Canada and the European Union announced the Alliance for the Future, a partnership aimed at strengthening economic, technology and security ties. The leaders also agreed to discuss deeper market integration and a possible associate membership for Canada, with its scope to be addressed at a 2027 summit.
Key Facts
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the alliance in Montreal after a two-day summit.
Canada agreed to contribute to a €90 billion support loan for Ukraine.
The leaders said future talks would explore a more integrated market, fewer trade and travel restrictions, and expanded educational opportunities.
Canada and the EU announced an agreement giving Canada access to European supercomputers for training AI models.
Carney cited a planned merger of Canada’s Cohere and Germany’s Aleph Alpha as a way to reduce reliance on U.S. AI companies.
Canada and the EU discussed possible associate membership for Canada, but said they would define its scope at a 2027 summit.
The article says Canada’s federal government announced a stake in Cohere worth up to C$1.6 billion.
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A U.S. Treasury Department report says a naval blockade, sanctions and obstacles to overland trade have sharply weakened Iran’s economy. The report cites a falling currency, rising inflation and halted oil shipments, while U.S. officials say the pressure campaign may encourage Iran to negotiate.
Key Facts
The Treasury campaign, called Operation Economic Outcast, began in late August.
The report says Iran’s rial lost about a quarter of its value since the campaign began, reaching a record low against the dollar in October.
Iran’s annual inflation rate reached 90% in September, up from about 35% in early 2025.
The report says Iran has not loaded oil onto tankers since August 25 because of the blockade and sanctions.
The report describes delays and bottlenecks for Iranian overland trade at borders with Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
Several countries have barred Iranian airlines or canceled flights to Iran, while Turkey suspended Mahan Air flights.
Iranian banks have faced restrictions in Turkey, Lebanon and the UAE, and Treasury is targeting cryptocurrency exchanges it says are used to evade sanctions.
President Donald Trump met with national security and foreign policy aides on Thursday to discuss the war and the blockade.
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False claims circulated online that Muslims set fire to five churches in France on October 17. France’s government agency monitoring religious heritage sites confirmed one recent church fire, whose cause was unknown; images and videos used to support the claims showed unrelated incidents or earlier fires.
Key Facts
Social media posts linked the alleged church fires to protests in France on October 17.
France’s government agency monitoring religious heritage sites confirmed one church fire in recent days and said its cause was unknown.
A video shared by Alex Jones showed a burning rubbish bin in Lyon, not a church.
A video of Saint-Michel Church in Bordeaux showed a July fire at a homeless encampment; the fire did not reach the church.
A widely shared post by an Italy-based user used a photo of a fire at Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris in 2019.
The article says some media outlets also misreported the false claims.
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Israeli forces demolished the homes of Ahmad and Hammouda al-Jaabeh in Hebron on Friday. The brothers were killed after an October 23 attack near a checkpoint that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others. The demolitions took place during a military operation in which local officials and reporters say thousands of Palestinians have been displaced.
Key Facts
Israeli forces demolished the homes of the two brothers after surrounding the buildings and sealing off the area.
The brothers carried out an attack near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint on October 23, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding three others.
Al Jazeera reporter Mohammed al-Atrash said army engineers spent at least nine hours rigging explosives inside the homes.
The Hebron municipality said 4,969 Palestinians from 780 families had been displaced by the offensive.
Al-Atrash reported that Israeli forces had arrested at least 120 Palestinians since the operation began and questioned hundreds more.
Al-Atrash said troops detained at least 12 Palestinians who approached the demolition site.
Dozens of displaced residents protested near the closed al-Jalda roundabout, calling for an end to the siege and the right to return home.
Israeli forces also detained four Palestinians in raids south of Tulkarem, while soldiers and settlers attacked or drove off olive harvesters near Bethlehem and Nablus.
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Oman evacuated 25 crew members from the burning Panamanian-flagged merchant ship RITI in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said three oil tankers had been stopped while using routes it called unauthorized, but it is unclear whether RITI was among them; the U.S. military said the main international transit routes had been cleared of Iranian sea mines.
Key Facts
Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said it evacuated 25 people from the RITI on Friday.
Oman said the RITI was flying the Panamanian flag, and MarineTraffic identified it as a crude oil tanker.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had stopped three oil tankers attempting to use unauthorized routes through the strait.
