Spain’s train crash toll climbs and the anger turns on the government, Israel’s count stalls without a winner, Flávio Bolsonaro surfaces in Miami in a bulletproof vest, and the Fed holds. Ten stories as of Wednesday evening, October 28.
1. Toledo province / Spain. At least 68 people are now dead after a Renfe Madrid–Seville train carrying 397 passengers ran into a stationary Iryo train with 147 aboard between Mora and Orgaz, about 140 km south of Madrid, BBC News reports. Transport Minister Óscar Puente blamed a computer failure, followed by what he called an “inexplicable” decision by the control centre to restart trains without speed limits. Spanish media say the controller has been questioned. Pedro Sánchez declared three days of mourning and called two crashes in a year “unacceptable.” The first was Adamuz in January, which killed 46. The CSIF union wants Puente out, riot police were deployed in Madrid as protests broke out over the crash, per Al Jazeera, and Andalusia’s president, Juanma Moreno, said the AVE “is no longer a safe means of transport.” The Guardian looks at the doubts now hanging over Spain’s high-speed network, a month before the November 29 snap election.
2. Jerusalem / Israel. With nearly 90% of votes counted (88.62%, more than 5 million ballots, per the Central Elections Committee), there’s still no winner. Netanyahu’s bloc is on 53 seats, Gadi Eisenkot’s on 48, and Arab parties a record 19, with the Joint List on at least 12 and Ra’am on 7, Al Jazeera reports. It takes 61 to govern. Hundreds of thousands of double-envelope ballots, mostly soldiers’, are still to be counted, and final results could come Thursday evening. Likud claimed, without evidence, that Arab parties “stole” the election. President Isaac Herzog praised the 77.7% turnout and will start consultations next week, saying he wants to avoid another election, per BBC News.
3. Miami / United States and Brazil. Flávio Bolsonaro, beaten by Lula in Sunday’s runoff, landed at Miami-Opa Locka at 9:24am wearing a bulletproof vest. He’d crossed into Argentina by land and flown a Gulfstream from Puerto Iguazú by way of Guayaquil, BBC News reports. A letter released in his name called him Brazil’s “true president.” It was deleted and reissued calling him “the leader of Brazil.” “I did not flee Brazil; I left for the sake of Brazil,” he said, repeating unsubstantiated fraud claims, even though his own party has accepted the result. Donald Trump: “We gave him a pass to come into the country,” but “I won’t get involved.” Lula’s reply: “those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear,” per The Guardian.
4. Washington / United States. The Fed, under Chair Kevin Warsh, left its benchmark rate at 3.75% to 4% on a 10–2 vote. Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack dissented, wanting another quarter-point hike after September’s, according to the Federal Reserve. “Inflation remains elevated,” the statement says. September CPI ran at 3.7%, the PCE inflation figures come out Thursday, and the next meeting is December 8–9, Al Jazeera reports. Also in Washington, the names, work addresses and phone numbers of more than 41,000 Homeland Security staff, including nearly 6,600 ICE agents and more than 21,000 at CBP, were posted online. DHS says it’s “aware of a potential breach,” per BBC News.
5. Tehran / Iran and Aden / Yemen. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran is in “close and ongoing contact” with mediators over its seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump denied directing JD Vance to start peace talks, saying the contact was about Iran needing “help with medical supplies,” per Al Jazeera. Envoys from the new Mecca pact (Pakistan’s Asim Munir, Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman and Turkey’s Ibrahim Kalin) have been to Tehran, with fears of fresh US and Israeli strikes after November 3, DW reports. In Yemen, the Houthis hit Aden airport after telling people to evacuate it. Government forces reported civilian injuries, and air traffic was halted, per Reuters via Al-Monitor.
6. The Hague / Netherlands and Ukraine. On a visit to the Netherlands, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said three-way US–Russia–Ukraine talks will run November 6–10 in the UAE. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov says Europeans won’t be at the table, and Finland’s Alexander Stubb says they will, Al Jazeera reports. Dutch PM Rob Jetten pledged €500m in military aid, and Britain’s Andy Burnham announced a £10bn package that includes £500m for air defence. Zelenskyy warned against a “Yalta 2, 3, 4” at any US–Russia–China summit, and said Ukraine gets 12 Patriot missiles a month against 150 Russian ballistic missiles, per DW. The Oleshky truce is holding for now.
7. London / United Kingdom. In his first Budget, Chancellor John Healey gave millions of households in council tax bands A to D a one-off £100 toward energy bills, paid for by doubling the tax on big banks’ profits from 3% to 6%. He also extended the 5p fuel duty cut to July and raised the minimum wage by 3.9% from April, BBC News reports. Gas standing charges are to be scrapped during 2027, and income tax thresholds stay frozen. The Office for Budget Responsibility cut next year’s growth forecast to 1%. Its chief, David Miles, called household living standards “pretty grim.” Kemi Badenoch said the plans were “not bold enough.”
8. New York / United Nations and Cuba. The UN General Assembly again condemned the US embargo on Cuba, 130 to 17, with 25 abstentions. Germany and Italy were among the countries that switched to abstaining, Al Jazeera reports. US Ambassador Mike Waltz called the shift a win for American diplomacy and said a Cuban diplomat would be expelled for “assaulting an American diplomat” after Tuesday’s shoving match in the chamber. Cuba’s Bruno Rodríguez said the US was “once again isolated.” In Central America, Costa Rica’s $35m mega-prison outside San José, built with El Salvador’s help and able to hold 5,100 inmates, took in its first 123 prisoners, per Al Jazeera.
9. Mtwara / Tanzania and Moscow. Tanzania announced its first natural gas discovery in a decade, an estimated 223 billion cubic feet at the Kasa-1X well in the Mnazi Bay area. The well is owned by state-run TPDC and France’s Maurel & Prom and is due to start production early next month for domestic supply, BBC News reports. Gas makes nearly 80% of the country’s electricity. In Moscow, Vladimir Putin told the third Russia–Africa Summit, with delegations from 48 African countries, 22 of them led by heads of state, that Russian business does not engage in “neo-colonial exploitation.” He said Russia shipped 13 million tonnes of farm products to Africa in the first nine months of the year, per Al Jazeera.
10. Canberra / Australia and the Southern Ocean. A long-secret military inquiry into Australia’s SAS in Afghanistan found an “inversion of authority” in the regiment and an “abandonment of curiosity” among senior commanders, who overlooked warning signs like the rising number of enemy dead, ABC News reports. According to The Guardian, the newly posted executive summary says some officers knew about “throwdowns,” weapons planted on dead Afghans to make them look like combatants, and did nothing. Around Antarctica, a study in Nature Climate Change finds that the sea-ice crash since 2016 has made Antarctic Intermediate Water, a layer 2,300 to 4,000 feet down, abruptly saltier, reversing decades of freshening, Inside Climate News reports. “Since we have records in oceanography, we have never seen this water alter,” lead author Bishakhdatta Gayen said, per Matangi Tonga.
Coming Up
Confirmed dates on The Watch: November 1, Bulgaria’s presidential runoff (Iotova vs Gyurov) and the Oleshky truce’s scheduled end. November 3, U.S. midterms. November 4, deadline for Israel’s final official results. November 6, Pope Leo XIV leaves for Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. November 7, New Zealand votes. Full board at the link.
