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Irish stayer Defiantly, expected to set the tempo in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup, was scratched on Saturday morning after Racing Victoria vets were unable to pass him fit to run, in the second shock withdrawal in three days.
In February 2026, Japan became the first country to successfully and continuously retrieve rare-earth mud from 6,000 meters below the sea off Minamitorishima, its easternmost island, a feat that sparked nationwide excitement as a major step toward breaking free from dependence on China. But experts argue the rush is driven less by the minerals than by the political value of being seen to use the island, reinforcing Japan's claim of effective control over the waters around it.
Stephen Robinson's Aberdeen face Derek McInnes' Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden on Saturday. Robinson has three wins in 11 to start the Premiership season and his position has been scrutinised; McInnes is under pressure to deliver a trophy after two trophyless campaigns at Ibrox, while Rangers' American owners have invested heavily.
A wildfire that tore through Mongolia's Numrug Strictly Protected Area in October, burning for eight days and affecting most of the reserve, has become a geopolitical issue involving Mongolia, China and Japan after preliminary investigators blamed a vehicle convoy operated by Mobicom, the Mongolian mobile operator that is 98.8 percent controlled by Japan's KDDI.
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday blocked a deposition that aimed to identify the people or group behind the Texas Transgender Student Union, which mailed pamphlets to Texas households in mid-October that a West Texas prosecutor said appeared designed to motivate conservative voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
A federal judge on Friday ordered the government to pull three taxpayer-funded Trump administration advertisements that appear to have been made for political or propaganda purposes, including one touting the president's claim that every American will get $5,000 if Republicans keep control of Congress.
The Justice Department has sent letters to state election officials across the country warning that they could face criminal prosecution if they willfully fail to preserve ballots and other election records for 22 months after a federal election. The letters, dated Oct. 29 and signed by acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, come days before the midterm elections, and officials familiar with the correspondence said they appear to have been sent to all 50 states.
An investigation by NPR has found that the Trump administration's decision to end a low-interest loan relief program has left thousands of military veterans facing sharply higher mortgage payments. Data obtained by NPR shows that 63% of veterans who received a loan modification saw their payments rise, compared with 2% of modifications to loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. More than 15,000 veterans saw their payments jump by at least $150 a month, and over 700 saw increases of at least $1,000.
A teenage boy was chased down and fatally shot on Thursday morning on his way to school in New York City, and police are searching for three teenage boys in connection with the killing.
Geelong has locked in a top-two AFLW finish with a dominant 88-20 victory over the Western Bulldogs at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night, extending its winning streak to 11 games. The win was highlighted by Jacqueline Parry's five goals in her return from injury, while former No.1 draft pick Isabel Huntington, 27, has also retired from the AFLW.
The Trump administration has awarded the city of Jackson, Mississippi, a Department of Justice grant under its new Model Cities Initiative, a program that requires cities to cooperate with certain Trump administration priorities, including immigration enforcement and a ban on sleeping in public. The Jackson Police Department applied for up to $125 million over three years, and the city council must now vote on whether to accept the funds.
The United States has approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles to Ukraine in a $2.1 billion deal financed entirely by European allies and Canada, but President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the munitions could take years to arrive as Russia intensifies aerial attacks on the country's energy infrastructure.
Switzerland's supreme court on Friday upheld the 20-year prison sentence of former Liberian rebel commander Alieu Kosiah for war crimes, but overturned a separate conviction for crimes against humanity, ruling the charge could not be applied retroactively to acts committed before it entered Swiss law in 2011.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is launching a post-Election Day war room to guard against efforts by Trump to “steal the election,” vowing Democrats will fight “every step of the way” in a letter to the Democratic Caucus shared first with Semafor.
Argentina has denied Brazil requested an explanation over Flavio Bolsonaro's transit through the country, contradicting a Brazilian diplomatic source who said the matter was raised in a routine meeting.
Residents of five tower blocks in Canning Town, east London, have been ordered to evacuate after structural engineers warned of an 'imminent risk to life' from an undersized and overstressed concrete slab. The first three towers were evacuated on 23 October, with notices for the remaining two issued on 30 October. Property manager Prime Property Management has told residents to cover their own temporary accommodation costs in the first instance.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday he hopes to finalise an agreement by June that would make Canada the European Union's first "associate member", as he and EU leaders wound up a two-day summit in Montreal with the launch of the Alliance for the Future.