The IRGC said two tankers had encountered incidents and were halted south of the strait.
The IRGC said a third vessel, a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil, exploded and caught fire.
The article did not establish whether the RITI was one of the three vessels Iran described.
Iran’s navy said it struck and destroyed an unmanned enemy craft east of the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Central Command chief Brad Cooper said the main internationally recognized transit routes had been cleared of Iranian sea mines; the U.S. military denies Iran’s mine claims.
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G20 foreign ministers began two days of meetings in Atlanta after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled their traditional group photo because European officials objected to appearing with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Rubio called for unity on global economic and security challenges, but the ministers faced deep divisions over Russia’s war in Ukraine, the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, U.S. tariffs and tensions in the South China Sea.
Key Facts
The G20 foreign ministers’ meetings opened in Atlanta on Friday and were scheduled to last two days.
Rubio canceled the group photo after several European officials threatened to boycott it or walk out.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended the gathering.
The United Kingdom said it would not hold direct bilateral engagement with Russian ministers because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski called canceling the photo the right decision.
Rubio cited disruptions to energy and food supplies, trade and freedom of navigation as challenges facing the world.
The Atlanta meeting is intended to prepare for a G20 leaders’ summit hosted by President Donald Trump at his Miami golf club in December.
The article said it was unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend the December summit.
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At Winchester Crown Court, four men are on trial over alleged sexual offences against Joanne Young, whom prosecutors say her former husband drugged and made available to other men. Two defendants told police they believed the encounters were consensual; both deny the charges they face, and the trial is continuing.
Key Facts
Philip Young, 50, has pleaded guilty to multiple charges of drugging and sexually abusing his former wife over a number of years.
Prosecutors say Philip Young advertised Joanne Young online and allowed other men to abuse her.
Connor Sanderson-Doyle, 32, denies sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching over an alleged incident in June 2016.
Sanderson-Doyle told police he found Joanne Young tied and blindfolded and thought he had her consent; he said he did not know she was drugged.
Norman Macksoni, 48, denies rape over an alleged incident in February 2017 and told police Joanne Young seemed coherent and the encounter was consensual.
Richard Wilkins, 62, denies rape and assault by penetration.
Mohammed Hassan, 38, denies sexual touching.
Joanne Young has waived her legal right to anonymity.
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Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones told jurors at Southwark Crown Court that six women who accuse Russell Brand of sexual offences came forward independently and had no desire for publicity or financial gain. Brand denies all charges, and his barrister is due to give the defence closing speech on Monday.
Key Facts
Brand faces seven charges involving six women, concerning alleged offences between 1999 and 2009.
The charges include three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Brand has pleaded not guilty to every charge.
The prosecutor said the 2023 Dispatches documentary did not prompt the women to invent or reshape their accounts.
Karmy-Jones told jurors that the women described similar behaviour and gave specific details about their allegations.
The judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, gave the jury legal directions and said it would consider opposing arguments.
Defence barrister Ian Winter KC is scheduled to deliver his closing speech on Monday.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a drone exhibition showcasing the country’s latest military technology. He called for “absolute superiority” in drone capabilities and measures to advance unmanned aircraft development.
Key Facts
Kim Jong Un visited a drone exhibition in North Korea.
The exhibition showcased North Korea’s latest military technology.
Kim called for “absolute superiority” in drone capabilities.
Kim called for measures to boost unmanned aircraft development.
The article focuses on North Korea’s efforts to develop drone technology.
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Ian Thomas, chief executive of the City of London Corporation, has been named the UK’s most influential Black Briton in the 2027 Black Powerlist. The list recognises influential people of African and Caribbean heritage; Thomas is the first Black person to lead the Corporation in its more than 900-year history.
Key Facts
Thomas oversees about 5,000 staff and responsibilities that include the City of London Police, open spaces and advocacy for the UK’s financial and professional services sector.
He took up the chief executive role in 2022 after seven interviews and an election.
Thomas was born in Sheffield to parents who moved there from Jamaica as part of the Windrush generation.
Before joining the Corporation, he led the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and oversaw a £1.2 billion regeneration programme.
Thomas received a CBE in the 2019 New Year Honours for his work transforming children’s services in Rotherham.
Comfort Ero, president and chief executive of the International Crisis Group, ranks second on the 2027 list.
