Global Express | November 07, 2026: Paraguay's President Pena Impeached and Under House Arrest

1. Paraguay's President Santiago Pena impeached and placed under house arrest

Paraguay's President Santiago Peña has been impeached and placed under house arrest after the collapse of Ueno Bank left more than half of the country unable to access their accounts. Lawmakers, including members of his own party, voted unanimously to remove him on Friday, and he was arrested minutes later. The Senate vote was 44 out of 45 in favour, with one lawmaker absent.

Peña had offered to step down on Thursday. Instead of accepting his resignation, senators impeached him for misconduct, stripping him of the immunity usually granted to former presidents. The charges allege conflicts of interest, manipulation of regulatory oversight, diversion of pension funds and an institutional cover-up involving the central bank. Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in as interim president until 2028 and promised that citizens hit by the financial collapse "will be fully compensated". An estimated three million depositors still cannot access savings and pensions. Prosecutors say Peña will be questioned on Saturday; he denies any wrongdoing.

2. Iran submits nuclear proposal as Hegseth pushes $350bn defense funding

Iran's government has submitted a proposal on the future of its nuclear programme to the Trump administration, while US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is pressing Congress to approve at least $350 billion in defense funding and defending Operation Epic Fury against Tehran.

President Donald Trump declined on Friday to say whether the US was responsible for reported missile strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island, but acknowledged limited strikes on Iranian air defenses. "I don't want to talk about it. We do minor strikes, but they knock out," he said. Iranian state media reported that two projectiles hit the Suza area of Qeshm. According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump's advisers are split: Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff favour diplomacy, Hegseth and CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper back renewed military operations, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent favour sanctions and a blockade. The State Department warned Americans in the Middle East on Friday to remain vigilant.

3. Israel's Arab-led parties become kingmakers after inconclusive election

Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition nor Gadi Eisenkot's centre-right opposition reached the 61 seats needed to form a government, while Arab-led parties won 19 of the 120 seats — enough to play a decisive role in talks over who will govern.

Palestinian citizens of Israel, about 20% of the population, turned out in record numbers. According to the Central Elections Committee, Arab-led parties received a 64% increase in votes compared with the previous election. "We blocked the government of Netanyahu from continuing," said Jamal Zahalka, chairman of the High Follow-Up Committee, the main umbrella body representing Palestinian citizens of Israel. "It's a historical achievement. I think our community found its strength." Netanyahu and his allies made the high Arab turnout a rallying cry, with the prime minister calling it an "emergency" in a video on election day.

4. Poland warns allies against negotiating over Eastern Europe's head

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski warned European allies on Thursday against negotiating an end to Russia's war in Ukraine without taking account of Eastern Europe's security interests. "The last thing we want is Western Europe dealing with Russia, over the heads of the east Europeans," he said during a discussion with journalists in Warsaw.

Sikorski said Eastern Europe and Scandinavia cannot be left out of the conversation: "We are about 120 million people. Finland borders Russia; Norway borders Russia; the Baltics border Russia; and Poland borders Russia and Ukraine." Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged European counterparts to be "very careful" about Vladimir Putin's "real intentions", adding that "in winter, Putin might have fewer incentives to get a deal". Poland this week launched a large-scale operation along its border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to thwart possible sabotage. Trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US are due to resume at technical level next week in Abu Dhabi.

5. Democratic sweep gives markets a reason to rethink the rate path

Market watchers say the Democrats' resounding midterm victory has the potential to curb interest rate hikes globally next year, though the path of oil prices, US growth and fiscal policy will be key.

The Federal Reserve, Bank of England, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan have all raised rates in recent months, a shift driven in part by the US and Israel's war with Iran, which pushed up oil and gas prices and worsened a squeeze in global refining capacity. After Democrats won both chambers of Congress, international benchmark ICE Brent fell 8.7% on Wednesday, closing below $100 a barrel for the first time since September, largely on expectations that Trump may be more inclined to strike a deal to end the Iran war. BoE Governor Andrew Bailey told CNBC on Thursday that a Middle East peace process "will not shift all of those elements".

