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.

Flash Flooding Triggers Evacuations in Southwest and Dire Warning for Colorado Spa Town

By PHILIP MARCELO and MICHAEL CASEY

7:07 PM EST, November 1, 2026

More heavy rainfall produced flash flooding and mandatory evacuations in a wide swath of the Southwest on Sunday, including in a Colorado tourist town bracing for its main river to rise to historic levels, as weary residents in the normally arid region deal with another massive drenching.

In southwestern Colorado, officials in Pagosa Springs, a town of more than 2,000 in the Rockies located near ski resorts and known for its hot springs, warned in a Facebook post of potentially “catastrophic flooding” as the San Juan River was forecast to crest at more than 20 feet (6.1 meters) late Sunday night.

“To put the forecast into perspective, during the devastating 1911 flood that wiped out most of what existed as the town of Pagosa at that time, the San Juan River crested at approximately 17.8 feet (5.4 meters),” the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office said in a separate Facebook post. “This is a potentially catastrophic flood event.”

Officials in the tourist destination of Sedona, Arizona, ordered residents in areas near Oak Creek to leave immediately as flood waters rose rapidly and multiple people were trapped in their homes. Nearby Camp Verde also issued an evacuation order for residents living near the Verde River, West Clear Creek, and Wet Beaver Creek.

Arizona expects months’ worth of rain in a couple of days, meteorologist says

“We are getting two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of days,” said Aaron Hardin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tucson.

The conditions produced flash floods, river flooding and swift boat rescues in Tucson, some 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of Sedona.

The latest round of soaking rains started Saturday evening and was expected to saturate the area through Monday. The weather service estimates as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain could fall across the region, fueled by a series of Pacific storm systems.

The weather service issued flood warnings and watches for nearly all of Arizona and parts of southern Utah, southwestern Colorado and western New Mexico, in addition to part of southern Nevada. That includes the sparsely populated Four Corners region where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.

The weather service office for Salt Lake City said previous storms that soaked the area could contribute to excessive rain runoff during the latest downpours, especially in Washington County, Utah, and Zion and Capitol Reef National Parks.

“Flood prone areas will likely become inundated at times, and backcountry roads will likely become impassable from this excessive runoff,” a weather service statement said.

Highway into Colorado tourist town closed to all except evacuees

Officials in Pagosa Springs said anyone in low-lying areas along the San Juan, Rio Blanco, Navajo and Piedra rivers should head to a designated shelter at a local church.

They advised residents not to wait to leave their homes as emergency crews may be extremely limited during the worst of the storm. The highway entering town also was closed to inbound traffic, and residents were advised to avoid contact with the San Juan River after sewage was discharged into it.

Katie German, owner and chef of Bruin Coffee in Pagosa Springs, said downtown had been evacuated and that there was street flooding. German said she was most worried about the one bridge into town washing out and trucks carrying everything from food to fuel not having a way in.

Town officials had just lifted an evacuation order from flooding last week only to reimpose it Saturday night with the San Juan forecast to crest Sunday night at 21.9 feet (6.7 meters), according to Vicki Shaffer, public information officer working the floods for the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office.

“I’m worried about my business, worried about my employees, definitely worried for everybody in this town,” German said. “This town, we’re a very, very, tight community. We all help each other out.”

Officials in La Plata County, which is west of Pagosa Springs, said all public roads were closed due to the flooding.

Sedona officials rescue residents trapped in homes

In Sedona, longtime resident Michelle Grimm worried about her community after viewing the rushing waters of Oak Creek rising perilously close to the underside of a pedestrian bridge near the center of town.

“I went out at eight this morning and I saw the bridge and I was like, ‘Oh, we’re in trouble,’” she said as she sheltered in place in her home Sunday afternoon.

“I’ve never seen them rescuing people with helicopters out of neighborhoods. I’ve never seen neighborhoods completely submerged in water,” Grimm said. “We’re just praying that the creek doesn’t rise anymore.”

Sedona officials on Sunday ordered residents living in affected areas to head to Sedona Red Rock High School, but they urged people not to attempt to drive across roads with rushing waters and to stay away from creek beds and washes.

Heavy rains forced the closure of several highways across Arizona, the state Department of Transportation reported.

Sedona Fire District Chief Ed Mezulis said in a short clip posted on Facebook that emergency crews from surrounding communities were coming in to assist as local fire and police officials were already responding to multiple reports of residents trapped in their homes.

“Please stay at high ground, watch your alerts and be careful,” he advised.

A video shared by the fire department showed powerful flood waters inundating vehicles and rushing past homes and other structures. Other videos and photos shared on social media showed people standing on a pedestrian bridge taking photos and videos as churning, brown waters rushed underneath.

—-

Marcelo reported from New York and Casey from Boston. Associated Press writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles also contributed to this story.

Mass Shootings Over Halloween Weekend Leave at Least 6 Dead and Dozens Injured Across US

By JOHN RABY

Mass shootings over the Halloween weekend in nightlife districts across the U.S. left at least six people dead and dozens injured, officials said.

The deadliest violence occurred in Dallas, where a handful of shootings in the city’s Deep Ellum neighborhood, a center of music, restaurants and nightlife, killed four people and injured 15 others, police said.

