state’s Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses the race, citing the presence of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot.

Republicans, meanwhile, are hoping they can keep hold of seats in states like Iowa, Kansas and Maine, and pick up Michigan, where Mike Rogers is facing progressive Abdul El-Sayed — one of a crop of left-wing candidates who prevailed in Democratic primaries this election season. El-Sayed’s former primary opponent, Haley Stevens, upended the race Sunday by endorsing Rogers, renewing focus on tensions over Israel and the direction of the party that dominated Democratic primaries.

In the House, Republicans, who had hoped to pick up seats with their redistricting efforts, are now trying to hang on to their narrow majority, as Democrats try to flip seats in states Trump has repeatedly carried, from Florida to Texas to Iowa.

Beyond Washington, 36 states will be electing governors. Democrats are hoping to take over a majority of statehouses for the first time in two decades as they ride a wave of voter discontent. Competitive races include those in heavily populated states such as Texas and Florida, plus reliably red states such as Iowa.

In Ohio, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign faced backlash for an ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother, who lost custody of Acton decades ago after her husband, Acton’s stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton as a child.

The stakes in Washington are high

Trump’s final two years in office will likely be defined in part on the outcome of the race for control of Congress.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is in line to make history as the nation’s first Black speaker of the House if his party sweeps to power, has outlined an ambitious 100-days agenda focused on lowering the cost of living and aggressive oversight of the Trump administration, as he puts it, to “hold the crooks accountable.” Impeachment is not off the table.

The Senate, where leadership is unlikely to change, could emerge as a key backstop for Trump’s priorities if Republicans retain control, or a new power center for Democrats who could use it to halt presidential nominees and challenge the White House agenda.

The 2026 elections will likely go down as the most expensive in history. Republican committees have dramatically outraised and outspent their Democratic counterparts thanks, in large part, to money from Trump-affiliated groups and Musk. But at the candidate level, Democratic candidates outraised their Republican opponents.

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Associated Press data writer Aaron Kessler contributed to this report.

Parts of a Learjet May Have Broken off Midair Before Florida Crash that Killed 9, Investigators Say

By DAVID FISCHER and JOSH FUNK

8:25 PM EST, November 2, 2026

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A business jet that crashed in Florida and killed all nine people aboard, including a family with two young children, likely started breaking apart before it slammed into the ground and erupted in a fireball, a federal investigator said Monday.

The jet did a steep nosedive, leaving behind a crater and a wide debris field as rain pounded the area. Authorities said weather will be a key initial focus of the investigation, and that the National Transportation Safety Board will also examine the actions of the crew and look for any mechanical problems with the plane.

The plane burst into flames when it crashed in Greenacres, about 7 miles (11 kilometers) southwest of West Palm Beach. Thick black smoke engulfed the crash site and little remained of the plane.

The victims included the 20-year-old co-pilot, Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, who made the final radio transmissions, as well as technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife, Helen Sharp, and their two young children, relatives said.

About 600 nearby residents remain displaced, but only one injury was reported on the ground.

Weather is a major focus of the investigation

National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said during a news conference Monday that investigators found evidence the aircraft started breaking up before it hit the ground and that debris from the aircraft could be spread far and wide.

“We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site,” Chapman said.

Jeff Guzzetti, a former investigator for the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration, said key components of the jet’s tail may have been lost during the turbulence or as it nose-dived, making the plane impossible to control.

“That very well could explain the missile-like profile just before it hit the ground,” he said.

Weather conditions will be a major focus of the investigation, Chapman said. Rain pounded the region on Sunday, and one of the pilots told air traffic control about icing conditions at a high altitude.

The pilots were warned by controllers about the looming storms as they crossed into Florida, and the FAA published an official warning about the weather earlier. AccuWeather said the tops of some of the storm clouds reached all the way up to 45,000 feet, making it difficult for planes to fly over the top. AccuWeather’s Dan DePodwin said that the weather radars on planes have limitations and can’t always show updrafts that can develop even more precipitation.

Chapman said investigators still have to determine what the weather conditions were at 35,000 feet (11,000 meters), the altitude the plane was flying at when the pilot started reporting problems.

Retired airline pilot John Cox, who is now CEO of the Safety Operating Systems consulting business, said the conditions the pilot described on the radio, with significant turbulence as well as liquid precipitation freezing on the plane at negative 47 degrees Celsius (minus 52.6 degrees Fahrenheit), would have terrified him.

