Global Express | October 28, 2026: Two High-Speed Trains Collide in Spain, at Least 30 Dead

1. Two High-Speed Trains Collide in Spain, at Least 30 Dead

Two high-speed trains collided on Wednesday morning in Spain's Toledo province, between the towns of Mora, Orgaz and Urda. One train was operated by the state-owned company Renfe and the other by Iryo. A spokesperson for the Castilla-La Mancha regional government told CNN that at least 30 people had been killed and warned the toll was likely to rise.

Both trains were travelling on the line linking Madrid with Seville in southern Andalusia, and the railway infrastructure manager ADIF said the high-speed line connecting the Madrid region with Andalusia has been suspended. Regional government spokesperson Esther Padilla said one train was carrying 146 passengers and a baby, while the other carried 397 passengers.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was "shocked by the serious train incident" and said emergency services were on the ground to help those affected. It is the third rail disaster in Spain in 2026: in January two high-speed trains collided near Adamuz in Córdoba province, killing more than 40 people, and a commuter train derailed near Barcelona days later. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid all issued statements of condolence.

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2. Iran Speeds Up War Preparations as Missile and Drone Output Expands

China News Service reported on October 28 that Iran is stepping up war preparations against a possible new large-scale strike by the United States and Israel, including faster production of long-range weapons, an overhaul of defence-industry management and the repair and reinforcement of military facilities. Parliament recently approved Akhlaqi, a missile expert with more than 40 years of experience, as defence minister and head of armed forces logistics.

According to the report, Akhlaqi set out 16 priorities on taking office, centred on shortening development times and raising weapons output, and demanded that missile and drone factories be moved as quickly as possible into underground tunnels and mountain caverns. The US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute said satellite imagery shows Iran digging tunnels and building underground facilities at three sites, including Parchin.

The New York Times, citing a US government assessment, said Iran still retains 70 percent of its ballistic missile stockpile after about 40 days of intense exchanges earlier this year, while Tehran says output had recovered and surpassed pre-war levels by mid-September. The Jerusalem Post put current capacity at about 10,000 drones and 100 to 300 ballistic missiles a month. Rezaei, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, warned that in another war, US assets in the region — from undersea cables to data centres — would be destroyed.

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3. Russian Missiles Hit Kyiv University District, Killing One and Injuring 15

Russian ballistic missiles struck a university campus and surrounding residential areas in Kyiv late on Monday, killing at least one person. Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said most of the injured were students living in university accommodation, with nine taken to hospital and three in serious condition. The Kyiv City Military Administration said on Tuesday morning that the casualty toll had risen to 15, with 12 people hospitalised.

The strike hit the State University of Trade and Economics on Kyoto Street, an institution founded in 1946 with more than 15,000 students across six faculties, damaging dormitories, residential buildings and medical facilities. Two fires broke out in non-residential buildings in Obolonskyi district, transport infrastructure was damaged in Holosiivskyi district, and a three-storey building was partially destroyed in Dniprovskyi district, where rescuers found a body in the basement. The mayor said an ambulance came under fire in Desnianskyi district, injuring a paramedic and an emergency medical technician.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said there was extensive damage and reports that people might be trapped under the rubble, stressing that the missiles hit crowded civilian areas with no military facilities nearby. He renewed his call for faster deliveries of Western air defence systems and ammunition, saying that "artificial delays in providing air defence to Ukraine help terror."

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4. 'Associate Membership' Row Clouds EU-Canada Summit

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's offer last month to make Canada the EU's first "associate member" is proving hard to swallow for several member states, including her own Germany. Five EU diplomats told Euronews that ahead of the EU-Canada summit opening in Montreal on Thursday, capitals led by Berlin pushed back against a term that has yet to be clearly defined.

"The main concern is that this is unknown terminology, it might bring up legal uncertainty and expectations from other third countries," one diplomat said. "This was not communicated previously from the Commission. We don't know what we are talking about." A revised draft of the joint declaration explicitly mentioned the notion, vowing regular exchanges with Canadian authorities and a definition of the full scope of the partnership at the 2027 summit.

