Olivia Chow won a second term as Toronto mayor, receiving 54% of the vote to Brad Bradford’s 41%. She campaigned on expanding rental housing, offering free school lunches and lowering fares for frequent transit riders, while affordability remains a major challenge for the city.
Key Facts
Chow received more than 532,000 votes, nearly twice her total in the 2023 election.
The article reports record turnout in the mayoral election.
Bradford called for more police and pledged to cut taxes and city spending.
The article says auto theft and high-value property crime have risen, while homicides, firearm-related violence and assault have fallen in recent years.
Chow expanded the police department’s hate crimes unit and supported a bylaw restricting protests within 50 meters of certain institutions.
Bradford conceded and said he wanted Chow to succeed.
Progressive candidates won or retained multiple council seats, including Diana McNally Chan, who the article says will be the first renter on city council.
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A ceasefire that began to allow aid into Russian-occupied Oleshky has been extended across the wider Kherson region, officials said. The truce is intended to allow humanitarian deliveries and a planned evacuation on Friday, as thousands of residents face severe shortages and dangerous routes out.
Key Facts
The ceasefire began early Tuesday and no breaches had been reported at the time of publication.
Melania Trump said the ceasefire area had expanded beyond Oleshky to provide safe passage for humanitarian convoys.
Ukrainian and Russian officials said the truce was being observed.
About 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in Oleshky, with a few thousand more in nearby areas.
The plan calls for humanitarian aid deliveries followed by evacuations on Friday for residents who want to leave.
David Arakhamia said the ceasefire would continue until 22:59 Ukrainian time on Sunday, 1 November.
Oleshky has had no electricity, gas or water since the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed in 2023, and roads out are dangerous because of mines and drone attacks.
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Exit polls from Israel’s election project Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc with 50 seats and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc with 52 or 53. Neither projection reaches the 61 seats needed for a majority, while Arab parties are projected to win 18 seats combined.
Key Facts
Polling stations closed at 10 p.m. local time.
Preliminary results are expected Wednesday, with a final tally expected Friday.
The official results are due to be published on November 4.
Turnout reached 74.3 percent by 8 p.m., according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee.
Turnout in the 2022 election was 70.63 percent.
The Central Elections Committee rejected Likud’s request to extend voting hours.
The election is the first since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war in Gaza.
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King Charles has begun a nine-day visit to the Bahamas, Guyana, and Antigua and Barbuda, his first trip to the Caribbean as monarch. The palace says the tour will address the region’s history of slavery and colonialism, while focusing mainly on current partnerships, climate change, and opportunities for future generations.
Key Facts
The King’s first stop is the Bahamas, where he is scheduled to attend a youth rally at Clifford Park.
The King attended the Bahamas’ independence celebrations in 1973 as Prince of Wales.
Buckingham Palace says the King will not apologize for Britain’s role in the slave trade or offer reparations.
The King is expected to discuss climate change and the challenges faced by low-lying Caribbean islands.
The tour includes visits to memorials and other places of remembrance related to the legacy of the slave trade.
The King will travel to Guyana later in the week for engagements focused on the environment and biodiversity.
Queen Camilla will join him in Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The biennial Commonwealth summit brings together leaders of 56 countries.
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Australian Greens leader David Shoebridge plans to propose raising the tax-free income threshold and increasing annual payments for people on income support. The proposal would cost about A$22 billion a year, with the party suggesting higher taxes on gas exports and resource companies to fund it. Separately, Australia’s eSafety commissioner says investigations into social media platforms are underway, while a report says the country had the highest additional diesel import costs during the global fuel crisis.
Key Facts
The Greens propose raising the tax-free threshold from A$18,200 to A$26,000.
Shoebridge says the tax change would save the average working Australian more than A$1,000 a year.
The Greens propose an annual A$1,000 increase for people receiving income support, including pensioners, carers, students and job seekers.
Parliamentary Budget Office costings put the plan at about A$22 billion a year; the Greens propose funding it with higher taxes on gas exports and resource companies.
Greens senator Jordon Steele-John is on leave during an investigation into allegations about his conduct toward women; he denies the allegations.