Police in college towns like Fayetteville, Arkansas; Birmingham, Alabama; Newark, Delaware, and Bloomington, Illinois, also reported shootings in their nightlife districts.

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said investigators were still trying to determine if three separate shootings Saturday night over the span of about an hour and 15 minutes were related, and it wasn’t immediately known why they started. Comeaux said some arrests were made but he didn’t specify how many or what charges were involved.

“This is a really big scene. It’s spread out,” Comeaux said.

The department had increased police presence in the district before the shootings. No police officers were injured.

One shooting happened after a football game in Alabama

In Birmingham, one person was killed and eight others were wounded in two separate shootings just outside Legion Field after the annual ‘Magic City Classic’ football game on Saturday night, Mayor Randall Woodfin said at a news conference Sunday.

Two were listed in critical condition Sunday, fire officials said.

Alabama State and Alabama A&M are archrivals whose annual contest has been played for more than 100 years. Nearly 70,000 fans attended Saturday’s game, won by Alabama A&M 31-28. The event draws some of the largest crowds in the country for games played in their college football division.

Michael Pickett, chief of the Birmingham Police Department, said most spectators and families had left the stadium property after the game. The first shooting happened nearby, where vendors were set up along Graymont Avenue.

The circumstances of the shootings were unclear, and it was also unclear where the fatality occurred.

Police spokesperson De’Rell Freeman said one person had been detained and that “multiple weapons” were found.

Shootings in other nightlife districts

In Newark, Delaware, six people were shot late Saturday near the University of Delaware campus, Newark police Lt. Greg D’Elia said.

All six were transported to hospitals for treatment and their conditions were not available. A university spokesperson said they would provide updates on the investigation online as they become available.

Video shared on social media showed people running for safety from the scene. One stretch of the city’s Main Street was closed for several hours after the shooting, police said.

A shooting early Sunday in Bloomington, Illinois, left a 19-year-old woman dead and another woman in critical condition. Six others had injuries of an unknown nature that were not life-threatening. The shooting happened near the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington is about 135 miles (217 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

In Fayetteville, Arkansas, six people were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds from a shooting early Sunday near the University of Arkansas. No arrests have been made, police said in a news release. A preliminary investigation indicates an altercation preceded the shooting.

Halloween stores were the scene of two attacks

On Friday, two people were killed in separate shootings at Spirit Halloween stores in California and Michigan.

Police said a shooting inside a store in Fairfield, California was a targeted attack. Family members told police that the 31-year-old woman who died was pregnant. Six other people were wounded, police said. There were no immediate arrests.

In Madison Heights, Michigan, just north of Detroit, a 21-year-old man was fatally shot Friday afternoon. A man who was assaulted by bystanders as officers took him into custody was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

___

Raby reported from Charleston, West Virginia. AP reporter Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

All 9 People Aboard a Jet that Crashed in Florida Have Died, Transportation Secretary Says

6:43 PM EST, November 1, 2026

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A business jet carrying nine people nose-dived into a South Florida neighborhood Sunday and erupted into a giant fireball that appeared to just miss homes before crashing near a busy roadway. Everyone on board was killed, the nation’s transportation secretary said.

Video recorded by people inside their cars captured the terrifying moment the Bahamas-bound aircraft plunged from the sky, before striking near the roadway and exploding. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater as people milled about, expressing shock that it landed only feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Thick black smoke engulfed the crash site.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X that the Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County at 12:50 p.m. and called it a “horrific tragedy.” The Federal Aviation Administration is sending a team to support the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation, he said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were no immediate reports of anyone on the ground injured or killed.

“It was a cataclysmic plane crash,” DeSantis told reporters at the scene. “It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road.”

Rain pounded the region on Sunday. A flood watch due to excessive rainfall was in effect through Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service said.

The aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Authorities did not immediately say what caused the jet to go down or who was on it.

The plane was heading east at 35,000 feet (about 11 kilometers) when pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation and requested to climb 2,000 feet (about 610 meters).

Moments later, the plane entered a steep dive, first 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000 feet per minute and up to 30,000 feet per minute, speeding the plane beyond its design limits, according to air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data.

A pilot declared an emergency and issued distress calls. The plane banked sharply to the right before it crashed steeply into the ground.

Minutes before the crash, the pilot reported ice accumulating on the jet and turbulence that was jolting it by as much as 700 feet, according to air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC.net.

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

But the situation rapidly deteriorated. After encountering precipitation and requesting to climb, the pilot declared an emergency as the aircraft began losing 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, before delivering a devastating acknowledgment of what was about to happen. “We’re going to crash into the ground.”

Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said the jet was a private aircraft. He could not immediately provide details about who was on the flight.

Palm Beach County authorities are evacuating about 600 people from a nearby mobile home community while federal officials investigate the crash. The road will be closed until further notice, county officials said.

The crash occurred in Greenacres, Florida, according to Palm Beach County sheriff’s officials. The city of 45,000 people is about 7 miles (11 kilometers) southwest of West Palm Beach.

Christa Pike Describes Constant Pain in First Statement Since Her Failed Execution

By KIM CHANDLER

5:28 PM EST, October 30, 2026

Christa Pike said Friday she remains in constant pain, struggles to speak and has been largely isolated in a prison hospital after surviving a lethal injection in Tennessee last month.