Typically, precipitation at that altitude and temperature comes in the form of ice crystals that simply go around the plane, he said.

“Those are all really big red flags to me,” he said. The question is why the plane flew into that line of storms at that altitude instead of either flying around the storm system or trying to cruise over the top of it, Cox said.

Chapman said the plane was originally equipped with a cockpit voice recorder that investigators hope to recover. But the heavy rain in Florida is making investigators’ work difficult as the crater the plane left behind is filled with rainwater.

“This will be a several-day process, and the biggest obstacle that we’re going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway,” NTSB investigator Timothy Monville said at the news conference.

Mother identifies one of the pilots

The jet, which took off from Austin, Texas, had been in the air for almost 2 hours and 45 minutes before crashing in Florida, Chapman said.

Camila Corteleti told the New York Post and New York Times that her daughter, 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, was one of the pilots. She earned her pilot’s license in 2023 while a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton Community High School in Florida, local news reports said at the time.

Her pilot’s license showed she had the rating to fly that model of Learjet but not to be in command of the flight. The iconic Learjet is one of the most popular business jets ever made. Chapman said he doesn’t know of any history of similar problems with these planes.

Her father, Allan Filgueiras, told The Associated Press he wasn’t prepared to speak about the crash.

The identity of the other pilot was not immediately disclosed.

A man who was driving close to the scene as the plane crashed suffered leg wounds, investigators said, but they weren’t sure the extent of the injury.

Pilot reported turbulence and ice, then the jet fell rapidly

The plane was heading east when the pilot started to report problems. According to air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC.net, the 20-year-old Gadelha Filgueiras said ice was accumulating on the jet and that turbulence was jolting it by as much as 700 feet (210 meters).

“We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” the pilot told controllers in a professional tone.

The situation rapidly deteriorated and within a few transmissions panic set in as the crew realized their fate.

The pilot requested permission to climb another 2,000 feet (610 meters) and then quickly declared an emergency as the jet lost altitude at an alarming rate.

“We’re descending 8,000 — mayday, mayday — we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed.

“We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed. Moments later, the pilot said: “We’re going to crash into the ground.”

Video shows the plane banking sharply to the right before crashing and exploding.

Some area residents are still not allowed to return home

Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel G. Flores said at a news conference that the county “doesn’t have a clue” when residents who live near the crash site will be able to return to their homes as investigators continue to comb the area for debris and other material that could be used to investigate the cause of the crash.

A shelter has been established for the residents of almost 80 mobile homes near the crash site, Flores said.

“Our concern right now is clearing the scene so that our residents can get back to normal,” he said. “We don’t really have a timeline as to when they are going to be able to comb through all the evidence and do everything they need to do, and that leaves our community looking for answers.”

In audio from air traffic control courtesy of LiveATC.net, one of the pilots is heard discussing the situation with the tower.

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Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; and Philip Marcelo in East Meadow, New York, contributed.

Rain Clears but Flood Risk Remains High After Destructive Storms Swamp Normally Arid US Southwest

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER and RUSS BYNUM

3:03 AM EST, November 3, 2026

The skies were clearing, but the risk of flooding remained over parts of the U.S. Southwest after powerful downpours sent massive amounts of water surging over the usually dry landscape, forcing hundreds to evacuate and keeping swift-water rescue teams busy.

Officials said cleanup and repair efforts could take weeks. One person died in the floodwaters and police suspect a second death was weather-related.

The National Weather Service said Monday that isolated cloudbursts were still possible across the Four Corners region — where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet — as the phenomenon stoked by warming Pacific waters known as El Niño disrupts weather patterns.

Damage was widespread in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, a town of about 2,000. Officials feared the San Juan River that flows through it would top a level that nearly wiped out the town in 1911. The river reached 16.81 feet (5.1 meters) Sunday — a foot lower than the historic level — flooding downtown streets before receding Monday, the weather service said.

An entire home was lifted from its foundation and floated down the river before crashing into a pedestrian bridge. A section of a road bridge west of town crumbled under raging waters, said Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Vicki Shaffer.

Dozens of people were rescued across the region, including some by helicopter. Shaffer said first responders were searching for people who may be stranded.

“That will continue, just like last week, until we’re sure that everybody who was trapped by the floodwaters has been rescued,” she said.

The Colorado Department of Transportation reopened several closed bridges and roadways late Monday. Shaffer said evacuation orders remain in place, though she wasn’t sure how many people were affected.

Pagosa Springs had just lifted an evacuation order from a previous storm, only to reimpose it Saturday.