6. Asian stocks plunge as chipmakers and AI shares lead selloff

A Wall Street selloff spread overseas on Friday, sending major Asian indexes sharply lower, with chipmakers and companies tied to the AI boom hit hardest.

South Korea's KOSPI plunged more than 8%, triggering a temporary trading halt, and was down about 7% after trading resumed. Japan's tech-heavy Nikkei fell roughly 6%, on track for its worst day in eight months, while Taiwan's benchmark dropped more than 8%. Samsung Electronics fell nearly 10%, SK Hynix 11.7%, TSMC 8.5% and SoftBank Group about 11%. US stock futures were mixed, with Nasdaq futures climbing about 1.3% and Dow futures down 0.71%.

7. Kenyan doomsday cult leader sentenced to 200 years in prison

A Kenyan court has sentenced doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for murdering 191 people, all but one of them children.

Mackenzie was convicted alongside 28 others of instructing cult members to starve their children to death so they could "meet Jesus". Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie bore the "primary criminal culpability" for ordering followers to fast to death and called the sentence "appropriate and just". He received 100 years for homicide and another 100 years for starvation-related offences, with the two sets running consecutively. His 28 co-accused, including guards who enforced the fasting orders and gravediggers who helped conceal bodies, received sentences of up to 160 years. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but the judge declined, saying capital punishment would eliminate any prospect of rehabilitation. Kenya has not carried out an execution since 1987. Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 after more than 400 bodies were found in shallow graves in Shakahola forest.

8. Mother and daughter killed in apparent grizzly bear attack in Canada

A 48-year-old woman and her 20-year-old daughter have been killed in an apparent grizzly bear attack near Bella Coola on British Columbia's central coast.

Jennifer Balcarras and Selah Reed were reported missing after Reed missed a routine Saturday night call with her sister. When no one had heard from them by the next morning, relatives asked the RCMP to check their home. The car was gone and the doors were locked; it was later found at a trailhead up the road, but the two women were nowhere to be found. Searchers found Balcarras' remains on Monday and Reed's on Tuesday morning, in a bear cache about 100 metres away; she could only be identified by her clothing. The site is 3 to 4 km from a November 2025 attack on schoolchildren and teachers that injured 11 people. Conservation officials have set new traps to determine whether it was the same bear, whose DNA was collected but which was never captured.

9. Three charged in US with using AI to impersonate CEOs and steal millions

Three foreign nationals have been arrested and charged with using AI to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys to steal more than $100 million, according to a newly unsealed US indictment.

Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan and Guy Sheetrit allegedly used AI to alter and impersonate the voices and images of executives and lawyers to convince employees to send large payments. Soall and Hazan were arrested in Spain over the summer and Sheetrit in the United Kingdom in September; the alleged fraud took place between 2024 and 2026. The Justice Department says they stole more than $129 million from companies around the world, including nearly $5 million from a Missouri hospital system, about $2.7 million from a Rhode Island bank, about $3 million from a California hospital system, over $4.6 million from a Massachusetts mutual fund, about $5 million from a Florida pet food company and over $11 million from a UK tech company. The money was converted into cryptocurrency to conceal its source. They are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money-laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.

10. China's embassy in the Netherlands rejects Dutch cyber report

China's embassy in the Netherlands has rejected the China-related content of a report by the Dutch cybersecurity authorities that accused China of carrying out cyberattacks against targets in the Netherlands and Europe.

In a statement issued on Friday, an embassy spokesperson said the report repeats "clichés" about a "Chinese cyber threat" and that its China-related content ignores facts, constituting groundless accusations and malicious smears. China, the spokesperson said, is itself one of the main victims of cyberattacks and consistently opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattack in accordance with the law. The spokesperson urged the relevant Dutch authorities to abandon ideological bias, correct their approach and stop using cybersecurity issues for political manipulation, and called for dialogue and cooperation to keep cyberspace peaceful, secure, open and cooperative.

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