Newshour

On this special edition of Newshour, we preview the US midterms taking place next week.
The BBC’s James Coomarasamy broadcasts from The Midtown Scholar Book Store in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where four closely fought congressional races - all in districts currently held by Republicans - could decide who controls the US House of Representatives for the remainder of Donald Trump's Second Term.
Also in the programme: The BBC’s North America Correspondent Anthony Zurcher explains what we can glean from early voting data; and Will Grant reports from Florida where widespread support among Latino and Cuban American voters helped Donald Trump to win in 2024. But as President Trump's mass deportation policy has been carried out some Latino voters are thinking again about supporting Republican candidates.
(Photo: US President Donald Trump attends the White House Trick-or-Treat event at the White House in Washington, DC, USA. Credit: Aaron Schwartz/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock)

Ahead of US Midterms, we ask how will Pennsylvania vote? Democrat hopefuls eye return to Congress and Senate. Also in the programme:  Evacuation of residents of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky begins; Halloween is banned in Iran, how are young people celebrating it?
(Photo: US postal ballots. Credit: Reuters)

It's emerged that the CEO of a firm whose train was involved in Wednesday's deadly crash outside Madrid had warned the Spanish Senate three weeks ago of problems with the network's signalling system. Ahead of the Spanish election next month, some parties have suspended their campaigns out of respect. We get the latest from the BBC’s Rajini Vaidyanathan who is at the scene.
Also in the programme: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has described a Russian drone strike on a railway station in Dnipro as a horrific attack that demanded a response from Ukraine's allies; and revered actor Sir Patrick Stewart dies aged 86.
(Photo: A Guardia Civil helicopter flies over the site of the collision the day after two high-speed trains crashed between the towns of Mora and Orgaz, near Toledo, Spain, 29th October, 2026. Credit: Reuters/Susana Vera)

After the election in Serbia removed Aleklsandr Vucic from power after 14 years, we speak to the acting president Ana Brnabic about what Serbia's future looks like now.
Serbia's long-standing leader was defeated by a student-led protest movement in snap parliamentary elections.
Also in the programme: How opium production has risen again - not just in Afghanistan, but also in border areas of Pakistan; and an update on the Israeli elections, where there are now investigations into alleged foreign interference in the vote.
(Photo shows Serbia's acting president Ana Brnabic in the parliament in Belgrade, Serbia on 25 October 2022. Credit: Marko Djurica/Reuters)

At least 68 people have been killed and dozens more injured after a Spanish high-speed train collided with another train south of the capital Madrid. Spain's transport minister says an "inexplicable" decision by the control centre led to the collision after a computer failure initially caused trains to halt.
Also on the programme: a day after Israel's election produced no clear winner, will Israeli Arab parties be crucial to forming a government? And Flavio Bolsonaro has landed in the United States after fleeing Brazil.
(Photo: Rescue personnel work at the site of the collision of two high-speed trains between the towns of Mora and Orgaz, near Toledo, Spain, October 28, 2026. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura)