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🇺🇸 What could the US midterm elections mean for Trump? The United States holds its midterm elections on November 3, and millions across the country have already voted to choose their new members of Congress. How are Republicans and Democrats faring? What could the vote change? And what might the midterms mean for President Donald Trump? AFP’s Will Edwards explains. ▶️

🏁 Portugal and Morocco will host the 2027 Dakar Rally the organisers announced on Friday after it was moved from Saudi Arabia following repeated attacks on the kingdom by Yemen's Houthis. ➡️

🇪🇨 Ecuador farmers hit with 'losses of all kinds' after heavy rains flood paddy fields For several months, torrential rains have caused rivers to overflow in Ecuador's Los Rios province. The rains have flooded rice crops in the coastal province as farmers struggle to deal with the effects of El Nino and climate change.

🇦🇺 Australian mushroom killer Erin Patterson has failed to overturn a slew of convictions, with a judge instead imposing a heavier prison sentence for three "cold and calculated" poisoning murders. ➡️

🇺🇸 Obama blasts Trump’s ‘chaos and cruelty’ ahead of US midterms Former US president Barack Obama delivered scathing criticisms of current leader Donald Trump at a rally in Georgia to support Democratic candidates ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.

🇮🇱 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp finished ahead of the opposition but remained well short of a majority, final results from Israel's general election showed Friday, setting the stage for tough coalition talks or potentially another vote. ➡️

🎭 Patrick Stewart, the British Shakespearean actor who became a Hollywood megastar through roles in the "Star Trek" and "X-Men" franchises, has died at the age of 86, an official statement said Thursday. ➡️

🇮🇹 School and university students are to rally in several Italian cities on Friday to call for more funding for schools and support for housing, with security forces preparing for possible clashes. ➡️

🇲🇽 Mexican artisans preserve traditional decorations for Day of the Dead As Mexico prepares for the Day of the Dead, artisans in the town of San Salvador Huixcolotla continue to craft the "papel picado" decorations by hand despite growing competition from mass-produced versions.

⚠️ Cryptocurrency platform Binance said Friday it was working to resolve a "complex attack" that hit around $6.3 billion in funds, with about half that amount frozen to prevent a massive theft. ➡️

🇺🇸 Trump wants to reshape DC, will midterms halt his ambitions? With midterm elections just days away in the United States, nowhere is the impact of US President Donld Trump more visible than in the capital itself. From the White House East Wing to the Kennedy Performing Arts Center and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Trump has left his mark on multiple Washington, DC landmarks. Yet many of these projects could be stalled if Trump’s Republicans lose control of the House and Senate.

BREAKING Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta announces it is closing, citing pressure from authorities. "Novaya Gazeta is ceasing to exist," editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said in a statement published on YouTube

🇷🇺 Russia's flagship independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta announced Friday it was closing, saying it had been "killed" by state pressure after years of repression targeting its journalists whose reporting was critical of the Kremlin and its Ukraine war. ➡️

🇫🇷 The French economy contracted in the third quarter, data showed Friday, and could be "headed for a wall" if the government is unable to get a deficit-reducing budget passed soon, the finance minister warned. ➡️

🇸🇹 Sao Tome develops a niche for vanilla, boosting income for local farmers It’s the second most expensive spice in the world after saffron which makes vanilla a lucrative plant to cultivate in Sao Tome and Principe.

🇰🇭 'Cruise for life' passengers stranded in Cambodia amid rising fuel costs Around 200 passengers who paid to live on a cruise ship while travelling the world were abruptly left in a Cambodian port after the company ran out of money, an official has said.

🇪🇸 People in Toledo reflect on 'inexplicable' Spanish train crash People in Toledo reflect the day after a high-speed rail collision that happened nearby in the central province of Castilla-La Mancha, claiming the lives of 69 people.

🇬🇧 🇧🇸 King Charles III dances during traditional parade in Bahamas The United Kingdom's King Charles III took part in a traditional Junkanoo street parade in the Bahamas, amid a nine-day Caribbean tour.

Shock, vindication, regret: Scientists react to AI roiling life's work For decades, three computer scientists built their careers around an idea about the limits of what computers can do. AI may now have shown it to be wrong

Charity crowdfunds millions to buy historic English estate. The purchase of the sprawling site, as large as central London, will be the opportunity "to create something very special for generations to come", said renowned environmentalist David Attenborough, who backed the campaign to buy Rothbury Estate