Australia incurred an estimated A$9 billion in additional diesel import costs over six months, more than any other country, according to figures released by the Climate Council.
The eSafety commissioner says investigations into five social media platforms are underway and will not provide updated account deactivation figures while they continue.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said more than five million under-16 accounts were deactivated across the ten platforms covered by the social media ban.
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Exit polls from Israel’s election indicate that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc nor rival Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc won the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority. The result could leave the country without a clear governing majority while officials count ballots and await final results.
Key Facts
Israel held its first national election since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
The election focused in part on Netanyahu’s wartime leadership.
Major Israeli television stations’ exit polls showed no bloc reaching 61 seats.
Exit polls can be inaccurate, and the article says the results were preliminary.
Preliminary results were expected in the hours after voting ended.
Final results were expected in the coming days and could differ from the exit polls.
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Israeli exit polls project that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition will lose its parliamentary majority. Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc is projected to win 52 to 53 seats, short of the 61 needed for a majority, and may need support from Arab parties to form a government.
Key Facts
Exit polls project 50 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc.
The polls project 17 to 18 seats for Arab parties.
Netanyahu’s coalition won 64 seats in the 2022 election, 14 more than its projected total in these exit polls.
Voter turnout reached a four-decade high, according to the article.
Eisenkot is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
Eisenkot said he would maintain a hawkish approach to security.
Exit polls gave Netanyahu’s Likud Party one to two more seats than Eisenkot’s Yashar party.
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Former Metropolitan Police officer Mark Tyrrell was found guilty of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of perverting the course of justice. He was cleared of other rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault charges, and will be sentenced on 16 December.
Key Facts
Tyrrell, 57, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court.
Jurors heard that the woman repeatedly said no before Tyrrell had sex with her.
The perverting-the-course-of-justice conviction involved trying to delete messages he had sent the woman.
Tyrrell had served in the Met's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command.
Wayne Couzens and David Carrick, both convicted rapists, also served in that command.
Tyrrell had admitted misconduct in public office and a separate count of perverting the course of justice.
He resigned from the Metropolitan Police in September 2023 after his arrest and suspension.
The court is due to sentence him on 16 December.
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Israeli voters cast ballots in an election widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his administration. Voting closed at 10 p.m. local time, with turnout reported at a record level; the result could threaten Netanyahu’s nearly 19 years in power.
Key Facts
Israeli voters went to the polls on Tuesday.
The election was widely regarded as a referendum on Netanyahu and his administration.
The election could end Netanyahu’s nearly 19 years leading Israel.
Turnout reached a record level, according to the article.
Voting closed at 10 p.m. local time, or 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
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Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu ended a brief hunger strike after prison authorities allowed him to meet privately with his lawyers, according to his lawyer. Lissu is jailed on treason charges that he denies, while his detention and reports of abductions of government critics have drawn scrutiny of Tanzania’s human rights record.
Key Facts
Lissu leads the opposition Party for Democracy and Progress, known as CHADEMA.
His lawyer said Lissu began refusing food after lawyers were unable to meet him in prison and ended the strike after a private meeting.
Accounts differed on whether the hunger strike began Monday or Tuesday.
Tanzania’s prisons service denied reports that Lissu was on hunger strike and said he was safe.
Authorities arrested Lissu in April 2025 after he addressed a rally calling for electoral reforms and charged him with treason.
Lissu has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers say the charges are politically motivated; a judgment is due November 6.
A government-appointed inquiry found at least 518 people were killed in violence after the 2025 election; CHADEMA estimates about 2,000 deaths, a figure the United Nations said it could not verify.
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The UK government plans to replace the carer’s allowance earnings cliff edge with a digital taper, but the new system may not be ready until before 2030. Unpaid carers welcome the proposed change but say it does not address past overpayment demands, and they remain concerned about penalties while the current rule stays in place.
Key Facts
The chancellor is expected to announce a digital taper for carer’s allowance in the budget.
Under the current rule, earning more than £204 a week can result in losing the entire £86.45 weekly allowance payment.