In her first public statement since, Pike said she’s “deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position.”

“I continue to think about my victim’s family,” she said, “and the terrible pain and loss they have endured.”

Pike and her boyfriend tortured and stabbed a 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, to death in 1995. Pike was 18 at the time, making her one of the youngest women sentenced to death. Slemmer’s mother traveled from Florida to witness Pike’s execution.

Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital that her lawyers say probably didn’t enter her bloodstream correctly and instead pooled in her arms, leaving them burned and blistered. Unconscious, she was hospitalized on a ventilator for days, and at one point her lawyers said they didn’t expect her to survive.

“There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak,” Pike said. “And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul.”

Pike said she had been prepared to die in peace, but instead woke up alone and confused in a hospital bed. She said she’s “searching for meaning in what happened to me.”

“I don’t know why I survived that night. I don’t know what comes next,” Pike said in a statement dictated to her legal team from prison.

Pike remains sentenced to die, and her attorneys want Republican Gov. Bill Lee to change that to life in prison. However, Lee told reporters this week, “I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.”

The governor has tapped a former U.S. attorney to conduct an independent review of the failed execution and postponed the state’s other lethal injection scheduled for this year.

Pike’s attorneys, meanwhile, asked a federal judge Friday to allow her to interact with other prisoners instead of being isolated in the infirmary. They said her isolation violates a 2024 agreement that ended her mostly solitary confinement and allowed her to work, eat, exercise and have social contact with other women.

“Her renewed isolation has caused, and will continue to cause, significant psychological harm and trauma,” Pike’s legal team wrote.

Pike’s lethal injection was plagued by problems. Her attorneys had warned that her small veins and diagnosis of thrombocytosis, a blood-clotting disorder, could make IV access difficult.

In a court document, her attorney Randy Spivey said the execution team struggled to get working IV lines in Pike’s arms and expressed concern that a vein might be “blowing.” Pike remained awake for much of the lethal injection, saying her arm hurt and burned before falling unconscious. The execution began just before 7:30 p.m. and an ambulance arrived at the prison about an hour and 45 minutes later.

The failed execution has brought renewed scrutiny to how Tennessee carries out death sentences.

In a 2025 deposition released with court documents this week, prison Warden Kenneth Nelson said the execution team doesn’t practice inserting IV lines during training sessions, at the directive of the prison commissioner. Nelson said he did not know why the practice was discontinued or when the order was given.

Practicing insertion of IVs was part of Tennessee’s prior execution protocol, but it is not included in the state’s new protocol.

Dorinda Carter, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction, said she could not comment on the filing because of pending litigation.

Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Correction, announced his resignation in the wake of Pike’s failed execution. The governor named Christopher Hansen as interim commissioner.

Sudan Accuses Ethiopia of Facilitating Drone Strikes on Infrastructure

31 October 2026

October 31, 2026 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s foreign ministry on Saturday urged the international community to take action against Ethiopia for allegedly allowing drone strikes on Sudanese vital infrastructure from its Assosa air base.

A wave of attacks targeting power grids resumed across much of Sudan last week.

More than 13 electricity distribution stations in Gedaref, Khartoum, Al Jazirah, Red Sea, Sennar, White Nile and South Kordofan states were severely damaged, causing widespread power outages in several cities.

Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Muawiya Osman told foreign diplomats in Port Sudan that they must take responsibility and confront what he termed a “brutal aggression” from Ethiopia.

During the briefing, a foreign ministry official identified as Khalid presented wreckage of downed drones, collected in coordination with Sudanese security services.

He said the attacks have escalated in recent months, targeting power plants, water stations, schools, hospitals and fuel depots.

Sudanese officials described the campaign as a proxy war waged by Ethiopia on behalf of regional powers, primarily the United Arab Emirates, using the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which the government refers to as a militia.

“The Assosa base in Ethiopia has become a base for supplying the militia with weapons and equipment and facilitating the passage of foreign mercenary fighters,” Khalid said, adding that launching drones from Ethiopian territory was the most dangerous development.

Osman said the Sudanese government is pursuing diplomatic avenues to de-escalate tensions and address deteriorating relations with Addis Ababa.

He emphasized, however, that Sudan retains its full right under international law to respond to any attacks.

According to the ministry, diplomats attending the briefing affirmed their support for Sudan’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The diplomatic push follows a defence ministry press conference on Wednesday, where the army displayed models of intercepted drones alongside technical flight data.

The defence ministry reported that data extracted from the drones and satellite imagery indicated the weapons were launched from coordinates inside Ethiopia, including Bahir Dar airport.

Sudan previously submitted evidence to the U.N. Security Council accusing the UAE of supplying the Rapid Support Forces with military equipment via supply routes through Libya, Chad and the Puntland region of Somalia.

Egypt Condemns Drone Attacks in Sudan, Urges Halt to RSF Arms Supply

1 November 2026

Al-Jabalain Hospital in White Nile State destroyed after drone attack, April 2, 2026

October 31, 2026 (CAIRO) – The Egyptian Foreign Ministry condemned the recent escalation of drone attacks targeting civilian and vital infrastructure across Sudan.Sudan political analysis

In a press statement, Cairo warned that the strikes have caused numerous civilian casualties and represent a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.