More than 20 trillion gallons of rain have fallen on the Four Corners states and Nevada in the past two weeks, according to calculations by former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue.

With Election Day coming, officials in Colorado and Utah arranged alternative voting plans for evacuated or stranded residents.

Utah said Monday that residents of hard-hit San Juan County will be allowed to vote electronically because some of them may not be able to reach polling places.

More rivers rise, forcing evacuations

Evacuations were ordered along the San Juan River in New Mexico, which officials warned was still rising and could crest Tuesday through Wednesday. The village of Chama, New Mexico, was also evacuated and cut off by road closures.

Residents had to leave their homes along the Animas River in southwestern Colorado, where Durango police Chief Brice Current said authorities were checking Monday on those who rode out the flooding at home.

“There’s still a lot of people stranded,” Current said.

Willow Bradner and her family have been staying in a hotel since their Durango home flooded this weekend.

“We went from ‘we’re going to be safe’ to ‘pack a go-bag’ in 45 minutes,” she recalled. Her basement is now filled with water, with the house surrounded by more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of mud.

On Monday, Greg Ewing was among some 200 community members who used shovels and skid steers to remove the mud in Bradner’s neighborhood. “That’s the cool thing about Durango. It’s a really strong community. Everyone comes together,” Ewing said.

Dry Arizona creek beds turned to raging torrents

Record rainfall was reported across Arizona, including 7.3 inches (18.5 centimeters) over two days at Workman Creek, a wilderness area near Phoenix.

Flagstaff totaled 5.15 inches (13 centimeters) over two days, contributing to its wettest Nov. 1 ever recorded. The city typically has fewer than a handful of days per year of rain exceeding 1 inch (2.5 centimeters), said meteorologist Jennifer Tate with the NWS Weather Prediction Center.

“What really stood out to me was that this wasn’t localized. It was a very broad system that brought a lot of rain to a lot of places,” Tate said.

A man was seen falling into floodwaters rushing into a drainage tunnel in Flagstaff, where rain fell nearly nonstop Sunday. Police said the body of Williams Singavarapu, 73, of New York, was discovered Monday about 15 blocks from where he disappeared.

A second man was found dead Monday in a drainage area, Flagstaff police said, adding it appeared to be weather-related, pending an official determination on the cause of death.

In Sedona, floodwaters trapped several people in their homes, and heavy rain washed out part of a highway.

Nearby in Camp Verde, Doug Michaels was cooking dinner at an RV park when he saw people evacuating as water rose. He was able to get himself, his wife, cat and valuables to safety and raise his camper higher off the ground. But he said others fared much worse.

“It’s devastating,” he said. “People lost their homes. The one lady doesn’t even know where her camper is. It went down the river.”

Swift-water rescues also were conducted in Tucson, where weather service meteorologist Aaron Hardin said “we are getting two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of days.”

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs issued a statewide emergency declaration on Monday after recently issuing an emergency for Navajo and Coconino counties. The governors of New Mexico and Colorado asked President Donald Trump to declare a major disaster to receive federal funding assistance.

Swaths of southern Utah are inundated

Ryan Benally spent the weekend building dirt berms to divert floodwaters from his parents’ home on the Navajo Nation near Montezuma Creek, Utah. So far, the barriers have held, though parts of their small cattle ranch were under water.

Benally, an assistant professor at Utah State University, has been coordinating deliveries of bottled water, waterproof boots, toiletries and other supplies to shelters. Families who stayed at home were increasingly difficult to reach, he said, because access routes for some remote residents washed out.

Benally said his parents, both in their 60s, have lived in the area all their lives and have never seen flooding this severe.

“These storms have been one after another after another,” Benally said. “It’s compounding in ways people out here just weren’t prepared for.”

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AP journalists Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Savannah Peters in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Gregory Bull in Durango, Colorado; Ross D. Franklin in Camp Verde, Arizona; and Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed.

Iranian Ambassador to Egypt: Iran Insists on Seven Conditions to End US War

By Al Mayadeen English

31 Oct 2026 18:04

Iranian Ambassador to Egypt Mojtaba Ferdowsi Pour says Tehran will not compromise on its seven conditions, clarifying that contacts through Qatar do not constitute talks with the US.

Iranian Ambassador to Egypt Mojtaba Ferdowsi Pour said Tehran would not abandon the seven conditions it has set for ending the US war on Iran, stressing that the conditions include ending all wars across the region.