The digital system must be built from scratch and is not expected to be operational before 2030.
The Shahars received a repayment demand of £10,130.45, plus a £50 civil penalty, after Oksana exceeded the earnings limit by an average of £1.92 a week.
The Shahars are challenging the repayment demand at a tribunal.
Elizabeth Tait received a £1,623 overpayment bill after unknowingly exceeding the earnings threshold.
Andrea Tucker successfully challenged a £4,600 overpayment at a tribunal in February 2025.
Carers interviewed in the article say the proposed reform does not resolve repayment demands for past overpayments.
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Israeli voters went to the polls amid divisions over the Hamas-led 7 October attacks and the government’s response. Bereaved families called for a state inquiry, while opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot urged voters to replace Benjamin Netanyahu’s government; turnout was reported to be breaking records.
Key Facts
Bereaved families held a minute of silence in Tel Aviv at 6:29 a.m., the time the 7 October attacks began.
The families urged voters to remember those killed and taken captive, and called for a state commission of inquiry into the attacks.
Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted calls for a state commission of inquiry, according to the article.
Gadi Eisenkot visited communities attacked on 7 October and called on Israelis to vote against Netanyahu’s government.
The article reported record-breaking turnout and said tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad were returning to vote.
A bipartisan Fly&Vote initiative helped overseas Israelis travel home because election law required in-person voting.
Voters interviewed by the article said they had travelled from Barcelona, New York and Rio de Janeiro to cast ballots for different parties.
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Multiple media reports say Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro left Brazil for the United States after losing Sunday’s presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has not conceded and has sought to challenge the result, while it remains unclear whether he turned in his regular and diplomatic passports as ordered.
Key Facts
Lula received more than 64 million votes, while Bolsonaro received fewer than 60 million, a margin of nearly 4%.
Bolsonaro asked Brazil’s electoral court to investigate alleged fraud and nullify Lula’s and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin’s candidacies.
The electoral court must certify the results by Dec. 18; Bolsonaro would need evidence of fraud affecting Lula’s 4.4 million-vote margin to overturn the outcome.
A sealed Supreme Court order directed Bolsonaro to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports by noon Tuesday.
Bolsonaro said in a social media video Monday that he had no plans to leave Brazil and was organizing opposition to the election result.
Bolsonaro is under investigation in two Brazilian Supreme Court cases involving alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion; he denies wrongdoing.
His brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, who lives in Texas, was convicted in absentia in June of illegally lobbying the Trump administration and sentenced to four years in prison.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested without providing evidence that Brazil’s election was rigged.
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Political scientist Alain Greilsammer said Israel’s election would be shaped by concerns about democratic accountability, judicial independence and how civic obligations are shared. He warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies could move Israel toward authoritarian rule and said Arab political parties could influence the election’s outcome.
Key Facts
France 24 published the interview on October 27, 2026.
The interviewer was Annette Young, and the guest was Alain Greilsammer, a political science professor at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv.
Greilsammer said judicial independence and democratic accountability were key concerns in the election.
He argued that Netanyahu’s policies risk turning Israel into an authoritarian or non-democratic state.
Greilsammer said the distribution of civic obligations was another election issue.
He suggested that Arab political parties could play a decisive role in the election’s outcome.
The interview referenced the October 7 attacks, tensions with Iran and deep domestic divisions.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin met Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Moscow during the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. They discussed bilateral ties and the effects of US–Iran tensions on regional stability and energy markets, and called for diplomacy.
Key Facts
Putin and Sheikh Tamim met in Moscow.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.
The leaders discussed ties between Russia and Qatar.
They discussed US–Iran tensions.
They considered the tensions’ impact on regional stability.
They discussed effects on energy markets.
The meeting’s stated focus included diplomacy amid the US–Iran conflict.
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A longtime keeper at Beekse Bergen safari park in the Netherlands died on Tuesday, days after a leopard attack in an indoor enclosure. The park said it will launch an independent investigation; it has not said exactly how the attack happened.
Key Facts
The keeper had worked at Beekse Bergen for about 40 years and began her career there at age 17.