Greenland on Thursday welcomed the first international flight to its new airport in Ilulissat, part of an effort to grow tourism and diversify an economy still reliant on fishing as the Arctic territory looks toward eventual independence from Denmark.
Tracy Mackander hoped the coronial inquest into her son Bailey’s death in custody would bring change. Instead, an ABC investigation has revealed a pattern of systemic failures in mental health care across New South Wales prisons, with dozens of inquests finding deficiencies in care and supervision.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has begun issuing federal registrations to more than 900 medical marijuana dispensaries across seven states, the Department of Justice announced on Friday.
President Karol Nawrocki forced his way past police and into Poland's Constitutional Tribunal early Saturday after cutting short a state visit to Senegal, as riot police were deployed and a judge announced the suspension of the court's president in a move the opposition and the court itself have labelled a coup d'état.
The Trump administration has announced an interagency agreement that provides a way to shift the Department of Education's civil rights enforcement work to the Department of Justice, a change that two former department officials say could leave most student complaints uninvestigated and that complaints investigated could take years to resolve.
Russian-linked disinformation campaigns are targeting pro-Ukraine candidates in France's upcoming presidential election, according to Viginum and disinformation experts. The campaigns have spread false claims aimed at damaging Raphaël Glucksmann, Gabriel Attal and Edouard Philippe, while an expert identifies erosion of trust in democratic institutions as a chief goal.
A coronial report has found that supervision failures at the Alexander Maconochie Centre contributed to the death of 34-year-old Justin Cordy, who died by suicide in his cell on February 26, 2023. Special magistrate Lucinda Wilson found Mr Cordy was not adequately observed and was given access to the materials he needed to die by suicide at the Canberra jail.
A cruel hamstring injury during the Championship play-off final at Wembley in May cost Australian soccer star Riley McGree his twin ambitions of playing in the Premier League and representing the Socceroos at the FIFA World Cup.
On Friday, the government’s star witness in the federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao testified that he helped distribute cash in gym bags, including to a sitting city council member and another person, after California Waste Solutions won a city contract in 2014. Mario Juarez, who has pleaded guilty to participating in an alleged scheme to bribe Thao, told the jury he loaded the bags, including one with up to $300,000, and helped David Duong distribute them.
An academic report published Thursday detailed a three-year, paid-for influence operation that promoted racist, Islamophobic and anti-Qatar views, saying evidence suggested with moderate to high confidence that the operation was launched from within Israel. The investigation uncovered at least 533 million exposures of social media advertisements across 30 countries; the operation likely cost more than $11 million.
Slovakia's Prosecutor General Maros Zilinka reopened a criminal case against former Prime Minister Eduard Heger and former Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad on October 30 over their government's military donations to Ukraine.
The Colombian government has enacted a 2027 budget that cuts the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) by 181 billion pesos ($57m), while a Senate committee has advanced a bill to eliminate the court entirely by March 2028. Angela Cordon fears cuts could derail the court's work, and lawmakers say the budget's approval could jeopardise investigations and trials. President Abelardo de la Espriella says reductions are necessary to combat rising public debt and has accused the court of bias against military members.
Oman rescued 25 crew members from a burning crude oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, as Iran said it had halted three oil tankers attempting to cross the waterway without permission.
A federal judge announced Friday she plans to appoint a special master to investigate whether Justice and Interior Department officials misled the court about the Trump administration's plans to renovate a historic D.C. golf course, according to news reports.
Scotland and Wales's first ministers have told Prime Minister Andy Burnham that decisions on local devolution rest solely with their parliaments, in response to his push to extend English-style regional powers across the UK. Downing Street described the Glasgow talks as constructive, though Northern Ireland's first minister was absent.
The European Commission on 30 October announced plans to disburse about €45 billion ($51 billion) next year under its Ukraine Support Loan, with roughly €31.7 billion ($35 billion) earmarked for Ukraine's defence industrial capacity. The remaining €13.3 billion ($14.8 billion) would be split equally between the Ukraine Facility and Macro-Financial Assistance, the latter tied to an International Monetary Fund support program.