Widespread power outages have struck multiple cities after severe damage to more than 13 electricity distribution stations.

The destruction impacted infrastructure across the states of Gedaref, Khartoum, Al Jazirah, Red Sea, Sennar, White Nile and South Kordofan.

Egypt reiterated its absolute rejection of all forms of violence directed at innocent people.

The ministry stressed the urgent need to protect civilians and shield them from the dangers of ongoing military operations.

The statement renewed Egypt’s firm demand to stop the flow of weapons to the Rapid Support Forces militia through neighbouring countries.

Cairo reaffirmed its complete support for Sudan’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, emphasizing the critical need to preserve Sudanese national institutions.

Egypt also called on all neighbouring states to respect Sudanese sovereignty and refrain from interfering in the country’s internal affairs.

The foreign ministry urged regional and international actors to intensify their efforts to secure a comprehensive ceasefire.

The statement concluded by calling for guaranteed humanitarian aid access and the creation of suitable conditions for a political settlement to end the suffering of the Sudanese people.

Drone Strikes Target Power and Oil Facilities in Eastern Sudan

1 November 2026

Haya power station burning after a drone strike on Oct 31, 2025

October 31, 2026 (HAYA, Red Sea) – Drones belonging to the Rapid Support Forces targeted the Haya electrical transformer station and a nearby oil pumping station on Saturday, setting fires and damaging the facilities.

The oil facility sits on the pipeline transporting crude to the Bashayer port on the Red Sea coast in eastern Sudan.

This attack is the second to target energy infrastructure in Haya over the past three days.

It is part of a broader series of coordinated drone strikes on energy facilities in states controlled by the Sudanese armed forces.

The government has accused Ethiopia of facilitating the launch of these drones from its territory.

More than 13 electricity distribution stations in Gedaref, Khartoum, Al Jazirah, Red Sea, Sennar, White Nile and South Kordofan states have suffered severe damage, causing widespread power outages.

Local sources told Sudan Tribune that a long-range drone fired missiles at the Haya transformer station, causing extensive fires at the site.

The Haya power station is a critical component of the electricity supply grid in eastern Sudan.

It had reached an advanced stage of completion and was ready for operation, intended to significantly alleviate power shortages in Port Sudan.

The facility is part of a project to construct ten power plants, funded by the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.

Sources indicated that the drone attack also hit the oil pumping station in Haya, setting several crude oil tanks on fire.

The South Sudan pipeline passes through Haya in Red Sea state before reaching the Bashayer export terminal, making the city a key location for crude oil processing.

Sudan Says Ukraine Training RSF Fighters, Submits UN Complaint

31 October 2026

October 31, 2026 (MOSCOW) – Sudan has conclusive material evidence that Ukrainian snipers and trainers are actively assisting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudanese Foreign Minister Muhieddin Salem told Sputnik Afrika.

Salem stated that Ukrainian personnel have been training the RSF on the use of drones to target civilian facilities.

The minister said that some Ukrainian fighters have been captured or killed, and associated weapons have been seized by Sudanese authorities.

Sudan has officially recorded these activities in the United Nations Security Council’s records through its permanent representative in New York.

Salem also noted that during a visit to Washington last year, a Sudanese delegation provided the United States with evidence confirming the use of American weapons that had leaked from Ukraine and other areas.

The foreign minister warned that the ongoing conflict poses a severe threat to regional and international security.

He urged the international community to support Sudan’s legitimate national institutions, including the army, to prevent the danger from spreading.

The war’s negative effects have already begun to appear in neighbouring countries due to weapons falling into the hands of undisciplined groups.

These armed factions are exacerbating the economic crisis by smuggling drugs, fuel, and foodstuffs, which drives up prices and worsens living conditions.

Salem called for concerted international efforts to limit the conflict’s expanding regional impact

Protests Spread to Germany as Hundreds of Thousands March Again in France

By Pierre P Bairin

Sophie Tanno

People shout as they attend a demonstration organised by 'Gen Z has got this!' in Berlin on Saturday.

Cost-of-living protests that began in France have spread to Germany where demonstrations to coincide with Halloween were underway on Saturday, with tens of thousands of people turning out across the country.

The new German youth-led movement dubbed “Gen Z has got this!” is protesting against the high cost of living, underfunded schools and universities, environmental concerns and a potential reintroduction of mandatory military service. Protests were planned in major cities including Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and Munich.

While the protest in the German capital appeared peaceful, water cannons and riot police were deployed in Cologne and Hamburg.

Police in Cologne said water cannons were used after some protesters set off fireworks during a march in the city center. “Our measures are directed against troublemakers and violent individuals – not against peaceful participants,” the police said in a statement.

In Hamburg, riot police responded after barriers were set on fire and emergency service workers attacked. “There has been an increase in incidents of emergency personnel being pelted with pyrotechnics and construction (materials) … our riot police are taking immediate action against this,” the police said.

In Frankfurt, police said Molotov cocktails were being thrown at emergency personnel and shop windows had been smashed, prompting the closure of part of the Zeil shopping street. Officers arrested a suspect and seized two weapons after windows were broken at a gun shop.

