Spain Mourns as Train Crash Near Toledo Kills at Least 68

This is the morning edition of the One News Page Global Briefing, for Thursday, the twenty-ninth of October, twenty twenty-six. Here is what matters now.

A high-speed train collision near Toledo, south of Madrid, on Spain's Madrid–Andalucía line has killed at least sixty-eight people and injured more than one hundred. Authorities have warned the toll could rise as rescue crews continue to search the wreckage. One train struck another from behind, derailing at least two carriages. It is Spain's second deadly rail disaster this year. Spain's transport minister said one of the trains had been ordered to continue despite a red signal, describing the circumstances as an error and inexplicable. The crash has intensified scrutiny of rail safety and management. Spain began three days of national mourning on Thursday, while the Civil Guard established clinics to collect D N A samples from relatives to help identify victims.

In the United States, Dolores Huerta, the labor organizer and civil rights leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers union with Cesar Chavez and coined the rallying cry Sí, se puede, died Wednesday at her home in Bakersfield, California. Her family said she was ninety-six and died from cancer. Huerta spent decades campaigning for farm workers, women, L G B T Q people and racial justice, and her phrase later became a staple of political movements including Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. Tributes from lawmakers, union leaders and activists emphasized her enduring influence. Earlier this year she told The New York Times that Chavez had raped her decades earlier, a disclosure she made public in the final months of her life.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, Flávio Bolsonaro, the far-right senator and son of imprisoned former president Jair Bolsonaro, left Brazil and landed in the United States early Wednesday after losing Sunday's presidential run-off to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil's Supreme Court had ordered him to surrender his passports following the defeat, but he failed to hand them in and departed with his family via Argentina and Ecuador. A U S State Department official said Bolsonaro and his family would receive American visas. Since arriving, he has declared himself leader of Brazil and, according to some accounts, president-elect, despite the election result. He faces a money-laundering investigation at home, and his flight drew condemnation from Lula, who called it shameful.

In the Middle East, Israel's general election, the first since the October twenty twenty-three Hamas-led attacks and the war in Gaza, ended with no clear winner and record turnout. With most ballots counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc was narrowly ahead of the opposition camp led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, but neither side appeared close to the sixty-one seats needed to form a majority in the one hundred and twenty-seat Knesset. Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot claimed victory, and weeks or months of coalition negotiations are expected. Arab parties had a strong showing, with early indications suggesting they could win around eighteen seats, potentially making them a factor in any governing arrangement. The Central Elections Committee is continuing to tally votes.

Back in the United States, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday in its final meeting before the midterm elections, keeping borrowing costs at one of the highest pre-election levels in more than two decades. Chair Kevin Warsh said politics played no role in the decision. Two of the twelve board members voted against the pause, favoring a quarter-point increase. Inflation remains above three percent, partly driven by higher oil and gas prices linked to the war in Iran.

Also in the United States, Senior U S District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who presided over some of the country's most consequential cases, died Wednesday at ninety-two. His docket included lawsuits stemming from the September eleven attacks, multiple cases involving Donald Trump, and the prosecution of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on narco-terrorism and torture charges.

In Britain, the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of harassing two Daily Mail journalists in a way that caused them fear of violence. Prosecutors said he used bullyboy, intimidatory tactics over the outlet's coverage, forcing the reporters and their family members to flee their homes. The verdict followed a week-long trial.

In Southeast Asia, the luxury cruise ship Villa Vie Odyssey, which had been undertaking a multi-year round-the-world voyage, suspended operations in Cambodia because of soaring fuel costs, leaving two hundred and three passengers, mostly Americans, and one hundred and fifty-six crew members stranded. Operators said they are working with passengers on temporary living arrangements while the vessel remains in port.

In U S politics, a New York Times report alleged Wednesday that Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola's Senate campaign orchestrated an effort to recruit a second candidate named Dan Sullivan to appear on the ballot alongside Republican Senator Dan Sullivan in next week's midterm elections. The report said Peltola knew of the effort, which Republicans condemned as a ploy to confuse voters and split the vote in a race that could affect control of the Senate.

In health policy, an Associated Press report said most Food and Drug Administration scientific staff members opposed a Trump administration plan to make unproven peptide drugs more accessible. The plan is favored by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. The scientists had limited input in drafting the policy, according to six people familiar with its development.

That was the morning edition of the One News Page Global Briefing. Read the complete briefing and explore its supporting coverage at one news page dot com.