United States
After the midterm elections, Democrats won control of both the House and Senate. Democrats flipped many seats, including ones Republicans had held for a long time. One example was Kansas, where Adam Hamilton was elected the first democratic senator in 94 years. This major victory for the democrats was largely driven by a rise in oil prices as a result of the Iran war. With this victory, Democrats will now control all of the committees in the House, and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries will presumably become the next Speaker of the House. These election results will likely cause President Trump a headache for the last two years of his presidency.
Asia
North Korea launched numerous missiles into the sea off its east coast on Wednesday. This act follows a rise in tensions between the U.S. and North Korea after the FBI announced that a North Korean hacking group was responsible for the theft of 6.3 billion dollars worth of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from Binance. The sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said the accusations that North Korea was behind the heist were false and that they would only hurt U.S-North Korea relations. Many security experts are concerned that the stolen money could be used to fund its military.
Europe
Air travel across Europe was interrupted this week as a series of bomb threats against numerous flights were made. On Monday, Hungarian fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Wizz Air flight from London to Sofia after a bomb threat was made. Then on Tuesday, seven flights were also targeted by similar threats. No explosives were found on any of the planes involved. As a result of the threats, an airport in Warsaw, Poland, had to suspend operations for a few hours. The perpetrator of the hoaxes has yet to be identified. The European Union transport chief said it was too early to tell whether the threats were linked. There have been reports that Russia may have been behind it; however, that remains speculation.
Americas
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado called for the release of all poltiical prisoners by interim Venezuelan president Delcy Rodriguez during a protest outside a prison. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that U.S. led talks between the Venezuelan government and opposition groups have resulted in the release of thousands of prisoners. Machado returned to Venezuela at the end of October after being in exile for many months. When she returned, thousands of Venezuelans welcomed her home. Machado has consistently called for elections to take place in Venezuela. Rodriguez has said that elections will take place soon; however, a timeline has yet to be established.
Africa
On Thursday, Somalia's Supreme Court ruled that constitutional amendments would not extend President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s current presidential term. The court also rejected the president's request to dismiss the court's chief justice. The court ruled that the President's four-year term officially ended on May 15, 2026. A request to the relevant parties was also made by the court to build an electoral framework allowing elections to take place within 90 days. The ruling came after the President dismissed the chief justice and had troops surround the court in an attempt to force the chief justice to leave. Opposition leaders have called the presidents attempt to hold off on having elections as an illegal power grab.
Middle East
President Trump has said that there are no immediate plans to attack Iran following the democratic landslide in the midterm elections. He has maintained that the war with Iran was necessary. Vice President JD Vance said, however, that the Iran war is a major reason why the republicans lost the midterms. Iran has continued to attack ships attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, adding to regional instability. Back-channel negotiations between the U.S. and Iran appear to continune with Qatari and Pakistani mediation. With the Democrats soon to be in control of Congress, some people believe that President Trump may be pressured into ending the war permanently with a peace agreement. Iran