Organizers of ‘Gen Z regelt’ planned the large day of action to coincide with Halloween, to maximize turnout and visibility.

“We are young people who no longer want to watch decisions being made about our future without us,” the movement states on its website. It adds that the intention is to protest peacefully and organizers instruct participants to keep their faces visible, even in Halloween costumes.

Extra German police officers have been deployed nationwide in preparation for the protest, and the luxury shops lining Berlin’s upmarket Kurfürstendamm shopping street have boarded up their windows as a precautionary measure.

Workers install protective wooden boards over the windows and storefront of a luxury boutique on Friday, ahead of a planned large-scale protest scheduled for tomorrow, in Berlin, Germany.

The German youth movement follows a broader wave of protests that have swept Europe, including significant unrest in France, which has been hit by rioting and looting and is now facing another weekend of rallies.

More nationwide protests from the Yellow Vests movement were also underway in France on Saturday, in what has been billed as the third act of demonstrations, following earlier protests on October 17 and 24. Students and some unions are also expected to join.

French Interior Ministry said 320,000 people were protesting across the country on Saturday, with 70,000 turning up in Paris. That is a significantly smaller number than the 550,000 who demonstrated on October 17 and the 410,000 who showed up last week.

The ministry said that as of 6 p.m. local time, 296 people had been detained countrywide.

Warning of a “very high risk of public disorder,” France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced this week that demonstrations would only be authorized outside town centers, with 70,000 extra law enforcement officers deployed nationwide.

The protest were mostly peaceful, except for a few incidents. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that “radical elements at the tail end of the processions” in several cities. including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Rennes, Lille, Nantes, Marseille, and Lyon, “attempted to enter city centers with the intent to cause damage and engage in looting.”

The ministry said the police intervened and “thwarted” those attempts.

Jordan Bardella, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, said on X that “anyone who sends an ‘improvised incendiary device’ to law enforcement must be very severely punished,” adding that “perpetrators must rot in prison for very long years.”

Police in Rennes in Brittany in northwest France, said that while the main march planned for Saturday “proceeded calmly along the planned route,” several hundred violent individuals began attacking the police after the protest ended, throwing projectiles and setting off fires.

Halloween was adding a new complication to the protests, with Nuñez warning of separate calls for gatherings across France from 8 p.m. local time “by radical far-left groups and radicalized Yellow Vests.”

He said some messages invoked Halloween while calling for “revolution” and “insurrection,” describing them as incitements to serious public disorder and warning that the gatherings would be banned.

In recent days, the word “purge” has been circulating across social media platforms, a reference to the dystopian film franchise which depicts a world where all crime is legalized for a 12-hour period each year.

“At Halloween, the rules remain the same!” warned the Paris police on X, reminding people that concealing one’s face in public is punishable by a €150 ($170) fine, while carrying a weapon, even a fake one, can carry a sentence of up to three years in prison and a €45,000 ($50,398) fine.

The French protests began in late September, led by high school students demanding improvements to deteriorating school buildings, teacher shortages and a lack of resources, as well as changes to the university admissions system.

The protests then morphed into something bigger, with the Yellow Vests, which began as a movement against soaring fuel prices, among those taking to the streets.

The images of violence and looting from the October 17 protests are still haunting French officials. That day, more than 550,000 people took to the streets across France, according to the Interior Ministry, more than 3,000 shops were attacked or looted, with some destroyed and over 2,700 people were arrested.

Asked about the students injured during the protests, President Emmanuel Macron described the violence as a “collective failure.”

“I think no high school student started pushing for their demands expecting to suffer such terrible consequences. And I don’t know a single police officer who signed up to find themselves caught up in such terrible and violent moments either,” he told Youtuber Hugo Travers.

Saturday’s demonstration comes ahead of November 5, when all eyes will be on a nationwide strike and mobilization called by the inter-union coalition over rising living costs.

Alessandra Freitas contributed to this report.

A Third Weekend of Protests in France as Youth-led Rallies Sweep Europe

By TOM NOUVIAN and KIRSTEN GRIESHABER

5:17 PM EDT, October 31, 2026

PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of protesters inspired by frustrated high school students took to the streets across France on Saturday in a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education.

Youth-led protests were also held elsewhere in Europe, including in Germany and Portugal.

France’s protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, with whimsical Halloween costumes lightening the mood, but gatherings in Paris and other cities ended in clouds of tear gas and scattered fires set by small groups on the margins.

About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across the country after French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a “very high risk” of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween. Paris marches were rerouted to the capital’s edge to protect stores, government buildings and touristed areas in the city center.

France’s government estimated that 320,000 people protested nationwide Saturday, fewer than in previous protests but still a significant turnout. Mass protests on Oct. 17 that deteriorated into some of France’s worst rioting in years drew 550,000 people around France, and demonstrations on Oct. 24 drew 410,000, according to government estimates. Organizers’ turnout estimates are higher.

Authorities in France reported more than 560 arrests nationwide by Saturday night. Police had arrested thousands of people following riots and looting that marred marches the previous two Saturdays.

Protesters have diverse grievances

In the main Paris march, each group carried its own banner: high school students, climate activists and people angry about the cost of living.

