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North Korea Preparing Further Russia Troop Deployments, No Sign Move Imminent, Seoul Says

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un examine a launch pad of Soyuz rockets during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un examine a launch pad of Soyuz rockets during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
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North Korea Preparing Further Russia Troop Deployments, No Sign Move Imminent, Seoul Says

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un examine a launch pad of Soyuz rockets during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un examine a launch pad of Soyuz rockets during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

South Korea's Defense Ministry said North Korea was continuing preparations for an additional troop deployment to Russia, but had detected no signs that such a deployment was imminent, according to a South Korean lawmaker's office.

The assessment came ‌after North ‌Korea's Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim ‌Jong ⁠Un, last week ⁠denied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's claim that Pyongyang planned to send up to 50,000 more troops to Russia to fight for its ally, Reuters said.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement to lawmaker Yu Yong-weon that North Korea had continued to supply Russia with weapons systems, including short-range ballistic missiles, according to Yu's office.

North ⁠Korea is estimated to have supplied Russia with ‌more than 15 million rounds of ‌artillery ammunition, measured in 152-millimetre shell equivalents, it said.

The lawmaker's office, ‌citing a South Korean Defense Intelligence Agency assessment, said North ‌Korean missiles used in the war may have improved in accuracy through battlefield data, alongside Russian technical advice and component support.

The ministry also said the development of some North Korean ballistic missiles and multiple rocket ‌launchers assessed as being intended for use in a conflict with South Korea was nearing completion, the ⁠lawmaker's office ⁠said.

The ministry added that North Korea's Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, capable of reaching the US territory of Guam, was being prepared for operational deployment, according to Yu's office.

North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles have the flight capability to reach the US mainland, the ministry said, but key technologies, including warhead re-entry, have not been verified because all test launches have been conducted on lofted trajectories.

North Korea and Russia have deepened military cooperation since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Pyongyang supplying artillery ammunition and missiles since 2023 and deploying troops from 2024, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western assessments.

Moscow and Pyongyang have previously denied arms transfers.

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World

US Midterm Early Voting Hits Record 48 Million

A vote here sign and electioneering distance marker sit outside the Tom Green County Elections Office and polling location in San Angelo, Texas, US October 28, 2026. (Reuters)
A vote here sign and electioneering distance marker sit outside the Tom Green County Elections Office and polling location in San Angelo, Texas, US October 28, 2026. (Reuters)
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US Midterm Early Voting Hits Record 48 Million

A vote here sign and electioneering distance marker sit outside the Tom Green County Elections Office and polling location in San Angelo, Texas, US October 28, 2026. (Reuters)
A vote here sign and electioneering distance marker sit outside the Tom Green County Elections Office and polling location in San Angelo, Texas, US October 28, 2026. (Reuters)

A record 47.9 million Americans have already voted in next week's US midterm elections, with participation surging in key battleground states and registered Democrats outpacing Republicans, figures showed Friday.

The University of Florida's Election Lab had recorded 47,922,669 early votes nationwide by midday, surpassing the previous midterm record of 45.9 million cast ahead of Election Day in 2022.

The surge is especially pronounced in states with fiercely contested Senate races that could determine control of the chamber during the final two years of President Donald Trump's presidency.

In Texas, more than six million people had voted early by Wednesday, according to official figures, with in-person turnout running around 50 percent ahead of the same stage in 2022.

North Carolina's election board reported early voting up nearly 37 percent on the same point four years ago, while South Carolina surpassed its entire 2022 early vote total on Monday, with five days of early voting still to go.

In Kansas, where Republican Senator Roger Marshall faces a tough re-election fight, advance ballots were running around two-thirds ahead of 2022 last week, according to the secretary of state's office.

In states that record voters' party affiliation, registered Democrats have accounted for a substantially larger share of early ballots than Republicans.

Election Lab figures showed Democrats making up around 44 percent of early voters in those states, compared with 31 percent for Republicans and 25 percent for unaffiliated or minor-party voters.

University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald, who oversees the Election Lab, has pointed to rising participation among Black and Hispanic voters in states that report racial and ethnic data, with particularly strong turnout in heavily Hispanic communities along the Texas-Mexico border.

In Georgia, where early in-person voting broke the state's midterm record on Thursday, women accounted for 56 percent of ballots cast by that day, compared with 44 percent for men.

"Georgians continue to head to the polls in record numbers because they trust the system," top elections official Brad Raffensperger said Thursday.

But experts warn against interpreting the figures as a prediction of the election outcome.

A voter's party registration does not reveal which candidates they supported, and tens of millions more Americans are expected to cast ballots on Tuesday.

In recent elections Republicans have tended to turn out in greater numbers on Election Day, potentially narrowing or reversing the Democrats' early advantage.

And higher early participation does not necessarily translate into higher overall turnout, since some voters may simply be casting ballots sooner than in previous elections.

