Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Tuesday, including Americans heading to polls on Tuesday in midterm elections, US military carrying out “defensive” strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, and Belgium’s prime minister submitting his resignation to King Philippe amid a budget deadlock.
Americans head to the polls Tuesday in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress and shape President Donald Trump’s ability to advance his agenda during his final two years in office.
More than 54 million people have already voted early. Republicans are defending narrow majorities in both chambers, with rising prices and the war on Iran weighing on the party’s standing.
Winning the House would allow Democrats to block legislation and launch investigations into the administration. Taking the Senate would also give them the power to reject Trump’s nominees, including federal judges.
The first polls close at 6 p.m. Eastern, with results arriving throughout the night. Close contests could leave control of one or both chambers unresolved beyond election night.
The US military carried out "defensive" strikes against Iran’s Qeshm Island, local media reported, citing a US official.
"This was a defensive measure for Iranians using surface to air missiles against US assets," the official was quoted as saying.
The attack, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, comes as President Donald Trump has sought to downplay the prospect of a renewed large-scale military confrontation with Iran following Tuesday’s midterm elections.
However, US officials told the Journal that American forces have continued conducting smaller-scale strikes against Iranian targets for several weeks.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Monday that it downed two US drones south of Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever submitted his resignation to King Philippe after his five-party coalition failed to agree on the 2027 budget, but the monarch deferred a decision and announced consultations with coalition leaders.
"The King is holding his decision in suspense and will begin consultations with the presidents of the majority parties tomorrow," the Royal Palace said in a statement posted on the US social media platform X.
De Wever met the monarch at the Royal Palace in Brussels for more than 90 minutes amid tensions over efforts to address a €10 billion ($11 billion) budget shortfall, according to public broadcaster VRT.
Negotiations have been deadlocked for weeks, with disagreements reportedly centered on the Flemish socialist Vooruit party and the Francophone center-right Reformist Movement (MR).
Finland's national ice hockey team will refuse to play against Russia while its war against Ukraine continues, Finnish Ice Hockey Association chairman Heikki Hietanen said.
Hietanen told Yle Urheilu, the sports division of Finland’s public broadcaster Yle, that the association would do everything possible to prevent Russia from participating in international tournaments following a recent ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
"We have aligned our own position so that Finland will not play against Russia," Hietanen said in a statement issued by the association.
"Our line is that we will not play against Russia as long as the war of aggression against Ukraine continues," he added.
Aston Villa has dropped its threat of legal action against Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher following an apology from the former Liverpool and England defender, BBC Sport reported.
Villa said Friday that it would initiate legal proceedings over what the club described as “unacceptable insults” made by Carragher on the Stick to Football podcast.
Carragher had linked Villa manager Unai Emery with a potential move to Manchester United to replace Michael Carrick and told Villa fans to “shut up” in response to criticism of his comments.
The former defender apologized Saturday, describing his language as “clumsy and wrong” and insisting his remarks had been “tongue in cheek.”
Finland intends to pursue a national ban on Russian athletes entering the country without waiting for possible European Union regulations, Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said.
Valtonen told the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that the government would advance the measure at the national level, adding that details of specific steps would be announced later this week.
Earlier, she wrote on the US social media platform X that "if Russia continues its war of aggression, Russian athletes will not be welcome in Finland next year."
"At the October Foreign Affairs Council meeting, I wrote to my EU counterparts urging them to restrict Russian athletes’ access to the entire Schengen area. The European Commission is working on the matter," she added.
Walt Disney is considering cutting thousands of jobs and has asked some managers to identify annual cost savings of 20%, according to a Bloomberg News report.
The potential restructuring comes as Disney faces weaker box office revenue, growing streaming competition and slowing international attendance at theme parks.
Some operations would face deeper cuts than others, with part of the savings reinvested in programming, technology, theme parks and cruises, the report said.
Disney previously cut about 1,000 jobs in April, following several rounds of layoffs under former CEO Bob Iger.
Türkiye secured the return of 100 cultural artifacts from the US, officially presenting them at the Istanbul Archaeological Museums during an event attended by Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos.
The event also marked the opening of the exhibition “No Escape: Boubon,” highlighting Türkiye’s efforts to combat the illegal trafficking of cultural heritage.
The returned collection includes 40 artifacts from Horoztepe in Tokat, dating to 2300–2000 BC, 44 terracotta architectural panels from Duver in Burdur, dating to 700–480 BC, a portrait from the ancient city of Aphrodisias, as well as other valuable objects such as theatrical masks and goddess statuettes.
OpenAI appointed former US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll as its senior counselor for national security modernization, creating a new position focused on advancing the responsible use of artificial intelligence in national security, cybersecurity and defense.
The appointment will see Driscoll work with OpenAI's senior leadership, government officials, industry executives, academic institutions and international partners to identify opportunities for advanced AI to strengthen national security capabilities, particularly among the US and its allies.
In his newly created role, Driscoll will advise public- and private-sector partners on modernizing policies and strategies to incorporate AI into national security operations. He will also help OpenAI's internal teams better understand the operational requirements and challenges facing national security institutions around the world.
Several supermarkets across Sweden, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands have reported cyberattacks targeting their refrigeration and freezer systems, according to local media.
In Sweden, the incident affected several ICA stores, most of them in the southern region of Skane, as well as locations on the island of Oland, in Varmland and Stockholm.
Six Coop stores in the regions of Gastrikland and Halsingland were also hit.
At ICA Nara in Boda, on Oland, store manager Mats Olsson said he arrived to find water covering the floor and a freezer temperature reading of 55C (131F).
The refrigeration units had reportedly been switched off, leaving food products spoiled. At an ICA store in Sankt Olof, manager Dennis Vidal said staff were trying to salvage the situation.
Apple sent spyware threat warnings to members of a German delegation accompanying Chancellor Friedrich Merz on his recent Asia trip, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported.
According to the report, the latest warnings affected a broader group of individuals, including several people who accompanied Merz on visits to Singapore, Japan and South Korea.
Staff members from federal ministries and journalists also received the alerts, the magazine reported.
Apple said it was issuing warnings to potentially affected individuals in 99 countries, indicating that the suspected spyware campaign was not limited to Germany.
news_share_descriptionsubscription_contact
contact_the_ombudsman
is_there_an_error_in_this_story