Sir Lenny Henry received a Lifetime Achievement award for co-founding Comic Relief, which has raised more than £1.6 billion since 1985.
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Scotland and Wales’s first ministers said decisions about devolving powers within their countries belong to their own parliaments. They discussed local employment and reindustrialisation powers with Andy Burnham, amid disagreement over whether English-style regional devolution should be extended across the UK.
Key Facts
John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth said further devolution within Scotland and Wales is for their parliaments to decide.
Wes Streeting criticised the Scottish government for not transferring more of its powers to local government.
Burnham said he wanted all four UK nations to advance at a similar pace on devolution.
The article said budget measures would give mayors in England more control over tax revenues.
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill missed the summit after a political dispute between Sinn Féin and the DUP.
Ap Iorwerth said Wales’s Senedd should decide whether to devolve more powers within Wales.
The Welsh government said Burnham’s first budget amounted to a real-terms funding cut for Wales.
Lee Waters argued that England’s mayoral model does not fit Wales’s different political geography.
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President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Stephen Hubbard at the White House on Friday, according to sources familiar with the meeting. Hubbard returned to the United States last week after spending more than four years in a Russian prison on an accusation that he fought as a mercenary for Ukraine.
Key Facts
Trump is scheduled to meet Hubbard at the White House on Friday.
Sources familiar with the meeting told CBS News about the planned meeting.
Hubbard spent more than four years in a Russian prison.
Russia accused Hubbard of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine.
Hubbard was released and returned to the United States last week.
CBS News published the report on Oct. 30, 2026.
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Colombia’s government announced plans to cut about 181 billion pesos (roughly $57 million) from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), the court created under the 2016 peace deal with the FARC to investigate and prosecute conflict-era crimes. The cuts and a Senate committee’s move to advance a bill abolishing the court have raised concerns among victims and former fighters that investigations and efforts to locate remains could be disrupted.
Key Facts
The JEP was established in 2016 as part of a peace agreement between Colombia’s government and the FARC.
The court investigates and prosecutes crimes committed during Colombia’s internal armed conflict.
The government announced planned JEP budget cuts valued at about 181 billion Colombian pesos, or roughly $57 million.
A Senate committee advanced a bill that would eliminate the JEP by March 2028 and transfer its work to the general court system.
Angela Cordon said the JEP helped her learn about her father and uncle’s captivity and the site where they were executed.
The JEP has worked with former FARC members to try to locate the remains of Cordon’s father and uncle.
Cordon fears reduced funding will mean fewer field missions and less humanitarian staff, making it harder to find answers and recover remains.
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North Korea has used cryptocurrency theft to earn foreign currency, with suspected hacks worth billions of dollars since 2017. A UN panel estimated the stolen funds generated about half of the country’s foreign-currency income, and one country estimated they financed 40% of its weapons of mass destruction programs. Experts have linked major crypto thefts to North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor, though the article says attribution of the reported $6.3 billion theft may not be proven.
Key Facts
A UN panel said it was reviewing 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks on cryptocurrency-related companies from 2017 to 2023, valued at $3 billion.
The UN panel estimated that proceeds from the suspected attacks generated half of North Korea’s foreign-currency income.
One unnamed country estimated that stolen cryptocurrency funds paid for 40% of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs.
The article reports that suspected North Korean cryptocurrency thefts in 2023 numbered as many as 17 and totaled $750 million.
The FBI attributed the February 2025 theft of $1.5 billion from the Bybit exchange to TraderTraitor.
In 2016, North Korean hackers tried to transfer $951 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; $81 million was stolen.
In 2019, British officials disrupted a North Korean attempt to make cash machines linked to 56 financial institutions pay out unusually large sums.
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A report by two researchers describes a paid online influence campaign that promoted anti-Muslim, anti-migrant, racist and anti-Qatar views across 30 countries. The researchers estimate it generated at least 533 million ad exposures and say, with moderate to high confidence, that it was launched from within Israel and sought to serve Israeli interests.
Key Facts
The investigation took three years and was published on Thursday.
The researchers estimate the campaign likely cost more than $11 million.
The report counted at least 533 million ad exposures between October 2023 and October 2026.
The ads appeared on platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Facebook.
The United Kingdom had the most reported exposures, at 154 million; the United States had 100 million.
France accounted for about one-third of the campaign's ad placements, according to the report.