World

Pope Leo Makes History with US Midterm Vote

Pope Leo XIV waves to faithful as he leaves after the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on October 28, 2026. (AFP)
Pope Leo XIV waves to faithful as he leaves after the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on October 28, 2026. (AFP)
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Pope Leo Makes History with US Midterm Vote

Pope Leo XIV waves to faithful as he leaves after the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on October 28, 2026. (AFP)
Pope Leo XIV waves to faithful as he leaves after the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on October 28, 2026. (AFP)

Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic Church's first US-born pontiff, has voted in the United States midterm elections, the first known time a pope has voted in a political election.

The pope, who has clashed with US President Donald Trump, submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago, the Vatican said Friday.

The Chicago-born pontiff "has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so" and believes in "the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes," it said.

A rift earlier this year between US President Donald Trump and the pope sparked global headlines.

Leo and Trump repeatedly clashed over papal criticism of the harsh crackdown on immigration in the United States and of the war on Iran, with Trump calling the pontiff "weak" on crime and "terrible" on foreign policy.

The pope said he was "not afraid" of Trump.

In April, after Trump's threat to destroy Iran, Leo called on everyone to do their part for peace, urging them to "contact the authorities -- political leaders, congressmen -- to ask them, to tell them, to work for peace and to reject war and violence."

The crucial US midterm elections are scheduled to be held on November 3.

In September, Leo urged the faithful to shake off "all passivity and indifference" toward current events.

"We cannot remain as unengaged spectators; rather, we must listen with our hearts, allow ourselves to be challenged, and become involved," he said during the weekly general audience in St Peter's Square.

Robert Francis Prevost, as he was known before his papal election, voted in Democratic primaries in 2008 and 2010 and in three Republican primaries in the years that followed, according to the New York Times, citing state and local records.

In primary elections in Illinois, voters may choose any party's ballot at the polls, and Prevost varied in his selection, it said.

Prevost spent nearly two decades as a missionary in Peru and has both US and Peruvian citizenship.

"He has also confirmed that, during his years of residence in Peru he exercised his right to vote whenever he was eligible to do so," the Vatican said.

World

EU and Canada to ‘Withstand Shocks Together’ with New Alliance

Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, flanked by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, and European Council President Antonio Costa arrive for their closing news conference during the EU-Canada summit in Montreal on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, flanked by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, and European Council President Antonio Costa arrive for their closing news conference during the EU-Canada summit in Montreal on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
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EU and Canada to ‘Withstand Shocks Together’ with New Alliance

Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, flanked by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, and European Council President Antonio Costa arrive for their closing news conference during the EU-Canada summit in Montreal on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, flanked by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, and European Council President Antonio Costa arrive for their closing news conference during the EU-Canada summit in Montreal on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa held talks with Canada's Mark Carney in Montreal Friday to finalize a new partnership in a world dominated by the United States and China.

The two parties are set to unveil a series of deals -- from critical minerals to artificial intelligence -- and lay the groundwork for a broader alliance open to other democracies seeking to better navigate global trade tensions.

"It means affordability, more competition, more choice, easier access. It means opportunity," Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, said of closer cooperation with the European Union, as he arrived at the talks.

"And it means, at its base, sovereignty, greater resilience, ability to withstand shocks together."

Already sharing a free trade agreement, Canada and the EU have sought to move closer together since President Donald Trump's return to the White House upended relations with Washington's traditional allies.

Both Canada and the EU have been hit with US tariffs and territorial threats.

Von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said Canada could not become a "full-fledged" EU member due to its geographical location, but said the bloc wanted to bring it "as close as possible".

A senior EU official explained the new relationship would be unique to Canada.

It entails aligning policies, such as on climate and artificial intelligence, Canada joining some EU programs, and creating a stable governance framework, the official said.

The partners are expected to kick off with a series of deals on Friday.

Critical minerals are a key focus of the two-day summit which officially began Thursday evening.

They are needed for green technologies such as batteries and wind turbines that Europe sources mostly from China but are also in plentiful stock in Canada.

But Canada needs massive infrastructure investment to jump-start its mining industry.

An agreement allowing the European Investment Bank to back Canadian critical mineral projects is expected to be unveiled at the summit.

- 'Alliance for the Future' -

Brussels and Ottawa also want to collaborate on AI, a field where they are playing catch-up with the United States and China.

Europe is ready to open its supercomputing infrastructure to Canadian researchers, industry and start-ups, von der Leyen said.

On Thursday, Ottawa announced a CAN$1.6 billion ($1.1 billion) investment in the Canadian AI firm Cohere. The company has recently partnered with Germany's Aleph Alpha in a move that Carney said was an example of what Europe and Canada could do together.

"We are not waiting for the future of AI to be decided somewhere else by those we don't know or by those we don't trust," Carney said.

A digital trade deal allowing faster and cheaper online transactions is also in the offering.

The two parties should also work towards Canada's participation in EU initiatives like the Erasmus program, which allows university students to spend a semester abroad, and the Galileo satellite program -- an alternative to the American Global Positioning System (GPS).

The summit will additionally establish the basis for a larger "Alliance for the Future" open to other "trusted partners" such as Japan, South Korea or Australia, the senior EU official said.

This idea is to form a "common space for economic prosperity" and better coordinate trade policies such as tariffs to avoid mutual harm, the official said.

"There is always a risk that inadvertently you hit one of your partners with your economic measures," the official noted.