Corentin Cabreux, a 21-year-old student, said that he lives in a state-run student residence where “there are damp stains all along the bottom of my walls, whole sections peeling off, cockroaches everywhere, rats.”

An information technology worker protested in solidarity with the students and her mother, who was struggling with a minimum wage job. A gray-haired woman carried a sign reading ‘’The Old are Fed Up Too.’'

Halloween costumes reflected the mood. Cléo Farenc, a 30-year-old gallery assistant, came dressed as a beheaded Marie-Antoinette.

“It’s about embodying a figure of power who was brought down by the people,” she said. “It’s a very strong symbol in French culture.’'

The rallies in France were started last month by high school students protesting neglected buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system seen as unfair to disadvantaged students. Labor unions and others angry at the leadership of President Emmanuel Macron joined in with a variety of demands.

On Saturday, the crowd streamed along the Boulevards des Maréchaux, avenues that ring the edge of Paris, in a march that was joyful for hours. Techno music blasted from speakers, and some marchers went trick-or-treating. A police helicopter hovered overhead as the sun set slowly over the city.

Later, clashes broke out near Porte de Charenton, where the march ended. Protesters hurled glass bottles and fireworks at police. Officers responded with volleys of stun grenades and tear gas. The blasts echoed through the streets, and smoke filled the air as dusk fell.

Many peaceful marchers turned back, coughing, their eyes streaming with tears, and left the march, some scattering into the nearby Bois de Vincennes, one of the largest parks in Paris.

Police impose curfew and other measures

While the vast majority of protesters have been peaceful, groups of troublemakers routinely target police with fireworks and projectiles. Police use tear gas, dispersion grenades, water cannons and other tactics that have resulted in severe injuries.

Paris police barred people from entering Place de la Republique and Les Halles — neighborhoods popular among young people — from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Unaccompanied minors face a separate 9 p.m. curfew around the Champs-Elysees. A Paris court on Wednesday suspended an earlier curfew on minors as a serious and illegal infringement of freedom of movement.

Protests took place in Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands

In Germany, a youth initiative called “Gen Z regelt” — roughly “Gen Z’s got this” — rallied in more than 30 cities “for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life,” and against any return of military conscription. Organizers said that tens of thousands participated in the protests across the country, but official figures weren’t immediately available.

In Berlin, young protesters gathered at Brandenburg Gate on Saturday afternoon, demanding more investments in education and housing.

“We call for more money to be invested in social services and education, as well as in climate protection — in short, in our future — because we are the ones who will be affected by this the longest and who will have to live with it,” high school student Lara Breitenbach said.

Janelle Schulz, another high school student from Berlin, also said that the authorities had to invest more money in education.

“At my school, the ceiling is collapsing because of water damage, nothing is being done about it, we have a shortage of teachers, the toilets are broken,” she said.

While most people rallied peacefully, some protests turned violent on Saturday night.

In downtown Frankfurt, some rioters smashed several storefronts and stole goods from inside. They also stole weapons from a gun store, which police were able to retrieve later. Some rioters also threw Molotov cocktails at police after pummeling them with stones and bottles earlier in the day, Frankfurt police said on X.

In Cologne, police ended a protest march early after protesters used pyrotechnics, threw stones at them and covered their faces despite a ban. Police also used water cannons to disperse demonstrators.

In the northern city of Hamburg, some protesters also shot pyrotechnics toward police and burned down barricades. Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowds in Hamburg.

Elsewhere in Europe, people also protested against the housing crisis and for a better future.

Thousands of protesters, including families with small children, converged in downtown Lisbon to peacefully protest Portugal’s housing crisis, holding up placards reading “Houses or Fire” and “We are not Afraid.” Others in the crowd held aloft small cardboard houses while a few dressed up for Halloween.

In The Hague, Netherlands, there was a strong police presence in and around the downtown shopping area on Saturday afternoon after online appeals for protests and fears of rioting and looting. However, there were no major disturbances by midafternoon. Many stores in the city were boarded up as a precaution.

___

Kirsten Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Angela Charlton and Thomas Adamson in Paris; Kerstin Sopke and Geir Moulson in Berlin; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; and Helena Alves in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.

London Police Arrest 139 People Outside US Embassy for Supporting Banned pro-Palestinian Group

By PAN PYLAS

4:14 PM EDT, October 31, 2026

LONDON (AP) — London police said they arrested 139 people at a protest outside the U.S. Embassy on Saturday in support of the banned group Palestine Action.

The majority of those taken into custody had expressed support for a proscribed organization, London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement. It said that more arrests are expected as officers remain at the scene.

Many of those protesting were retirees and had been holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” One protester climbed a tree outside the embassy and could be seen waving a placard reading “God help us. Teachers who support Palestine. Palestine Action.”

More than 4,000 people have been detained since July 2025 for defying the ban, said Defend Our Juries, an activist organization that planned the demonstration.

“It is truly dystopian that there have now been over 4,000 arrests under terror laws for peaceful vigils silently expressing opposition to genocide and support for the protest group Palestine Action,” the group said.

