Saturday's Virginia Times coverage ranged from a Miami judge dismissing President Trump's Wall Street Journal defamation suit with prejudice and D.C. and Virginia suing to block his 250-foot arch, to G20 ministers meeting in Atlanta, the launch of the Africa Energy Bank in Abuja and a surge in early voting days before the Nov. 3 midterms. Ukraine, Iran diplomacy, Italy's general strike and a Polk County sting that arrested 281 people rounded out a 23-story day, closing with a Nepali-style chicken sizzler recipe.
In This Recap
- Trump’s Second Try at WSJ Defamation Suit Fails in Miami Court
- G20 Ministers Talk Energy, Shipping Risks in Atlanta
- Afreximbank, APPO Launch Africa Energy Bank With $5 Billion Capital
- 17 Theme Park Workers Among 281 Arrested in Polk County Sting
- D.C., Virginia Sue to Block Trump’s 250-Foot Arch
- El-Sayed Asks Stevens to Skip His Final Michigan Events
- Early Voting Jumps in Senate Battlegrounds
- Russian Drones Hit Kyiv Facility Three Times, Cutting Water
- Judge Stops Federal Threats Against the People Who Count Ballots
- Thousands Protest Across Italy in General Strike Over Costs
- Trump Says Iran War Will Be Wrapped Up Soon
- Qatar Mediators Back in Tehran, Pushing for a U.S.-Iran Deal
- Recipe of the Week: Nepali-Style Chicken Sizzler
- Ukraine Says Drones, Neptune Missiles Hit Russian Propellant Plant
- UN Ends Political Mission in Somalia After More Than 30 Years
- Canada, EU Launch ‘Alliance for the Future’ at Montreal Summit
- Zelenskyy Says Strikes Cut Power; Ukraine Seeks UN Emergency Meeting
- Appeals Court Rejects Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Mail Ballots
- Zelenskyy Says Russian Sites From Yamal to Siberia in Strike Range
- Four More Charged in Michigan University Threats Case
- Judge Blocks Fast-Tracking of Children’s Asylum Cases
- Evacuations Begin From Oleshky Under U.S.-Brokered Truce
- Canada Opposes Court Order Returning Russia to International Hockey
1 Trump’s Second Try at WSJ Defamation Suit Fails in Miami Court
A federal judge in Miami dismissed President Donald Trump's amended defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal with prejudice, ruling that it did not plausibly allege actual malice over the paper's story about a birthday letter bearing Trump's name in Jeffrey Epstein's 2003 album. Legal fees are still pending, and the defendants have 30 days to seek them.
2 G20 Ministers Talk Energy, Shipping Risks in Atlanta
G20 foreign ministers ended two days of talks in Atlanta focused on energy security, supply chains and shipping risks near the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab. The U.S. chair's statement also backed new nuclear reactors and opposed using food trade as a pressure tactic.
3 Afreximbank, APPO Launch Africa Energy Bank With $5 Billion Capital
Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers' Organisation formally established the Africa Energy Bank in Abuja on Saturday. The new institution has $5 billion in authorized capital and will finance projects across the energy value chain as traditional lenders pull back from fossil fuels.
4 17 Theme Park Workers Among 281 Arrested in Polk County Sting
Seventeen people who said they work at theme parks or resorts were among 281 suspects arrested in a seven-day Polk County undercover operation targeting human trafficking and child predators.
5 D.C., Virginia Sue to Block Trump’s 250-Foot Arch
D.C. and Virginia sued Saturday to block President Trump's 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, calling it flagrantly unlawful. The administration hopes for final approval on Nov. 5.
6 El-Sayed Asks Stevens to Skip His Final Michigan Events
Abdul El-Sayed's campaign asked Haley Stevens not to attend his final Michigan events after she urged him to condemn an outside PAC ad as antisemitic, ending a late unity effort before a Senate race that could decide control of the chamber.
7 Early Voting Jumps in Senate Battlegrounds
More than 43 million Americans had voted early five days before Election Day, nearly 10 million more than in 2022, according to an AP analysis, with the sharpest gains in Texas and other Senate battlegrounds that could decide control of Congress.
8 Russian Drones Hit Kyiv Facility Three Times, Cutting Water
Three Russian drones hit the same critical infrastructure facility in Kyiv on Friday evening, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, cutting power behind the city's water system and leaving the entire left bank and several other districts without running water before crews restored service overnight.