The text was due to be adopted on Tuesday through a silent procedure, but Germany, Italy, France and Greece all raised objections before the deadline. A new draft circulated on Monday evening added wording distancing member states from the concept, specifying that it was "put forward by the European Commission." Italy's objection did not concern associate membership itself but a paragraph on competitiveness and technological sovereignty. European Council President António Costa's office is expected to circulate another version before ambassador-level talks on Wednesday. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has preferred to call the idea an "alliance of the future," saying "what matters is the substance."

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5. King Charles Opens Caribbean Tour by Acknowledging 'Suffering of the Past'

King Charles III began his first Caribbean tour as monarch on Tuesday in the Bahamas, acknowledging the "great suffering of the past" as he faced calls for slavery reparations. Speaking at an event in Nassau celebrating local youth, the King said the country's culture was "born out of darkness" and that it was "only right" to acknowledge historic injustices. His nine-day tour will culminate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where he has confirmed leaders will discuss the region's legacy of slavery.

Before the trip, Buckingham Palace said the King would not shy away from the "colonial legacy" and the impact of the slave trade, but in line with the UK government position he will not apologise for Britain's role or offer reparations. On arrival he met Governor General Dame Cynthia A. Pratt and Prime Minister Philip Edward Davis and inspected a guard of honour, before attending a youth rally at Clifford Park, where he joined independence celebrations as Prince of Wales in 1973.

Around a dozen protesters gathered close to the rally, shouting "pay us what you owe us" and "return artefacts you've stolen," urging the King to help shift the UK government's position. "He's a man of influence. The Crown still has influence. And if they do not do it then we will become a republic," said protester Sharon Purcer-Cooper. In his speech the King highlighted his 50-year commitment to fighting climate change, saying "our world cries out for healing," and called on young people to "take up the sacred task to play your part."

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6. Congo Ebola Cases Pass 10,000 as Outbreak Reaches Four Countries

More than 10,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo have tested positive for Ebola, according to government data released on Tuesday, October 27. The National Institute of Public Health said 10,060 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak was declared on May 15, with 4,887 deaths and 2,684 people recovered. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which no vaccine or treatment has been approved, and eight provinces have now reported cases.

Kenya has confirmed nine cases and two deaths, all traceable to a man who flew from Congo to Nairobi via Uganda and died on October 5. Kenya allowed 20 contacts to go home on Monday after 21 days without symptoms, while 98 people remain in quarantine. Nigeria reported its first case on October 20: a 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman, the wife of a Swiss diplomat in Abuja. The couple was evacuated to Switzerland and she is being treated at Geneva University Hospital.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said attackers killed a nurse and seriously injured another health worker on Saturday in Bafwasende, in Congo's Tshopo province, as they travelled to respond to an Ebola alert. Médecins Sans Frontières said the first dose has been administered in a trial of a Bundibugyo candidate vaccine in Bunia. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said no cases have appeared in the United States and the risk to Americans is low.

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7. US and 30 Other States Warn of Famine Risk in Sudan

The United States and 30 other Western states have warned of an "alarming deterioration" in food security in Sudan, urging the warring sides to remove obstacles to humanitarian aid to prevent famine. The joint statement, signed by EU states, the UK, Canada, Switzerland, Norway and the US, was published by the State Department on Monday. It said conflict is the main driver of Sudan's hunger crisis, damaging critical infrastructure and disrupting food production.

The statement estimates that 19.5 million people, or 41 percent of Sudan's population, are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, including five million facing emergency levels of hunger. Without immediate action, the number of children suffering severe acute malnutrition could exceed the projected 825,000. The war, which began in April 2023, has displaced 14 million people. Yusuf Roble, regional director for Islamic Relief East Africa, told BBC Newsday that people returning to Omdurman were finding their homes destroyed or looted, with "very little to survive on."

Roble described meeting a mother of seven whose husband, the family's sole breadwinner, has been missing for three and a half years, and whose meals come from a community kitchen that lacks long-term support because of funding cuts. He said only 40 percent of Sudan's 2026 humanitarian needs plan had been funded as of September. The statement said the parties to the conflict bear primary responsibility for alleviating the suffering of the Sudanese people and must allow full, safe and unimpeded access.