In remarks to Al Mayadeen, Ferdowsi Pour said the message delivered by Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei today was directed primarily at Washington and the Israeli occupation, before addressing neighboring countries. He added that Iran remains highly prepared for any future confrontation and that any renewed war would bring new surprises.

The ambassador said messages were currently being exchanged between Iran and the United States through Qatari mediation. However, he stressed that this did not amount to direct or indirect negotiations between the two sides, clarifying that Tehran was holding consultations with Doha.

Ferdowsi Pour rejected the US narrative that Iran was prepared to abandon its previously stated conditions, insisting that Tehran would not compromise on the seven demands. He also said Iran had no trust in Washington, which he accused of seeking Iran's surrender.

Egypt warns against renewed US war on Iran

Addressing the regional implications of renewed hostilities against Tehran, the ambassador said Egypt was concerned about the upcoming US midterm elections and the possibility that US President Donald Trump could order a large-scale military operation with consequences extending across the region.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty warned on Saturday that further escalation in the US war on Iran could lead to additional destruction and serious repercussions, expressing his "grave concern" over the possibility of renewed hostilities.

Abdelatty made the remarks during an address at the IISS Manama Dialogue security summit, organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the Bahraini capital. His warning came amid intensified diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions, as threats of renewed military action against Iran persist and Tehran pledges a response several times stronger.

Qatar renews mediation efforts between Tehran and Washington

Qatari mediators arrived in Tehran on October 30 in a renewed effort to negotiate an agreement between Iran and the United States, with the mission coordinated with Washington, an official briefed on the discussions told Reuters.

Doha had submitted a draft peace proposal to Tehran on October 25, according to an official familiar with the negotiations. However, a senior Iranian official rejected the proposals as unacceptable and said Tehran would maintain its position on the nuclear issue.

The two sides also remain at odds over where negotiations should begin. Washington wants the nuclear issue addressed from the outset, while Tehran insists that the United States must first lift its naval blockade and remove restrictions on Iranian oil exports, Reuters reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran was maintaining close contact with intermediaries to examine proposals that could facilitate the implementation of Iran's own seven-day plan to end the war.

Iran finalizes military response plan amid threats of renewed aggression

Meanwhile, a senior regional political-security official told Al Mayadeen yesterday that Iran's Armed Forces have finalized an updated, comprehensive military plan to respond to any potential aggression, with the plan fully prepared for implementation.

The official said the plan authorizes an immediate response to any military attack and reflects Tehran's decision to launch a broad and comprehensive retaliation. The official added that Iran's adversaries and their regional backers would be taken aback by the scale and severity of the response, which would be unprecedented.

The official further warned that if an adversary carries out "terrorist acts," Iran's list of "legitimate targets" would be comparable in scope and potentially even broader.

Any immediate and extensive Iranian response would also encompass political facilities, centers, and headquarters belonging to the "enemy and its regional backers," the official said.

Invoking the saying "Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones," the official cautioned regional countries against allowing the United States and "Israel" to use their territory and capabilities to target Iran.

South Africans to Vote in Key Local Elections Seen as a Tough Test for Ruling ANC

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME

8:03 PM EST, November 1, 2026

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africans are preparing to vote in local government elections that will determine control of the country’s largest cities and test whether the African National Congress continues its electoral decline.

Voters on Wednesday will elect councilors, who will then choose mayors to oversee municipal services, including water, sanitation and rubbish collection.

But politicians campaigning this year have also faced questions about national issues, including illegal immigration, high unemployment and crime.

“I think for most voters, they assess the situation of where they are, that’s their immediate reaction. But for a party, the image that you have at national level might make your candidate at local level be overlooked,” said Sandile Mnguni, a political analyst at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

The ANC lost its parliamentary majority in 2024 and formed a unity government with the Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-largest party, and smaller parties.

In the last municipal elections in 2021, the ANC lost control of several major cities. It governs others through coalitions.

Municipal battle for Johannesburg

Home to nearly 5 million people and most of South Africa’s corporate headquarters, Johannesburg is a key economic hub and a major prize for competing parties.

The city, which is currently governed by a fragile ANC-led coalition, has had nine mayors in 10 years. Political instability has been widely blamed for deteriorating infrastructure, financial mismanagement and the broader decline of the “city of gold.”

Burst water pipes, cracked roads, hijacked buildings, broken traffic lights, unreliable electricity and piles of rubbish have become common sights in parts of the city.

Several parties have fielded high-profile mayoral candidates and mounted extensive campaigns.