The U.K. government outlawed the direct-action protest group last year as a terrorist organization. The ban makes membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Demonstrators also held a vigil in support of Palestine Action outside the U.S. Consulate in Edinburgh, Scotland, holding placards akin to those in London. No arrests were reported there, but Police Scotland said that inquiries to identify people seen wearing T-shirts and holding banners showing support for a proscribed organization were ongoing.

“Evidence is being reviewed and further action will be taken as appropriate,” it said.

The protests came before an appeal on Nov. 4 at the Supreme Court against Palestine Action’s designation as a terror group. Supporters say the ban is draconian and that it violates their freedom of speech.

In August, the U.S. government announced sanctions against Palestine Action, designating it as a terror group.

Palestine Action, founded in 2020, aims to stop U.K. military support for Israel, which it says is committing genocide against the Palestinians — an accusation that Israel strongly denies.

The group says it aims to stop genocide by disrupting “corporate enablers of the Israeli military-industrial complex.”

In 2024, its activists broke into a factory owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK, smashing equipment with sledgehammers and crowbars. In June 2025, activists broke into a Royal Air Force base, sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes and caused further damage with crowbars.

Youth Protests Begin in Over 30 German Cities as Authorities Warn of Possible Unrest

In Berlin, demonstrators are gathering at the Brandenburg Gate with more than 10,000 participants expected

© Vyacheslav Filippov/TASS

BERLIN, October 31. /TASS/. Large-scale youth demonstrations have begun in more than 30 German cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart; the initiative "Gen Z regelt" ("Gen Z takes charge"), which called the protests, hopes to draw around 160,000 participants nationwide.

In Berlin, demonstrators are gathering at the Brandenburg Gate, the city’s landmark, with more than 10,000 participants expected, a TASS correspondent reports. Protesters are demanding that the government rule out a possible return to conscription, increase investment in education, healthcare and climate protection, and take stronger action against the rising cost of living. Another rally, expected to draw around 500 people, is scheduled for the evening at Rosenthaler Platz in the German capital. Under the slogan "Gen Z has had enough," it is expected to attract pro-Palestinian activists and radical leftists, among others.

Around 1,500 police officers are providing security in Berlin. Ahead of the rallies, organizers repeatedly stressed their commitment to peaceful protest and warned against provocations. However, German law enforcement agencies have not ruled out unrest and clashes between demonstrators and police.

DR Congo’s Ebola Deaths Top 5,000 as Fear of Continent-wide Spread Mounts

By OPE ADETAYO and CONSTANT SAME BAGALWA

4:57 AM EDT, October 31, 2026

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Deaths in Congo’s Ebola outbreak have topped 5,000 as the country grapples with the relentless spread of the disease and cases are recorded in other African countries, the latest government data on Saturday shows.

Data from the Congolese Ministry of Health showed that the disease has killed 5,026 people out of 10,351 infected, at a nearly 50% lethality rate. The surge is sparking concerns among experts regarding the authorities’ ability to contain the deadly virus.

The latest outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, was declared in mid-May, catching authorities by surprise. They have since struggled to manage it.

It is already the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, second only to a two-year-long West Africa outbreak between 2014 and 2016, which killed 11,000 people across multiple countries.

“It is a very tragic milestone because it is just not a number,” said Dr. Patrick Otim, a programme area manager with the World Health Organization. “It is families and communities that have been devastated by this outbreak. The number also shows the severity of this outbreak.”

2,788 people have recovered from the virus so far. The Bundibugyo virus has no known vaccine or treatment, but health workers treat patients based on symptoms.

One-third of people who have died did not get to receive any care

Since May, the disease has spread to 67 out of the country’s 178 health zones in eight of 26 provinces. Fifty of the affected 67 health zones have active cases.

The virus has been concentrated in the eastern region of Congo, especially in Ituri and North Kivu, which have emerged as the epicenters with 9,782 total confirmed cases and 4,792 total deaths.

Authorities are still struggling with tracing contacts and testing, key components in the race to curb the outbreak.

According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 80% of new cases are coming from outside the chain of monitored contacts, meaning an overwhelming share of infections are coming from unknown chains of transmission to health authorities.

Also, one-third of recorded deaths are victims who have died outside of treatment centers, before being tested for Ebola, WHO’s Otim said. These issues, health officials say, contribute to community transmission outside of the immediate purview of health workers who can effectively manage infection in accordance with medical protocols.

“These are people we never had opportunity to try to save them and it is one of the biggest concerns for us in this outbreak. How do we try to reach people early to get them to come to health facilities to get a fighting chance to survive?” Otim said.

‘The outbreak is stretching everyone responding to it’

The explosive number of infections in Congo comes on the heels of a long list of issues that have hamstrung efforts to contain the outbreak.

The eastern region of Congo, where the outbreak is concentrated, plays host to a conflict between the government and an array of armed groups, most prominently the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, and there is also an Islamist insurgency in the border areas with Uganda, where the Allied Democratic Forces carry out attacks, limiting the reach of healthcare workers.

Also, there is widespread disbelief among the population, which has led to a series of attacks on health workers and health facilities. A nurse was killed while responding to an Ebola alert last week, and a politician from the ruling party was killed in September after advocating for health measures on the radio.

Health workers have gone on multiple strikes, shutting down facilities where they treat infected people, citing long delays in payments by the government.