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8. India's Biggest IPO Debuts With a 21% Jump for Jio

Shares in Jio Platforms, the Indian telecom and digital services unit of billionaire Mukesh Ambani backed by Meta and Google, surged 21 percent in their market debut on Wednesday. The company raised $3.2 billion in India's largest and most subscribed IPO, which attracted more than $77 billion in investor bids. The stock opened at ₹1,358 (about $14) apiece, up from its IPO price of ₹1,119 (around $12).

At that opening price, Jio was valued at around ₹12.5 trillion (about $131.9 billion), making it India's second-most valuable listed company after parent Reliance Industries, worth about ₹16 trillion (around $168.6 billion). When Meta and Google invested in 2020, Jio was valued at up to ₹4.91 trillion, or about $65 billion at the time. The offering ran from October 21 to 22 and drew bids for 22.19 times the shares on sale, with more than 13.8 million applicants.

Managing director Akash Ambani said at the listing ceremony that Jio's platforms serve more than 540 million customers and that he wants the company to become a global technology firm. In the fiscal year ended March 2026, Jio made ₹300.5 billion (about $3.2 billion) in profit on revenue of ₹1.47 trillion (around $15.5 billion), both up about 15 percent. It plans to use up to ₹275 billion (about $2.9 billion) of the proceeds to repay debt at its telecom subsidiary, which had total borrowings of ₹613.7 billion (around $6.5 billion) as of June 30.

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9. AI Bets Lift Global Stocks, With Seoul Leading the Way

Global stock markets climbed as investors continued to bet on the tech giants driving the artificial intelligence boom. In the United States, all three major indexes rose on Tuesday, led by the Nasdaq Composite, which gained 1.18 percent. The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.03 percent. Five of the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks rose, led by Tesla at 4.04 percent, with Amazon up 1.61 percent and Apple and Alphabet gaining 0.93 percent and 0.9 percent. Nvidia rose almost 1 percent after announcing a $3bn investment in Meta's equity offering, while Meta fell 1.64 percent.

Asian markets followed Wall Street's gains on Wednesday. South Korea's KOSPI closed up 6.63 percent after memory chip maker SK Hynix reported third-quarter operating profit soaring about 630 percent year-on-year to 83.33 trillion won ($62.4bn); its Seoul-listed shares jumped 10.89 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 ended up 1.08 percent, Taiwan's TAIEX climbed 2.04 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.33 percent shortly before the close.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell in London, said rallies in AI-related names such as CoreWeave, Western Digital and Super Micro show investors are not over the AI craze, describing such stocks as a litmus test for market mood. "The big unknown is whether this is the start of a new AI stock rally, or just a relief bounce," he said. Microsoft and Alphabet report on Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday and Apple on Monday. Brent crude futures topped $116 a barrel, up more than 60 percent since the war began.

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10. As Anthropic Prepares to List, Amazon Stands to Gain Most

Many investors stand to win big when Anthropic goes public, with stakes held by firms including Menlo Ventures, Sequoia, Sound Ventures and Spark Capital expected to return billions. Yet according to Anthropic's S-1, none of those venture firms owns 5 percent, the threshold for inclusion in the principal stockholders' table — highly unusual for a tech IPO. The reason is Anthropic's size: at its $965 billion private valuation, a 1 percent stake is worth nearly $10 billion, so Menlo's roughly $14 billion position is only about 1.5 percent of the company.

Amazon is likely the single largest financial beneficiary. It first backed Anthropic in 2023 with a commitment of up to $4 billion and has poured in billions more since, structuring much of the investment as convertible notes. According to the S-1, Amazon holds notes with $6.2 billion in principal outstanding as of June 30 — Anthropic's entire debt load — while Amazon's own filings valued those holdings at $97.9 billion. As the notes surged in value, Anthropic recorded a $72.4 billion first-half charge under fair-value adjustments, a non-cash item.

The notes could convert into as many as 1.84 billion shares, though a cap limits Amazon to 12 percent of Anthropic's partially diluted share count. Amazon also invested $10 billion in nonvoting preferred stock in the second quarter, bringing its total investment to about $18 billion alongside $8 billion in notes from 2023 through 2025. Anthropic has committed to spend at least $110 billion on AWS over the next 10 years, while Google, which held about 14 percent of the company in early 2025, has secured at least $114 billion in cloud commitments through 2033.

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