The DA, which is South Africa’s second-largest party, has nominated 75-year-old political veteran Helen Zille. Her campaign has included snorkeling in a large, water-filled trench, spinning a modified BMW and DJing at a local club to rally support.

“Well, the big thing is, the ANC is certainly collapsing, it is in free fall, and suddenly we don’t have a competitor anymore,” Zille told The Associated Press at a campaign event near Alexandra township, northeast of Johannesburg.

The Economic Freedom Fighters have turned to Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, who recently completed a six-year term as the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to health.

Herman Mashaba, the opposition ActionSA’s candidate, is seeking another term as mayor of Johannesburg after resigning in 2019 when he left the DA.

Water crisis impacts all cities

Politicians campaigning across South Africa have faced complaints about a water crisis affecting impoverished townships and affluent suburbs alike.

At an election debate in the capital, Pretoria, politicians across party lines faced blame after more than 500 people were treated for stomach illnesses last week after drinking contaminated water. All major parties in the city have participated in its successive coalition governments since 2016.

“It is interesting to hear them (political parties) promising to solve the water problem, but it has been there when all of them were in power,” said Lesego Moshate, a Mamelodi resident who attended a town hall debate featuring mayoral candidates last week.

About 600 miles (966 kilometers) away in the Eastern Cape, ANC provincial leader Oscar Mabuyane faced similar complaints on the campaign trail. Residents blamed his party for inadequate drainage, water leaks, blocked sewers and a poor response to flooding.

Mabuyane recently appointed a team to investigate whether an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness was linked to poor water quality in parts of the province. More than 110 students at a local university required medical treatment.

“These are everyday issues that affect families and require focused attention. Our campaign is rooted in the people, listening to their concerns, engaging directly and taking forward the issues they raise,” Mabuyane said.

Migration boosts some parties but is complicated for others

Protests against illegal immigration have swept South Africa in recent months, making the issue a prominent election talking point.

More than 500 soldiers have been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal province, where violence against foreign-owned businesses and foreign nationals has been reported. More than 178,000 foreign nationals have reportedly left South Africa in recent months.

Opposition parties including ActionSA and the Patriotic Alliance have made opposition to illegal immigration central to their campaigns. Their message has resonated with some voters who blame immigrants living in the country illegally for unemployment, strained public services and high crime rates.

Meanwhile, Economic Freedom Fighters candidates have faced criticism over the party’s support for a more integrated Africa with fewer trade barriers and fewer restrictions on movement.

UN’s Peacekeeping Mission in Western Sahara Ends After 35 Years Following US-Russia Standoff

By AKRAM OUBACHIR

1:34 PM EST, November 1, 2026

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — The U.N.'s long-running peacekeeping mission for the disputed Western Sahara ceased operations Sunday after 35 years, as a result of a U.S.-Russia standoff at U.N. headquarters over the territory’s future.

The end of the mission raises concerns about stability in the region. Rich in minerals and fisheries, Western Sahara is a vast desert territory roughly the size of Colorado along Africa’s northwestern Atlantic coast. Once ruled by Spain, it is claimed by both Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front.

“This 1 November 2026 marks the start of the liquidation period,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N. secretary general, said in a statement. “A smaller team reporting to the United Nations’ Department of Operational Support will oversee the orderly transportation of assets belonging to troop-contributing countries to their respective nations, and the appropriate disposal of equipment belonging to the United Nations.’'

The mission had been repeatedly extended since it was established in 1991. In the U.N. Security Council on Friday, Russia vetoed a draft U.S. resolution that would have supported Morocco’s demand for sovereignty over Western Sahara and ended the peacekeeping mission next year.

Then a rival Russian resolution to extend the mission was voted down. The disagreement led to an abrupt end of the force’s mandate.

Morocco’s royal palace welcomed the non-renewal of the mission. It called it an “instrument to internationalize the dispute.’'

The Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, called it “an unacceptable decision.’' The Algerian foreign ministry said it profoundly regrets the non-renewal of the mandate and criticized what it called the ‘’excessive bias’’ of the U.S. draft resolution.

Western Sahara is Africa’s longest territorial dispute

The U.N. classifies Western Sahara as a “non-self-governing territory,” while critics of Morocco’s control describe it as Africa’s last colony. Morocco administers nearly all of the disputed territory, except for a narrow strip known as the “free zone” that lies east of a Moroccan-built sand wall.

After Morocco annexed it in 1975, the dispute escalated into an armed conflict that lasted more than 15 years and claimed more than 16,000 lives on both sides, according to the French Senate.