Harris County prosecutors on Friday released body-camera footage showing ICE agent Mario Alberto Morales acknowledging he had struck a fleeing Houston man with his unmarked SUV, the same day a grand jury indicted him on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors say Morales, 33, deliberately veered into Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, during an attempted stop on 10 October, leaving the Mexican construction worker with multiple leg fractures and a hip injury.
Japan is expected to surpass China as the world's largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) this year for the first time since 2022, according to analysts at ICIS and Kpler. The consultancies estimate Japanese imports at 62–63 million metric tons and China's at 61–62 million tons, a slight lead for Japan, amid high LNG prices and sufficient Chinese gas storage that analysts say are limiting purchases.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has given $8 million to Wisconsin’s Democratic Party over five weeks to support gubernatorial nominee David Crowley, as Republicans attack Democrats for accepting his money while running election ads about Jeffrey Epstein.
The government has revealed plans to devolve more power to local regions, pledging to cover 90 per cent of England's population in the coming years. Labour shared more details alongside the Autumn Budget, with ten new devolution agreements in their final stages as part of the plan.
A new Treasury Department report, obtained by Axios, argues that the U.S. naval blockade, sweeping economic sanctions, and obstruction of overland trade routes have crippled Iran's economy. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is urging President Trump to let the economic pressure campaign, dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast,” play out rather than rush back into combat; U.S. officials say the campaign needs more time to destabilize the regime and potentially convince Iranian leaders to make concessions at negotiations.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has endorsed three candidates challenging fellow California Democrats in the House, in what Axios describes as an aggressive move by a potential 2028 presidential contender.
Philomena's Law came into effect in Britain today, removing the risk that made many survivors of Ireland's mother and baby homes reluctant to claim financial redress for fear of losing welfare benefits. The law, named after campaigner Philomena Lee, ring-fences payments from the Irish Government's redress scheme so they no longer count towards means-tested income. Labour MP Liam Conlon, who promoted the bill, called it a historic day and the first time British law has ring-fenced a payment from a foreign government.
A notable increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity is being reported across the United States in the weeks before the midterm elections, according to accounts gathered by NPR and its member stations. Weiser said the tactics appeared designed to intimidate voters, while early voting was surging in minority communities.
Commercial ships continue to ferry substantial volumes of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz even as Iran sharply escalated attacks in October, with at least 30 vessels hit this month and at least 16 seafarers injured, according to data from the International Maritime Organization. Crude exports have rebounded since March, when they plunged nearly 90%, but the shuttle system is helping get oil out while driving the cost of hiring a supertanker for the Gulf of Oman-to-Asia journey above $900,000 per day. Larsen said tankers transiting Hormuz depend on U.S. military air cover for their security.
The Treasury has accepted that it contributed to the death of Chloe Moffat, a 26-year-old personal assistant who died by suicide the day after a disciplinary meeting, and said it has taken immediate steps to address the risks identified by a coroner.
Dara Ó Briain, the Irish comedian and TV presenter, will tour Australia from November 4 to 11. In a wide-ranging interview with Good Weekend, he reflected on his lower-middle-class upbringing, his atheism and the double standards around men's and women's bodies.
The historic town of Mompox on Colombia’s Magdalena River is being highlighted as a rising star of South American tourism in a travel feature about an AmaWaterways river cruise excursion to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bill Hill, an Alaska Native commercial fisher running as an independent, has emerged as a challenger to Republican congressman Nick Begich for Alaska's lone House seat, with the non-partisan Cook Political Report shifting the race from “likely Republican” to “leans Republican” days before the 3 November election.
In an opinion piece, money contributor Bec Wilson reports that research from super fund HESTA estimates 1.8 million Australians who could have moved their super into a retirement phase account have not done so, and could collectively be missing out on about $2.5 billion a year in potential tax savings. The article also discusses proposals to make it easier for people to access retirement income.
Ukraine has called for an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting after Russian strikes on Dnipro, Chernihiv and Kremenchuk killed 20 civilians, according to Ukraine's permanent representative to the UN, Andrii Melnyk. Melnyk announced the request on Oct. 30.