Breakfast News Recap: Ebola toll tops 5,000 as US election, security and regional tensions dominate

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has passed 5,000 deaths, with government data showing the disease has spread across eight provinces, underlining the scale of the crisis.  🔗

In the Middle East and wider security picture, Oman said its maritime authorities evacuated 25 crew from a burning crude oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, while a separate Iranian account described another tanker incident in the same waterway, adding to concern over shipping safety.  🔗 The United States also approved a $2.1bn sale of 500 Patriot PAC 3 missiles to Ukraine, although President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned deliveries could take years.  🔗

Washington and its allies kept up pressure on North Korea at the G20 in Atlanta, where the United States, South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their push for denuclearisation.  🔗 The summit was also marked by a cancelled group photo after several delegations said they would not stand beside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, highlighting the diplomatic strain around the meeting.  🔗

On the US domestic front, the midterm campaign entered its final stretch with early voting topping 43 million ballots, while Democrats and Republicans made their last push before election day.  🔗 Voters in 39 states are also due to decide 145 ballot measures, covering issues from abortion and voting rules to taxes and marijuana.  🔗

Election disputes continued elsewhere in the United States, with a federal judge in California temporarily blocking Justice Department directives aimed at state and local officials over ballot handling, and a US appeals court separately rejecting another bid to set aside 20,000 California ballots.  🔗  🔗 In Arizona, the US Attorney's Office opened a case into allegations that three non profit groups registered non citizens to vote, while in Alaska Mary Peltola denied knowledge of an alleged ballot scheme as the inquiry widened.  🔗  🔗

Beyond the election fight, US authorities sentenced two Chinese nationals to 30 months each in a spying case after they admitted helping facilitate cash payments and trying to recruit US military personnel.  🔗 Pope Leo XIV also cast a mail in ballot in Chicago ahead of the November 3 midterms, a symbolic moment confirmed by the Vatican.  🔗

In Latin America, Flavio Bolsonaro said he secretly left Brazil for the United States, claiming persecution in a money laundering related case, and Brazil responded by summoning Argentina's charge d'affaires over questions about his departure.  🔗  🔗 Separately, Francisco Manuel Bermúdez Cagua, known as Churrón and described as a top Los Choneros leader, was extradited from Ecuador to the United States on narcotics and firearms charges.  🔗

Europe saw mounting political and public order tensions, with France deploying 70,000 police officers nationwide ahead of expected Halloween unrest.  🔗 In Poland, President Karol Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw as a dispute over the country's top court deepened.  🔗 The European Union also adopted a fourth European Peace Facility assistance measure for Mauritania worth 20 million euros.  🔗

Humanitarian and regional diplomacy developments included the UN's top humanitarian official saying the ceasefire in Oleshky is offering hope for civilians, even as attacks on aid vehicles continue.  🔗 Pakistan said it was cautiously optimistic about mediation efforts between Iran and the United States as regional actors try to revive a ceasefire process.  🔗 Israel's election produced a deadlocked result in which Arab parties emerged as potential kingmakers after record turnout lifted them to 19 seats in the 120 seat Knesset.  🔗

Cybersecurity concerns also intensified after two blockchain analytics firms said they had high confidence evidence linking the $6.3bn Binance hack to a North Korea backed group, likely Lazarus Group.  🔗

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