The Current Affairs Digest

Iranian and Qatari officials held a third straight day of talks aimed at a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, with Qatar acting as mediator. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that the talks were 'ongoing and progressing' and that Tehran is prepared for 'both defence and diplomacy'. No deal has been reported.

Oil prices reacted. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose almost 14% in October and ended the month at its highest level in six months. On Monday it fell. The AP reported a drop of about 7.5% to roughly $104.98 a barrel, against near $70 before the war, while an Australian market report had Brent at about $111 on Monday afternoon after reaching $117.64 earlier in the day.

Several things keep prices high. Attacks on oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz are raising global energy and shipping costs. OPEC+, the group of oil producers that includes Russia, kept its December production targets steady on Sunday and is not expected to make further changes until next year.

The next test may come after the US midterm elections. Tim Waterer, a market analyst, said rhetoric around Iran could rise and push Brent toward $120 once the vote is over. The war is now in its ninth month, and rising gas prices have been a major issue in the American campaign.

Health diplomacy also made news in Geneva. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a negotiating meeting that recent outbreaks, including Ebola, show the need to complete the international pandemic treaty. The Pandemic Agreement was adopted in May 2025 as a framework for future pandemics, but wealthy and developing nations still disagree on how it will work in practice. Negotiators left out how the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system will work. It governs how pathogens with pandemic potential are obtained and how the resulting vaccines, tests and treatments are shared. Tedros recalled that during COVID-19 vaccines were developed quickly, but many countries waited while others secured far more than they needed.

Voters across the United States go to the polls on 3 November in midterm elections, which fall in the middle of a president's term and decide control of the House and Senate for the last two years of Donald Trump's presidency. The AP's analysis says midterms usually act as a referendum on the president's party, and that high gas prices, grocery costs and inflation have made that harder for Republicans. If Democrats gain at least one chamber, they would gain subpoena power, meaning the legal power to require witnesses or documents.

Trump spent the final weekend rallying in Iowa and Kansas, then gave a nearly hourlong closing speech on Monday at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. He said Tuesday's elections could be the most important midterms in his lifetime, acknowledged that sitting presidents usually lose midterms, and said he hopes voters weigh falling oil prices. The administration also pledged $15 billion to farmers before the vote to offset diesel and fertilizer costs, with over half of it a one-time diesel payment.

A court fight over voters reached the highest level. On Monday the Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court for emergency relief to set aside about 20,000 California mail ballots that it suspects came from non-citizens, until their status is verified. An appeals court rejected the request, and US District Chief Judge James Boasberg denied it and warned it could disenfranchise citizens. California officials call the list highly unreliable and say it likely includes many citizens, and a group said over 40% of the people on it do not appear in the state voter file. The Justice Department defended the list's accuracy.

Practical details differ by place. After flooding in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, affected residents can get replacement ballots at any voter center in the state, and mail ballots can be returned to any drop box or voter center by 7 pm on Election Day. In Washington, DC, which has nearly 700,000 residents, more than Wyoming or Vermont, voters will elect a nonvoting House delegate and 'shadow' senators and a representative who push for statehood. One voter, Shane Dunn, 65, a former cook from Levittown, Pennsylvania, said to be voting for the first time in his life.

Politics elsewhere also turned on who controls a court. In Poland, President Karol Nawrocki entered the Constitutional Tribunal in person to demand the return of its suspended conservative chief judge, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government seated new judges and riot police clashed with protesters. Tusk urged the president to confirm the judges. France's Marine Le Pen condemned the crisis, and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told her not to interfere.