9 Judge Stops Federal Threats Against the People Who Count Ballots
A federal judge ruled that the Justice Department and Homeland Security may not threaten election workers with criminal prosecution over ballots from voters the administration says may not be eligible to vote, four days before the Nov. 3 midterms.
10 Thousands Protest Across Italy in General Strike Over Costs
Thousands of students and workers marched in more than 50 Italian cities on Friday in a general strike over soaring living costs and public services. Farmers dumped manure in Turin, and the largest rallies were in Milan, Turin and Rome.
11 Trump Says Iran War Will Be Wrapped Up Soon
President Donald Trump told KCMO on Friday the war with Iran is “going to get wrapped up soon,” but gave no details. Qatari mediators were in Tehran with a revised draft proposal, and Iran is expected to respond by the weekend.
12 Qatar Mediators Back in Tehran, Pushing for a U.S.-Iran Deal
Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday for talks coordinated with the U.S., an official briefed on the talks told Reuters. Iran had dismissed Qatar's draft peace plan as unacceptable and said it would not move on the nuclear issue.
13 Recipe of the Week: Nepali-Style Chicken Sizzler
Kathmandu's favorite restaurant platter comes home. This Nepali-style chicken sizzler pairs mustard oil–marinated chicken with a spicy timur and garlic gravy, crispy fries, rice and vegetables, all served crackling on a hot iron plate.
14 Ukraine Says Drones, Neptune Missiles Hit Russian Propellant Plant
Ukraine's military says drones and Neptune missiles struck the Kamensky Combine in Russia's Rostov region overnight Oct. 31, reporting a warehouse fire and damage to four workshops at the plant, which makes solid rocket propellant. Ukraine also claimed hits on four Russian army depots; the claims could not be independently verified.
15 UN Ends Political Mission in Somalia After More Than 30 Years
The last UN political mission in Somalia closed Saturday at the Somali government's request. The transitional mission handed its work to Somali institutions and U.N. agencies, which will continue development, humanitarian and human rights work in the country.
16 Canada, EU Launch ‘Alliance for the Future’ at Montreal Summit
Canada and the European Union launched the Alliance for the Future at a Montreal summit, unveiling more than 20 measures on trade, research, defense and critical minerals while working toward making Canada the EU's first associate member.
17 Zelenskyy Says Strikes Cut Power; Ukraine Seeks UN Emergency Meeting
Russian drones hit a Kyiv heat and power plant overnight, leaving about 200,000 households in Dnipro and more than 80,000 in the Kyiv region without electricity, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Ukraine has also requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting after Oct. 29 attacks that its foreign minister said killed at least 20 people.
18 Appeals Court Rejects Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Mail Ballots
A divided 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused Friday to order California to hold back the mail ballots of about 20,000 people the federal government flagged as likely noncitizens, handing the Justice Department its second loss in a week before the Nov. 3 election.
19 Zelenskyy Says Russian Sites From Yamal to Siberia in Strike Range
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian facilities from Yamal to Western Siberia are now within range of Ukraine's deep strikes. He said the units will be expanded and Kyiv is working to reach still more distant territory.
20 Four More Charged in Michigan University Threats Case
A federal grand jury has indicted four more people in a case accusing activists of conspiring to threaten University of Michigan leaders and the Jewish Federation of Detroit, bringing the total number of defendants to 12, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
21 Judge Blocks Fast-Tracking of Children’s Asylum Cases
A federal judge in Greenbelt, Maryland, temporarily blocked the Trump administration from shortening notice for unaccompanied children's asylum interviews, restoring the earlier 21-day rule until Nov. 13 while he weighs a longer block.
22 Evacuations Begin From Oleshky Under U.S.-Brokered Truce
Residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky began boarding evacuation buses on Friday as an aid convoy reached the town under a local ceasefire brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump. Ombudsmen Dmytro Lubinets and Yana Lantratova said 25 buses with room for 750 people stood ready.
23 Canada Opposes Court Order Returning Russia to International Hockey
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ordered Russia back into IIHF tournaments for 2026-27. Canada's government said it strongly opposes the ruling, will keep its own restrictions on Russian athletes at federally funded events in Canada, and is exploring further options.
Editor’s Note: This recap was prepared with the assistance of AI tools. Virginia Times gathered the source material from multiple sources and thoroughly reviewed the information before publication.
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