She was caring for two Persian leopards when she was attacked on Saturday.
She suffered head and neck injuries and underwent surgery before dying days later.
The leopards had been brought indoors because of bad weather and are usually kept away from staff.
There are no CCTV cameras inside the enclosure, so the precise events are unclear.
Local outlet NL Times reported that the keeper alerted colleagues using her walkie-talkie.
A park spokesperson said the leopards would not be euthanised and were behaving naturally.
The park said it will create a memorial location for guests and staff.
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President Donald Trump praised Quebec separatist leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and British Columbia premier-designate Lorne Doerkson as U.S.-Canada trade talks continued. Canadian and U.S. officials have signaled renewed discussions, but tariffs and Trump’s comments about Canada have kept tensions high.
Key Facts
St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois won 60 of 127 seats in Quebec’s election, four short of a majority.
St-Pierre Plamondon has pledged to hold a third referendum on Quebec independence, but said it would take place after Trump leaves office.
The Parti Québécois would likely need support from another separatist party to advance a referendum.
Trump shared an article describing the Quebec result as a setback for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s efforts to maintain national unity.
The U.S. Embassy in Canada accused Canadian leaders of trying to influence American politics through reciprocal tariffs; Canadian officials have denied the broader accusation.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said negotiations with Canada had picked up, while Carney said talks had intensified slightly since they broke down in August.
The White House exempted some Canadian imports from 50% tariffs after pressure from Senator Susan Collins, who said she would seek further tariff relief.
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A court in Warwick heard that 13-month-old Isabella Stasiak suffered physical and sexual abuse before she died in January 2025. Her mother, Kinga Wydrzynska, and father, Michal Stasiak, deny the charges against them; the trial is continuing.
Key Facts
Isabella died in hospital after suffering a fractured skull and ribs, a broken arm and burns to her face, the court heard.
Prosecutors say Isabella died from a forceful impact to her head against a hard surface.
Wydrzynska is charged with murder; both parents face charges including causing or allowing a child’s death, serious harm, sexual assault and cruelty.
The parents pleaded not guilty to 11 counts related to Isabella’s death.
The court heard Isabella was taken into social services’ care at birth and returned to her parents in April 2024.
Police arrested Stasiak for common assault in December 2024 after a report by Wydrzynska; he was bailed with conditions barring him from the home and from contacting her.
Police visited the family home in October 2024 after a neighbour’s complaint and reported no immediate safeguarding concerns.
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An inquiry found that 33 detainees who died in custody in Minna, Nigeria, on 17 September suffered acute respiratory failure linked to overcrowding, heat stress and dehydration. It said officers failed to respond to pleas for help and that the deaths were preventable; evidence did not support claims of a disease outbreak.
Key Facts
The detainees were held on suspicion of illegal mining, but the inquiry found the mining sites were licensed.
Fifty people were held in a cell of about 20 square metres with no running water or working toilet and inadequate food, water and ventilation.
Adults and minors were held together, and some detainees were kept beyond lawful detention periods.
The raid took place without an approved operational order, proper planning or consultation with the Mining Marshals Unit.
The inquiry said officers heard detainees calling and pleading for water but did not respond.
Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said implicated officers would face suspension and that the report would go to the attorney general for further legal action.
The committee recommended compensation of 30 million naira for each bereaved family and 10 million naira for each survivor.
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In a France 24 interview about Israel’s election, Palestinian Israeli activist Ibrahim Abu Ahmad said public sentiment is shaped by fear and trauma. He said many people support an Arab-Jewish coalition, while political leaders are afraid to openly back one, and described such a partnership as important to democracy.
Key Facts
Ibrahim Abu Ahmad appeared in an interview hosted by Erin Ogunkeye.
Abu Ahmad is described as a Palestinian Israeli political and peace activist.
He heads social media for Israel’s left-wing Democrats.
Abu Ahmad said fear and trauma shape the current mood in Israel.
He said many people want an Arab-Jewish coalition.
He said political leaders are afraid to express support for such a coalition.
Abu Ahmad framed Arab-Jewish partnership as a matter of democratic survival.
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