Bringing Western Sahara under its full sovereignty has been a central objective of Morocco’s foreign policy for decades. Rabat, which has secured the backing of a growing number of Western capitals, including Washington, Paris and London, refers to the territory as its southern provinces. The dispute has become a defining feature of Morocco’s diplomacy, with the kingdom often measuring its relations with other countries by their position on the issue.

The Polisario Front seeks independence for the territory, which it considers the homeland of the Indigenous Sahrawi people. Operating from refugee camps in the Algerian city of Tindouf, the movement aims to establish an independent Sahrawi Republic. Mainly backed by Algeria, Russia and South Africa, the Polisario has seen its international support dwindle in recent years.

The expired mission was established to monitor a referendum

A U.N.-brokered cease-fire took effect in 1991. The agreement also paved the way for the creation of the U.N. Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO.

The settlement plan provided for a referendum on self-determination, with independence among the options. But the vote never materialized. Morocco wanted the voter list to include Sahrawis living in the territory it controls, while the Polisario objected, arguing that their inclusion would tilt the outcome toward integration with Morocco. The movement insisted on using Spain’s colonial census to determine voter eligibility.

Twenty MINURSO personnel lost their lives in the mission. The U.N. force was authorized to have 534 personnel, and its 2026-2027 budget was more than $62 million. The top military contributors to the force were Egypt, Ghana and Pakistan.

As the mission ends, the U.N. secretary-general ‘’calls upon all parties to respect and promote the rights of the people of Western Sahara,’' Dujarric said, and “remains concerned about the security situation throughout the Territory and the risk of escalation of hostilities. He calls on all concerned to exercise maximum restraint.”

The Polisario withdrew from the ceasefire in 2020 after clashes and the territory has since remained the scene of tensions and low-intensity hostilities, the U.N. said last month.

Western Sahara is the major flashpoint in the rivalry between regional heavyweights Morocco and Algeria. Algiers, which arms, funds and hosts the Polisario Front, sees full Moroccan sovereignty over the territory as a major diplomatic defeat. The two countries severed diplomatic relations in 2021, and the end of the mission risks further straining ties and fueling an arms race.

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Edith M. Lederer in New York contributed to this report.

Somalian Pirates Seize Iranian Fishing Vessel, Raising Fears of Attacks on Cargo Ships

By OMAR FARUK

9:25 AM EST, November 1, 2026

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somali pirates have seized an Iranian fishing vessel carrying 23 people, the Maritime Security Center Indian Ocean said, warning that the ship was approaching a commercial shipping lane and could become a floating base for further attacks

The Azini was hijacked Thursday between the coastal towns of Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, a maritime security officer with the Puntland Maritime Police Force said Sunday.

The officer told The Associated Press that 12 pirates seized the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali security guards. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak with the media.

The crew’s safety was unknown, the center said in an alert dated Saturday. In an updated warning, it said that pirates could use the vessel as a “mother ship” to support attacks on commercial vessels.

The European Union’s naval Operation Atalanta was investigating. The center urged ships in the area to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity.

The seizure follows a resurgence of Somali piracy across the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean. By August, pirates had hijacked six commercial vessels since April, with some attacks taking place far from Somalia’s coastline. The captures included the oil products tanker Sibu 1, seized about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometers) east of al-Mukalla, Yemen.

In September, Puntland authorities said pirates killed five crew members of the tanker MT Honour 25 before security forces recovered the vessel. The tanker had been held since April. Authorities said that 16 suspected pirates were detained.

The renewed piracy adds another danger for shipping in a region already disrupted by the Iran war. Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and threats by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi-linked shipping through Bab el-Mandeb have complicated routes used to move oil to world markets.

Those disruptions have lengthened voyages and driven up tanker costs. The AP reported in September that some oil shipments diverted around Africa faced journeys up to a month longer, while daily spot charter rates for tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz had reached $1 million.

International naval patrols and improved maritime security sharply reduced Somali piracy over the past decade. The latest seizures have renewed concerns about the threat to vessels off the country’s long coastline.

The UK’s Stance on Its Role in the Slave Trade is Shifting, but Reparations Remain Off the Table

By SYLVIA HUI

7:20 PM EST, November 1, 2026

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is open to making a formal apology for Britain’s role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, a significant shift in the U.K.'s position in a long-running debate on whether — and how — the country should right the wrongs of its past.

