HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Friday, October 30, 2026.
DOJ Opens Criminal Probe of California Mail-In Ballots Despite Judge’s Order
Oct 30, 2026
With just days to go before historic midterm elections, the Trump administration has issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials in California, seeking unredacted voter records as part of a criminal investigation into the state’s voter rolls. At least one of the subpoenas was delivered after a federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s effort to force California to immediately set aside 20,000 ballots from people it claims are “likely noncitizens.” Such voter fraud is exceedingly rare. The court determined the move would wreak havoc with an election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters, and discount the votes of citizens. The subpoenas order the election officials to testify before a grand jury in a criminal investigation on November 4, the day after the election.
This comes as a report in Wired found the law firm that helped set up Elon Musk’s super PAC has created a new, nationwide so-called election integrity organization aligned with President Trump’s false claims of election fraud. The nonprofit organization is called the Association of State and Local Election Officials. It was established by lawyer Chris Gober, a former director and top lawyer for Musk’s America PAC. Gober is running as a Republican for Texas’s 10th Congressional District, which is home to the massive Terafab chip factory being built by Tesla and SpaceX.
Corporations Spend $737M on Midterm Elections as Super-Rich Give $4.2B to Super PACs
Oct 30, 2026
A new analysis by Public Citizen finds corporations have spent at least $737 million so far on the 2026 election cycle — a 60% increase from the 2024 election. That compares to less than $13 million spent by corporations on the 2010 midterm elections, before the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United that political spending is a form of constitutionally protected free speech.
Meanwhile, super PACs have reported receiving $4.2 billion from 515 donors contributing at least $1 million each this year. The record super PAC spending is led by Elon Musk, who’s contributed at least $445 million during this election cycle.
Trump Returns to South Carolina to Rally GOP Support as Pollsters Declare Senate Race a Toss-Up
Oct 30, 2026
President Trump made his second trip to South Carolina in two weeks on Thursday as he seeks to salvage support for Republican candidates in deep-red states ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections. Trump won South Carolina by 18 points two years ago, but recent polls show the state’s Senate race is effectively tied, with even Fox News declaring it a “toss-up.” Incumbent Senator Darline Graham had no experience as an elected official when she was appointed to fill the seat left vacant when her brother, the longtime Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, died in July. Graham faces challenger Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician from Charleston who’s campaigning on her medical record. Andrews opposes cuts to Medicaid and supports a public health insurance option, but has opposed Medicare for All. Senator Graham spoke briefly alongside President Trump at a rally in Rock Hill. She described herself as a “conservative Christian” and her opponent as “batshit crazy.” She also had this to say.
Sen. Darline Graham: “I don’t know about you, but I will not allow the liberals and socialists to turn South Carolina blue. You know what? They can just kiss my ass.”
President Trump has reversed his decision to cancel his plans to rally Republican support in Kansas and Iowa over the weekend. On Thursday the White House said Trump would make shorter appearances at a series of “telerallies” but Trump announced on Friday that he would go to the states.
DOJ Ramps Up Criminal Probe of Alaska Senate Candidate Mary Peltola’s Campaign with Subpoenas
Oct 30, 2026
Image Credit: Al Grillo/ZUMA Press Wire
The Justice Department has issued subpoenas in response to a New York Times report that found operatives linked to Democratic Alaskan Senate candidate Mary Peltola successfully recruited a second Dan Sullivan to draw votes from Republican Senator Dan Sullivan on the state’s four-person ballot. Peltola has denied a former staffer’s account that she was aware of the effort. It’s not clear which federal law would justify a federal investigation, though President Trump has called for a criminal prosecution of Peltola and her campaign, while Alaska’s Republican governor has ordered a state criminal and civil investigation.
International News Briefs for Friday, October 30, 2026
Famine Declared in Yemeni City of Taiz Amid Houthi Siege
Oct 30, 2026
In Yemen, the governor of Taiz says the city of roughly 1 million people has entered into famine due to a weekslong siege by fighters with the Ansar Allah movement, known as the Houthis. Human Rights Watch said Thursday the siege could amount to the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare. The famine declaration came as a Saudi airstrike on Taiz killed 13 people. That followed a Houthi attack on Aden’s airport that injured passengers and halted flights. Meanwhile, the Houthis are rejecting claims by the Saudi-led coalition that Saudi air defenses intercepted missiles fired toward Mecca.
Sen. Chris Murphy Calls Trump’s Plans to Renew Attacks on Iran “Insane”
Oct 30, 2026
Image Credit: Middle East Institute
Another tanker has been struck while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian forces reportedly deployed a new tactic of strapping explosives to a small boat. It was at least the 35th attack on a ship near the strait since the start of October. It came after Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy issued a warning over his recent briefing with Pentagon officials on President Trump’s plans to launch intense new strikes on Iran after the midterm elections. Murphy spoke with the Middle East Institute.
Sen. Chris Murphy: “You’ve heard a preview that it would be a short-duration plan. I will just say this: Their plan is insane. It won’t — it won’t — it will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law.”
