The Saudi-led coalition said it downed a ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh and two drones early Sunday, as Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport prepared to reopen after a two-week closure caused by Houthi strikes. Saudi civil defence reported falling debris in the Mecca and Medina regions Saturday after two Houthi missiles were intercepted. This week the U.S. ordered non-emergency government staff and families to leave Saudi Arabia and updated travel advisories for 13 Middle East countries.
The Saudi-led coalition saysIt intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh and downed two drones; the Gulf Cooperation Council's secretary-general called the attacks "heinous."
The Houthis sayClaims that they targeted Mecca and Medina are a "huge lie"; they say they targeted three Saudi airports, oil infrastructure and an airbase, and spokesman Yahya Saree called Riyadh's airport "unsafe" and a "military target."
Russia and Ukraine agreed to a local ceasefire in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in Ukraine's Kherson region, starting Oct. 27 at 4 a.m. Moscow time, so humanitarian aid can enter and civilians can leave. The White House says first lady Melania Trump brokered it. Earlier in the week, Russian missiles and drones struck Kyiv hours after the Kremlin said Vladimir Putin agreed in principle to resume three-way talks with the U.S. and Ukraine; Volodymyr Zelenskyy said technical talks would take place in the first half of November.
The White House saysMelania Trump worked directly with Ukrainian and Russian officials; she said residents who wish to evacuate "will receive coordinated support and transportation."
Russia saysKremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Moscow is in principle ready to resume talks with Washington and Kyiv, but that Ukrainian and European proposals had little substance.
Ukraine saysZelenskyy said technical-level meetings would take place in the first half of November, hopes a leaders' meeting will follow, and said much depends on Russia.
About 410,000 people demonstrated across France on Saturday over school funding and rising living costs. Police fired tear gas and water cannon as the Paris march ended, the government said police made nearly 1,000 arrests, and the Louvre and other major Paris museums closed for the day.
The government saysPresident Emmanuel Macron says restrictions on marches are needed to protect city centres, businesses and public buildings.
Protesters sayStudents want 250,000 more higher-education places, more teachers and an extra 200 euros a month in grants; workers want higher wages and pensions.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump voted early in person in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, before Trump rallied in Perry, Georgia, for Senate candidate Mike Collins and governor candidate Rick Jackson. Former President Barack Obama campaigned in Cleveland for Ohio Democrats Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton and in Detroit for Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. Election Day is Nov. 3.
Obama and Democrats sayObama said of Republican Vivek Ramaswamy's ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged birth mother that "there is no line he will not cross, no low he will not sink to"; Acton said "Decency still matters."
Trump and Republicans sayTrump defended the ad and said Obama's Michigan event had an empty venue; Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and other Ohio Republican leaders called for the ad to be removed.
Brent crude rose 3.1% on Friday to settle at $116.72 a barrel, its highest level since June 2022, after starting October below $97, the AP reports. The Dow fell 1.2% Friday and the S&P 500 posted a second straight weekly loss. The University of Michigan's final October consumer sentiment index was 48.0, the second-lowest reading on record.
The Milwaukee Brewers erased a 4-0 first-inning deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 in Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday in Milwaukee, a day after winning Game 1 3-2. Sal Frelick tied the game with a sixth-inning home run and rookie Cooper Pratt drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh. Neither team has won a World Series.
The Vatican said Oct. 21 that final tests after Pope Leo's Oct. 13 surgery, which removed the lower lobe of his right lung, showed his lung adenocarcinoma was localized and that no further therapy is required. He held his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square that day; it is unclear whether he will make a planned Nov. 6–17 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.
The CDC confirmed a third measles-related death in the U.S. this year on Oct. 20, with 4,410 confirmed cases nationwide as of Oct. 15. Pennsylvania, the hardest-hit state, had 1,286 cases as of Oct. 19, and its officials have reported at least five measles-linked deaths; the CDC says its count could change as reviews are completed.
Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case this week, a woman who traveled to Abuja from Uganda; officials are tracing 44 contacts. The WHO says Nigeria is the fifth country to detect Ebola Bundibugyo virus since the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo began in May. Congo has reported more than 9,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths, and there is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment for the strain.
On Oct. 21 the Supreme Court denied the Trump administration's emergency request to enforce a Bureau of Prisons policy ending gender-affirming medical care for transgender people in federal prisons, leaving in place a lower-court order blocking it while the lawsuit continues. The order gave no explanation; Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
The administration saysThe Bureau of Prisons reasonably prioritized mental-health treatment over what it calls medically disputed interventions, and security and prison-administration concerns justified the change.
The challengers sayThe ACLU, representing transgender inmates, called it "a critical ruling" and says denying necessary care violates their constitutional rights.