Ahead of his meeting with Commonwealth leaders in the Caribbean this week, Burnham said it is the “right thing to do” to have an honest conversation about the legacies of slavery instead of “sticking our heads in the sand.”

While he rejected calls for the U.K. to pay reparations, Burnham proposed leading a program of debt restructuring to help the poorest countries in the Commonwealth, an association of 56 independent nations that grew out of the British Empire.

His stance received a cautious welcome, but the thorny issue of repayments remains unresolved.

“An apology is an essential first step,” a trade bloc of Caribbean countries known as Caricom said in a statement Saturday in response to Burnham’s comments. “But an apology without repair is incomplete.”

The Netherlands in 2022 apologized for its role in the slave trade, but no country has paid financial reparations to nations affected by slavery or enslaved people and their descendants.

The U.K. has never formally apologized for its role in the trade, though some British institutions including the Church of England have started to own up to the parts they played.

Here’s a look at the history behind the debate and where things stand:

Britain’s role in the slave trade and its abolition

Britain became involved in the slave trade in the mid-1500s, following Portugal and Spain. At its height, Britain was the world’s biggest slave-trading nation and transported more than 3 million Africans across the Atlantic.

Goods were traded in West Africa for captured slaves who were shipped across the Atlantic to work on British sugar and tobacco plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas. Goods produced in the so-called New World were transported back to England.

In the 17th century, the Royal African Company, established under King Charles II and run by his brother, who later became King James II, trafficked 80,000 African men, women and children to slavery in the Americas. About 20,000 died before the company’s monopoly on the English slave trade ended in 1698, when any Englishman could trade slaves.

An abolitionist movement arose in England in the late 1700s, supported by Quakers, some politicians and former slaves.

U.K. politicians have traditionally focused on the country’s role in banning the slave trade in 1807 and outlawing slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833, a movement that helped spur other abolitionist drives elsewhere.

But Burnham said it is now time for the country to face up to the other side of the story. “We are a country where brave people led the way in abolishing slavery, but we are also a country that participated in the trade in human lives,” he wrote in a piece in the Guardian published Friday.

Burnham rejects reparations, suggests debt relief instead

For decades, Caribbean countries have demanded reparations from Britain. Studies estimate Britain would owe between hundreds of millions and trillions of dollars in compensation to descendants of slaves.

Burnham rejected the idea, in keeping with previous U.K. governments.

“I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part,” he said.

Instead, he said he will work with other wealthy nations and investors to help poorer countries repay their high levels of debt over a longer period and at lower interest rates. Burnham said he is bringing in former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to help with this work.

King Charles III, who is on a nine-day visit to the Caribbean, acknowledged “the great suffering and injustices of the past” this week.

But the king, who remains head of state of several Caribbean nations, did not go further in addressing direct demands from the region’s leaders for an apology and reparations.

Meanwhile, the opposition Conservative Party argued that Britain should not even offer an apology.

“I don’t think that Andy Burnham needs to be apologizing because it is a lever to wedge open the door to ask for cash,” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Sunday.

Caribbean nations welcome prospect of an apology but maintain reparations demands

Philip J. Pierre, the prime minister of Saint Lucia and chair of Caricom, said he welcomed Burnham’s consideration of a formal apology and his offer of a “structured dialogue” with affected nations.

“No British prime minister has gone this far before ... we are ready to engage,” he wrote. But he added: “A dialogue that begins by placing reparations outside the room cannot be a complete dialogue.”

Pierre reiterated that Caribbean nations are seeking education and public health improvements; development programs for Indigenous people; repatriation and resettlement for those seeking to live in their homeland; debt cancellation and monetary compensation, among other things.

“Debt relief, however welcome, cannot be offered as a substitute for reparatory justice,” he said.

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Seeking to Block Certification of Alaska Senate Race if GOP Incumbent Loses

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI and BECKY BOHRER

4:19 PM EST, November 1, 2026

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge on Sunday dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, the latest development in a ballot controversy that has roiled the final days of one of the nation’s most closely watched races.

Sullivan, an ally of President Donald Trump, faces Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, in a race that is among a handful expected to determine which party controls the Senate for the final two years of Trump’s term.

Tuesday’s ranked-choice election also includes two candidates who have done little campaigning, one of whom shares the incumbent’s name. It was that candidate’s presence on the ballot that prompted Trump to push for the lawsuit out of fear he would siphon votes from the incumbent.

Shortly after the ruling, the Justice Department filed a notice that it would appeal: “Alaskan voters deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes,” a department spokesperson said in a statement.

The lawsuit, filed less than two weeks before the election and as early voting was underway, called for an investigation into whether votes for retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan were intended for the senator. The state said the case lacked merit and argued there would be no way to determine that without violating voter privacy.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason said the relief the federal government sought was “infeasible” because many voters have already cast their ballots.

“More fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified ‘investigation’ of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy,” she wrote.

Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee argued that the case lacked any legal basis and amounted to election interference.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for democracy and a clear message to Donald Trump and Senate Republicans: No one, no matter how powerful, can toss out free and fair elections just because they don’t like the result,” said the committee’s executive director, Devan Barber.

Peltola’s campaign hailed the ruling. “No sham investigation or baseless lawsuit from a weaponized Department of Justice is going to stop Alaskans from electing Mary on Nov. 3 so she can lower costs for Alaska’s working families,” the campaign said in a statement, alluding to a federal probe disclosed after President Donald Trump said last week that he wanted Peltola prosecuted for the scheme.

Attorneys for the state did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Senator says he expects ‘to lose a lot of votes’ to the other Dan Sullivan

The senator and his allies, including Trump, for months have portrayed Dan J. Sullivan as a sham candidate intent on confusing voters and helping Peltola.

Earlier Sunday, Sen. Sullivan told CNN that he thought the presence of the second Sullivan on the ballot would affect the election.

“I’m sure I’m going to lose a lot of votes to that trickery,” he said.

He also said he doubted claims by Peltola that she had no idea her top political aides were involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan to run as a way to confuse voters.

“There is no way this went on for a year that they weren’t informing her,” Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “She got caught lying, and she’s still lying to the Alaskan people, the media, to all of us.”

In the week before Election Day, The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign was involved in efforts to recruit the second Sullivan. Shortly after entering the race in June, Dan J. Sullivan said he’d had no contact with her campaign about running. He has not responded to multiple messages over the past few days.

His recent public absence prompted a social media post Sunday by the president: “The Fake Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., has DISAPPEARED! Nobody can find him, including Law Enforcement.”

Peltola’s campaign responded to the Times story by saying it had no involvement in the campaigns for either Sullivan: “I am not interested in tricking voters,” Peltola said during a recent campaign event.

In its statement indicating its plans to appeal, the Justice Department said the federal judge dismissed the case on procedural grounds but did not dispute the government’s argument that Dan J. Sullivan entered the race “as a frivolous candidate to confuse voters.”

Multiple investigations look into whether Dan J. Sullivan was recruited as a decoy candidate

State courts, including the Alaska Supreme Court, rejected an earlier Republican-backed effort to block the retired teacher from the August open primary ballot on which he appeared as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation. The senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent.

Both Sullivans appear the same way on the general election ballot. Peltola placed first in the primary, followed by the senator. Dan J. Sullivan received about 2.5% of the primary vote, but that was enough to finish within the top four and qualify for the Nov. 3 ranked-choice election.

Attorneys for the Alaska Department of Law represented state elections officials in the case and asked Gleason, who was appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, to toss the lawsuit. They filed a scathing response to the federal government’s complaint, calling it “meritless.”

Alaska also said the state had taken “significant steps” to distinguish the two Sullivans on the ballot. Voters who still might be confused could ask for help or look up candidate biographies and other information in state-distributed election pamphlets.

Republicans, including ones working with Trump, also have a long history of backing decoy candidates in elections. The governor, a Republican, has ordered an investigation and suggested he may not certify a possible Peltola victory.

In her ruling, Gleason wrote that the Trump administration’s attempt to block certification ran counter to the Constitution, which gives states the authority to run elections. She also cited the Supreme Court’s Purcell principle, which holds that federal courts should generally not change election rules too close to an election.

Kristen Clarke, general counsel of the NAACP, which had filed a brief supporting the case’s dismissal, called the judge’s decision “a big win for the voters in Alaska.”

“The law is clear, and the DOJ’s case was a baseless, eleventh-hour attempt to hijack this midterm election,” she said.

On Thursday, the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation over the presence of Dan J. Sullivan on the Alaska ballot, issuing a raft of new grand jury subpoenas, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The FBI also has begun contacting people who donated to him, some of whom told the AP that the agents were asking if they had been misled about which candidate they were supporting.

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Riccardi reported from Washington. Associated Press photographer Lindsey Wasson in Anchorage, Alaska, and AP writer Ali Swenson in Washington contributed to this report.