The researchers said the campaign's timing appeared to align with elections in some countries and warned that it remained active ahead of elections in France and Italy in 2027.
The report said campaign metadata pointed to work in Israel's time zone and computers using Hebrew drive and folder names.
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Sir Patrick Stewart died on Oct. 28, 2026, at age 86. The article revisits a 2013 interview in which Stewart and fellow actor Ian McKellen discussed their friendship, stage work, and experiences that shaped their careers.
Key Facts
Stewart was 86 when he died.
The archived interview aired on CBS News' Sunday Morning on Oct. 13, 2013.
Lesley Stahl interviewed Stewart and McKellen.
The actors discussed a friendship they formed through stage work and the X-Men films.
At the time of the interview, they were rehearsing for Broadway productions of Waiting for Godot and No Man's Land.
Stewart was known for his role in the Star Trek franchise.
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European diplomats declined to join a planned G20 group photo with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, so U.S. hosts cancelled it. The meeting is taking place in Atlanta and is hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Ukraine was not invited.
Key Facts
Two officials confirmed that the photo scheduled for Friday morning was cancelled.
A U.S. official said some delegations were unwilling to take part in a joint photo.
The United Kingdom was among the countries that refused to participate, according to a diplomatic source.
A British official said the UK has a longstanding policy against direct bilateral engagement with Russian ministers since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Ukraine is not a G20 member and was not invited to this meeting.
The article reports that the U.S. recently waived some Russian sanctions and agreed to a deal to import Russian diesel.
Trump said suspending some sanctions was intended to keep Moscow involved in negotiations over the war.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, according to the article.
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A joint humanitarian operation began evacuating civilians from Russian-held Oleshky in southern Ukraine under a localized ceasefire. The convoy brought food and medicine, while residents who left for Ukraine faced a long route through Russia and Belarus; the number evacuated was unclear.
Key Facts
Oleshky lies on the Russian-occupied side of the Dnipro River, opposite Kherson.
About 2,000 people remained in the city, including around 50 children, according to authorities and volunteers.
Residents had faced months of serious food and medical shortages, and some said they survived on small amounts of grain and wild plants.
The convoy included 25 buses and ambulances carrying food and medicine and offering transport for people who wanted to leave.
A localized ceasefire allowed roads out of Oleshky to be cleared of mines.
Some evacuees traveled toward Anapa in southern Russia, then planned to fly to Belarus and travel by bus to Ukraine.
Several hundred residents, mainly older people, chose to stay in Oleshky.
The article said it was unclear how many people traveled in the convoy.
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About 2,000 civilians were reported to remain in Russian-occupied Oleshky, near Ukrainian-controlled Kherson, without reliable access to basic needs. A temporary ceasefire has opened a limited opportunity for humanitarian aid, but the agreement’s reach, evacuation prospects and continued access remain uncertain.
Key Facts
Oleshky is under Russian occupation.
Ukrainian-controlled Kherson is a few kilometers from Oleshky.
About 2,000 civilians were reported to remain in Oleshky.
Essential services are disrupted, and civilians face uncertain evacuation arrangements.
A temporary cessation of attacks has created a limited opening for humanitarian operations.
The ceasefire’s geographic scope is unclear.
The prospects for evacuation and sustained humanitarian access remain uncertain.
Jens Schumacher, a field coordinator with Solidarity International, discussed the humanitarian situation.
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Parks Canada is ending its 55-year canine search-and-rescue program in Banff National Park, effective this month. The agency says rescue operations will continue through other means, while critics warn that removing the dog-handler role could affect public and staff safety.
Key Facts
Parks Canada confirmed it will eliminate the program’s only remaining dog-handler position in Banff National Park.
The agency said the decision is part of efforts to modernize its law-enforcement branch.
The program operated for 55 years and used dogs to locate missing people and search for victims after avalanches.
The last working dog, a German shepherd named Leroy, retired in August after seven years on the job.
Parks Canada said Leroy helped track 156 people, find 57 people lost in the wilderness, and solve two murders in Banff.
A replacement dog had been trained and was ready for duty before Parks Canada announced the program’s closure.
More than 5,000 people signed a petition to restore the program, started by Conservative MP William Stevenson.
The closure comes amid C$145 million in Parks Canada budget cuts and wider federal public-service reductions.
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