Russian Strike Kills 14 at Crowded Train Station in Ukraine as Another Ship Is Sunk in Black Sea
Oct 30, 2026
Image Credit: Emergency Service of Ukraine
In Ukraine, a Russian drone struck a crowded railroad station in the eastern city of Dnipro on Thursday, killing at least 14 people. More Russian attacks killed at least six people elsewhere in Ukraine. The strikes came after sea drones attacked a Greek container ship off the coast of Bulgaria on Wednesday, sinking the vessel. All 15 crew members were evacuated. It’s the latest in a series of drone strikes on civilian ships in the Black Sea blamed on both Ukraine and Russia. On Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for a global maritime truce during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis: “Just yesterday, another commercial cargo vessel, owned by a Greek company, was attacked and sank in the Black Sea. We strongly condemn this attack. Targeted civilian commercial shipping is completely unacceptable. It is yet another reminder for the urgent need for a global maritime truce, ensuring that commercial vessels can navigate safely and freely, even in times of conflict.”
Ukraine Halts Attacks on Russian Refineries at Trump’s Request, as Russian Diesel Heads Toward U.S.
Oct 30, 2026
Image Credit: Greenpeace
The Wall Street Journal reports Ukraine’s military has paused its strikes against Russian oil refineries, at President Trump’s request. The unofficial pause is expected to last through the U.S. midterm elections next week. It began last week, after President Trump called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to step down and after Elon Musk temporarily limited Ukraine’s ability to use the Starlink and Starshield internet satellite networks in its aircraft and drones.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace says it’s tracking seven oil tankers carrying an estimated 288,000 tons of Russian diesel toward the U.S. This week, Senator Richard Blumenthal sent letters to shipping companies warning them that delivering Russian diesel to U.S. ports would violate federal law — despite authorization from the Trump administration. “Reverse course while there’s still time,” Senator Blumenthal wrote.
GEO Group Signs 10-Year Contract to Continue Operating Notorious Tacoma ICE Jail
Oct 30, 2026
In immigration news, the number of ICE jails nationwide has more than doubled since President Trump returned to office, with his administration allocating billions of dollars for the mass detention of tens of thousands of immigrants.
In Washington state, the troubled Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma will continue to operate for another 10 years, after the for-profit prison company GEO Group signed a $1.5 billion contract with the federal government. Advocates have long reported on human rights violations, including sexual violence, as well as numerous deaths at Northwest, where immigrants have repeatedly staged hunger and labor strikes demanding their release.
Meanwhile, in Minnesota, local station KARE 11 reports the Trump administration used taxpayer funds to purchase a shuttered private prison earlier this year in the rural city of Appleton for nearly $496 million to use as an ICE jail. That amount was more than six times the cost of CoreCivic’s initial offer to sell the prison to the state of Minnesota for about $75 million. This follows an unprecedented $45 billion given to ICE to expand its detention capacity as part of Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Meanwhile, the ACLU and a coalition of rights groups are suing the Trump administration over its disappearance of immigrants in ICE custody. The policy allows ICE to hide the whereabouts of people in detention, leaving their families and lawyers unable to locate and communicate with them.
El Salvador Deploys 2,000 Troops to Haiti
Oct 30, 2026
Image Credit: El Salvador Presidency Handout
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has deployed more than 2,000 soldiers to Haiti in a move human rights advocates say could further destabilize the nation and add to rising violence. Trump has reportedly backed Bukele’s deployment of troops, with Bukele claiming his soldiers only intend to rescue four Salvadoran aviation technicians who’d been kidnapped by gangs in Haiti. Back in El Salvador, Bukele’s so-called state of exception, first declared in 2022, has led to the arbitrary arrest of tens of thousands of people, many wrongfully accused of being gang members and denied due process rights while imprisoned in torturous conditions. Bukele spoke from San Salvador Thursday.
President Nayib Bukele: “I told the gangs in Haiti, ‘We wiped out the gangs in El Salvador, and we can do the same to you.’ In other words, it was a warning. And our mission isn’t to wipe out the gangs in Haiti, but our mission is to rescue our four members. Now, if they don’t hand them over willingly, well, we’ll rescue them by force.”
Flávio Bolsonaro Declares He’s Brazil’s “Legitimate” Leader After Trump Helps Him Flee to Miami
Oct 30, 2026
The New York Times reports President Trump ensured Flávio Bolsonaro could flee Brazil and enter the United States after Bolsonaro’s election loss to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Despite his defeat, Bolsonaro has declared himself the “legitimate” leader of Brazil, claiming — without evidence — the election results were fraudulent. Trump has also falsely claimed Brazil’s election appeared to be “rigged.”
Bolsonaro faces multiple criminal investigations in Brazil, and authorities had requested he surrender his passport when he escaped to Argentina and then Ecuador before landing in Miami Wednesday on a private plane. Trump will likely grant Bolsonaro permanent residency in the U.S., according to U.S. officials who spoke to The New York Times. Flávio Bolsonaro is the son of former Brazilian far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for orchestrating a failed coup attempt after he lost the 2022 election to Lula.
Read more news here on Havana Times,