On Friday, workers at an Ebola treatment center in Tchomia, in Ituri, downed tools, demanding four months of unpaid wages. At the center, there are currently five confirmed Ebola patients and 10 suspected cases under care.

“We are tired of requesting our salaries. If they want to pay us, they will. ... Today, being able to feed our families has become a real problem,” Moise Mugenyi, one of the striking workers, told the AP.

Dr. Justin Mukonkole, acting head of response operations in Ituri, said the workers should be patient while the government responds to their demands.

Similar situations have played out in other health zones like Beni in North Kivu, where services in some treatment centers have ground to a halt. Alain Siwako, an elected public official in Beni, said cases are spiralling in Beni because of a lack of fuel and financial resources from the central government.

“Across Ituri and North Kivu, this outbreak is stretching everyone responding to it, including the communities themselves,” Rose Tchwenko, Country Director for the DRC, Prosper Global (formerly Mercy Corps), said.

In October, both Kenya and Nigeria confirmed cases of Ebola. Kenya has confirmed eight cases and 2 deaths, while Nigeria’s sole confirmed case had been evacuated to Switzerland.

The confirmation of cases in both countries, and earlier in Uganda, made the latest outbreak the first recorded in three African regions and the continent’s most geographically widespread outbreak.

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Ope Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

UK Leader Burnham Hints at Apology for Country’s Role in Slave Trade but Rejects Reparations

By DANICA KIRKA

3:27 PM EDT, October 31, 2026

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham says his government will consider apologizing for the first time for its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but has rejected calls for the country to pay reparations.

Writing in the Guardian on Saturday, Burnham said Britain needed to acknowledge its “complicated history” in order to protect the Commonwealth, an association of 56 independent nations that grew out of the British Empire.

Burnham travels to Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean next week for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders, which he hopes will bolster the U.K.'s relations with nations in Africa and the Caribbean, many of which were former colonies.

“For years, those members of the Commonwealth affected by the slave trade have asked for an honest conversation about the legacies of slavery,” Burnham said. “By sticking our heads in the sand, we have damaged the ability of the Commonwealth to function.”

Burnham said his government is offering to begin a “structured dialogue” with those affected by slavery and will listen to calls for a formal apology by the British state, which benefited hugely from the slave trade before it was outlawed in 1833 — the British Empire was arguably founded on it.

“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,” Burnham said.

Burnham gets former prime minister Brown on board to focus on debt

Instead, the prime minister said, he wants to address the issues that face the Commonwealth and other nations today, including high levels of debt faced by many developing countries.

Burnham said he would work with other wealthy nations and investors to help vulnerable countries pay off their debts over a longer period and at lower interest rates.

To help move this initiative forward, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a champion of debt relief for developing nations, will attend the Commonwealth meeting, he said.

The king has been in a bind as to what he can say

King Charles III faced calls for Britain to apologize and pay reparations during the first phase of a nine-day trip to the Caribbean that will end with the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting Sunday through Wednesday in St. John’s, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda.

Speaking in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, on Tuesday, Charles acknowledged “the great suffering and injustices of the past” but stopped short of an apology.

The king, whose forebears directly benefited from the slave trade, has been prevented from going further because it was government policy not to apologize for the country’s role in the slave trade and Britain’s constitutional monarch speaks on behalf of the elected government.

Britain seeks to shore up relations with former colonies

Burnham’s comments come as Britain seeks to shore up relations with its traditional allies in the Commonwealth in the face of economic, environmental and military challenges around the world.

A change in the government’s position could also respond to younger, more liberal voters at home, where activists have called for Britain to reexamine the legacy of its colonial history. It involved the transfer of several million people from Africa to work, often in the most arduous conditions, on plantations in the Caribbean, North America and elsewhere.

In 2020, anti-racism protesters in Bristol tore down the statue of Edward Colston, an English merchant and politician, saying the city should no longer glorify the life of a slave trader. Colston was a deputy governor of the Royal African Company, which shipped thousands of enslaved people to English colonies in the Americas.

The descendants of some British people who profited from the slave trade have already apologized and offered compensation. They include the owner of the Guardian, a liberal newspaper where leaders of Burnham’s Labour Party often lay out policy initiatives.

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.

But Burnham said it is now time for the country to acknowledge the other side of the story as well.

“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 said.

“The trans-Atlantic slave trade was a brutal and barbaric violation of those people,” Burnham said. “I want to express my sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions of people, and to recognize the way it still shapes our world today.”

Change of tack receives modest welcome

Barbados’ prime minister, Mia Mottley, welcomed Burnham’s acknowledgment of the “brutality of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, his openness to a formal apology and his offer of structured dialogue” but said there were differences on the issue of reparations.

“Those differences should not prevent progress on health, education, tackling poverty and inequality, and fairer debt terms for vulnerable states,” she said on X.

Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of nearby Antigua and Barbuda, echoed Mottley’s response, calling Burnham’s comments a “significant and welcome development.”

“The Caribbean’s longstanding position on reparatory justice remains unchanged,” he wrote on Facebook. “Differences over financial compensation should be addressed through dialogue, but they need not prevent progress in areas where agreement is possible.”

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Associated Press writer Pan Pylas in London contributed to this report.