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Russian Drones Hit Ukrainian Bus and Train, Killing Five, Officials Say

A woman crosses a road as smoke rises in the background from the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, September 16, 2026. (Reuters)
A woman crosses a road as smoke rises in the background from the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, September 16, 2026. (Reuters)
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Russian Drones Hit Ukrainian Bus and Train, Killing Five, Officials Say

A woman crosses a road as smoke rises in the background from the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, September 16, 2026. (Reuters)
A woman crosses a road as smoke rises in the background from the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, September 16, 2026. (Reuters)

Russian drones struck a passenger bus and a train in southern Ukraine on Wednesday, killing five people, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow pressed on with strikes on transport links and infrastructure.

A photo posted on Telegram by a regional governor showed a white vehicle with blown-out windows and a line of what appeared to be blood streaming down its side. Reuters has not verified the image.

"There is no military logic to this, just another act of brutality," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on social media, urging the US and ‌Europe to press ‌ahead with toughening sanctions against Russia.

ESCALATING STRIKES ON ECONOMIC TARGETS

Moscow ‌and ⁠Ukraine have traded ⁠escalating strikes in recent months on logistics and other economic targets, aimed at hampering each other's war effort and damaging morale.

With Ukraine's airspace closed since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, buses and trains have become a vital transport link for ordinary Ukrainians and businesses.

The drone attack on the passenger bus near the frontline city of Nikopol killed four men and a woman early on Wednesday, police said.

A further seven people were ⁠injured in the attack, said the governor of the surrounding Dnipropetrovsk ‌region, Oleksandr Hanzha, who posted the photo.

There was ‌no immediate comment from Russia on the attack. Both Ukraine and Russia deny deliberately targeting ‌civilians in the war, triggered by Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

ATTACK ON PASSENGER ‌TRAIN

A Russian drone also attacked a passenger train in Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv region, the acting regional governor said.

All 168 passengers and crew were evacuated and no one was injured, Heorhii Reshetilov said on Telegram. The train was attacked twice more after the first strike, he ‌said.

Zelenskiy said that, in addition to the Mykolaiv train attack, a locomotive in Kovel — near the border with Poland — was also ⁠struck.

The incidents follow ⁠similar attacks recently, including on a train near Ukraine's border with NATO-member Poland on Sunday, shortly after European diplomats and political figures had used the same line.

Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian railways, hitting 120 passenger wagons, 304 locomotives and 43 railway stations so far this year, the state rail operator told Reuters.

The company said that Russia has attacked 1,700 railway facilities in total since the start of the year, up from 1,206 facilities in 2025 and 842 in 2024.

"Russian forces strike passenger trains, locomotives, stations, and railway routes knowing exactly how essential they are for civilians, evacuations, and Ukraine's economy," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.

"This is not collateral damage. It is a systematic hunt for people and an attempt to paralyze civilian life," he said.

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World

G20 Foreign Ministers to End Atlanta Meeting without Consensus on Key Issues

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chair of the African Union Executive Council Edouard Bizimana and others attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, US, October 30, 2026. REUTERS/Megan Varner/Pool
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chair of the African Union Executive Council Edouard Bizimana and others attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, US, October 30, 2026. REUTERS/Megan Varner/Pool
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G20 Foreign Ministers to End Atlanta Meeting without Consensus on Key Issues

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chair of the African Union Executive Council Edouard Bizimana and others attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, US, October 30, 2026. REUTERS/Megan Varner/Pool
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chair of the African Union Executive Council Edouard Bizimana and others attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, US, October 30, 2026. REUTERS/Megan Varner/Pool

Top diplomats from the Group of 20 largest world economies will wrap up two days of talks in Atlanta on Saturday without reaching consensus on several critical global security issues after divisions, notably over Russia's war with Ukraine, overshadowed the start of the meeting.

As a result, the group will not release a joint communique but will rather rely on a chairman’s statement summarizing the talks, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio will release at the conclusion, according to diplomats who attended.

Rubio, who opened the talks with an appeal for unity, had canceled the traditional group photo of the foreign ministers on Friday after European diplomats objected to the inclusion of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and threatened to boycott or walk out of the snapshot that often kicks off such gatherings, The Associated Press said.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, who was representing his country for the first time as a guest at a G20 meeting, said Friday he was not surprised by the failure to reach consensus.

“We have wars going on, and we have participants in those wars around the table, so it’s very difficult to agree on a common line,” he told reporters.

Other participants in the meetings, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the closed-door talks, said all had agreed to try to overcome their differences despite the long odds and to work to make next month’s G20 leaders summit hosted by President Donald Trump in Florida a success.

These diplomats said a chairman's statement had long been the plan due to the deep differences among the attendees, including over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US-Israeli war against Iran, US tariffs and Chinese machinations in the South China Sea. All have contributed to spikes in the global cost of fuel as well as uncertainty about trade.

They described the opening session as cordial but said Russia’s position on Ukraine is unyielding — as is its opposition to Poland’s membership in the G20. And they said the disagreements also include the Trump administration’s not inviting G20 member South Africa over the objections of others.

Russia’s presence at G20 gathering roils Europeans

Some G20 countries had already expressed concern that the US invited Russia during its heightened attacks on Ukraine, especially after Trump pushed ties with Ukraine to new lows by waiving fresh sanctions on Moscow and temporarily limiting logistical and intelligence assistance.

However, the State Department announced Friday that it had approved a proposed $2.1 billion sale of Patriot air defense interceptors for Ukraine.

Lavrov said Moscow will not allow a situation in which Ukraine poses a “military threat to legitimate security interests of the Russian Federation."

Lavrov has traveled only infrequently to NATO member states since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and resulting severe sanctions were imposed on Moscow, and it is unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin will accept Trump’s invitation to attend the G20 leaders summit at his Miami golf club in December.

The Iran war hangs over the G20 event

The US has said a top priority for the meeting is resolving differences over issues related to freedom of navigation, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, the Black Sea and the South China Sea. The topic will include discussions on Iran, Russia-Ukraine and China and its smaller neighbors.

But hanging over the meeting is the prospect of new US military intervention in Iran, which has put the region on edge. Rubio met on the sidelines with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, as well as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country has been a key mediator.

The Associated Press has reported that US officials have told several Middle East countries and regional allies to be prepared for potential renewed military strikes against Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections and the possibility that Iran will retaliate against them.

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.